Thank you very much for the presentation from the member from Hamilton West, Dundas and Ancaster—not necessarily in that order.

You spoke about motherhood wage penalty, the gap between women’s wages and the average man’s wage doing equivalent work. I wonder if you could talk about a disability penalty. When I think of the social assistance rates that are available for people with disabilities and really how all of that money is always spent locally, and yet it’s not nearly enough for people to live on—if you would address that, I’d appreciate it.

It’s a special honour to be able to rise here today to speak in support of Bill 85, the Building a Strong Ontario Act, introduced by the Minister of Finance, because as parliamentary assistant at the Treasury Board, I’ve had the opportunity to work with the minister and with our colleagues to help develop the 2023 budget. I want to thank the minister and his staff, and also the President of the Treasury Board and our team at TBS, for all their work over the past few months.

Speaker, before I begin, I’d like to note I will be sharing my time with my friend the member from Kitchener–Conestoga.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to travel around the province for a pre-budget consultation with the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. In Mississauga, the minister and our team visited the Hazel McCallion Campus at Sheridan College to listen to stakeholders, including many from Mississauga–Lakeshore. The 2023 budget reflects their concerns and their priorities.

In this budget speech, the minister got into his electric vehicle and took us on a trip around the province. This afternoon, I’d like to take us on another trip around Mississauga–Lakeshore, and I will start at the Mississauga Hospital, where I was born and my sons were born, and my mother worked in the kitchen as a first-generation immigrant. The hospital opened in 1958, and Mississauga needed a new hospital 15 years ago, but the former Liberal government never approved the funding.

Our 2023 budget includes a historic multi-billion-dollar investment to support a complete reconstruction of the hospital, and work is already under way, with an eight-storey parking structure with spaces for 1,500 vehicles. The new hospital will be almost triple the size, 24 storeys and three million square feet, with a thousand beds and 80% in private rooms. Speaker, this will be the largest and most advanced hospital in the history of Canada.

In total, the 2023 budget includes over $48 billion in hospital infrastructure. That is an increase from $40 billion last year and $30 billion in 2021. Speaker, that is an increase of 60% in the last two years.

In March, Trillium Health Partners and Infrastructure Ontario signed an agreement with EllisDon and PCL Healthcare Partners to deliver the new Mississauga Hospital with a progressive P3 approach. There are projects like this under way right across the province. Soon we’ll be able to drive just over to Etobicoke Creek to visit the Queensway Health Centre, where they’re building a new nine-storey, 600,000-square-foot tower with over 350 new hospital beds in a modern centre of complete care. As the minister said, in 2023-24, the health budget is $81 billion, an increase of over $6 billion over last year. That is an 8% increase.

Back in Mississauga–Lakeshore, we’ll be able to walk outside our new hospital and take the new 18-kilometre Hazel McCallion LRT line on Hurontario, which is on budget and on schedule to open in the fall next year. We’ll be able to take the LRT down to Port Credit GO station, with 15-minute service or better, and to our new BRT line along Lakeshore. We’re building a modern, reliable interregional transit network across the GTA. In total, the 2023 budget includes $71 billion in transit infrastructure, up from $62 billion last year. That’s an increase of 15% just in the last year alone.

Along Lakeshore, we might find a new home in Brightwater or the new Lakeview Village, which will add almost 20,000 new homes along the waterfront thanks to an MZO announcement on Friday by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. And again, I want to thank him and his team for all their work on this file. The 2023 budget also recognizes the need to build on previous investments, like the Lakeshore Lofts, Indwell’s first affordable and supportive housing development in Mississauga, which just celebrated its first anniversary.

I was proud to join the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in Mississauga, where we announced more details about our investment of $700 million each year through the Homelessness Prevention Program, including a $202-million increase over last year and over $42 million for Peel region, a 38% increase.

I want to thank Jannies Le, the executive director at Armagh House, for joining us at our consultation at Sheridan College in Mississauga. Armagh is the only transitional health facility in Peel for victims of domestic violence. They’re working on doubling their capacity, and the 2023 budget will help them finish their project. As Jannies said, “The additional investment into the Homelessness Prevention Program is hopeful for the women and children living in shelters in the region of Peel. Armagh’s current expansion to build 10 additional apartment units is nearing completion, and with the support of the HPP funds, we will be able to serve those families.”

Speaking of families, we can stop next at Alpha Discovery Kids Preschool in Sheridan Park, and I want to thank the Minister of Education for joining us at the grand opening for 93 new child care spaces, which is part of our commitment to add 86,000 new high-quality child care spaces by 2026. In total, the 2023-24 education budget is $35 billion. That is an increase of over 7% since last year.

Then we can walk over to Wellbrook Place, a new state-of-the-art long-term-care home on Speakman Drive that will open later this year with 632 new residents. This will be the largest long-term-care home in Ontario. As I said earlier today, I had the opportunity to visit the construction site with the Minister of Long-Term Care, and I want to thank Tess Romain and her team at Partners Community Health for all their work on this project. It is part of the historic investment of $6.4 billion in the largest long-term-care building program in Canadian history, adding 31,000 new beds and upgrading 28,000 beds, and that includes 1,100 new and upgraded beds in Mississauga–Lakeshore alone, more than any other riding in the province of Ontario.

My constituents are excited about this investment in health care, education, transportation and long-term care. It’s worth taking a moment to ask how we have been able to do all this. Well, we’ve been able to do this because the Premier and the Minister of Finance have made Ontario open for business once again. We are cutting taxes and energy costs. We are building a world-class skilled workforce, and we’re reducing the burden of red tape. The Minister of Red Tape Reduction is continuing to work on Bill 91. These policies have produced an economic recovery that leads the country, and it’s given us the resources we need to make these investments.

For our final stop today, we can drive our electric vehicle to the Ford assembly plant in Oakville where I worked for 31 years. When we were elected in 2018, companies were leaving Ontario. Ontario had lost over 300,000 manufacturing jobs, including many in the auto sector. Sergio Marchionne at Fiat Chrysler told us that Ontario was the most expensive place in the world to do business, and the former Minister of Finance from Mississauga–Lakeshore said assembly line manufacturing was a thing of the past. My friends at Unifor 707 in Oakville watched as Ontario lost automotive sector jobs in St. Thomas, Oshawa and Windsor to Michigan, Mexico and overseas.

Now, since 2018, Ontario has added over 600,000 new jobs in the last two and a half years. We have attracted over $25 billion of investment from global automotive manufacturers. That includes $1.8 billion to transform Ford’s Oakville assembly plant into a global hub to manufacture electric vehicles beginning next year.

The 2023 budget includes a new Ontario-made manufacturing tax credit to attract even more investment in new equipment and machinery. Speaker, on Saturday Unifor 707 celebrated their 70th anniversary with a new confidence and optimism that we didn’t have five years ago, and in large part, that’s because of this Premier and our Minister of Finance and budgetary policies of this government. So I look forward to voting for this motion, and I urge all members to join me.

Now, as I said, I will share my time with the member for Kitchener–Conestoga.

We’re going to move to questions.

I thank the member for his very passionate speech outlining what we should be focusing on. I heard a government member, during their line of questioning, proudly proclaim that this government was looking to increase ODSP by 5%. In the midst of an affordability crisis, do you believe that this is enough money—below inflation—for some of the most vulnerable among us?

I always appreciate questions from the member from Kitchener–Conestoga. We’re neighbours. We may not always agree, but we always figure out ways to work together, so I appreciate that.

When it comes to building highway connections between the two cities, multiple governments have talked about this. I’m not opposed to building the highway, but I think there are ways that we can address gridlock more immediately and that are a higher priority.

First of all, why don’t we have an all-day direct bus connection between Guelph and KW? We finally got an announcement for a limited connection from Metrolinx just in the last few weeks, but let’s actually start building direct transit.

Secondly, and this is something I know the two of us agree on and have been working on: Let’s actually finally deliver all-day, two-way GO between KW, Guelph, Brampton, Toronto. I think we can go a long way towards addressing gridlock in a very affordable, environmentally responsible way by prioritizing transit links between our two great cities.

No, it’s not. How can we expect people to live on $1,200 a month when the average rates in a city like Toronto is—rent for a one-bedroom apartment has hit $2,000 a month. I was distressed; I want to read this out: The Daily Bread Food Bank just recently had a news conference, and in March of 2023, there were 270,000 client visits to the food bank in Toronto alone.

We’re facing a serious crisis here that is having a direct impact on people’s lives, not to mention the fact that it’s costing our province $33 billion a year. That’s the highest number ever recorded in the history of a food bank.

They support doubling ODSP rates, but I want to put it on record today that they asked for at least a $100 top-up for individuals and $200 per month, just to get us—

While I may disagree philosophically with a lot of what I heard from the member from Guelph, the one thing we do agree on is better connection between Waterloo region and particularly Kitchener and Guelph. There is a long-standing tradition of governments talking about building a new Highway 7, and it’s something that has moved very slowly, but we have seen the most progress under this government.

I’m very curious to know whether or not the member from Guelph supports building a new Highway 7 and whether or not he sees it as a way to reduce gridlock, reduce congestion, reducing idling and make it safer for people to get back and forth between our two great cities.

Again, I’m wondering, in the spirit of collaboration that both you and I have, how do you feel about the federal government really actually trying to keep up to their end of the bargain, and should this all just rely on the province?

Thank you very much, and a big thank you to my good friend the member from Mississauga–Lakeshore for sharing his time with me.

I think it’s always important to be able to speak to the budget. While the budget features many initiatives that will benefit my riding and our region, I want to take a moment to discuss one portion that I was able to help announce just a short time ago. Animal and animal-related agriculture are both crucial to the economic stability of rural Ontario. This is something that residents of Kitchener–Conestoga know very well. I have about 1,200 farms in my riding. However, many regions across the province are experiencing a shortage of veterinarians who care for livestock.

Any gaps in service create risk to farmers and their animals, and also jeopardize the security of our food supply chains. I was pleased to join the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, as well as the Minister of Colleges and Universities, at the University of Guelph to highlight the $15 million we are allocating in this budget to help address veterinary shortages in rural and northern communities.

The government is also launching the Veterinary Incentive Program to encourage recent veterinary graduates to practise in underserved and northern communities. We do have some members from rural and northern communities here today, and I’m sure they’re very excited to hear about this announcement. Students will spend two years at Lakehead University and two years at the University of Guelph.

What does this mean for the residents of Kitchener–Conestoga? This means that agriculture, a key sector of our region’s economy, will continue to be healthy. For our farmers, this will mean they can be confident raising healthy livestock, with qualified vets available. Vets diagnose and treat diseases and disorders, as well as advise farmers on hygiene and general strategies for their animals. It also means that our food supply chain will be kept safe, which is something we all rely on.

After our announcement at the university, the day concluded with a tour of Ontario Drive and Gear. Some of you may have heard of the Argo all-terrain vehicle that serves many people across, quite frankly, North America. It’s manufactured in Waterloo region, in my riding, in New Hamburg, Ontario.

This leads me to my next point, Madam Speaker. Here are two damning quotes from the former Liberal government’s final report on the economy: “The structure of the Ontario economy will continue to shift from goods-producing to service-producing sectors.” It goes on to say, “shifting employment from goods-producing industries, in particular manufacturing” to other sectors like the service sector. Years of mismanagement under the previous government cost Ontario a staggering 300,000 manufacturing jobs. Just in Waterloo region alone, we lost about 20,000 manufacturing jobs under the previous Liberal government.

A week ago today, I was able to attend the 12th Annual Manufacturing Summit, hosted by the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce. The Premier spoke of the importance of manufacturing in Ontario, and it seems this sector has taken note. Let’s compare the tone of what I like to call the Liberal’s eulogy to manufacturing jobs in Ontario to the reaction to this budget: “Manufacturing is no longer an afterthought in provincial budgets, it is a centrepiece. With this consequential budget, Ontario establishes a leading position among provinces in spurring an industrial resurgence.” This is Dennis Darby, the president and CEO of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. Quite frankly, Madam Speaker, I couldn’t have said it better myself. This is great news for the people of Kitchener–Conestoga, as manufacturing makes up roughly 20% of our region’s economy.

Waterloo region currently has about 650,000 residents, and the population is expected to hit a million people by 2051. As the Premier noted again in his remarks last week, we can’t keep attracting workers to Waterloo region if they don’t have a place to live. Our government is doing everything in its power to get more houses built while addressing other key housing issues. We’ll be investing $24 million over the next three years in the Ontario Land Tribunal and the Landlord and Tenant Board in an effort to help clear backlogs and streamline processes via more adjudicators and administrative support. Speaker, this is something that comes up often at my constituency office, and I’m sure it does at yours as well. We want to make it easier for both tenants and landlords to have their cases heard in a timely manner.

The budget also contains a promise to continue pushing the federal government to reduce taxes on new and rental housing. To again borrow a comment from the Premier’s remarks at the manufacturing summit in Kitchener last week, “Solving the housing crisis requires that all levels of government work together,” so we hope that the federal government will do the right thing and follow our lead by reducing the cost to make new and rental housing.

We’re investing $25 million over three years to attract more skilled workers through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program. So what does this mean, again, for Kitchener–Conestoga residents, Madam Speaker? This means that we are taking the fight to the skilled labour shortage to ensure that critical infrastructure we need gets built and that critical jobs are filled. We’re investing $2 billion in the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund over the next five years to help small and rural municipalities pay for roads, bridges, water and waste water projects. This is incredibly important for my riding as we continue to grow, Madam Speaker.

As I begin to wrap up my remarks here today, I want to highlight why I am proud to support this bill. My riding of Kitchener–Conestoga and the entire region enjoy many competitive advantages. We have a good quality of life, three post-secondary institutions, hospitals, innovation hubs and, as I alluded to earlier with the member for Guelph, access to highways connecting to several US border crossings. That said, we need to work hard to keep these advantages, so we will be investing $70.5 billion over the next 10 years for transit, including continued investment towards that all-important two-way, all-day GO service along the Kitchener Line.

The budget builds on our commitment to addressing backlogs by providing more OHIP-insured cataract surgeries. The Ministry of Health is investing up to $8.5 million annually to support the delivery of cataract surgeries for patients at four facilities across the province, including—we’re very lucky to have this partnership in our region with TLC Laser Eye Centres in Waterloo. They’ve been doing fantastic work with St. Mary’s hospital, might I add, to help alleviate some of the pressure in cataract surgeries in the region for almost a decade.

We are also funding historic hospital expansion, including the construction of a new acute-care facility, seeing the Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s hospital come together as our region, as I had said, expands to somewhere in the neighbourhood of a million people over the next 40 years.

Through this budget, we are investing in housing, highways, transit, education, health care, skilled trades, manufacturing and, of course, mental health. These are exactly the kinds of investments that will enhance our competitive advantage here in the province of Ontario and keep Waterloo region a world-class place to raise a family for years to come.

We’re going to move to questions.

Thank you very much to the member from Sudbury. I think there has been quite a focus on not-for-profits. If we look just alone at what we’ve done with not-for-profit housing organizations over the last year, give or take, with the housing bills that we’ve seen come forward from the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, we’ve actually given the opportunity for non-profits to really, truly participate in mostly the rental housing sector by removing development charges charged to them, which is a major hindrance to them actually getting involved and being able to make a difference in their communities.

But if we go back, too, we’ve also seen lots of great things in regard to fundraising. There has been some more ability for them to work with the public, especially involved in 50/50 raffles. I know that’s something in my community that has been a big hit in helping clubs like the Kinsmen Club or the Lions Club, especially through the pandemic, to be able to continue the good work that they’re doing. So I’m very happy to stand behind this budget and very happy to see what we’re doing for the non-profit sector in Ontario.

Thank you to the members opposite. I appreciate the debate, because there was personal touch in that information you learn about the different members.

I was looking through my notes when we first debated the budget bill, and one of the things that really stuck out to me is—Angels of Hope Against Human Trafficking talked about the need for sustainable funding for not-for-profits. I’ve had conversations with other not-for-profits since I’ve been elected, and I have a difficult understanding why not-for-profits, some of them going on for decades—literally 50 years, for one in my community. Why is it they have to apply for funding every year? Why isn’t there a better formula where they can plan and have predictable funding for a longer stream after they have proved after a decade the great work that they do?

I want to thank both members for their remarks. Maybe this one will be directed to the member for Mississauga–Lakeshore, given I know he’s got tremendous experience in the manufacturing sector. I know it’s been a difficult couple of days for me and my community, Windsor–Tecumseh, with the discussion of the Stellantis plant. That’s evidence, however, of Ontario attracting billions of dollars in automotive and clean steel investments in the last few years. We definitely want to keep on attracting those investments. So this budget contains measures like the Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit. That’s introduced in this budget.

I’m wondering, why is it important that we have many, many facets of investment, including this particular tax credit in the 2023 budget?

Next question?

I hate having my back to you when I answer your question, but just for the sake of the microphone—listen, I think there has been a lot of misconception when it comes to parts of this bill and when we talk about development charges. All new builds are still subject to development charges, unless they are purpose-built rentals or they are not-for-profit. For anything else, it still applies. There is a bit of a sliding scale when it comes to some certain developments not being able to have 100% of development charges charged at the time, but they can charge up to 80%, and then there’s that 20% that gets made up after that. But just to be very clear again, purpose-built rental and not-for-profit housing are not subject to development charges. New greenfield, brownfield, infill, single-family homes that are being built out in the country, and townhomes still can be part of that development charge process.

This member spoke about the climate crisis, spoke against gridlock and carbon emissions, and talks about the fact that he wants to see more people get off the road, wants to be using transit. He mentioned two-way, all-day GO specifically. These investments will help two-way, all-day GO become a reality, and I hope he will support this budget, and I hope he will support the transit infrastructure within it.

I want to thank the member from Windsor. I’ll tell you this: When my father first immigrated here to Canada in 1950, that’s where he went to work. He was in Windsor, working at the Campbell Soup plant back then, in 1950, and then he moved to Port Credit, where he worked in a refinery.

I was lucky; I worked in the automotive industry, and I think the automotive industry is the lifeline to this province. We’ve invested over $25 billion in automotive investment in this province to attract the automotive industry back to Ontario, to make it the number one jurisdiction in the world to build EVs. But not only that, we’ll be building the battery here, and we’re going to be using our own natural resources so we don’t have to depend on countries like the Congo, where they use child labour for the minerals. The 10% reduction for manufacturing to keep those jobs here and attract more is what we need to attract even more than $25 billion moving forward.

I want to thank the member for that question.

In my neighbourhood alone, we’ve had 25 cars stolen over the last month. My neighbour’s car got stolen—well, once, it got stolen, and then the second time, they tried again to steal the other car. They were not able to do that. Not only that, on the other court, one of the neighbours came out, and they were stealing his car at 3 o’clock in the morning. The criminal told them, “Go back in the house and call the insurance tomorrow morning.” That’s how it’s become now in that business.

So I know it’s a difficult issue, and I agree that we have to do something to improve the cost of insurance through the province of Ontario.

Madam Speaker, I want to expand a little bit on what my colleague was mentioning earlier about DCs, development charges. We hear often from the opposition what I would say is not necessarily factual: Development charges can be applied to all new builds, and often we hear that municipalities are being handcuffed and cannot raise or generate any revenue because development charges have been waived.

I would like either of my colleagues to speak to the development charges and clarify, present the facts: Where have they been waived and why, and can municipalities still insist that developers pay development charges on new builds?

I was listening to the member from Durham earlier, and a lot of talk about transparency and fiscal responsibility, so I wanted to look at that a little bit and where money is being spent by this government. It really puts that into question, the transparency and fiscal responsibility, so I’d like to make a tally here.

I’m thinking here of the mandate letters that have been in court now for five years, and still the government is too frightened, I assume, of what the public will think to reveal what ministers have been directed to do. We all hear every day in this Legislature what the government wants people to believe—they’ve got a narrative—but wouldn’t it be enlightening to compare these creative narratives to what has actually been laid out in the mandate letters? Unfortunately, it’s clear the government would rather spend our tax dollars on lawyers rather than on public transparency. So I ask, is that an example of fiscal prudence?

The Ontario Superior Court has ruled that Bill 124 is unconstitutional wage repression, and the repression of the right to collective bargaining is what Bill 124 does. But is the government prepared to stop fighting nurses, educators and other public-sector workers? No. They would prefer to keep spending taxpayer dollars on lawyers and court costs.

Now, we know that if they lose their appeal of Bill 124, they will be forced to pay back wages, probably in the billions, that will be owed to those workers. And these are the workers who did so much for people during the pandemic, who have been treated very poorly by this government. In the end, if they lose that case—first of all, the case is costing a lot of money—then they’re going to have to pay out a lot of money. So why keep fighting and spending tax dollars on a court appeal?

I like to think in terms of strategy, and again, I’m asking myself: What is in those mandate letters? Let’s put this together with another massive health care expense, so that people can see that the wage repression represented by Bill 124 is actually part of a larger strategy to collapse the public health care system so that well-connected people can come in and make hefty profits on the backs of people who are ill.

Bill 124 has effectively pushed health care workers out of hospitals, and hospitals have been forced to spend an incredible amount of money on agency nurses. The fact that people close to the Conservative government own some of these agencies is one piece of the puzzle, but it’s only one. Agencies are costing the public 550% more than it would cost to pay staff nurses. So then you can see that the repression represented by Bill 124 is actually not about saving money; it’s about creating a permanent state of crisis in public health care so that there are opportunities created for private shareholder profits.

Now, wouldn’t it be interesting if we could see the mandate letters for the Ministry of Health and the rationales for imposing Bill 124, which has led to an increase of 550% in health care costs for nursing staff? I find that incredible. Well, let me see: a massive transfer of public dollars into for-profit hands at the expense of health care workers, the ones who actually work on staff and are committed to their communities.

But there are other court cases. There’s the court case around Treaty 9 and undoubtedly there will be more with the imposition of Bill 71. We heard from the Chiefs of Ontario, representing 131 First Nations. The first letter came from the Matawa group, nine First Nations, all in the area of the Ring of Fire and where a lot of the mining the government hopes will take place. Treaty 9—really a very, very serious court case—and then Whitesand, all sending letters in opposition to Bill 71 and effectively saying, “Cease and desist. You do not have the right to be on our property. You do not have the right to be digging and exploring without our consent, without our agreement.”

I just want to say, as we’ve made very clear on this side of the House, that talking about First Nations’ rights is not saying we don’t want mining, but that we want mining done responsibly and we want those relationships built properly, with justice at their core. Right now, that’s not what’s happening.

To me, this is the same old, same old story, and it can be spun any way you like. The latest spin from the Minister of Indigenous Affairs is legacy infrastructure. I think we’re going to hear those two words again and again as the latest spin. It sounds nice, but when you shove things down people’s throats with a father-knows-best attitude, you are showing yourselves to have exactly the same approach as the architects of the residential school system. Surely we should be past that, and we should be capable of recognizing when we are bringing that kind of arrogance: “We know best what’s good for you. We’re going to do it anyway, whether you like it or not.”

The result is actually uncertainty for business. It’s uncertainty for business because there will be court challenges, and if it comes to it, do we really want to see Ipperwash happening here in northern Ontario? Surely not, but that is exactly what’s being invited right now. We had 80 people from the Far North of Ontario here, and chiefs, saying very directly, “The Ring of Fire will not happen without our consent.” Well, the Premier was not willing to even meet with them. What kind of consent is that?

The first letter I received, going back to April 3, was from Matawa—and by the way, Matawa includes Marten Falls and Webequie. Those are the two First Nations that agreed to have the road. I find it perplexing to hear the Premier say that those two First Nations—that it’s going to be their job to convince everybody else that this is a good deal. First of all, it’s not their responsibility to do that. Secondly, they signed the original letter in opposition to Bill 71. Matawa and Marten Falls signed the letter in opposition, so you cannot expect them to do the work that was asked for, which was to set up—let’s see if I can remember the correct words—a process—I’m sorry, I’ve lost the words now, but a process for negotiating so that companies and First Nations—

A quick question for my friends across the aisle: You’ve been probably in meetings with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario or the Ontario Good Roads Association and know that there’s a $52-billion infrastructure backlog in Ontario that’s putting huge pressure on municipal budgets.

On top of that, according to the Financial Accountability Officer, Ontario will experience an additional $26.2 billion in infrastructure costs due to the climate crisis. This has led to some real-world situations. In Chatham-Kent, there’s a local highway closed. I know the member from Haldimand–Norfolk keeps asking about an unsafe bridge in her riding.

Can the members explain why there isn’t anything in the budget that really addresses this critical need for infrastructure funding to repair the infrastructure that we already have in Ontario?

Earlier today, I asked a question of the Minister of Finance—actually, the Premier, but it was answered by the Minister of Finance—around auto insurance and the fact that rates in Brampton had gone up by 37% in the last two years. When I was looking at that report, I had noticed that, actually, number three in all of Ontario, the third city in terms of the highest rate of increase, at almost 20%, was Mississauga.

So my question is for my friend the member of Mississauga–Lakeshore. I know he cares deeply about his constituents. How does he feel about the fact that auto insurance companies have jacked up their rate almost 20% in his area, and do you believe that the government could be doing more to bring this under control?

Thank you. We’re going to move to questions.