I’d like to welcome, from my constituency of Vaughan–Woodbridge, Nicholas Vine and Aleksandra Dowiat, whose daughter Sophie is page captain today.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Meegwetch, Speaker. This morning, I’d like to introduce the policy and the communications team from the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres. They are here in the members’ gallery: Abigail Hill; Tessa Jourdain; Chelsea Combot; Jennifer McPhee; Sarah Lukaszczyk; Stan Williams; Annie Mackillican; Francene Antone; Randi Jacob; Jada Reynolds; and, again, the former member for Toronto Centre, Suze Morrison.

Welcome to Queen’s Park, and meegwetch for the important work that you do.

I am very pleased today to welcome to the chamber my new constituency assistant, Amy Lester.

Welcome, Amy.

I’d like to introduce Marilyn Heinz and Charles Taylor from beautiful Burlington. Marilyn was recently recognized as a 25-year volunteer with Acclaim Health. She connects with people through the Tele-Touch program. And this is Charles’s first visit to Queen’s Park.

It is my pleasure to welcome Chris Rankin, Jen Rankin and Kyle Rankin, the proud family of page Mackenzie Rankin from Lambton–Kent–Middlesex.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I’d like to welcome a former constituent of mine from the Merritton area. He was a former page, too.

Jackson Burch, happy birthday to you, and welcome to your House.

I’m pleased to recognize the presence in the chamber today of a former member of this assembly, the member for Toronto Centre in the 42nd Parliament: Suze Morrison.

Welcome back to Queen’s Park.

During question period on days the House sits, I will continue to recognize one independent member to ask a question each day and a second independent member to ask a question every Tuesday. On Wednesdays, we will return to having a second question for independent members on alternating weeks.

With regard to members’ statements, there will continue to be one statement allotted to an independent member every sessional day, with each individual member entitled to make a statement once per 11-day period.

As a result of the resignation of the member for Scarborough–Guildwood, there are now seven Liberal independent members rather than eight, which changes the amount of speaking time available to the Liberal independent members as a group.

At the beginning of this Parliament, I explained that in order for each independent member to have an opportunity to participate in debate on second and third reading of government bills and on substantive government motions proportional to what any other individual member might have, each independent member would be allotted three minutes of speaking time per debate. As there are now seven Liberal independent members, and since standing order 26(a) does not permit speeches longer than 20 minutes, I am now prepared to recognize any of the Liberal independent members for one speech of up to 20 minutes. This time may be shared amongst the Liberal independent members pursuant to standing order 26(d), but it may not be banked.

Thank you for your attention.

I really want to thank all the colleagues who have mentioned Nursing Week. It’s truly heartwarming to receive all those wishes.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, this week is National Nursing Week, a chance for us to recognize and celebrate the invaluable contributions that registered nurses, registered practical nurses, nurse practitioners and nursing students make to our health care system everyday. This year’s theme is “Our Nurses. Our Future.” using the hashtag #HeyNurse—showcasing the many roles nurses play in a patient’s journey to wellness, connecting patients to the high-quality care they need closer to home.

As a registered nurse and a clinician myself, I recognize the invaluable contributions nurses make to our province, being the gentler touch in health care, the face of dignity and the voice of compassion that so many of our patients need. As we know, nurses have worked through unprecedented challenges and have continued to rise to the occasion. That is why the theme “Our Nurses. Our Future.” is synonymous to me with investing into the success of our nursing students, and that is exactly what our government is doing.

The Learn and Stay program provides free tuition and textbooks for RN and NP students located in priority communities, and with this level of investment, it is no surprise that in 2022, Ontario experienced a record-breaking enrolment, recruiting 30,000 nursing students to grow the workforce for future generations.

Today, colleagues, let’s use the hashtag #HeyNurse to thank exceptional nurses in our community.

Happy National Nursing Week.

It’s my honour today to welcome John and Nicki Groenewegen, constituents of mine from Guelph who have come for a tour of the Legislature and who will have lunch with me today as part of a fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Guelph.

I would also like to acknowledge that Tessa Jourdain from the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres is also a constituent of mine from Guelph.

Thanks for being here at Queen’s Park today.

Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to welcome Ahnaf Al Habib, Si Ya Li, Fiona Mooney, Mahir Tasnif and Kaeyaan Rashid in the Speaker’s gallery. They’re from Greenbelt Youth Action at Riverdale Collegiate in my riding.

Welcome to the Legislature.

I am very pleased to introduce and welcome Mr. Fayzul Karim to the House. He has joined our constituency team, and it has been wonderful.

I’m pleased to rise today to introduce three members of the Izumi Aquaculture group: Mr. Gerry McGuire, Mr. Ryan Smith, and two-time Canadian open-fishing champion Mr. Wayne Izumi. Welcome to the House.

I think the Premier and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing have been very clear on that, and they have, of course, worked with the commissioner on this.

Having said that, it is clear to me, and I think it’s clear to all of us on this side of the House anyway, that this is really more about the NDP’s ideological opposition to building more homes for the people of the province of Ontario. Whether it is for long-term-care homes, which they yesterday talked against, whether it is for more housing in all different types of communities, whether it’s purpose-built rental housing—that is what this is really about for the opposition.

As I have said on many occasions, whether it is as part of long-term care or as part of building homes in communities where people are desperate to have them, we will not be swayed. We will continue to remove obstacles that are in the way of people owning their first home, renting their first apartment, so that our economy can continue to grow. We will not be swayed from that mission on behalf of the people of the province of Ontario.

But the member opposite is correct; in 2018, we said, very clearly, that we were going to do our best to build more homes for the people of the province of Ontario, and it started in 2018, with transit-oriented communities. We said that we were going to build housing around the transit that we were building across the province of Ontario. Whether it was the subways in Toronto or the GO train expansion across the GTA, we were very clear that we were going to do that. They voted against that.

We’ve also been very clear in this Parliament that we were going to start to ensure that 1.5 million homes were built for the people of the province of Ontario. We are in a housing crisis, and for years we saw the NDP and the Liberals put obstacles in the way of new construction coming online. We are going to remove those obstacles; we are going to build homes for the people of the province of Ontario so that the younger generation can enjoy all of the benefits that we did, when we—

Since I’ve been in this House, they’ve talked about ethics. The only person I know of who has breached the ethics in this House was the member for Waterloo—that’s the only person in the time that I have been here.

We are going to double down for the people of the province of Ontario, so that all of those people who are out there making offer after offer and can’t have a home—we have your backs. We are going to build more homes. Despite what they say, despite what they did, we will get it done.

Interjections.

The Premier and the housing minister told the Integrity Commissioner that they only learned about the proposal to remove 15 giant swaths of land from the greenbelt shortly before the public did on November 4, 2022. Remember that date: November 4, 2022. Because new evidence revealed just this morning suggests that those in the Premier’s inner circle were aware of it much earlier—before August of that same year.

To the Premier: What was the exact date when he was made aware of this greenbelt proposal?

Interjections.

Speaker, timing matters—

Speaker, the timing matters; timing matters quite a lot. In 2018, this government swore up and down that they wouldn’t touch the greenbelt, but the evidence suggests that no later than August 2022, they were considering breaking that promise. And that matters, because in September, one developer, Rice Commercial Group, purchased two parcels of land for $80 million—parcels of land that could not be developed because they were fully in the greenbelt, land that is now worth considerably more because it can be developed. The developer also happens to be a major donor to the Conservative Party.

To the Premier: Did the Conservatives tip off one of their major donors that they were planning to carve up the greenbelt?

Interjections.

Speaker, back to the Premier, sitting right in front of me: If they have nothing to hide, when will they release the full records related to their greenbelt grab?

Interjections.

Last year, the then mayor secretly requested a ministerial zoning order from the housing minister so a developer could build a warehouse on prime farmland. The town council and local planning staff did not support this project. Local residents weren’t even notified, much less consulted. But the then mayor ignored the wishes of his democratically elected council and asked the housing minister for an MZO, which he was given.

To the Premier: Does he think that those secret, undemocratic dealings are acceptable? And will he revoke this MZO?

The Solicitor General is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to observe a moment of silence in remembrance of Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Eric Mueller, who was tragically killed in the line of duty earlier this morning in Bourget. Agreed? Agreed.

Members, please rise.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

We can’t make reference to the absence of another member. It’s also true that the standing orders allow any minister to answer the question.

Leader of the Opposition.

Government House leader.

I see nothing out of order for a member to make reference to the presence of another member.

Government House leader.

I’m going to caution all members of the House that personal attacks are out of order. We have to ensure that our language is civil so as to ensure that we can have a constructive debate this morning in question period.

Interjections.

Start the clock. Leader of the Opposition.

Speaker, my question is to the Premier.

People in Scarborough are once again feeling abandoned as the SRT is being decommissioned without an adequate replacement. The original plan was that the Scarborough RT routes would be converted to a dedicated off-street busway during the seven-year closure of the line. This would save riders 10 minutes compared to on-street service. However, this month it was reported that buses would continue to operate on-street, and even though council has voted to convert the busway, they lack the funding to do so.

Speaker, why is the government refusing to help the long-suffering residents of Scarborough?

Scarborough transit users already have some of the longest commute times in the city because the government has failed to provide the needed operating funding for the TTC. On top of that, regardless of what this government will say, with recent service cuts, guess which routes are most affected? In Scarborough—with increasing commute times once again for commuters.

Now this government is refusing to fund the $2.9-million investment necessary to ensure residents in Scarborough get the dedicated bus line and SRT replacement while they’re waiting for that subway.

So my question again to the Premier: Will this government commit to funding an adequate replacement service for the people of Scarborough?

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for the question.

I think she knows very well that our government has been the first government to be there for the residents of Scarborough when it comes to transit. Our government, under the leadership of this Premier, put forward a plan for a three-stop subway extension in Scarborough for the first time. We did that not just on our own; we did it with city of Toronto support—city council supported it. Unfortunately for the residents of Scarborough, that member opposite and the entire NDP caucus voted against our plan for the residents of Scarborough.

We’ve been there for the residents of Scarborough with respect to transit, with respect to health care, and with respect to housing.

This is an infrastructure deficit we inherited from the Liberals that we are addressing—but the members opposite continually vote against.

This MZO was first requested by Rice Commercial Group. Just to remind everyone, that’s the same developer who bought $80 million of protected greenbelt land just two months before the Conservative government opened it up to be paved over. In January 2022, the developer asked Caledon for an MZO. By September, without the support of the town council, they had it.

I’m going to give the Premier another chance to clear the air right now, and if he won’t do it, maybe at least the minister will stand up.

To the Premier: Were there any conversations that occurred between anyone in his government and the Rice Group before the mayor requested this MZO?

Interjections.

Interjections.

To the Premier: Will his government support my legislation for much stronger integrity rules?

Interjections.

To reply for the government, the government House leader.

Government House leader.

To reply, government House leader.

To reply, the Premier.

Interjections.

Start the clock.

The next question.