I would like to take the opportunity to welcome my new legislative assistant, Caleb Samuels. He’s in the gallery today. He volunteered with me in 2018 and 2022, and he was part-time with us in the office. He just graduated last month, and I welcome him to Queen’s Park.

In addition to welcoming Cindy Forster to Queen’s Park today, we also want to wish her a happy birthday.

From my riding of Burlington, I’d like to introduce Johanna Chevalier. With Johanna today are Meera Mahadeo, Victoria Sewell, Shawn Cruz and Jignasha Gohil.

Also joining us today in the members’ gallery from the Halton Regional Police Service are Constables Robert Del Villar and Kevin Bochsler.

Let me say to the Leader of the Opposition we share her frustration with the delays with the Eglinton Crosstown. The litigation that was announced yesterday is another delay tactic by CTS, which is completely unacceptable.

People who live along Eglinton and businesses who are there have suffered greatly. But our government is focused on making sure the Eglinton Crosstown opens as quickly as possible but when it opens, that it is safe for transit riders.

Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker: Our government has been looking out for taxpayers since day one. That’s why when we brought forward our plans for subways for the GTA, we introduced legislation, the Building Transit Faster Act, to make sure we can get shovels in the ground faster, which reduces delays and also helps control costs. But the Leader of the Opposition and her party voted against our plan. They voted against building transit faster. We’re going to get it done for the people of Ontario, and we’re going to stand up for transit riders and taxpayers.

I would like to welcome Dr. Ailya Patel from the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors; as well as Dr. Jessica Carfagnini, who practises in Thunder Bay; and Dr. Shawn Yakimovich. Welcome to your House.

I want to follow the Leader of the Opposition in welcoming the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs to Queen’s Park today. There will be a reception in room 228 immediately after question period. I want to acknowledge the chair, my friend Barbara Bank; Noah Shack, the vice president; and Zehavi Zynoberg, the director of government relations, and also two amazing Ontarians who will be joining us at the reception, great philanthropists Rochelle Zubcov and her husband Mark Albert.

I, too, would like to welcome the members of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs to Queen’s Park today. I appreciate your great counsel. I’m looking forward to our meeting.

I also just realized that page Frederick Funk’s parents, Justin and Elisha, are in the gallery, from Guelph, as well. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I would like to welcome Christine Charnock, who is the CEO of the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors; Dr. Cyndi Gilbert, who is the board chair of the association as well as a member of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine; and Dr. Jessica Carfagnini, who is practising in Thunder Bay. Welcome to Queen’s Park, ladies.

I would like to welcome special assistants from my constituency office, Morris Maron and Micah Dodo. They will be assisting at the CIJA reception at noon today.

I would like to welcome the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors, OAND, to Queen’s Park today. This year, May 14 to May 20 marks Naturopathic Medicine Week, and the OAND members will be meeting with MPPs throughout the day today, as well as hosting a reception in rooms 228 and 230 from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. I encourage all MPPs to attend to celebrate Naturopathic Medicine Week.

Thank you, Speaker. If you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to wear buttons in recognition of May being Jewish Heritage Month in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, we didn’t sign any deal with the federal government; we signed a better deal for the people of this province: a billion additional dollars, an additional year of funding guarantee that no province had. It is this Premier that did what the NDP and Liberals couldn’t do for 15 years, which is reduce child care fees for generations to come—a 50% reduction. Mr. Speaker, we are literally talking about $10,000 to $12,000 per child per year, and we’re going to go even further to $10 by year 2025.

The Associate Minister of Women’s Economic and Social Opportunity is leading by example, ensuring that more women are working in our economy, with the recognition we can do more. We’re cutting taxes. We’re ensuring women in the skilled trades. We’re ensuring more young girls get into STEM disciplines within our schools.

If the members opposite want to stand up for labour and market participation for women, vote for our budget. Vote for opportunity. Vote for a plan that makes life affordable for moms and dads across Ontario.

In addition to the well-known ideological opposition the NDP have toward building housing, they’re also opposed to building transit. They will find every excuse to not build transit. That’s why they voted against our subway plan. Even though they get up in this House every day asking for more transit, they vote against it when they have the chance.

We put forward a plan to address the transit deficit that we inherited from the Liberals, and they voted against it. They voted against building transit faster, which is actually hard to believe given the challenges that we are facing with the Eglinton Crosstown.

The legislation we’ve brought forward—the purpose of that is to address the mistakes of the previous Liberal government when they signed the contract in 2011 with Crosslinx. This is a contract we have inherited. We take responsibility for making sure that we get this done, but when we do that, we commit to the people of Ontario. We’re going to get it done and it is going to be safe for transit riders when it does open.

We have learned the lessons that the Liberals should have learned when they were in power. We have taken those lessons and we’ve put them in a piece of legislation. We put them as part of our subway plan for the GTA, but the members opposite voted against it. They would rather the people of the GTA sit on congested roads as opposed to building and riding on new subways and extended lines. That is unacceptable for the people of Toronto.

We’re committed to getting it done. We’re standing up for transit riders, and we’re standing up for taxpayers.

The final supplementary.

Minister of Transportation.

The supplementary question.

To respond for the government, the Minister of Education.

To respond for the government, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Speaker, let’s talk ideology, because this is a government that continues down a terrible road purely based on ideology, and it’s not working.

Yesterday, the Minister of Transportation said she had learned the lessons of the P3 failures of the previous Liberal government, but the only lesson that she seems to have learned is how to funnel more public money to private P3 contractors. Her subway P3s now cost $1 billion per kilometre, nearly three times what Toronto’s publicly procured Spadina subway extension cost just six years ago.

In 2018, the UK government abandoned P3s after years of costly fiascos. Why won’t the Premier do the same instead of doubling down on Liberal P3 failures?

Interjections.

Will the Premier stop fighting to keep women’s wages down and end his efforts to legislate a gendered wage gap in Ontario?

This government fumbled the implementation of affordable child care in this province, stalling an estimated 96,600 women from entering the labour force.

I want to go back to the Premier again, who is sitting right there in front of me and could be answering this question for the women of this province. The FAO says that we will be short 220,000 child care spaces to meet the demand. Is he just going to keep kicking this can down the road?

Speaker, almost a quarter of working women are in part-time jobs. That’s nearly double the number of men. We are only a third of senior management and middle management roles, and that wage gap is persisting in every single sector.

For the Premier, 87 cents on the dollar would amount to about a $27,000 pay cut for him, Does he really think that that’s fair, and would he accept that?

Interjections.

The FAO report is actually saying we’ve done significant work and are seeing more women entering into the workforce because of the actions of this government, such as investing millions in seeing women get skills and development training, education, encouraging women and investing in women entering into the trades, where there is pay equity. We’ve seen significant investments in better jobs to cover expenses, including child care, tuition, transportation, for short-term training programs and micro-credentials. We’ve expanded the Investing in Women’s Futures Program and the Women’s Economic Security Program. Millions are going into the budget that we hope the members opposite will support.

In fact, the FAO actually says, “In 2022, labour participation rates for Ontario core-age mothers reached 81.7 per cent—the highest on record since 1976.” That is increasing.

We’re going to continue to make these investments, Mr. Speaker, because we are shortening the wage gap. We are—

I’ve gone across the province, Mr. Speaker. I’ve met with hundreds of women who are getting into the workforce, taking advantage of the programs and investments this government has made. I just wonder of if the members opposite are going to support the budget that’s coming up, plus the millions of dollars in investments.

The mining agreement: There are women getting into these sectors in droves, and we’re going to work hard to make sure they stay here.

My question is to the Premier. With over 600,000 people and 120 wells in Kitchener-Waterloo, this is the largest community in Canada dependent on groundwater for a majority of its drinking water. We’ve known for decades that the aquifer providing this water is particularly vulnerable to contamination.

The Grand River Conservation Authority has been key to protecting this vital resource while supporting growth and housing. Bill 23 drastically reduces the powers of conservation authorities to protect our water.

Why does this government believe that it makes sense to increase the risk that the region of Waterloo’s water sources become contaminated? Why are you gambling with source water protection in Ontario?

I want to thank the member for the question. Our government takes our public safety very seriously. We’ve never had a government in my generation that is more concerned with the welfare of all Ontarians, and that’s exactly why we’re moving forward with our plans for next-generation 911.

As the member knows, we are committing over $200 million to work with our local municipal jurisdictions so that they can implement in their jurisdictions the new technology. As the member knows, Mr. Speaker, the new technology will allow for unprecedented safety and security for all Ontarians. At the end of the day, Mr. Speaker, we believe everyone has a right—an equal right—to live safely in their own communities.

Ma question est pour le solliciteur général.

Speaker, this morning I was joined by northern MPPs to discuss the need for 911 everywhere in Ontario. Every year, families living and visiting northern Ontario discover in their times of need that after they dial 911, they get a recording that says, “This number is not in service. Please try your call again.” In my riding, the police, the fire, the ambulance are available, but nobody knows the 1-800 numbers to reach them. When will Ontario do like every other province in Canada has done and make 911 available everywhere throughout our province?