I’ve also looked at the budget and read the budget. One of the other things that I looked at was, during the pre-consultation, what people talked about, and after the budget was released, during the committee hearings. You know what? I agree with the member: When we talk about housing, we do need to build housing. We need to do it ASAP, and we’re so behind. I mentioned the fact that we have 85,000 people waiting for housing. But we also need to make sure that we address the type of housing that we’re building, that we address the way we’re doing that. First of all, we cannot be building it on the greenbelt.

If they’re not affordable, people are moving from this province. That’s what we’re seeing right now. We have health care workers who move away from the province because they don’t earn enough, first, and then they can’t keep up with their rent or they can’t keep up with their mortgage. Some don’t even have a mortgage because they can’t even imagine buying a home.

I actually had a few students who came to Queen’s Park to visit me, and they brought me a report. They brought me an actual report that they’d compiled about the gun violence, about the stabbings that we’re seeing. Guess what was one of the conversations that we talked about? We talked about the fact that kids are facing loneliness. They have felt isolated. They have mental health needs. A lot of people are facing poverty. Some don’t even have breakfast before they come to school. All of these things have an impact on the way they come to learn in their institutions. That impacts that as well.

The other thing is, we have to make sure that we have enough educators in our spaces, that we have enough staff in our schools to be able to be there. The fact that Birchmount Park Collegiate did not even have enough hall monitors is a problem. These are the people who can actually address what’s going on in our schools and make that environment safe and accessible—

Further questions?

I rise today to debate Bill 85, the budget measures act.

The people of Ontario really want one thing from their government: to do the right thing for the people of Ontario, the people they are elected to serve. Today, we are debating a budget that this government’s Minister of Finance says is about investing in people and the economy of Ontario to support our collective well-being and prosperity. I have to say, I beg to differ. Let me give you some context.

Before this government came to power, the Liberal government invested in health care, reducing the shortage of family doctors and significantly reducing emergency wait times.

The Liberal government built transportation, including the Union Pearson Express, GO train expansion service, the Yonge subway expansion as well as the resurrection of the Eglinton line following the irresponsible and short-sighted cancellation by Conservative Premier Harris. And we resurrected the Finch subway line. We started the Eglinton Crosstown and built Highways 412 and 418.

We created the greenbelt to protect our environment, to protect our agricultural lands, to protect our water.

We ended the burning of coal, turning Ontario into one of the most environmentally friendly jurisdictions in the world, with clean energy at 96% in 2017, which has indeed attracted manufacturing jobs the Conservatives brag about. What will happen to those jobs under this Conservative budget, which sees Ontario’s clean energy shrink to under 90%? That remains to be seen.

While jobs were lost during the global financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, the Liberal government steered the province through that crisis. In fact, from 2004 to 2018, during the Liberal government, the number of jobs in the province increased from 10.3 million to 12.5 million.

Most significantly, our Liberal government introduced all-day kindergarten and brought up high school graduate rates from 67% to 87%.

Fiscal responsibility is making good decisions for the people of Ontario, investing in our greatest resource: the people of our province. Yet that is not what the people of Ontario see when they read this budget bill.

In 2018, this government came to office promising to fix hallway medicine and the cost of housing, heralding a new era of fiscal responsibility. And this government continues to brag about their record on that, so let’s do a reality check. Five years into a Conservative government, and the Conservatives brag about record investments in health care in this budget—but spending record amounts of money and seeing our health care system fall apart at the same time is nothing to brag about. With ERs closing and the number of patients receiving hallway health care 20% higher than it was in the last year of the Liberal government, I think it’s fair to say that this money is not being spent responsibly. One example I’ve spoken of before is spending three times as much for a nurse through a private agency instead of paying that nurse what she deserves in our public system.

Let’s talk about housing and the government’s disappointing results on that. In 2019, the median rent for an apartment in Ontario was $1,200; now it’s $1,400. The crisis is worse in our major cities—and those numbers include apartments still protected by rent control. The average list for a one-bedroom is $2,523 a month, in Toronto, and $3,347 for a two-bedroom.

Let’s talk about spending and provincial debt. We have record spending and debt in this province right now under this government. In fact, we have the biggest spending spree in Ontario history, a budget of $204 billion and a record $406 billion in debt, with priorities given to a twin highway, the 413, for the 407 because they sold it off at a bargain basement price.

So while this government likes to deflect from their own record of broken promises and propensity to do backroom deals that benefit their friends more than Ontarians, the numbers tell the real story.

Spending on the people of Ontario is a good investment. It’s investing in the health and education of our people, in the infrastructure that supports life and commerce in this province. And spending has indeed ballooned under this Conservative government, to over $200 billion, as I said, and $406 billion in debt—the highest it’s ever been.

That’s right. The Conservatives—not the Liberals, not the NDP—take the prize for the biggest budget in Ontario history. And what indeed is there to show for it? Plans for new highways at the expense of our health care, housing and social programs that support the people of Ontario. While there are some positive investments in jobs and retraining, is life for the people of Ontario better after five years of a Conservative government?

As I mentioned, health care and housing are worse. The opioid crisis rages through our communities, with a 56% increase in emergency department visits and a 52% increase in deaths from opioid overdoses—not one new cent allocated to that in this budget. Farmland is disappearing at a record rate of 319 acres per day, threatening our food supply and worsening affordability.

In regards to people experiencing homelessness, we can’t easily find the total number because the government cancelled their own recordkeeping on that matter, but our eyes don’t deceive us. It is clear in cities large and small that the homeless population has skyrocketed, with tent cities and people sleeping in transit stations. The $202 million announced in the budget for supportive housing and homelessness programs is a start, but underfunding agencies like CMHA is not supporting those who offer support to the homeless and others suffering from mental health issues and addictions. To end homelessness, we need to end the housing crisis and ensure that every person in the province can have a roof over their heads.

But the budget shows that housing starts have slowed and that the province is behind on its housing goal. This is because inflation and labour shortages are making it too expensive to keep building, especially affordable homes. That means it’s time for this government to step up and build homes instead of highways, to put meaningful taxpayer money into the construction of housing, supporting not-for-profits that are asking to do just that instead of asking the federal government to pick up the whole tab. Just today, in my meeting with CIJA, their housing not-for-profit executive director said, “I have been in housing for 35 years and I have never seen things so bad.”

Similarly, high office vacancy rates, particularly in downtowns, could be converted into housing for cheaper than new builds. This would create new housing in areas served by existing infrastructure. The Alberta government is doing just that, and this budget was a missed opportunity to do so here in Ontario.

Let’s talk about health care in rural areas. The announcement of the emergency department closure in Minden is a punch to the gut for that community and a canary in the coal mine for other rural towns. The government’s laissez-faire attitude in regard to this is equally disturbing. Rural hospital departments will continue to close as they lack staff and funds, and this government needs to take serious action to ensure this does not happen.

Let’s contrast that with what the government is going to spend taxpayer money on: half a billion to build an underwater parking lot for the mega-spa project, more than double the new investment in housing supports. That is not a good trade-off for the people of Ontario.

This budget invests $27.9 billion in highway projects over the next 10 years. While this government stands in the House and spreads misinformation about the Liberals being opposed to highways, let me remind the government that a Liberal government built Highways 412 and 418. What I and the people of Ontario are concerned about is the process in which these highway projects were selected, as the Auditor General found that political staffers cancelled highway projects approved by the Liberal government in favour of projects deemed low priority by non-partisan public servants. This includes Highway 413, which the Auditor General estimates will cost more than other high-priority projects, including highway-widening projects in the north. This is not a transparent way to decide how to spend billions in infrastructure, and it’s the opposite of fiscal responsibility.

Perhaps most concerning of all is the lack of transparency in the budget, like with contingency funds and legal fees. The government refuses to tell the people of Ontario how much they’re spending on legal fees to continue their fight to appeal decisions like the one that found Bill 124 unconstitutional, and their refusal to disclose cabinet mandate letters.

Similarly, the budget provides for almost $4 billion in contingencies, a completely un-transparent form of accounting that flouts all the best practices of fiscal responsibility. The budget does include a placeholder, though it’s not specified, for the Therme spa and new parking lot underwater at Ontario Place. While the government provides no details themselves, there are reports the province has given this company a 95-year lease of our public lands, yet the details have not been disclosed—more non-transparency.

While the government says this is a typical lease, I would say it’s more of a bargain for Therme. Even if they spend $500 million, that is less than $5 million in amortized expense per year. With a facility of, I think, 236,000 square feet, that’s a cost of $21 per square foot. Speaker, given the market price for space in downtown Toronto is $42 a square foot—half of what Therme is paying—I would say Therme is getting a pretty good deal on the backs of Ontario taxpayers. And let me just add: Therme’s owners are also not known to the Ontario public. We know it is their CEO and a company called A-Heat, but we do not know who owns A-Heat, so we do not know who stands to profit from this deal.

The government budget shows spending of over $200 billion, a record sum, yet the people of Ontario are being left behind: left behind in hallways of hospitals, left behind with dismal options for housing, left relying on food banks even though they have full-time jobs, left on the streets to face—

Thank you for your presentation. You were talking about really shortchanging schools in terms of their funding. I know that the COVID funding was never replaced that they were supposed to have replaced and that the funding does not come close to matching inflation. We’re also hearing about increased violence in schools. I’m wondering if you can make the connection for us between the lack of funding and resources and what is actually happening in schools right now.

One of the things that I talked about yesterday in my little 10 minutes of debate—and you’re right; it’s hard to fit in 200, 300 pages of budget into 10 minutes—was manufacturing jobs. We lost about 300,000 manufacturing jobs under the previous government. Roughly 20,000 of those were in Waterloo region, where I live. It’s really great to see a lot of that come back. A lot of that is coming back because of the government’s investment in the auto sector, specifically around electric vehicles.

The member opposite has several tier-1 and tier-2 auto parts manufacturers in and around her general area. I’m just wondering if I can get her thoughts on what she thinks of those investments and how we’re bringing those jobs back to the province.

As the member may know, I have a particular interest in this budget, which I have been concentrating on for quite a while. It’s $13.4 million that has been dedicated to the guns, gangs and violence strategy, which I think is a very good strategy which will keep drugs out of high schools and away from teenagers by breaking up the drug supply chain.

My question to the member is this: Will she support the $13.4 million for the anti-guns, gangs and violence strategy, or will she support the NDP defund-the-police policy?

Thank you. Questions?

I’d like to thank the member from Don Valley West for her presentation. At the pre-budget consultations, we had the opportunity to hear from the Ontario Library Association, and they talked about the incredible value that public libraries provide. They also almost were a stand-in for MPP offices during COVID. They offer things like job training, small business support; they have access to broadband as well as children’s programming; access to physical resources as well as digital resources.

One thing that is a grave concern is that over the past 25 years, Ontario’s public library systems have not seen an increase in their base funding. I wonder if the member would like to comment about the need to fund public libraries appropriately.

I’d like to say to the opposition member here, based on her presentation, I would have to assume you would want to support our very ambitious plan to invest over $180 billion in building capital for this province, unlike 15 years under the Liberals, where you closed over 600 schools. How many hospitals did you build? I don’t know. We’ve got 50 that are planned. Never mind long-term-care homes; you only built—how many was it, 600? In my riding alone, we have over 700 in the works right now. So my question to the member is: Will you not support this ambitious plan?

The member from Don Valley West and I both listened at finance committee—and I just heard the member from Essex talk about defunding the police. What does she make of the fact that this Conservative government actually is defunding the police? They’ve lost the OPP detachments in Gogama, Foleyet, and the OPP is now fighting for the French River area.

So the great irony is that you are defunding police services in northern Ontario, and you should be ashamed of yourselves for that.

There are lots of problems in Ontario that can still be blamed on Mike Harris. That’s how bad his reign here in Ontario was, Madam Speaker. But for the debater and my colleague, the government is planning a half-billion-dollar expenditure on a parking lot to service their plans for Ontario Place. I’m wondering if she could tell us and the people of Ontario how $500 million could better be spent.

Further questions?

Thank you to the member from Don Valley West for her comments. This government has been in power for five years, and things are getting worse and worse for the average Ontarian on housing, on health care, on affordability. When do you think would be a good time for the government to realize that they’re actually the past government and stop blaming everyone else for the issues that they create?

I listened to the member opposite, the independent member, talking about this, and she talked about our laissez-faire attitude. But for 15 years, we had a Liberal government who did nothing but run this province into the ground.

For example, she mentioned health care and said there was some problem. We’re trying to fix the mess created by 15 years of Liberal government. We have added more beds for hospital capacity in this province in four years than the previous Liberal government did in 14. We’re upgrading 28,000 long-term-care beds, and an additional 30,000 long-term-care beds are now being built. In seven or eight years your government built 611 beds. There was a 36,000-person wait-list to get into long-term care as a result of your government, the previous Liberal government, doing absolutely nothing on those factors.

Yes, we gave a 5% increase for mental health funding for the Canadian Mental Health Association, for which they were grateful, because we recognized the needs in mental health. Your government has a shameful record, frankly, for addressing Ontarians’ concerns—

Thank you to the member for the question. Certainly we hear the phrase “previous Liberal government” so many times that we play bingo on it over here. I think it’s time to end that game of bingo. I think it’s time for this government to acknowledge that five years is actually a long time. They’ve been in power long enough to realize that there are problems in our health care, problems on the streets with our opioid crisis, and those are problems that they could be spending money on now to fix.

Another example would be on supportive housing in industries like the not-for-profit agencies, who are asking for money to help build more homes. They will run those homes. They will build them; they will run them. But they need some money to do it. That’s another example.

So again, a spa instead of homes, to me, is not the right priority.

People were not suffering from an ER closure in Minden during the Liberal government. That is the kind of crisis we’re feeling now. And so when I talk about a laissez-faire attitude, I’m talking about saying, “Oh, that’s Haliburton Highlands services’ problem,” instead of saying that this Ministry of Health needs to take accountability and make sure that those hospitals stay open to serve the people of Ontario.

I’m very proud of the record of the Ontario Liberal government, as I said, in helping fix our graduation rates, building the greenbelt, building highways and making sure that our education system was supported.

You’re right; we did hear, when we were in northern Ontario, about the increased needs for police services because of the drug crisis. Again, this is small-town Ontario, who are seeing criminals from across the province, from across the borders, come to their communities because it’s near the Trans-Canada Highway and it’s a shipping line to deliver drugs across the country.

So, absolutely, we need to make sure that police have the resources they need to fight crime—and that isn’t just in our big cities, but in our small towns too.

I’m excited to speak to the third reading of our very important legislation, Building a Strong Ontario Act, 2023. The government of Ontario is committed to building a strong and resilient Ontario that is aimed at achieving sustainable economic growth and improving the quality of life for all of our citizens.

The Building a Strong Ontario Act and the 2023 budget were recently introduced by our great Minister of Finance. Before I begin, I want to thank him for the tremendous work he has done, and both his PAs, who have put a lot of time and effort into this—the member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound and the member from Oakville—in collaboration with all of our colleagues here in the chamber.

Madam Speaker, there are five key themes in what our government is doing in the 2023 budget, Building a Strong Ontario. These five themes are “Building Ontario’s Economy for Today and Tomorrow”; “Building Highways, Transit and Infrastructure Projects”; “Working for Workers”; “Keeping Your Costs Down”; and “Better Services for You.”

This plan will help build a strong economy for today and tomorrow. It is a plan to make life more affordable for everyone who calls Ontario home, with better public programs and services and a plan that makes safer streets.

Speaker, we’re driving forward our plan to tap into the resources of Ontario’s north, to supply the critical minerals that are crucial in modern EV batteries. These natural resources and this connected infrastructure and the revitalizing manufacturing base in the province’s south are all connected and will help bring investments and better jobs with bigger paycheques to Ontario. This can be seen with the Magna International investment of $265 million, bringing a new EV battery enclosure that will bring approximately 560 new jobs to Brampton.

Our government has committed close to $1 billion to support critical legacy infrastructure such as all-season roads, broadband connectivity and community support in the Ring of Fire region in order to ensure that we keep moving forward on one of the most promising mineral deposits in Canada—one that will play a critical role in batteries, electronics, electric vehicles and clean technology.

Our government is committed to continuing to grow and strengthen the wonderful province of Ontario. We’ll be doing so by continuing to build highways, transit and critical infrastructure projects. These key projects, such as the planning and construction of Highway 413, will continue to connect Ontario and get you closer to your loved ones. This is supported by a total investment of $27.9 billion over the next 10 years to connect communities, fight gridlock and keep goods and people moving across the province. The Ontario highways program includes more than 600 expansion and rehabilitation projects that are either under way or planned over the next four years. In 2023-24 alone, Ontario is investing $3.2 billion towards projects that will expand and repair provincial highways and bridges.

The government is also investing $70.5 billion for transit over the next 10 years, including continuing to transform the GO Transit rail network into a modern, reliable and fully integrated rapid transit network, further ensuring our promise of two-way, all-day GO. For our transit users, our government is dedicated to making the process of taking public transit as efficient and cost-friendly as possible. This is why we’re working to expand the credit and debit card payment system for riders, as we’re providing more user-friendly options to pay fares on a Presto device.

As costs continue to rise due to economic factors such as inflation, we are committed to keeping costs down for families in Ontario. We’re doing so by putting more money back into the pockets of Ontarians by continuing to provide gas tax cuts and fuel tax rate cuts until December 31, 2023.

The safety of all residents is a top priority for the government of Ontario, which is why we are continuing our commitment to ensuring that we’ll be protecting you and your family. We’ll be fighting gun-and-gang-related crime and building safer communities by investing $13.4 million in 2023-24 as part of the Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy.

Madam Speaker, workers are the backbone of the economy of Ontario. Our government is committed to working for workers. We’re expanding the Ontario Bridge Training Program with an additional $3 million in 2023-24 to help internationally trained immigrants find employment in their fields and get faster access to training and support toward a licence or certificate. We’re also enhancing the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program with an additional $25 million over three years to attract more skilled workers, including in-demand professionals in the skilled trades, to the province.

The 2023 budget represents a significant investment in the future of our province. The government of Ontario is committed to building a stronger and more prosperous Ontario that will benefit all of our citizens.

Speaker, it takes ambition and willingness to be an entrepreneur, which is why we are providing an additional $2 million in 2023-24 to Futurpreneur Canada, which helps entrepreneurs aged 18 to 39 achieve their business goals.

Ontario also needs a more stable and steady supply of another type of skilled worker, those in the health-related fields. Ontario needs more doctors, and there are many Ontario students who want to be doctors right here in the province, but there are not enough medical training seats available. Those who go on to study abroad have a hard time getting residencies back at home. That is why the government of Ontario is investing an additional $33 million over three years to add 100 undergraduate seats, beginning in 2023, as well as 154 postgraduate medical training seats to prioritize Ontario students trained at home and abroad, beginning in 2024 and going forward. Ontario residents will also continue to be prioritized for undergraduate spots at medical schools in the province.

In Brampton, our government is opening the new TMU School of Medicine, which will see 175 total seats for medical professionals to be trained within the city of Brampton.

Speaker, seniors are the backbone of our community, and it is essential that we support them however we can. Our government has temporarily doubled the Guaranteed Annual Income System, GAINS, payment for 2023 to help approximately 200,000 eligible low-income seniors. To ensure that more seniors who need financial help get it, the government is proposing to make changes to expand the eligibility for GAINS, starting in July 2024, which would see about 100,000 more low-income seniors receive payments for a 50% increase in recipients.

We also realize the importance of having accessible long-term care close to home. The government is investing more than $174 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, to continue the Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care Program. The program leverages the skills of paramedics to provide additional care for seniors in the comfort of their own homes through:

—24/7 access to health services through in-home, online and virtual supports;

—non-emergency home visits and in-home testing procedures;

—ongoing monitoring of changing conditions to prevent or reduce emergency incidents;

—additional education about healthy living and managing chronic diseases; and

—connections for participants and their families to home care and community supports.

Speaker, I urge all members to vote for this plan, to build Ontario’s economy, to build highways and other infrastructure, to work for workers, to keep costs down and to serve the people of Ontario. Building a Strong Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2023, is an important piece of legislation that will enable us to put this plan into action. I urge all members of this House to vote in favour of this important legislation.

Thank you to the member for Brampton West for his remarks. Certainly there are good things in every budget; it would be nice if we could hear some of that from the Conservatives from time to time about previous Liberal budgets, but I digress.

Could you talk a little bit more about GAINS? You talked about that the program. It’s ending on December 31—the doubling. Can you tell us why it’s ending at that time?

Questions?

Further debate?

Thank you to the member from Brampton West for making it very clear how this budget has helped us in developing Ontario and building Ontario. While we are in a time of economic uncertainty, could the member speak to how this proposed budget is a plan to navigate global economic uncertainty?