I really do want to thank the member from Brantford–Brant for this great question. Speaker, we are undertaking thoughtful, impactful actions to address housing affordability and supply for all Ontarians. Our latest action plan allows our government to boost construction while supporting current and future homeowners and renters. It is this government that is protecting tenants from unfair practices. We’re reducing red tape, and we’re assisting first-time buyers, something the NDP once again voted against.

We’ve laid the foundation to increase the supply of market housing so that affordability is within reach for every single community across this province. And, Speaker, I’ve been to Ottawa, Perth county, Wellington and London—right across many communities—and we’ve heard the same about the need and the appreciation for the bold measures our government is taking to combat the housing supply right across this province.

My question is for the Associate Minister of Housing. For too many Ontarians, including young people, newcomers and seniors, finding the right home is still too challenging. The housing shortage is affecting all Ontarians, including rural, urban and suburban communities across our province, and it has unfortunately reached crisis levels.

Our government has been working on behalf of the people of Ontario to address the shortage of housing in our province and has passed several pieces of legislation to significantly increase the supply of housing. However, our government must do more to find solutions to address the housing crisis and to speed up the pace of housing construction.

Speaker, can the associate minister please explain how our government is removing barriers to getting more homes built in Ontario?

It is positive to see that several municipalities have committed to achieving our province’s housing targets, and their support is vital to accomplish this goal. The commitment by municipalities to work collaboratively with our government in developing strategies that will provide real and long-term housing solutions is important and essential.

Speaker, can the associate minister please explain how our government is supporting municipalities across our province so they can deliver on their housing commitments?

Once again, thank you to the great member for the question. Municipalities across Ontario are getting on board, helping to deliver on their housing pledges and to increase supply. But once again, the opposition continues to vote against the best interests of the people across this province. They acknowledged we were in a housing supply crisis, although they can’t seem to agree if it’s real or not, but then voted against our latest housing supply action plan to get more housing supply built. They take to the streets with signs saying they support tenants’ rights, but then they voted no to the single largest renter protection legislation we’ve introduced so far.

It’s our government that’s reducing red tape, we’re freezing costs, we’re giving municipalities the tools needed to build the communities of tomorrow, because we know the NDP—that, once again, no development party—are against getting anything done.

We’re going to continue to work closely with municipalities to address their unique challenges, but we’re going to maintain our laser focus on supporting families and job creators across this province. And I’ll have more to say in supplementary.

Our “helping tenants” package is going to double penalties for unlawfully hiking rents. We’re strengthening those protections against renovictions and we’re giving tenants more rights, including the ability to have air conditioners in their units.

However, if it was up to the NDP, we would have no housing supply, no rental property. It’s this government that’s getting housing built, with the highest yet purpose-built rentals this year. We’re going to continue to do that for the people of Ontario so that we can all benefit.