I have a question for the member, specifically on schedule 9 in the bill.

WSIB is now moving from Toronto and going to London. I understand that there are talks happening, but no one knows what prospects there are of where they’re going to relocate. There are also questions around the selling of the property here in Toronto. Is it going to stay in public hands so it can be used for things like true affordable housing?

Can the member talk about why they feel transparency and lack of openness about what’s going on in that process is red tape? I’d like to know why we can’t have those open discussions to eliminate red tape there.

The cost of living in Ontario is out of control. People feel it every day, and many middle-class families are doing things they never expected.

The Feed Ontario report reveals record-high food bank use. Since the pandemic, first-time visitors are up 64%, with one in three people accessing food banks for the very first time. In its report, Feed Ontario cites precarious employment, underfunded disability supports, and unaffordable housing as reasons why middle-class people are turning to food banks in numbers never seen before. They say, “The reason that so many people must turn to a food bank is because our once-strong economic foundation has weakened.”

In my community of London, average rent jumped 36.9% last year, one in four children are living in poverty, and 6,230 individuals and families are on social housing wait-lists.

People are being crushed under the skyrocketing cost of living. Families shouldn’t have to turn to food banks to help feed their kids when they work hard for a living, but that is the reality in Ontario right now.

The middle class built Ontario because of public health care, because of public education, and because they earned good wages. The Ford government is strangling these public systems, while more and more people are being pushed into poverty.

This government should take Feed Ontario’s recommendations: improve the quality of work, improve social assistance, invest in social housing, and put people at the centre of policy and program design.

To this Conservative government: Protect Ontario’s middle class; not just wealthy, insider donors.

No.

Speaker, I’m going to be assisting the integrity commissioner in his investigation. I look forward to being vindicated, and I look forward to the apology from the official opposition.

Clearly, there were councils in every council chamber, in every corner of the province, that campaigned in advance of the October 24 election that said they wanted to prioritize affordable housing.

Bill 23 provides the opportunity to incent having more affordable housing, having more attainable housing, having more inclusionary zoning units. It’s doing the exact opposite of what the member for Waterloo is suggesting.

We’ve got young people here. I want to make sure that there is a generation of potential homeowners who have a home that meets their needs and their budget.

Any mayor—like Mayor Crombie, who the member opposite is quoting—who doesn’t think that a $132,000 development charge on a semi-detached home in Mississauga isn’t going to get turned over to the buyer is living in a dream world.

Those mayors who speak against our bill have one message: They’re saying to that young family, “Stay in your parents’ basement. You’re never going to have a home that meets your needs.”

On the government side, we will realize the dream of home ownership—

Interjections.

My question is for the Associate Minister of Housing. Ottawa is home to over a million Ontarians and is among Canada’s largest cities. Significant population growth is projected over the next decade for the Ottawa area, including in my riding of Carleton.

Ottawa and the surrounding areas are favourable destinations for newcomers to settle. With new immigration targets set by the federal government, there is a real concern regarding housing availability needs to meet both current and future demands. As many newcomers will arrive in Ottawa and the surrounding areas, housing availability will remain a pressing concern.

Speaker, through you: Can the Associate Minister of Housing please explain what our government is doing to provide housing relief for new and existing Ontarians living in the Ottawa area?

Interjection: A great minister.

It’s really reassuring that our government is implementing strategies addressing housing availability in Ontario, including in communities in my riding of Carleton, like Findlay Creek, Riverside South, Stittsville, Greely and more. By working with all levels of government, housing supply will expand to address the needs of the current population and newcomers settling in the Ottawa area.

Through you, Mr. Speaker: Can the Associate Minister of Housing please expand on our government’s plan to address housing projects that will benefit local communities in Ottawa?

I want to thank my honourable colleague from Carleton for the question and also for her strong advocacy when it comes to housing on behalf of her constituents.

I was in the member’s city last week, alongside my federal and municipal counterparts, to announce a $90-million housing investment across the city of Ottawa to support the construction of more than 270 units. These units will meet a variety of accessibility and affordability needs, ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments.

I look forward to continuing our partnership with all levels of government, as well as the non-profit and private sectors, to ensure that all Ontarians, including the most vulnerable in our communities, have a safe place to call home.

To add to my previous answer: The funding will support five projects across the city of Ottawa, including the project that our government is supporting which is located at 159 Forward Avenue. This will be a four-storey building with a total of 49 units, 30 of which will be designated as affordable, and the remaining 19 will have rents that are on par or below average market rent. As I’ve said from day one, we’ll continue to do everything we can to support projects like this one, because they prioritize and support the most vulnerable.

With lack of supply and housing prices out of control for many Ontarians, we’ll continue to work, again, with all partners, all levels of government, to increase supply and support housing in every corner of our province.

I’ll pick up on the question just asked by the member from Niagara West about democracy and red tape. This bill is about red tape reduction, and the government has argued that the other bill they have before the House, Bill 39—that you need to override the results of the last municipal elections in Toronto, Niagara, York and Peel in order to get more efficiency, to cut the red tape and get housing built. Is it not possible to build housing while still respecting the outcomes of our recent municipal elections and respecting the democracy that they represent?