My question is to the Minister of Energy.

Speaker, concerns about the issues of access to electricity in our province exist. Communities in rural, remote and northern Ontario deserve access to a reliable source of electricity. Sadly, for many, that’s just not the case.

In many Indigenous and northern communities, the continued reliance on diesel generators is an ongoing challenge that needs to be addressed. Diesel-generated electricity is expensive, it’s polluting, and it doesn’t meet the needs of growing communities.

Indigenous communities across Ontario serve as important partners in our energy sector.

Can the Minister of Energy please elaborate on what our government is doing to ensure northern, remote and Indigenous communities have access to the electricity they need?

It’s encouraging to see our government’s leadership, working alongside First Nation communities, to partner on connecting to our electricity grids to northern Ontario. Being connected to our electricity grid unlocks future economic and social development in northern communities, including new schools, housing, and economic opportunity.

Can the Minister of Energy elaborate on the Watay Power project and tell this House how this First Nation-led project will bring energy certainty and new opportunities to northwestern Ontario?

My question is to the Premier.

Yesterday’s Auditor General report revealed that the government is failing to make adequate use of its renewable energy resources.

Another report yesterday showed that this government is about to waste the money of Ontario ratepayers by procuring more gas plants. The report by Power Advisory said it would be cheaper to invest in efficiency, conservation, renewable energy and storage, instead of spending billions on new gas plants.

Hydro bills are already too high. Why is the Premier wasting money on new gas plants when there are cheaper options that don’t use fossil fuels?

Thanks to the member opposite for the question.

As Minister of Energy, my top priority is to ensure that we have a reliable and clean electricity grid that meets the needs of everyone across Ontario, especially in remote communities.

The member is right that there are still some remote fly-in communities that are operating on diesel generators. That’s expensive, it’s not good for the environment, and it doesn’t allow for growth in new homes and an expansion to be built in these communities.

That’s why it was really important last week that I joined my friend and colleague the MPP from Kiiwetinoong in Kingfisher Lake, his home community, with many of his family members. It was a tremendous day, as we lit up that community to the provincial grid, thanks to the Wataynikaneyap power project, which is a tremendous project—it’s known as the line that brings light. I would add that it’s the line that brings hope as well.

It’s pretty rich coming from the member opposite—to talk about affordability in the energy sector, when his own party believes that we should get rid of natural gas, a base-load power supply. And that member, in particular, is not supportive of nuclear, which provides 60% of our base load power in the province every day. Each and every day, my job as the Minister of Energy is to ensure that we have an affordable and reliable supply of electricity in the province. The Independent Electricity System Operator has advised us that if we were to remove natural gas from the system, we would have blackouts and brownouts. Is that what this member wants? It’s certainly not what this government wants or what the people of Ontario need.

We’re seeing record investments in our province because we now have a reliable and affordable electricity grid in Ontario—one that is competitive with other jurisdictions—and we’re seeing the results with multi-billion dollar investments here in Ontario.

The member opposite wants to shut down gas plants now. That would result in brownouts in our province—completely unacceptable. The Independent Electricity System Operator has also told us that it would increase electricity bills by $100 a month. That is unacceptable to our government, and it’s unacceptable to the people of the province of Ontario.

We saw a glimpse of their energy policy a couple of weeks ago, when the member from Ottawa Centre ran extension cords across the bridge from Ottawa to Gatineau. That’s a look at what we could expect—God forbid—if an NDP government was ever in charge of our energy supply. We simply can’t have that unpredictability. We have to have a reliable and affordable system.

Every single day, I’m working to ensure that our system is clean and safe, that it offers choice, and that it is reliable and affordable, so we can see the growth we need in our province.