We are talking about the major constraints that affect the international performance management process and in this topic we are going to talk about the variable level of maturity of markets. You know that the multinationals, they are working in different types of markets and it is possible that a market of a particular product is in a different phase than it is in another country. So it is possible that the product that has been initially launched in one country but has an established market in another country. So in this case it would be difficult to compare the performance of the product which has been initially launched in a market and a performance of the product which is already existing in another market. So there could be one of the issues of this variable levels of maturity of markets could be the market development in parent company market. So if you are trying to develop your market of a new product in the parent company country for example if there is a product in America in which the multinationals have headquarters and they are launching that product in America then they have an established market for their other products which can, what can it do, it can you know establish brands they can support new products. So for example if there is already a line of products available that is related with that brand and a new product is introduced in the same existing market which is of the parent country it would be helpful for that product to take flight because there are already established brands which are related with that multinationals and therefore people are going to respond more quickly and promptly in that particular situation. Then new business ideas they can be cross subsidized by other divisions. So if you are trying to launch a new business idea in your own parent country market that can be subsidized cross subsidized by other divisions so they can absorb the initial losses which are which may take place because you know you are launching a new business idea. So that is a situation in which you have more support to develop the market of a new product in the parent country whereas market development in the foreign subsidiary market it is always stored due to lack of established network. So if what if you are entering a new market in a foreign country where your multinational does not has an established network what will happen is that the support that you get in your parent country market that support is not going to be present in the foreign country. So comparing the growth the development and the performance of a product in your parent country and comparing it with the growth and performance of the product in a foreign country is something which must take into account the difference in this context that they are actually doing it they are actually performing in the parent country and the other product is performing in the foreign country. And then there are variable customs and work practices work practices they differ significantly in various parts of the world people do not work in the same way they are not that ambitious they are not that they are not that productive in various part of the world for example if you go to New York then in New York you will find that there people are going fast forward as compared to Pakistani environment here people's walking speed in New York people's walking speed is probably one and a half or two times so that means that those people they are more productive they are more geared towards performance whereas in Pakistan people have a little bit more laid back they have a laid back attitude similarly if you compare even within the countries if you compare between Lahore and Karachi the attitude the body language and the performance standards are different in these two cities in Karachi the performance standards are very much high and they expect people to perform professionally whereas in Lahore it is a little bit more collective kind of a situation in which people support each other and they are more lenient and they are more they are not that concerned about achieving performance standards so there could be variations in customs and work practices that is explained by an example over here the author says that one does not fire a Mexican manager because worker productivity is half the American average so Mexico may work a productivity driver half then the American average so in Mexico that would mean that this manager is working at a level three or four times as high as the average Mexican industrial plant so if a Mexican person is working in an American company and you put American standards in front of him it means that you are expecting that the local standards will work more than three or four times here we need relevant comparative data not absolute numbers our harassed Mexican manager has to live with Mexican constraints not European or American ones and these can be very different the way we measure worker productivity is exactly the same but the numbers come out differently because of that environmental difference from this example you can see that the multinational is measuring performance on the same standards but they are taking into account that the work standards of that particular local country they are much lower than the American standards and therefore if you expect that the person will perform according to the American standard that is going to be actually a sort of harassment for him so this is something which must be taken into account and must be incorporated in the performance management process of an international organization.


It is now time for all questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Royal Opposition. Thank you so much, Speaker. Speaker, my first question this morning is to the Premier. Ontario families are continuing to deal with the crisis in our long-term care homes. 1,792 seniors have lost their lives. Six more homes are reporting outbreaks. Last week, the Premier told a reporter asking about long-term care, and I quote, we didn't fail. We've thrown every tool we've had at these long-term care homes. Speaker, does the Premier truly believe that his government made no mistakes and that his government truly did everything they could when it comes to protecting seniors in long-term care? Recognize the Premier to reply. Through you, Mr. Speaker, I can sit here and say, yes, truly we threw everything we possibly could at it. Absolutely everything. When we ended up getting calls about outbreaks, we sent hospitals in there. We did have inspections for over 3,000 over the prior year. We made sure the military came in to the really red homes. I'll give you an update from May the 28th, Mr. Speaker. We had 2,589 cases. That's a combination of residents and staff. June the 12th, now the total confirmed cases is 1,154. Still, that's a high number, Mr. Speaker. But what is good news, and we're getting there, and we still have a tremendous amount of work. We went from 123 outbreaks in long-term care homes with 172 long-term care homes resolved down to 63 long-term care outbreaks. And 238 long-term care homes resolved. We're putting every source we have at these long-term care homes and if the... Thank you. Thank you. It's a supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. I've sent many over and unfortunately they go unanswered. Having said that, there are almost 1,800 people who have lost their lives in long-term care to COVID-19. This morning, I spoke with Maureen McDermott, whose mother resides in the for-profit River Glenhaven long-term care facility in York-Simco, where 20 residents have died from COVID-19. She began raising the alarms about the state of care in that home back in April, filing formal complaints with the government after staff repeatedly hung up on her when she called to get updates on her mother, desperate for information. And for weeks, the government refused to take over that facility. Can the Premier honestly tell Maureen that his government did everything they possibly could have done to protect seniors in this home? Premier? Well, my heart breaks for Maureen and families like Maureen. No one wants to see deaths. It doesn't matter what political stripe you come from. No matter if it's, again, from the orange party, blue party, or red party, or green party, everyone is doing their best to make sure we resolve cases. We have enough PPEs within 24 hours. If a home is out of PPE, we end up sending it over immediately. Again, we send hospitals in there to take care of it, take care of the homes. Actually, we've brought in hospitals and we've taken a license off one home, and we've brought in hospitals in to run the entire home, numerous of them. Numerous homes when we see the cases escalate. But again, Mr. Speaker, we are doing everything possible in our power, sparing not a penny to make sure we resolve these issues that we're seeing in long-term care homes. And we're making a headway. The numbers show it. Thank you. The final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, families like Maureen's have been pleading with the Premier to take action for months. And instead, he kept control in the hands of for-profit operators. In April, while the Premier was telling families there was an iron ring around long-term care facilities, the administrator of that facility was telling local reporters, and I quote, we can only isolate to a certain degree because all the residents on the second floor are wanderers. There was no iron ring at Glenhaven, or River Glenhaven, Speaker, no iron ring. And the Premier either knew that or he wasn't doing his job. Will the Premier now admit that his government did fail and apologize to Maureen and thousands of families like hers? Premier. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, my heart breaks for Maureen and so many other families that have gone through this tragedy. And it's not just here in Ontario. We've seen it around the world. We've seen it in our neighbours to the east of us in Quebec. And again, we're putting every single resource we have. And it's a terrible tragedy. But what has gone on for decades under the previous government, under the NDP propping up the previous government, they never did anything. Nothing at all. We are going to fix the problem that we inherited that had been around for decades. Absolutely decades. But this is coming to an end. We're going to fix the problem moving forward for good. It's very simple. All other governments talk a lot, Mr. Speaker, but they did absolutely nothing, including the opposition party stood by for decades and didn't do anything. We're doing something now. The next question, once again, the Leader of the Opposition. My next question is also for the Premier. And unfortunately, a broken heart isn't good enough for all of those seniors who have lost their lives in long-term care. In fact, other governments right here in Canada took early action to respond to COVID-19 in long-term care. The results show those actions were faster and better than Ontario's. British Columbia intervened in March to take control of for-profit long-term care homes that weren't coping with outbreaks. And in March took control of staffing to ensure that staff would work at one facility and have the proper equipment to protect themselves and residents. Back in March, Speaker, BC at this point has seen 168 seniors lost to COVID-19 in long-term care homes. Almost 1,800 have died in Ontario's long-term care homes. Why was Ontario unable to actually forge an iron ring around long-term care like BC, in fact, did? Well, through you, Mr. Speaker, I love how the Leader of the Opposition uses BC all the time. I have a great deal of respect for Premier Horgan. I consulted with him numerous times and continue to consult with him. What the Leader of the Opposition is missing? They're one-third our size. They were a month earlier than we were. Have we all learned a lot of lessons? Absolutely, we've learned a lot of lessons. And that's the first step is emitting where there's cracks in the ship. And we saw massive cracks in the ship. There's no denying it. I was the first one to come out and say there's massive cracks in the ship. And that's why we've asked for an independent commission. We need answers. We aren't shying away from problems in long-term care. We're tackling these problems. We're meeting them head-on. Unlike previous governments that have totally ignored them, swept them underneath the car. And I don't look at it as profit or non-profit. I look at all long-term care homes equally because they all have the most vulnerable people at the homes. And we're going to fix this problem, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. A supplementary question. Well, to fix the problem, you have to admit that you had one, Speaker. And I think this Premier still refuses to acknowledge that they should have moved more swiftly and more decisively when it came to our vulnerable seniors in long-term care. For months, the Premier ignored please. From frontline workers who were calling on the government to intervene and take control of failing for-profit homes. For months, those pleas were ignored, Speaker. And for months, the for-government insisted that it just wasn't necessary. That these for-profit homes were protected by an iron ring that really didn't exist. And that such takeovers would not even be possible under Ontario's system. That's what the Premier was saying, Speaker. The Premier says Ontario did not fail our seniors. Why did this government fail to take decisive action other provinces did and instead leave control of long-term care in the hands of operators who are now being investigated for potentially criminal levels of negligence? The minister of long-term care to respond to the government. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the member opposite for this important question. Looking across the globe, long-term care homes and our most vulnerable people in society have been tragically affected by COVID-19. There is no doubt. We must all acknowledge that. It is fact. Looking across Ontario, even at the peak of our COVID outbreak, 70% of our homes were not in outbreak. And most of the time, 80%. So my heart breaks for everyone who's been affected by this terrible virus and our most vulnerable people. Our government did act swiftly. And I know there is a narrative out there about inspections, about not taking action. We acted early. We acted early on some of the measures earlier than some of the other provinces. We have a geographic disc difference. We have a population difference. And every measure and every tool has been used and will be used, calling in hospital teams, infection prevention and control teams, additional staffing with portals, our hospital integration. We're looking at an integrated process forward to rejuvenate long-term care. We will fix this problem. Thank you. The final supplementary. Speaker, the Premier's words were, quote, we didn't fail. But nobody believes him, because he did. He failed. The Premier failed to listen to Maureen and others when they told him that their loved ones weren't safe at River Glenhaven. He failed to read the emails from women like Kathy Parks, who was sounding the alarm bell about abuse and neglect at Orchard Villa. Will the Premier now admit that his government, in fact, did fail and apologize to Maureen and thousands of other families like hers? Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you again for the question. Looking at families across Ontario, we understand the hardship that they have faced during COVID-19. COVID-19 has been a challenge in many, many ways, and we acknowledge that. Our homes have been supported. We've taken measures left, right, and centre, and we will continue to take measures as we move forward. When we look at the funding that we've put forward very early to make sure our homes could have more cleanliness, more sanitization, we've had our inspectors in there on an ongoing basis as soon as they could go in safely. In fact, our homes have had in-person inspections on a regular basis, despite the narrative from other corners. The truth is, we have taken responsible actions, swift and decisive actions over and over again, and we will continue to do that. It is our number one priority to keep our Long-Term Care residents safe. Thank you. Next question, the Leader of the Opposition. Thank you kindly, Speaker. My next question is also to the Premier. Across the world, governments are fundamentally re-evaluating the state of policing in their communities. Hundreds of thousands of people have marched in the streets demanding systemic change and action to address anti-black and anti-indigenous racism. In less than two months, three black Ontarians have died during interactions with police. Regis Korczynski-Peket, D'Andre Campbell, and Caleb Tbilia, Tbilia and Joko all lived with mental health issues. They were loved, and they should be with us today. No one should die after calling 9-1-1 for help. What is the Premier's plan to address this urgent call from communities for fundamental change to policing in Ontario? Mr. Minister General, to reply for the government. Thank you very much. I think we all understand and recognize that policing and community safety has changed in the last number of years. The issues faced today by police services and our communities they serve are increasingly complex. As part of our government's $174 million commitment to address mental health and addiction in fiscal year 2019-20, the Ministry of Solicitor General and the Ministry of Health announced $18.3 million in new funding to support those affected by mental health and addiction challenges in the justice sector. This includes $6.95 million for new mobile crisis teams with dedicated safe beds and transitional case managers. You know, Speaker, I think we all understand that when almost 40% of police calls are interacting with individuals who have mental health or addiction issues, we need to do things differently, and that's why our government has made such a strong commitment to mental health and addiction. Thank you. Thank you. The supplementary question. For decades, governments ignored the crisis of communities, whether it's the Liberals' failure to act on recommendations from the roots of Youth Violence Report, which they commissioned, or the four governments' decision to roll blackback police oversight cut millions from anti-racism and education programs and adds 30, rather $335 million in mental health funding. Tackling systemic racism requires real action. The SIU must include public independent oversight. We need to truly end carding and we have to fix the imbalance between policing costs and armed crisis response versus meager investments in community supports and mental health rollbacks that this government has made. Will the Premier commit to take these long overdue first steps to address systemic racism in the province of Ontario? Again, Mr. Listener General, there are so many parts of that statement, it's not really a question that I could delve further into, but let's start with the anti-racism director. There has been zero change in the amount of budget that they have done. And frankly, they have done some incredible things already, including mediating partnerships between the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board and the Hamilton Center for Civic Conclusion to support black youth in Hamilton Wentworth District District School Board. I would have thought that the member opposite would have known about that since it was in Hamilton. We've supported the Toronto District School Board and the Children's Aid Society of Toronto to address anti-black racism in their respective organizations. The anti-racism director has supported Durham Region School Board with developing anti-black racism training for kindergarten teachers. And there are so many things that we are doing at the Ontario Police College and online police officers who are doing very challenging work during challenging times have the training and the skills needed and necessary to make sure that we serve all of Ontario. Thank you. Thank you. The next question, the member from Milton. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Premier last week, many Ontarians were relieved to hear that Ontario could reopen. Yesterday even more of Ontario was told that businesses both big and small could reopen. This news is encouraging for everyone in the legislature, my constituents and all Ontarians in those regions and across our great province. It would also be a relief for businesses who have been closed for a number of months and can finally reopen and support their local communities. Will the Premier please tell us more about what these announcements mean for the people and the businesses of our great province? Good question. The Premier. I want to thank the member from Milton as always, he's doing an incredible job out in Milton. When I stood in front of Ontario last week I announced our plan to reopen Ontario. We're going to reopen Ontario. We're going to reopen Ontario. We support you and we will get through this together. That's the reason we see the numbers come all the way down like this because of the people of Ontario. We announced that 24 regions were going to open up last week. Yesterday we announced another seven more regions that are opening up Mr. Speaker and hopefully we understand but we're always going to listen to the health and science for response. We've seen the numbers come down where confident numbers are going to continue coming down. We had over 24,000 tests again the numbers of COVID cases are down. Thank you very much. And the supplementary question. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Premier for the answer and for his great leadership. It is always encouraging to hear that Ontarians are coming together and ensuring we can all get back to work sooner. I am proud to work and I want to also thank the dedication, the leadership that my constituents have shown during these difficult times Mr. Speaker. But I know that we need to keep public health in mind when we approach our reopen. Case numbers and testing are critical factors when it comes to assessing what stage we can move into. Can the Premier tell us more about what has been done to get us even closer to stage 2 a province wide reopening Mr. Speaker? Thank you. Thank you again to the member of Milton. I want to be clear the public health trends across the province are headed in the right direction. They're actually headed in such a great direction that we have the lowest cases against any region in North America, states, our size, province I guess most comparable would be Quebec but we have the lowest cases per 100,000 in all of North America. So the system is working Mr. Speaker. Our plan is working. The people are supporting the plan and it's amazing when everyone is pulling in the same direction Mr. Speaker it's amazing how much work you get done. Rather than playing politics and littering back and forth I have an idea. Why doesn't the opposition support us when some of these ideas come out and help us? Just like their federal counterparts the federal liberals are working like this together calls every single day working together. See how we can source more PPE how they can support each other that's what we need in this province we don't need the bickering it's just happened over the last five, six months. Thank you. Thank you very much. The next question, the member for Brampton East. My question is to the Premier. Deandre Campbell was a 26 year old black man from Brampton. He was suffering from a mental health crisis so he decided to call the police. He didn't survive that phone call. He was tased twice and shot and killed by police in his own home. The officer who killed Deandre Campbell has not had to answer a single SIU question about what happened. And because this Premier has delayed legislation that it would have required officers to participate in investigations there's nothing the SIU can do to bring this officer to the table. This complete failure of accountability lies squarely at the feet of this government. Enough is enough, we need justice. The Premier act now to fix our broken SIU so that this officer and every officer involved in police killings is investigated so justice can be served. The Attorney General to apply for the government. Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question. Public safety is a top priority for our government. We're committed to providing the frontline police officers with the tools and the resources they need but that's why the government passed the act that you referenced the Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act the COPS Act. It'll work to help people of Ontario it'll help frontline policing it'll help policing partners. It also provides for some oversight the SIU is an independent body that does work to make sure that matters are investigated without political interference and as such Mr. Speaker I can't comment on any particular case the system is independent that it's structured with the tools that it needs and will continue to do its job. Thank you Mr. Speaker Supplementary question Member for Beaches East York. My question is also for the Premier Calls for reform to police oversight have echoed unanswered in this province for years from protests in the street to expert reports no one has been able to convince this government or the liberal government before it that black lives matter enough to change the law and make it stick while the Premier takes turns denying the problem exists or delaying solutions the families of D'Andre Campbell of Regis, Corchin's Peak, Paquette and a far too many other black Ontarians seek answers knowing they can't depend on the SIU to find the answers for them My question is simple will the Premier commit today to reform the SIU and police oversight in Ontario without delay Again the Attorney General Thank you Mr. Speaker and I thank the other member for the question and we have been adjusting the way that oversight works we have not adjusted the independence and we have not adjusted the arms length nature of it we have not adjusted the tools that they have and we will further strengthen the already independent and effective police oversight the COPS Act includes a new standalone community safety policing act it will when enforced rename the OIPRD as well the law enforcement complaints agency and set a new legal framework for that agency Mr. Speaker we are proactively again picking up the pieces left by the previous liberal government and we are making sure that the system works more effectively than it has in a very long time The next question member for Scarborough Guildwood My question is to the Premier systemic racism has always existed in Ontario but many are just beginning to understand and appreciate just how deep and how entrenched it is in our society and our institutions when our public school system was founded by Egerton Ryerson it included residential schools for indigenous children it underfunded and segregated schools for black students higher education at the time was only reserved for boys racism is not inevitable it is designed it is learned addressing systemic anti-black racism early in our education system will remove barriers to success for black students will the Premier today instruct his Minister of Education to mandate the true history of black Canadians as a mandatory part of Ontario's education curriculum Government House Leader Thank you very much Mr Speaker as you know obviously this government takes anti-black racism very seriously as I know all members of this House do we have been as concerned as anybody has with the events that have occurred over the last number of weeks not only across North America I will take the members comments under advisement and make sure that they are forwarded to the Minister of Education at the same time the member will know that the Premier worked very quickly to prior to this in December and appointed Jamil Giovanni to advance opportunities in the community Mr Speaker I'm sure the member opposite will agree that he is a very passionate voice and somebody that I know members on this side of the House are anxious to work with Mr Speaker as I said I will take the members recommendations of the Minister of Education The supplementary question Thank you Speaker and back to the Premier Premier we heard in this House that this government will not tolerate any racism in its Government but Premier the urgency is here lives and futures are at stake we know that systemic racism cannot be rooted out until we understand how deep racism really goes in this province despite this knowledge this government is still underfunding and hindering the work of the anti-racism directorate you are ignoring the tools that are there to address this problem other provinces like Quebec have set up an action committee to combat racism yet Ontario has only provided the words without meaningful action and we must work together to change the outcomes for the people of colour in this province so my question to you Premier is will you support the creation of an all party committee to take action on the many dozens of reports that have been presented about the issue of anti-black racism in this province will you do that today Premier yes or no Mr Children Community and Social Services Well thanks very much Mr Speaker for the question what we have done here on this side is we've introduced a new council a couple of weeks ago Jamil Javani will be heading up that council and it's called the Premier's Council on Equality of Opportunity which is focused on making sure that there are mentors for individuals in the communities that the member are opposite reference but not only mentors there's a game plan Mr Speaker and Jamil is putting together put their name forward to be a member of this council which is actually going to make substantial difference in the lives of these individuals working with our partners that we already fund in this sector we have 50 different members in the black youth action plan Mr Speaker that our ministry and other ministries are funding black led groups for the most part Mr Speaker that will be expanded as a result of financial incentives that were announced a couple of weeks ago to the tune of about one and a half million dollars to ensure that we're getting better outcomes and creating better opportunities for members of these communities across the province thank you Mr Speaker very much the next question the member for Oakville Mr Speaker Mr Speaker my question is to the minister of heritage sports tourism and culture industries Mr Speaker while sitting on the standing committee of finance and economic affairs I had the opportunity to listen to tourism and attraction to the owner operators who are looking for support and investments to help with future planning and marketing initiatives following COVID-19 I know the minister has been speaking to stakeholders frequently to listen to their concerns and collect invaluable real-time data that has helped guide her ministry to provide investments and supports that will provide much needed relief to the 36 billion dollar tourism industry Mr Speaker we know that our government and this minister are listening to Ontario's tourism operators Ms Debbie Zimmerman CEO of the great growers of Ontario said quote I want to begin by thanking the government of Ontario for being accessible and responsive to our needs and for pivoting quickly in these unprecedented times Can the minister please update the house what our government is doing to directly support tourism operators to ensure they're getting the absolute best they'll be in the best position to welcome back visitors when it is safe to do so again thank you Mr. Heritage for tourism and culture industries I'd like to thank the member from Oakville for his question also his leadership he recently chaired a meeting for me with the regional tourism organization and Hamilton Halton and Brandt he's also been a leader on the standing committee of finance and economic affairs as we do a sector led initiative with respect to tourism and hospitality and I have to say as a member a longstanding member in this legislature for the past 14 years 140 different presenters appeared before that committee that is unprecedented we have held 6 telephone town halls with well over 1200 stakeholders in each one of them we have retooled the tourism development and recovery fund we've tripled that funding we have flowed 9 million dollars already for festivals that aren't able to continue but we want to see them back in 2021 in the members own riding we have flowed over 875 thousand dollars through the Ontario Trillium Foundation and as of today we will be flowing 350 thousand dollars in marketing funding because of the hard work of that member to his region supplementary question thank you Mr. Speaker and minister great news I'm very happy to hear that I know these measures and supports are greatly appreciated local investments go a long way in promoting the wonderful destinations and attractions that our communities and regions have to offer Ontarians particularly as they may be considering a staycation with their friends and family this summer I would like to thank the committee that quote our tireless efforts are sincerely appreciated not only by our industry but the thousands of Ontario families who are out there actively and safely voting today minister can you please tell us how our government is continuing to support tourism operators throughout this summer season thank you to the to the member obviously in terms of the economy the hardest hit the first hit and the longest recover will be our tourism culture and sport industries right now facing a triple threat on our spectacular double bottom line I've often said in this house that we are responsible for the cultural fabric of the province of Ontario but also 75 billion dollars in economic activity and unfortunately we are now facing that triple threat first the public health crisis second the economic crisis and now third the social crisis and trying to make sure consumer behavior is not inhibited particularly as it pertains to our tourism and our cultural sectors 13 million dollars in marketing fund 350,000 of that will go to this members riding but we have continued to flow that money across the province 1 million dollars to Ottawa on Friday 1 million dollars to Brockville and Leeds Grenville area on Saturday over 350,000 dollars in muscoca on Sunday and of course speaker I'll be in blue mountain today and a Niagara Falls on Friday as we continue to support our tourism operators and those local communities thank you speaker thank you the next question member for Scarborough southwest thank you speaker my question is to the premier speaker since this government announced the childcare reopening in this province without ever talking to any operators any parents a C's people who actually operate in on the ground people who actually need childcare spaces without consulting with any of these people they decided suddenly with the three days notice to open childcare centers since then we have heard from parents who are worried sick they're worried about the future of their children we've heard from parents who have been told that that fees are going up we have been told that these parents who are already paying more than mortgage more than their rent we're now experiencing the highest childcare cost in this province speaker and now these childcare costs will go up we've also heard from essential workers people who this premier calls our heroes essential workers who are afraid of losing their spaces we're we're hearing from frontline workers who are losing their emergency childcare spaces and have no alternative my question is mr. Speaker will this government admit to the lack of a plan that's hurting families and step up with the funding need that childcare needs and make the recovery easier and safer for everyone thank you speaker there were squats to thank you very much mr. Speaker mr. Speaker as you know the minister very closely with the chief medical officer of health to put in place a plan that would support our childcare operators as they began to reopen up the member will know that while childcare centers are allowed to reopen they're not mandated to reopen they can only do so and should only do so when their workers are safe and when the people that they're taking care of are safe as well mr. Speaker to suggest that we didn't work with them is just simply wrong as you know this is a very important sector to us it's important to the economy as we start to reopen we understand how important childcare is for individuals who are returning to work funding has been put in place to ensure that childcare centers do not increase the costs to parents mr. Speaker we will continue to work very closely with the sector to make sure that our children are safe and equally importantly the people who provide the care are safe and equally important to the economy as we start to reopen up the community. Thank you. The member for university rose. Thank you. Thank you. Back to the premier. The government's lack of a childcare plan is hurting families and childcare operators. Jeff supervisor at friends daycare in my writing said the conservatives are going to reopen. Premier how can you expect childcare centers to provide childcare to parents so they can return to work if these childcare centers can't even afford to pay their own staff. Again again mr. Speaker I just said we worked very closely with the sector well in advance of the announcement that the sector could begin to open as you know that there was an emergency order put in place that would allow for essential workers to have the provision of childcare. We've advanced some of those sectoral guidance the minister working closely with the chief medical officer of health working with the minister of labor we put funding in place to ensure that the centers when they do decide to open can do so safely. We've expressed that it's important that all childcare workers are tested there's funding in place for PPE there's funding in place for healthcare. We've also expressed that we're working very closely with the sector mr. Speaker because as you know as we begin to open up the economy as the premier announced earlier today this is a very important sector and we want to make sure that the people providing services and the kids that they're taking care of are safe. Thank you mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Next question the member for Ottawa venue. I'm a senior director of Canada in a very important historical role in the francophone across the country have the right to the same quality of teaching that the English students this is to deal with inequality of government services that is offered in both official languages. This inequality exists elsewhere as well. It exists in the capacity of our Francophone parents to have access to legal aid in French the bill 161 gives the possibility to correct this inequality. Are you going to take this opportunity in order to guarantee that francophones and anglophones have access to legal aid of quality equivalent quality in the actual language of their choice wherever they live in the province. Thank you. Thank you mr. President. I want to thank the and happy birthday to improve access to justice in French and Ontario mr. Speaker this bill contains proposals bill 161 to improve the way the justice system operates every day to provide people faster more affordable access to justice and I'm very pleased that for the first time ever the proposed legislation would mandate legal aid Ontario to consider the needs of francophone individuals and communities when it is providing access to justice. Our government is proposing this legislative change in recognition of the importance of ensuring francontarians can access legal services in French in addition to the legislative proposals related to the legal aid services act the smarter and stronger justice act proposes amendments to the class proceedings act to improve notice to class members by directing that the notices be published in both English and French mr. Speaker hardly something that we should have to do in this day and age mr. Speaker this change will help ensure that francontarians receive proper notice of class proceedings in which they may be eligible to participate I'll have more to say on my supplementary supplementary question thank you mr. Speaker so I'm glad to hear what the minister has to say about the importance of francophone services and I'm calling of course on the government to support my proposed amendment to schedule 16 of bill 61 which will protect equal rights for both francophones in Ontario to access legal aid services in the official language of their choice it's very important that these rights are recognized in equality so will your government support this amendment during the clause by clause review of bill 161 tomorrow and I would take that as a really great birthday gift thank you very much the attorney general thank you mr. Speaker and I thank the member opposite for the question and the amendments deadline was last night so I have not had a chance to see them yet certainly we will review all of the proposed amendments from the opposition parties with this in mind with our commitment that every person in Ontario should have access to the justice system in the official language of their choice so I will look at the amendments the committee will look at the amendments our government will look at the amendments with that in mind I want to thank you for working with us through the justice committee thank you Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Speaker thank you the next question the member for Willowdale thank you very much mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of children community and social services young people are the future in this province but for decades youth from disadvantaged communities have faced significant barriers to succeeding in our society and in our economy we know these barriers aren't new mr. Speaker that in many cases COVID-19 has made these issues far worse at a time when Ontario is facing some of the most significant challenges in our history we must do everything we can to equip the next generation of leaders in communities across this province with the skills necessary to overcome the social and economic barriers that they face minister could you tell the house more about the recent announcement of the premier's council on equality and the positive impacts this will have for youth in Ontario Mr. Children Willowdale for the great question this morning our government is looking for a group of diverse leaders who will form our new premier's council on equality of opportunity the council will include young people between the ages of 18 and 29 also adults with expertise in areas such as community organizations not for profits and business and education the council is going to be chaired by Jamil Javani he's the province's advocate for community opportunities who the province was introduced to just a couple of weeks ago by the premier and we'll work with the government to ensure that young workers especially disadvantaged youth have the opportunity to succeed in Ontario's rapidly changing economy it'll engage directly with young people in communities across the province to identify strategies such as addressing many young people today such as completing an education or accessing stable employment we're going to work with our community partners and there are many that we're working with in the black youth action plan women's multicultural resources counselling centre of Durham and the writing of the minister of finance Goldilocks productions Thank you and the supplementary question Thank you speaker and thank you minister this collaboration between young people is crucially important with approximately 1 in 10 youth in Ontario between the ages of 15 and 24 not in work and not in education it is more important than ever to challenge the status quo and connect our young people to employment and the right training and supports to help them succeed that's why the work of this council is going to be crucially important and it's going to be important that they move quickly and decisively through you, are you able to tell us more about what our government and the premier's council on equality of opportunity will do to start addressing the barriers that prevent young people from succeeding in their full potential here in Ontario Minister Thanks again to the member from Willowdale for the question and thank you speaker our government recognizes the impact that COVID-19 and the outbreak in our province is having and the need to move quickly to address concerns and to take action speaker and that's why we announced one and a half million dollars in funding to organizations like some of the ones that I mentioned earlier that will provide urgent COVID-19 supports and address the immediate needs of black children youth and families in the province moving forward the council's first priority will be to work collaboratively with government with communities and young people to identify additional strategies to support vulnerable and marginalized youth to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak I'd like to take this opportunity again to encourage all youth who are interested in being a voice for their community to apply before the June 18th deadline that's Thursday and have the opportunity to advocate and provide insight to government as one of the council's youth advocates Thank you speaker The next question the member for Windsor to come see The next question is to the government house leader good morning sir Speaker as you know good things grow in Ontario but what people don't know or pay little attention to is that those who help ensure that good things grow aren't getting the basic supports and protection they need to keep themselves safe Hundreds of migrant farm workers in southwestern Ontario are ill The government refuses to ensure these essential workers have the pandemic pay they deserve Speaker when will this government step up and help Ontario's agricultural community with a real plan for migrant workers fighting COVID-19 Government house leaders Thank you very much Mr Speaker as you know we worked very closely let me just say I agree with the member this is obviously a very important sector my home town of Markham Stoval is home to many workers and they do a very very valuable work for the people of Ontario but as you know we've been working very closely with the agri-food sector to ensure that resources have been put in place that there is additional funding to ensure both the provision of PPE to increase and improve hygiene and sanitation standards on sites I know at the same time the minister of labour had mentioned previously that over 60 site visits had been excuse me over 200 site visits with over 60 orders Mr Speaker the member is correct it is a very important sector that's why we're treating it as importantly as we are we have put in place funding to help those farms that may need additional supports when it comes to housing and we will continue to do that work Mr Speaker thank you and the supplementary question the member for Sudbury my question is also the premier not only is this government failing those who grow our food but also found the workers helped ensure that throughout this crisis we had food on our table the pandemic made clear that the vital work done by Ontario's frontline retail workers but while some companies did step up with pandemic pay that's now also being cut in the middle of the pandemic and now workers are being told to make ends meet with a low minimum wage that this government also rolled back this week these workers still face threats every day they are still heroes and after putting their lives on the line for months these workers deserve a paycheck that reflects their hard work and their sacrifice we're now in a new normal workplaces have changed the risks workers face every day have changed their jobs and responsibilities have changed going back to normal is not enough Ontario needs real change to help recover from this crisis why won't this government step up for low wage workers and the families they support and increase our minimum wage the government also Mr. Speaker this government has been working right from the beginning to ensure that the people who provide services in small, medium and large enterprises are well supported that's why we've reduced taxes across the sector we've improved the standards we play standards for our employees Mr. Speaker specifically to the question of migrant workers we understand how important they are to the agri-food sector in the province of Ontario frankly we could not accomplish all that we do in this sector without them that's why the minister of labor working in consultation with the minister of agriculture moved very quickly to ensure that there were sectoral guidance in the sector we provided additional funding to make sure that the health and safety of these very valuable workers could be improved there's been over 200 site visits over 60 orders Mr. Speaker is there more to do absolutely this new normal probably for a long period of time that's why the ministers will continue to work very closely with their partners to make sure that we enhance safety and security of the people who come here and do valuable work for the people of the province of Ontario thank you very much the next question the member for Carlton Mr. Speaker before I begin I just want to give a very special shout out to my summer intern Catherine Colbert who I know is watching live Mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of municipal affairs and housing COVID-19 and the need to shelter in place has shown our province how important it is that every Ontario has a place to call home and I'm proud that this minister is working to make that a reality the various programs administered through his ministry are making a positive impact not just for the people in my riding of Carlton but for people across Ottawa and Ontario could the honorable minister please explain how this government has increased funding to our various housing initiatives and how they're making an impact through these unprecedented times thank you questions to the minister of municipal affairs and housing thanks speaker and I want to thank the member for Carlton for the question and for her tremendous advocacy both in her riding and in the Ottawa area great job our government has made it a priority speaker to invest new money in our communities and to partner with the federal government on new projects our ministry invested $148 million to help our most vulnerable in response to COVID-19 through the social service relief fund in 2020-2021 we are also investing an additional $55.7 million into programs like the national housing strategy and the community homelessness prevention initiative in fact this year our government will invest close to $1 billion through our community housing renewal strategy to help build, contain and grow our community housing system in our province and to help people experiencing homelessness thank you speaker and the supplementary question thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the honorable member for that response you know it's a team effort Mr. Speaker and the reason I can advocate for the people in the areas because I'm supported and surrounded by such fantastic ministers like Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry Minister of Health and Long-Term Care and also Minister of Heritage Tourism, Culture and Sport Mr. Speaker through you we know that the federal government has renewed its interest in the housing space and made funds available through the national housing strategy could the minister explain how our government has partnered with the federal government to leverage these funds and continue to help Ontarians find homes great question Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing another great question from a great member last December speaker federal minister Hussein and I announced the signing of the $1.4 billion Canada Ontario housing benefit and I'm proud that our government was the first in Canada to sign this bilateral agreement under the national housing strategy the Canada Ontario housing benefit is a portable benefit and it will help Ontarians find homes in their communities that meet their needs and their budget as of June 1st 1600 families have already received direct assistance through this program and by the end of the year that number could grow to as many as 50 to 100 families over the nine years of the program speaker more and more Ontarians will be helped each year ensuring that we can continue to help low-income Ontarians stay close to their supports member for thank you mr. Speaker my question is for the premier speaker it's been a rocky few months of emergency distance remote learning and we know that a return to in-class instruction this fall is not going to be easy students are going to need new supports they're going to need mental health workers they're going to need extra time with educational assistance and they are going to need much smaller or safer distancing schools are going to need PPE and more staff to do the extra cleaning yet despite all of those looming challenges we are months overdue for school board funding and frontline teachers and other education ministers are telling us they haven't even been consulted on any of the plans for reopening mr. Speaker with the mess that this government has made in child care reopening how can we trust them to deliver a safe and orderly return to the classes for Ontario's two million students have the government notes leader well thank you very much mr. Speaker I guess I'm a little bit more optimistic than the member opposite I think that our partners in education have done a wonderful job dealing with the emergency that evolved in COVID I know that my kids have well not ideally mr. Speaker but have been online with their teachers quite often doing their lessons and doing some great work mr. Speaker so I guess I'm a little bit more optimistic I'm a little bit more grateful for the hard work that our partners in education have done dealing with the COVID crisis mr. Speaker and I know that we will continue to work very closely with them the minister in particular has been working with with our partners in the education system to ensure that when kids do return to school that it's done safely that parents have the confidence that the schools that they return to will be safe we have resources in place should parents decide not to to send their kids back to school I know the minister of infrastructure has been working to increase broadband across the province we will be ready because we have been ready and we will not fail our students to never have and we never will member for the ski walk james bay the supplementary question so speaking my question is their premier the minister of education likes to talk about using virtual resources to keep students engaged but in northern Ontario they don't have access to technology that makes that happen speaker over 120,000 northern Ontario lacked access to reliable broadband of which 70% resides in north eastern Ontario and while the minister of education speaks of equitable access to educations to students in the remote james bay coast have to carefully use the limited band with withshare with health care public service and households speaker to showcase virtual resource with thousands of students in northern Ontario lack the technology to use them is contradictory at best can the premier explain to students in northern Ontario that do not have access to reliable internet at home what equitable access to education means and the government mostly the member is correct we want to make sure students across the province of Ontario have access to the highest quality education system available that is something we have been working on since we came to government I know we have talked constantly about disparity between urban and rural it is something we have been focused on that is why the minister of infrastructure has been working so hard to bring forward a plan that would increase broadband access across the province of Ontario the minister of energy for instance has made sure we have brought down a hydro rate so people can afford during this covid crisis we understand this covid crisis happened and we are dealing with it and the minister is working very closely with his partners in northern Ontario with the boards in northern Ontario to make sure students there whether it is through busing whether it is return to school those kids have the best quality education system there should be no difference between urban and rural and that is what this government is focused on making sure that all kids have the best quality education the next question the member for sarnie lampton thank you speaker my questions to the minister of natural resources and forestry I am proud that our government has been actively monitoring the impact of covid 19 Ontario's economy and taking action to support our job creators and workers in the economy and many northern and rural communities generating over 18 billion dollars in revenue and supporting approximately 155,000 direct and indirect jobs this vital role this industry plays is especially evident during the covid 19 outbreak providing essential forest products for hygiene food and medical supplies as well as packaging and shipping products can the minister update the house on how our government is supporting this sector and the heart of the forestry thank you speaker and I want to thank the great member sarnie lampton for that question as we safely and gradually reopen the province our government is doing everything possible to support businesses and protect jobs we recognize the importance of the forestry sector and the critical economic role that it plays particularly in northern and rural communities that's why my ministry moved quickly to ensure that the forestry sector was identified as an essential service I recently committed completed virtual consultations with leaders from the sector we discuss their issues and concerns as Ontario reopens the economy during the covid 19 outbreak within guidelines from the chief medical officer of health we're working with our partners to understand what's needed to protect and support people and our economy as we move forward I will have more to say in supplementary thank you well thank you minister and it's great to hear that our forestry sector with your leadership is stepping up to the plate helping Ontario get through this outbreak I was not just surprised to learn the forestry companies have donated N95 masks to local hospitals and emergency service teams and they have even hired new employees to assist in their efforts during the covid 19 outbreak something I know the people of Ontario and our government are committed to is protecting our environment we want to be responsible stewards we want to preserve our beautiful natural environment for generations to come wood products are renewable resource and the industry works hard to ensure that forests are sustainably managed for the well being of the ecosystem our economy and our own enjoyment minister how are we helping the industry maintain its emphasis on sustainability during this difficult time minister well thank you again speaker and thank you again to the great member from Ontario's forestry and our government is stepping up to the plate as well they step to the plate up to the plate ensuring the sustainability of our forestry reforestation which is a key principle of Ontario's forest management system our government has made 3.5 million dollars available to help put protective measures in place for workers who plant trees this season this will help the industry expand existing facilities and modify these measures to ensure that those helping to renew Ontario forests can work in a safe environment during the COVID-19 outbreak with these measures we're also securing the planting of 70 million trees this year in Ontario forests during these unprecedented times our government is committed to supporting the forest industry and the communities that depend on it by protecting forestry workers and forestry forestry. Thank you and I hope the opposition will join us in supporting the next question the member for St. Catharines thank you speaker my questions to the Premier there's nothing more important than a family knowing their loved ones are safe while Niagara reopens for the second phase this week in St. Catharines Jennifer's mother is receiving home care she is concerned that the local care provider she has are hearing to weak PPE guidelines and only providing one mask per day for her mom's PSW the same PSW can visit up to 10 homes each day that's the same amount of masks Mr. Speaker that McDonald's offers to their employees for one shift through you Mr. Speaker to the Premier was your family member receiving home care from a PSW would you feel comfortable knowing that their PPE was being reused and the same mask throughout the day while the PSW was visiting multiple residents and different homes would you feel comfortable Minister of Health Thank you very much Speaker and thank you to the member for the question as part of our comprehensive plan for the communities and to end hallway health care we are modernizing our system of home and community care to bring it into the 21st century that's being said we know that people who are doing these visitations be there whether they're nurses personal support workers or whomever they are need to have the appropriate personal protective equipment in order to be able to do that for their own safety and for the safety of the people that they're caring for we've been dealing with throughout COVID-19 is ensuring a safe and steady supply of PPE but we've had Ontario companies that have stepped up to the plate to assist us and they are doing things like manufacturing gowns, hand sanitizers, face masks and everything else in between we are supplying amounts to the home and community care suppliers that they need if they need further supplies they can contact us and we will send it to them within a day there should be no necessity for anybody having to re-wear a mask to many, many community people that they see in the community that is something that we said from the beginning was to prepare and protect the health and safety of all Ontarians and we're continuing to do so especially with respect to the provision of PPE for pandemic purposes we have it in our warehouse thank you very much that concludes our question period for this morning


YouTube realized the game here.  Y'all.  Oh Evil almo here it is You thought you knew everything about almo question mark Well, you're wrong. I always knew almo was evil, bro. He was always too good. Okay. This is how you think of almo Almo loves you. Hey, let me ask four fingers.  Okay now see more of the real almo. Oh my god. Okay. This is the ugly truth behind almo And what he's like behind scenes when he's not on Sesame Street, bro. He got a gun So brown mo Yo, look at the whole squad is evil, bro. All right. It's like the the heck is that bro like a vampire elbow Okay, now this is just getting weird man What am I watching? Okay, these are some of the images of almo. Let me tell you about what almo has done Yo, what? Is he I don't even know what's going on. Oh my god.  Hey That's not cool, bro. They finally got almo.  You got that coward face. Okay. This was with the last thing he said before he left Almo knows where you live. Oh god. All right. Hopefully he doesn't know our address or yours Okay, everyone's happy until almo. Oh, he escaped from prison Almo missing bruh He escaped from the pen attention my boy is out The cause panic people panic brother in his favor Betty looked for almo, but was never found a tail. Oh, this is not good Wait, what the heck is that? I know where you live. Oh gosh Almo was found at back at a killing spree, bro. He got dual. Oh, all right now.  Um, Freddy Krueger. I will get my revenge.  I mean he kind of do deserve it though. He's pretty evil Someone told me to remember this No matter.  Bro, what am I watching?  Oh gosh resident resident evil almo. I was body was destroyed Who knows what happened to his spirit Some say it's gone to hell, but I say it's still out there.  All right movie now next to flipper We got nightmare on Sesame Street dot MOV. Oh grab your popcorn, man. This is a movie right here Look out the way is that the Warner Bros. I don't like this little intro Nightmare on one two three Sesame Street Loki it feels like we're watching a little movie Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Yeah, right. Oh, I'm like what the heck is that? Almo's eyeball it does got a gun there will be blood.  Oh No Oscar Poor Oscar. It's gonna rot in the dumpster can now. Heck even is that why did you kill him? What? That was pretty graphic Muppet murder massacre What now he's celebrating Bro, you really you really celebrate it now. Yeah, well The cast in order of the fatality the count big bird early bird Oscar the grout scrover with special guy Samuel Jackson Oh, that was Samuel Jackson That he murdered why would he murder such a legend? Right, this is just done. Lost his mind These scenes of violence are brought to you by the letter V That makes sense V for violence the end and shocked all right and for the final torture by little Lou This is evil almo To this is not correlated with the first time we seen this is a whole different one I think I believe evil almo all over the world that must become a huge hit But do people know who he really is This is what you think about okay, so it started similar from the first one from where it seems like Ha ha ha that tickles I Remember tickle me almo that robotic one that thing was creepy, but look at this Yo, he murdered big bird. I Mean big bird is a big target, you know big bird was killed on Sunday and no one knew about what happened But could it be almo who did it? Almo was caught killing and was sent to jail. Oh Dang, he needs some milk, bro He escaped jail and that's when people went carsy. I think he meant crazy. Oh That does look pretty crazy to me People don't know where he is I Didn't know is that he escaped then Oh, he on the news. He on the TV again for the second time. He was on the news and people found him in New York City Bro, what is that truckie? Almo was killed no way they actually killed him. I thought he couldn't die And he's that's what they said in the first one People say they still see him in the night in their nightmares and sometimes see him real life. Yeah, right That is that is cap if you ever see almo all I can say is Say it scream No, bro, we gonna fight if I ever see almo in the streets. I'm gonna square up, bro Ain't no way. I'm not running from no little doll We won't have to fight them in there All right, you guys well that was a dark evil twist the side of almo Let me let me know what you guys think of this side of almo because as we all know we know him as that happy jolly tickle the shovel, but today we seen his dark evil side and It was pretty darn dark. I never imagined it would be this dark All right, well, thank y'all for watching and I'll see you guys in the next one


Hello GoCon Giants family, welcome. My name is Eric Coffey and today I want to discuss six reasons why I believe now is the absolute best time to get started and embark on your journey into the world of federal contracting. Even better than when I got started in 2007. Even better than when Patricia Bonilla SBA Ward when I got started. Even better than Alex Hernandez who's now got 50 million in bonding. And even better than my most recent guest, David Ramajan who turned the word joint ventures into a household name. So stay tuned for this upcoming video of six reasons why I believe now is the best time to embark on your federal contracting journey. All right, today, thank you for joining me over here on the big screen. We want to discuss the six reasons why I believe it is the best time to get started in the world of federal contracting. One is because let's talk about it. The unemployment rate has now hit a 50 year low. Even though they're talking about hiring is slowing, that's someone spinning it, we're in a spin cycle. The unemployment rate has still hit a 50 year low. What does that mean? There's no one, absolutely there's no one out there who is watching this video right now in the present time that can't drive somewhere in their communities and see a for hiring sign. My mom said something to me the other day. She goes, look, they just don't want jobs. And we all know what that means. If you don't have a job, that's because you don't want a job because everyone and their mama is hiring.  And that's also becoming a really big problem over in the DC area where Amazon moved in and started paying people $150,000 a year. So again, the economy is booming. Even Popeye's chicken ran a chicken.  Number two reason the ADA program has been in a steady decline in participation. Again, the ADA program has been in a steady decline in participation over the last 10 years. Studies show that over the last few years they've recognized that. And so there's been an uptick in the number of participants. But if we look back at when I got started in 2007, 2008, there were more than 8,000. Yeah, eight. There were more than 8,000 participants in the ADA program and we were still able to manage to survive and thrive and do well in this program. So again, with the program on a constant decline in participation, that means what? The amount of contracts that are going to small businesses are going to a smaller, a few and fewer pile of particular companies or pile of industries. So again, with the amount of people participating, declining, the amount of people who are actually in the program are getting more and more of the piece of pie. The federal government in 2016, this was created and you're probably saying, why are you putting up an article for 2016? Because in order to know where we're at and to be appreciative of, we need to know where we came from. So before this article, let me go ahead and we wanna pull this up, right here in this particular article, this was put out by the Women in Business blog. So if you wanna check them out and verify it, it's here, the link. But it says in the article that before the American Express partnered with one of my recent podcast guests, I'm gonna pull her up, Lordess Martin Rosa, when they partnered with her and they partnered with WIP, the Women's Association of Public Policy, when they partnered with them, the Women in Business program, was doing less than 5%, which was their goal. So again, it says in the article, at the time they were doing just 3.4% of the federal contracts. And that was short changing women on business owners. So what happened? They got together, they put together this agreement, they went back and they lobbied Washington and it says, again, as of, where is, as of 2016, it was the first time in history where the federal government actually met their 5% contract and goal for women on small businesses in 20 years. So again, for all the women on businesses out there, this was a historic moment. Now, let's go back and take it even further. It says in 2013, due to the efforts of WIP, their coalition partners, they signed into the National Defense Authorization Act and which removed caps for eligible contract awards on the SBA Women on Program that were capped at 4 million and 6.5 million. So they removed the caps from the program. And in addition to that, they passed a new law giving statutory authority to award sole source contracts. So all of these wonderful things are happening out there for the women on business program as well. The HUBZone program, the HUBZone Council, by the way, is doing a great job of leading legislative priorities in terms of educating us, helping us become more informed about the HUBZone actual program. They are doing, making leaps and bounds in terms of what legislation they need to be proposed, working with Congress, working with people in the government to identify why is it that the government is not meeting their goals in certain category management criteria for initiating the HUBZone program. But they have already started making progress in their efforts, helping to put together some instrumental law. And here are some of the progress they've got on their website that you can find. So again, the HUBZone program itself is making strides. The number five reason federal contract spending hits its five-year high. I'm gonna say it again. Federal contract spending hits a five-year high. So let's look at, hold on, let me go on over to the screen. Let's pull it up, do-do-do-do-do-do. All right, this is a report that was issued by Federal News Network, and it says right here, that federal contract hit its five-year high. In 2018, they eclipsed $560 billion in contract spending, the highest level since 2010, where it was 562, so we're just $2 billion off. But it talks about also spending has increased in terms of the GWACs. So the GWAC spending is up. And then a smaller business spending increased along with the overall spending. IDIQs have been outpacing definitive contracts. What does that mean? So the IDIQs, which are the Indefinite Delivery and Definite Quantity. So these are the long multi-year contracts have been steadily increasing as well. And these are great opportunities for people out there, like you and I, to partner with or JV with another firm who may have the qualifications that we're lacking to grab for some of these long-term contract vehicles. Because if the government keeps at this pace, right, this is where the money's at. And then, last but not least, simplified acquisition has been steadily rising. So as you know, simplified acquisition, those are the smaller projects that we can do, right, with our own means, our own resources, our own team. So again, simplified acquisition has been increasing as well. So when you couple all that together, that's a triple net positive benefit, if you ask me. And then let's keep going. Let's keep going. I'm excited. All right. And then, reason number six, the best reason of them all. For the first time in history, the U.S. government small business, I'm gonna quote small business in quotations, but the U.S. government small business program eclips $100 billion. So again, in the 2017 year, they hit $105 billion with small businesses. Never has that been seen. That's a historical mark. It says, eight of the agencies received the A plus grade for hitting their goals. Three got a B and one received a C. So people are hitting their goals. They're spending money with people that look like me and you out there. 2018, they did $120 billion. So again, they are spending the money with people. I mean, when I was in this particular market, and again, I know when people started saying, well, Eric, the value of money was different back then and this and that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's all great, Danny. But again, the dollars in the sense are here and they make sense. Hear me again. The dollars in the sense are here, right? And don't they make sense? They make sense to me. So if they don't make sense to you, then maybe you should tune off and watch somebody else. But again, they eclipse $120 billion in 2018. So it's the first time in history that they've exceeded $100 billion, which means what? A bigger piece of pie for all of us out there. So where does that leave us? Right now, you're at the red light. So you're stopped, right? And then you've got the yellow light, which means what? Caution. And then the green light needs to go. So I'm not doing green, yellow, red. I'm saying you're at red. I need to get you over to green. It brings me to a quote that one of my recent podcast guests gave me. He said it came from his grandmother. When we went back and did the research, I think it came from actual Albert Einstein. But it said, does do what you can with what you have, where you're at, but do it right now. So again, that's do what you can with what you have, where you're at and do it right now. And that quote came from Theodore Roosevelt. I wanna encourage everyone out there. This thing is growing like wildfire. Our organization is growing. The people are winning more and more contracts. We had our first student when they're a million dollar, not our first student, but we had a student for his first time when a million, just a contract just shy of a million dollars in the month of September. And we're gonna have more and more of these types of success stories to share with people moving forward. But I just thought it would make sense to showcase and highlight all of the good and positive things that are happening out right now in the federal marketplace so that that way, maybe if you were thinking about it or you're on the edge, this would help push you over. All right, thanks so much for watching as always. We will be looking forward to the upcoming podcast every Tuesday on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple iTunes, wherever you find your podcast listening.


Hey friends today, we are hanging out at Disney Springs And it is October so we are in the full-blown Halloween season and Disney released a bunch of spooky snacks and also some really cool Halloween entertainment I wanted to come out and show you and then on top of that We have Gideons to look forward to and October is their birthday month so they have tons of amazing surprises I can't wait to go over everything with you So we're gonna eat some food do some shopping and have a spooky Disney Springs kind of night. Anyways Let's go do this It is such a beautiful day out today. You couldn't ask for a better October day It's in the low 80s and we've got tons of wind and I'm really loving it here The only downside is is we still got some smoke in the air from the Canadian wildfires other than that I'm happy to be here today Like I mentioned Gideons is celebrating its birthday and all month long They're gonna be having some awesome specials and even some really cool merch that benefit The Liberation Cat House, which is a nonprofit organization, but for their birthday month itself They actually are gonna have four menus They're gonna have something new every single week and we are in the first week October 1st And I want to show you the menu. It's gonna be so good I can't wait to go over all the details. I Think we're gonna hop right in line at Gideons because there's no virtual queue And it looks like it's probably about a 10 maybe 15 minute wait Here is the first menu for the month of October and we've got Benedict Piccadilly on the front Who's gonna guide us through this cat charity month and we're gonna have three more menus released The next menu comes out October 9th and then the 16th and then the 23rd And it's gonna have a special treat every single week and I'm so excited This is the menus are gonna be collectible. So they're limited one per customer But here's the cookies of the month. They've got the Frankenstein and then the Bride of Frankenstein and Also some really cool cake slices. So I think we're gonna get them all Before Gracie I was actually a cat person myself. I had three cats. I had Dexter I had Rita which I named them both after one of my favorite TV shows And then I had snowball and then I met Gracie and I just fell in love with Gracie now I didn't have my cats with me when I moved to Florida But Gracie was my first dog and it's just something cats are very strong cats are very strong and dogs I don't know some dogs are strong But I just look at Gracie and I feel like she needs me she needs me I Realized sometimes I never actually show you how much things cost at Gideon's because they don't have the prices like on the menus So I wanted to show you the inside menu all of the cookies are six dollars each The cake slices are nine dollars each and then they have some limited time offerings Like the coffee cake cookie is only available in the morning and it's there until it's sold out Which is only six dollars and then they have the dark coffee cake cookie Which is available at sunset and that one's only six dollars to and then they have coffee Well the Gideon's brew house and they're six dollars each Alrighty I got the goods and I can't wait to show you everything I got I did get a lot But that is because I am kind of excited like I love October I love spooky stuff look at my look at my shirt look at this doesn't this fit perfect It reminds me of like old-school like Vintage Halloween, but it's hocus-pocus. I love the pumpkins and the bats if it's perfect for Gideon's Roosevelt's knocked it out of the park But yeah, let's dive in and see what delicious things await inside this bag. I Think this is actually my biggest Gideon's haul yet like I don't think I've ever spent this much money and one single trip to Gideon's and I'm so happy about it. Look at this wait till I show you what's inside here Benedict Piccadilly has his own eight by ten print and it's actually signed by Steve the owner of Gideon's himself And these are fifty dollars and the proceeds go to the liberation cat house And I got two of them because I'm gonna give away one of them to my friend who actually has a black cat So I thought he would like it a lot and I just donated a hundred dollars to the Liberation cat house and I actually I want to show up. I'm gonna pull up their Instagram look at that. That's their Instagram and it's so cool that Gideon's I'm gonna follow Gideon's is Really saving some cat's lives here. I like it I feel like Disney is really missing an opportunity to have like a lazy river throughout Disney Springs Can you imagine just floating through here with tubes? But then again, it wouldn't look as pretty though because then it would just be Springful of people in tubes like you probably it would probably be like one of those videos where you see nothing But like inflatable tubes in the water, you know what I mean Do you know how exciting this is a new menu every single week for the whole month of October? I am so excited. We've got new cookies. We've got new cake slices. Oh, and we also have the French toast Coffee coming back. So I got one of those two the the big one French toast coffee or cold brew Much too good. I didn't even look to see what the cookies look like yet. I'm sure they look like the same thing last year They usually bring these back every single Halloween, but they always tweak the ingredients a little bit And you have the Frankenstein and the bride of Frankenstein and they both come in cookies and cake slices So we have two cookies and two cake slices and I think I'm gonna start with Frankenstein lips, which is this cookie right here. Look at this. It's a mash-up of Oreo and different chocolates and M&Ms and the bride of Frankenstein is the same exact thing, but it has golden Oreos instead. So here we go Frankenstein lives see Look at that.  There are so much Happening inside the cookie itself, but I love it and make sure you guys let me know which one you think you'd like better Do you think you'd love the Frankenstein lives or the bride of Frankenstein and speaking of that? I think I'm gonna dive into this one. I'll let you know which one I like more too I'm definitely only gonna be taking one bite of each item and then putting it back in the bag and saving it There we go. Look at that. I just fold them right back up and then Put it right back in here And then I put them in the freezer when I'm done and then here is the other cookie that I have this one is the Bride of Frankenstein. Oh, it's floating away Things I mean a windy day today. Yeah, there it is the bride of Frankenstein. Look at this. Oh All right, here we go, and this is how the cookie crumbles Wow Much too good. Huh, I could tell you let's get let's give it a bite Hands down. I am a team bride of Frankenstein. This was phenomenal I mean, I like the other one too, but I love golden Oreos and I loved it so much In fact, I might take it a second bite. Oh, hey Oh, I didn't even see it there. I want to be in the video. Yeah, yeah, because I already oh man. I'm recording the whole time This is my friend. This is my friend Blake. I wasn't prepared. I wasn't either. I don't know. I was recording I just walked off and here is my friend Blake and There is the print for you my friend. I'm so excited. So we have a black cat Yeah, I'm just Bjorn and that was the first thing we had to do We were just casually coming and then my friend over here Nate wanted to be like, oh good to see you I Was coming out and I saw you in line and I was talking about and he was like I have a black cat I'm like, oh man, you got to have this. Yep, and it's signed by Steve. I had no idea Steve signed it. Yeah I don't know if you know this. They're only doing one of these per week. Yeah Yep, and you'll have yep every single week a new menu and new food. Yeah, there's a special treat each week I'm happy man That's the way That's so funny. I'm glad I got to give them that and yeah, the cookies are good. I'm all I'm team Bride of Frankenstein That it was just so good and the golden Oreos they put like chunks of Oreos in both of them But now I just want to show you the cake slices. I don't think I'm gonna eat them I think I might just put them in the bag and take them home But at least I get to show you or maybe I'll take a dip. Maybe maybe a little bite A lot of people always ask me why I like getting in so much and of course they make very delicious cakes and cookies But it's also their branding. It's so awesome. Like look at this protect the cake slice We don't use a ton of sugar in our butter creams and they can break down quickly so refrigerate I just love that and yeah, we're gonna dive in. Let's see what's in here. Which one is this one? Oh I think we see the Frankenstein. Look at that. That is a nice looking cake and look at the top there Oh, it's got M&Ms on it. Oh, it's a very windy day. We're gonna lose that one and then that's it right there Look at that chunks of M&M in the middle there. These are two good-looking cake slices I mean, I think they come with a fork right in there, too. I'm actually gonna where is that fork? Where'd you go? I lost the fork. Oh, no I at least have to try the cake slice the Bride of Frankenstein one just a little bit. It's a little pin share It is so good. I'm definitely gonna be having that for dessert later on and now we have a bag full of cakes and cookies This is I got super excited. I got a lot, but you know, maybe I'll meet up with some friends and see if they want to Maybe I want to try something Next stop is up near the world of Disney and over to Amoret's because they have a lot of really cool desserts in there And I can't wait to show you some of them like look at this money It's a little tongue twister mummy Mickey Mouse stone cake I don't know why it was a tongue twister mummy Mickey Mouse mummy Mickey Mummy Mickey Mouse say it like three times fast mummy Mickey Mouse mummy Mickey Mouse mummy Mickey Mouse I did a good job. Oh my lord. It's sixty five dollars Mummy Mickey money I Had all intentions of buying that Mickey mummy cake, but I did not know it was sixty five dollars I thought it was gonna be the smaller ones So I'm kind of thinking maybe I should still get it It is a huge cake like I know you see it like on the picture They are but it's bigger than my head and I think maybe I'll get it and share it with some friends And it'd be cool to show you and plus I love peanut butter.  They even put the tissue paper in there. I think you guys already know what I got But I'm gonna show you anyway Boy look at this cake. What a fancy box. They put it in too. You got a unravel it here take the lid off There we go, and then I think this connects. Oh, there. Oh, there it goes this way. Oh, look at that Mickey Mouse is peeking out right now. Wow. I got to be careful with this because it is like 60 $69 so I don't want to oh, yeah, there it is Doesn't that look so cool. I can't wait to cut into it and see what it looks like in the middle Okay, now that we got a little sneak peek of the cake itself I'm gonna put it back in its box I'm gonna protect it and I'm gonna make sure it had a no harm comes to it and Yeah, then we're gonna go. I don't know where we're gonna go eat it I want to meet up with my friends and share it with them So I think we're going out tonight. Maybe to get something to eat or to Halloween Horonites, can you imagine bringing a Mickey mummy cake to Halloween Horonites? I think I might Now I want to show you guys some of the Halloween like activities that they have and one of the things I saw that's really cool is a Pumpkin it's like a roaming pumpkin with a witch and it's basically kind of like a mobile DJ and it's really awesome So I'm hoping that it will pop out over here because you got goosebumps there You've got the Hulu special a lot of cool stuff Oh my lord, I think it's coming out right now. Holy moly. Oh Wow Look at this Hi pumpkin Oh Wow, look at that and with the fall into magic in the background there The pumpkin DJ I think is so fun I think the pumpkin DJ comes out six seven and eight o'clock at night and You can see them all around but mostly up near Bibi Bopiti boutique or where the other side of world The Disney is and I think Disney Springs needs that they need more like active entertainment The stages are great where you can just like stand and like watch a show But you need stuff going all the way around the like the springs You know I mean like you don't want people just gathering in one area You want people to be walking around going in the stores. So I think a mobile DJ is literally perfect All right, I don't think I could take the pressure of carrying around all these delicate cakes I got the cake slice from Gideon's in there. I've got the whole Mickey Mummy cake and Yeah, I'm gonna take it home and share it with some of my friends. I just thought it was so cool looking You know, you ever just say, you know what? I got to get it Yeah, and I'm happy I did You raise me up So I can climb the mountains You raise me up Whoop Now I didn't stop and get Gracie pup cakes or pup cups because she's got a couple of them at home I was just here a couple weeks ago So we'll head home see Gracie drop off our stuff and then kind of figure out a plan and where we're gonna eat this cake at I Have one job and that is to make sure this cake makes it to its destination safely I'm not taking any chances There you go nice and safe There she is little miss Gracie girl. Oh, I got a treat for you. I Got treat. Who's a good girl? Wow. I didn't have to tell you to sit look at her You ready? Gracie doesn't catch things.  You can get it go ahead You can totally reach that Gracie you can totally get that cookie. You do not need me to get you that cookie Yeah, you go and look There's the balloon Still still hanging strong Okay, hey, hey, we're going for a walk All right now that we got Gracie her little treat and it's so funny Like I said, she doesn't even realize the balloons up there I think we're gonna Halloween horror nights But I want to stop and I want to share the cake that we got with my friends and I brought the Gideon's too So we're just gonna have a little pre Gideon's cookie cake party pre HHN party I don't even know if we're gonna get some cookies Jason you you've never had Gideon's before right? All right, I want to see your your reaction to Gideon's Is it the golden Oreo one? Cheers. Cheers. Oh, oh, yeah Now you're hooked Gideon's every month Every month and look now you can have some of that one too and you got to have some of the cake Nate left this cake at Sean's house. So I am helping myself to a nice little bud. It looks so good Nate doesn't even know I'm taking this video. He left his camera here Mmm.  I always say this Loki Gideon's cakes might be better than their cookies There it is. Oh Do you have a knife? Yeah. Oh, you do. Do we have any plates or uh, I don't know what to do I Honestly don't want to cut it. It is so beautiful. Like look at this. I'm gonna try pulling it out I'm very careful. I'm very careful It is beautiful my computer all right Jason you cut Oh, oh, wow Nice just like that Oh, look at that smooth slice There we go. Oh my lord. This is so satisfying Yo, what is y'all that is the way? Wow We got the spatula. There we go. There we go Oh, don't lose his eye. Oh the spatula is too big That's a real spatula. Maybe use the knife use the knife. Yep. Yep. Yeah, go knife. We have a cake spatula Oh, here we go. This is it Wow, oh wow actually holy moly I'll take some right here Thank you. Oh, wow. Holy moly. It does look really really good in there Wow, look at that. Look at the layers peanut butter caramel I don't know. I don't know if that cake could be this idiot's cake Really, but I vlogged myself eating this cake on his camera. Did you really? That is so funny. This was the cake that I used for the photos. This cake is so good. Yeah It's so good. We'll have to see this better. I know I'm already kind of excited That is we have to get the cake and the Oreo. Yeah, you got to get a cake We're having a cake party here like legit Like this is so funny Why are you making this over? This one's better. That's better. That one's better. No way. Sorry. No, I'm sorry I love that. I don't like peanut butter like that. No, I I ate it at this angle that it was good It's so much better. There's no way. Oh, yes. Yeah, why do you take such an aggressive scoop? Hey, why so aggressive? Jase and I are all on agree. It's the Gideon's cake is better. That cake wasn't all right. I'm gonna try this one Everybody's going on the Gideon's I'm I'm gonna try this again Yeah, y'all y'all took all the Oreo out Oh boy I still have to go with this one. I mean, I just don't I'm not a big chocolate guy, but this cake slice didn't even make that You grow up What do you mean enough of the cookie and cake business? We made our way to universal studios, orlanda. What a random night I'm so sorry. I just thought it was so funny How we were hanging out just eating the leftover cakes, but I feel like the mickey cake was way better Only because I'm not that big into the chocolate cake, you know And uh, yeah, we're gonna head on in and do some halloween horror nights and it's kind of relaxed for a little bit It's a fun night. I love coming out during october reminds me of being back home in pennsylvania And going out to like all the different haunts like up at the circle drive-in movie theater and stuff like that So and this weather is amazing Just to give you a heads up. I'm sure this probably won't be in the title of the video And I'm sure there are some people out there who don't know what halloween horror nights is But this is a uh a kind of a graphic or mature haunt Uh, there's scare zones and houses. So viewer discretion advised them. I mean, it's not too bad But still though, I always want to get that little warning just in case. I mean, I love it. It's a good time. Look it It's a good time in there Oh, wow, this is actually really beautiful. That's a great photo Now we are going to be walking through some of the scare zones So you might see some scare actors pop on scare us and we might hop in online for a house or two And you can't film inside the house But I was here for a media event with universal studios Orlando when it first opened and I was allowed to film In the houses. So if we do walk through any of the houses I'll just insert some of the clips from my original pov Just so you guys can feel like you're hanging out with us. You know what I mean? That's kind of how I always want my videos.  I tell you I think we're gonna make our way back to Uh Diagon alley, but we have to walk through another scare zone Wow They're trying to move me, but at the same time they're trying to scare me What the heck I didn't say that over there coming from We were hoping to make it to Diagon alley At the same time the death the the death eaters were out But looks like we missed the death eaters Oh, but I think we maybe walked in just in time for uh the dragon Well, they are still out the lights are green Yo, if a death eater comes out and attacks me Oh, they are out. Oh, I'm so excited It's kind of funny because we might not even go into a house tonight I think we're gonna go on gringots right now because it's such a short wait and uh a lot of people Just want to ride the rides here. So Right I How's your knees feel at this point not good I know I'm like wow, I wish the death eat. Oh That's pretty Well, I'm happy that we came into Diagon alley We literally just got here walked on and rode gringots and then we got to see the death eaters And it was really cozy and a nice way to start off hhn And now I don't know we'll kind of just walk around It's really cool when you come as a like an ant or frequent fear pass because I get to come uh mostly I think I have to come every single night at the highest tier So it's it's different because you don't come and just like trying to rush rush rush You just take your time relax and then enjoy the park in a different like view Coming to hhn a little bit later in the evening is so cool because You can kind of take it at your own pace. It's real chill relaxed It's not crowded at all and we kind of just hang out, you know We rode some rides and uh we uh didn't even do any houses just walk through scare zones And now we're just kind of chilling out outside finnigans and I'm just noticing like how empty it is around here It's really cool because you kind of just hang out and listen to the music From the scare zone right there and let me tell you we've been chilling out like over in this little alley way here Like look at this. We're just hanging out here. Oh, I bet you they went inside here. Oh, yeah, this is where you get food Oh, yeah, you check out here and there's a whole bunch of food stands in there Oh, I actually might want to get some Yeah, look how cool this is Yeah, you go you have to pay out front Uh, and then you take your ticket in here and you get to show them And uh, they have a lot of the food from the last of us. I showed this uh last time I came here was so cool Very good food. I like it And with that we are done here tonight. It was a little fun hanging out at halloween horror nights I can't believe we didn't get to do any houses though But we didn't do any we just kind of just kind of hung out But uh, I hope you enjoyed the video. I enjoyed making it and uh, we'll see you next time Bye