I’m honoured to rise today to highlight the amazing people-powered organizing that is taking place all across this province right now.

Last weekend, I participated in a day of action with hundreds of people—knocking on doors from Thunder Bay to Windsor to Ottawa and cities in between; speaking with neighbours to talk about how vital it is to protect the farmland that feeds us, the nature that protects us; and calling on the Premier to keep his promise not to open the greenbelt for development. In a few hours, people collected nearly 4,000 petition signatures and identified hundreds of sign locations, calling on the Premier to keep his greenbelt promise.

This weekend, there will be rallies again all over the province.

Organizers like Environmental Defence, GASP, Water Watchers and Stop the Sprawl are mobilizing to defend the greenbelt, calling on the Premier to “keep your hands off our greenbelt” and to keep his greenbelt promise, because we know people power works.

Speaker, a healthy democracy requires citizen engagement and mobilization.

I’m inspired by the people taking the time out of their busy lives to demand that the government maintain the integrity of the greenbelt.

I will be there this weekend with the people, defending the greenbelt and calling on the Premier to keep his promise.

My question is for the Premier.

In 2018, the Premier was caught on video telling a room full of developers, “We will open up the greenbelt, a big chunk of it.” Then in May of that year, he swore to all Ontarians that he unequivocally wouldn’t touch the greenbelt. And in April 2021, he said, “We’re not going to touch the greenbelt.”

So here we are, December 2022. It’s Christmas, and the Premier is proud to say “promise made, promise kept” to his rich developer friends. The problem is, he broke his promise to the people of Ontario. He is giving away the people’s greenbelt—huge chunks of it; it’s not his to give.

Speaker, through you to the Premier: Can the Premier stand here today and tell us why anyone would believe anything that he says?

Interjections.

There is a clear pattern of people gaining inside knowledge. Why would someone take out a $100-million loan at 21% interest to buy land that you could literally do nothing on—and weeks later, magically, you could.

It took more than a day for this government to say “no” when they were asked whether developers got a heads-up—a whole day.

It’s not the developers’ greenbelt. It’s not the government’s greenbelt. It’s not the Premier’s greenbelt to give away. It’s the people’s greenbelt.

Speaker, through you: Will the Premier stand in this House and tell the people of Ontario that his rich developer friends did not get a heads-up?

I could say the same thing about the honourable member. He stood here in this House and, as a member of the governing Liberal Party, carved up the greenbelt 17 times—no apology, no answers for the people of Ontario.

We were open. We were clear. We were transparent. We’re in the middle of a housing crisis, and we posted on the environmental registry a plan that would provide a minimum of 50,000 homes.

Many of these sites have received municipal support. The one in Pickering, Mayor Ashe—I have a letter that I’ll read in the supplemental, clearly indicating that they wanted this property in the DRAP to be available for home construction.

All of these sites are adjacent to existing urban areas. They’re all able to be serviced.

At the end of the day, our plan, unlike the Liberals’, will add over 2,000 acres to the greenbelt.

I’m going to read a letter from the mayor of Pickering, His Worship Mayor Kevin Ashe. The first paragraph says it all: “You recently received a letter from Mayor Ryan requesting the repeal of the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Act, 2005, in the city of Pickering. As the newly elected mayor of the city, I would like to support this request. As noted by Mayor Ryan, these lands were part of the regional and municipal growth plans for settlement area expansion prior to the greenbelt—20 years ago.”

We’re moving forward on this request from municipalities, other requests from municipalities.

At the end of the day, the plan proposed will have a minimum of 50,000 homes provided for us and over—