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 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 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?

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—

Thank you for the question. We know that the status quo is broken. We’ve seen the system in the past; the dream of home ownership, it falls further and further out of reach of hard-working families. I spoke with someone one day and said, “From the time you knock on a farmer’s door north of Toronto and start negotiations for the purchase of the land to the time you hand over the first key, how long does it take?” “It’s now 16 years,” is the answer that I got, which is a little less time, actually, than it takes for young Ontarians to save for a mortgage.

Again, we know we need to do more to hit the target of 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years, and that’s why this is the fourth bill now put forward.

When we had the Volkswagen announcement made here, one of the biggest deals in the history of the entire province—as you’ll soon hear the details coming—all of the American media just blew up about “How did this jurisdiction in Canada win this bid?” They talked about the top 10 things—I think it was the top eight things or the top 10 things—that Ontario did, and one of them was what they called “mega-sites.” It’s having an actual piece of land that’s available that has servicing or services available.

So the employment lands are really critical. You cannot attract economic development opportunities if you don’t have a place for those businesses to be. So we need 1.5 million homes, but we also need land to be able to have these industrial and commercial developments take place.

I can tell you, I would also encourage you to look at, when I was in opposition, my private member’s bill that encouraged 14-storey wood buildings. It was really something designed to support us in the north; a really great opportunity to build and sequester carbon by building wood buildings. So I would also encourage to have a peek at that. It’s just a little race down memory line, but it’s really fascinating and it would shine a light on the kinds of things that interest us.

Interjections.

But I can tell you I was home in North Bay on Friday, one of the rare times I got back to my beautiful home in the beautiful city of North Bay, and I went to my constit office and we held a press conference at Northern Pines. It is one of the three homelessness buildings that we have built; one of the 100 units—a 60-unit, a 24-unit and a 16-unit. I was able to share the news that they’re receiving $3 million more annually.

I think I did an announcement for your riding, as well, MPP Vanthof—

Thank you to the member from Mississauga–Erin Mills for sharing your personal story of looking for your dream home. For most homebuyers, a new home will be the largest purchase of their lives, and I’m glad to see that on the other side of the House, we understand that Ontarians should feel secure when investing in their future. Can the member elaborate on the measures this government is taking to protect homebuyers?