What’s clear is that middle-class families are feeling the pinch. Under this government, their hydro rates have gone up, not gone down. Their grocery prices are higher. Rent and housing is more expensive. In the last five years under this government, the costs for families are higher, and in this budget, there was an opportunity for the government to present targeted measures to help families, to help individuals deal with the rising costs that they’re facing, and the government chose not to do those things.

We’re seeing a government in Ottawa that’s choosing to make targeted tax measures in their budget, Madam Speaker. I’m not sure why this government here in Toronto chose not to do the same thing.

It’s clear that, as you said, this budget doesn’t meet the moment. It does nothing to make life a little bit easier for middle-class and suburban families that are struggling every day to pay the basic costs of utility bills and groceries and all the other costs in their lives that have gone up.

When we talk about rent, we have a government that removed rent controls on new builds after 2018. That’s something that’s affected me. My rent for my condo here in Toronto went from $2,100 to $2,600. That’s outrageous. And I’m fortunate: We have an allowance that pays for that, and I’m a person of means and can afford to absorb that. Most families couldn’t absorb a 20% or 25% rent increase.

Imagine if you’re, then, amongst the lowest-income earners in the province, those who are on ODSP and other social supports. How are they supposed to get by? This budget does nothing to make life a little bit easier for those individuals and others who are struggling with high costs as inflation is running rampant.

I listened to the member opposite, respectfully, make his submissions, but it’s clear that this government is trying to improve the lives of Ontarians. Why won’t the opposition support these measures to keep costs down for those who need it and build the skilled labour force that the province needs with a responsible and flexible plan?

Because you’re not actually taking care of those things that matter most to families. You’re cutting education when we know we need more. What I said about children struggling in schools and your message being, “You’re on your own”—that’s it right there.

If your mom is trying to get home care, you’ve done nothing to really address the health care human resource crisis. As a matter of fact, your government supported Bill 124, which just made it worse, and now you want to set up a parallel for-profit system to compete for the staff that hospitals can’t get right now. That’s why I can’t support this budget.

Your message to Ontarians—to Ontario families—is, “You’re on your own. On health care, on education, on the environment, you’re on your own, folks. We’re not doing anything to help you.” Even the Ontario Child Benefit that you could have increased—as a matter of fact, the government on this side did—you guys can’t even see fit to increase that by $50 a child a month while families are struggling to put food on the table. That’s why I can’t vote for this budget. I won’t—

No, I don’t see that. This government had an opportunity to create something called the Ontario housing corporation so that we could actually build affordable housing for people. But this government’s solution to the housing crisis is to actually give away the greenbelt to people who are already doing quite well so they can do even better, and they won’t be able to build affordable housing out there. What we need is housing inside our urban areas, inside our small towns, rurally—everywhere.

It’s a crisis. Bring back real rent control on those new-build units. There are bidding wars. People are couch-surfing. Families can’t get a place to live. It’s not in this budget. The message is, “You’re on your own, folks.”

We’ve been saying here that this government has absolutely failed to meet the moment, and I think you would agree.

One of the biggest issues is homelessness in all of our communities. AMO, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, said that “homelessness is the return on provincial underinvestment.” They also went on to say, “The homelessness crisis in your community”—and all of our communities—“is a made-in-Ontario crisis that results from underinvestment and other disastrous policy choices made by the government of Ontario.” That’s from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.

I know that in the city of Hamilton, we’re facing a huge budget increase because of the lack of revenues that are coming to our municipalities—it’s happening all over our province. AMO estimates that given this government’s decisions, it will cost the municipalities $1 billion. And who’s going to pay for that? Municipal taxpayers and ratepayers that are already burdened.

So can you say further how this lack of investment for municipalities is going to further make life difficult for the people in your community?

As you know, I’ve been sharing voices from across the province.

Anna talks about ODSP. She says, “I am on ODSP and can’t afford rent, groceries and anything in basic needs. We need help. We are drowning and” the Premier—it says the Premier’s name—“is doing nothing with the crazy rent rates across Ontario.”

Julie from Barrie–Innisfil also says, “I’m not surviving. I can’t afford groceries, prescriptions, rent. It’s horrible living in poverty.”

Would the member like to comment about the bill and how it addresses people who are on ODSP and living in poverty?

Look, the member talked in the speech about how he wanted to see more measures to make Ontarians’ lives a little bit easier. Now, I want to put this a little bit against the member’s own voting record. When we did the LIFT tax credit, exempting the lowest-income workers from paying income tax, the member voted against that. When we brought in the gas tax cut to make gas a little bit cheaper for people, the member voted against that. And I know I heard in the speech that gas prices are record high right now, and I feel the pinch coming from Brampton, so I guess my question for the members from the Liberal Party is: How much higher do we have to make our gas tax cut for them to consider supporting our budget?

The member opposite had a chance to support this government’s affordability measures when the costs were going up last year. And now the inflation has slowed but still remains high, and we are still continuing to support those who are in need the most. Will the member opposite fix their mistake and support this legislation?

We’re going to move to questions.

We don’t have time for another question and answer, so we’re going to move to further debate. The member for Mississauga–Malton.

Madam Speaker, before I start, I want to say this: that I will be sharing time with our wonderful member from Carleton, my colleague.

Today I rise in the House to talk about a budget to build a stronger Ontario, an inclusive Ontario. Colleagues, I want to share with you that this morning I had an opportunity to go with the Premier to Pearson airport. I was actually standing in terminal 3 arrivals, exactly the point where, on January 15, 2000, I landed. Those memories came back.

When I landed on January 15, 2000, at terminal 3 of Pearson airport and I came out of those doors, I saw my brother’s friends Puneet Sharma and Chetna Sharma, with a sign in their hands—because they had never seen me, and back then there was no WhatsApp and no Facebook, so they had no idea how I looked, so they were holding a sign with my name.

As I was coming out of those doors, I was excited for a better future, but at the same time, I was concerned. I had no idea where to start. There was a concern about the decision and how it would pan out, especially when you have a young family. My son was five months old. My decision—or maybe I’d rather say “our decision;” my wife and I took that decision. How will it impact him, his life? There were no ready answers available. Twenty-three years later, I just want to say two words, and those words are “Thank you.” Thank you, Canada, for helping us to build a life here in Canada.

I want to add more thank-yous to the list, Madam Speaker. I want to start by thanking the Indigenous community for taking care of this land for thousands of years. Thank you for allowing us to come and meet here.

We see we have infrastructure here—we have such a beautiful building—but it didn’t happen overnight. It didn’t happen by itself. Thank you to all the immigrants who came to Canada 300 years, 500 years back and worked hard to build this country. Many of their descendants are the MPPs, my colleagues here, so I want to say thank you to the ancestors of all of you for building such a wonderful, strong Ontario; an Ontario which allows everyone to realize your dreams. We have infrastructure, we have health care, we have services and we are going to build homes in the future. But it’s not going to happen by itself, Madam Speaker. To build, we need skilled workers.

I had the opportunity to criss-cross the province as part of the finance and economic affairs committee, and we heard from the stakeholders. I want to say, in addition to the thanks, thank you to Felix, Jeri and Beth, the members from the staff who were there before us and stayed after us, so that we had a smooth consultation, so that we could hear from our stakeholders. A big thank you to all of you.

Through this budget, we’re making a promise to ensure Ontario remains competitive on the global stage, and it’s not going to happen by itself. To achieve this goal, we are providing an additional $75 million for the Skills Development Fund for the next three years. As you know, since 2020, the government has invested $700 million to support people facing barriers to employment. We’ve been able to help 400,000 people directly through 388 projects. We’re providing $224 million for the Skills Development Fund’s new capital stream, a stream for brick-and-mortar projects which will help build training centres. Through those centres, we’ll be able to help Ontarians to upskill their skills and build a stronger Ontario.

We’re investing an additional $50 million for Better Jobs Ontario. Madam Speaker, it’s not been easy. Sometimes it’s not under your control. I’ll give you an example. There were a lot of people who were working as taxi drivers, helping people to commute at the greater Toronto airport when the number of visitors was 50 million. But the number came down, due to COVID, to 10 million, 15 million, 12 million. Obviously there was less need for the jobs, less need for that service, and those taxi drivers who were helping for decades had no place to do. What should they do now? Investments like Better Jobs Ontario helps Ontarians like them. It helps with up to $28,000 to cover expenses like child care, tuition and transportation for 52 weeks, so that you can enrol in a training program. It will help you or somebody looking for a skill to succeed and give back to the community.

Speaker, the Ontario government is working for our women. As our associate minister talks about, when women grow, Ontario grows. We are expanding our support for the Investing in Women’s Futures Program, adding 10 new sites, bringing the number of locations to 33. I’m happy that two of those locations, Achēv in Mississauga and Roots Community Services Inc. in Mississauga, will benefit residents from our riding. This program has helped 1,300 women in Ontario secure employment, start their own business or pursue further training or education.

Another big announcement we’re going to see through this budget is providing an additional $25 million for three years to support the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program to fight the labour shortage. The allocation for the ONIP program will increase from $9,000 to $18,361 in 2025. I want to give a shout-out to Minister Monte McNaughton for being a champion for Ontario to build this number.

We’re providing an additional $3 million through the Ontario bridge training program. When we talk about it, we want to say that we have a place for you in Ontario where you can come and grow. But of course, it’s kind of saying that when you take a plant and move it from one place to the other, it may take time to adjust to the soil. It may take time for you to get your leaves back. Remember, your government is here to welcome you. Through the Ontario bridge training program you can get the training to get back into the workforce when you’re a new immigrant.

This program, in 2021, helped almost 6,000 newcomers secure a bright future and stable employment, and this additional investment will help our government support newcomers with more opportunities. We’re investing $32.4 million over the next three years to support 6,500 quality research internships, and of course, health care is our key focus as well.

We’re making investments. Through this budget, we are spending, over 10 years, $100 billion in transit, $57 billion in health and $22 billion in education. We’re making sure that we’re building Ontario’s economy for today and tomorrow. To do that, we are giving a 10% refundable corporate income tax credit for qualifying investments. We’re building the skilled workforce of today and tomorrow.

Madam Speaker, this is a budget which is building a strong Ontario. Let me get straight to the point. The message through this budget is loud and clear to everyone watching across the globe: If you are looking to invest, Ontario is the place. If you’re looking to come and join, Ontario is the place.

As I stood at the airport today, looking back at my life, I could also look forward and talk about the wonderful future we have. But I want to take a pause here and hand over the mike to my wonderful colleague from Carleton.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Debate to continue, please.

The member for Carleton.

Pursuant to standing order 50(c), I am now required to interrupt the proceedings and announce that there has been six and a half hours of debate on the motion for second reading of this bill. This bill will therefore be deemed adjourned unless the government House leader directs debate to continue.

The Minister of Colleges and Universities.

I’d like to first of all thank the member from Mississauga–Malton for his wonderful speech and for the kind words.

I’m pleased to rise to speak about our government’s 2023 Ontario Budget: Building a Strong Ontario. Let me just say, Madam Speaker, it’s such an honour being part of this government with Premier Ford and representing my friends, neighbours and constituents as their member of provincial Parliament for the riding of Carleton.

First of all, let me congratulate our Minister of Finance, the Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, and our dedicated parliamentary assistants to the minister, PAs Rick Byers and Stephen Crawford. Your hard work in consulting with Ontarians and working diligently to prepare this budget is commendable. Thank you for all of your hard work.

Madam Speaker, it was such a pleasure to take part in pre-budget consultations across this great province. From Ottawa to Timmins to Kenora, I heard the same things: Ontarians wanted a budget to build a strong economy, now and for the future. They wanted a budget that would build more roads, highways, transit and broadband. They wanted a budget that would build new long-term-care homes, hospitals, schools and child care spaces. They wanted a budget to build a strong health care system that connects people to the right care. Madam Speaker, our budget will do just that, while at the same time returning Ontario to a balanced budget.

In 2022-23 fiscal year, the deficit is projected to shrink to just $2.2 billion. And in 2023-24, our government plans to further reduce the deficit to $1.3 billion. Starting next year, our government will ensure a modest surplus of $200 million in the budget. Let me be clear: Under the reckless spending of the Liberals and NDP, this would have never been possible.

I’m excited to share what we’re doing for Ontarians under this budget. From Uxbridge to Kitchener-Waterloo and Fort Frances to Cornwall, we are building and redeveloping hospitals and ensuring that Ontarians get the health care that they need. In fact, Ronald McDonald House, which is in Ottawa and is such an important place for hospice care, is receiving over $3 million in funding in this budget.

Madam Speaker, as part of our plan to build a more connected and convenient health care system, we’re implementing the most ambitious plan for hospital expansion in Ontario’s history, investing over $48 billion over the next 10 years in hospital infrastructure, including over $32 billion in hospital capital grants. Recent milestones have included the Queensway Carleton Hospital mental health redevelopment project. In December 2022, construction of this project was completed. It adds two new acute mental health beds and expands space for mental health and addictions programs and services. The remaining renovations are scheduled to be complete by November 2023, and this will benefit my constituents in Carleton and indeed all of the Ottawa and eastern Ontario region.

Moreover, our budget adds more than $48 billion over the next 10 years in hospital infrastructure, including over $32 billion in hospital capital grants. This will support more than 50 hospital projects that will add 3,000 new beds over 10 years to increase access to reliable, quality care.

Investments are also being made to support hospital projects, including support for redevelopment of the existing hospital and regional trauma centre on a new site for the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus to expand access to programs and services, as well as meet bed capacity needs.

Under our health care plan in this budget, we know that every child in Ontario should be able to get the care they need, when they need it. Our government has committed more than $200 million to connect children and youth to care in hospitals and close to home in their communities, including new funding for surgical and diagnostic wait times, pediatric hospitals and rehabilitation programs, as well as mental health and other community-based supports. The government is also increasing access to high-quality care for patients across Ontario, including care at children’s hospitals.

The best experts for certain conditions may not be based in a family’s local community, and families sometimes travel long distances for specialized care. And as I mentioned earlier in my speech, Madam Speaker, Ronald McDonald House Charities provides families with accommodation, meals, activities, peer support, respite, support for siblings, laundry, school and many other services to take care of the entire family while their child is being treated at a nearby hospital. I had the pleasure of visiting Ronald McDonald charity house in Ottawa to get a tour of this amazing facility and to learn more and see first-hand how they are supporting not just children, but their families and caregivers.

That’s why, Madam Speaker, I am so pleased that our government is investing $3.1 million in 2023-24 for an expansion of the Ronald McDonald charity Ottawa house. This expansion will more than double the capacity of RMHC Ottawa house from 55,000 to 115,000 overnight stays per year for families with children being treated at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

Madam Speaker, our government is getting it done for health care, and let me be clear: It will always be paid for with an OHIP card.

I’m delighted to speak about our province’s investment in our transportation system. Our government is investing $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. The Ontario highways program also includes widening existing corridors to increase capacity and enhance road safety for travellers. In particular, I am excited about the projects that have been and will be completed that will benefit the people of Carleton. Recently, construction was completed on Highway 417 in Ottawa, which saw bridge rehabilitation and replacement at Innes Road and Ramsayville Road. We will also get it done for Ottawa and eastern Ontario by completing the widening of Highway 17 from two to four lanes for 22.5 kilometres between Arnprior and Renfrew.

Madam Speaker, the Liberals and NDP never spared much thought to highways or the people stuck on them. Last election, voters noticed that our government does not take drivers for granted. We will get these highway projects done for Ontario drivers—

Under this budget, a new English public elementary school will be constructed in Ottawa that will serve 628 students and include 39 licensed child care spaces.

Under this budget, a new French public elementary school will be constructed in Ottawa that will serve 475 students and include 49 licensed child care spaces.

Madam Speaker, we are getting it done for the students of Ottawa and Ontario.

Finally, we know that small businesses and entrepreneurs keep our province moving, and that is why our government is supporting regional innovation centre hubs. Regional innovation centre hubs play an important role in supporting entrepreneurship by collaborating with other regional innovation centres and innovation organizers to ensure entrepreneurs have access to the tools they need to start and fuel their businesses. Our government will always stand behind small business owners and entrepreneurs, and this budget does just that.

In conclusion, our plan for a strong Ontario is a truly comprehensive plan. We have the right plan. We have the right Premier. We have the right team to build an Ontario that will continue to have a resilient economy, an Ontario that has the best infrastructure in place, an Ontario that connects you to the care you need and an Ontario that has a bright future for you, your family and generations to come.

I am pleased to support our government’s budget and urge all members to join me in getting it done for the people of Ontario.

Thank you to the member for the question. You know, our government doesn’t focus on hypotheticals; our government focuses on facts. And the reality is that our government continues to support the environmental assessments for the Marten Falls community access road project, the Webequie supply road project and the northern road link project, which is led by the Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation.

The terms of reference for the provincial environmental assessments for the Marten Falls community access road and the Webequie supply roads were approved in 2021. The terms of reference for the northern road link were approved in March 2023. I hope this answers the member’s question.

Madam Speaker, our government is committed to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and communities by focusing on initiatives that promote economic prosperity and create a better future for everyone across the province. And that’s why we have terms of reference for the provincial environmental assessments for the Marten Falls community access road and the Webequie supply road, which were approved in 2021, and the terms of reference for the northern road link was approved in March of 2023.

We’ll now move to questions.

I want to thank the two members from Carleton and Mississauga–Malton for their great debate today.

With the ambitious plan that we have to build 1.5 million homes in the province of Ontario, Ontario needs the workforce to build the infrastructure and homes of the future. How will this budget help to build that with the workforce that we need?

I thank both members for their submission and I was very interested in the member from Mississauga–Malton’s discussion on a targeted approach. He mentioned immigration. He mentioned different places to support people and businesses to grow. Could he emphasize on those points and explain how that’s part of a plan to build?

I was listening to my colleague from Mississauga-Milton who thanked the First Nations for taking care of the lands. We’ve seen in this budget—we’ve talked a lot of the Ring of Fire, the investments of building the road and everything that is tied to the Ring of Fire and the minerals up north. We heard also some communities are saying no to the road to the Ring of Fire, because of what’s happening in Neskantaga. And even the Chief was pretty adamant when it came to the Ring of Fire road. Don’t forget, Neskantaga has 28 years of boil-water advisories.

I ask you, the First Nations—because even in my riding, there are two communities who made a moratorium on their traditional territories. So I ask you, if First Nations say no, what will your government do?

So I ask again: If you don’t get consent from the communities of the James Bay coast that are affected by the Ring of Fire road construction, what will your government do? Because most of the budget—there’s a lot of investment related to these materials that’s going to happen. So I ask you, what will your government do if you don’t get the consent from these First Nations communities?

Je vais répondre à la députée : non, ça ne répond pas à ma question. C’est parce qu’on a des communautés qui sont directement affectées, soit qu’elles sont à l’amont—puis je sais qu’elle comprend bien le français, ce qui fait que je vais lui parler en français—de la rivière. Parce qu’on sait tous que l’eau coule vers le nord.

Marten Falls est dans ma communauté. Je ne suis pas après de dire que les communautés autochtones sont contre le développement économique; au contraire, elles ne le sont pas. Mais ça revient à ce que ton collègue a dit : il faut protéger leurs territoires ancestraux, qui sont très fragiles. On a une communauté, comme Neskantaga, qui dit non. On a des communautés, comme Grassy Narrows, où ils ont mis des moratoires. On a Kashechewan, qui a mis un moratoire, et Fort Albany, qui a mis des moratoires. Tu as des territoires ancestraux qui viennent tous dans la même région. C’est beau, le chemin, mais le problème, ils disent, c’est que l’environnement—que l’étude environnementale était trop étroite. Ils veulent que ce soit beaucoup plus agrandi pour répondre aux questions des Premières Nations.

Si vous n’avez pas le consentement de ces communautés-là, allez-vous poursuivre pareil, oui ou non? Une simple question.