It is now time for a question period. The leader of Her Majesty's Laurel Opposition. I do Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Premier once Ontario was the economic engine of Canada, and now we're a have-not province. And just last month alone we lost 34,000 additional jobs in the private sector. During the election campaign you avoided discussion about the huge fiscal mess that your government has created and that we're now facing as a province. Your campaign focused on spending promises that you claimed would bolster our economy. But now that the votes are counted, you're both spending and raising taxes. This time it's the aviation fuel tax. The executive director of the National Airlines Council says this puts Ontario at a competitive disadvantage. So I ask you Premier, how can you possibly justify putting this province at a further competitive disadvantage just to pay for your pricey campaign promises? Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Well, as I have said a number of times, there is a fundamental disagreement between us and the opposition Mr. Speaker. We believe that investing in transit is a very important part of the building up of this province and the future economic growth Mr. Speaker. So the reality is that in order to be able to invest in transit and transportation infrastructure, there is a need Mr. Speaker to put a modest increase on the tax rate on aviation fuel. One cent a liter for four years Mr. Speaker. And I would just say that these investments in transit and transportation infrastructure actually help and support the aviation industry Mr. Speaker. The Union Pearson Express is a really good example of that. As Minister of Transportation, I visited the Pearson airport, had a tour and saw exactly how the passengers are going to be assisted by that investment in transit Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Supplementary? Well, again to the Premier, the only passengers that are going to be assisted are those passengers that go to Buffalo airport. So I hope you'll build good infrastructure and good roads to Buffalo because you certainly have become their economic champion, not ours. Fred Lizar of York University concluded the tax site will hurt the Ontario economy, cut jobs and drive away tourists. He said the provincial GDP would fall between $67 and $97 million by 2017 resulting in a decrease of up to 2,907 full-time jobs and discourage at least 292,000 air travelers. Premier, you say you have a job plan to grow the economy but you implement policies like aviation fuel tax which hurts the economy and causes job losses, especially in our tourism industry. So will you commit today to putting that tax site on hold until you've fully studied all the implications of it, particularly with respect to the job losses that you can expect? Thank you. So Mr. Speaker, let's just be clear exactly what we're talking about. The cost difference that consumers see between Canadian and U.S. fares, which is apparently what he's talking about, is largely attributable to federal and federal, the airline's own surcharges, Mr. Speaker. And let's just do a comparison. And remember that this aviation fuel tax in Ontario has not been changed since 1990. So at 2.7... Remember from Haldeman, Norfolk, when I stand it gets quiet. Carry on, please. So Ontario's aviation fuel tax is significantly lower than these comparisons, Mr. Speaker. London Heathrow, 69.6 cents per litre. And remember, Ontario's is 2.7 cents per litre. Paris-De Gaulle, 54.6 cents. New York, JFK, 5.7 cents per litre. Chicago-Harris, 5.7, and Manitoba, 3. Thank you. Final supplementary. Premier Pyramid, this morning people went to work on the ramp in Red Lake as baggy channelers in Windsor at the customer service desk at the airport in Ottawa. Across our provinces, jobs depend on the aviation industry. But with your new tax hikes, those jobs are at risk. You're setting the stage for more job losses, needless job losses across our province. British Columbia, New Brunswick, Alberta, Quebec, and Saskatchewan have all eliminated the international aviation fuel tax. They've recognized that a healthy aviation industry means more jobs. And yet with your government's first budget, you're about to put those jobs at risk. Premier, do you know or do you care how many jobs you're putting at risk and how many jobs will be lost as a result of the full implementation by 2017? Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, and I guess I would ask the leader of the opposition whether he knows and whether he cares that we need to make investments in transportation and transit infrastructure. And he mentioned Red Lake, Mr. Speaker. It's very important that the roads and bridges in our Northern and rural communities are in good shape, Mr. Speaker. So that kind of investment is necessary. I will say to the leader of the opposition that I am concerned about some of the small Northern Air Force, Mr. Speaker. And so I have asked that we look at those particular situations and see if there is a way of mitigating for those very small communities, Mr. Speaker. But overall, we are competitive, Mr. Speaker, and the investments in transit and transportation infrastructure that are necessary in this province will create economic growth and economic well-being in the future, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Premier, last week you insisted that the province would commit $1 billion to the Ring of Fire, even though Page 288 of your own budget reads that the funding will be contingent on the federal government matching the amount. I think that you would agree that $1 billion is a lot of money to request without providing a detailed spending plan. Premier, infrastructure is key to developing the Ring of Fire and will be a huge asset for First Nation communities who call the region home. Premier, could you please explain your plan for how this $1 billion is to be spent? Specifically, will it be on a road or rail link will it be on an east, west and north-south quarter? Thank you, Premier. Mr. Speaker, all I would have to ask the member opposite if he's asking as a representative of Stephen Harper, whether he's asking as a representative of a Northern community in Ontario, Mr. Speaker, because the reality is we need that investment. We need the infrastructure built. We have committed to setting up a development corporation that would include all of the parties and we very much hope that the federal government is at the table, Mr. Speaker, because in order for that infrastructure to be completely developed and in order for that pro-light and mineral deposits to be realized, we need everyone working together. We've committed $1 billion, Mr. Speaker. We are firm in that commitment. We will work to set up a development corporation and so if the member opposite is speaking for Stephen Harper, I hope that he will let him know that we would like to have him at the table, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Premier. I'm asking about your plan. I didn't hear a response to my question. In November, as Cliff's resource was about to idle their operations, you rushed to announce the establishment of a new development corporation. In February, it was revealed that the development corporation wasn't even incorporated and that you would instead pay Deloitte to work out the details. Now you say it will be a done deal in just over a month. Premier, considering your government's track record on this file, why should anyone trust that you can meet this target that you set for yourself? Well, in fact, Mr. Speaker. The minister, the member from Prince Edward Hastings will come to order. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we have made huge progress on this file and I don't know if the member opposite in his haste to come up with a question that really doesn't take into account all of the work that's been done, whether he realizes that the work that has been done to get in place framework agreement with the Metau First Nations, Mr. Speaker, is a hugely significant piece of the puzzle in terms of making sure that everyone, all of the communities can take part. So the development corporation, Mr. Speaker, which is in the process of being established, will allow First Nations, the businesses, the federal government, the provincial government to take part in getting that infrastructure built, Mr. Speaker. The building blocks are in place and we hope very much that the federal government is interested in taking part in that process. Thank you. Again, to the premier, considering your miscarriage in the past, this is hardly convincing. In 2012, you would have thought the Ring of Fire would be producing now if you were to believe your government's own press releases. On May 9th of that year, you proclaimed that we were quote, thousands of jobs coming to Northern Ontario close. It's a project in the region. It's even more clear now that there was no concrete plan to back up your empty promise. Premier Wood, will you admit that you still have no plan to make the Ring of Fire job creating reality for Ontario? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, it's a bit rich coming from a member of a party that had nothing in their platform, no money in their platform for the development of the Ring of Fire. There is absolutely no process in terms of including all of the communities bringing in the federal government and the companies and making a concrete investment in infrastructure, Mr. Speaker. So I am very confident that the work that we have done already in the North, Mr. Speaker, the work that we are doing in order to set up the development corporation, Mr. Speaker, and our outreach to the federal government in the hopes that they will plan Labrador, Mr. Speaker. My hope is that they will see that this is a national project. But nonetheless, we are going ahead. We are working to set up the development corporation, Mr. Speaker, because we believe that this is an opportunity that will benefit not just the region, not just the province, but the country, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Will the Premier agree that financial uncertainty and confusion around the province is not in the best interests of Ontario? Well, Mr. Speaker, indeed we are moving ahead to reintroduce the budget that we ran on, Mr. Speaker, that we introduced at the beginning of May, and we are working very, very hard to make sure that there is exactly that certainty, that understanding of the investments that are necessary, the understanding that we are tackling our fiscal situation, Mr. Speaker. All of that is contained within our budget, and that certainty is exactly what we aspire to as we work to get the budget through the legislature, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, tough questions are being asked about that budget and not just by new Democrats. The Globe and Mail says, quote, there's a lot of confusion about the budget. Moody's calls it, quote, credit negative. Even the Finance Minister, Speaker, admits that there are skeptics who simply do not believe the government's now. Does this Premier think that it's okay that there is skepticism and confusion around the province's finances when we already face considerable challenges in this province? Well, Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that there's a lot of skepticism and confusion around the NDP's support or lack of support for the issues that we have addressed in this budget, Mr. Speaker, so I would ask the leader of the third party whether she supports a $2.5 billion jobs and prosperity fund. Whether she supports the investments in infrastructure, the transit transportation, and hospitals and schools, $130 billion in public infrastructure investments, Mr. Speaker. $11.4 billion in hospital expansions. Whether she supports the Made in Ontario retirement pension plan, whether she supports increasing the Ontario child benefit, whether she supports $10 million to support adults with developmental disabilities. Does she support those initiatives, Mr. Speaker? I think it's a very legitimate question to ask her. One of the things I think that is true in this legislature, regardless of which side you sit on, is that nobody wants to see a downgrade in our province's credit rating. New Democrats certainly don't want to see cuts to hospitals and schools or more job losses for the people of this province. That's why it's time to actually clear up the uncertainty and confusion surrounding the government's budget. In 2004, the Premier supported a law that allows the Auditor General to review the government's estimates and assumptions for the coming years. Something that the Auditor did in 2007 and something that the Auditor did in 2011. Will the Premier join me today in calling for the Auditor General to review the government's fiscal plan and clear the air with a public report on her findings? Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General in due course will look at all aspects of our financial situation. But you know, Mr. Speaker, the leader of the third party is grasping at any justification that she can find to vote against our budget, Mr. Speaker. She ran on a fiscal platform that was identical to ours except she said that she would spend $100 million more, Mr. Speaker, on top of what we had already said we were going to do in terms of investments. So, Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the initiatives contained in this budget are initiatives that I think we have a legitimate reason to ask the leader of the third party whether she supports or not. Expanding low-income benefits $20 million for expanding the student nutrition program $42 million to prevent and reduce homelessness $50 million for a new local poverty reduction fund. Wage increases for personal support workers. Does she or does she not think that those are worth it? Thank you. A member from Hamilton East Tony Creek will come to order. Don't need rebuttal. New question. Premier, I hope for an answer this time. In the thrown speech the government committed to, and I quote, choose partnership over partisanship. Today, she can do the right thing and ask the auditor general to look at the estimates and assumptions of the fiscal plan and set the story straight. Only that independent speaker will provide the clarity that investors and credit rating agencies need to see. And only that clarity speaker will help secure the hospitals and schools that our families rely on. So my question again to the Premier do the right thing. Will she do the right thing and ask the auditor general to review the books? Mr. Speaker, we introduced a budget at the beginning of May. We reintroduced that budget and we are working now to get that budget passed. In that budget there are a number of initiatives that are investments in this province that are designed to build the province up. We also tackle our fiscal situation. We have laid out a path to balance we understand that there are constraints in terms of collective bargaining that need to be in place. We also have tackled the issue of revenue. I'm taking flack from the leader of the opposition, Mr. Speaker, because we recognize that we have to have revenue in order to invest in transportation and transit. Our budget is a well thought out and thorough plan, Mr. Speaker. And it is what is needed right now. The leader of the third party is looking for ways to do whatever her constituency is that she's not going to support that budget, Mr. Speaker. But we are going to continue. Thank you. Well, Speaker, perhaps the Premier isn't understanding my question. It's a pretty basic one. It's about the Auditor General's review of the state of finances of the province. And I'm shocked, frankly, that she hasn't responded to that question. All of us, everyone in this House, believes that Ontario's fiscal stability must be secured. But today credit rating agencies are breathing down our next speaker threatening our province with a downgrade that puts public services at risk. We cannot allow that to happen. We need the trusted Auditor General to have her say, Speaker. Will the Premier allow the Auditor General to review the Liberals fiscal plan or will she stand in the way, Speaker? Speaker, it is the Auditor General's job to look at the finances of the province. Every year in her report she looks at the finances of the province. What the leader of the third party is looking for is an excuse not to support a budget. In this budget, Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General will do her work. She will look at the finances of the province as she does every year and those, since we will receive in her annual report, Mr. Speaker, in the meantime, I want to know whether the leader of the third party supports increases for personal support workers and childcare workers. Mr. Speaker, perhaps the Premier is simply unaware of the process that her own government put in place a number of years ago. It's about a pre-election review of the state of the finances of this province. And of course, with an election in the form that we had this time, that wasn't able to be happening this time around. And that still needs to happen, Speaker. Now more than ever, in fact, families are counting on us to protect public services with so many questions swarming around, Speaker. And with such high stakes for families of this province, we need to get the full picture of Ontario's fiscal position. The Liberals thought a review by the Auditor General was a good idea in 2004. They thought it was a good idea in 2007 and even in 2011, Speaker. Why doesn't the Premier think it's a candidate? Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, come forward. Well, Mr. Speaker, we went into an election in this province because the NDP had an opportunity to support this budget. They chose not to do that. And so we went into an election, Mr. Speaker, and we are back reintroducing this budget. And Mr. Speaker, I welcome I welcome the scrutiny of the Auditor General as she does every year. She will look across government and she will make recommendations based on our financial situation, Mr. Speaker. But the fact is that we ran on a platform it is our responsibility to make sure that we implement that plan, Mr. Speaker. And that plan is contained in our budget which we reintroduced to this legislature immediately after the election. And in that budget, Mr. Speaker, is a plan to build this province up to help the families of this province, the very families that the leader of the third party is talking about. Those are the families that we are most concerned about. Those vulnerable families, the initiatives in our budget. Thank you. Thank you. New question, the member from Kitchener, Pettis Gulliver. My questions to the premier. We've all heard you say several times that there's no new money for wage increases. But we now know while you were making those comments you were in fact doing the exact opposite. Without any public scrutiny, you rubber-stamped a more than 8% wage hike for Metrolinx workers in the waiting days of the last election campaign. Once again, you put your own political interests ahead of the financial management of our province. Yes, you did. Premier, wouldn't you agree that saying there's no new money for wages and then doling out more than 8% increase to Metrolinx workers is blatant hypocrisy? Blatant. The member will withdraw. Let's draw. Choose again and the supplementary will pass. The member from Haldeman, Norfolk will withdraw. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I know that the President of the Treasury Board is going to want to comment on this, but I want to be very clear that there is no new money for wage increases, Mr. Speaker, and that the collective agreements that are bargained, including the Metrolinx, Mr. Speaker, though any increases would have to come from within the envelope and that is exactly what my contention and my statement is very, very clear and it stands that there is no new money for wages and salaries for in the collective bargaining process. That was the situation before the election when we introduced the budget. It's a situation now, Mr. Speaker, and it was a situation when the Metrolinx collective agreement was finalized. 8.45% is more than zero. So, Premier, now that the government has given into the ATU on the Metrolinx deal, other locals are looking for the same treatment. In fact, the ATU local for Guelph transit workers just rejected an offer that included a 6.8% wage increase just last night. One of the primary reasons was, of course, wages, money. And it's not hard to see why when their colleagues are getting more. Municipalities cannot take on excessive debt like the province, yet they will now be facing more financial pressure because of demands for larger wage hikes. Premier, will you admit your short-sighted politically motivated decision to dole out more than 8% wage increase to the ATU has now put already fast-strapped municipalities in a more difficult negotiating position? Well, Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear that we must be absorbed within existing funding and that's exactly what has happened at Metrolinx. And I refer you to the budget. I don't know if you've had a chance to read it yet, but it's on page 153 I'll quote from it. Any modest wage increases that are negotiated must be absorbed by employers within available funding and within Ontario's existing fiscal plan through efficiency and productivity gains or other trade-offs so that service levels continue to continue to be high. And if you don't know what the public needs, that's exactly what's happened at Metrolinx. Thank you. Speaker, my question is to the Premier. It has now been established that your budget calls for a 9% cut in real terms in program spending over the next three years. Even the communists closely associated with this government could result in 100,000 job loss. How can this government possibly call a budget that could result in a loss of 100,000 jobs a progressive budget? Premier. Minister of Finance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, so it's appropriate for us to do the review and ensure that we are safeguarding the interests of the public by providing quality service while at the same time taking fiscal prudence that we must so that we can balance the budget by 2017-18. We're looking at a suite of opportunities by which to continue to invest in those initiatives that we can become more competitive in the future, but Mr. Speaker, we must look at our spending and ensure that we control them so that we can balance the books by 2017-18 and that's what we'll do. And Mr. Drummond has made recommendations and we're implementing over 80% of them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. A 9% cut in real program spending but still this government won't come clean with the public and tell them where those job cuts are going to fall. Will this government finally admit that their so-called progressive budget is really an austerity budget? And will it tell us what frontline workers and services are going to be cut over the next three years? Thank you. Thank you. So Mr. Speaker, we made it clear in the budget that we are going to control our program spending. We've done so at 1.4% year over year. We actually did cut spending year over year last year while not sacrificing our service and maintaining those jobs that are so important to provide those services. And we made it clear that we'll control that program spending in the years to come. My question though back to you is you've just stated in your platform $600 million more. How would you expect to do that? What were you going to cut? And who were you going to fire? Because we will not on this side of the house sacrifice the public interest. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Economic Development Employment and Infrastructure. Minister, our government has demonstrated their commitment to helping young people find meaningful employment through our youth job strategy. I know that the constituents in my riding of Burlington here help this government will continue to tackle the challenges we face collectively on youth unemployment. I'm particularly proud of the work that we've done on the youth job strategy developed after a series of consultations that brought together local business leaders, employers not for profits, educators labour and of course youth themselves. Minister, I know we've had some recent announcement on the success of these programs and I'm keen to hear about what we've accomplished. Speaker, through you to the Minister of Economic Development Employment and Infrastructure. Could the Minister please update the house on what we will continue to do to tackle youth unemployment in Ontario? Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you. I thank the member for that great question. We're committed to making the investments we need to make Mr. Speaker. To continue to invest in our people, continue to invest in infrastructure and building a strong climate for investment so that those young people Mr. Speaker can find jobs today and find jobs in the future. We're also committed to ensuring that those young people get the education, training and experience they need to be able to excel and succeed. As the member knows, we've committed to the youth job strategy in this budget. This $295 million strategy is creating 30,000 jobs for young people through four streams. The Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Fund which will support young entrepreneurs. The Ontario Youth Innovation Fund which will support skills and industrial and commercialization and build on our emerging innovation acceleration hubs. The Youth Skills Connection Program and the Centerpiece the Youth Employment Fund which is helping young people get real job experience together with these programs. I'll help. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Speaker. It's great to hear that our government is committed to youth jobs. As the member from Burlington, I'm often meeting young people searching for ways to enter necessary skills that will help them succeed. I'm very happy to hear that our strategy does just that. However, many of the youth in my writing have said they face the challenge of needing real work experience to apply for good paying jobs in their field but have no way of obtaining that experience or training. With youth unemployment at 15.4% in our province, we must ensure that our young people have access to these opportunities. Speaker, can the minister update the house on how the government will continue to ensure that our young people have the training they need to succeed in Ontario's growing economy while at the same time gaining real work experience? Question. I'm going to refer this to the minister of training colleges and universities and research and innovation. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the member from Burlington for that question. Also I want to congratulate her on her election. Mr. Speaker, providing access to employment and training opportunities for our young people is a top as the minister just mentioned. We were very happy to announce that through our youth job strategy 20,000 employment opportunities have already been created. The majority of those numbers came from the Youth Employment Fund which has 195 billion investments to create 25,000 jobs for our youth. We are very pleased with the results of this program so far. Of the 4,800 youth who have completed their placements 95% of them retained by the employers or found jobs elsewhere. This is fantastic news Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Helping young people develop their talent and skills. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the minister of economic development employment and infrastructure. According to stats Canada 33,900 jobs were lost in June the same month the minimum wage jumped. In fact report after report links your policies. Minimum wage hikes, high apprenticeship ratios and rising energy rates to the 600,000 men and women currently out of work in Ontario. Looking forward your pledge to slap a new payroll tax on both the hardworking people of Ontario and their employers threatens to be at another roadblock to hiring in Ontario. Minister, please explain how you envision this payroll tax allowing small or big business to hire in Ontario. Minister of economic development Mr. Speaker, I may refer to the supplementary here but I'm pleased to take the first question at least. Mr. Speaker, this government has done a lot for our business community to make us more competitive. I think about the corporate tax cuts that we brought and they're giving us one of the most effective, lowest effective corporate tax rates in North America. I think about the HST which made Ontario a much more successful country. I think about our recent changes to accelerate capital cost allowance that encourages businesses to invest in capital and maintenance, Mr. Speaker, machinery. I think, Mr. Speaker, about our regional economic development funds. Over 90% of which have gone to the manufacturing sector, Mr. Speaker. There's a reason why we're up 460,000 net new jobs since the recession, Mr. Speaker. It's because we've been working in partnership with our businesses for the number one for foreign direct investment. Mr. Speaker, we're going to keep moving in that direction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and back to the minister. Minister, what you've done a lot of has moved 300,000 manufacturing jobs out of Ontario. We'll talk about your regional economic development and hopeful that you're sincere in bringing some money to the Georgian College green emergency duties before that moves out of Ontario again. Minister, my writing is facing a staggering 21% youth unemployment rate, the highest in the province, and three times the national average. In light of the thousands of young people currently looking for work, I respectfully urge you to reconsider the consequences of putting yet another roadblock to hiring an Ontario. Or please explain again, minister, how do businesses afford to add more insurance to the payroll at the same time you're increasing their payroll tax? Mr. Speaker, the member talked about the youth unemployment rate, and this party agrees, Mr. Speaker, the fact is the youth unemployment rate is double the unemployment rate for everyone else, but I defy you to find a jurisdiction anywhere in North America doing more for our young people than this government here in the province of Ontario today. Mr. Speaker, our youth job strategy, and my colleague just mentioned it, 20,000 young people since the fall have received youth job experiences through that program, Mr. Speaker, of the 4,800 that have already completed their requirements, over 90% of them, Mr. Speaker, are still retained in employment. That's a program, Mr. Speaker, that's unique. It's a program that's working. We're also using that program, Mr. Speaker, to invest in youth that want to be entrepreneurs. We're using it to build our innovation. We're using it to create partnerships for training. Mr. Speaker, nobody in North America is doing more for our young people than this government. We're going to keep doing it, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question this morning is to the Premier. It's about a major fire that destroyed parts of a food processing plan into COMPSE last Friday. But first, Speaker, allow me to thank the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs for touching base and keeping me in the loop last Friday morning, as well as the Minister of Community Safety. Good morning, Premier. Premier, you have said you wouldn't want to go to the province that are represented by members of the opposition. After a major fire at the St. Albert Cheese Factory in Glengarry, Prescott, Russell, the province made a million-dollar grant available. Premier, I know it's early days yet, but all things considered, will the Bondiwell plant into COMPSE receive equal consideration as the St. Albert Cheese Factory? Thank you. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will want to comment. I want to just say first of all that I have spoken with the member and I reached out to the Mayor of COMPSE and I know that both the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs have had conversations with folks in COMPSE. So, Mr. Speaker, we will do everything in our power. I understand that there has been good progress there already, but obviously, Mr. Speaker, we will stay in close touch and we will do everything in our power to make sure that this business can thrive. AgriFood is part of our economy that is extremely important, Mr. Speaker. The money in our Jobs and Prosperity Fund, part of that is carved out specifically for processing, Mr. Speaker. So, I know that we will stay in touch with this business and make sure that we can do everything in our power to make sure that it thrives. Thank you. Premier, as you know, this fire caused an estimated 30 to 40 million dollars damaged. It couldn't have come at a worse time with peak production just a couple of weeks away. 700 people are normally employed during the corn harvest. 145 farmers grow crops for this plant. Actually, 95% of Canada's plant product comes from this facility. Whatever Ontario can do to sustain and grow this business would guarantee a brighter future for us all. Will the Premier or the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs commit to a speedy decision on what grants may be available and to visiting this plant and seeing firsthand the destruction this fire has caused? Mr. Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I learned of the fire at Bondiwale about 7am on Friday morning. I immediately called the Mayor of Takumsi, Mr. Mactamara. We had an extensive conversation with his worship. I then touched base with my colleague, the Minister, the member from Windsor-Takumsi, and later that morning I talked to the President and Conference call the principals of Bondiwale. Of course, I want to, at this time, all of our thoughts in this chamber are with the employees, growers, and the community during this very difficult time. I want to take this opportunity to thank the emergency responders that did such an incredible job with the mutual aid program for fire services within that community. The real challenge from a safety perspective, Mr. Speaker, there were abundant tanks in the warehouse. We remember the Business Saga train to Railbert and the safety from my colleague, the Minister of Community and Social Service, to respond to this particular emergency. Thank you. Your question? The member from Trinity Spadina. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to Minister of Labor. Speaker, while talking to constituents of Tunis Spadina, I still hear stories about the promise of a job only to find crippling recruitment fees and bills on the other side. And our young people seeking real world experience, trying to beef up their resume, establish a career, but not being protected by Ontario's strict rules on health and safety. And that's just not right. Mr. Speaker, through you to the Minister, is the government doing anything on this? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the member from Trinity Spadina for your question. He's absolutely right. And I want to thank him for being such a strong advocate for his constituents and bringing this forward. We're committed to standing up for Ontario's workers because safe and fair workplaces are the foundation of a strong and competitive and growing economy. So last week, Speaker, we introduced legislation that have passed would address the exact concerns the member from Trinity Spadina has raised and more. The bill will be handed out to employees to charge temporary foreign workers recruitment fees or to take away personal documents. His constituents in Trinity Spadina will now have access to information sheets on employment rights and health and safety rights, and that will be handed out in 23 languages. This bill will also bring co-op students, trainees, other unpaid learners under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, so they can get valuable work experience impacted at the same time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the minister for his answer. I'm sure my constituents in Trinity Spadina will be pleased to know that government hears their concerns and is taking steps to address them. Mr. Speaker, I also hear from workers that has been taken advantage of by their employers and in some incidents left with no pay or workers that assign most dangerous jobs simply because they were recruited through a temporary health agency. Mr. Speaker, through you to the minister, what is the ministry of labour proposing to ensure the hard working individuals are paid for the work they do? Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks again to the member from Trinity Spadina making sure work is get paid for the work they do and giving businesses that play by the rules a competitive advantage is what the proposed legislation is all about. The bill if passed would remove the current $10,000 gap on the recovery of unpaid wages from an order to pay from the ministry of labour. But, Mr. Speaker, it would also increase the time limit from six months or a year. Now it will be two years of the bill passes. More workers will get the money they're owed. Our government was a first in Canada to introduce legislation specifically addressing unpaid wages from unpaid labour agencies in 2009. So this bill if passed would take the next step and would increase protections for other workers. It would extend this joint liability for both unpaid workers and workplace injuries. We believe that these proposed changes will lead to real and meaningful action for Ontario workers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The minister of transportation. It now takes six months to decide an oversized vehicle permit for travel on Ontario highways. This is a very long time to wait for a permit. And this problem is exacerbated when a vehicle is travelling to another jurisdiction where a similar permit is required. Timing is of the essence. All of these permits are time sensitive. Can the minister please explain why the permit which used to take eight hours to acquire. But now they take almost two weeks. Minister of transportation. Thanks very much Mr. Speaker and I do thank the member opposite for that question. Actually I don't mind pointing out to her and also to the House that one of my colleagues the minister of natural resources has actually raised this issue with me as well. I will be happy to take a look and to delve a little bit deeper into the issue and be happy to get back to the question and I look forward to working with you on this. Thanks very much. Minister the timing of these permits is crucial for the survival of businesses that must transport their goods across the province. And particularly for those vehicles that are going into other jurisdictions because they have to be able to purchase their permits according to how long their vehicle is going to be in that jurisdiction. How does this fit in with your open for business initiative? Clearly this is just another example of red tape and government making it harder for businesses to compete and survive. I've heard within the last year the waiting time for permits has grown worse and worse. When can businesses count on a more efficient expedited process for their oversized vehicle permits? Thank you again Mr. Speaker and I do thank the member opposite for that question for the supplementary. As I mentioned in responding to the original question I would be happy to talk to her and to work with members on all sides of this house and with individuals who are affected by this particular circumstance to try to come to a resolution. I do understand why it's an important issue and I certainly do acknowledge and appreciate that the member opposite shares our passion for making sure that we do find ways to reduce burdens that may exist in the economy continue to flourish. That's why it is so important in the budget that was introduced originally on May 1st and then again just a few days ago that the minister of finance spent a fair degree of time talking about the importance for opening up and for reducing the burdens that we discuss. As I said in my original answer I would be happy to work with the member opposite and try to find a resolution on this. Thanks very much Mr. Speaker. Thank you Speaker. My questions to the minister responsible for the pan, and games. Last week I asked the minister of infrastructure about the costly delay to completion of the Hamilton stadium his flip reply was to ignore the serious problem of venue construction delays and to wax on about future venue use. The people of this province aren't looking for typical responses from this government. They're looking for answers. Can this minister move past the liberal partisan playbook and admit that major projects are behind schedule and this is likely going to result in extra costs for Ontarians long after these games are done. Thank you minister responsible for the 2015 pan Parapan America Games. Well thank you Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the member opposite for the question. The Pan Am Games and the Parapan Am Games are the largest multi-sport events that have ever taken place in the history of this country. And we have an incredible opportunity as the host to have our 60 municipalities come together the federal government the provincial government work together to build new venues so we can support our athletes here in the province of Ontario. We have 31 venues that are being built are retrofitted and 12 training facilities here in the province of Ontario. And Mr. Speaker, six of those venues have suffered some type of delay but we know that the member opposite laughed at the expression the reason I gave last week in regards to the weather but we went through a very cold winter we had a nice storm there were some delays but I can assure you that all of our venues will be well positioned for the games here in Ontario. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Actually we ran a steel plant 365 days a year there in case you didn't know. Speaker Ontarians want to know that promises made on pan-paraban venue completion dates are at cost matter it's not just the Hamilton stadium it's several venues we learned from the pan-paraban organizers quarterly report last week where completion deadlines have been or will be missed. TO 2015 is also missing deadlines on venues within their scope so speaker again on behalf of the athletes the taxpayers will this government finally come clean in this house about one the missed deadlines to what plan B is to complete these venues and three any cost overruns associated with their failure on this file. Thank you minister. Thank you Mr. Speaker and again I'd like to thank the member for the question I know he's a big supporter of sports and athleticism here in the province of Ontario and I think you know he finished his question by saying you know think of the athletes and that's exactly what we're doing here on this side of the legislature Mr. Speaker our athletes don't have to travel to California if they want to practice their specific sports they can stay right here in Ontario. Not only that Mr. Speaker people from right across this country can come into Ontario and I think we need to keep things in perspective our venues will be finished almost a year before the games the games are next year and these venues are positioned to be finished all in the fall the six venues and we have rebuilt our infrastructure for sport and athleticism here in the province of Ontario and now's the time for all of us to get together and to celebrate our athletes here in the province cut. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Speaker climate change is considered one of the defining issues of our time and requires continuous effort to address by governments industry and individuals it's important that our government take the necessary steps to ensure Ontario properly adapts to and mitigates the effects of climate change a failure to do so could be detrimental to Ontarians today and more so to future generations it's for these reasons that I'm very pleased to hear the premier and ministers announcement of a few weeks ago about the ending call for a cleaner air act I believe this to be a positive step in the right direction. Speaker through you could the Minister of Environment and Climate Change please update the House on our government's progress towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I want to congratulate my friend from Newmarket and also his concern his understanding of particularly the relationship between climate change and municipal infrastructure and his advocacy for it you know Mr. Speaker in 2005 when I chair the National Roundtable our emissions in Canada were 737 megatons today they're 702 and the only thing that's happened in Canada in that period of time was the closure of our coal plants. A matter of fact there is almost nothing that's been done by any other provincial government or national government that comes close and the challenge is to have Canada's GHG emissions coming down right now seems to be almost entirely on the way to provinces like Quebec and Ontario. Finally Mr. Speaker the cost to infrastructure and to the insurance industry are amazing. Nine of the past 11 years Mr. Speaker for the first time insurance claims on property damage related to climate change and flooding have exceeded premiums this is becoming an economic problem and an infrastructure problem for me. Thank you supplementary. Thank you Speaker again my question is for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Minister I'm pleased to be part of a government that is taking an issue of climate change so seriously. These are positive steps forward however it is important that I address the concerns raised by many of my colleagues in the climate market and Aurora. A common theme among their concerns relates to the protection of our natural water resources. They fear that the new weather norms which can already be attributed to climate change such as increased stormwater runoff and discharge are having a negative effect on nearby Lake Simcoe and bodies of water within our own writing. The harmful chemicals that increased stormwater runoff can bring into the city. Could the Minister of Environment and Climate Change please share with the House what efforts are in place to protect our water from the changing conditions of our climate. Thank you very much. Part of our challenge with water and sewer systems is there are a number of us over here who are mayors and former councillors who would tell you that we used to talk about things being one in 500 year events and you would not allow that to happen. You would try to build your sewers to one in 100 year events or one in 500 year events. The problem now is those one in 500 year events in the 90s in this decade are one in 10 year events. This government has been very vigilant with our municipal partners and not too concerned about the political stripes of the people representing that to an earlier comment. As a matter of fact Lake Simcoe authority was given $1,500,000 to develop innovative technology approaches to managing store water and the regional municipal of York as I know you've advocated for and were part of has given that community about $150,000 almost for green infrastructure. Thank you. My questions to the minister you've made grand statements about your efforts to combat bullying in our schools the laws and regulations enacted by your government requires principles to notify parents if their child has been harmed due to bullying or to outline the steps being taken and the supports being provided for the people in response to bullying. These are necessary legislative requirements but unfortunately there's a family my riding who due to a lack of school. Minister laws and regulations are only as good as the people responsible with enforcing them. What process does your ministry followed with your school boards comply with anti-bullying legislation how do you keep school administrators accountable and why has this process failed in my riding. Yes. Thank you very much and there has been as you've noted series of pieces of legislation to put in place both legislation and policy around managing bullying in our schools we have come a long way not every incident turns out to be managed 100 percent perfectly but I think one of the big strides that we are making is making sure that when we do training that we ensure teachers have the appropriate training certainly when we have new laws in place there was a lot of training for the teachers at that time but with the changes that we're making to our initial teacher education program at the faculty of education we will now ensure that every new teacher to be licensed in Ontario will have training on safe schools and anti-bullying protocols as part of their training to be licensed as a teacher in Ontario. Thank you. My question was about accountability and how the processes are monitored not training so maybe I'll get the answer to my first question but minister bullying is one of the most harmful things a child can experience while at school bullying imposes significant health and social consequences of our community and can adversely affect the developments of our students we fortunately moved past the notion that bullying is a natural part of the school and just want something that someone has to deal with and I believe that every party in this house has agreed that legislation is a tool that must be used to fight against bullying but unfortunately your government has one of the worst track records for oversight and accountability this leads to non-compliance which is undermining anti-bullying legislation Minister can you explain at least to the family in my writing why they had to pull their child from the school despite legislation designed to keep their child safe Thank you minister Yes and I'm pleased that you've noted that dramatic impact that bullying can have on a child because when you look at all the research it absolutely indicates that a child who has been bullied that it can have a dramatic life both on their current school experience and their future life in fact the same is true of the child who does the bullying a chronic bully you often see that they also have a negative outlook when you look down the road but and absolutely when a parent is concerned they need to be contacting their local trustee because it's in fact the local trustees who are accountable for ensuring that this legislation is put into place but I must say that it is extremely strange to be getting a lecture from this party which failed to vote in favor of the last piece of bullying legislation that failed 13 Thank you Good question, the member from Agama Manitoula Thank you Mr. Speaker and good morning to you my question is to the premier for seven years the isolated Lackawai reserve has pinned this hopes on a promising hydroelectric program partly bankroll by a Toronto philanthropist that could generate clean power and economic opportunity now it appears that this government has quietly stuffed out a promising hydroelectric project that could generate clean power and economic opportunity for the isolated reserve perched along the Minnesota border can the premier explain why it is destroying years of hard work that was the community's best chance to break the cycle of poverty and unemployment Thank you Mr. Speaker in total more than 35 First Nation and Métis communities are involved in wind solar and hydroelectric projects across the province and they are all required to abide by their contract and by the rules Mr. Speaker that is 240 projects representing over a thousand megawatts of clean energy I've met with the Lackawai First Nation and Gemini Power in the past and have offered another technical meeting with them Mr. Speaker they have an existing FIT contract with the OPA like all FIT contracts they have a fixed price and proponents are required by contract to pay the cost of connecting their project to the provincial grid the contracts are in place to protect rate payers and create clear expectations for developers it would be completely unfair to all other contract owners if the government were to increase the price of existing contract for only one project to cover the cost of transmission Thank you Again to the premier the major roadblock is a blotch transmission line without a proper connection the proposed run of the river dam is a non-starter Hydro 1 the government's own utility that is responsible for transmission claims it would cost roughly 16 million to build the transmission line but this cost is contested by many hydro experts familiar with this project why is this government blocking this badly needed project that could provide jobs and hope to this isolated community Thank you Mr. Speaker I can only repeat that the contract is very specific like all the other contracts that requires the proponent to pay the cost of transmission they have to assure themselves that it is available before they submit to win a contract for a fixed price with the responsibility to produce a transmission Mr. Speaker we have been exceedingly innovative in terms of our incentives for First Nations people to participate in our energy sector the contracts we have awarded to First Nations Mr. Speaker we are extremely proud of that and I certainly await a response from this particular proponent to come in and review the file once again which I provided to them that opportunity in the letter early in May Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Physical activity is linked to minimizing cardiovascular disease risk factors enhancing positive health outcomes and has a positive impact on academic performance. Childhood obesity is on the rise and less than 10% of Ontario children and youth achieved 60 minutes of daily physical activity 6 days a week. The economic cost associated with physical activity in Ontario are estimated at $3.4 billion Mr. Speaker through you to the Minister can he please update us in which ways our government is working towards decreasing childhood obesity and increasing the amount of physical activity Ontario children and youth are receiving Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you and I'd like to thank the member for the question. Before I answer I'd just like to recognize that the North American Indigenous Games are taking place this week in Saskatchewan and I want to wish all of our athletes from Ontario all the best Our government is committed to promoting and protecting the health of Ontario's young people with the opportunity for children and youth to participate in fun, safe and supervised activities that focus on physical activity recreation and sport to encourage active lifestyles healthy eating and nutrition education to help combat child obesity and personal health and wellness education to promote self esteem The after school program is a critical component of Ontario's poverty reduction strategy and our youth action plan and as a former school board trustee I'd like to support this program as we take on this new role in this ministry Thank you The minister of Northumberland, Queen T-West on a point of order I hope you indulge me to introduce my wife Diane and Maria and five grandkids that experienced gridlock in the GTA this morning but they're here along with my grandkids Lucas, Madeline, Monica, Maddox and Morgan right in the west gallery It's not a point of order but we welcome our guests There are no deferred votes this house stands recessed until 1pm this afternoon


عوض بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم السلط والسلام على أشرف الأنبيا وسيد المرسلين حبيبنا ونبينا وشفيع نفوسنا أب القاسم محمد المصطفى صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وعلى آله الطيبين الطاهرين الغر الميمين المظلمين ولعنة الله على أعدائهم أجمعين من الأول إلى الآخر إلى يوم الدين السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته مرحباً أنت تشاهدنا على إمام حسين تي بي هذا هو تي 3 تتوك and thrive إن شاء الله أنا مرحباً علي البرجي لأجد من أجلكم ومساعداً لدينا سيد شبير كرماني السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته سيدنا هوايو الحمد لله الحمد لله ما شاء الله اليوم لدينا ما دي طريقة مادتيراني أو مدل سيد وقد قلت لك إمامه أنتي فلوري مع أنا ما شاء الله اليوم السلام عليكم ورحمة الله أي أخاديات worldwide الذين كانوا إخطاضاً ليست كماونين على الإسلام والله سumiات الله يقوموا إمامكم صوته وإن شاء الله سأحب to discuss مرحباً التحسين لديكم بغطة وكلاتك وإذا يصب هوات الشيخ ونحن نقوم بشكل جميل بحيث ونحن نقوم بشكل جميل بشكل جميل أو أن يجد أجهزة أو إنتباع أكثر حيث ليست شيء جميل بشكل جيد لإنتباعك يعني أنه إذا كنت تريد أن تستخدمه لأجزاء بشكل جيد كما تساعدتك بشكل جيد كما تكلمتك ليست فقط بحيث أن أقوم بشكل جيد بشكل جيد لإسلامي كما تكلمتني في الشركة يكون يعني في الشركة بشكل كبير يمكنك الشركة بشكل كبير من جانب المملك ما سنغادر عن أهل السباب هو أنه مرحب أن نحن نستخدمه ونحن نخبط منه بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم بسم الله الرحيم حيث يجب أن يجب أن يكون هناك إصلاعات المتحدة لذلك يجب أن يكون هناك إصلاعات المتحدة ولكننا نضع نظام بين المتحدة والمتحدة يجب أن نكون كوشسين من المتحدة ولكننا يجب أن نعمل ونقوم بإمكان المتحدة والمتحدة ليس فنانشل، هل هناك أشياء المتحدة ولكن المتحدة فنانشل is also encouraged المتحدة could be intellectual wealth the knowledge that you have this is also a form of wealth having family, good strong family ties this is a wealth many people in the world are not on good terms with their family members they're not on good terms with their parents sometimes God forbid their siblings, cousins and this is unfortunately a tragedy having good relationships with your family is a real blessing it's a wealth the same way with finances you should look to have that type of wealth the financial wealth in our lives as well but the goal is to do what Islam asks us to do with that wealth and that is to develop our community and our society there's many people around the world who need this there's many people even in our own neighborhoods in America you have people in your backyard and I mean that in your neighborhoods who go to sleep hungry every single day there's many western countries we think poverty is not in this part of the world it definitely is 100% at a very high level the fact that they may try and hide it is a facade it is at some level and we have a responsibility towards that and many people are working towards fulfilling that responsibility but when we look at I'm content the question that from previous episode that I'm content with my life well don't just think individually on yourself the bait have told us this the prophet has told us this you need to be concerned with the affairs of the Muslim community and if you're not فليس بي مسلم you're not a Muslim in the true sense of the word so there are people who are orphans in Iraq there are families of shohada in Pakistan in Afghanistan throughout the world people are suffering tremendously we have a responsibility to them as well you know they say charity is local it's very true we have a responsibility to our immediate vicinity as well for those viewers who may be in other parts of the world in Pakistan in Iraq they may be in other parts of the world for watching the show you have a responsibility if you have that ability and Allah has given you the opportunity expand your income not so that you can live better individually but so you can help your community thrive as much as possible true and as you mentioned it's not just about charity it's also about for example teaching people in order for them to learn how to acquire their own income so you at the same time could invest as you've mentioned in the previous episodes the most beautiful thing is rather than just keep giving charity that people will still be dependent on you is trying and make them independent and at the same time like as yourself you're fully aware what best thing would be for you to invest in something let it grow and then obviously you can extract the fruits of that investment so you can both benefit the one who's gained from your investment which is a form of charity and then eventually you both will be benefitting from the profit for example absolutely and that's a beautiful way for people to see it that they could help in other places in the world like terrible countries absolutely and that's how it should be that we in the west have been blessed with many opportunities and in the sense of material opportunities for example economic opportunities we have access to some of the best universities in the world we have access to some of the best hospitals and medical facilities in the world we have a lot of access to a lot of material good now I may stop and say at the same time there may be things that those in the east are blessed with that we may not have for example for example proximity we suffer from lack of that proximity yes we can take a flight we can go there but actually being there there's a certain barakah and blessing just being in that vicinity and so those who are there should not ever neglect this those in Karbala have a tremendous blessing it's a double-edged sword anyone who had the experience of living in these holy sites unfortunately you may sometimes witness that people who come from abroad respect and appreciate it more because eventually I don't know it must be in the human nature that we take things for granted so if I live in Najaf for example and the the holy shrine of Amir al-Mu'mineen is a walking distance from me it might be in the beginning I consider a blessing but then it becomes something granted it's like it's so normal that you don't appreciate as someone who's come from abroad and that's it's difficult how to keep that level of appreciation a very quick point and a very true point that you've said and will return the notion I remember when I was doing my masters in engineering and I was studying I had a colleague of mine and we were in a conversation a very good guy by the way it's a friend of mine we were on a project together and this was in university and going to the point of understanding and recognizing and realizing the benefit that were given by أحل البيتعلي مسلام and the guy was I asked him where are you from because he had come from abroad to study in this program and he said from Iran I was like oh Iran whereabouts he said so my natural instinct was you know just you know you know you know you know I'm an atheist he's like I have nothing to do with it and so the point that you alluded to understanding the proximity and the بركة البيتعلي is a gift you may be right next to the shrine and may not realize or you may be thousands of miles away and realize it depends on the light within the heart and the efforts إن شاء الله I don't rule out anyone إن شاء الله that friend of mine will come back to this way we shouldn't rule anyone out everyone has the opportunity to get down that road there's no doubt about it it's all subject to people being willing willingness exactly because at the end of the day if they're not willing to acquire that knowledge if they're not thirsty for the truth no matter what you do they'll never come absolutely so it was important to make this point because we're talking about economics business wealth in light of the أهل البيتعلي because they are our role models and they help us understand how we need to flourish and thrive in this world and so this notion of just sitting at home has been forbidden in Islam and we've already talked about that now coming to how to manage one's income Islam gives insight on this as well is it that I should for example be so so tight with my money that I don't give it to anyone Allah bless me with income Allah bless me with a house with family I've got all the wealth but I don't release my hand to help somebody else or on the flip side I get to such a point that I give so much that maybe I don't leave anything for my own family at all even or maybe I give so much to the point in time that I'm just spending that I may instill bad habits in others it's very important and so the best advice with respect to how one should manage their income is perhaps given by أبنى المؤمنين himself where he says that in terms of your wealth be frugal but not miserly سبحان الله be frugal but not miserly and be generous but not extravagant it says if أميل المؤمنين has he has summed up all of financial education in just two lines and that's how أميل المؤمنين operates this notion that when you have income don't be so frugal be frugal but don't be miserly hold your money only spend when you need for example you need clothes for work buy clothes for work you need to look presentable you need to look appropriate buy a nice shirt buy a nice for example the sisters buy a nice dress or whatever you need to do buy a few of those but don't do these two extravagant in there be frugal but also don't be the Imam says don't be so miserly don't be so miserly that you're not even willing to buy a nice shirt for yourself and people look at you and they see you at work and they say we're working with customers we're dealing with clients that this doesn't look appropriate don't be so at that level at the same time the Imam says be generous but don't be extravagant this is very important sometimes when you have income and you're giving to someone you don't want to instill bad habits in that person what that means بحمد الله may have blessed you with wealth and I say I need some help and you help me out for example but I don't want it to get to the point where every single time I am in need of something I come to you to help I should first go to my creator who is the ultimate sustainer I should first strive and work hard on myself with myself in order to establish a business or work hard to get some income on my own it's different for me to say I have a business plan this is my goal can you give me a loan this is a contract let's sign a contract and these are the terms and conditions once insha'Allah I am established I will repay you that money or by XYZ date one year six months I will pay you back your money this is different compared to when I am coming to any issue comes up I ask I ask in Islam when someone asks you for something you are not supposed to reject that person if someone truly asks you I am in need can you please help me financially you are then especially if you are capable of especially if you are capable of doing so now on the flip side look at how balanced Islam is on the flip side I should not be asking anyone for anything Islam is very adamantly against begging for example Islam is very adamantly against putting your hands in front of someone without having done work yourself it's totally balanced so once you've made your own effort and then you see that you're stuck and you're not able to come on top then you can insha'Allah ask then you can in fact in fact I would propose that people should strive to help make it to the point where that person does not even need to ask that would be beautiful that you help someone without him even asking but question arises here if someone is in need of help it depends it's a case by case situation but if I'm not aware that you're in need of a certain help how am I going to help you in the first place very good to this point we should have institutions in place if you're someone who's wealthy or we have some other brothers and sisters who have wealth ask them to maybe create a fund and they're not in charge of that fund maybe they get one one reliable person who has to manage that fund you know when would give people for example in the form of charity or people who need it I remember the tradition of Imam Ar-Raza that he would give in such a state in other Ahlul Bayt the members of the Ahlul Bayt Ali Mus-Salam they would only give charity or wealth or for example but they would give it behind a curtain to the point that they would say if someone asked in public they said don't ask here to save the face of that person to keep the dignity and honor of that person in place and when they would come the Imam would say come here the Imam would stay behind the curtain they would have a curtain and he would put the hand out behind the curtain so the person would not see that the Imam would not see his face when the Imam was asked why they were not to put the person into an awkward position exactly you must uphold the dignity of that person to the point that when this happens the Imam said was asked why why did you do this you could have just given the money before in front of him in front of everyone he said he had already put his dignity on the line once by asking I didn't want to put his dignity on the line second time by looking him in the face when he asked and when I was giving him that's the level of giving that's true generosity but coming back to this notion of what does Islam say about balancing one's income of managing your finances managing your income because let's be honest in today's world many people are stretched thin and I'm not talking about those people who honestly they're working hard and they're able and it's difficult for them to make ends meet and they're having to maybe use some other forms of income in order to sustain themselves I'm talking about many people in our modern world who have income but they stretch themselves beyond their means either through credit cards or things like this putting themselves in debt basically putting themselves in high amounts of debt in order to live a lifestyle that may not be in their interest buying a car that's way more expensive than you need for example or buying a house that's not needed it's too big for example unnecessary holidays or expensive holidays exactly extravagance this is what امير المومين says be generous but don't be extravagant to the point that you're living beyond your means I remember امام صادق عليه السلام our system it's attributed to him that he was he was measuring dates he was creating little bags or pouches with dates in them and he was counting them and weighing them and putting them aside a man saw him he said يبدا رسول الله could you not have asked someone else to do this for you couldn't you ask one of your children one of your sons or one of your workers to do this for you the امام was rationing for the month he was saying that this is my food this is some dates for day one day two day three all the way till the end of the month at that moment in time the man said couldn't you have someone else do this couldn't you have for example your son or your servant do this امام عليه السلام looked back at him and he's attributed to have said that know that there are three ways that someone can achieve and attain righteousness and in Islam he says one تفقه في الدين to actually have deep knowledge and religion to go at such a level and have a deep level of knowledge and religion number one number two is to have patience in the face of adversity to have patience when a calamity befalls you you've lost a loved one you've lost a relative you've lost a friend you've lost someone close to you or you've lost money some difficulty has come upon you and in that state and in that environment if you have patience that's the second way of achieving righteousness and the third امام عليه السلام is attributed to have said is that if you manage your income properly that is a way of achieving righteousness proper management of one's income leads you to righteousness we as Muslims should be very adamant about our income we should not be so easy and loose about our income this is not what Ahlul Bayt have taught us I am sometimes shocked that these concepts are not discussed or talked about in our lectures or in our discussions maybe unfortunately because a lot of people focus on providing lectures as to what's more interesting or what sells more if you know what I mean but it's definitely something that at the end of the day we need to use this knowledge in order for us to improve and we have a lot of gaps and weaknesses in our communities and Alhamdulillah there's been improvement don't get me wrong there's been improvement but I do agree with you 100% that these topics need to be more they need to occur more frequently into these lectures and maybe it would be good for us collectively to just maybe you know spread the words and the message to communities Hussein years around the world that listen guys let's focus on these aspects as well not just focus on massage obviously you can't neglect it but it's very important to improve ourselves socially it's crucial but with regards to attaining that balance how how could someone help himself understand more into what's the better balance for them for example let's say I love food okay I don't know about now fasting now but I love food yeah and I love experimenting now if let's say I could afford to go four times a week to a restaurant and eat all buy from outside instead of cooking home everyone knows that cooking home is much cheaper than going outside but I could still afford it now would it be is that considered extravagant I don't know if it's subject to each and everyone's opinion but how can I understand what's the line what's the balance is it for me to ask can I attain that knowledge is it just a a monthly issue of logic that listen do normal people go and eat four times a week to restaurants if no then that might be extravagant others may do I guess it all comes down to I don't want to say class but what you can afford as well should I say okay let me just go twice and those extra times I'm not going to go I can provide it in charity for example what's your opinion it's a very interesting question and I say that because this is one dimension of the equation or one side of the equation or one side of the coin there's another side of the coin and so with respect to that and keeping that in mind when we talk about spending now you're right it definitely has to do with each individual person's income it's different from person to person that's for sure that maybe somebody has more somebody has less and in terms of that there's a few things Allah knows how much to give each person he's absolutely just in that regard now if I'm making less that doesn't mean that's the income that's written for me there is if I work hard it's very possible I get more but we'll talk about this another day another time if I'm going to eat out for example in Shahr Ramadan or otherwise even eating out can be a form of development well you ask how well maybe I have an option of eating at a very high and fancy restaurant or I have the option of eating at a restaurant that's owned by a brother or sister in faith and maybe I can choose to go to that restaurant instead and help support their business through that process I'm getting a win-win scenario I'm eating out I'm having a good time with my friends and family and I'm also supporting a business but at the same time if I'm just looking to make a you know just trying to up my own social class and say that I'm eating at the best restaurant in town where that person themselves who runs that business maybe doing just fine and they wouldn't miss you if you went to the restaurant or not whereas somebody who in your own community you're helping them get on their own feet that could be a wonderful form of development absolutely there's no doubt about that and we can benefit from that tremendously the idea nothing in this world very few things are black and white there's a lot of gray in our world and we need to begin to see that but we need to have everything success starts with a belief it starts with a belief here in the heart and in the mind that I must first and foremost believe that this is achievable and attainable you know I was speaking with some of my friends just the other day talking about sometimes in our communities in terms of business our vision seems to be a bit low it seems to be a bit shallow I see that this brother started a restaurant over here let me open a restaurant right next to him I was going to talk to you about that it's an issue unfortunately we have that everyone just copycating each other you're going to have one street you're going to have 15 supermarkets 15 restaurants sells the same food and I'm like okay guys you got the same product obviously or you're not going to sell as much as you wish you need to have variety try maybe something different but it comes down to knowledge as well if someone's lacking knowledge that's what's another important thing as well I can't just randomly go and start a business I don't have a clue how to run a business so before even thinking of being a businessman first obviously I need to attain that knowledge like yourself for example you went you studied knowledge experience you've got an idea that if you want to get to objective A how to get there or if that route you chose it's not working you've got a plan B but if we don't have that knowledge there's no point in even bothering starting a business because we're just wasting our money in our time correct there's a point there as well success in business success in a career in general requires planning and we need to be mindful of that whether it's a med school or a dental school or a pharmacy school you have to have a plan right you have to have a plan of this is what I'm going to study this is my these are my years in study and this is what I'm going to do the same way you need a plan in business and if you plan inshallah you will succeed inshallah with that being said we're going to pause for a short break in the meanwhile stay with us السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته and welcome back my beloved brothers sisters and respected viewers for any of you who just joined us in you are watching us live on Imam Hussein TV and this is our show T3 Teach, Talk and Thrive inshallah prior to pausing we're discussing about managing income and inshallah we're going to continue with I'll say it with regards to savings how can we save is it good to save and with regards to saving how can we balance that as well with saving and giving at the same time inshallah another very important question you've asked here because Islam has shed light on this as well a tradition attributed to our eighth Imam where we're talking about where he's talked where he's asked about savings Imam علي مسلم says a man who saves he makes his burden lighter and is able to rest and how true it is that when you have something saved over you have a little bit more ease mentally that you're not worried as much we have other traditions that are sixth Imam our fifth and sixth Imam both of them it is said that they would not spend anything until and unless they had already saved up one year's worth of income then they would begin to spend this is separate from this is spending on themselves this is separate from for example charity and people who are in need this is talking about when they were spending on themselves they would not spend even to the extent the tradition they would not even buy a knot or a rope or something they would not even buy anything up until the point they had already saved one year's of income you know if you look across the world you notice a cultural divide and a cultural difference many people in the west they live they don't they don't have much especially in America of a culture of saving we don't have much of a culture of saving and sometimes they live beyond their means as we mentioned before if you go to some of the eastern countries for example Japan and places like this people actually save a lot to the extent that many of them save half of their income and these people also when it comes to finances when there's numerous surveys that have been done statistical surveys that have looked at what are the major causes of stress in people's life and when you look at the west time after time again the number one cause of stress in people's life is finance finance financial reasons whereas people in the east many times they don't have suffer from the same level of distress because they have a cushion behind them where they're saving أهل البيت عليهم السلام we're totally bound they said make sure you save as well it's very important to keep that in mind just to pose you I would like to remind viewers the line the number is zero two zero three five one five zero one double nine I repeat zero two zero three five one five zero one double nine and inshallah we should have what's up number visible on the lower bottom of the screens if we have any issue with the lower third just let me know and I'll inform our viewers with regards to the number my apologies so saving is very important and somebody might say you know I don't know if I have the ability to save there's a very interesting book that's called the richest man in Babylon this is a book that's over 80 years old now it's a very old book but it's stood the test of time people still reference it and it's basically our allegorical fiction it's a story it's telling us a story it's not based on a real story it's a fiction but it's giving it's about wealth through a fictitious story and the story is based in Babylon as you know Babylon has a very rich history or Baghdad in that area it was one of the wealthiest places in history during its time in its era at one point in time anyways and it talks about how this person became the wealthiest man in Babylon anyways one of the principles within that book is to save a tenth of your income every month or every period now one may say I'm already going through a tough time you know I already it's difficult for me to make ends meet you're telling me to save 10% of my income when I I probably need to borrow 10% to make ends meet now that's the thing how are you going to save it if you can't now here's the reality of the matter human beings are very resourceful and they have the ability to be to be so I mean think about many times some of our our parents and how they made it sometimes being a first generation income first generation first generation immigrant to the west they had a very limited budget sometimes and how all these kids running around you know I don't know if you know but there's a company called Five Hour Energy we have it in America maybe you have some small energy drinks like this in Europe as well but anyways the guy who owns is a billionaire he's done very well from himself an Indian gentlemen and they asked him you know how do we learn management so you want to learn management he said look at a mother he said a mother has this fixed budget this fixed income all these children running around she has to feed the family take care of the kids look after everything and make sure that she does it within this limited budget many times and the point being that if you can make it let's say for example somebody has an income of I don't know $3,000 a month let's say they had $3,000 a month so we asked them to take off a certain amount from that let's say $300 off of that for example right they're left with $2,700 now it may be very difficult for them to make it but despite that you can still make it no excuses Insha'Allah we'll pose that we have a call on the line السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته السلام عليكم وعليكم السلام just brothers inside lower the volume a bit please السلام عليكم وعليكم السلام yes first of all thank you very much for the show and the topics who are needed at this age I have a question how do I manage my income when I have a lot of expenses to do and then how do you put their investments to say how we can serve our money for our future yeah okay brother thank you very much for calling and contributing Insha'Allah I will say it will answer your questions straight away so pretty much what we're building up to is the brother asked how do I manage my income especially when I have a lot of expenses now especially brothers and sisters who live in parts of the world like London will understand this more than maybe others where living costs aren't as high as I mentioned earlier for example about 10% that we a lot of us are struggling to just barely make meet needs end yeah how are we exactly going to save when our income is barely enough for us to survive and you mentioned about human beings being very resourceful so Insha'Allah if you can answer for us absolutely there's a few things to keep in this excellent question by the caller by the respected viewer and every scenario is not the same for some people saving 10% maybe a very difficult task more than anybody else so in that case maybe you can't save 10% maybe save 1% maybe reduce the amount but try to save something in light of what the for some people maybe 5% whatever that amount is but try to save something with respect to expenses it really depends are these needs or are these wants that's a very important point I know is this something that I really need in my life or is it something that I just want in my life first divide them into that once you have the needs and the wants corrected it also depends on how many people you're supporting how many mouths are you feeding if somebody is supporting a lot of people well they may have expenses in that environment they must work hard and I don't want to diminish that at all that person has a legitimate concern and I want to respect that but when we get into the wants you know I need a car for transportation to get to work very important I understand that that's an investment but do I necessarily need the nicest car in the world to get to work because is a car itself an investment if any of our brothers or sisters have studied economics or finance they know that a car is actually a majority of cases it's a depreciating asset meaning as soon as you buy it it loses its value it doesn't it needs maintenance as well so you need to keep spending on it so it's very expensive right but now if I just need a car to get from point A to point B that's reliable that's different but if I'm buying a car that's $100,000 for example and as soon as I drive it out the lot off the lot at the dealership it loses 20% of its value for example because it's no longer new now it's used that's crazy and over the first 3 year period it loses it loses the majority of its value during the first 3 years to 4 years of its lifespan so maybe it's a better idea for me to buy the car for maybe 3-4 years used and make sure it's in good condition and it doesn't have to be a most expensive brand then it doesn't necessarily have to be that now okay putting that into consideration now we're talking about someone who can manage his money by not spending extravagantly what about that a person who's content with you know the basic he's not overspending he's working hard but he just can't make it he's barely making it now at the end of the day الله سبحانه وتعالى will help us of course we know there's cases like what about the children of Yemen obviously they're being oppressed there is a reason for the lack of for them because it's been with hold away from them but someone who's working hard but 21st century both parents have to work yeah we're very fortunate if we live in a family where the mother can stay home and be the sustainer of the house be the pillar of the house yeah but you mentioned about our parents with all the respect from what I've seen as well and you you're very knowledgeable in economics as well you will understand that things have changed they've got a lot harder inflation the way monetary system the society as well it's not as easy as before and the chances I don't know correct me if I'm wrong but the way I see it maybe I'm being a bit negative but I see that we don't have the same opportunities like we have our parents had or our grandparents had what's your opinion a few points here when you say times are changing I agree with you this is a very valid point it's always changed and indeed our times may be different than our parents generation I mean you look at Silicon Valley in the United States the West Coast San Jose areas like that it's extremely expensive that's the most expensive part of America now you'll believe me when I say that there's families numerous families in Silicon Valley both parents are working full time yet they cannot afford housing they're on wait list for housing for three years sounds like London and perhaps in London as well because the prices have gotten so high it's exorbitant it's ridiculous and this is also part of why we've developed this series this show in general to encourage the next generation looking at the trend in the future with things getting automated with so many things becoming automated in the future the amount of jobs for employees will decline over time so what are we going to do so this is where the opportunity comes you need to be more creative in your thinking you need to have adopt a creative mindset understand and also get endeavor in business and try to use that to your advantage you know for example you go to people go to McDonald's and these restaurants for example nowadays you go there and you don't even speak to a person many times there's a machine there you order at the machine you hit some buttons they've already installed these here as well they've installed these here as well eventually it'll be a human less a human less like I think Walmart, Amazon trying to establish this so in the next 10 years there's going to be a revolution in the industry which is sad and it's part of to be honest for me personally I think it's part of the end times as well but it will it's just getting harder and harder and harder now you were saying about about people needing to think sometimes outside of the box and emerging business when the options are becoming smaller and smaller the list is shorter and shorter how if someone wanted to think something different as you've been practiced a bit of how in which way can someone where can I look for example where can I look if I want to start a new business do something different where should I start looking from if let's say I had a compass business compass where should I direct myself to phenomenal question here a good thriving business is one that solves a big problem if you identify a problem right there you're able to get to the point of solving this as soon as you identify a problem and this is what we call an entrepreneurship a hair on fire problem a problem that people it's like there's an urgent need to solve this problem yet no one has presented a solution to this problem and if you enter the market and present a viable solution to this problem you have a strong business opportunity this is it this is the crux of it if on my row or my street there's already 70 restaurants adding one more restaurant that may not be a hair on fire problem but maybe there's a certain type of cuisine or a certain type of food that's not present for example by the way in America the most failed business unfortunately is restaurant business because there's so many I presume and there's so many so it's people underestimate what it takes doing well in the restaurant business is not just having a good recipe and being able to cook well it takes a lot more you have to manage your staff you have to be able to make sure you get supplies make sure you're managing everything make sure everyone feels comfortable marketing, sales so many things go into a successful restaurant it's not just cooking well so in terms of that are you and I we need to think about what problem are we solving number one is it a hair on fire problem is it an urgent problem that people are willing to pay out of their pockets for people who have the money are they willing to pay for this to solve this problem this is the way you should be thinking and I should be thinking in terms of business another suggestion that I would give to some of our brothers and sisters young and old alike is try to read the biographies of successful business people throughout history or try to read the biographies of innovators and people who for example are inventors whether that's reading the biography of Thomas Edison who said that I for example I didn't find a thousand ways I didn't find 999 ways I didn't find a thousand ways not to make it he says I found 999 ways not to make a light bulb I didn't fail a thousand times in making a light bulb I found a certain amount of ways not to make it or someone who's behind the scenes did more work maybe Nikola Tesla Tesla was the man who actually did a lot of work for Edison and maybe should get more credit than Edison himself and so maybe read his biography Thank you for saying that I don't want to mention a lot about people if they're interested with regards to Thomas Edison as well recently I just did a bit random research about and I was shocked we taught a lot of things at school may not be necessarily true but I'll leave that to the audience about Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla but with that being said and that's very important to know read those biographies read the biographies but now everything has a very strong caveat only follow that which is with ethics do not lie, cheat or steal at any moment in time that's the thing only with ethics don't forget your morals don't forget your foundation just for the sake of it very adamant I know businessmen not very far from here who've done very well they had some of the big they had big clients who were from alcohol companies and they said no we will not accept this people willing to pay a lot wrapping up with respect to managing income unfortunately till this day people, children are not taught financial education properly manage your finances properly that is a part of Dean and with that being said unfortunately once again we've run out of time and I would like to thank you all for being with us Insha'Allah I hope this show has been as beneficial to you as it has been to us I would like to ask you all kindly to remember us in your دعاز and the pool and the needy and the oppressed of this world and especially always pray pray for the hastening of the reappearance of Imam Al-Assaw Al-Zaman with that being said I'd like to thank you all and our team for making this happen until next week my salams for me and say it enjoy your افضار السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركات