I’d like to welcome our good friend Alex Yuan, who is a community leader visiting our House this morning.

I feel honoured to warmly welcome to Parliament my good friend Mr. Alex Yuan, the chair of RHRA.

Welcome.

I’d also like to welcome my good friend and colleague from Richmond Hill, Markham, York region, Alex Yuan, along with Constable David Huang.

Welcome to the Legislative Assembly.

I’d like to welcome members of the Better Way Alliance, a small business group: Aaron Binder, Jessica Carpinone, and Liliana Camacho.

Welcome to the Legislature. We look forward to meeting with you later today.

I’ve talked about this a lot. As we mentioned just yesterday, this isn’t really about the greenbelt for the NDP. This is continuing on their ideological opposition to giving the people of the province of Ontario the assistance that they need in moving forward. I said it last week, colleagues. You’ll remember when we talked about this. For the NDP—what they want is a whole generation of Ontarians to be dependent solely on the government. That is what makes a socialist party like the NDP happy. They don’t care what it takes; as long as the people of the province of Ontario only are dependent on them or the government, then they are happy.

Well, we have a different approach. What we believe and have always believed, as Progressive Conservatives, is that you give the people of the province of Ontario the tools that they need to succeed and they will succeed. That is what generations of Ontarians have done. That’s why millions of people have come here. That is why we have prospered. And we will continue to do that each and every day that we’re given the honour to serve.

Today we’re fortunate to be joined by two good friends of mine. Please join me in welcoming Harout and Emma Matossian.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

On behalf of the Leader of the Official Opposition and the whole official opposition caucus, I’d like to welcome Friends and Advocates for Catholic Education, who are joining us here today for their lobby day, along with our good friend Michau Van Speyk from the Ontario Autism Coalition.

I notice that Michael Bellmore is here in the gallery from Sudbury. I knew him as the Cambrian College school president. Many in Sudbury know him as the caller for Super Big Money TV Bingo. He’s also the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association vice-president.

Welcome to Queen’s Park, Mike.

If you seek it, you’ll see that we have unanimous consent to wear lime-coloured ribbons in order to raise awareness, as this is the month of May, for those suffering with Lyme disease.

That concludes our members’ statements for this morning.

—a report entitled The State of the Environment in Ontario, from the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario; and

—a report entitled Women in Ontario’s Labour Market: Progress, Challenges and Potential Impacts of $10 a Day Child Care, from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario.

Welcome back to the Legislature.

Welcome back.

Meegwetch, Speaker. My question is to the Premier.

For years, the Premier repeatedly promised that he would not touch the greenbelt, but he broke the promise. And now he says he always thought the greenbelt was a scam. The Premier said one thing in public while planning something different behind closed doors.

As part of the Seven Grandfather Teachings, it’s time for some honesty.

Will the Premier rule out more cuts to the greenbelt? Yes or no?

My question is to the Premier.

Today, Metrolinx issued a statement that Crosslinx Transit Solutions intends to litigate and stop working with the TTC, delaying the delivery of the Eglinton Crosstown indefinitely. The minister assured the public that they were working on a solution. Instead, this is now the third lawsuit to delay the public-private partnership. Ontarians have already paid CTS half a billion dollars to settle two previous lawsuits.

Given the announcement today, my question is simple: Is this minister in control of the P3 project or not?

Will the minister at least admit that this P3 project has failed?

Given the disastrous results of this P3 project, have this government and this minister learned a lesson and will they commit to never use P3s to deliver vital public infrastructure?

Interjections.

Again, they can double down any way they like. Question after question, year after year, it’s all about the same thing. They sat there in co-operation with the Liberals for well over 15 years. They had the balance of power. They put obstacle after obstacle after obstacle in the way of people, in the way of building homes. As I said last week, this is one of the largest land masses in the world, and we have a housing crisis. So what is happening? The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing is systematically eliminating all of those obstacles. And what are we seeing? We’re seeing more homes being built than at any other time over the last decade and a half—and it’s not just single-family homes; it is also purpose-built rentals. They’re against all of that. It is completely inappropriate that somebody should have to wait 20, 21, 22, 25 offers before even being in the game. That’s something they might be happy about.

We’re going to continue to reduce obstacles, eliminate them, and give people hope for the first time.

I appreciate that question, especially as I’m going through estimates for the year ahead, so I’m happy to share with that member what we’ve got planned.

Speaker, when it comes to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, Ontario leads Canada. We’re doing it with the largest public transit investment in Canadian history, taking 28,000 cars off the road alone with the Ontario Line. We’re doing it partnering with industry—not driving those jobs out of Canada, but partnering with them to electrify the arc furnace at Dofasco. That’s the equivalent of taking two million cars off the road and empowering the next generation with clean, green jobs.

Finally, as you will see in the estimates, we’ve committed a record investment for green lands protection. Last year alone, we protected almost 400,000 acres so Ontarians can get out and enjoy the great outdoors. We committed $14 million in this budget. And we’re expanding wetlands through the Wetlands Conservation Partner Program.

Speaker, I could go on, and I’ll share more in the supplementary if I’m given the opportunity.

Today’s Auditor General report on the environment reminds us that this government scrapped wetland targets in 2018 but didn’t tell anyone for three years. The Auditor General herself only found out in 2021.

So we want to know: What other attacks on the environment is this government keeping a secret?

This government also passed laws that force conservation authorities, often under duress, to permit development on wetlands and flood plains, exposing people and property to flood risk.

Last week, the Premier claimed he won’t let developers build on ponds, wetlands and marshes. But why should anyone believe this government when the Premier has repeatedly let developers build on ponds, wetlands and marshes?

I thank the member opposite for the question.

I’ve always been clear: Our government is committed to getting this transit system built, but we want to make sure that it is safe for transit riders when that happens.

I am extremely frustrated and disappointed by the latest delay tactics that CTS announced just this morning. It’s another delay tactic that’s just meant to distract and delay from the work that needs to get done, and it is unacceptable.

But to be clear, construction is still ongoing, and CTS still needs to provide Ontarians with a credible schedule. The project has gone on long enough. Communities across the Eglinton road and across Ontario have been waiting for too long for this transit system to open. I’ve been very clear with Metrolinx that they need to do everything they can to force CTS to provide us with a credible schedule that will allow us to give Ontarians, once and for all, a credible opening date.

Our government has been learning from the Liberal mistakes. That’s why, when we put forward our subway plan for the GTA, we decided to do things differently. We brought in the Building Transit Faster Act, a piece of legislation that allows us to get rid of unnecessary delays. We break up procurements on our new projects—learning from Liberal mistakes of the past.

And what are Ontarians seeing for these changes? They’re seeing real, significant progress on the Ontario Line, on the Scarborough subway extension, on the Eglinton Crosstown West extension, and on the Yonge North subway extension, which are all projects that member and her party opposite voted against.

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to delivering transit.

We will make sure that CTS provides us with a credible schedule. We will make sure that it opens, and when it does open, that it is safe for transit riders.

Mr. Speaker, we are learning from the Liberal mistakes. We are doing things differently. And we do have shovels in the ground on our priority transit projects. We will get those done.

With respect to CTS, we expect them to fulfill the commitments they made to the people of Ontario in 2011 and to open a transit system that works and that is safe.

I remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.

The supplementary question? The member for Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas.

Minister of Transportation.

Violence in our schools is reaching deeply concerning levels. Yesterday, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario reported that 77% of their members have personally experienced violence or witnessed violence against another staff person. Crowded classrooms, lack of supports, and underfunding on mental health are all contributing to this crisis. But instead of addressing this problem, the Premier is busy musing about parents hitting kids at home.

The tools to address this crisis are in the Premier’s hands. When will he invest in schools to protect our kids and create a safe working environment for teachers and education workers?

My question is to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

The Premier stated that cash-strapped municipalities had a spending problem—nothing to do with Bill 23. The minister also stated that they are sitting on million of dollars of reserves. That’s not the case in rural northern Ontario.

The town of Cobalt, population of 1,500, has been forced to raise its taxes by 12.5%. Black River-Matheson, population 3,500, has been forced to raise their taxes by 34.5%. Does the minister suggest that they should totally deplete their reserves so they aren’t ready for any emergency, or is he actually going to make his promise true and keep these municipalities whole?

I was a councillor as well, for 12 years. Councils have to deal with the laws they are given.

In Black River-Matheson’s case, they are trying to make sure they are ready for the developments coming from the gold mining that’s around them, but they can’t charge development charges. That’s what the government is putting on them. They have to deal with that. They are a mature level of government, dealing with a government that’s putting things on them they have no control over.

Again, the government promised to keep these municipalities whole because of Bill 23. Is he going to follow through on his promise?