Yes, yes.

So maybe we could build a home on that property so that one of the children of that farmer could also maintain a life on that farm, live and work it. Up until now, you can’t do it. We want to do it in Bill 97. They’re against it.

Speaker, every single piece of legislation that we have brought forward, whether it’s to provide jobs in this province—we lost over 300,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs under the last government that was supported almost always by the NDP. Every bill we brought forward to bring new housing starts to Ontario so that we can build that supply, so the price will slowly but surely come down, if the supply dictates it—they voted against it. They continue to vote against relief for taxpayers and the red tape burden relief for businesses so that we continue to keep building those and help them create those jobs.

We’re bringing more jobs to the province in a time frame than we’ve ever done in the history of the province.

We have over 15 million people in this province now, and we’re going to have more and more every year because of our immigration policies, which we need—we need more population, but we’ve got—

All I can say is, I haven’t been living rent-free in the heads of the NDP for the last 20 years—but I do believe at least it has been under rent controls, because you believe in them for no matter what kind of rent it is.

Anyway, let’s talk about environmental assessment. We see the process as being absolutely, critically important, but we don’t believe that a 30-day waiting period, once all the consultations have been completed, is in the best interests of anyone, because if anyone believed there was an issue there, they’ve had umpteen weeks, days, months, whatever the case may be—they’ve had ample time to exercise their right to comment. And the reality is, even once things are done, people continue to comment. People are commenting about environmental things that were done 20 years ago. We live in a free country. They can comment any time they want.

But we’re going to make sure we build Ontario.

You’ve heard question period here for the last several months, and you actually just have to shake your head. Are they really talking to real people out there or are they just talking to their inside advisers? Are they stuck in their own echo chamber and have never actually gotten out there and talked to the real people? That suits us fine, because they’re actually hurting themselves.

I say to the member: We’ve talked to the people—but we haven’t just talked; we’ve heard, and we’ve listened. We’ve listened to what they want—and also to try to protect our foreign workers when they come to work here, so that we can prevent what happened, for example, during the pandemic, so that they have adequate housing. We have very good agricultural people and leaders who want to see those people protected, but under the current rules, they can’t do it. We’re going to make sure they can do it. All we need is for the NDP to pull their heads out of the sands and actually support us.

I’m not sure where the member comes from. They dig these things up, and they think that this is the smoking gun of smoking guns.

The reality is that we take a holistic approach to governance, and we’re making sure that all the issues that need to be dealt with are dealt with. We’re making sure that we bring in the private sector. We respect the public’s need to know. Accountability and transparency are paramount to this government.

So when I hear the NDP going on and on about something, that they think they’ve found the holy grail here—the reality is, on June 2, the people said, “Mr. Doug Ford, we like the job you’re doing. Keep doing it.”

Thank you. That’s time.

We’ll move to questions.

I’d like to thank the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke for his presentation.

That government has claimed that schedule 2 of Bill 69 is a response to the Auditor General’s 2017 report. That report criticized Infrastructure Ontario’s uncompetitive procurement and their poor oversight. Infrastructure Ontario pays big P3 companies that are unsuccessful in their bids on P3 projects up to $2 million per bid. That’s for unsuccessful bids—what a consolation prize.

My question to the member: Does the member think it’s okay for Conservatives to continue the party with the public purse?

We’ll move to the next question.

There’s something we can say when the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke speaks: It’s not boring. I always like to be sitting in the House when he speaks.

But that being said, when we think about the 30-day waiting period, First Nations are really concerned, as you know. I’m sure you also have First Nations in your community. I represent a lot of First Nations on the James Bay coast. Their prior and informed consent, for them, is very important. We’ve seen that the government has not been respecting that, has not been respecting the First Nations when it comes to their traditional territories, Treaty 9.

We will see a lot of First Nations coming in this week, but I’d like to hear from you, sir. Because of the pre-informed consent—what do you say to First Nations that, when it comes to their traditional territories, are not being respected?

Yes. Well, I’ve had a lot of people in this House as mentors over the years, quite frankly. But I think what matters most is that you bring some passion to this place because you actually believe what you’re saying; you’re not doing it because it’s some invented thing, because that’s what the backrooms are telling you—you believe that these are the things that you care about. Because do you know what? When you talk to the people on the street in your own ridings, that’s what you’re hearing from them.

Do we get it right all the time? Do I get it right all the time? Just ask my wife. No, I don’t, but I don’t expect to. But if you can sit down at the end of the day and look yourself in the mirror and say, “I believe we’re doing a good job for the people of my riding”—which I believe everybody does. That is why we’re here in the first place.

We do understand that situation, and we do respect the wish of First Nations and the right of First Nations for consultation.

I don’t think the 30-day waiting period is the big issue. The big issue is the general consultation requirements under section 35 of the Constitution. You’ve heard from our Minister of Indigenous Affairs—that is of an absolute, utmost importance and one we are fully committed to.

Speaker, I don’t think I’m going to range as widely as the last speaker on this bill, but I still have a fair amount of material to work with.

As you’re well aware, environmental assessments are one of the few tools that people in this province have to protect themselves against arbitrary or dangerous decisions on the part of governments.

We in the NDP are very concerned that amendments to the Environmental Assessment Act could lead to further degradation of public consultation, to further destruction of the environment.

Part of the problem here with the “waiver of the 30-day period for consideration after public comment has been made” is that this is a government that has shown time and time again that it can’t be trusted when it comes to protecting our environment or doing land deals in the public interest. As you’re well aware, they’re currently involved in carving up the greenbelt through shady deals with their well-connected insiders. They’ve abused ministerial zoning orders to ram developer deals through, despite local community opposition. And they’re spending $650 million of public money to give away a massive chunk of Ontario Place to a for-profit company based out of Austria.

The particular issue I’m going to speak to, or part of the bill I’m going to focus on, is the change to the Environmental Assessment Act which allows the environment minister to “waive the 30-day waiting period currently required after public consultation has been engaged in.” The purpose of those 30 days is to give the minister time to consider what has been brought forward and respond to it, because there may be very substantial things that come up; there may be a request for a bump-up to a full environmental assessment. I would say that although this is not the biggest thing ever in the Environmental Assessment Act, it’s of consequence, and the deletion of public right for those 30 days is indicative of the general approach of this government to public input.

The way the new law is written is that “subject to any prescribed limitations, the minister may, by order, provide that subsection (5) ceases to apply”—the 30-day waiting period. What’s problematic here—there are a lot of problems, but one problem is that the prescribed limitations are not set out. Effectively, the government is giving itself a blank cheque to put in limitations or put in no limitations at all when it comes to any future ignoring or waiving of the 30-day period. Given their history, I would say that it’s fair to expect that the 30-day period will be eliminated. If it is, in fact, occasionally waived for some reason that the public in general would accept, I suspect that will be fairly limited. I think that this government will take every opportunity it has to make sure that the public’s voice is not heard and certainly has no impact on what the government wants to do. The failure to put conditions in the act itself—conditions that would limit the ability of the minister to waive that 30-day period—just leaves us, the people of Ontario, to the tender mercies of this particular government when it comes to looking after the environment.

Speaker, I’m sure you’re familiar with the film classic, Bambi Meets Godzilla. In that very short film—and a brilliant piece of cinematography—you have Bambi at the beginning with flute music and butterflies, just sniffing the air and being young and a deer in the spring. And then Godzilla’s foot comes down and squishes Bambi. Well, Bambi, in this case, plays the environment, and Godzilla is played by this government. This act, this change, is just another part of that huge foot coming down and crushing the environment.

This is a government that has shown repeated contempt of public consultation, particularly with respect to the environment. This change will make it even easier for the government to ignore public opinion, public consultation.

Ontario courts have twice found that the Ford government violated the Environmental Bill of Rights, which guarantees not only the public’s right to get notification but the public’s right to be consulted. From the CBC report on one of these: “In a split decision, an Ontario court says Doug Ford’s government broke the law”—law is not a big constraint on these folks; often, they refer to them as “guidelines”—“when it scrapped the cap-and-trade system, but the court won’t force Queen’s Park to reinstate the program,” which is unfortunate.

“Greenpeace had challenged the cancellation on grounds the government did not hold public consultations before making the decision, a process required by Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights....”

So here is a government asking for even more discretion, when it has a history of breaking the law, ignoring the law, when it comes to the environment.

In another case, the media reported: “An Ontario court has found the provincial government broke the law by failing to adhere to the Environmental Bill of Rights.

“Several environmental groups brought forth applications for judicial reviews over the province’s alleged failure to consult with the public before enacting the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act.

“Late last year, the province opened up consultations to the public months after the passage of Bill 197....

“The Superior Court of Justice says the Minister of Municipal Affairs acted ‘unreasonably and unlawfully’ by consulting with” people after the act had been put through.

To some extent, if you had a government that was consistently acting to protect the environment, consistently cautious, consistently respectful of public input, you’d say, “Here’s a government that is going to ask for a waiver to actually expedite things and do the right thing.” But that isn’t the history of this government.

Again, I’ll repeat: This government breaks the law openly, and only when it has been found in court to have broken the law is there any admission, “Maybe we did something wrong. These laws, these revised statutes of Ontario—maybe they’re of consequence.”

In 2020, the Ford government severely weakened the Environmental Assessment Act with amendments slipped into Bill 197, an omnibus bill purporting to be about recovering from COVID-19. The bill was jammed through the Legislature, and they bypassed committee, denied the public any opportunity to provide comments.

There’s a consistent theme here. You weaken environmental protection laws, and you do your best to make sure the public has nothing to say about it. And even if they have something to say, you make sure that what happens is, they’re not heard.

What this change signifies is, “Sure, you can make any comment you want. You can point out fundamental flaws. You can find bedrock problems with what’s being put forward. But when the time is up, we’re not going to spend time thinking about it. It’s out the window. It’s gone. We’ve forgotten about it already.”

There are a number of things that people should be aware of when it comes to considering how this government has acted. Look at its policies, look at its track record since 2018. We’ve got a government that is quite willing to break the law when it comes to environmental consultation. This is a government that axed the Environmental Commissioner’s office in 2019—an office that had been in place, frankly, through the Mike Harris government, when we had a very strong Environmental Commissioner who was critical of the government. He was a Tory. He had been a Tory candidate in Timmins, but he was a guy who was fundamentally committed to protecting the environment. Even Mike Harris didn’t axe the Environmental Commissioner, but this government did.

This is a government that consistently fails to uphold expert opinion on environmental issues, and it’s one that the Auditor General has found is consistently bad news when it comes to environmental policy and when it comes to public consultations.

This is a government that cancelled the cap-and-trade legislation and, in doing that, eliminated billions of dollars of investment in energy efficiency and making sure that buildings and infrastructure were climate-resilient. It cancelled an act, which, by the way, had a lower carbon price than the federal carbon price. So, in fact, this is a government that increased the carbon price in Ontario and, in the course of it, did less for the environment. That’s the kind of commitment we’re talking about.

We’re talking about a government that will not only act contrary to its own language—no surprise there—but will also make sure that the ability to actually come to grips with the climate crisis is undermined. That’s who we’re talking about. Why would you trust them?

As I referred to earlier, this is a government that’s attacking the greenbelt. The member who spoke earlier talked about protecting farmers. Is that why the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve is being taken out of the greenbelt and that farmland is going to be converted into subdivisions for multi-million dollar homes? Is that protecting farmers? Is that protecting the land in Ontario that we need to grow food?

The member asked, “Are you guys in touch with normal people?” Well, I knock on doors in my riding every week, and I’ve been knocking on doors the last few weeks talking to people about what’s going on, talking about the greenbelt, and one of the things that comes up time and time again is people saying, “Where are we going to get our food when you pave over all the farmland?” Because that’s their intention. They’re starting with one of the most sensitive agricultural areas in Ontario, preserved at great cost decades ago—important in terms of food, important in terms of wetlands. They’re going to pave that over. So any complaints about higher groceries, it’s on—

I apologize to the member for interrupting. We need to move to members’ statements.

Third reading debate deemed adjourned.

This weekend, I was invited to address the 48th Highlanders of Canada, a Toronto-based infantry regiment that proudly parades out of the Moss Park Armoury in my riding of Toronto Centre. We gathered to commemorate the service of Brigadier John Pollands Girvan and his wife, Nursing Sister Jean Elizabeth Sword.

Nursing Sisters were trained civilian nurses who enlisted with the Canadian army, making them the first women in the modern world to hold military commissions as officers. Jean Sword followed in that great tradition, and she was awarded multiple medals for her brave service. Her husband, John Girvan, commanded the 48th Highlanders and fought in two world wars, rising to the rank of brigadier, and is the most decorated individual in the regiment’s history.

Brigadier Girvan’s service medals were auctioned on the open market last year, a development that could have resulted in those medals being split amongst multiple and different bidders. The regimental community responded with great conviction, and 51 donors came forward and successfully bid and repatriated those medals to the regiment and the perpetual care of the 48th Highlanders Museum, where they will now be on permanent display.

I hope you will join me in applauding the faithful service of the 48th Highlanders of Canada.

Applause.

It was a pleasure for me to join Ministers Thompson, Dunlop and Bethlenfalvy and my colleagues MPP Harris and MPP Flack this past Thursday at an incredible announcement for the University of Guelph and Lakehead University. The investment of over $15 million to address veterinary shortages in rural and northern communities will greatly benefit the farmers and large-animal owners in my riding. This support will greatly assist the Northwestern Veterinary Hospital in Thunder Bay, northwestern Ontario’s largest vet hospital, reducing backlogs and expanding services. Not only will this investment help provide needed care for my constituents’ animals, but it will also assist in the recruitment of new veterinary students and the support of graduating veterinary students. The new collaborative doctor of veterinary medicine program with the universities allows 20 additional veterinary students to enrol per year—totalling 80 new seats by 2028. The goal of the new DVM program focuses on bringing in northern, rural and Indigenous students. The Veterinary Incentive Program being launched means that program participants will be provided annual grants totalling up to $50,000, if the participant practises on large animals in underserviced and northern communities.

The growing demand of vet human resources needs to be met, and our government is doing that.

I look forward to the upcoming announcement in Thunder Bay, at Lakehead University—

I would like to share with this House the accomplishments of some remarkable young ladies from my riding of Durham who were just recently recognized by the Girl Guides of Canada for their exemplary service. Speaker, 10 members of the 8th Bowmanville Pathfinders were presented with the Canada Cord award, which is the highest award a Pathfinder can earn. Girl Guides between the ages of 12 and 14 who are enrolled in Pathfinders and who complete the program requirements specializing in the areas of community service, volunteerism, leadership, camping skills and personal development are eligible for this prestigious award. The recipients of the 2023 Canada Cord award from the 8th Bowmanville Pathfinders are Alyson Baker, Charlotte Welsh, Chelsea Smith, Chloe Stone, Claire Kerswill, Evelyn Hosking, Julia Roth, Mel Ball, Ruth Breithaupt, and Ryleigh Hunter.

On behalf of all members of this House, I would like to congratulate these young ladies, their families and their guide leader, Julia Smith, on their remarkable accomplishments. We wish them all the best and every success in the future.

Thank you. The next members’ statement.

I’m very humbled to always serve the members of Barrie–Innisfil, and I’m always proud to see the incredible volunteers we have across our region.

This past weekend, I was able to celebrate some of those volunteers at the town of Innisfil, where we paid tribute and thanks to Jennifer Richardson, who helps with Connecting Innisfil, and many individuals, like Helen Kindy, who helps with COPE Service Dogs; Anne Kell, who helps with countless initiatives like Pitch-In for Innisfil, which is an annual cleanup event we have, the Rotary Club, Friends of the Library, and Christmas4Kids.

We were also able to thank Dave Cockburn and Serge Singh, who help with Crime Stoppers.

We were able to thank Brian Jones from the Gilford United Church and his colleague Rev. Linda Butler, and so many more.

In Barrie, we’re also very proud to have Barrie Families Unite that operates on 200 volunteers per week regularly—volunteers like Laurie Clarke, Linda Wait and Linda Sallans, who are always there, constantly helping the organization.

We also have the Red Cross, which counts on volunteers like Brian Miller, who is helping with many of their programs throughout Simcoe county, through the connector volunteer program.

If you’re listening today and you’re looking to volunteer, we have so many organizations across the region, whether it’s the YMCA, whether it’s Christmas4Kids, Habitat for Humanity, and so many more.

I encourage everyone to continue to volunteer—and for those who have, thank you so much.

I rise today on behalf of the youth in my riding of Don Valley West, and especially those in Thorncliffe Park, who tell me about the challenges they have in finding employment. Many of these kids and their families are immigrants and newcomers to Canada, and as such already face other barriers.

According to First Work, one in five Ontarians aged 24 to 29 are being classified as NEET—not in employment, education or training.

Investing more in student supports such as youth job connection helps train our youth to get their first job, sets them up for future success, and grows our economy.

The Youth Job Connection program allows employment service providers to reach out to students at risk of leaving school without a job or training lined up, funds incentives for companies to hire young people, and allows youth to take part in pre-employment training.

In fact, First Work, which was at Queen’s Park just last week, requested in their 2023 pre-budget submission that the “government maintain or reintegrate youth-specific programming like Youth Job Connection ... to ensure the province’s young people are not left behind in Ontario’s economic success.”

For the youth in Thorncliffe Park and across Ontario who find it difficult to navigate the workforce and get the experience they need to succeed, funding such programs would get them the jump-start they need to thrive in Ontario, where their families have chosen to call home.

I’m asking the government, on behalf of youth in Don Valley West and across the province, to please reconsider cutting the Youth Job Connection program so we can give youth—

It gives me really great pleasure to welcome the Ontario Disability Coalition to the front lawn today. They’re here once again to rally the government to increase ODSP rates.

As we know, people living with disabilities in this province are living far below the poverty line. Rents have increased. The cost of living has increased. The monthly allowance for people who are disabled in this province has not increased nearly enough. A mere 5% increase to people who were already living below the poverty line continues to leave people in legislated poverty, which is not the province—we should be working hard to ensure that people have a healthy life and that they are able to live comfortably in the province of Ontario.

Once again, they’re here to encourage the government to increase the ODSP rates, to double those rates, to allow people the ability to live comfortably in homes. Once someone is evicted from a home in this province, the chances of them being able to find rent within their monthly allowance is very slim.

I’m happy to have the opportunity to speak with them today. I hope the government members will also come out to the front lawn and speak to members who are living in legislated poverty in the province of Ontario.

Recently, I had the great pleasure to visit Thornhill Seniors Club in my riding. I met with the president, Norm Goldstein.

The club was officially launched in June 2004. Since then, it has been a hub for seniors from all communities, offering them a safe place to enjoy. Seniors together organized and operated many sports, cultural and other activities for decades. The club takes pride in achieving historic proportions in Thornhill’s history. The club speaks for Thornhill seniors, bringing people together, building bridges, brightening the day for many seniors. The club members say that TSC offers them a special place that they themselves can control and manage, a place which seniors call their own.

TSC has various drop-in programs, including watercolour classes, yoga programs, year-round travel programs and in-person bridge programs.

Our government offers resources, programs and services to Ontario’s seniors that can help them stay safe, healthy and active. Our government not only helps seniors, but also their caregivers and the organizations that support them. By promoting wellness, social connection and education, these programs can help reduce social isolation and help seniors stay active, independent and engaged.

Madam Speaker, I wish Thornhill Seniors Club all the best.

I’m glad to speak on two important engagement events I had with constituents in Markham–Unionville this past weekend.

First, I had the pleasure of having Minister Lecce join MPP Daisy Wai and me at a round table on Bill 98, the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act. We spoke with key stakeholders in our ridings about the bill. They included students and parents from public schools and Chinese media. What I heard from stakeholders in Markham–Unionville is clear: They believe the education system should support students to succeed in life and work. It should also prepare young people for jobs of tomorrow and the evolving economy. These are exactly what the bill seeks to achieve, if not more—and I treasure this opportunity to hear from stakeholders, their views.

After the round table, I hosted an open house of my community office to constituents in Markham–Unionville. More than 50 families and 70 individuals came. It was a wonderful afternoon. My team and I were able to meet families and friends in the community. We talked about issues that they care about, from education to health care, housing to the economy.

I’m blessed to have a tight-knit community in my riding. I am humbled and honoured to serve my constituents and stakeholders. I will continue to make Ontario a better place for them.

Last week, I had the pleasure of joining my colleagues in the region of Peel to announce a 38% increase to the tune of $42.3 million into the region’s homelessness prevention program, as part of our government’s $202-million additional investment into homelessness prevention and Indigenous housing. The additional funding for the region of Peel represents 20% of the overall additional investment. We are so grateful to the Ministry of Housing for recognizing the need in the region of Peel, as well for as the incredible work the region is doing in settling newcomers and helping those who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness. This is truly a welcome investment that will make a tangible difference in people’s lives.

I can’t tell you how many times I had the sad duty, when caring for people experiencing homelessness in the emergency room, of having to discharge them into the street, frantically calling all available shelters and being told that they are all full. These were some of the most heartbreaking moments in my nursing career.

That is why this investment will empower the region of Peel to support shelters like Embrave, Amarghat House, Our Place Peel and many others to continue doing incredible work and housing our most vulnerable: women fleeing domestic violence, youth at risk, those experiencing mental health challenges, and many others.

Speaker, I’m proud to be part of a government which is taking the housing crisis seriously and helping our most vulnerable.

I’m proud to introduce guests who will be joining from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at of Canada. These are an incredible group of Muslims who live in our communities. Their headquarters are in Peace Village in Vaughan. I want to thank them for embracing their motto of “Love for All, Hatred for None.”