I am proud to welcome the students from Palmerston Avenue Junior Public School, and a very special welcome to Aydin Bari, son of my dear and old friend Eban Bari. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I’d like to welcome the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses for the Wrapped in Courage campaign. I also want to welcome the Council of Canadian Innovators, and I’d like to thank Harry Zarek, Hugo Navarro and Sunita Chander for some wonderful conversations this morning.

Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to wear purple scarves and ties in support of the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses’s Wrapped in Courage campaign to end violence against women.

At the end of the day, the posting that the government has on the Environmental Registry of Ontario will grow the greenbelt by over 2,000 acres and provide an opportunity for the government to have a minimum of 50,000 homes built to get us closer to our goal of 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years.

The reason that minimum of 50,000 homes is so important is because our best year in over 30 years was last year, when we had 100,000 starts in the province of Ontario. We made a promise to the people of Ontario during the election that we would table a plan in place to ensure that we get to that goal. That’s exactly what the government has done.

We are in a crisis, Speaker. We needed to take bold and transformational action as a government. That’s why our building homes faster act puts a plan in place to make sure that we do this. And this is exactly why the government has posted on the Environmental Registry the comment period regarding these lands. We have a plan to grow the greenbelt, to add over 2,000 acres of protected land into the greenbelt, but at the same time, having that minimum 50,000 homes in the ground by 2025.

The current mayor, Mayor Kevin Ashe, in Pickering has said it better than I could, Speaker. I’ll quote him now. He said that that land was put in based on “political science,” not “real science.” That is exactly why the government has put forward a plan that will grow the greenbelt and that will add urban river valleys, which I think all members of this House will support. It will add property in the Paris-Galt moraine.

But at the end of the day, we’ll have an opportunity to build a minimum of 50,000 homes. I’m with former mayor Ryan. I’m with Mayor Ashe. I’m not going to deal with political science. We’re going to deal with real science on this side of the House.

Our government was crystal clear with Ontarians during the election that we wanted to build more homes, provide more choice, give mayors stronger powers and have a plan in place to build 1.5 million homes.

I’ve said in this House countless times that I will meet with anyone—a municipal official, a not-for-profit, Habitat for Humanity, Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services, people who build one home a year, people who build 1,000 homes a year. We need every partner non-profit in the public space, every partner in the private space if we’re going to build—

Interjections.

I am seeking the unanimous consent of the House that, notwithstanding standing order 40(e), five minutes be allotted to the independents as a group to respond to the ministerial statement by the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services on the Wrapped in Courage campaign for Woman Abuse Prevention Month.

To the Premier: Over the weekend, CBC published new information about the amount of protected Pickering farmland owned by the De Gasperis family, who are powerful landowners and PC Party donors. CBC found another 475 acres bought by the De Gasperis family in 2020 for about $24,000 an acre. They own at least 1,775 acres of greenbelt land within the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve. They bought this land cheap because it was protected as farmland in perpetuity.

How much does the Premier suppose an acre of this land would be worth after the Premier removes it from the greenbelt and makes it available for development?

How much speculative profit is the Premier giving his friends and PC donors by removing their Pickering farmland from the greenbelt?

Does the Premier finally understand how corrupt this looks?

My question is to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. On November 16, the minister said he spoke with developers prior to announcing that lands would be removed from the greenbelt. The minister needs to clarify his remarks. Did the minister or any other government or PC Party official share with any landowner information about the government’s plan to remove lands from the greenbelt before it became public?

I’ll keep it short: I would like to welcome representatives from Faye Peterson House in Thunder Bay to the House. I look forward to meeting with you later today to discuss our priorities on ending violence against women. Welcome.

I beg to inform the House that the following document has been tabled: a report entitled Expenditure Monitor 2022-23: Q2, from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario.

Minister of Municipal Affairs.

Supplementary.

I would like to welcome my friend from the riding of Oakville, Sajid Anjum. He is joined by his team from Nisa Homes: Yasmine Youssef, Shiba Anjum and Razan Omar. I look forward to meeting with you after question period. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

This member looked in the camera yesterday and said that Bill 23 cut affordable housing dollars—not true. In fact, Bill 23 actually works collaboratively with the Minister of Infrastructure to create a new attainable housing program on government-owned lands, something that everyone can agree on.

I’m not going to take any lessons from the NDP’s jiggery-pokery in terms of how we’re going to put housing forward.

The plan is simple, Speaker. The plan is simple. We’re going to add to have a net gain of over 2,000 acres to the greenbelt, and the 15 properties involved will provide us with a minimum of 50,000 homes to help get to the 1.5-million home target over the next 10 years.

The government has said—all of the bills we tabled; yesterday was my 10th—that we we’re going to put forward a plan that’s going to get us closer to that. Every policy, every posting, every opportunity we’re providing for comment in this Legislature puts us closer to that 1.5-million goal to allow the families who want to realize the dream of home ownership, the seniors who want to downsize and the new Canadians who want to have a home that meets their needs and their budget—that’s what every policy we’re putting forward as a government gets us closer to.

My question is to the Premier. In two days, on December 1, the Connect-Clinic, a virtual-only health clinic, will have to close its door entirely to its 3,500 trans patients who live across rural and urban Ontario. These individuals need gender-affirming health care.

Connect-Clinic’s lead physician and founder, Dr. Kate Greenaway, wrote to me: “Because of the changes to the physician services agreement, we will no longer be able to provide our life-saving care. We are expecting to need to close the clinic in response.”

Speaker, will this government help save the clinic? Will they help deliver the alternative funding plan that’s needed to stop the cut to ensure that gender-affirming care continues in Ontario? Yes or no?

Although the physician services agreement is finalized, this government must reverse the funding cuts to Connect-Clinic through an alternative funding plan. It’s an option before the government.

I’m looking for an answer. We have two days to save this clinic. We have two days to save this health service. Will the government help us do this?

Thank you to the member opposite for raising this question prior to question period. I want to be clear with the people of Ontario that we are not eliminating or forcing individuals to close virtual care clinics. What we are doing is we are equalizing to make sure that people have access to their family physicians in person.

It is a change that we have negotiated with the Ontario Medical Association, who took it to their members and voted on it in support. I might add, it’s the first time since 2012 that we have had an agreement with the Ontario Medical Association without the need for arbitration. This is a good system of balancing the need for in-person care with the important use of virtual care.

The member opposite raises an important issue, but there are other opportunities, like community health clinics, that provide specialized service. Those types of services will continue within the province of Ontario, because we understand how specialized services offer unique opportunities for people who have special skill sets to work with a specialized population.

We’re continuing to do that, but we need to reinforce that having individuals access their primary care physician in person, as well as virtually, is an important part of how we provide appropriate care in Ontario.

Back to the minister: Last week, the CBC reported that a group of land speculators purchased 37 hectares of farmland outside Ottawa’s urban boundary last year, and then, earlier this month, the minister overrode the city’s official plan and put these lands within the urban boundary, making these very lucky speculators instantly richer. Coincidentally, these speculators, together, donated more than $12,000 to the PC Party last year and this year.

My question is to the minister. Did the minister or any other government or PC Party official share with any landowner information about the government’s plan to add lands to Ottawa’s urban boundary before it became public?

Interjection.

Ma question s’adresse à la ministre des Affaires francophones. La francophonie ontarienne contribue à notre richesse culturelle et à notre croissance économique. Sa promotion au-delà de nos frontières est essentielle pour que sa prospérité continue.

L’Ontario a récemment signé un protocole d’entente avec la Wallonie-Bruxelles après le Sommet de la Francophonie en Tunisie.

Monsieur le Président, la ministre peut-elle nous en dire plus sur les opportunités de partenariat à l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie et les bénéfices qui en découlent?

La participation de l’Ontario au sommet de l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, aux réunions connexes et à son forum économique donne à la province l’occasion d’explorer les liens de coopération internationale et aussi de promouvoir les atouts économiques de la province auprès des États et des gouvernements membres de l’OIF.

L’Ontario désire ainsi tirer parti des opportunités de partenariat avec les membres de l’OIF et aussi de leurs délégations afin de :

—poursuivre nos discussions avec nos partenaires, tels que la Wallonie-Bruxelles, avec qui nous avons signé un protocole d’entente;

—explorer des échanges bilatéraux dans les domaines commerciaux, éducatifs, touristiques et culturels; et aussi

—appuyer nos efforts pour soutenir l’entrepreneuriat francophone.

La communauté francophone mérite un environnement propice à son épanouissement afin qu’elle puisse continuer à participer activement à la prospérité de la province.

Monsieur le Président, la ministre peut-elle nous en dire plus sur la Stratégie de développement économique francophone de l’Ontario et sur les possibilités de partenariats internationaux?

L’avenir de la langue française est grandement lié à la prospérité des entreprises francophones. C’est pourquoi, par une stratégie de développement économique francophone de l’Ontario, nous allons continuer à soutenir la francophonie ontarienne avec l’entrepreneuriat et l’innovation francophones, une main-d’oeuvre qualifiée bilingue et aussi la promotion de la francophonie ontarienne comme atout économique.

Notre présence au sein de l’OIF nous permet de mettre en valeur la francophonie ontarienne. C’est ainsi, en élargissant le cercle de nos relations culturelles et économiques au-delà de nos frontières, que nous allons continuer de contribuer à la croissance et à la prospérité de l’Ontario.

We’re not going to allow “jiggery-pokery.” You’ve got to withdraw.

Interjection.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to respond.

Ongoing labour shortages, global shipping disruptions and declining processing capacity are significant concerns that continue to impact our agri-food sector. In my riding of Brantford–Brant, I am proud of the over 1,400 agri-food businesses that all serve a critical role in contributing to the province’s economic prosperity and job creation.

With one in every eight jobs in Ontario coming from the sector, expanding and enhancing the agricultural industry should be a priority for our government. Speaker, can the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs please share with us how our government is growing and supporting the agri-food sector in Ontario?

Speaker, can the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs please elaborate further on how our government will deliver results in this sector?

If we look at that FAO report, it shows that we invested over $3.6 billion more than was invested in the same period last year. That means more than $1 billion extra in health care, $879 million in education, $518 million on children and social services.

The member opposite knows that this is a snapshot in time. It does not take into full consideration the investments that have been made and are going to be fully realized in hospitals and school boards across the year. This was shown through our public accounts, which showed that this year we made the largest investment in public health, an over-$5.2-billion year-over-year increase to support our health care investments across the province.

The member opposite knows this, the FAO also acknowledges this, and we’ll continue to make sure we have the investments and supports there to ensure that Ontarians and members across this province receive the care they need.

The largest increase to health care spending in this province: The members voted against that. That was shown in the public accounts. They voted against hospitals in Brampton. They voted against hospitals in Mississauga and Windsor. All across this province, Mr. Speaker, they voted against increasing and supporting medical schools so we have the doctors and nurses of tomorrow. The members opposite voted against every single one of those investments.

Year over year, we put in $5.2 billion more than the last year in health care spending, the largest increase in the entire country and the history of this province, and we will continue to ensure that we make the necessary investments to support health care across—

Interjections.

And to reply, the President of the Treasury Board.

The next question.