I have a petition here from some community members who actually got together to get a lot of signatures. I have pages of signatures here, as well, on an issue that they’re very concerned about.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Bank of Canada has rapidly increased the interest rate from 0.25% in March 2022 to 4.5% in January 2023;

“Whereas Ontarians are facing skyrocketing cost of living, yet another household expense has doubled for families across Ontario with the increase in mortgage payments while their household income remains the same;

“Whereas families across Ontario have exhausted their savings and took on intolerable debts to keep up with monthly mortgage payments;

“Whereas the rising interest rates have diminished people’s buying power and threatened the livelihood of many families and homeowners who are on the verge of losing everything they worked for their entire lives;

“Whereas high interest rates and rising mortgage payments has forced many tenants to pay a higher rent or face the risk of losing their homes;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to take the concerns of Ontarians impacted by rapidly increasing mortgage rates and cost of living into consideration and ensure that Ontarians are not forced to lose their homes.”

Speaker, I fully support this petition. I will affix my signature to it and give it to page Sophie to take it to the Clerks.

Mr. Clark moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 97, An Act to amend various statutes with respect to housing and development / Projet de loi 97, Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne le logement et l’aménagement.

This guy amazes me with some of his questions and some of his statements. Here is a party—the New Democratic Party—that always stands up for high taxes.

For the average home in the GTA, the fees and charges add $119,500 to the cost of a home. There are studies that are being done that show rental costs are going up because of these fees. There are statistics that show that these costs add, on a 20-year mortgage for a young couple, over $800 a month.

This is a guy, and his party, that stands up all the time for high costs, high taxes, high fees. Ontarians are done with that type of mentality.

We want to build upon the success of our plan to continue to reduce the baseline costs and to build more housing.