Thanks for the question.

The other side likes to talk about what could happen, might happen.

Mr. Speaker, I’ll tell you what will happen: We’re going to continue to protect wetlands here in Ontario. We’ve got a plan to build 1.5 million homes in this province over the next 10 years and keep a robust ecological footprint. Home builders will still go through a process. Species at risk—there’s legislation to cover to that. Wetlands are disappearing; we’ve heard that. We’ve got an opportunity to not only preserve them but expand them, and a plan to do that as well.

Don’t believe the hype. Wetlands are here to stay in Ontario.

The Niagara Escarpment is an arm’s-length body that does great work—and we know the Niagara Escarpment is a beautiful and wonderful area in Ontario that we want to protect. We get feedback from the escarpment folks all the time, and we talk with them constantly about what can be done to make things better. We’ll continue to speak with them. But, again, they’re their own body—they make their own decisions, and we respect those decisions.

That’s why I was so excited to see the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry step up their game over the years. Go to Water Street and see the facilities that are there to ensure that Ontarians are protected against flooding. It is amazing. They’re doing an amazing job.

Conservation authorities: We’re asking them to focus on flooding in hazard lands to keep people safe. That’s the focus and the priority.

Build homes, keep people safe, build Ontario—that’s what we’re going to do.

Point of order.

Interjections.

Yesterday was an historic victory for Ontario workers. The courts recognized what 800,000 public sector workers and New Democrats have been saying for years: that Bill 124 is unconstitutional. That was affirmed by the courts. This is a hard-fought and long-overdue victory for workers, who deserve a government that will respect this decision and work with them to move forward.

Why won’t the Premier respect the court ruling and stop appealing yet another court loss for this government?

Given yesterday’s ruling, will the government finally admit that Bill 124 has had a negative impact on our health care system?

Under the Liberals, Ontario lost an average of 1,825 hectares of wetlands per year, and the wetlands that do remain have very little, if any, protection.

Now nearly half of southern Ontario’s remaining wetlands are at risk of being lost, with no requirements for wetland evaluation before land use changes.

To the Premier: What does this government have against wetlands? Seriously—what do they have against them?

Again to the Premier: The auditor found that along the Niagara Escarpment there is no environmental monitoring because there are no staff. Reports of violations—includeing high-risk incidents of construction of buildings—have gone unenforced. And nearly all development permit applications have been approved in the past five years, even when they went against the Niagara Escarpment Plan.

Why isn’t the Premier doing anything to protect the Niagara Escarpment?

Today, the auditor found that the province is missing in action on addressing urban flooding risks. There is no coordinated approach, no effort to protect against the loss of green space, and basically nothing to address aging stormwater infrastructure—all while this government strips revenue from municipalities and the effects of climate change are felt more every year.

Why isn’t this government doing more to protect homeowners from the devastating impact of flooding?