You want affordable housing? Don’t build luxury urban sprawl. Let’s start there.

Speaker, the government doesn’t like it because they know that their integrity is in question, and the Premier doesn’t like to answer questions because he knows where it leads.

On Friday, the Public Order Emergency Commission published their report on the use of the Emergencies Act, and the findings are very distressing. When Ottawa residents were being harassed in their communities last February, while small businesses were being forced to close, the Premier, the Solicitor General and the Minister of Transportation all chose not to help. In fact, it was only when protests moved to other parts of this province that they were forced to do something.

What does the Premier have to say to Ottawa residents now that we know the extent of his government’s failure to act?

Speaker, witnesses told the commission that this government was “trying to avoid responsibility for a crisis within its borders.” While federal and municipal officials were meeting regularly to try to navigate this crisis, Ontario’s Premier and the ministers responsible ghosted the people of Ottawa. The report’s chapter on the provincial response is actually titled, “Ontario’s Absence.”

Why was the Premier absent? I really hope the Premier will answer this question for the people of Ontario and the people of Ottawa. Why was the Premier absent when the people of Ottawa needed his help?

When the people of Ottawa needed help, the Premier sat on his hands. But when wealthy developers wanted to turn a profit on protected greenbelt land, suddenly the law was changed, like that. Is this how our province works now: one set of rules for the Premier’s friends and associates and another for everyone else? That’s how it is?