It’s an honour to rise to this issue, and do you know why? Because the history of affordable housing in this country is the history of the New Democratic Party. Let me tell you why. In 1944, when people who fought for our freedom returned from a war overseas and veterans and their families were being gouged, who stood up for them? New Democrats, social democrats across this country. We linked arms with them, and we stood up for them, while the Liberals and the Conservatives did nothing as price gouging of veterans and their families happened in droves.

And then I’m proud to say that once that standard was set and when the business lobby, the big corporate lobby, counteracted and took away rent control when it was given in 1944—took it away in 1949—the NDP didn’t give up. Did the NDP give up?

So I’m not going to take any lectures from these members opposite, certainly not when the great Evelyn Gigantes is my neighbour back home. Evelyn Gigantes stood in this place, was the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and under her leadership—not this government’s leadership—non-market housing increased in Ontario by 60%.

Co-op housing, community housing—that’s the NDP record on housing. And do you know why? Because when you go to any one of our fundraisers, you’re not going to find the DeGasperis family. You’re not going to find the Cortellucci family. You’re not going to find the real estate investment trusts like Smart Living, which—in my community back home, Smart Living is throwing 121 tenants out of their homes, in the south end of our city, to create gentrified units of $3,000 to $3,500 a pop. And these are some of the last remaining affordable housing units in this area. Who fought for them to remain? Who stood by the tenants? The New Democratic Party stood by the tenants. ACORN stood by the tenants while these vultures from Smart Living swoop in, buy up housing stock that they know is dilapidated, refuse to fix it, and throw people out on the street.

The member for University–Rosedale mentioned that the average rent in this city of Toronto is 3K; it’s 2K in Ottawa—that’s up 11.5%.

Everything in our lives is becoming more expensive under a Conservative government—groceries, rent, gas. The way to get out of this mess, on this day when we are fighting for affordable housing, which is an NDP tradition, is to get rid of the Conservatives who serve the rich and powerful. You should have a government that works for you.

I have been enjoying listening to all members of this House speak on the opposition day motion—

Interjection.

I’d like to highlight to the members opposite—they talk about the grocery prices and the bills. But, colleagues, one thing that can really help bring down the cost of groceries in Ontario and across Canada—

Interjection.

However, we’re here to talk about the opposition day motion, so I’ll direct my comments to that now.

It’s an honour to rise in this House to speak on a very important subject that is top of mind for many Ontarians: the affordability crisis that exists in today’s housing market—I should emphasize, today’s housing market, because while affordability is a concern for many Ontarians, I want to make it crystal clear that our government is making every effort to make sure we build affordable rental apartments across this province.

We’ve set an ambitious goal. I like to highlight to the opposition, who continue to heckle me, that they agreed to the 1.5 million new homes by 2031 in their own platform. I’m glad they agree with us on that. I wasn’t in this place prior to the last election, but it’s disappointing that every time we brought forward a piece of legislation to increase the number of houses built, to increase the number of rental properties built, they voted against it. They said they expected us to do more.

Well, on this side of the House and over there in the middle, we expect the opposition to support our housing supply action plans and to fight for Ontarians.

As the minister and the associate minister alluded to already, we’ve set records in our housing project starts: in 2021, just less than 100,000 new housing starts; in 2022 we maintained the success, building momentum with 96,000 housing starts.

As the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing alluded to this morning in question period and in his remarks, the latest data show that Ontario has seen an 11% increase in 2023, already, on new housing starts, up nearly 1,200 from last year. Rental starts are, so far, double already under this new year of construction, which is great to see.

I know the Minister of Economic Development has secured another great auto manufacturing investment in a region that I come from, with the Volkswagen plant. We will need places to live for people who work in that plant. I know across rural Ontario, as the opposition likes to talk about, the number one thing they need is more rental supply. They need more supply for those workers in auto manufacturing who will supply the new Volkswagens and the other investments that we’re bringing to this province.

I think of my friends who want to get into the housing market and are currently renting. This government continues to fight for them to ensure that they can purchase an affordable and attainable house within their lifetime, to ensure that we have the dream of home ownership.

I know many of us in this place meet with many different home builders and also non-profits in their ridings when we’re back in our ridings.

I had the pleasure of meeting with Habitat for Humanity from my local area on Friday when I was in my riding. It was a great meeting with Habitat for Humanity, and it was great to hear that some of the changes we have made as a government are helping them build more multi-use rental apartments. It was great to hear that our changes under this Minister of Municipal Affairs, our associate minister and, of course, our Premier are getting more rental construction started in my part of the province.

Our government has been clear on our commitment to ensure affordability for homeowners and renters alike. That’s why we’re preserving rent control for existing units before 2018 and exempting rent control rules for new buildings, new additions to new buildings, and most basement units occupied after 2018. These actions protect tenants while stimulating construction of new rental housing—as I mentioned previously, it is vital in rural communities, where the stock currently does not exist to any extent.

At a time when families across the province are already struggling with the rising cost of living, the carbon tax and the shortage of housing options, it is crucial that we work in partnership with the private sector and the non-profits to grow our housing supply.

It has been alluded to already by the associate minister in her remarks, how, when the NDP held power and when they were in power, when I was a young, young man, rents went up by 4.6% and 6%. I don’t think it’s really a secret to anyone in this House why they haven’t formed government since 1995. In contrast, our government capped increases for the vast majority of tenants in 2023 to 2.5%, well below current inflation rates.

Our government is committed to continuing to release a new housing supply action plan every four years of our mandate. I know when I was on the campaign trail, many appreciated the fact that the government would continue to come back to this Legislature, under this municipal affairs and housing minister and this Premier, to always bring forward new additions, because we know we need to do more work. And right now, right in front of this House, is Bill 97, which protects tenants’ rights.

I was speaking to a renter on Friday when I was in the riding, and this renter was very appreciative of the tenant protections we had in the bill. Their landlord is renovating, so they were very encouraged to hear that, under proposed Bill 97, if passed—and I hope my colleagues across the way choose to support these protections for tenants—the landlord would have to provide a 60-day grace period for them to move back in, and the landlord was to allow the tenant to move back in at a similar rent. This was very encouraging for my tenant, and they said that this was long overdue.

As the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing alluded to, we’re increasing the fines—almost doubling them—under the Residential Tenancies Act for any violation.

As the Associate Minister of Housing alluded to, we are, under the Attorney General, investing more in the Landlord and Tenant Board—additional investments on the investments we made in budget 2022. We are investing $6.5 million extra to help alleviate the backlog at the Landlord and Tenant Board for both landlords and tenants—to clear that backlog to ensure that we can have the protections for those renters in Ontario.

Our government is sending a strong message to the actors that violate the Residential Tenancies Act with these changes to the fine structure.

I’m happy to see the NDP bring forward an opposition day motion to call on the stronger protections act. I know we’ll have an opportunity to vote on it later—

Interjection.

It’s an honour to rise to participate in this debate because the housing affordability crisis is at a complete breaking point.

Last week, it was reported that in the first quarter of this year, average rents in the GTA for purpose-built apartments hit $3,000 for the first time, the sixth straight double-digit, year-over-year increase in the Toronto area—and it’s not just Toronto; it’s literally cities all over the province. In my own riding, average rent for a one-bedroom apartment hit $2,085 at the end of last year; that’s up 22.4%.

It is heartbreaking to see so many Ontarians with jobs, like nurses, teachers, retail workers and so many others, struggling to be able to find an affordable place to live in the communities they want to live in, where they work in, being forced to spend well over 30% of their income just on housing—let alone minimum wage workers and people who are living in legislated poverty because this government refuses to raise social assistance rates.

Advocates on the front lines have been telling us for decades now that we have to invest in homes that people can actually afford. According to the Daily Bread Food Bank Who’s Hungry Report, 87% of their clients are living in housing that is completely unaffordable; seven in 10 were paying half of their income—imagine that, Speaker—just on rent; and 18% were paying all of their income just on rent. Imagine how you afford sky-high food prices and so many other expenses in a day-to-day life.

Let’s be clear: The government’s expensive sprawl agenda will not solve the housing affordability crisis. It’s too expensive for municipalities, who simply can’t afford the cost of servicing sprawl, and it’s too expensive for people and families, who simply cannot afford the long, expensive, soul-crushing commutes this government is imposing on them.

That’s why we actually have to invest in homes that people can afford. That’s exactly why the Ontario Greens housing affordability plan, which some have called a master class plan in delivering the solutions we need—that’s why we’ve introduced Bill 44 and Bill 45, to end exclusionary zoning and build the gentle density and missing middle housing supply in homes that people can actually afford, in communities they want to live in.

That’s why we’re working so hard to end speculation in the housing market—because homes should be for people, not speculators.

That’s why I support this motion to bring in rent control, to bring back what this government took away—and not just rent control on units, but rent control between tenants, within units, so we have vacancy control, to get rid of the incentives for landlords to renovict and push their tenants out just so they can jack up rates even higher.

Speaker, we also need to have an honest conversation at all three levels of government. Up until 1995, in the 1970s and 1980s and early 1990s, 15,000 to 20,000 housing starts in this country every single year were government-supported non-profit and co-op housing that people could actually afford. So we’re not going to solve this problem with supply alone—even though I’ve put forward numerous solutions to increase affordable supply within the communities that people want to live in. That alone, if we’re going to be honest, is not going to solve the problem. We need both the federal government and the provincial government to come back to the table with the financial supports to help non-profit and co-op housing providers build the deeply affordable homes that people need to be able to survive month to month, to stabilize their lives.

Finally, we’re going to need government to come up with more than $202 million if we’re actually going to build permanent supportive housing with wraparound mental health and addictions supports to support people in our communities, because we know that every $10 invested in supportive housing saves government $22 in services.

Those are the solutions we need. That’s what we need to fight for for the people of this province.

We heard the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing actually say in his remarks that it was the last two governments that have caused this housing crisis; frankly, it was a Liberal government for 15 years, with a Conservative official opposition for that entire 15 years—before the Liberals, it was the Mike Harris Conservatives. It seems like those of us on this side finally have something to agree with you on: It was indeed caused by both the Liberals and the Conservative governments.

Speaker, those of us on this side believe that housing is a human right. Studies have shown that when people have proper access to stable and safe housing, the risk of chronic homelessness vastly decreases and health and education outcomes increase positively.

Speaker, there are currently over 6,000 households waiting for housing in the city of Windsor alone. The Landlord and Tenant Board, which that this government talks about fixing—the backlogs are causing significant issues for my residents, and not just mine; all around the province. Landlords have applied for additional rent increases through the Landlord and Tenant Board, and because of the backlogs, decisions are being rendered years later. We have landlords that are coming to the tenants for back pay. One building in Windsor is charging tenants $1,000 in back pay for a rent increase because they waited so long for a decision from the Landlord and Tenant Board.

I had a constituent, just last week, come into my office in tears because she went to the Landlord and Tenant Board, couldn’t get an answer, was told to go to the Rental Housing Enforcement Unit, which has an automated message—they don’t answer—telling them to go back to the Landlord and Tenant Board.

So this government can crow all they want about what they’re doing at the Landlord and Tenant Board, but people can’t actually access those supports.

Speaker, it’s this Conservative government that has allowed the housing crisis to go from bad to worse.

I want to highlight some things. A recent report went to the city of Windsor council, reporting a significant increase in people experiencing homelessness in Windsor. The report shows that the number of people experiencing homelessness in Windsor has more than doubled compared to the report numbers in 2021—a Conservative government. The Conservatives have had a majority government for five years and, as I said, they were the official opposition for 15, and this is their record.

There’s an increase of 61% of Windsor-Essex residents visiting food banks from 2019 to 2022.

According to Feed Ontario, food bank use remains at an all-time high. There has been an increase in food bank use of 42% over the last three years and a 47% increase in people with employment accessing food banks since the Conservatives formed government in 2018. One in four children live in poverty and have to rely on food banks under this Conservative government. Two out of three people who access food banks are social assistance recipients. People in my riding and all across Ontario are struggling to provide food for their families.

Speaker, a key step toward addressing the housing crisis, to addressing child poverty and the increase in food bank use is to actually have affordable housing, to bring in true rent control for all residential units across the province.

It’s an honour to rise in the House today to speak to one of our government’s biggest priorities and, frankly, the top priority for new Canadians, millennials and senior citizens. Of course, I’m talking about the housing crisis. And it is this PC government that recognizes the severity of the housing crisis that we’re facing.

I want to address some points from my colleague before I get into my prepared remarks about supporting non-profit and affordable housing—that’s exactly why, in Bill 23 last year, we made sure that we aren’t taxing these new builds. The average development charge in the GTA is $116,000. That’s a tax that hits the construction before a single shovel hits the ground, before any tenancy even takes place. I would remind that my colleague voted against Bill 23, which actually removes development charges from affordable non-profit housing, which seems to be contrary to his point.

The other thing that my colleague mentioned was around the $202 million for homelessness prevention supports. We saw in the region of Peel—we got $42 million for the region of Peel. We were just there on Friday to announce that. I was joined by colleagues from across Peel region, many of our PC colleagues in Peel region. Good gosh, Speaker, after that election, we’ve sure got a lot of Peel MPPs in the PC caucus, don’t we? Well, we were all there and we were all very happy because that $42 million that we invested is a 38% increase over the same program that was coming to the Peel region the year before. That’s a 38% increase in more supportive housing supports to the region of Peel, which is going to help our most vulnerable citizens, our most vulnerable residents, get a roof over their head and get the wraparound supports that they need and deserve. I was proud to vote on a budget that put that money forward.

Like the member opposite, I want to make sure that we’re investing more money in these things too, but we can’t do that, unless we have a growing economy, an economy that people work in.

We hear from members of the opposition; they talk about how they are the party of workers, but I question—what would workers do under an NDP government? They don’t want to build any other houses. They want to sit with their heads in the sand and ignore that. They don’t want to build transit, in case we ever damage a tree instead of building a subway, which takes cars off the roads, puts investment in our community, and creates good-paying union jobs. They don’t want to invest in the auto manufacturing sector, where we’re having clean, green electric vehicles, electric batteries being made. Volkswagen is coming with 3,000 jobs and 30,000 indirect jobs to St. Thomas. I heard there are a lot of NDP and Green Party candidates who are looking for a job after that last election; maybe they can go on to St. Thomas, where it’s booming with opportunity. They can all work there.

Now I’ll get to my prepared remarks, because I know we’ve got to cool it a little bit.

This PC government recognizes the extreme severity of the housing crisis. That recognition starts by acknowledging where we live. The province of Ontario is the greatest place in the world. It’s no secret people want to live here; quite frankly, we need them to. All of those jobs that we’re creating that the NDP continually vote against—we need people to come here and fill them. We need more people to come to Ontario from all over the world. We need more diversity, not less diversity. We’ve got a labour shortage of about 400,000 jobs, give or take, and our government is hard at work to find ways to get more people into the skilled trades to combat that shortage, be it newcomers from around the world bringing their families with them to benefit our province and begin to call it their home, or our children being taught that they can make a great future for themselves in the skilled trades.

But do you know what, Speaker? We can keep telling people that if they work hard, they can live the life they dreamed of—we can say that all we want, but until we get shovels in the ground and start building homes at the right pace, this is only lip service.

Every member of this House should be standing up and voting for Bill 97, Bill 23, Bill 39, to get shovels in the ground and homes built, to build the dream of home ownership for everybody in Ontario.

Interjections.

For our economy, we need people to move here. But who would we be if we invited people to move to our home, to come to our province, if we sold people on the Canadian dream but we didn’t provide them a place to live? Brampton North, my riding, was once a place people would move to in search of an affordable home outside of Toronto, but now, people of all ages are getting priced out of Brampton. The rising costs are simply unaffordable for the average Ontarian.

Last year, the federal government announced that Canada broke its record with over 430,000 permanent residents welcomed to the country in 2022; by 2025, they hope to see the number go to 500,000. That is welcome news on our side, on the PC Party side of the House. We need to fight the labour shortage, and we need new Canadians to come to Ontario and call our province home, but we also need to welcome them with an opportunity to have a home that meets their needs.

As it stands today, our housing supply is not prepared to welcome the large and rapid influx of new Ontarians we are expecting. Of the 500,000 in 2025, we know that over 60% are going to come to Ontario; specifically, the GTA—and if history shows us anything, many, many, many coming to my community in Brampton. We welcome that, but we need to build the houses so that people have somewhere to live. We need to build the roads so that people have somewhere to drive on, to take their kids to school, to take their parents to the doctor, in order to get to work. We need to build opportunity and jobs for people to work at when they get here.

A recent study conducted by the Ontario Real Estate Association found that two thirds of Ontarians polled are spending well over one third of their budget on housing. We also know that on average, it takes millennials 20 years to save for a down payment. In Mississauga, development charges add approximately $127,000 to the cost of a home. And across the GTA, before a single shovel hits the ground, the average homebuyer already faces an average of $116,900 in municipal development charges and fees. Speaker, $116,900 is more than the cost of a down payment for many homes—and over the course of a 20-year mortgage, it could add more than $800 to a new home buyer’s monthly payment.

We do not believe non-profit and affordable housing providers should be charged huge, unsustainable fees when looking to build housing for vulnerable Ontarians. Through Bill 23, our government is eliminating development charges for affordable, attainable and not-for-profit housing, and purpose-built rentals will see reductions of up to 25%, with the biggest reductions coming for family-sized, family-friendly units. To be clear, this doesn’t mean that municipalities won’t get any revenue from a new home build. It means that home ownership will be a little bit closer in reach for Ontarians because of these increased fees being decreased, that add thousands to the price of a home.

We are committed to building Ontario. That’s why this PC government, in partnership with municipalities across the province, has committed to building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. I look to the members of the opposition and tell them that this is what collaboration looks like.

In Brampton, in my community, which includes my wonderful riding of Brampton North, the city council endorsed the municipal housing pledge to help our province deliver 113,000 units by 2031. Brampton is not the only municipality to sign on to the housing pledge. The city of Toronto’s housing action plan aims to increase the supply of housing to achieve or exceed the provincial housing target of 285,000 new Toronto homes by 2031. Ottawa has pledged 151,000 homes by 2031. We have Markham pledging 44,000 new homes by 2031. We have 21,000 in Milton, 23,000 in Barrie, and more across the province. Our government is showing the world that collaboration leads to results. The pledges that these cities have signed onto demonstrate their commitment to unlocking more housing, streamlining development approvals, removing the barriers, and accelerating planning in support of the province’s housing target.

Last Friday, I was proud to stand with my PC caucus colleagues, along with three mayors representing the region of Peel: the mayors of Brampton, Mississauga, and Caledon. We all announced over $42 million to the regional municipality of Peel, through the province’s Homelessness Prevention Program, to help those experiencing or at risk of homelessness and supporting community organizations delivering supportive housing. This is a year-over-year increase of 38%. Together we’re getting it done for the people of Brampton, for the people of Peel and the people of Ontario, and this is just building on a track record that this PC government has been working on.

In 2019, we created the province’s first-ever housing supply action plan to reduce red tape and get shovels in the ground and build the dream of home ownership. We built on that success by passing our More Homes for Everyone plan last spring and our new More Homes Built Faster plan last November. And we’re already seeing historic results.

In 2021, our province broke ground on a record number of new home starts, with nearly 100,000 starts in only 12 months. That’s the highest level of new housing starts in a year since 1987. In 2022, Ontario maintained its success and saw the second-highest number of starts since 1988, with just over 96,000 new homes. This is 30% higher than the annual 65,000 home average of the past 20 years.

Speaker, I will say it again for the opposition to hear, through you: This is about collaboration, working together—something the NDP chose to do with the previous Liberal government, backing them every step of the way, through every decision that set our province back. They supported the Liberal government while they closed down hospitals, like the one I was born in, Peel Memorial Hospital, where not only I was born in, but many people in my generation were born in—the same people in my generation in Brampton who want to live in the community that we were born in, who are priced out of the neighbourhood because housing prices have skyrocketed under 15 years of Liberal neglect, backed by the same NDP.

Now, how are we in this situation where we’re asking them to collaborate with us to get shovels in the ground, to build opportunity, to get homes built, to get transit built, to create jobs—good, union, fighting-NDP jobs, union jobs? We’re doing it all over the place. And what do they do? They vote against the measures every single time.

Interjections.

It’s a pleasure to be able to rise today, on behalf of the good people of Niagara West, and speak to the opposition motion that has come before the floor this afternoon.

I want to begin my remarks by expressing appreciation and gratitude for the hard work of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; his associate minister, Nina Tangri; and of course, the parliamentary assistant, the member for Perth–Wellington—for their work and continuing to work with 444 municipalities in every corner of this province to help build more homes and make life more affordable for Ontario’s families.

We know that, fundamentally, we need to ensure that there is an adequate supply of housing stock on the market in order to address the needs of a growing population. It would be one thing if Ontario was the only place in the world that had challenges that it faced in terms of housing stock and in terms of ensuring there’s enough rental stock as well, but we know that we exist in a multi-faceted economy, where people are able to move around, people are able to look at other housing markets. We’ve seen that in places where there is enough supply, where there are many new units coming onto the market consistently, year after year, where we see a rapid growth in the amount of housing stock that keeps pace with the amount of people who need new rental properties or who need to purchase a home or are able to purchase a home—we can see a pricing equilibrium.

In fact, if you look at some other places across North America and even in Canada, we don’t see some of the challenges that we have here in Ontario. Why is that? It’s for a number of reasons, one of which is very, very good. Many people are coming to our great province because they recognize that the investments that have been made in our economic prosperity here in the province of Ontario, under this government, are leading to better hope for the future and opportunities for the future. But that’s creating an immense pressure. It creates pressure not just on those who are looking to get into the housing market in terms of purchasing their first home, but also on those who are interested in renting and those who are looking to be able to have a place that they can call home in a rental home.

We live in a prosperous and growing province. It’s one of the best places, I believe, in the world to call home. Yet for too many Ontarians, finding that right home is all too challenging. It’s because, for decades, we saw governments in this province that, frankly, didn’t do enough when it came to building the supply of housing that was needed to meet the demand of a growing population. I’m very pleased that that is now changing, that our government recognizes the importance of housing affordability and affordable housing and ensuring that there is more and more supply coming onto the market. But I believe that, ultimately, we need to all play a role in that solution. We need to work as partners, in all parties in this Legislature and with all of our partners at various levels of government.

We know that for young people eager to raise a family in the community of their choosing, for newcomers ready to put down roots and start a new life, and for seniors looking to downsize but wanting to stay near their family and loved ones, there is a crisis. It’s not just a big-city crisis, as we heard. It’s a housing supply shortage crisis that affects all Ontarians—rural, urban, suburban, north and south, young and old.

The problem is clear. There are different aspects to how the problem manifests itself in different parts of this province, and there are different, local variables that play a role. But overwhelmingly, we know there simply aren’t enough homes being built. The issue is clear, and the solution is equally clear: We need to get more homes built faster to restore that housing equilibrium and ensure that people are able to get into the rental market and into the housing market.

Speaker, we know that all parties in this chamber are committed to building 1.5 million homes, yet our government is the only registered party in this chamber that has a plan to get those 1.5 million homes built. Through our housing supply action plan, we’re already seeing historic results.

In 2021, our province broke ground on a record number of new housing starts, with nearly 100,000 starts in only 12 months. That’s the highest level of new housing starts in a year since 1987.

In 2022, Ontario maintained its success and saw the second-highest number of starts since 1988, with over 96,000 new homes. This is 30% higher than the annual 65,000 home average of the past 20 years, when, again, governments neglected their responsibility in ensuring that they were incentivizing new home building here in the province.

Even more exciting when it comes to the motion at hand and the motion that we’re discussing this afternoon is that in 2022, Ontario had the highest number of rental housing starts on record: nearly 15,000 new purpose-built rentals, a 7.5% increase from 2021—substantial numbers. That’s 15,000 units for people to be able to call that place home so that those who are on the wait-list for rental housing, those who are looking for rental housing—15,000 more of those units become available to families here in Ontario.

But we know there’s more to be done. Our province is booming. Newcomers and job creators from around the world are flocking to Ontario, looking to call this province their home. Ontario’s population reached a historic 15 million last year, and it’s expected to continue growing by over two million people by 2031, with approximately 1.5 million new residents living in the greater Golden Horseshoe region alone, including in Niagara.

Our housing supply crisis is a problem that has been decades in the making, and it’s going to take both short-term strategies and long-term commitment from all levels of government, the private sector, and the not-for-profit sector to ensure that Ontario remains the best place to live, work, raise a family, grow your business, grow your community, and grow your opportunity for a better life. It’s why we continue to release a new housing supply action plan every year—to build more homes and make life more affordable for Ontario’s families.

Speaker, I have to have a brief interlude, if you will indulge me. I have a number of friends who are, I will say, not Conservative, are not necessarily philosophically or ideologically aligned with our government on a couple of different areas or with myself personally. We have a lot of good discussions about that. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to have the conversation. As I speak with a number of my friends, some of whom have voted for the NDP and a number of whom have voted for the federal Liberals, one of the things I consistently hear from them is shock and dismay, and frankly, bewilderment at the fact that we’ve seen the left abandon the need to build more housing. They say, “Sam, I’m someone who doesn’t consider myself Conservative, but your government is the only government, you’re the only political party, that’s really talking about getting housing built.”

For me, for a young person who wants to be able to see my friends, my neighbours, my community succeed—I hear from those young people who until recently were having to say, “Well, perhaps I’m not going to be able to stay in this province if we don’t see that housing built.” And these are people who are, more and more, looking at their opportunity for the future and recognizing that it’s the Progressive Conservative government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, that is talking about housing affordability and recognizing the core root of the issue: the lack of supply in every corner of this province, which is driving up the price of rental, which is driving up the price of new homes and is making it difficult for people to be able to save up for other things that they want to be able to achieve in life.

So to those people I have spoken with who may not identify as PCs, who may not identify as any political stripe but want to be able to see that opportunity and that future: Know that our government is listening. And we are doing more than listening; we are taking action.

In fact, in our most recent housing supply action plan, Bill 97, we have built on the strong foundation of previous pieces of legislation. We’re providing a strong foundation for growth while also expanding protections for renters and homebuyers.

We’re fixing the Landlord and Tenant Board—a need we have heard often about from both landlords and tenants alike. We’re investing funding to hire 40 new adjudicators and five full-time staff, which will more than double the total number of adjudicators on the Landlord and Tenant Board. This will provide critical support in addressing the COVID-19-related backlog and also ensure that cases are being heard in a timely fashion.

We’re proposing greater legal protections for tenants facing renovictions and ensuring that when evicting a tenant to renovate a unit—we’re proposing that landlords would be required to provide a report from a qualified third party stating that the unit must be vacant for renovations to take place. In addition, landlords would be required to provide updates on the status of those renovations in writing. Landlords would also be required to provide a 60-day grace period to move back in once the renovations are complete.

We’re also proposing greater legal protections for tenants facing landlord’s-own-use evictions. When evicting a tenant to use the unit themselves or for their family, the landlord or their family members would have to move into the unit by a determined deadline. By failing to move into the unit within the determined time frame, the landlord would be presumed to have acted in bad faith, if an application is made by the tenant to the Landlord and Tenant Board for a remedy.

We’re proposing to impose the strictest penalties in all of Canada on bad actors. Proposed changes would double the maximum fines for offences under the Residential Tenancies Act, and we would see that maximum fines for offences under the act would increase from $100,000 for individuals to $500,000 for corporations. This sends a strong message: Our government will not tolerate violations of the Residential Tenancies Act.

We see, unfortunately, that members on the opposite side of the House are so ideologically opposed to taking any meaningful action on the housing file that they appear willing to even vote against these types of protections. They’re willing to once again, for the fourth time now, vote against the housing supply action plan brought forward by our government without introducing their own plan in opposition.

Our government is committed to ensuring the well-being of the people of Ontario and ensuring that tenants and landlords are being treated fairly. As Ontario’s families face the rising cost of living, our government has provided stability and predictability to the vast majority of tenants by capping the rent increase guideline well below inflation, at 2.5%.

We know that it is important to be able to respond to the needs of the people in our communities, and one of the most fundamental needs that all of our constituents rely upon is the need for housing. But to put matters into perspective, when we have almost 400,000 people moving to this province each and every year, with that number only rising—when we have a city, essentially, the size of London, Ontario, coming to this province each and every year, and we’re trying to fit all of those people into the amount of housing stock that exists in a city the size of St. Catharines, the numbers just don’t add up. At its core, it is about supply and demand. When you don’t have enough housing units available, people are going to bid on those units and drive up the prices. That’s why we need to ensure that we’re addressing that supply equilibrium.

I appreciate that for once, after such a long time, we’ve seen the members of the opposition and the Leader of the Opposition come forward—late to the game, I might add—and try to at least present a motion that they would argue is in the interests of people who are looking for housing. Yet, we’ve seen so little action when it comes to their ability to actually stand on their feet and vote for tangible actions that would protect the people of this province by building that supply and ensuring that we meet that housing equilibrium.

Speaker, on behalf of the people of Niagara West, I’m thankful that all members in this House are speaking about housing. But I would encourage the members opposite, when they look at this motion, to think about going beyond this motion and bringing forward meaningful solutions, instead of rallying against anything that comes forward from this government to solve the supply issue and ensure that we’re building more—

It’s always an honour to rise to speak on behalf of the good people of Toronto Centre.

I want to invite all the members of this House to go for a 20-minute walk with me. If you go for a 20-minute walk, you’re actually going to land right in the middle of St. James Town. It’s one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in all of Canada. Its density is 18 times that of any neighbourhood in Toronto. There are over 14,000 people who call St. James Town home, and the average household income is just $20,000. What we don’t have over there is a lot of money, but we have a lot of heart. Over 64% of people who live in St. James Town are newcomers. Neighbours know each other, kids play across the hallway with other children, and seniors will often take care of each other to break social isolation. This is a true neighbourhood.

It’s also an amazing place to live because of—make no mistake about it—rent control. Most of those buildings in St. James Town—the majority of them, until recently—have been under rent control.

The Conservative ideological opposition to real rent control and their slavish devotion to serving big landlords has actually created a condition now in St. James Town that is leading to much further harm. We’re seeing older buildings that are rent-controlled being demolished and replaced with new buildings without rent control, and what we’re now seeing is a lot of residents who are calling my office because they’re scared.

Most recently, a constituent whose name is Angela called my office to tell me that her rent under this government is going up 20%—20%. She’s getting a rent hike of $400. She and her fiancée are now struggling with the decision of whether or not they stay or they go. This is an untenable situation that is about to hit all the residents in that same building, and they are literally scared. They have no place to go without help from this government, which includes the implementation and the support of this motion of real rent control.

Paving over the greenbelt is not going to increase affordability of housing in Ontario, and neither is the government’s housing plan. They have failed to be able to address the housing crisis in Ontario. Things are getting more expensive and much worse for all Ontarians. Speaker, $3,000 for a one-bedroom apartment is untenable. I’ve lived in Toronto for all of my life in Canada. It is the worst that it has ever been, and this government is in charge of all of that.

This is a party, on this side of the House, where we are putting forward some real solutions; we’ve asked the government to come forward with their own. Their policies have failed; we have others. You can say yes to ending exclusionary zoning. You can say yes to investing in affordable housing, such as public, co-op and supportive housing. You can say yes to clamping down on greedy speculators. And yes, you can say yes to rent control—rent control that is desperately needed right now, right here for your tenants, for your constituents, and for mine.

I want to start by thanking the leader of the official opposition for bringing this motion forward, because housing affordability has been an increasingly pressing issue in my own riding of Ottawa, like it is in the rest of the province, frankly. The government has been bringing forward various housing bills, but none with solutions to address unjustified and abusive rent increases. In my riding, more and more people are contacting my office, either because they are struggling to find affordable rental housing or because they are victims of abusive landlords.

Colin Nielson told me, “I am a single man and I work a decent job. I try my best to save and I live an extremely frugal lifestyle. I just received notice from my landlord, a multi-million dollar company, that my rent in June was increasing by a full 7%.

“I am seriously concerned about my ability to support myself going forward due to these increases. This time it was only 7%, next time what will it be?”

David-Michel Sarrazin told me, “Realstar corporation ... has started to charge an extra fee over and above the 2.5% allowable rent increase by the provincial government. Some are seeing an extra increase of up to 5% on their newly increased rents for 2023. Realstar is calling” it “an update and maintenance fee.

“Is this some new law giving landlords the legal rights to raise rent by 7.5%?”

Madeleine Brownrigg said, “I am a concerned citizen with a family member who cannot find affordable housing in this region. This crisis started with the abolishment of rent control for buildings that were built after 2018, among other things. It would be nice if this law was reversed so that people don’t need to go to the food bank to eat, or live where it does not suit their requirements, or are left having to work two jobs....”

These stories demonstrate just how unaffordable rental prices are becoming for people in Ottawa–Vanier, and I am sure many members on both sides of this House have heard similar stories from their own ridings. Ontarians are finding it increasingly difficult to find a rental unit that they can afford even when making a decent income.

Rent control is one measure that the government has as its disposal to help relieve some of the pressure on renters and give them some certainty for the coming years.

This government has focused a lot on the supply side of the equation, but because housing is a necessity, Ontarians are forced to make difficult choices when the rent market becomes too expensive. They may make other choices on budget items, like giving up on children’s recreational activities or food. We’ve seen this play out in recent years, with the demand for food banks skyrocketing and a greater proportion of families cutting down on their grocery bills in order to pay their rent.

The fact that housing is a necessity, coupled with the lack of rental housing supply, puts landlords in the driver’s seat. It allows them to raise rents without losing their renters, because tenants don’t have any other option. This, of course, is an unacceptable situation.

Renters need support, and rent control can be part of the solution, particularly in the short term.

Earlier in this debate, I heard the Minister of Municipal Affairs and—unaffordable—Housing boast about the Conservatives’ housing plan. He said, “Our plan is working.” We just found out recently that the average rent has surpassed $3,000 a month. We’ve had five years of a majority Conservative government, and the average rent has just passed $3,000 a month. I’m wondering what the minister was talking about when he said, “Our housing plan is working”—and then I realized he forgot to put in “for the developers.” That’s what’s really happening here.

The Conservatives’ solution to unaffordable housing is to pave over the Greenbelt, to give developers a $5-billion taxpayer-funded subsidy, and to strip Ontarians in Toronto, Peel, York and Niagara of their right to democratic, majority vote municipal governance. And they cancelled rent control for anyone living in a building that’s newer than 2018. This is hitting people across this province.

In my own riding, Sam and her partner are a young couple. They pay $3,200 a month rent for their one-bedroom apartment, which is more than 50% of their combined income. Their lease expires in May 2024, and other units in that building are now renting for $3,600 a month. So they’re worried that if the Conservatives do not pass the NDP motion today to provide rent control for all units, they could face a $400-a-month rent increase.

Megan, another resident of Spadina-Fort York, faced a rent increase, from $2,100 a month to $2,900 a month. That’s an $800, 38% increase. She was able to negotiate that down to just a $400, 19% increase—still incredibly unaffordable and incredibly unfair to her.

Marcy, another resident in Spadina–Fort York, makes the median income in her neighbourhood, and she says that it’s just not enough to afford rent. She has a full-time job and a part-time job. She is debating whether to move out of the province. She is a young widow, and she feels incredibly unstable at this stage of her life. She said, “It can happen to anybody and it’s happening to so many people. I don’t want to leave” Ontario.

This affordability crisis is impacting people across this province, and the government’s solution is not working. But the NDP—we are offering solutions. We are saying that the Conservatives should acknowledge their mistake in stripping Ontarians of rent control protections and reinstate rent control on all units. We’re saying that you should be building not-for-profit housing, including co-ops, social and supportive housing. And you have to stop subsidizing developers with that $5-billion tax subsidy.

It’s an honour for me to rise today in support of our opposition day motion to re-establish rent control within the province of Ontario. Hearing debate today, it’s clearer than ever how out of touch Conservatives have become.

The NDP is the party of housing. We built the most affordable and supportive housing of any government before. It’s clear that the Conservative-Liberal consortium can’t build themselves. They’re content to incentivize eviction, renoviction, demoviction, and they disrespect renters as well as seniors.

London was hit by the biggest average annual increase in Canada of rental costs: 33% in one year. Last year, it was a 27% increase.

Huntington Towers is a 10-storey building where tenants were asked to pay a rental increase to cover the cost of a new parking garage.

Tenants at One Richmond Row were hit with a 7% rent hike because they were not informed that they were inhabiting a building that this government had removed rent control from.

You see, Conservatives carved a loophole in tenants’ rights with no rental protections for buildings that were first occupied after November 2018. People were already having a tough time paying the bills, yet this government saw fit to remove rights from them. They drilled a hole in their already sinking ship.

Conservative cognitive dissonance is at an all-time high with this government. We’ve heard members across pat themselves on the back for the creation of all these new rental buildings, but they don’t realize that they have enabled a system of exploitation because they’ve removed protections from people who can least afford it.

Tenants call my office regularly about legal and illegal rental hikes. But when they’ve fought back against their landlord, then their unit will stop receiving basic maintenance. It’s time for this Ontario government to actually lead from the front, stand up and make sure that they’re taking a strong public role in the building, the funding, the delivery and the acquisition and protection of rental housing.

You can start today. You can start supporting renters by supporting our opposition day motion.

Everyone in Ontario deserves a safe and affordable place to call home, but the cost of rent in Ontario is not affordable. In fact, in Toronto, the average cost of rent is approaching $3,000 a month. The cost of rent has increased to more than 50% of take-home income for many Ontario households.

When businesses upcharge people for essential items, we call that gouging. What’s happening to tenants in Ontario right now is no different. Housing is a human right.

To pay their rent, many individuals and families are being forced to take on a second or third job. To pay their rent, people are having to cut back on groceries and all other spending. Still others are being forced to move farther and farther away from their families, their jobs, their children’s schools.

This is making the affordability crisis even worse. People are barely treading water. Many are drowning. But when we, the NDP, raise these concerns here, the government responds with insults and jokes.

The government knows this problem isn’t just about supply and demand; it’s much more than that. They know it. They know that there’s more that can be done to help tenants right now, more that can be done today.

I want to remind the minister that Toronto has led North America in construction cranes for years before they took office. After five years of Conservative government, rent has never been so high.

Families don’t have years to wait for a market adjustment. Many don’t even have months. They need relief now. The status quo is destroying families and leading some landlords into bad-faith evictions to charge even more. There are families out there right now who don’t have time to wait. They need us. They need you to act right now, and that means implementing real rent control.

Again, under this government, rents are by far the highest they’ve ever been, with no immediate relief on the horizon. You can’t just sit on your hands. Do the right thing. Support this NDP motion to bring in rent control and give tenants across this province the relief they need, the relief they deserve. They are counting on all of us to help them, so do it. Support this motion.

I want to thank, first of all, my colleagues in the official opposition for their impassioned speeches this afternoon and their support of this really important motion. I think you heard here today so many stories, so many stories—the voices, really, of Ontarians brought here into the chamber over and over again—the stories of real Ontarians, regular people struggling to keep their homes, making choices between whether or not they can make rent or put food on the table for their families. And this is a choice that more and more families are making today, Speaker.

Rent is skyrocketing in this province. It’s the highest it has ever been, and the increases we’re seeing—you know, we heard today of 27%, 40%, 30% increases. Who can afford that? Who can afford that? We heard, also, about employers who are saying—we speak to the chambers, Speaker—that this is destroying our communities, our economy, because workers simply can’t afford to live in our communities anymore. They can’t get by. People are leaving this province.

All of those people that leave Ontario, that leave our communities? Those are our future. And they’re gone. They’re going. What’s really astonishing is the lack of other options, right? It’s the lack of other options. If there were other, more affordable options, maybe this wouldn’t be a conversation we would be having today. If Conservative governments of past days gone by hadn’t cancelled 17,000 co-op units that were supposed to be built in this province, maybe we might not be in quite the situation we’re in. But we can’t go back and rewrite history.

I think what I find the most concerning is that this government wants people to think that there’s no way out. That their backroom deals with developers are going to solve the problem. And that is—

There is another way. The government can join us, we can bring back real rent control in this province and we can stop the through-the-roof rent increases that are causing people in this province to lose their homes. We can create an Ontario where people can live a safe and secure life, not worrying about whether or not they’re going to be able to afford to keep the roof over their head.

I want to ask the members opposite: I know that they’re feeling pressure from the people in their communities, and that’s why they get grumpy like that, because they’re feeling the pressure, too. If we’re hearing about it, so are you. It’s time to do the right thing. This is one measure among many that we need to take to address the housing crisis in this province, but it’s a really important one.

Join us. Join us in bringing back real rent control in the province of Ontario.