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April 8, 2024

43rd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2024-Apr-08 (PDF)

L141 - Mon 8 Apr 2024 / Lun 8 avr 2024

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Monday 8 April 2024 Lundi 8 avril 2024

Orders of the Day

Legislative reform

Wearing of shirts

Wearing of ribbons

Members’ Statements

Community safety

Organ and tissue donation

Grand River Malayalee Association

Mental health services

Organ donation

Voula Sardelis

Sikh Heritage Month

Consumer protection

Norwich Fire Fighters Association pancake breakfast

Arts and cultural funding

Introduction of Visitors

Question Period

Health care

Affordable housing

Post-secondary education

Taxation

Long-term care

Taxation

Health care funding

Office of the Premier

Taxation

Addiction services

Taxation

Forest industry

Taxation

Government appointments

Taxation

Visitor

Deferred Votes

Legislative reform

Notice of dissatisfaction

Introduction of Visitors

Introduction of Bills

Richard Crosby Investments Limited Act, 2024

2038778 Ontario Ltd. Act, 2024

Petitions

Mental health services

Social assistance

Mental health services

Tenant protection

Mental health services

Mental health services

Mental health services

Social assistance

Sexual violence and harassment

Orders of the Day

Building a Better Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2024 / Loi de 2024 visant à bâtir un Ontario meilleur (mesures budgétaires)

Legislative reform

Building a Better Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2024 / Loi de 2024 visant à bâtir un Ontario meilleur (mesures budgétaires)

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Good morning. Let us pray.

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Legislative reform

Resuming the debate adjourned on March 27, 2024, on the amendment to the amendment to the motion regarding amendments to the standing orders.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Further debate?

M me Lucille Collard: Good morning, everyone. I appreciate the privilege to be able to stand here in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to comment on the motion to change the rules that govern the legislative process and the rights of members of the House, among other things.

Changes to standing orders have an impact on members, and a motion to change the rules should be an opportunity to improve the way we function here in this House. Now, with the changes that are being proposed in this motion, I do have some important concerns that I’m here to share this morning.

For one thing, I will say, what a missed opportunity to make things less acrimonious in here by working together on procedural changes instead of being forced to react to what is being decided by the government alone. Because that’s what I did—that’s what I did when I was asked by a reporter what I thought about the proposed changes, because we didn’t know they were coming, and we were not asked to provide any input whatsoever. So, when government drafts bills, they consult with stakeholders. And when government drafts changes to the standing orders, we, the members of this House, are the stakeholders. And I believe that we should be consulted in the process.

I would also like to respond to the government House leader’s comment about my ability to be an impartial presiding officer in this place because I reacted to his motion in a political manner. First of all, my role as House leader for my caucus requires me to defend and protect their rights to be able to do their job in this House to the fullest extent possible, just like other officers make political statements when sitting in their seat or outside this House, as members of their own party.

Second, I believe that I have proven, since I have been appointed third Deputy Speaker, that when I am in that chair, I wear no colours other than the black and white of the uniform, going as far as allowing our then interim leader to miss his late show when it could have been easy for me, sitting in that chair, to give him a quick text—but no, I figured it was not my place to do that, because I take my role seriously.

So, going back to the motion itself, the government claims that it is fixing some of the complaints the independent members were expressing; namely, for not being able to respond to ministerial statements. In fact, I can appreciate that the government House leader got tired of having the ungracious task of saying no to our constant and numerous unanimous consent requests. Through 19 days of sitting after we came back in February, we rose 13 times to ask permission to speak, and the government granted it three times.

Now, those three times were not real consent. One was for International Women’s Day, when the government had to reverse its refusal following significant public backlash. I think we can all remember that time. There was another one, for Black History Month, which was granted to us—and I think, or suspect, that maybe the government House leader might have been distracted and just omitted to say no. The third one was actually almost an insult, granting us consent to speak to a PMB knowing it wouldn’t take place because the member was sick and wouldn’t be there to debate it anyway. I will say that the art of mockery in this House has been quite elevated, and I find it is quite a shame.

There are 16 independent members, and our requests for equitable privileges are not unreasonable and are not being met in any way in this motion. Here are the simple things we are regularly being denied when we ask:

—sharing five minutes to speak to private members’ public business—not adding more time—just being able to share that five minutes so we can have more people express their support or non-support;

—having eight minutes to speak during an opposition day motion—that’s out of a two-hour debate—but, no, that’s not acceptable;

—sharing five minutes to respond to ministerial statements; and

—having more questions during question period and, then, the ability to manage them with flexibility.

These repeated requests are not addressed in this motion that proposed the changes to the standing orders. In fact, the independent members are being even further penalized by these changes.

The change that would allow us to respond to ministerial statements considers that, out of the eight minutes allocated to the NDP and the independent members together, we may get three minutes or two minutes or maybe less, because once everyone is done applauding the member who just finished speaking—because that’s usually what happens during responses to ministerial statements—the clock is still running and then it will take a while before the remaining time is handed over to the independents. That’s instead of the firm five minutes we’ve been asking for. So not a real win.

But I’m sure the government House leader is expecting us to say thank you, and my colleague from Ottawa South already did that during his debate time.

The other shortfall we are facing is our ability to participate in committee. Not only our automatic right to be appointed as a member of a committee would be removed, to now be at the discretion of the procedure and House affairs committee, dominated by government members, but the motion would also remove the ability of the independent members to substitute for one another on a committee.

I mean, people need to understand—and I know, it’s us, we’re nine—it’s challenging enough for us to cover all the important stuff, and if we can’t have the flexibility to cover for one another, it simply steals our ability to participate fully, to move motions or vote on amendments as an important way to ensure that the voices of our constituents are heard throughout the legislative process. I’m thinking specifically, as an example, of the budget consultations by the finance committee that travelled the province.

The substitutions we were able to make allowed us to hear from our own communities, something we will likely not be able to do again.

Now, the government House leader mentioned something interesting that exists in the current standing orders that would seem to give more speaking time to independent members. He was referring to standing order 38(b). The government House leader stated, “We created more opportunity for debate in the Legislature by adding a 30-minute report stage when a bill is reported back from committee. What does that mean? Why would any government that has passed a bill add a provision in the standing orders that allows for more debate on a bill that just came out of committee?

Why would any sane government with a massive majority, both in the last Parliament and in this Parliament, add this provision? Why did we add the provision? Because it would allow the independents, who don’t necessarily serve on the committee, to have a debate and talk about the issues that they were not able to participate in a committee on and raise that here in the House.”

Now, that may sound like we, the independent members, really haven’t been clever enough to take advantage of this provision. However, the challenge with this provision is that 12 members need to stand up for that 30-minute debate to kick in, and without knowing when a particular bill might be reported back from committee, anyone can see how unreasonable it would be to expect every day to have 12 members ready to stand up. Sometimes there is hardly that number of members total in the House when reports by committees is called during afternoon routine business.

Just a brief word on petitions, just to say what my colleague from Ottawa South has already mentioned—disagreement with the new formula proposed. I also agree with the NDP that 15 minutes per day to hear from our communities on why we’re asking something shouldn’t be too much to ask.

Now, the last time we debated this motion, my colleagues brought forward some amendments. The sub-amendments would direct the Speaker to recognize the independent members during question period for four questions per day, each followed by one supplementary. Currently, independent members only have one or two questions per day, and we are constrained as each member is only permitted to ask one question for eight sitting days. So if someone is sick or cannot be there to do their question for any reason, another member cannot always simply step in and take their place.

In contrast, the Conservatives usually have five or six questions per day to which it would not be a problem if these slots were used by members to get real answers for Ontarians and hold the government to account. My colleague from Ottawa South moved that amendment to allow the independent members more questions, and he said, “It would relieve the burden on government members to ask another carbon tax question.” I know it sounds really funny—and my colleague from Ottawa South is a funny and likeable guy, I’m sure you will agree—but the joke is actually not that funny.

Should question period be about pinning the fault of our weaknesses in our responsibilities to Ontarians on another level of government? In the UK Parliament, question time is an opportunity for MPs and members of the House of Lords to question government ministers about matters for which they are responsible.

In the House of Commons, any member can ask a question, although the time is set aside almost exclusively for the opposition parties to confront the government and hold it accountable for its actions and to highlight the perceived inadequacies of the government. It is that part of the parliamentary day where the government is held accountable for its administrative policies and the conduct of its ministers, both individually and collectively—and this is lifted directly from the House of Commons website.

Question period, formally called oral questions, is an important method of ensuring that the government answers to the people, represented by the opposition parties, and is held accountable for its actions. That’s according to the Canadian Encyclopedia.

So this proposed amendment by my colleague from Ottawa South would help in returning question period to what it should be and essentially returning things to the way they were before the 2022 election. It would strengthen our parliamentary democracy and improve government accountability.

Again, it’s not an unreasonable request. The government was willing to implement this change in the last Parliament, and we have even more independent members now than we did then.

So I will conclude by repeating my offer to work with both government House leader and the opposition House leader if they are interested in making things better around here. There are 16 independent members, and I believe they deserve a voice at the table. I thank you for your time, Mr. Speaker.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Lorne Coe): Further debate? Further debate? Further debate?

On March 27, 2024, Mr. Jones, Chatham-Kent–Leamington, moved government notice of motion 24 regarding amendments to standing orders.

Mr. Fraser moved an amendment to government notice of motion number 24.

Mr. Hsu moved the following amendment to the amendment to government notice of motion number 24:

That the amendment be amended as follows:

By deleting everything after the word “following” and inserting: “In exercising his discretion under standing order 35(g), the Speaker shall recognize independent members for four questions per day, each followed by one supplementary.”

Is it the pleasure of the House that Mr. Hsu’s amendment to the amendment to the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour of the motion, please say “aye.”

All those opposed to the motion will please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the nays have it.

A recorded vote being required, it will be deferred until the next instance of deferred votes.

Vote deferred.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Lorne Coe): Orders of the day, please.

Hon. Paul Calandra: No further business.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Lorne Coe): This House stands in recess.

The House recessed from 0916 to 1015.

Wearing of shirts

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery on a point of order.

Hon. Todd J. McCarthy: Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to wear green shirts in recognition of April 7 being Green Shirt Day and April being donor awareness month.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Mr. McCarthy is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to allow members to wear green shirts in recognition of April 7 being Green Shirt Day and April being donor awareness month. Agreed? Agreed.

Wearing of ribbons

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Nickel Belt, I understand, has a point of order.

M me France Gélinas: Speaker, if you seek it, you will find that we have unanimous consent for people to wear a ribbon in honour of it being Be a Donor Month, in line with Green Shirt Day as well.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Nickel Belt is seeking unanimous consent to allow members to wear green ribbons in honour of Green Shirt Day and donor awareness month. Agreed? Agreed.

Members’ Statements

Community safety

Mr. Anthony Leardi: On March 11 of this year, the LaSalle police force and the Windsor police force joined forces to create something called the offender management unit. This is a special unit whose job it is to seek out and re-arrest people who are found or alleged to be found in breach of their bail conditions. In the first three weeks of operation, police officers re-arrested eight individuals and issued warrants for three more. These are people who have already been charged or convicted with serious offences such as murder, attempted murder, robbery or sexual assault.

The offender management unit was made possible through a grant from this government, under our programming and our specialized attention to the enforcement of this issue.

LaSalle police chief Duncan Davies said, “We are grateful to our provincial partners for coming through on funding this very important initiative....”

Mr. Speaker, I’m grateful too. I’m grateful to our police for catching offenders, putting them behind bars and keeping our communities safe. I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to our police officers.

Organ and tissue donation

M me France Gélinas: April is Be a Donor Month, a month dedicated to raising awareness about organ and tissue donation.

The Trillium Gift of Life network tells us that 90% of Ontarians want to be a donor but only 35% have registered. Right now, there are 1,400 Ontarians that are waiting for a life-saving organ, and, sadly, every three days one of them dies.

Three years ago, Nova Scotia implemented an organ donation system where all Nova Scotians are considered donors unless they opt out. The first year saw an increase of 40% in tissue donations, and the numbers continue to rise.

Ontario is ready for this, Speaker. I have tabled Saving Organs to Save Lives, in memory of Peter Kormos, six times. There is no opposition. Let’s get this done.

But until it happens, I want to thank every Ontarian that has registered to be a donor and save lives. I want to thank Richard St. Amour in my riding that has helped Nickel Belt achieve 57% registrations to be a donor.

Yesterday was Green Shirt Day. Logan Boulet’s organ donation inspired 100,000 Canadians to register as donors after the after the tragic Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team bus crash in Saskatchewan. We wear green to recognize Logan and all the donors that have given and saved lives.

Remember, Speaker: Be a donor. Soyez un donneur.

Grand River Malayalee Association

Ms. Jess Dixon: I’m speaking to some of the politicians in the room, the stuff that we don’t always talk about and how it can be quite interesting to be a politician, a person with social anxiety. You have to walk into a variety of events, often by yourself, having no idea what you’re going to get. Because of that, when you find a group of people or an organization that you connect with as a politician, that makes you feel incredibly welcomed and supported, it is quite a remarkable thing.

I actually have some guests today who I will introduce later from the Grand River Malayalee Association. I first met these people during the Onam celebrations from last year. I feel like I mention this type of thing a lot, but we connected initially because I turned up in a sari that I hadn’t pleated properly, met the president, immediately asked to speak to his wife and ended up having their MC and another person essentially unwrap me and rewrap me in my sari before I went on stage, which is a really wonderful bonding experience that I recommend to everybody.

But since then, I’ve been to several of their events and I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever met a group of people who are more proud to participate in Canadian society. Every time I look, they’re canoeing in Algonquin park, they’re at Tim Hortons, they’re at Canada’s Wonderland, they’re doing something that shows just how much they love being part of this country. It’s such an honour to have them here today. I will introduce them later, but thank you, Speaker, and the Grand River Malayalee Association.

Mental health services

Ms. Catherine Fife: Kaitlyn Roth was a bright, successful, beautiful young woman. She was a third-year University of Waterloo student who had dreams of working with children with special needs. On April 28, 2022, just four days shy of her 21st birthday, we lost Kaitlyn to mental illness. Long wait-lists and gaps in the system meant she fell through the cracks.

Her parents and members of the Roth family are here today. The Roths are focusing on helping others. The mental health system failed them, but they are fighting for positive change.

Approximately 4,500 people die by suicide each year in Canada. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among young adults.

This afternoon, I will be tabling a petition with over 7,000 signatures. It calls on providing mental health services with a focus on evidence-based, trauma-informed care and to provide funding for alternative-destination clinics in Ontario.

Waterloo Senator Marty Deacon also supports the Roth family with a call for “compassionate, consistent and caring responses at all levels of intervention, support and recovery. Supporting this petition is a strong step forward.” Thank you very much.

To honour Kaitlyn’s legacy and the many Kaitlyns out there, the Roths have created a foundation to help fill in the gaps, because there were so many gaps in Kaitlyn’s journey.

From her parents: “Kaitlyn, our beautiful, brown-eyed girl with the million-dollar smile, we love you always.”

We cannot let others slip through the cracks of this broken mental health system.

Organ donation

Mr. Steve Clark: Yesterday, the province of Ontario recognized the significance of organ donation and the impact of the Logan Boulet effect. The devastating Humboldt Broncos bus crash deeply affected both our province and our country. Among the 29 passengers, 16 lost their lives while 13 had life-altering injuries. Among those was Broncos defenceman Logan Boulet.

On April 7, 2018, Logan tragically lost his life. But despite this tragedy, Logan and his family’s decision to donate his organs saved the lives of six individuals, demonstrating the life-saving power of organ donation. While April 7 continues to invoke painful memories across Canada, it has also become an opportunity for us to promote organ donation awareness. This has led to the establishment of Green Shirt Day and the profound impact of the Logan Boulet effect. Just like Logan and his family, everyone who is comfortable and willing should sign up to donate—that has the power to save so many lives.

I’m proud that a teenager in my riding, Ethan Bos, of St. Michael Catholic High School in Kemptville, was the impetus for Bill 112, the Green Shirt Day Act. The bill was sponsored by the Honourable Michael Parsa and received royal assent on April 11, 2022, It promotes organ donation across the province.

If you or someone you know wants to register to donate, you can do so at any ServiceOntario location near you, or go online at serviceontario.ca/beadonor to check if you’re already registered to be a donor or have an existing registration. Anyone who’s an OHIP-eligible Ontarian aged 16 and up can register for this life-saving service.

I want to thank Minister McCarthy for all the promotion through ServiceOntario. I encourage all members to recognize the Logan Boulet effect and support Be a Donor this month.

Voula Sardelis

Mr. Joel Harden: Ottawa lost a warrior last week, and warriors come in all shapes and sizes. Voula Sardelis was barely five feet tall. She was living in her 101st year of life, but her stature was towering all the same. From humble beginnings in rural Greece, three years ago, she actually inspired unanimous agreement in this House.

By then, I had worked with Maria, Voula’s daughter, for two years. I learned how some caregivers faced unfair retaliations based on complaints they raised, which were legitimate, on behalf of loved ones in retirement homes, long-term-care homes and group homes.

In 2018, after Maria raised those concerns with her mom’s care in an Ottawa-based retirement home, she was issued a trespass notice and she was separated from Voula for 316 days. But that act of cruelty sparked a movement for change, and I’m proud to say in Voula’s name, as they celebrate her life back home in Ottawa today, that on March 4 in this place, Voula’s Law passed. Motion 129 passed, and it was a victory that Voula inspired.

I met Voula personally for the first time on her 99th birthday. She smiled. She reached for my hand and she kissed it. I did my best to dance to Greek music with Maria. It was a remarkable day for a remarkable woman. But let us always remember the power of our elders, and the responsibility for us as legislators to ensure that people with disabilities and seniors get access to their caregivers when they want it. God bless you, Voula.

Sikh Heritage Month

Mr. Hardeep Singh Grewal: This April marks the 10-year anniversary of Sikh Heritage Month, a celebration highlighting the contributions of the Sikh community in Ontario. Ontario has one of the largest Sikh community diasporas in the world, with over 200,000 Sikhs residing in the province.

Sikhs believe in five key principles taught by Guru Nanak Dev Ji. They are:

—Vaand Chhako, sharing whatever God has given you and helping those that are in need;

—Kirat Karo, meaning making an honest living;

—Naam Japo, chanting the name of the true God;

—Sarbat Daa Bhalaa, asking god for everybody’s happiness; and

—speaking the truth without any fear.

This year, the Sikh heritage initiative has organized many events across the city of Brampton and the province, including a flag-raising, art exhibitions, concerts and a number of workshops. I encourage everyone to attend. Also, there will be a Sikh Heritage Month celebration here at Queen’s Park, and I encourage all members to attend as well.

April is also significant to the Sikh community, as they celebrate Vaisakhi, a spring harvest festival and the day the Khalsa was created. Vaisakhi is celebrated by visiting a gurdwara and doing Seva—the act of selfless service to others. Vaisakhi will also be celebrated through the annual Khalsa Day parade which takes place in Toronto, from Exhibition Place to Toronto city hall.

Speaker, I would like to take this moment to wish all Sikh Ontarians and all those celebrating a happy Sikh Heritage Month and happy Vaisakhi.

Consumer protection

Mr. Michael Mantha: We’re just getting back from an awesome constituency week. It’s great to see everyone in here. Like everybody else, I dealt with issues across my riding. Some of them that came across were landlord and tenancy issues; paramedic coverage that is particularly lacking in the Hornepayne and White River area; municipal integrity commissioner office issues that are happening at municipal levels; the Northern Health Travel Grant; the lack of French services in the health care fields, particularly in home care, in the community of Dubreuilville and others—road maintenance is high priority.

But there’s something I really want to bring to the floor of the Legislature, and I want to thank two constituents. There are still scams that are going on, and these scams are targeting seniors. The one scam that is going on—on the North Shore, we had a really bad storm a couple of weeks ago, and there were a lot of power outages. There’s a 1-800 number that came out that charges people to report power outages through hydro. I’m happy to say that hydro is aware of it, and they’re dealing with that scam, and they’re trying to find out how people are being charged for reporting their calls.

There’s also the anti-virus McAfee boondoggle that is going on. That scam is also targeting many seniors.

What I want to say to seniors is: Reach out to your family members and make sure that you have the discussions with them, because if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Norwich Fire Fighters Association pancake breakfast

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: Last weekend, I had the pleasure to attend the Norwich Fire Fighters Association annual pancake breakfast. Volunteer firefighters spent all morning flipping up delicious pancakes and collecting donations for Norwich Youth Unlimited, also known as the Upper Deck. They’re raising funds to renovate their space and provide even more programming for youth in our community. It’s a wonderful opportunity to support a great organization in Oxford and thank our volunteer firefighters for their service, all while enjoying a delicious breakfast.

This event was made sweeter not only because of our volunteer firefighters but also because of the maple syrup that was flowing. With the support of amazing local sponsors like Haupt Tree Line Maintenance and Lot 17, families in Norwich enjoyed delicious Oxford maple syrup with their pancakes.

It’s been great to see yet another successful syrup season in Oxford, thanks in part to our government’s investment of $1 million through the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership, which supports the province’s maple syrup sector. We’re proud to keep producing delicious maple syrup and bring the rest of the world to taste Oxford.

Overall, this was a great weekend highlighting the very best of what Oxford has to offer: coming together to support a local community organization, dedicated volunteers making it happen and, of course, maple syrup.

I’d like to thank everyone who put this event on and all those who came out in support. I’m already looking forward to next year.

Arts and cultural funding

Ms. Christine Hogarth: It’s nice to be back. Smiles and the community spirit were in full swing in Etobicoke–Lakeshore, especially with all the Easter bunnies hopping around at our BIAs on Easter weekend, and especially at Mimico Square, where our local artists sold many of their products. Of course, I’m a shopper, so I indulged with a little necklace from a local artist.

From seeing our youngest artists to more experienced artists, I want to highlight the importance of art and the talented and creative individuals from Etobicoke–Lakeshore. We are all blessed every day to see murals on our business walls, on our utility boxes and underneath our bridges, statues and structures, and even the architecture that stands tall on Humber Bay Shores. We are so proud of the community of south Etobicoke.

Etobicoke–Lakeshore is home to many creative people, and today, I’d like to highlight a few. With thanks to the staff and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, each year, youth from 12 to 18 across the province are invited to display their works of art throughout the Legislative Building through the Youth Arts Program. I’m sure many of you working in here admire the beautiful art displayed throughout our halls. This year, two young constituents, Stefania Dedda and Sofia Lebovics, had the pleasure of showcasing their artwork. Thank you for decorating the halls of Queen’s Park with your talent.

Through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport and their $60-million budget to encourage art and culture, we continue to see wonderful programs at Franklin Horner, Arts Etobicoke and MabelleArts, to name a few. Thank you for your continued support of arts in our local communities.

Introduction of Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): With us in the Legislature today is a former member of provincial Parliament who served the riding of Stoney Creek in the 38th Parliament, Jennifer Mossop. Welcome back. Great to see you.

Mr. Joel Harden: I’m a very happy man this morning because I’m honoured that members of my family are here today: our daughter, Adele Mary Harden, artist in residence at the Great Canadian Theatre Co., from Canterbury High School; and Dr. Clare Louise Roscoe, part of the Children’s Hospital emergency room team, both beloved to me. Thank you for everything both of you do to make me be here. Thank you for coming, guys.

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: Today, I would like to welcome Gennaro Silvestri from Calgary. He’s the CEO of Apé Canada, and he’s here for the Restaurants Canada Show in Toronto.

M me Dawn Gallagher Murphy: I would like to introduce some great people from my riding of Newmarket–Aurora: Manha Yusuf, the page captain this morning; her parents Nisa Chaudhry and Naved Yusuf; her grandmother Zahida Chaudhry; and her sister Laiba Yusuf. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Catherine Fife: I’d like to introduce Michael Roth and Fiona Roth; Molly Roth, Michael Roth—who are siblings of Kaitlyn; Mandie Roth; Julie Roth; Karen Waite; and Eric Philip, who is the CEO of Thresholds, all in support of Kaitlyn Roth today. Welcome to your House.

Ms. Natalia Kusendova-Bashta: Good morning. It’s wonderful to be back with all of my colleagues.

Mr. Chris Glover: I’d like to welcome to the House a group of family members whose seniors are being evicted from the Chartwell home in Mississauga: Karen Santaguida, Victoria Santaguida, Sinead Hutchinson, Danielle Colalillo and Stacey Saracini.

Mr. Mike Harris: I have had the pleasure of having two pages here in the Legislature, and we have a third one joining us today. I think he might be on water duty as I don’t see him, but Ryder Harris is here for the next three weeks.

Mr. Deepak Anand: It is an absolute pleasure to introduce the backbone of our constituency office: Jean Marc, who’s here from Mississauga–Malton.

Mr. Hardeep Singh Grewal: I wanted to welcome the family of today’s page captain, Armaan Bagarhy. His sister and family friend, Harman and Rohit, are here just behind me in the public gallery. Welcome to your House.

Ms. Jess Dixon: It’s absolutely my pleasure to welcome the subjects of my member’s statement this morning, the Grand River Malayalee Association. With us in the House today are Rajeev Pillai, Sudhip Joseph, Rayees Nishad, Selby Sebastian, Keerthik Premkumar, Alan Thomas, Shiny Mathews, Siju John, Merlin Sam and Anjali Sailaja. Welcome to your House and thank you so much for coming.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Pleasure to be here this morning to wish MPP and Speaker of the House Ted Arnott happy birthday.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much.

I’m pleased to welcome two of my constituency assistants who work with me at the Wellington–Halton Hills provincial riding office: Judy Brownrigg and Karen Thomas. Welcome to the Legislature. It’s great to have you here today.

That concludes our introduction of visitors.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Point of order, Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Member for Nepean, point of order.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I debated whether or not I should do this because it’s so passé, but a couple of weeks ago, myself and the member from Danforth, Peter Tabuns, celebrated our 18th anniversary—together, as one.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much.

I want to acknowledge that we’re meeting on lands traditionally inhabited by Indigenous peoples. We pay our respects to the many Indigenous nations who gathered here and continue to gather here, including the Mississaugas of the Credit. Meegwetch.

This being the first sitting Monday of the month, I ask everyone to stand and join in the singing of the Canadian national anthem, followed by the royal anthem.

Singing of the national anthem / Chant de l’hymne national.

Singing of the royal anthem / Chant de l’hymne royal.

Question Period

Health care

Ms. Marit Stiles: Good morning, Speaker. This question is for the Premier. There has been an alarming trend of for-profit primary care clinics popping up all across this province. When Ottawa’s South Keys Health Center started charging $400 membership fees, the minister said she would investigate, but we haven’t seen any action from this government. They just shrug it off and blame it on the feds.

My question is to the Premier. Why won’t you uphold the values of universal health care and stop these for-profit clinics from charging hundreds of dollars for people to access primary care?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health.

Mr. Nolan Quinn: I thank the member opposite for the opportunity to speak about Ontario’s health care system. Ontario is leading the country with over 90% of Ontarians having a doctor or primary health care provider. Our government will not tolerate clinics taking advantage of a loophole created by federal legislation. If the federal government doesn’t take action to ensure Ontarians and Canadians can access publicly funded health care we will.

Each year our government invests over $50 million to connect hundreds of thousands of Ontarians to primary care through 25 nurse practitioner-led clinics across the province. In this year’s budget, we went even further: Our primary care expansion has expanded to a total of $546 million over three years to connect 600,000 Ontarians to primary care.

We will continue to work with our health partners across the province to ensure the best public health care for the people of Ontario when and where they need it.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. Members will please take their seats.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Start the clock. Supplementary question?

Ms. Marit Stiles: Speaker, patients have already been charged thousands of dollars in illegal fees since this government took office. The minister knows perfectly well that these practices are illegal under the Canada Health Act, but they have refused to investigate or take any action. Instead, the Minister of Health blames patients, saying that extra billing is their “misunderstanding.”

Since the minister has clearly taken the side of private companies charging these illegal fees, will the Premier stand up for the protection of patients or not?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats.

The parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health.

Mr. Nolan Quinn: Thank you again to the Leader of the Opposition. I’m not sure if she heard my answer: We will take action if the federal government doesn’t close the federal loophole on that.

Mr. Speaker, Ontario is the first jurisdiction to use the nurse practitioner-led clinic model of care and we will continue to use this innovative path of delivery—publicly funded primary care—to connect hundreds of thousands of people across the province to the care they need.

Ontario is leading the country with almost 90% of Ontarians having a family doctor or a primary care provider. Since 2018, we have registered over 12,500 new physicians in Ontario, including a 10% increase in family doctors, but we know more needs to be done. We will always continue to work with our health partners across the province to ensure that Ontario has the best publicly funded health care when and where they need it.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The final supplementary?

Ms. Marit Stiles: Speaker, we’ll take action if, we’ll take action when—the people of Ontario are demanding action now.

There are countless publicly reported examples of patients who are receiving surgeries in private clinics who are told they have to pay for upgrades for already eligible services. At a time when 2.3 million Ontarians don’t have a primary care physician, at a time when the cost of living has become completely unbearable and they can’t find a family doctor, why is this Premier expanding for-profit health care that hurts patients and only benefits private shareholders?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will take their seats.

The parliamentary assistant.

Mr. Nolan Quinn: As I’ve already stated, Ontario is leading the country with over 90% of Ontarians having a family doctor or a primary care provider. We started with a record investment of $110 million into 78 new and expanded interprofessional primary care teams and added over 400 new primary care providers to help close the gap in accessing primary care.

In this year’s budget, we went even further, Mr. Speaker. Our primary care expansion has expanded to a total investment of $546 million over three years to connect over 600,000 people with primary care in Ontario.

As I’ve stated, we will continue to work with the health care partners across the province to ensure that the people of Ontario have the best publicly funded health care when and where they need it, Speaker.

Affordable housing

Ms. Marit Stiles: I’d say, first of all, they’re leading the country in additional fees maybe, but that’s about it.

This question is for the Premier. Last week, the federal government offered Ontario $5 billion in funding to help pay for housing-related infrastructure. All the Premier needs to do is legalize fourplexes and other missing middle homes. That’s the kind of action that we in the NDP have been pushing for, and it was even recommended in the province’s own Housing Affordability Task Force.

Why is the Premier saying no to legalizing fourplexes and putting billions of federal funding at risk?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Hon. Paul Calandra: In fact, we’re doing no such thing. What the Premier has said, and what we believe, of course, is that municipalities are the best place to decide what type of development should happen in their communities.

We, of course, are looking forward to working as closely as we can with the federal government, but more importantly, we’re going to be working with our municipalities to come forward with a team Ontario approach to the federal government’s offer over the last couple of weeks.

As you know, there are very few details with respect to what the federal government has put forward but we’re going to take the, I would suspect, unusual step of being one of the first governments that will sit down with our municipal partners, work together with them to come forward with a team Ontario approach to how we can ensure the maximizing of this benefit for the people of the province of Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Ms. Marit Stiles: How’s that been working, eh, Speaker? The government is falling far behind their own affordable housing targets.

And 80% of Ontarians can’t afford a single detached home. They need other options like semis and townhouses or a home in a fourplex. These options would let more people stay in the communities that they live in instead of being forced out. This government used to agree with that, but something’s changed, and now, the Premier is fearmongering.

So why is the Premier willing to give up, again, billions in federal cash just so he can block people from living where they want to live?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, what we’ve said is that we’re going to work with our municipal partners to see how we can work together to address the funding that has been put forward by the Prime Minister.

We at this point have very few details on what these funds—how they can be used. But we’ll work closely with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, with the big city mayors, with the Rural Ontario Municipal Association, with the small urban mayors, and we will come forward with a team Ontario approach to access these federal dollars but at the same time, we have the highest housing starts that we have had over the last couple of years.

We understand there is more work to be done. There is no doubt that the high inflation and high interest rate policies of the federal government, which are a result of the high carbon taxes, are causing some challenges within the home building industry. We will continue to fix some of the problems that we’ve inherited from the previous Liberal government, and we will ensure that for the people of the province of Ontario the dream of ownership is within everybody’s grasp.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The final supplementary?

Ms. Marit Stiles: This government and this Premier used to talk tough on housing. In fact, the Premier used to throw around terms like NIMBY for politicians who got in the way of building affordable housing, and now he’s one of them.

This is a classic Conservative flip-flop on one of the most important issues facing people today in this province. Instead of building the housing that we desperately need, we have a Premier who is reversing course, who is ruling out options and sowing fear about density.

So back to the Premier: Is it that he doesn’t like fourplexes or is it that he doesn’t like people who can’t afford single, detached homes?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, that’s just classic NDP, right? It’s classic NDP.

What we’re doing is we’re focused on building more homes for the people of the province of Ontario. Do you know how we’re doing that? By working with our municipal partners to get the job done.

We have said right from the beginning that the best way to build not 100 homes, not 200 homes but over a million homes would be to get sewer and water infrastructure in the ground. We’re talking about building communities, so we’re building transit and transportation.

The Minister of Education is building schools with one of the largest investments in new schools in the history of this province, the Minister of Transportation is building subways, expanding GO train service and the Minister of Infrastructure has announced one of the largest programs in sewer and water infrastructure in the province’s history—in the history of the province. Because we don’t want to build a couple of homes, we want to build 1.5 million of all types of homes, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re building communities for the people of the province of Ontario.

Post-secondary education

Ms. Peggy Sattler: My question is to the Premier. Last week, the Premier said that he wants to get rid of international students in Ontario. He wants Ontario universities to be attended by 100% Ontario students. These statements reveal a stunning lack of understanding not only of the purposes of post-secondary education but also the value that international students bring to our province, which is far more than the tuition dollars they generate to subsidize completely inadequate provincial grants.

Speaker, it’s almost as if the Premier wants our post-secondary system to fail. Does he?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Minister of Colleges and Universities.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you to the member for that question. Let’s talk about what we were doing on Friday: We were announcing a new medical school for York University. Alongside my colleagues and the mayor from Vaughan, we made an exciting, historic announcement.

Let’s talk about our government’s record in medical seat expansion in this province—three new medical schools in Ontario: a new Scarborough U of T campus, the new TMU medical school and now the York University medical school.

Mr. Speaker, while the opposition votes against every single medical seat expansion that we bring to the table, followed by the Liberal government, who cut medical seats while they were in power, this government, under the leadership of this Premier, will ensure that we have access to primary care in this province.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Ms. Peggy Sattler: The Premier is on the record with those comments, but even if those comments only referred to international medical students at this medical school that doesn’t have any long-term funding, that does not dig him out of the hole. It’s not that medical seats have been occupied by international medical students, it’s that students trained in other countries, including those from Ontario, can’t get recognized in Ontario. It’s also a post-secondary system that has been starved for resources for years. Almost half of our universities, including those with medical schools, are reporting deficits, and this government’s budget did nothing to ensure their financial stability.

Instead of dog whistles blaming international students, will the Premier commit to the $2.5 billion in base funding that the government’s own expert panel said—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats.

I’m going to caution the member on her choice of words.

Minister of Colleges and Universities.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: In 2022 alone, this government added 160 undergraduate seats and 295 postgraduate seats. In budget 2023, we also built on this historic investment by adding an additional 100 undergraduate seats and another 154 postgraduate seats. And, again, in budget 2024, we announced the new medical school at York University. Mr. Speaker, that is almost 900 new medical seats in this province.

Again, to the opposition—I urge you to vote with us to ensure that we open this new medical school and increase the number of medical seats in Ontario.

Unlike the opposition, who will vote against this, this government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, is ensuring that we have more access to medical seats in this province.

Taxation

Mr. Will Bouma: My question is for the Minister of Energy. The carbon tax does nothing to reduce emissions, it only hurts hard-working people. Just last week, the federal Liberals hiked the carbon tax yet again. They ignored what people across the country have been asking from day one: an end to this disastrous tax. And where were Bonnie Crombie and her Liberal caucus? They did nothing to stop this from happening.

Unlike the independent Liberals, our government knows that taxing Ontarians is not the solution. That’s why we are continuing to build on Ontario’s clean energy advantage in powering new homes, transit, job creators and more. With shovels already in the ground on major projects, our government is ensuring that people across the province have access to affordable and reliable energy.

Speaker, can the minister please explain why the Liberal carbon tax is punishing Ontario families and businesses?

Hon. Todd Smith: Thanks to the member opposite for the question. We’re ensuring that we have energy in our province that’s clean, reliable, affordable and safe, Mr. Speaker, with an emphasis on affordable and reliable.

Last Monday, the Prime Minister jacked up the carbon tax by a staggering 23%. Premier Ford and all of the Premiers—NDP, Liberals and Conservatives alike—wrote a letter to the Prime Minister last week, encouraging him once again to realize the failure of this carbon tax and he responded by saying, “Oh, now, this is a nice irony. Ontario actually started a cap-and-trade program. It was scrapped by Premier Doug Ford”—darned right it was scrapped by Premier Doug Ford, and given the opportunity to scrap that carbon tax, he would do it all over again.

A cap-and-trade system is an increased cost for the people of Ontario, something that our party won’t stand for. Bonnie Crombie, the queen of the carbon tax, sure does.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

The supplementary question?

Mr. Will Bouma: Thank you to the minister for his response. We know that the carbon tax is making life more unaffordable for everyone, but the federal Liberals and their provincial counterparts continue to turn a blind eye to the hard-working people and businesses in our province. Ontarians should be able to fill up their tank without paying an extra 17 cents per litre and families should not have to choose between heating and eating.

Our government has always and will continue to stand up and fight this regressive tax. We are focused on keeping costs down for Ontario families and businesses and building our clean energy advantage. Can the minister please tell this House if there is anyone who stands to benefit from the Liberal carbon tax?

Hon. Todd Smith: Absolutely not, Mr. Speaker—no one’s benefiting from this carbon tax. This is the irony of the Prime Minister’s comments last week. He said that we scrapped the cap-and-trade system in Ontario—which we did, because it was driving up the cost of everything.

This is Liberal dynamic math here, Mr. Speaker. When McGuinty was the Premier here, they believed the health tax that they implemented wasn’t a tax, it was a premium. It was the largest income tax increase in our province’s history. Then they bring in a cap-and-trade system, which is just a tax and driving up the cost of everything.

That’s why we scrapped the carbon tax, and we sent Kathleen Wynne for a hike, Mr. Speaker. It was the right thing to do for the people of Ontario. It’s about time the Prime Minister woke up to that fact and followed the Premier—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

The next question.

Long-term care

Mr. Wayne Gates: Nearly 200 residents at Chartwell Heritage Glen Retirement received eviction notices. They have until the end of July to leave.

Chartwell, a private, for-profit retirement home and long-term-care provider with an ugly track record of neglect and non-compliance is selling the land to a private developer.

With massive wait-lists for long-term care, retirement homes are increasingly expected to provide direct intensive care. When a retirement home closes, a senior loses a roof over their head and loses their care.

Is this government going to allow Chartwell to throw hundreds of seniors out of their home, potentially to homelessness, to make a quick buck?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will take their seats.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Mr. Speaker, as you know, there are rules in place with respect to retirement homes when they transition. Of course, they are going to require that all of the individuals who are currently resident within that facility are transitioned into a new facility before they can move on out.

At the same time, I know there are a number of subsidies that are being provided to the residents. I know the member for Mississauga–Streetsville has been working very closely not only with the city of Mississauga but with the proponents and residents so we’re quite encouraged that all residents will be treated in a respectful manner.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question? The member for Spadina–Fort York.

Mr. Chris Glover: Mr. Speaker, I hate to contradict the government House leader, but there are family members of the seniors who are being evicted from Chartwell and they have said that the member from Mississauga–Streetsville has not met with them, has not spoken with them even though their seniors are being evicted.

Both the Harris and this Conservative government have given millions of dollars to Chartwell, which is a real estate investment trust, and Chartwell has generated a reported $7 million for its chair, former Conservative Premier Mike Harris. Now, Chartwell is evicting 200 seniors in Mississauga and these seniors’ family members are here. Among them is Karen, whose mother, Joyce, is 92 years old and is not able to eat or sleep because of the anxiety of losing her home.

Will this government stand up for seniors and stop these evictions, or will they allow the tax-subsidized Chartwell corporation to sacrifice seniors in the name of profit?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, I do know the member for Mississauga–Streetsville has been working very closely with the city of Mississauga and also with Chartwell, Mr. Speaker. At the same time, there are significant rules that are in place that ensure that Chartwell provides a transition plan for those residents who will be impacted by this—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Member for Hamilton Mountain, come to order.

The next question.

Taxation

M me Dawn Gallagher Murphy: My question is for the Minister of Finance. Just last week, as some kind of April Fool’s joke gone wrong, the federal government hiked their carbon tax by a whopping 23%. For many Ontario households, they are already struggling to make ends meet and this is a devastating move that will cost them more of their hard-earned salaries.

Unlike the opposition NDP and independent Liberals, our government has asked the federal government to put an end to this costly Liberal carbon tax since day one. Ontarians are looking to our government to provide them with some relief to keep costs down. We must continue to advocate for the people of this province and ensure that they keep more money in their pockets.

Speaker, could the minister please share with the House how our government is supporting Ontarians as we continue to fight the carbon tax?

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: Many thanks to the member from Newmarket–Aurora for that question.

Speaker, as my colleague just said, the newly raised Liberal carbon tax is a punitive and unwelcome burden on Ontario taxpayers. That’s why in my 2024 budget we announced we’re extending the gas tax cut and providing billions of savings to Ontarians across the province. This represents one of the largest tax cuts in this province for the people of Ontario this century.

We acted early to provide support for Ontarians and we’re not stopping now. We’re going to stand with our workers and with our families as we rebuild this economy and keep costs down for every single Ontarian.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): And the supplementary question?

M me Dawn Gallagher Murphy: Thank you to the minister for that response. I know many people were thrilled to hear about our government extending the gas and fuel tax cuts.

The 2024 budget is an outline of our plan to build a better Ontario, and I could not be more proud of being part of a government that prioritizes Ontario workers, families and businesses, especially in the face of the costly Liberal carbon tax.

As I spoke to people in my riding of Newmarket–Aurora last week, many of them asked the same thing. They asked how it was possible that, during an already incredibly difficult time for families in Ontario, the federal Liberals would ask them to pay even more money on a tax that raises the price of everything.

Speaker, to the minister, what is our government doing to help put a stop to the carbon tax and give Ontarians a much-needed break from the—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

The Minister of Finance.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: Thank you again to the member for that question and for the great work you do here at Queen’s Park and in the riding of Newmarket–Aurora.

Mr. Speaker, every government across this great land should be working together to make life more affordable for the people here and across the country. Unfortunately, it seems that the Liberal plan to tackle affordability is to make life more expensive for the people of Ontario and for the people of Canada.

Speaker, it’s possible you heard me call on the federal government—or perhaps my esteemed colleague over here or perhaps our esteemed Premier—to scrap the carbon tax. Maybe you heard that once, maybe you heard it twice, maybe you heard it thrice.

Today, my call is for the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, and the Ontario Liberals: Call your counterparts in Ottawa. Go up the 401 and tell them how much people are hurting across this province and join us in the fight to end this regressive carbon tax.

Health care funding

Ms. Jennifer K. French: My question is to the Premier. People in Durham need health care and need to know that a new Durham hospital is coming. Lakeridge Health convened an expert panel to site a future hospital, and Whitby was chosen.

Premier Ford was a guest on our own local CKDO radio and said, “There is going to be a Whitby hospital. Is it going to be tomorrow? Not tomorrow, but down the road, very shortly, we’ll be issuing the planning grants.”

We didn’t see any planning grants in this year’s budget, but since the Premier clearly promised on the radio to everyone waiting for a Durham hospital, my question is, when will Durham get the planning grant for the new hospital at the proposed Whitby site?

Hon. Doug Ford: Thank you for that question. I find it ironic, coming from the opposition—between the Liberals and NDP, they built no hospitals. We’ve invested over $50 billion in building new hospitals. Durham will eventually get their hospital.

But I’ll tell you one thing, Mr. Speaker: The mayor of Whitby—it doesn’t work. I don’t even know if it’s legal that she’s asking for emails, collecting data—and God knows for what. I have an idea why she’s collecting data. But she’s holding her little lottery: “You give me your name and your email, I’ll put it in my data bank, and guess what? You may get an iPhone watch. You may get a backpack. But guess what? You’ll get a membership over at the local workout club.” Who does that? Who absolutely does that? Mr. Speaker, is that legal? Imagine if I went out there and asked for people’s emails: “You want a hospital?

Send me your email, send me your phone number, and I’ll put it in my data bank.” That’s what’s happening out in Whitby, with the mayor of—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

The supplementary question?

Ms. Jennifer K. French: Attacking municipal leaders for advocating for health care is not appropriate, and the prize that people are actually motivated by is quality and accessible public health care. The real prize people want is the new hospital.

The Premier is dragging his feet on this decision and seems to be backing away from his promise, which is making people very nervous. This Premier gave away MZOs and greenbelt chunks as wedding favours to PC donor developers, so surely he can appreciate that trust feels like too much to ask of people.

PC donor developers are chomping at the bit to develop the environmentally sensitive Carruthers Creek headwaters, and they want the Premier to put a hospital in northeast Pickering. Speaker, make no mistake; allowing development of the Carruthers Creek headwaters is about speculative profits and not health care.

So my question is whether this Premier will come good on what he told Durham folks and put the Durham hospital in Whitby to meet growing health care needs or if his flip-flopping means that donor developers will be making this decision—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will take their seats.

Premier.

Hon. Doug Ford: What a real shameful question that is, Mr. Speaker. I can’t even believe she would actually say what she said. I’ll keep it at that.

But what’s really staggering is when the mayor of Whitby stands up there with a Liberal MP, telling us we should use our health care funding to build a hospital. She’s not informed. She doesn’t have a clue what she’s talking about. The Liberal MP doesn’t have a clue what they’re talking about. We can’t use that money directed by the federal government to build a hospital. Get your head around that, understand that, because I’ll tell you, the federal Liberal MP won’t be there much longer, by the way.

But when he disappears, and the mayor—we’re putting more investments into health care than any government in the history of this province. We’re going to continue investing in the nurses, in the doctors, in the infrastructure. That’s what we’re—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Once again, I’ll remind members to make their comments through the Chair.

The next question.

Office of the Premier

Mr. John Fraser: Every one of us in this chamber knows that every day, more and more Ontarians are struggling to pay their bills, to pay their rent, to pay their mortgage, to put food on the table. And every day, more and more families are having to use their credit cart instead of their OHIP card just to get their son or daughter the basic medical attention that they need.

By any measure, Speaker, life is harder for most Ontario families, except for the Premier and his office. At a time when Ontario families are struggling, how does this Premier justify increasing the staff in his office from 20 to 48 and more than doubling his budget to $6.9 million?

Hon. Doug Ford: The nerve of the member, to say about saving taxpayers money. Your leader, Bonnie Crombie, called the tax break that we gave on gas a gimmick. We know that she’s increasing her gas tax 10.7 cents; that’s her plan, number one. She called about the stickers on the back of the vehicles, licence stickers—she would bring those back too, and charge people. She’d be against getting rid of the tolls.

You say about affordability, but you, sir, vote for a tax increase on every item that we put forward, along with your leader. There’s one thing that the Liberals and NDP understand in this province: increase taxes; take money out of people’s pockets until they can’t even go buy a burger at the corner store.

I was at Restaurants Canada, and all they’re saying is, “We need more relief.” Well, the Liberals and the NDP—we saw what happened for 15 years: They increased taxes, drove 300,000 jobs—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Once again, I’ll remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.

The supplementary question?

Mr. John Fraser: Mr. Speaker, the gravy train has pulled in to the Premier’s office, and friends, insiders, fat cats—well, they all get a free ride. They all get a free ride, Speaker. I guess it’s no surprise, because never has there been a government that has spent so much, borrowed so much, incurred so much debt to do so little.

And in the Premier’s office, all of those 48 staff make more than the median family income in Ontario—some of them double, some of them triple, some of them quadruple the median family income, Premier.

Is the Premier so out of touch, Speaker, that he thought it was a good idea to raise his office budget by more than $4 million and that each of his 48 staff make more than the median Ontario family?

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Nepean will come to order.

The Premier to reply.

Hon. Doug Ford: Speaker, when they were in office, they increased taxes 45 times—billions of dollars—and chased 300,000 jobs out of the office compared to us. We have never raised a tax. We increased revenues by $64 billion and never increased a tax. We decreased taxes. We put money back in people’s pockets, until they’ll be able to maybe go out and buy a hamburger or go to the local store or go to the local restaurant.

But guess what, Mr. Speaker? The—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Premier will take his seat for a moment.

The member for Ottawa South must come to order.

The Premier has a few more seconds to reply.

Hon. Doug Ford: There’s one thing Bonnie Crombie understands: increase the carbon tax, increase gas taxes, increase everything to do with buying food. That’s all they understand is tax, tax, tax.

You know, Mr. Speaker, we’re going to reduce taxes—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. Members will please take their seats.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Ottawa South will come to order. The Premier will come to order. The member for Nepean will come to order.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Orléans will come to order. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing will come to order.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): You’re on your best behaviour today.

If we could start the clock.

Taxation

Ms. Laurie Scott: To build on that last response, my question is for the Minister of Energy. Across Canada, elected officials of all political stripes have called on the federal government to scrap the carbon tax. Even the Liberal Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador spoke out against the 23% hike. And yet, the federal Liberals decided to follow through with their decision and increase this punitive tax.

Last weekend, I was in the town of Sunderland as they hosted their annual maple syrup festival. As sweet as that festival was, I spoke with constituent after constituent who expressed how the carbon tax was souring their day-to-day lives.

My constituents and Ontarians deserve better. Can the minister please share with my constituents and Ontarians how we are fighting the punishing carbon tax?

Hon. Todd Smith: Thanks very much to the great member from Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock, one of the sweetest members of this Legislature, no doubt, who has concerns and has shared them with us here at the Legislature that she’s been hearing from her constituents. But it is not just constituents from Kawartha Lakes-Brock that are feeling the impact of the punitive carbon tax, it’s residents of Toronto, it’s resident of London, it’s resident of Ottawa, it’s residents right across the country, because of Prime Minister Trudeau’s massive increase to the carbon tax on April 1, last Monday.

It’s having an impact at the grocery stores. It’s having an impact at the gas pumps. It’s having an impact on your home heating.

So what we’ve done is ensure that we’ve reduced the cost of gasoline by 10.7 cents a litre. We’re making sure that there’s an Ontario Electricity Rebate for the people of Ontario. We’ve eliminated fees and tolls and licence plate sticker fees. And we’ve introduced One Fare for transit riders right across the GTHA. Every step of the way, we’re doing everything we can to make sure that life is more affordable for the people of Ontario while the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, and her pal Justin Trudeau are driving are up the carbon tax by a whopping 23% last week—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

The supplementary question?

Ms. Laurie Scott: Thank you to the minister for his leadership in fighting against this carbon tax. The carbon tax is pushing up prices across the board, affecting everything from fuelling our cars to heating our homes. The farmers told me the cost of how much it is to dry the seeds in their dryers. It’s hurting our economy and placing undue burden on the hard-working individuals and businesses of our province.

Speaker, come on. During a period of high interest rates and living expenses, Ontarians need financial relief, not higher taxes. Our government, under Premier Ford, has consistently opposed this regressive tax from the outset. The opposition NDP and the Bonnie Crombie Liberals continue to remain silent. They’re ignoring their constituents.

Could the minister please tell the House more of what our government is doing to fight this carbon tax?

Hon. Todd Smith: Thanks again to the member. We scrapped cap-and-trade. We have fought the carbon tax all the way to the Supreme Court. And credit where credit is due, the NDP have actually voted with us to scrap the carbon tax in this House. They have actually asked us to do that. But you know who hasn’t? The queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, and the Liberal caucus, who still believe that the people of Ontario are better off with the federal carbon tax than we would be without. It’s unacceptable.

We’ve done everything we can to get this message through to the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. As a matter of fact, the Premier sent him off another letter last weekend, encouraging him to step away from this harmful policy. But what did he do? He said, “Well, we wouldn’t have this carbon tax if we still had cap-and-trade.” That is just another energy tax, Mr. Speaker.

What we’re saying is get rid of the carbon tax. Get rid of cap-and-trade. Make life more affordable for the people of Ontario today. He could have done it last Monday. He still has time.

Addiction services

MPP Jamie West: My question is for the Premier. Sudbury has one of the highest opioid mortality rates in Ontario, and our only supervised consumption site, the Spot, just closed. It closed because the Conservative government chose not to provide any provincial funding. The Spot is health care. Health care is a provincial responsibility. And the Premier refused to fund it. The Spot has had an application in for two years and seven months. And the Premier refused to fund it. When it opened, the Spot ran for 16 months using only municipal funding and local donors, all because the Premier refused to fund it.

My question is, why did the Premier refuse to fund the Spot and save lives?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats.

The parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health.

Mr. Nolan Quinn: I thank the member opposite for that question.

The Premier and the minister have been very clear: All sites need to be in compliance with the requirements as set out in their funding agreements. CTS sites are expected to build trust in the communities where they are located through consultation and ongoing engagement. We understand the importance of community feedback in this matter. These reviews will inform the next steps taken by the Ministry of Health. All applications for new CTS sites currently with the ministry are on pause.

We will continue to work with our health care partners across the province to ensure that people have health care when and where they need it.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question?

MPP Jamie West: Back to the Premier: Quite frankly, no one believes it.

Let me tell you abut James Gough. James was a former addict. He told me that the Spot staff saved his life when he overdosed. He said that if the Spot wasn’t there, he wouldn’t be alive today. He said that without them, he would be one of the white memorial crosses downtown. The Spot saved James’s life. So James volunteered at the Spot to save more lives, so that we would have fewer memorial crosses.

My question is, why won’t the Premier help save more lives like James’s by funding Sudbury’s supervised consumption site?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo: Thank you for the question.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve done more as a government to support harm reduction programs in the province of Ontario than any government has in the past, including the Liberals supported by the NDP.

Last year alone, we invested over $75 million to support harm reduction programs in Ontario, including $12 million for needle exchanges and single-use sterilization and injection equipment; $22 million for naloxone distribution, free to anyone who wants it; mandatory on-site naloxone for high-risk workplaces; $9 million for street-based outreach programs and HIV/hepatitis C education and prevention programs.

We know the value of harm reduction, and we’re making those investments. And we’re determined to meet people where they are, but we’re not going to keep them there. We’re going to help them recover.

Mr. Speaker, our support for evidence-based harm reduction programs is clear, and we’re going to continue investing to help the—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much.

Next question.

Taxation

Mrs. Daisy Wai: My question is for the Associate Minister of Transportation. People in my riding of Richmond Hill were upset to see the federal Liberals proceed with their 23% tax hike last week.

Since the implementation of this regressive tax, Ontarians across the province are paying more for groceries, for services and for fuel.

And to make things worse, the federal Liberals are planning another six increases by 2030. That is not right.

The carbon tax is making life more expensive for everyone, including our trucking industry. Truckers have a critical role in transporting the goods we need in our daily lives. They should not be forced to pay unnecessary costs.

Can the minister please explain the impact of the federal carbon tax on Ontario’s trucking industry?

Hon. Vijay Thanigasalam: Thank you to the member from Richmond Hill for her advocacy.

The people of Ontario watched in dismay as the federal Liberals imposed a staggering 23% carbon tax increase.

Mr. Speaker, think about this: The solar eclipse brings darkness here for a few minutes in Canada, but the carbon tax will bring darkness to every single household in Canada every single day. From the grocery stores to the gas pumps, the tax is draining the pockets of the people of Ontario.

It doesn’t stop there. Like the member mentioned, the federal Liberals plan to introduce six more hikes by the end of the decade.

And the truckers are the unsung heroes of our province in keeping essentials moving, but this tax forces them and all of us to pay more of a premium on essential goods.

Our message is clear: We will fight the carbon tax and—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

The supplementary question?

Mrs. Daisy Wai: Thank you, Minister, for your response.

The hard-working people in our trucking industry are responsible for delivering goods that keep Ontario moving. They deserve our support. The impact of the carbon tax on this critical industry affects all families and businesses in every corner of this province. The cost to fuel the trucks to transport the goods is passed on to the consumers as they purchase their daily necessities.

We know that the NDP and the Liberal members in this House won’t speak up on behalf of their constituents. That is why our government will not stop fighting until this punitive tax is eliminated once and for all.

Speaker, can the minister please further explain the financial impact the carbon tax has on Ontario’s truckers?

Hon. Vijay Thanigasalam: Let’s be clear: The truckers, who are the drivers of our economy, are being hit hard by this unnecessary carbon tax. While drivers are taking the weight, the Ontario Liberals and Bonnie Crombie sit silent with no relief, no support and no solutions. The tax is a burden on every Ontarian, from the price of a loaf of bread to keeping our homes warm. It’s a chain reaction started by a tax that takes more from those who already give so much to keep our economy moving.

We ask the Ontario Liberals and NDP to step up and do the right thing, and join us in the fight against the carbon tax, Mr. Speaker. Under the leadership of Premier Ford, this government and this transportation minister and these caucus members will fight the carbon tax and we will stand with truck drivers.

Forest industry

MPP Lise Vaugeois: Speaker, my question is to the Premier, through you: Last week, the Premier told reporters that the Terrace Bay mill is not likely to reopen. That’s an awful way for the people of Thunder Bay–Superior North to hear that the government has given up on the mill.

Forestry experts are telling you sustainably produced forest products are climate-friendly, in demand and can provide a much greater contribution to Ontario’s economy than they do now. The closure not only affects all the families and businesses in Terrace Bay and Schreiber, it affects workers and families throughout the entire region: about 10,000 people.

Is this government giving up on the pulp and paper industry?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.

Hon. Graydon Smith: Mr. Speaker, I’m incredibly disappointed at the member across the way, that she would characterize the Premier’s statements supporting workers in this province as anything but just that.

But it’s typical, Mr. Speaker, that they just don’t get the brief right. They don’t hear and see what is going on, what this government is doing for northern Ontario. Of course we want that mill open in Terrace Bay, and we’ve talked numerous times with leaders in the area about how we’re working on doing that.

More importantly, Mr. Speaker, what we’re doing is saying, “We look after workers in this party,” and everybody in the north knows that, because everybody is tired of 15 years of disrespect during the previous government when they were linked up with the opposition that did nothing for the north.

So, again, no lessons from the opposition today. We’re working for the people of Terrace Bay. We’re working to get that mill back open. We’re making investments—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. Members will take their seats.

The supplementary question?

MPP Lise Vaugeois: There has been no substantive communication with anyone local throughout this entire process. From the beginning, I told the minister’s office there were employee buyout models and there were First Nations interested in partnering, yet no one from the government has ever reached out to anyone to talk about these options. No one from this government has reached out to the federal minister to discuss options. The need for cardboard has not suddenly disappeared.

The people of Terrace Bay, Schreiber and the entire region of northwestern Ontario want to know: Why have you given up so easily?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will take their seats.

The Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.

Hon. Graydon Smith: What is clear is our commitment, every day, to the people in Terrace Bay, our commitment to northern Ontario, our commitment to the forestry sector and our commitment to working with Indigenous communities and creating opportunities.

We could tell stories, time after time after time, about the investments that we’ve made. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we continue to make those investments today. I’ve talked about the biomass program that we’ve expanded for the next three years—$60 million of investment strictly for northern Ontario to grow and prosper, to work with Indigenous communities, to find new pathways. That’s just part of what we are doing.

What we are doing is looking at an integrated forestry sector—how it works together. Terrace Bay is part of that. Opportunities that will come in the future are certainly part of that.

The NDP never understood forestry. They show their ignorance every time they stand up. We’re working on behalf of the forestry sector here in Ontario. We’ll continue to do it every single day.

Taxation

Mr. Dave Smith: I’d like to wish everyone a belated happy Tartan Day; that was on Saturday.

My question is for the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development. The people of northern Ontario are being treated unfairly by the federal Liberal government. The cost of transporting goods is already much higher in the north than anywhere else in the province. It’s a vast land where many individuals have to travel by car, and in many cases large vehicles are needed for safety due to the many backroads and unpredictable weather conditions. It’s not fair that they’re being hit hardest at the gas pumps and in the grocery stores.

Speaker, while our government’s position on the carbon tax has always been crystal clear, the NDP and the Liberals representing these communities continue to ignore their concerns. It’s time to scrap the carbon tax.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how the carbon tax negatively affects northern municipalities?

Hon. Greg Rickford: Writ large across the region of northern Ontario, Mr. Speaker, this is a very serious matter.

Over the past couple of weeks, the Minister of Energy and I have been talking with First Nations leaders from the Matawa communities. These are the final five, in the spirit of basketball, and I’ll tell you something, Mr. Speaker, what they have in common is that they’re still all on diesel, but they are seriously motivated, as never before, to try and understand what kinds of opportunities the province of Ontario can give them to provide relief from diesel fuel.

It’s environmentally irresponsible. It needs to stop, Mr. Speaker, and those conversations culminated in an announcement by our Premier in beautiful Kakabeka Falls just last week to begin more formal discussions about how we can bring clean, green electricity to their regions and get them off costly diesel, which now, with the carbon tax, the price is going to grow exponentially.

It’s time to scrap the tax, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Mr. Dave Smith: Thank you to the minister for that answer.

The carbon tax is, in essence, a tax on everything: your groceries, your gas, heating your home and so much more. It is not right. The businesses and families in northern communities are negatively impacted because of this regressive tax. Rather than offering support, the Liberals and the NDP have turned their backs on northern communities.

Unlike other parts of our province, northerners face unique challenges when it comes to fuel costs that need to be understood and to be respected. It’s disappointing to see how the opposition continues to underplay the repercussions of the carbon tax on northern and Indigenous communities.

Speaker, can the minister elaborate on the detrimental effects the carbon tax is having on people, communities and the businesses all across the north?

Hon. Greg Rickford: It doesn’t take long to do the math, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is that, as of April 1, 24 cents of the price per litre of diesel is levied through the carbon tax. The multiplier on that to keep diesel generation for communities with populations of anywhere from a couple of hundred people to over 1,000 is unthinkable, not to mention the fact that when the federal Liberal government put a policy precedent forward to respond to a region’s particular needs out on the east coast, they failed to remember the hardships or think of the hardships that are incurred by isolated communities in northern Ontario.

A responsible government puts policy contours into action that relieve people from the cost. So we cut the gas tax. We provided a cut to the cost of fuel to transport goods into the isolated north, and what did the federal government do for the isolated communities in northern Ontario? I think the member from Kiiwetinoong knows.

Government appointments

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: My question is to the Premier. Last week, the Globe reported that his Attorney General refused to meet the Federation of Ontario Law Associations, an organization that represents 46 district and county law associations—literally thousand of lawyers across Ontario. They have expressed outrage, Speaker, and grave concern that this government is admittedly out to politicize judicial appointments by hand-picking Conservative and like-minded judges. FOLA wonders why the Attorney General is so afraid to meet with one of the ministry’s most important stakeholders, the actual legal community that’s keeping our justice system running.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Attorney General.

Now, this issue in particular, I think we’ve had lots of debate about that, both within the House and in public. Let’s be clear. We do want to make sure that people are held to account. We do want to make sure that perpetrators of crime are kept in jail. We do want to put our best foot forward when it comes to making appointments, but there is a process. It’s a committee that makes recommendations, and I’ll make no apologies for that. We are making excellent appointments across the board.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: The Attorney General’s simply asking FOLA to submit their questions to him in writing and then he’ll get back to them in writing. Is that how you treat one of the most important stakeholders that you have in your ministry?

The Ontario association of family lawyers has warned that the Premier’s political interference meddling could result in judges being appointed without any experience in the areas of law that they adjudicate. “It would be like going to an artist for an oil change,” wrote family law association co-founder Mary Reilly.

Speaker, will the Premier explain to Ontarians why, if they are facing a criminal case, a gun violence case, a divorce case, a custody case, a Conservative Party supporter is more qualified to decide who presides over the trial than someone who actually is qualified and has the merit to do so?

Hon. Doug Downey: I would ask the members opposite to indicate one of the hundred judges that I’ve appointed—one of them—that isn’t qualified and doing a good job. I can tell you that I engage with the community on a regular basis. I was at a swearing-in last week and talked with former presidents of FOLA, among many others. I was a member of FOLA in my private practice for decades. I have all the time in the world for different legal organizations: the Ontario Bar Association, the Advocates’ Society, the Toronto law association. There are many who are engaging in constructive discussion.

We can do that without specific meetings on specific topics. There are so many things we have to discuss, and I’ll continue to make myself available to all of the organizations.

Taxation

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: My question is for the Associate Minister of Small Business. Businesses in Oxford are telling me that they are facing unprecedented economic challenges due to the carbon tax and high interest rates. It increases their expenses and makes operating their businesses more challenging.

Speaker, that’s why I was honoured to see our Premier last week, along with the associate minister and other cabinet ministers, rally against the federal carbon tax hike. They were joined by groups like the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, and Food and Beverage Ontario to come together and took a stand against the job-killing tax.

I know the associate minister spoke with these industry leaders about the harmful impacts small businesses are experiencing due to the carbon tax. Can the associate minister inform the House about what she heard from them directly?

Hon. Nina Tangri: Thank you very much to that great, dedicated member from Oxford for raising such an important question.

The message resonating from groups representing farmers, food processors, truckers, agri-food workers, and so many other sectors was resoundingly clear. From the Beef Farmers of Ontario and chicken farmers to the dairy farmers and grain growers to the greenhouse vegetable growers and fruit and vegetables growers’ associations, our agricultural entrepreneurs have warned that spiking costs from the carbon tax are severely undermining their viability and ability to get food on to tables across our province and beyond.

Let’s be crystal clear what the opposition supports when they back the Trudeau Liberals’ carbon tax: They support increased costs that will hammer small businesses, industries and families in Ontario. They support skyrocketing fuel costs that will make it more expensive to transport goods and services. They support soaring heating bills that will stretch household budgets even further.

This Premier, this government have the backs of our small businesses and consumers. We will continue to call on the federal Liberals to scrap the tax.

Visitor

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound has a point of order.

Mr. Rick Byers: It’s my pleasure to introduce Monica Singh Soares to the gallery today, a proud mother of page Bella-Sitara and a great councillor for the municipality of Southgate. Welcome to your House.

Deferred Votes

Legislative reform

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): We have a deferred vote on the amendment to the amendment to government notice of motion number 24 regarding amendments to the standing orders.

Call in the members. This is a five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1146 to 1151.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats.

On March 27, 2024, Mr. Jones, Chatham-Kent–Leamington, moved government notice of motion number 24.

Mr. Fraser moved an amendment to government notice of motion number 24.

Mr. Hsu moved the following amendment to the amendment to government notice of motion number 24:

That the amendment be amended as follows:

By deleting everything after the word “following” and inserting: “In exercising his discretion under standing order 35(g), the Speaker shall recognize independent members for four questions per day, each followed by one supplementary.”

All those in favour of Mr. Hsu’s motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Ayes

Blais, Stephen

Bowman, Stephanie

Brady, Bobbi Ann

Clancy, Aislinn

Fraser, John

McCrimmon, Karen

McMahon, Mary-Margaret

Schreiner, Mike

Shamji, Adil

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): All those opposed to Mr. Hsu’s motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Nays

Anand, Deepak

Armstrong, Teresa J.

Babikian, Aris

Bailey, Robert

Barnes, Patrice

Bethlenfalvy, Peter

Bouma, Will

Bourgouin, Guy

Bresee, Ric

Burch, Jeff

Byers, Rick

Calandra, Paul

Cho, Raymond Sung Joon

Clark, Steve

Coe, Lorne

Crawford, Stephen

Cuzzetto, Rudy

Dixon, Jess

Dowie, Andrew

Downey, Doug

Dunlop, Jill

Fife, Catherine

Flack, Rob

Ford, Doug

Ford, Michael D.

French, Jennifer K.

Gallagher Murphy, Dawn

Gates, Wayne

Gélinas, France

Ghamari, Goldie

Glover, Chris

Gretzky, Lisa

Grewal, Hardeep Singh

Hardeman, Ernie

Harden, Joel

Harris, Mike

Hogarth, Christine

Holland, Kevin

Jones, Trevor

Jordan, John

Kanapathi, Logan

Kernaghan, Terence

Kerzner, Michael S.

Khanjin, Andrea

Kusendova-Bashta, Natalia

Leardi, Anthony

Lecce, Stephen

Lumsden, Neil

MacLeod, Lisa

Mamakwa, Sol

Martin, Robin

McCarthy, Todd J.

McGregor, Graham

Mulroney, Caroline

Pang, Billy

Parsa, Michael

Pasma, Chandra

Piccini, David

Pierre, Natalie

Pirie, George

Quinn, Nolan

Rae, Matthew

Rickford, Greg

Sabawy, Sheref

Sandhu, Amarjot

Sarkaria, Prabmeet Singh

Sarrazin, Stéphane

Sattler, Peggy

Saunderson, Brian

Scott, Laurie

Shaw, Sandy

Smith, Dave

Smith, David

Smith, Graydon

Smith, Laura

Smith, Todd

Stevens, Jennifer (Jennie)

Surma, Kinga

Tabuns, Peter

Tangri, Nina

Taylor, Monique

Thanigasalam, Vijay

Tibollo, Michael A.

Triantafilopoulos, Effie J.

Vanthof, John

Vaugeois, Lise

Wai, Daisy

West, Jamie

Williams, Charmaine A.

Wong-Tam, Kristyn

Yakabuski, John

The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Trevor Day): The ayes are 9; the nays are 91.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I declare the amendment to the amendment lost.

Is the House ready to vote on the amendment to the main motion? I heard a no.

This House stands in recess until 1 p.m.

The House recessed from 1156 to 1300.

Notice of dissatisfaction

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Pursuant to standing order 36(a), the member for Ottawa South has given notice of dissatisfaction with the answer to their question given by the Premier regarding the Premier’s office budget. This matter will be debated tomorrow following private members’ public business.

Introduction of Visitors

Ms. Catherine Fife: They’re on their way up from downstairs, but the entire Roth family is here to be present for the first petition, on mental health, for their daughter Kaitlyn.

Introduction of Bills

Richard Crosby Investments Limited Act, 2024

Ms. Hogarth moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr43,

An Act to revive Richard Crosby Investments Limited.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

First reading agreed to.

2038778 Ontario Ltd. Act, 2024

Mr. Harden moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr44,

An Act to revive 2038778 Ontario Ltd.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

First reading agreed to.

Petitions

Mental health services

Ms. Catherine Fife: It is my pleasure to present for the first time the “Mental Health Services in Ontario” petition. It reads as follows:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas there is currently a lack of consistent mental health intake policies and care across Ontario when people seek assistance at hospitals;

“Whereas staff training and readiness to support patients with mental health issues at Ontario’s hospitals lacks consistency and is not sufficiently trauma-informed or evidence-based;

“Whereas current discharge procedures often leave vulnerable people without access to adequate care or support;

“Whereas approximately 4,500 people die by suicide each year in Canada and suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth and young adults ages 15 to 34; and

“Whereas the experience of Waterloo’s Roth family in the death of their daughter Kaitlyn has brought to light serious flaws in mental health discharge procedures;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to direct the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions to earmark funding for dedicated training for staff providing mental health services with a focus on evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches, to review intake and discharge procedures to ensure consistency of care, and to provide funding for alternative destination clinics in communities across Ontario.”

It’s my pleasure to affix my signature, present these 7,000 signatures, and also to honour the life of Kaitlyn Roth.

Social assistance

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: I have a petition to raise social assistance rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and far from adequate to cover the rising costs of food and rent: $733 for individuals on OW and $1,308 for ODSP;

“Whereas an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, signed by over 230 organizations, recommends that social assistance rates be doubled for both Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP);

“Whereas small increases to ODSP have still left these citizens below the poverty line. Both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates are struggling to survive at this time of alarming inflation;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to double social assistance rates for OW and ODSP.”

I’m happy to support this and affix my name and send it with new page Nate.

Mental health services

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I want to thank the Roth family for channelling their grief into advocacy, and also the member for Waterloo for the petition that she has brought to this chamber today entitled “Mental Health Services in Ontario.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas there is currently a lack of consistent mental health intake policies and care across Ontario when people seek assistance at hospitals;

“Whereas staff training and readiness to support patients with mental health issues at Ontario’s hospitals lacks consistency and is not sufficiently trauma-informed or evidence-based;

“Whereas current discharge procedures often leave vulnerable people without access to adequate care or support;

“Whereas approximately 4,500 people die by suicide each year in Canada and suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth and young adults ages 15 to 34; and

“Whereas the experience of Waterloo’s Roth family in the death of their daughter Kaitlyn has brought to light serious flaws in mental health discharge procedures;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to direct the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions to earmark funding for dedicated training for staff providing mental health services with a focus on evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches, to review intake and discharge procedures to ensure consistency of care, and to provide funding for alternative destination clinics in communities across Ontario.”

I support this petition, affix my signature and send it to the table with page Aislyn.

Tenant protection

Ms. Aislinn Clancy: I’m here to present a petition to protect tenants.

“Whereas Ontario is dealing with a massive housing crisis; and

“Whereas housing is a fundamental human right; and

“Whereas affordable rentals are becoming harder and harder to find; and

“Whereas a few predatory landlords are unnecessarily forcing people from their homes under the guise of renovations or to pay rents they cannot afford; and

“Whereas in addition to building new affordable supply we need immediate solutions to keep people housed;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to reinstate real rent controls and increase tenant protections in order to preserve our existing affordable rental stock and keep people housed.”

I agree and support this petition. I will sign it and pass it to page Mariam.

Mental health services

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: I want to thank the member from Waterloo, who has brought thousands of signatures from across Ontario—including from James Fessler from Niagara Falls—for mental health services in Ontario.

“To the Legislative Assembly...:

“Whereas there is currently a lack of consistent mental health intake policies and care across Ontario when people seek assistance at hospitals;

“Whereas staff training and readiness to support patients with mental health issues at Ontario’s hospitals lacks consistency and is not sufficiently trauma-informed or evidence-based;

“Whereas current discharge procedures often leave vulnerable people without access to adequate care or support;

“Whereas approximately 4,500 people die by suicide each year in Canada and suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth and young adults ages 15 to 34; and

“Whereas the experience of Waterloo’s Roth family in the death of their daughter Kaitlyn has brought to light serious flaws in mental health discharge procedures;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to direct the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions to earmark funding for dedicated training for staff providing mental health services with a focus on evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches, to review intake and discharge procedures to ensure consistency of care, and to provide funding for alternative destination clinics in communities across Ontario.”

I wholeheartedly support this petition, affix my name and send it down to the table with Ruby.

Mental health services

Ms. Jennifer K. French: I am pleased to be able to read this petition today. Thousands of people have signed this in the Waterloo area calling for mental health services in Ontario.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas there is currently a lack of consistent mental health intake policies and care across Ontario when people seek assistance at hospitals;

“Whereas staff training and readiness to support patients with mental health issues at Ontario’s hospitals lacks consistency and is not sufficiently trauma-informed or evidence-based;

“Whereas current discharge procedures often leave vulnerable people without access to adequate care or support;

“Whereas approximately 4,500 people die by suicide each year in Canada and suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth and young adults ages 15 to 34; and

“Whereas the experience of Waterloo’s Roth family in the death of their daughter Kaitlyn has brought to light serious flaws in mental health discharge procedures;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to direct the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions to earmark funding for dedicated training for staff providing mental health services with a focus on evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches, to review intake and discharge procedures to ensure consistency of care, and to provide funding for alternative destination clinics in communities across Ontario.”

Of course, I support this petition, will affix my signature and send it to the table with Shiara.

Mental health services

MPP Jamie West: I want to thank the Roth family for all these petitions and the member for Waterloo for sharing them with us. It’s the “Mental Health Services in Ontario” petition.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas there is currently a lack of consistent mental health intake policies and care across Ontario when people seek assistance at hospitals;

“Whereas staff training and readiness to support patients with mental health issues at Ontario’s hospitals lacks consistency and is not sufficiently trauma-informed or evidence-based;

“Whereas current discharge procedures often leave vulnerable people without access to adequate care or support;

“Whereas approximately 4,500 people die by suicide each year in Canada and suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth and young adults ages 15 to 34; and

“Whereas the experience of Waterloo’s Roth family in the death of their daughter Kaitlyn has brought to light serious flaws in mental health discharge procedures;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to direct the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions to earmark funding for dedicated training for staff providing mental health services with a focus on evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches, to review intake and discharge procedures to ensure consistency of care, and to provide funding for alternative destination clinics in communities across Ontario.”

I support this petition. I’ll affix my signature and provide it to page Emirson for the table.

Social assistance

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I want to thank Dr. Sally Palmer from McMaster University for her efforts to collect signatures on a petition to raise social assistance rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and far from adequate to cover the rising costs of food and rent: $733 for individuals on” Ontario Works “and $1,227 for ODSP;

“Whereas an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, signed by over 230 organizations, recommends that social assistance rates be doubled for both Ontario Works” and the ODSP;

“Whereas the recent small increase of 5% for ODSP still leaves these citizens below the poverty line. Both they and those receiving the frozen” Ontario Works “rates are struggling to survive at this time of alarming inflation;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to double social assistance rates for” Ontario Works “and ODSP.”

I fully support this petition, affix my signature and will send it to the table with page Nate.

M me Jennifer K. French: J’ai une pétition pour soutenir le système d’éducation francophone en Ontario.

« À l’Assemblée législative de l’Ontario :

« Alors que les enfants francophones ont un droit constitutionnel à une éducation de haute qualité, financée par les fonds publics, dans leur propre langue;

J’appuie cette pétition, je la signe et je la donne au page Simon.

Sexual violence and harassment

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I would like to thank the many residents of London and the surrounding area who signed a petition calling on the Legislative Assembly to pass the Safe Night Out Act.

“Whereas we are experiencing a sexual violence epidemic, with Statistics Canada reporting in 2021 that sexual assault was at its highest level in 25 years and community support organizations reporting more crisis calls than ever;

“Whereas 65% of women report experiencing unwanted sexual advances while socializing in a bar or restaurant, and incidents of sexual assaults involving drugs and alcohol most often occur immediately after leaving a licensed establishment or event; and

“Whereas there is no legal requirement for the people who hold liquor licences and permits, sell and serve liquor, or provide security at licensed establishments and events to be trained in recognizing and safely intervening in sexual harassment and violence;

“Whereas servers in licensed establishments also face high risk of sexual violence and harassment from co-workers and patrons;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately pass the Ontario NDP’s Safe Night Out Act to make Ontario’s bars and nightclubs safer for patrons and staff by requiring training in sexual violence and harassment prevention, by strengthening protections for servers from workplace sexual violence, and by requiring every establishment to develop and post a policy on how sexual violence and harassment will be handled, including accessing local resources and supports.”

I fully support this petition, affix my signature and send it to the table with page Duncan.

Orders of the Day

Building a Better Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2024 / Loi de 2024 visant à bâtir un Ontario meilleur (mesures budgétaires)

Mr. Bethlenfalvy moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 180,

An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes / Projet de loi 180, Loi visant à mettre en oeuvre les mesures budgétaires et à édicter et à modifier diverses lois.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I recognize the Minister of Finance to lead off the debate.

I’ll be sharing my time with the member from Mississauga–Malton and the member from Oakville, who is here.

Today, I’m pleased to lead off second reading debate for the Building a Better Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2024, which I recently introduced in this House. This budget and these budget measures demonstrate how we are delivering on our plan to build. It describes how we are building a better Ontario.

Ce budget et ces mesures budgétaires démontrent que nous réalisons notre plan pour bâtir. Il démontre les actions que nous prenons pour bâtir un Ontario meilleur.

This budget comes at a time when Ontario, like the rest of the world, continues to face economic uncertainty due to high interest rates, global instability and global economic pressures. These are challenges that are putting pressure on the province’s finances and putting pressure, as well, on families across Ontario.

Despite these pressures, we are continuing to deliver on our plan to build. It’s a plan that invests in infrastructure to get more homes built faster. It’s a plan to attract better jobs with bigger paycheques. And it’s a plan that keeps costs down for families and businesses, all while retaining a path to balance.

Madam Speaker, our government is taking a fiscally responsible approach by investing in Ontario’s economy without raising taxes, because we refuse to off-load the costs onto hard-working Ontario families and communities at a time where they’re counting on us to keep costs down. Make no mistake; they are counting on us in this House. As every member here understands, being counted on is a responsibility, a privilege and an honour.

This forward-looking document is a road map. It lays out the road ahead for public services and infrastructure as we continue to foster economic growth and job creation. It’s our vision for the future we want to see for our children and our grandchildren, and the future for all those who may one day come to call Ontario their home, much like my parents did many, many years ago.

With Ontario’s population expected to grow by millions in the coming years, we need a sound plan to meet the needs of our people, to have affordable homes and reliable highways, dependable municipal resources like water and playgrounds, good schools and a robust health care system—everything that one would need to live, to work, to do business and raise a family in Ontario.

This budget—and the actions contained in these measures being discussed today—maintains and improves upon our work to meet the demands of our growing population. It breaks new ground on the road towards our promising future, despite today’s high inflation, high interest rates and global economic uncertainty.

After all, there is no place in Canada or anywhere else in the world quite like Ontario, and no challenge is too large for us to overcome when we work together. There are likely few other jurisdictions anywhere else in the world seeing the kind of growth that Ontario is seeing today, and this growth signals that Ontario is seen as a place that is on the right course when it comes to our priorities.

Il n’existe pas beaucoup d’endroits ailleurs dans le monde qui connaissent l’ampleur de la croissance que vit l’Ontario aujourd’hui. Cette croissance indique que l’Ontario est considéré comme un endroit qui est sur la bonne voie en ce qui a trait à ses priorités.

That is why the budget is drafted with our priorities for the future in mind. This budget provides certainty to markets and, more importantly, confidence to the people of Ontario that the government is prepared for whatever lies ahead. While we don’t have a crystal ball and we don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow, we are confident that Ontario is ready for the challenges the world might throw our way.

Madam Speaker, as I mentioned, the 2024 budget and its measures are a road map, one that paints a clear picture of how bright Ontario’s future can be and how, despite a challenging economic situation, our government is rebuilding the economy by accelerating Ontario’s plan to build, the most ambitious capital plan in the province’s history. This investment of more than $190 billion over the next 10 years to build and expand highways, transit, homes, high-speed Internet and other critical infrastructure is promoting our economic growth.

More often than not, fostering growth means supporting our municipalities. That is why we are also increasing funding for housing-enabling municipal infrastructure by investing $1 billion in the new Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program.

Interjections.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: Madam Speaker, some audience participation is always a good thing.

This program is going to help municipalities right across Ontario. That’s also why we’re increasing funding for housing-enabling municipal infrastructure, through the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund, to $825 million for municipal water infrastructure projects that would get more homes built faster.

Speaking of homes, we’re also addressing the housing supply crisis with the $1.2-billion Building Faster Fund that rewards municipalities that meet or exceed their housing targets.

Interjections.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: I’m curious how long those members can keep that up. We’ll see. We’ll keep trying.

For small, rural and northern communities that have not been assigned a housing target due to their unique needs and circumstances, our Building Faster Fund includes $120 million in funding to support their efforts, as well.

Madam Speaker, our government is also addressing housing supply and affordability by extending authority to all single- and upper-tier municipalities to impose a municipal tax on vacant homes.

We are making these investments and changes because we know that the best way to get more homes built faster is by supporting our municipal partners. No one understands the needs of their communities better than those municipalities. We are choosing to empower local governments to make the best choice for themselves, and they have our full support.

Speaker, a key part of our budget is our focus on highways and other critical transportation infrastructure. That is why we are tackling gridlock and saving commuters time by advancing critical highway projects like the new Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass. In addition, we’re expanding existing in-demand highways, like Highway 401 and Highway 7, by supporting the construction of new interchanges at Banwell Road and E.C. Row Expressway in Windsor—

Interjections.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: —and Highway 416 and Barnsdale Road in Ottawa.

There is a member from Ottawa here—there are a couple here, but they seem to be preoccupied.

Mr. John Fraser: I’m just checking to see who owns the land around there.

Interjections.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: Perhaps the member opposite could take the high road.

Madam Speaker, we’re supporting Highway 416 and Barnsdale Road in Ottawa, and I’m sure the member opposite will come to appreciate that one day.

We’re also improving roads and highways and bridges in communities right across Ontario.

We are witnessing the largest transit expansion anywhere in North America. It’s happening right here in Ontario. And it doesn’t stop there.

We are improving GO train and GO bus services, connecting light rail transit, advancing four priority subway projects in the GTA, and we’re bringing back—I know my member from North Bay would really be happy—the Northlander to restore passenger rail service to northern Ontario.

We are investing $1 billion to support all-season roads, high-speed Internet connectivity and community supports for the Ring of Fire region.

Our government isn’t only building roads and transit. Our growing population needs more in order to thrive and secure our successful future. That is why we’re continuing to build a robust health care system that puts people at the centre of care.

Interjection.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: I know. It brings a tear to my eye, too.

That’s why our government is delivering on the most ambitious plan for hospital expansion in the province’s history, with investments of nearly $50 billion—yes, you heard correctly, $50 billion—over the next 10 years in health infrastructure, including close to $36 billion in capital grants.

Additionally, we are committing $620 million over 10 years to allow health care system partners to address urgent infrastructure renewal needs and extend the life of hospital and community infrastructure. As well, we are investing $50 million over three years to enhance and stabilize health care capacity within northern and rural communities and $45 million over three years to enhance the Northern Health Travel Grant Program.

Interjections.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: I almost got a clap out of my esteemed colleague across the aisle.

We are investing approximately $94 million over three years to enhance the health and well-being of Indigenous and northern communities, with care tailored to community needs.

Interjections.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: Almost. I’m working on it, Madam Speaker—but directionally, very positive.

Despite a challenging global economic situation, our government continues to invest in care, education and other vital public services.

That is why we’ve continued to invest $6.4 billion since 2019 to build 58,000 new or upgraded long-term-care beds across the province by 2028. In addition, our government is investing $155 million in 2024-25 to increase funding to fast-track construction of the next tranche of long-term-care homes by November 30, 2024.

I know this will be of particular interest to certain members in this House present: We continue building, expanding and renewing schools and child care spaces by investing $23 billion over 10 years, including about $16 billion in capital grants—

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Hear, hear.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: I thought that might get the Minister of Education’s attention—which includes $1.4 billion for the current school year to support the repair and renewal of schools.

While on the topic of schools, I will add that we’re getting students back to basics, with close to $172 million for the 2024-25 school year for targeted math and reading supports, as well as an updated kindergarten curriculum starting in September 2025.

We’re also supporting small, northern and rural colleges and northern universities by providing $10 million in targeted supports.

Madam Speaker, our government knows that keeping active and having access to recreational opportunities is vital to any thriving community. That’s why we are launching a new $200-million Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund—

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: Hear, hear.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: I thought you might like that, Ernie—to strengthen communities across Ontario by investing in new and upgraded sport, recreation and community facilities that will support the mental and physical health of families, youth and seniors for generations to come.

We remain committed to creating good-paying jobs and fostering business investments that will deliver tomorrow’s economic success today.

To help attract investments and new jobs in key sectors such as advanced manufacturing, life sciences and technology, our 2024 budget allocates an additional $100 million to the Invest Ontario Fund, for a total of $600 million.

Speaking of manufacturing and technology, we’re boosting the growth of Ontario’s end-to-end supply chain for electric vehicles and batteries. I’m proud to say that over the last three years, we have attracted more than $28 billion in automotive and EV-battery