I just want to take a moment and introduce Donna Danielli, our school trustee for wards 1 and 2 from Milton. Welcome to the Legislature. Thank you for your leadership.

It’s an honour to lead off the debate on the Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario Act, 2022. I will be sharing my time with my parliamentary assistant, the member from Niagara West, and also with the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Red tape, of course, is the result of rules, regulations and policies that cause frustration, expense, delays and complications in everyday life. It is something that we are all too familiar with—a barrier to our economic productivity, competitiveness and innovation.

When we formed government in 2018, we inherited a province that was strangled by and drowning in red tape. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said we had the largest regulatory burden of any province in the country. We heard that message loud and clear from people, from businesses, and from a wide range of stakeholders right across this great province.

That’s why one of our government’s key priorities has been to remove unnecessary, redundant and outdated regulations that hold our province back. We’ve made great progress so far. Over the past five years, we’ve reduced Ontario’s total regulatory compliance requirements by 6.5%. This has led to $576 million in annual savings for businesses, not-for-profit organizations, municipalities, school boards, colleges and universities, and hospitals since June 2018. That’s half a billion dollars each year that isn’t being spent on filling out government paperwork, paying fees to remove licence plate stickers, or complying with duplicative regulations that exist across multiple levels of government. It is the result of eight high-impact red tape reduction bills since 2018, and packages containing more than 400 individual burden-reducing actions.

Of course, there is much more work that needs to be done. That’s why we have continued to consult with stakeholders as part of a whole-of-government approach to reducing regulatory burdens.

Together with our partner ministries, we have assembled a package of solutions to address the challenges Ontario is facing today. The package is the Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario Act and related regulatory and policy changes, adding up to a total of 28 various measures. The intent of this legislation—our ninth red tape reduction bill since 2018—is to strengthen Ontario’s supply chain, support farmers and agribusinesses, grow our labour force, make it easier to interact with government, and ensure Ontario remains competitive in the global marketplace. The bill, if passed, will continue our work to streamline and modernize Ontario’s regulatory system across multiple areas of government and multiple sectors of our province’s economy. It will lead Ontario to more economic certainty, confidence and stability.

With my time today, I am going to briefly discuss the 28 individual items in this proposed red tape package.

A central part of the package is five modernization measures for the agriculture and food industries. I know the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will speak to some of these items in detail shortly, but allow me to offer a brief overview. Earlier today, I was with the minister. We were at the Ontario Food Terminal to release the Grow Ontario strategy. It is the province’s comprehensive plan to build consumer confidence and support farmers and Ontario’s food supply. Our goal with these measures to support Ontario’s local farmers, food processors and agribusinesses is to strengthen our food supply chain and help us attract and grow a strong labour force.

The legislation we are debating today also contains proposals to:

—amend the MAFRA Act to permit co-op members who are part of the feeder cattle loan guarantee program to custom-feed each other’s cattle;

—update the current legislative framework for the veterinary profession to open the door to a new standard of veterinary medicine in Ontario;

—modernize the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario Act to be more relevant to today’s agri-food sector and support its ongoing competitiveness; and

—amend the Animal Health Act to provide authority for the minister to take temporary action to protect the health and well-being of the public and animals when faced with a potential animal health crisis.

These changes will help ensure Ontario has a reliable, safe and stable food supply now and into the future.

The next set of proposed changes support Ontario’s workplace insurance and compensation system. The proposed legislation will make several changes to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act that align with Ontario’s broader red tape reduction efforts. The changes, if passed, would improve the WSIB’s operational efficiency and reduce undue administrative burden, allowing the WSIB to focus on their primary function of supporting injured workers. The proposed changes would:

—ensure injured or ill apprentices receive loss-of-earnings benefits at the same amounts journeypersons employed in the same trade would receive;

—provide more flexibility regarding how often the WSIB board of directors must meet, by changing the requirement that they meet every two months to a required minimum of four times per year;

—update the requirements of WSIB governance documents to ensure they are consistent with and do not duplicate other government directives;

—streamline the requirements for WSIB office lease transactions by excluding them from the requirement for LGIC approval, like other government agencies; and

—ensure the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, does not reference repealed statutes that are no longer in force.

The WSIB is one of the largest insurance organizations in North America. Reducing red tape will enable them to better meet the needs of Ontario’s workers.

Now I will speak a bit about one of the more exciting initiatives in this legislation. Speaker, our government is working toward creating a framework to enable and responsibly regulate carbon capture and storage technologies right here in the great province of Ontario. As the first step in this process, we are proposing an amendment to the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act. We expect this technology will play an important role in managing Ontario’s carbon emissions and producing low-carbon hydrogen. And importantly, this measure will facilitate the alignment of this future regulatory framework with other Ontario and federal initiatives, so businesses can take advantage of existing incentives and funding opportunities that are available to them.

Now I would also like to discuss the ways in which we’re cutting red tape and supporting the competitiveness of Ontario’s energy sector.

If passed, the proposed legislation will make it easier to build electricity transmission lines by exempting customer-funded projects from the Ontario Energy Board’s leave-to-construct process. Proponents of these projects will continue to have the right to apply to the OEB to cross a highway, railway or a utility line in circumstances where an agreement cannot be obtained.

Our government is also proposing changes that would simplify the gasoline volatility regulation, aligning Ontario’s regulations with national standards.

Speaker, the proposed Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario Act, 2022, also includes several changes that will improve customer service and make it easier for Ontarians to interact with the justice system.

First, our government is proposing to amend the Provincial Offences Act to help reduce the backlog at provincial offences courts by allowing court clerks, rather than a justice, to reopen certain convictions if appropriate conditions are met.

Second, we are proposing to create more judicial capacity and alleviate backlogs in criminal cases at the Ontario Court of Justice by temporarily raising the limit on the number of days that a retired judge can work, helping to address backlogs and ensure faster access to justice for all Ontarians.

Finally, the proposed legislation will also reduce administrative costs and make it easier for prospective jurors to participate in our court system through updates to the Juries Act. The bill, if passed, would introduce a pilot program that makes the jury questionnaires available online. In all cases, recipients will still be able to request a paper version of the questionnaire if they so choose.

Speaker, we’re also proposing new legislation to confirm the continuation of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals so that the charity can continue their work—they do, obviously, very, very important work—and benefit both animals and the public. The legislation would confirm the OSPCA’s corporate status and associated regulation-making authorities, which would support the charity to continue to deliver important community support services across our great province, as it has since first established via government legislation back in 1919.

We have also proposed regulations that will reduce red tape for operators of certain types of hotel spas and hot tubs, such as in-suite hot tubs or tubs on a private balcony or a deck intended for the exclusive use of its guests, by exempting them from the public pools regulation. Signage requirements, of course, will remain in place to ensure the public is aware of any potential risk.

We have also listened to concerns raised by stakeholders and have amended the Mandatory Blood Testing Act and the Laboratory and Specimen Collection Centre Licensing Act to speed up application processing for victims of crime, first responders, correctional services staff and others.

We are also proposing to remove the costly and resource-intensive tissue-testing requirement under the Public Hospitals Act regulations—based on scientific evidence and health sector stakeholders’ recommendations, of course.

And we have proposed to provide authority to local medical officers of health to order rabies testing of deceased animals that were under observation after biting a person, and to recognize rabies vaccination status from other jurisdictions that have similar rabies standards to ours. This means a bite victim may no longer have to undergo unnecessary post-exposure rabies vaccinations, since a deceased animal’s rabies status will be known, and animals brought in from other jurisdictions need to be revaccinated in Ontario.

This brings me to the improvements we have been making to some of the essential but often invisible functions of government.

First, we’re bringing many government programs and related IT systems onto the Transfer Payment Ontario system, to reduce paperwork and administrative burden for government-funded organizations.

We’ve also extended certain temporary corporate governance rules to the end of September 2023, while the government continues to analyze consultation results and explore potential permanent changes. These temporary rules were put in under legislation including the Ontario Business Corporations Act, the Not-for-Profit Corporations Act and others, as well as the Condominium Act. Of course, all of this allows meetings, votes and elections to be conducted virtually under certain circumstances. It allows notices to directors, shareholders and members to be sent electronically, and allows a corporation to store records electronically and also have them examined electronically. It’s important that we continue to provide corporations flexibility, while taking the time needed to consider changing these governance rules permanently.

We have also heard from our Indigenous business and economic advisers that information about the full range of government support and services available to them is not widely known and at times is difficult to obtain. That’s why our government will work with Indigenous partners to better understand how we can increase awareness of, and allow them to make sure that they have proper access to, government initiatives.

Finally, I am going to speak a bit about the proposals in this package that help make the transportation sector more competitive.

We are making improvements to Ontario’s Highway Corridor Management System that will provide a seamless and integrated online platform for approvals and permits along provincial highways. Work is ongoing to allow applicants, including home builders and municipalities, to submit, track and receive all of their Ministry of Transportation approvals online, saving time and money. The Highway Corridor Management System has already significantly reduced the burden on Ontario’s businesses and individuals by streamlining the permit application, review, and approval process. These new improvements will further reduce red tape for businesses and organizations interacting with the ministry.

We’re also reducing the weight given to a corporate performance rating when the Ministry of Transportation evaluates bids for engineering services, to improve the fairness and efficiency of the procurement process, ensure value for taxpayer dollars, and make the bidding process more competitive for all participants.

Also, during the spring thaw, some Ontario roads are designated and signed to limit the weight of trucks that can use them. This reduced-load period, of course, helps to limit the damage that might otherwise occur to a roadway weakened by the spring thaw. That’s why MTO is partnering with the Ontario Good Roads Association to improve frost depth prediction models that will allow municipalities to optimize the timing of these periods on our roads. This could include, of course, shortening the period when conditions permit, enhancing our supply chains by allowing more goods to reach more places during the spring months.

Speaker, I am proud to have introduced the Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario Act, 2022. Through the 28 different initiatives introduced in this legislation, which I’ve just outlined, our government is creating the conditions that let businesses thrive and people prosper. We are making government services easier to access and less expensive. We are growing our labour force, developing a strong supply chain, and increasing Ontario’s competitiveness in the global market.

I am now going to turn things over to my parliamentary assistant, the great member from Niagara West, one of the hardest-working members, who will share more details about our track record of reducing red tape and our plans to move the province forward.

I want to thank my honourable colleague on the other side for that important question.

I do want to highlight the fact that our minister, the Attorney General of Ontario, obviously has been doing a tremendous, tremendous job over the last four and a half years modernizing our justice system.

I’m sure the member opposite would understand that the previous Liberal government, for 15 years, and the mess they left us with—obviously, it does take a little bit of time to clean all of that up. I would also point out the fact that we all know that the opposition spent most of those 15 years supporting the Liberals’ inaction on a lot of those items.

As I mentioned in my remarks, the province we inherited when we formed government in 2018 had the largest regulatory burden in the province. So, yes, we are working each and every day diligently, and we are working to address some of the challenges that—

It’s an important question about the consultation. Absolutely, consultations on any changes that our government proposes to introduce are a big part of our mandate. Her question is related to the consultation to do with the veterinarians. Of course, we will be holding very comprehensive consultations, and I hope that each one of our colleagues in this Legislature can play a role in them. Any input that can be provided, whether it’s from stakeholders or whether it’s from industry leaders, is always welcome. We always look forward to it because, ultimately, individuals who deal with situations on a day-to-day basis are obviously the best ones to provide us input so we can get the best bang for the buck.