The arts and culture sector, artists and cultural workers have been disproportionately hit by COVID, and to be frank, it’s not COVID alone. This government has chronically cut and underfunded the arts well before the pandemic, despite the fact that we can count nearly 30 billion ways in which arts and culture contributes to our GDP, not to mention the near 300,000 jobs the sector creates for our province.

Make no mistake: Committing to sustainable funding at or above the rate of inflation is key to the survival of our creative sector, a sector where most creatives weren’t even able to get CERB during the pandemic, and most in live performance saw their careers go poof without notice.

Most government funds for smaller art organizations tend to be targeted towards individual short-term projects, which does not help the organization build capacity for long-term planning. That is why I’m demanding today that the OAC budget for the Ontario Arts Council remain at $65 million in the 2023 provincial budget. On behalf of every creative worker and community-based organization in St. Paul’s, we’re pleading with this government: Do not cut the already strapped Ontario Arts Council budget again, especially with the work that they do for priority groups like deaf artists, artists with disabilities, artists of colour, francophone artists, Indigenous artists and new-generation artists, to name a few.

Speaker, visit any gallery, any museum, any theatre, any library, any art studio. The arts are the way—

I’m very, very proud to welcome Jana and Steve Lanys-Morris here. I don’t see them. They were sitting in the members’ gallery. Maybe their service dogs have taken them out for a bit. Those service dogs’ names are Maverick and Phoenix.

Welcome from St. Paul’s to Queen’s Park, your House.

My question is to the Premier.

Many of the residents in our community of Toronto–St. Paul’s live in condos they rent or own. Condo living, as we all know in this House, is not cheap, and as more and more people move into them, they’re encountering problems like broken elevators—yes—unfinished amenities, and mismanaged condo fees.

People deserve an accountable condo authority tribunal that can protect them and do so quickly—but this government voted against the official opposition’s motion to do just that.

So my question is to the Premier: What is your plan to protect residents in condos?