SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Ontario Assembly

43rd Parl. 1st Sess.
April 20, 2023 09:00AM
  • Apr/20/23 3:10:00 p.m.
  • Re: Bill 97 

I usually say that when we meet, we talk. When we talk, we discuss. When we discuss, we find out the problems and the solutions together and, right now, the biggest problem we have in this province of Ontario is that we have about 300,000 immigrants coming.

Somebody like me, for example: I came on January 15, 2000, as a first-generation immigrant, and I had the opportunity to buy a house at that time. But somebody new who’s coming, a young man or a woman looking to buy a house, they don’t have the affordability. They have to wait 20 years.

But as I said earlier, every problem has a solution. What we need to do is we need to build homes faster. That is exactly what this government is doing with all the caucus members, with a single vision and goal to build 1.5 million homes by 2031. We’ll continue to work together to have a bigger, better, strong Ontario.

But when the member opposite was talking about who did you consult with—look, you don’t even need to go beyond this room. We have members with diverse backgrounds with a lot of experience in these fields. But along with that, when we speak to residents on an everyday basis, that’s what they tell us, and we believe the housing supply action plan is the largest in a series of steps our government is taking to increase housing supply. Our plan will streamline and simplify Ontario’s land use policies under a single document. Through the new planning document, the legislation would help accelerate the implementation of the changes and will make sure that we are actually planning to freeze 74 provincial fees at current levels. The impact is going to be lower cost and building homes faster.

Madam Speaker, if you really look at this bill, it’s not just talking about building homes faster, building more homes, but it’s also helping the tenants. We’re doing this by making sure that—one of the things that we heard is that it’s taking much longer for the Landlord and Tenant Board—delays—so we’re making sure we’re investing into that.

We’re also making sure that we are putting policies in place so that there is an adequate supply of rental units. And something which I already spoke about: Under this government, we have seen, in 2022, 15,000 new units, which is the highest ever.

This government believes in making sure to help and support all Ontarians, including the tenants.

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