SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Ontario Assembly

43rd Parl. 1st Sess.
June 7, 2023 09:00AM
  • Jun/7/23 11:10:00 a.m.

The supplementary question.

Supplementary question? The member for Scarborough Southwest.

Premier?

A few reminders: We make our comments through the Chair, not directly across the floor of the House. Secondly, once the Speaker stands, you sit. Your microphone goes off. When I can’t hear whoever has the floor because of a loud ovation, we stop the clock because there’s no point in carrying on.

So, we’ll start the clock. Next question.

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  • Jun/7/23 11:10:00 a.m.

I want to thank you for your question. Do the Scarborough residents know you voted against that subway line? Do the Scarborough residents know that you had no interest in delivering the first subway in the history of Scarborough? When I was at city hall, we were fighting for the residents of Scarborough, where you never even existed. You weren’t up there cheering for Scarborough. You didn’t vote against your party. You should have voted against your party.

Do you know something? I’ll tell you, the reason we have the majority of the seats in Scarborough—

Interjections.

Interjections.

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  • Jun/7/23 11:10:00 a.m.

Back to the Premier: Residents in my community have contacted my office to express their frustration, their distress over the incessant overnight construction carried out by Metrolinx. The disruptive noise has become so unbearable that constituents are complaining—just imagine someone drilling in your backyard all night long, for a whole year. The disruptive noise has become so unbearable that constituents are complaining that children and pets are abruptly awakened from their sleep all throughout the night. However, Metrolinx has informed the residents that they possess a permit allowing them to continue these overnight operations until the end of the year because it’s related to the transit system. Whether it’s the Eglinton LRT, Scarborough RT or the Lakeshore East line, Scarborough residents are the ones, always, to suffer.

Speaker, while critical transit work is being done, what will this government do to protect local residents and mitigate the ongoing disruptions to their lives and their well-being?

Interjections.

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  • Jun/7/23 11:20:00 a.m.

Mr. Speaker, through you to the member opposite: Many in this room are students of history, and let’s go back to when the modernization plan was put together in 2012. Does anyone remember who was in power at that time?

Does anyone remember who supported the Liberals?

Interjection: The NDP.

Interjection: Mess.

I have full confidence in the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. We are in regular contact with them. They are good people there managing the taxpayers’ money. To date, modernization has resulted in about $2 billion in capital investment from the private sector. You know what that means, Mr. Speaker? Good jobs and bigger pay-cheques for the workers of Ontario.

We have an obligation to the workers, to the people of this great province, the jobs that they create, the private sector that—we don’t create the jobs; the private sector creates the jobs. Let me talk about my own riding, Pickering. You know what we have in Pickering now? A new casino, the Pickering casino, which is creating literally hundreds and hundreds of new, good-paying jobs, right next door to Ajax, right next door to Whitby and, yes, right next door to Scarborough.

This is what the government is about. It’s about creating the conditions so that jobs and people can work in this province and support their families.

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  • Jun/7/23 11:20:00 a.m.

Speaker, I am very happy to keep talking about Scarborough, and let’s get to it, because there’s a lot happening in that member’s riding.

Let’s talk about crews widening the Sheppard Avenue West bridge between Bakersfield Street and Chesswood Drive, for the increased future service that GO expansion is bringing to the Barrie line. In fact, construction is well under way and slated to continue until September this year, with bridge installation set to begin shortly thereafter. This is another vital infrastructure upgrade for our government that we are delivering: game-changing transit, Speaker, that includes GO expansion that will see riders benefit from more than 6,500 weekly trips on the GO network. When you break it down Speaker, what this really means is that we’re ensuring that more people can connect to local transit, work, health care, education and other critical services across the entire region.

Speaker, the Premier said it best: The members opposite did nothing to build transit in this province. That includes the fine people of Scarborough. We’re doing things differently. We’re getting it done for commuters.

The opposition left a giant transit deficit in this province. We’re filling that gap and we’re building record transit—

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