Only this government could open up almost all of the laws in Ontario and fail to address the challenges that so many Ontarians face. It’s deeply ironic, Speaker, that the minister, the parliamentary assistant and this government have the audacity to speak of modernity and outdated legislation and then go backwards on animal welfare.

In 1997, under the Harris government, this House was united in support of Bill 139, which stopped training and trialing areas from getting new licences or transferring licences. A letter from the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, the Animal Alliance of Canada, Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters, World Wildlife Fund and the Bear Alliance all supported this Bill 139.

Will this government listen to the people of Ontario, remove schedule 14 and listen to all stakeholders before moving backwards on animal welfare?

My question to my colleague: In my rural area of Simcoe–Grey, we know that Internet connectivity is a huge issue. For our local farmers that rely on connectivity for monitoring their herds, for the dairy farmers, and their broods, for the chicken farmers, it’s an essential connectivity. We also see it locally through the pandemic with school and education going online. Many families did not have adequate access to Internet.

I’m wondering if the member could speak to the issue of promoting and supporting a drive to get Internet to all Ontarians so that my residents in Simcoe–Grey have an idea of what’s coming forward.

Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to hear Prince Hussain Aga Khan at the Ismaili Centre in Don Valley East, speaking about his seminal work documenting the fragile beauty of our living seas. His remarks and photography were inspiring and humbling—a stark reminder of the vulnerability of our marine ecosystems. In its wake, I am reminded of the critical need to preserve our environment and fight against climate change.

This weekend, Ontarians made their voices heard in one of the largest volunteer-run referendums in our province’s history. The referendum, organized by the Ontario Health Coalition, was on the issue of whether our public surgical and diagnostic services should be handed over to private, for-profit interests. Mr. Speaker, hundreds of thousands of votes have been cast. When so many people take the time out of their busy lives to vote on one of this government’s most controversial and consequential policies, we should all take note.

On Friday, I travelled the province, lending my support to various voting stations across southwestern Ontario. I visited Brampton, Guelph, St. Catharines, Welland and Niagara Falls, and in every one of these locations, people had been impacted by emergency room closures and out of control wait times. Our health care system is headed in the wrong direction, guided by a faulty set of priorities.

On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of Ontarians who came out to vote to save our health care, Mr. Speaker, I ask of the government, please, for all of us, put your priorities back in the public interest.

Congratulations to the member opposite on his Peterborough Petes winning the OHL Championship last week.

As usual, the member is correct. I know from my time as a critic on that side, Ontarians felt helpless as they watched their hydro bills just skyrocket on a monthly basis.

Then, in 2018, we took office. We began taking steps to reduce the costs and empower customers to lower their costs. We implemented the Ontario Electricity Rebate, the OER, which is lowering the cost of electricity by 12%. We introduced more customer choice. We gave customers the power to take control of their hydro bills with the Green Button standard being implemented right across, possibly saving customers up to 18%. Electricity customers also will soon have the right, and they do in some jurisdictions, to have an ultra-low overnight rate. I’m going to have more to say about the Peak Perks program coming up in my supplementary.

Interjections.

My question is for the Minister of Energy. Individuals and families and even businesses in my community, as well as all across Ontario, are looking for relief on their energy bills. When our government was first elected in 2018, we made a commitment to make life more affordable for the people of Ontario. We have to make every effort to deliver on our commitment, and we need to be providing more ways for Ontarians to take control of their energy bills and encourage energy conservation.

Under the previous Liberal government, Ontario witnessed out-of-control energy costs as a result of their failed policies. The people of Ontario expect our government to do all that we can do to reduce these costs.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government is providing support to the people of Ontario in helping them save on their energy bills?

It’s encouraging to hear about the many different energy initiatives and supports brought forward by our government to help Ontario’s hard-working families and businesses.

However, affordable energy remains a serious issue for our province. Our government must continue to implement solutions that will bring costs down and provide help to Ontarians, after the previous Liberal government squandered our province’s clean-energy advantage. Our government must continue to show respect for the people of Ontario by implementing programs that offer choice and will help to reduce costs.

Can the minister please share more details about the recently announced Peak Perks energy program and how this will benefit the people of Ontario?

The Minister of Long-Term Care has said that their government is working very closely with those stakeholders, but they haven’t even consulted them, so it’s hard to imagine that that’s actually happened.

Speaker, to the Premier: Over the past five years, beyond a few measures on vaping already implemented elsewhere in Canada, this Conservative government has not implemented a single new tobacco control legislation or regulation. The Ontario health care crisis is real. By the end of question period, two more people will die from this disease, from the use of tobacco. This happens every single hour. This government can do more to curb tobacco use. They can do more to prevent addictions. They can do more to end disease and death. In Canada, there’s $500 billion in lawsuits at stake—$500 billion in lawsuits.

It’s time that the big tobacco industry is held accountable. It’s time to make them pay. Will the Premier and the Conservative government finally prioritize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect future generations of Ontarians from the harms, the disease and death caused by tobacco addiction and use?

I appreciate the question from the member opposite. Of course, we have been working very closely to ensure that there is maximum accountability with respect to the harm done to the people of the province of Ontario, and we’ll continue to do that.

At the same time, Mr. Speaker, I know that the Minister of Health as well as a number of colleagues on both sides of the House, frankly, have been working to ensure that not only young Canadians but Ontarians in general understand the challenges and the risks associated with cigarette smoking and tobacco use.

But specifically to the member opposite’s question, we’ll continue to work very, very closely with our partners to ensure the best possible outcome for the people of the province of Ontario.

So I would ask the member to maybe take a moment to look at the success not only of the Bob Rae government, of the Liberal governments, of the Conservative governments—we have all done our part. It’s not her ownership. We’ve all done our part, and I’m very proud of what Ontario Parliaments have done to ensure that the people of the province of Ontario are safe.

Happy World No Tobacco week, Speaker.

My question is for the Premier. Tobacco is the leading cause of disease and death in Ontario. Tobacco is responsible for the deaths of 16,000 Ontarians every year and costs our health care system $2.2 billion. The tobacco industry has caused this epidemic. The time has come for big tobacco to pay for the harm that they have inflicted.

All provinces, including Ontario, are presently in settlement negotiations with three major tobacco companies, but health care organizations with us today, including Canadian Cancer Society, Heart and Stroke, and the Lung Association have not been consulted at all. They are appealing to the government to adopt the reasonable measures included in their open letter to the Premier as part of a potential settlement.

Will the government guarantee that public health measures will be included in any agreement?

It’s my honour to present the following petition on behalf of Peri Ren, Samantha Bolger, Ayma Aqib and the class of 2025 medical students from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University. It’s titled, “Health Care: Not for Sale.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontarians should get health care based on need—not the size of your wallet;

“Whereas Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones say they’re planning to privatize parts of health care;

“Whereas privatization will bleed nurses, doctors and PSWs out of our public hospitals, making the health care crisis worse;

“Whereas privatization always ends with patients getting a bill;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately stop all plans to privatize Ontario’s health care system, and fix the crisis in health care by:

“—repealing Bill 124 and recruiting, retaining, and respecting doctors, nurses and PSWs with better working conditions;

“—licensing tens of thousands of internationally educated nurses and other health care professionals already in Ontario, who wait years and pay thousands to have their credentials certified;

“—10 employer-paid sick days;

“—making education and training free or low-cost for nurses, doctors, and other health care professionals;

“—incentivizing doctors and nurses to choose to live and work in northern Ontario;

“—funding hospitals to have enough nurses on every shift, on every ward.”

I fully support this petition. I will affix my signature and deliver it with page Cyndi to the Clerks.

I also have a petition to read to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

“Whereas the federal government is increasing the escalated carbon tax by 14%, on April 1, 2023;

“Whereas carbon tax cost increase will put more pressure on consumers who are already struggling with inflation;

“Whereas we call on the federal government to stop the carbon tax, which is a tax hike” on Ontarians and Canadians, and they cannot afford it;

“Whereas the government of Ontario is helping to reduce the cost of living by keeping taxes low, freezing and eliminating licence plate renewal fees and scrapping the requirement to have licence plate stickers for passenger vehicle, light-duty trucks, motorcycles and mopeds and building on these measures in Bill 85, Building a Strong Ontario Act ... 2023, the government continue to help Ontarians with the cost of living;

“Whereas we call on the Ontario government to urge the federal government to halt the carbon tax increase, that will raise the cost of everything....”

To support this bill, I will be adding my name to it. I feel it’s unfair.

Mrs. Tangri, on behalf of Mr. Clark, moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 112, An Act to provide for the dissolution of The Regional Municipality of Peel / Projet de loi 112, Loi prévoyant la dissolution de la municipalité régionale de Peel.

I’d like to thank the member from Niagara Centre for his excellent presentation, speaking about how this government likes to move fast and break things. We have seen a Premier that calls the greenbelt a myth, and maybe it’s a matter that the government has sort of missed the mark. They want Ontarians to think that making taxpayers pay more because of their decisions while they’re lining the pockets of insider developers—they want people to think that that is a myth when the facts are clearly in the way of that.

This government also would like to position themselves as pro-worker when, again, those pesky facts keep standing in the way of what they would claim is the truth.

My question to the member: Why has this government not reached out to workers, and what changes would you like to see to make sure that this legislation does take into account the voices of people like CUPE workers?