It’s my honour to introduce Michael Sud, formerly with the NDP Western university club. Michael is studying law and hopefully business, as well.

Welcome to Queen’s Park, Michael.

I would like to welcome the parents of page Mridul from Brampton West: his dad, Balraj Goel, and his mom, Monica Jain.

Welcome to the Legislature.

Madam Speaker, I would like to welcome Anthony and Natalie Naassan, and their daughter Emily, from my constituency of Pickering–Uxbridge. They are here for a very special day, as their son Christopher Naassan is page captain today. So please congratulate their son.

Welcome to the Ontario Legislature.

I’d like to welcome three amazing young people today, all graduates from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. They all have a connection to the House: D’Vaughn Powell, whose father keeps us safe here in the precinct each and every day; Atik Gilao, my legislative assistant; and my daughter Mercedes Tibollo, who is here on a break from medical school.

Welcome to the House.

Speaker, I’m pleased to welcome to the Legislature today some great volunteers and community builders and friends from Markham–Thornhill: Kashif Khan and his father, Waqar Khan, who’s visiting Canada all the way from Pakistan, and his children Muhammad and Fatima.

I’d also like to welcome my friend Michael Qaqish.

I’d like to welcome them all to the Legislature.

I’m so happy to welcome two great individuals from the GTA—Scarborough and Markham. Sabeta Selvarajah is the author of Oruthy: The Power of an Immigrant Woman. She is also a teacher and founder of Focus Educational Services—along with her lovely husband, Kokilan Thirugnanasampanthar, radio co-host and producer at East FM radio and the director of Focus Educational Services. It’s their first time at Queen’s Park.

Welcome to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

My question is to the Premier.

Speaker, I’d like to take a moment to catch everyone up on the Ontario Place saga. In 2021, this government announced that their friends at Therme were building an elite, luxury spa on public parkland. Cut to March of this year, and a city report shows a long list of problems with the plan. The spa? Too big. The $450-million taxpayer-funded parking garage? It violates even this government’s own policies.

Yet the Minister of Infrastructure pressed on. They told us they signed a “standard commercial lease” for the spa that just happened to be for 95 years—but not so standard, that it must be kept secret. There is no business case for a 95-year lease. Ontarians already feel cheated on the 407—by the last Conservative government.

Speaker, to the Premier: If the lease is a standard commercial lease, when will this government release it, and why are you keeping it a secret?

To the Premier: When will he release the business case on the science centre move?

I’d like to welcome three amazing guests all way the from Northern Ireland: Connleth Gallagher and Barry McCarron, who are from a very innovative waste recycling firm called Kiverco. Michael Barton actually lives locally and comes from Invest Northern Island—just welcoming them to our beautiful home.

I would like to introduce Liza Tam and Joseph To from Markham–Unionville. Liza’s parents, Man Ching Tam and Yun King Yip, are also here today. They are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Their loving families and close friends—in total, 16 of them—are up there waiting for their security check and are also joining them at Queen’s Park this morning.

Welcome, all.

I also want to welcome my legislative assistant, Florence Tsang.

I recognize the member from Waterloo.

The member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke will come to order.

Further questions?

Speaker, my question is to the Premier.

Conservatives have pushed Ontarians living with disabilities into legislated poverty. After Mike Harris’s callous cuts in the 1990s people are worse off now than ever, and part of that is due to Liberal neglect.

People on ODSP can barely afford housing, but especially now, healthy food. The Middlesex-London Health Unit is sending a letter urgently requesting that the province raise social assistance rates. The medical officer of health, Dr. Alex Summers, and CEO Emily Williams stated, “Food insecurity has a pervasive impact on health; and there is a need for income-based solutions.”

Will this government listen to experts and lift ODSP recipients out of poverty, yes or no?

My question is to the Premier. The Eglinton Crosstown P3 was supposed to open in 2020, then 2021, then 2022, and then 2023. The government’s inability to get an updated timeline from CTS suggests a complete loss of control.

Small businesses lost revenue or were forced to shut down. People have been stuck in traffic and lived with construction dust and noise for over a decade. There seems to be no attempt at accountability by this Conservative government.

What is the plan on wrapping up this project, and when can we expect to get moving?

We’re building a world-class destination, year-round. If we’d left it up to the NDP and the Liberals—we saw what happened for 15 years; it fell apart, it was decrepit, there are weeds growing up all throughout the ground. What we’re doing is, we’re building a new amphitheatre—no taxpayers’ money, through Live Nation—we’re building a beautiful water park and a spa for people to come and enjoy the day. We’re building a world-class science centre, 300,000-square-feet with exhibits. This is for the people.

We know what happens when the NDP and the Liberals get involved: Nothing happens. Rust happens, weeds happen. The last group that I’d ever listen to about being prudent fiscal managers are those two groups right there.

There’s a whole generation that’s never experienced Ontario Place. But now—and mark my words, Madam Speaker and every single person in this room—guess what? They’re going to be in the lineup to go to the science centre. They’ll be in the lineup to go to a Live Nation show, they’re going to be in the lineup to go to Ontario Place and the water park. That’s what they’re going to do—hypocrisy at its best.

Interjections.

I thank my honourable colleague for the question. The member is right: What we did is we made sure that, during a very difficult time, every single Ontarian here has a chance to succeed. That’s why we made the largest increase to ODSP rates in decades. Not only that, it was tied to inflation. The food bank, I’ll remind my honourable colleague, referred to it as a laudable move by this government.

That’s not where we ended. She’s absolutely right. We also made sure that the income threshold is raised from $200 to $1,000 a month. Why? So that people can have more money in their pockets, so that more people who are able to work and want to get out there and work to fill some of the great jobs that are available here in this province can do so and earn more and keep more of their hard earned money.

The people of this province were being let down, not under the leadership of this Premier, not under our government. When we say, “We’re not going to leave anyone behind,” that means every single person in this province, Madam Speaker.

That’s not it, Madam Speaker. We initiated the LIFT tax credit and the CARE tax credit so that some of the lowest earners don’t have to pay the Ontario tax for it. Why? Because we wanted to make sure they keep more money in their pockets.

She referenced housing, Madam Speaker. This is why the Associate Minister of Housing is working hard to make sure that housing becomes more affordable across our province.

But Madam Speaker, it’s my honourable colleague and his party that had the balance of power here in this Legislature. They could have made sure that those supports are provided to Ontarians. They didn’t. It’s this Premier who increased the ODSP rate that hadn’t been done in decades. The largest increase in decades, Madam Speaker.

We went further to make sure that no one is left behind. We tied the rate to inflation for future—again, under this government, under the leadership of this Premier, no one will be left behind.

We’ll make sure that not only do they have the support, those who need it, we’ll make sure that the 400,000 jobs that are going unfilled, thanks to the great work of the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, and this Premier—

My question is to the Premier. This government announced that the earning exemption for ODSP recipients will be raised to $1,000. While this was a step in the right direction, it still does not address the issues of clawbacks from other benefits, such as CPP disability.

After hearing about the government’s announcement about how it’s going to help his ODSP amount, a constituent, Shah Hamidi, reached out to our office with confusion. Our government is clawing back his CPP disability income to continue to keep him in poverty. My question to the Premier: Premier, you know the harsh reality that those with disabilities face. They’re barely surviving. Why is your government continuing to means-test ODSP and forcing people to live in legislated poverty?

The earning exemption does nothing for spousal income either.

Another constituent of mine, Thomas Robinson, receives lower monthly income payments because of the program’s cuts to his ODSP due to his wife’s income—who, by the way, works precarious hours—leaving him with just $300 to $400 per month. So instead of barely surviving with the insufficient disability benefits and his wife’s income, Thomas is punished because of his wife, who works precarious hours, and he’s trying to pay the bills.

Speaker, my question again to the Premier is why has this government done nothing for people like Thomas and Hamidi who are unable to survive on a program designed to fail people with disabilities and their families?

Ontarians are shocked to find out that their government has signed a 95-year lease with an Austrian corporate conglomerate to build a massive, seven-storey private luxury spa on public parkland, a century-long lease that this government insists must be kept secret. Yet, in 1999, the last Conservative government handed over a 99-year lease for Highway 407 for $3.1 billion. That’s about $4.4 billion in today’s numbers. Today, Highway 407 is worth $40 billion, a nearly 1,200% increase in just 24 years. What will it be worth when the lease finally ends in 75 years?

This government is making the same mistakes the last Conservative government did and it is costing Ontarians millions of dollars. The people of this province have a right to know the terms of the lease and the business case for these decisions. Release the lease, if you’re so proud of it.

Back to the Premier: Tomorrow is the Day of Mourning. My community has been in mourning ever since the explosion at Ssonix Products in St. Catharines that claimed the life of Ryan Konkin.

Over 200 workers die in the workplace every year in Ontario. That’s 200 sisters, like Nicole, who will never get to see their Ryans again; 200 fiancées, like Natalia, who will never get to hear their Ryans say, “I’ll love you forever and a day.”

Speaker, the Conservative government is responsible for ensuring the Criminal Code in Ontario is enforced. Will the Premier commit to consulting with the community to establish a consistent policy that utilizes the Westray law to hold bad bosses accountable—when they exist—for the death of Ontario workers?

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, and congratulations to you in your role today.

I want to thank the member opposite for this very important question. Tomorrow is the Day of Mourning in the province of Ontario, and our number one priority as a government is to ensure that, when workers go to work, they come home safely to their families at the end of that day. That’s why we’re investing historic amounts to ensure that we have more health and safety inspectors out there, and those new health and safety inspectors that we’ve hired have backgrounds in the industries that they’re inspecting.

That’s why we’ve increased the health and safety action centre. If there’s a worker out there concerned for his or her health, they can call the Ministry of Labour and we’ll investigate as quickly as possible.

We’re going to continue every single day working with our partners like the United Steelworkers union and others across the province to ensure that every worker comes home safe to their families at the end of the day.

To the member opposite, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Frustrations with respect to the delays on the Eglinton Crosstown are more than understandable, especially by those who live along the line and the businesses that have been impacted.

This contract has been in place for over a decade and our government is very focused on making sure that we get the system open as soon as possible. I would very much like to be able to stand here today and provide a date to give the people of Toronto an idea of when this will open, but unfortunately, Madam Speaker, we are working with a contractor who has to provide us with a credible schedule. It is essential.

My number one priority as Minister of Transportation is to ensure that our transportation network is safe and reliable for everyone to use. Whether it’s a bridge or a road or a transit system, it must be safe. So while I would like to be able to provide a date, I cannot do so until the contractor provides us with a credible and reliable schedule. As soon as they do that, we will provide a date.

As Minister of Transportation, my commitment to the people of Ontario is that we will deliver a system when it is safe and reliable to use. Madam Speaker, it is important that we get this right. We have been transparent with the people of Ontario. We are focused on making sure that the system is safe. More importantly, going forward, we’re learning the lessons from Ottawa, we’re learning the lessons from the Crosstown and we’re moving forward with our priority projects in a way that’s different. Unfortunately, the members opposite voted against that, they voted against—