Thank you to the member from Elgin–Middlesex–London for that great tour yesterday. Together, we welcomed over $14 million in new investments from two area manufacturing firms.

Great work, Rob.

Edge Automation builds massive machinery for companies to automate their businesses. They’re investing over $5 million to expand their facility. The facility is well under construction, and they’re buying really innovative equipment. They’re creating 12 jobs along the way.

We went over to St. Thomas and saw Takumi Stamping. They manufacture auto parts over there. They’re investing $9 million. They got a $1.3-million injection from the province. They’re expanding that current facility and creating 65 brand new, really good-paying jobs.

Speaker, this is how we’re supporting Ontario’s manufacturing sector.

Well, perhaps the member opposite could explain why they have not supported any of the measures that we’ve put forward on this side of the House and over there to reduce the cost of living for many in this province. There’s no question that many people are hurting. That’s why they should look, perhaps, to their support for a carbon tax. Do you know what a carbon tax does? A carbon tax puts the burden on many families across the province—a carbon tax actually increases food prices in this province.

Inflation came down this morning from 5.2% to 4.3%—almost a full point. It’s still too high.

That’s why this government took action before. That’s why this government continues to take action. And we’ll—

Our government is bringing Ontario Place back to life, making it a remarkable, world-class, year-round destination that will include family-friendly entertainment, public and event spaces, parkland and waterfront access. Once completed, Ontario Place will be open 365 days a year and welcome from four million to six million visitors annually.

This site is in the process of redevelopment, and the site preparation is under way. This project will create 5,000 jobs, with 3,000 construction jobs and 2,500 permanent jobs.

I look forward to this afternoon’s announcement with the Premier and Minister Surma.

Interjections.

The previous government left Ontario Place in a state of disrepair and neglect. Attractions are currently closed and left abandoned, while flooding, electrical and plumbing issues are frequent on-site.

Our government will bring Ontario Place back to life and make it an affordable, world-class destination for Ontarians from all corners of the province to come and enjoy.

Interjections.

It’s absolutely shameful that the minister stood there applauding his government when my colleague from Sudbury just talked about the hospice there having to fundraise or their patients having to use food banks.

Between January and September 2022, the number of people visiting a food bank increased by 24%; first-time visitors increased by 64%, and one in three of those people never had to use a food bank before.

Food banks are concerned that the need may outpace the capacity of the provincial food bank network. This is an unprecedented crisis. This is not normal.

After five years in government, the Conservatives should be absolutely ashamed of the consistent increase in the number of people living in poverty.

Can the Premier explain why he and his members applaud themselves for making life more affordable when in fact more and more Ontarians are living in poverty under their watch?

My question is for the Minister of Education. I want to thank him for coming to the riding of Barrie–Innisfil, where he heard first-hand from many parents—parents like Lynn, who is a working mom of five and is also serving as a school trustee locally. He heard resoundingly that we need to focus on teaching relevant life skills, job skills—things that will help their children succeed not only in the classroom, but also in today’s modern economy.

While our government is actively modernizing course content and providing historic levels of funding, we must also make sure that leadership and governance at the board level continue to reflect the priorities that will serve our students best.

I want to ask the minister—speaking to parents not only in Barrie–Innisfil, but all across this province—how are we going to focus on what matters most in our education system and strengthen our education system?

Stop the clock.

I wish to inform the House that we have had a fire alarm in the basement and it is currently being investigated. We’ll provide more information as we have it.

Start the clock.

The supplementary question.

The supplementary question.

Interjection.

I just wish to inform the House that I’ve been informed that the fire alarm is turned off and it’s all clear.

The next question?

Start the clock.

My question is for the Minister of Infrastructure.

Ontario Place was originally created as a place to reaffirm our identity as Ontarians and Canadians, with many of us having special and fond memories from being there. The space is now used by many as a beautiful outdoor public space to make more memories with friends, family and the community, as well as the natural—the birds, the insects and animal life.

What has happened to the Ontario in Ontario Place? What has been an attraction to celebrate Ontario through design, materials, landscape and programming is now going to feature an Austrian spa franchise, Therme. Even the west island entrance is to be rebranded as Therme.

Can the minister please explain how she believes an expensive, privately owned spa developed by an Austrian corporation represents the identities of Ontarians?

It really makes me wonder, why Therme? How was this decision even made?

My question to the parliamentary assistant, since the minister is not here, is, what other options—

Interjections.

My question to the minister is, what other options for the development on the west island of Ontario Place were considered by the government before they decided on a spa with Therme, and why weren’t proposals from Ontario-based and even Canada-based companies considered?

I’m very pleased that I have the opportunity to talk about an announcement that was made just last month in Hamilton, at the McMaster Children’s Hospital—it’s a three-year pilot project called integrated pathways for children. It was lauded, it was celebrated by families and by clinicians, because they understand that children with special needs have unique challenges—and that may be mental health concerns, developmental disabilities, or chronic conditions. Now, with this integrated pathway for children, it’s going to connect those highly individualized care programs that are so important and so critical for those families, into Holland Bloorview in Toronto, McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, and CHEO in Ottawa. It’s a really, really exciting program. I’ve already said that if this three-year pilot ends up being successful, it will no longer be a pilot; we will make sure it’s across Ontario.

And we are working more closely together with ministries within government than we have ever seen. It is exactly why we want to be able to be offer programs for the families. This is not about funding organizations. This is about ministries working together to make sure that those families do not have to go through multiple doors to look after their children.

Thank you to the member for Barrie–Innisfil for this question.

As the Premier often says, we have among the best educators in the country. We’re proud of what they do. We want to set them up for long-term success. Frankly, we want to continue to invest in their development.

Mr. Speaker, right now, a problem we are committed to fixing is that faculties of education currently have no requirement to work with the college of teachers or the Ministry of Education to set out minimum requirements for their professional development or learning experience. We’re now going to be involved at the front end, setting prerequisites related to mental health, special education, the science of leadership, of literacy promotion, according to the new curriculum and, of course, their mathematical competence. That is what a modern teacher should look like. It’s what we are endeavouring to do. It’s what we’re going to do through this bill.

We’re also going to literally reduce the amount of days by half that it takes for the process to certify a new educator, a highly talented person from around the world or at home. We’re going to do it quicker.

Finally, we’re taking zero tolerance when it comes to crimes against children—by ensuring they are lifetime-banned from teaching in this province.

Speaker, if we believe there’s a housing crisis, shouldn’t we be thinking hard and planning for smart growth?

I’m worried about this line from the proposed new provincial planning statement, from the Environmental Registry: “Municipalities would be allowed to create new settlement areas and would not be required to demonstrate the need for expansion.”

This government is continuing to encourage thoughtless sprawl and not thinking about affordability, whether it’s in the cost of new infrastructure required or the longer-term costs of living in urban sprawl. For example, the goal to “shorten commute journeys and decrease transportation congestion” is left out of the new provincial planning statement.

Why does this government want to bake in an older, more expensive and unsustainable way of providing housing?

The government is encouraging the business model of buying up land and then trying to influence elected officials to expand settlement areas onto their land, thereby delivering the hope for windfall profits.

Speaker, if you thought developers buying greenbelt land just before it was taken out and given to development smelled bad, allowing thoughtless urban expansion could create a province-wide greenbelt-palooza that makes that stag and doe look like a tea party.

The supplementary question.

My question is for the Premier.

On April 1, the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services cut the complex special-needs funding for nursing and PSW supports, which families with medically fragile children need to hire their support. These cuts impact approximately 100 families who have some of the most medically fragile children in the province. These cuts happened without warning, and no transition plans were provided to these families. This is completely unacceptable and must be reinstated immediately.

Can the Premier explain why this essential funding was cut, why there was no transition plan provided for families, and how his government plans to address this?

Can the Premier commit to ensuring that ministries will start to work together to find long-term solutions for families with medically fragile children, so they can get the care they need, when they need it?

Speaker, let’s think for a second about what the opposition means when they talk about sprawl. It means they don’t think that people should be living in some of our fastest-growing communities. Think about young people who want to live in the community that they grew up in. Think about the NIMBY-style politics that the opposition continues to cater to.

We on this side of the House have a fundamental disagreement with that type of politics. We believe you should not be talking down Ontario. We believe that all parts of Ontario should be a place to grow—to grow your family, to grow your business and grow your community. That’s the type of policy we’re going to bring forward.

Remember Kathleen Wynne closing, in my riding, an agricultural college? That froze out all of eastern Ontario. Remember that type of policy?

Speaker, I’m going to quote from the Toronto Star today: “Permits to Build New Ontario Condos Soar by 25% as New Policies Speed Approvals.”

We’ve seen a 13.6% increase in February compared to January for multi-dwelling permits. That’s the type of success that our housing supply action plan continues to build upon.

Again, the Liberal Party that did nothing for 15 years when they were in the balance of power—

I want to thank the minister for that great response and for really listening to all Ontarians.

Our government is focused on student achievement and will help to improve results in many areas.

When it comes to students and their achievement and their experience in schools, we can all agree that a great teacher makes a big difference in the classroom. I think growing up with Mr. Jean, Ms. Gillis, and Madame Potvin—top educators, who are the ones who really connect well with students, who are able to teach relevant life skills, job skills and critical thinking skills.

In order to uphold our commitment for students to succeed, it is our government’s responsibility to ensure that educators are equipped, qualified, and available to teach fundamental subjects that are essential to changing the world.

Speaker, I want to ask the minister: Can he elaborate on how our government is supporting our educators so they are best equipped to meet the needs of the future?

I want to thank the member opposite for the very important question. We’ve had a conversation on this a number of times.

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear: Islamophobia and hate of any kind have no place in Ontario—especially violence, vandalism, or intimidation towards any community group or faith. The rise of Islamophobia-motivated instances, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, is deeply concerning.

Our government will always stand shoulder to shoulder with our Muslim community.

In one of my first days as the Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, I drove out to visit a London Muslim mosque. I personally met with the imam, the former mayor and community leaders to discuss how we can work together to fight Islamophobia and make Ontario a safer and more inclusive place for everyone.

Our government will continue to work with partners in our Muslim community to find community-based and community-centred solutions to make communities stronger, safer and more vibrant.

With the help of the Anti-Racism Directorate and my ministry, we have allocated over $40 million to enhance security and safety at places of worship and places where cultural communities gather as they build capacity to combat racism and hate.

Our government is always providing tools to help police and the justice sector prevent, investigate and prosecute hate crimes through the hate crime and extremism investigative team, the hate crime investigator course, and the hate crimes community working group of crown attorneys.

We have also taken steps to address racism in schools by creating anti-hate programs and educational resources to counter Islamophobia and all forms of hate.

Speaker, we have been taking a whole-of-government approach to combat hate, and we will continue to work with our partners from the Muslim community and all communities—

My question is to the Associate Minister of Transportation, who is constantly getting our people moving.

Barrie–Innisfil is home to an exciting transit-oriented community project; we’re going to create more housing. But it’s also home to people, over 80% of whom commute to get to work. They rely on the GO train network that connects the Barrie South station to Union Station to downtown Toronto. Unfortunately, riders on the Barrie GO train continue to experience growing delays due to increased traffic at the Davenport crossing. This is one of the busiest at-grade crossing stations in North America, creating a bottleneck of rail tracks impacting both freight rail and GO train services. That is why it’s critical for our government to show leadership by taking action to address this long-standing rail problem.

I want to ask the Associate Minister of Transportation how he’s bringing hope, real investment and leadership on the progress our government is making on this particular train.

It’s welcome news to all folks in Barrie–Innisfil—especially when I talk to people like Tina-Anne, Kyle and Nick, who commute five days a week to come to work here in the GTA.

Transit infrastructure is vital, and the GO train network is important to get people connected to all communities and to their work.

Across the greater Golden Horseshoe as a whole, reliable and convenient transit service is essential, as the population is expected to increase over the next three decades, increasing the demand on our transit services and the upgrades that are needed now to ensure that frequent and convenient service is there for years to come.

We can’t afford to delay or hold back transit investments. Our government must deliver on our commitment to bring relief and new opportunities to transit users and commuters.

So I’d like to ask the associate minister: Can he please elaborate on how our government is investing in expanding the GO Transit network?

This government has a lot of love for Barrie–Innisfil and for that member, who does great work and who asked a great question this morning.

Speaker, I’m very happy to say that two weeks ago, we finished major construction of the Davenport Diamond’s beautiful, new elevated guideway that now lifts the Barrie GO line above freight train tracks. Bu that’s not all. GO trains are now travelling along this game-changing piece of infrastructure, which will reduce congestion for one of the busiest train intersections in all of North America. There’s more. This guideway also provides pedestrians and cyclists with more terrific connections by enabling GO trains to seamlessly travel above existing traffic.

Our government is delivering outstanding GO expansion upgrades across the Barrie line so riders can get to work, critical services, and back home with speed and ease.

The opposition did nothing for the people of Barrie–Innisfil.

This government is getting it done.

The Barrie line stations—we’ve already finished major upgrades at Rutherford GO station, and amazing work is under way to deliver additional platforms and revamped facilities at the Maple, King City, and Aurora GO stations. When it comes to the Barrie line corridor, Metrolinx is adding an extra track between Union and Aurora GO to help with the traffic, as we watch the Leafs win the cup this year—two-way service all day to the Barrie line, every 15 minutes, every day of the week.

But our efforts don’t just benefit riders. In fact, the GO expansion as a whole will generate 8,300 construction and supply chain jobs every single year.

Speaker, the NDP and the Liberals simply didn’t build transit when they could have, for decades.

This government is not only getting shovels in the ground; we’re making the rider experience better all along.

Supplementary question.

Thanks to the member from Oxford for his question.

Speaker, our government understands that there are many Ontarians who face barriers when it comes to accessing government services. That is why we are hard at work to modernize how Ontarians access our many new and updated services, including obtaining a marriage licence, by making it more accessible for new and young couples to apply quickly and conveniently online, regardless of where they live. Offering online applications in six municipalities, as part of this new pilot project, is just the beginning, as we are quickly seeing the benefits of this change. Couples are now being able to enjoy a faster, more convenient application process that lets them focus more on what matters most to them. My ministry is committed to expanding this service province-wide, and I’m looking forward to my colleague—