Mr. Garfield Dunlop (Simcoe North): My question today is for the Minister of Community and Social Services. Minister and members of this House, today we have present in the Speaker's gallery four residents from Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia. They're here with their attendants. Their names are David Rodgers, Carey Buss, Wendy Sayer and Pip Bruce-Robertson. They have resided at the facility for a combined total of 170 years.

Minister Pupatello, you and your government have decided to close HRC, very clearly without any kind of plan. How can you and your government even consider closing HRC when you haven't even met with the residents to determine their needs? You have yet to even lay out a detailed plan that will assure family members who are here today that their loved ones will be cared for in the same manner as they have become accustomed to at Huronia Regional Centre.

Interruption.

The Speaker (Hon. Alvin Curling): Order. Let's just sit down. Thank you.

Hon. Sandra Pupatello (Minister of Community and Social Services, minister responsible for women's issues): Can I say on behalf of every member of this House how pleased we are to see individuals who live at Huronia here at Queen's Park today. We applaud you. We thank you for coming here today.

They may also know that both my parliamentary assistant, Ernie Parsons, who is with them in the House today, as well as myself have tried valiantly, despite quarantines because of the flu, to actually be on-site at Huronia. That has hobbled us twice in our efforts to get there. We have had an opportunity to speak to parents. We will continue to do that. We would like to speak to every single parent, because what we're committed to do in this House, on behalf of every government that has been the government since the mid-1980s that enacted a plan that would close the institutions -- where we have moved from having 16 institutions in Ontario for people with developmental disabilities to three. We have announced the closure of those three. There are still 1,000 people living there. We understand what the challenges and the fears are, and I appreciate the opportunity to see face-to-face and continue to strive to meet those challenges and fears.

I look forward to the next question.

Mr. Dunlop: I guess that's why we don't call this "answer period."

I want to congratulate the minister, first of all, on her JobsNow project that she announced today. That will really help the 2,100 people from the Ontario public service whom you're putting out of work with this decision. At a time when Community Living in Ontario says they have a crisis on hand because of a 25% turnover of staff due to your underfunding and do not have enough funds to offer space to those on other waiting lists, you have made a decision, again without any plan, to close HRC, Rideau Regional Centre and Southwestern Regional Centre and add 1,000 of the most profoundly disabled people to those lists. When will the families and residents actually see a plan to offer the same level of care and medical attention that they receive today at HRC? I'm talking about a plan. When will you start to consult with those who actually care about these people?

Minister, I know you say you've tried to make it up there a couple of times, but the bottom line is that you've got lots of time to make it to your fancy casino announcements and whatever $550-a-plate you were at recently, but you haven't had the courtesy to come to the Huronia Regional Centre and meet, as the landlord and as the person responsible for these people --

The Speaker: Thank you.

Hon. Ms. Pupatello: There are some things within my ministry and across the government that are completely non-partisan, and this is one of them. When this member stands to ask a question, I remind him that he was part of a government, over the last eight years before we became the government, that continued with this plan to close facilities. Your government never wavered. Your government continued to close institutions, because in 1980 we understood that it was the right thing to do, that we wanted to see people in our community, as we have people in our House today, being in the community. I'd also like to know if this is the same MPP who has met on more than one occasion with the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, who is now speaking about the "What next?" plan, the potential of a university on the site of Huronia. I will also tell him that those people who have worked diligently with us in this ministry, the people who work in the institutions, are important to us. We have met with them and we continue to meet.