Speaker, as the Premier said many times, it’s supply and demand. We have a severe housing supply shortage in the province, and we’re going to do whatever it takes, as a government, to solve that problem. We’ve committed to building 1.5 million homes by 2031.

Her assertions are incorrect. This year, because of our intervention and because we invoked the cap when inflation was over 5%, the vast majority of renters had their rents capped at 2.5%.

We were one of the only provinces or territories in Canada that had a rent freeze during the pandemic and ensured that evictions would not take place when our most vulnerable needed us.

What were the policies we put forward? Pro-rental housing policies.

Again, when it came time for her to cut the fees and charges on new family-sized rental accommodations, the member voted against that.

Supplementary?

My question is for the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

Litter negatively impacts our environment, our wildlife, our economy, and it destroys the natural beauty of our province. That’s why our government must take action to ensure that we properly address this issue.

The people of my riding, as well as individuals and families across Ontario, value our province’s natural environment, are eager to contribute to its preservation. Ontarians are doing their part to keep our land and water clean, and they expect that our government will continue to take action to help protect our environment.

Speaker, could the minister please explain what actions our government is taking to effectively address the problem of litter in Ontario?

It’s encouraging to see that our government is taking decisive action and is working to reduce, prevent and divert waste and litter. The goal is to keep our litter out of landfills and away from our natural spaces.

I hear that many residents, community groups and schools in my riding want to be involved in actions that protect our environment by taking part in a litter cleanup.

Each of us has a responsibility to do all we can to help keep our province clean and maintain its natural beauty.

Speaker, can the minister please provide information and resources that will help Ontarians preserve and protect our natural environment?

My questions are to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, for fair compensation for ministry employees.

Speaker, summer is just around the corner, and across the province, people are getting geared up to head outdoors. Most people in northern Ontario head out onto treaty land to enjoy the beautiful natural resources that we are so lucky to have. To ensure that everyone can access these lands safely and responsibly, we rely on the hard work of conservation officers.

Despite the demands placed on conservation officers to carry out duties ranging from inspections, investigations and enforcement, they are being grossly underpaid when compared with other provincial employees doing similar work.

In 2022, conservation officers came to Queen’s Park demanding a wage that reflects their work. The minister said that he would support their efforts and ensure they are treated fairly.

My question: Will the minister commit to resolving the classification issue the conservation officers raised in October and pay them a wage that reflects their duties?

This isn’t just happening with conservation officers. Last fall, I wrote to the Minister of Natural Resources about staffing issues in the aviation, forest fire and emergency services after receiving complaints about the high turnover rate among wildland firefighters in Chapleau due to low wages. The minister assured me in his response that the MNRF was exploring recruitment and retention strategies to overcome these staffing shortages. Last week, I was informed by Chapleau Cree Chief Corston that Chapleau will only have four operating crews this season, down from 10 last season.

Speaker, with forest fire season starting earlier and lasting longer, communities in the north are put at risk if we are not ready to respond quickly and effectively.

Will the minister immediately raise wages for wildland firefighters and maintain adequate staffing levels in the AFFES across northern Ontario?

Minister, renters are not being helped by the Conservatives; they’re being harmed by them. It’s not just Kara.

A new report by Urbanation shows that rental prices are skyrocketing at alarming rates, well beyond what people can afford. Rent in Toronto for an available one-bedroom went up 20.5% last year; in Markham, rent went up 30%; in Brampton, 31%; in Scarborough, 32%. No one can afford rent hikes like this, Minister.

How high does rent have to get for the Conservatives to realize their housing plan is not working?

Thank you to the member opposite for that important question and for the great work he does for the people of Brampton. I know they care deeply about this subject.

Speaker, it was our government, thanks to the leadership of the member for Barrie–Innisfil, that first launched a Day of Action on Litter, combatting this and engaging communities from across our great province. I don’t care about your political stripe; I thank the many men, women, children, seniors who got active and participated and reported into our ministry. It’s going to be another historic year.

We’ve also worked with partners like Pollution Probe, launching the largest of its kind—the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup, capturing microplastics in harbours in my own community. In fact, the Seabins are in Cobourg harbour as we speak, capturing microplastics and partnering with the U of T Trash Team to study the impacts that these plastics are having on our Great Lakes.

Finally, we’ve launched extended producer responsibility, transitioning the Blue Box—one system across Ontario with among the highest targets in North America, so that we can leave behind a cleaner planet for our next generation.

In fact, I just partnered with Earth Rangers to launch the battery blitz—we were in Thornhill—and it was an incredible opportunity to engage youth, to challenge them to recycle the batteries. There was a time not long ago when these batteries were ending up in landfill. Thanks to the leadership of this Premier and this government, we’re now recycling those batteries. I was at C. R. Gummow in Cobourg for the same thing, seeing how inspirational it was to see youth getting active on combatting this.

The member talked about waste water infrastructure. What we inherited from the previous Liberal government was a decade of darkness when it comes to investing in the critical infrastructure, waste water and stormwater.

We’re building a new water station in Cobourg. We’re building modern waste water and water infrastructure to support a growing province so that our next—

Thanks to the member opposite for the question.

I want to celebrate the great work that conservation officers do throughout Ontario. Unquestionably, all over this province, every day they interact with people and are doing a fantastic job protecting our natural resources and making sure that those interactions are positive ones.

Mr. Speaker, we continue to work with conservation officers. My understanding is that OPSEU and the employer are working on a classification review. I also understand that the director of our enforcement branch is part of the committee that’s designed to review this classification.

I also want to highlight that we brought more conservation officers to Ontario, more boots on the ground. Speaker, 25 new CO positions graduated last year and are helping the people of Ontario every single day. I thank them for their work.

We’ve seen what can happen in Alberta—and we know that our people actually are in Alberta right now, as I discussed in this House, supporting those fine people to get them back to some level of normalcy.

Those firefighters are ready to go in Ontario. We have crews that will assist any time wildland fire breaks out in Ontario. We are prepared. Those great people are ready to get in the planes, the helicopters, be on the ground and keep Ontario safe from wildland fires.

Speaker, in 2020, Denise Sandul placed a single white cross for her son Myles, who she lost to an overdose. Today, Sudbury’s Crosses for Change has more than 244 crosses.

The Office of the Chief Coroner just released its preliminary report, and last year, five northern cities had the highest opioid mortality rates per 100,000 population. Sudbury made the list, along with North Bay, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, and Timmins.

Last year, 106 people Sudburians died from opioid-related overdoses, and that was an increase from 98. Those are the facts, and the facts don’t lie.

My question is to the Premier. How many people have to die before the Premier admits that the Conservative government’s actions have done nothing to address this crisis?

Do you know who is taking real action, Speaker? Réseau Access Network. Since October, Réseau has been running Sudbury’s supervised consumption site, and every day, they help people and save lives. But without provincial funding, they may not be able to continue beyond the end of this year. Réseau has been waiting to hear about their request for funding since August 2021. That’s one year and nine months ago. They haven’t heard a peep from this government.

My question is, will the Conservative government fund Sudbury’s supervised consumption site so that Réseau can continue to save lives?

Interjections.

Thank you for that question.

Quite the opposite: Our government has been doing a great deal to support all Ontarians with respect to their mental health and addictions, with the Roadmap to Wellness and investments of $525 million on an annualized basis—the $3.8 billion. The $90 million that went specifically to the Addictions Recovery Fund—those beds are focused, 54% of them, in northern Ontario. That has created 7,000 treatment spots. We are catching up and doing the work that wasn’t done by the previous government, supported by the NDP.

And those investments in Sudbury, for instance—over $12 million towards building a continuum of care. That includes over $2 million in annual, new funding specifically for children and youth. We’re investing not only in building a continuum of care, but in prevention and building resiliency in children as well.

Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

Members will please take their seats.

Once again, I’ll point out to the House that it is inappropriate to make reference to the absence of another member, but it is not inappropriate to make reference to the presence of another member.

It’s also within the standing orders—it allows the government to respond to a question if they choose to respond, or any minister or any parliamentary assistant can respond.

Start the clock.

The response? The government House leader.

Start the clock. The next question.

My question is to the Premier.

The Better Way Alliance, a group of business owners that’s in the House today, and their members across Ontario and Canada are creating good local jobs with good wages, paid sick days and fair scheduling, often in industries that do not offer these benefits. As they know, and as we all learned during the pandemic, healthier communities lead to healthier economies.

Almost all other OECD countries provide paid sick days, but this government cancelled the few paid sick days that were available during the pandemic.

What is this government’s plan to ensure that all workers in Ontario have mandated paid sick days to keep our workplaces and our economy healthy?

I want to thank the wonderful member from Brantford–Brant for the question. He is doing a marvelous job advocating for seniors in his community.

Thanks to the leadership of the Minister of Tourism, we have invested $235,000 through the Games Ontario program for the 2023 Ontario 55+ summer games. This event will bring together hundreds of seniors to stay active and socially connected, and for some friendly competition. I was so excited to celebrate the 99-day countdown to the events and join in on the games.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this fantastic event.

In fact, our government invested over $200,000 since 2018 into the Beckett Adult Leisure Centre in Brantford. It was this wonderful centre that hosted us on May 3 for the celebration.

We are committed to seniors.

And we are pleased to share that there are only 90 more days until these games begin.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve made historic investments.

But do you know who doesn’t show up and has never showed up? It is the NDP. This is a group that had the balance of power in this place—and they like to forget about that. They had the ability to keep the Liberals in power or to end the misery of the people of the province of Ontario, and they chose to keep them in power. When they had the opportunity to demand anything, did they do anything on mental health? No. Did they do anything to stop the opioid crisis that was emerging at the time? No. Did they say, “You have to invest in health care”? No. Did they talk about jobs and the economy? No. They talked about a stretch goal in insurance and then abandoned that immediately. Sound familiar? Because it sounds exactly like what the NDP in Ottawa are doing when it comes to the investments that we are making in the auto sector. They sit on their hands, they do nothing, they don’t show up. They collect a paycheque, and then they go home. That’s—

Interjections.

I’m proud that, under the leadership of Premier Ford, on October 1 we’re increasing the minimum wage to $16.55 an hour—in fact, the highest of all provinces in the country.

Furthermore, under the leadership of Premier Ford, we are going to be the very first jurisdiction in all of North America to ensure that workers have portable benefits in the province. There are millions of workers today who don’t have health and dental benefits, and we’re going to ensure that we bring forward a plan for portable benefits to help these workers.

Lastly, we are investing record amounts in training programs to help people get better jobs and bigger paycheques. We know there are over 300,000 jobs going unfilled today. We’re going to help lift people up to get into meaningful employment, to provide more income for themselves and their families.

“Petition for Better Staffing, Better Wages and Better Care in Ontario’s Public Hospitals.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas registered nurses and health care professionals are the backbone of Ontario’s public health care system; and

“Whereas nurses and health care professionals are fighting for better staffing, better wages and better care in Ontario’s public hospitals; and

“Whereas the government has the power to direct the funding and priorities for the Ontario Hospital Association in this bargaining process;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“Support nurses and health care professionals represented by the Ontario Nurses’ Association in their collective bargaining with the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) by demanding the OHA reach a negotiated agreement with nurses that results in better staffing, better wages and better care in Ontario’s public hospitals.”

Thank you for this petition to the people of my riding. I’m going to add my name to it and give it to page Leonard to take to the table.

I am seeking unanimous consent that notwithstanding order 100(a)(iv), in addition to the five minutes allotted to an independent member, that the member for Algoma–Manitoulin be allotted five minutes to debate ballot item number 47, standing in the name of the member for Oakville.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the basics of reading, writing, and mathematics are fundamental for students achievement; and too many school boards are jeopardizing student achievement by straying away from teaching the basics of reading, writing, and mathematics; and parents are being bullied and denied representation at school board meetings, and trustees are being bullied by other trustees;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“That the Legislative Assembly of Ontario authorize the Minister of Education to set provincial priorities in education in the area of student achievement, and authorize the Minister of Education to issue policies and guidelines setting out the training to be completed by board members, directors of education, supervisory officers and superintendents, and require boards to adopt codes of conduct that apply to members of the board.”

I endorse this position. I will affix my signature and give it to page Kundanika, who I’m sure will execute her duties appropriately.

The supplementary question.

As members are aware, we recently adjusted the speaking time available to the Liberal independent members during debates on second and third reading of government bills and on substantive government motions. The eight Liberal independent members had previously been granted two 12-minute allotments of speaking time in each debate. Following the resignation of the member for Scarborough–Guildwood, we reverted to the practice of granting the Liberal independents a single 20-minute allotment of speaking time for debate, which had previously been the practice of the House when there had been seven Liberal independent members.

After making a statement to that effect last week, I was approached by the member for Ottawa–Vanier with a request that I grant the Liberal independent members two 10-minute speaking blocks in debate rather than a single 20-minute speech. While considering this matter, I returned to the statement I made at the opening of the current Parliament. On that occasion, I explained that my guiding principle was to ensure that each individual independent member had a reasonable opportunity to participate in debate that was proportional to and in keeping with the time any other individual member might expect to have.

I’ve concluded that the request from the member for Ottawa–Vanier is compatible with that initial principle. It would be fair in that it would not grant the Liberal members any more speaking time than they are currently allotted. That being the case, it would not be providing them with a more generous opportunity to participate than other members benefit from. Given this reasoning, I’m prepared to agree to the member for Ottawa–Vanier’s request.

Therefore, going forward, the Liberal independent members will be permitted two 10-minute speaking allotments during debates on second and third reading of government bills and on substantive government motions. It will continue to be possible to share this time, but it may not be banked.

I want to thank the House for its attention.

The House recessed from 1147 to 1500.

Ms. Smith moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr19, An Act to revive The Noble House Corporation.

First reading agreed to.

I just received word that my eldest niece just gave birth to a baby boy during question period, so I wanted to say congratulations.

Applause.