I recognize the Minister of Red Tape Reduction to lead off the debate.

It’s an honour again to be able to stand in the Legislature and speak to important legislation that has come before this House.

I want to thank the Minister of Red Tape Reduction for the incredible work and advocacy that he has put into this legislation today and for leading off the debate in a vigorous manner to ensure that all members in this House hear more about the important work that’s happening.

I also want to start by acknowledging the incredible work of the team at the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction, those who have spent a great deal of time in the past and present and going forward reaching out to community stakeholders, hearing from people, from businesses, and from all those who are involved in ensuring that we are reducing red tape in a responsible and respectful way here in the province of Ontario. And that’s exactly what this legislation intends to do.

I also want to acknowledge and thank my beautiful wife, Keri, who I know is watching the debate this afternoon. I have to say, there are not always people who take the time to tune in to the Legislature on a Monday afternoon to watch a discussion about red tape—but Keri is, so I’m very thankful for her.

I’m also thankful to have the opportunity this afternoon to speak to important legislation that builds on a strong foundation. The foundation that we as a government have worked on over the past four years and are continuing to work on is a foundation that aims to make life better and more affordable for families and for job creators here in the province of Ontario. That’s why I’m proud today to be speaking to Bill 46, the Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario Act, 2022.

I’m proud to be part of a government that is committed to attracting good jobs and investments right here in Ontario, and they’re doing that by making it less expensive, faster, and easier to do business here.

Since June 2018, when we formed government, we have reduced the total number of regulatory requirements that businesses must comply with by 6.5%, a not insubstantial number, especially when you consider the tendency—as people may have heard—of governments to grow the number of regulations and to increase the amount of red tape, as opposed to reducing it. So it’s no small feat to not only curb the tide against job-killing red tape but in fact to pull back some of those onerous and burdensome regulations that I’m sure we all hear about from our constituents.

Since that 2018 election, when we made a commitment to Ontarians that we were going to take swift action to move forward on this crucial file, to save businesses in the province of Ontario some $400 million by March 2022, we stepped forward and we took action. And we didn’t just meet that goal of a $400-million reduction by March of this year—no, we didn’t just meet it, we didn’t just strive to hit the bar; we strove to go beyond. In fact, we exceeded that goal by well over $170 million—incredible savings for the people and businesses of this province.

Our red tape reduction measures today are saving businesses, they’re saving not-for-profit organizations in each and every one of our communities, they’re saving municipalities where we all live, school boards where our children go to school, colleges and universities, the hospitals—the things that we rely on—the community and social services that each and every one of us as taxpayers and the people who we represent care about. We’re saving them—listen to this number—$576 million, not just once, but in annualized savings. That means, each and every year, as we move forward, hundreds of millions of dollars in savings for the people of this province. Achieving this was no easy task. It took leadership. It took leadership from Premier Ford. It took leadership from Minister Gill. It took leadership from so many others. It took leadership from so many members in this House who came together to support good legislation throughout the past four years that—wait for it—cut red tape, something that we were elected on, as a commitment in the 2018 election.

Going forward, we are continuing to demonstrate our commitment to cutting the burden on businesses, cutting red tape.

When we came to office, there was a broken system here in the province of Ontario. We inherited a broken regulatory system from the previous Liberal government that meant that Ontario had a reputation as one of the most difficult places to do business in North America; frankly, in the world, you could argue. But don’t just take my word for it, Speaker.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, an organization that advocates for our job creators here in the province of Ontario, estimated that at the time we took government, red tape was costing every business in Ontario $33,000 every single year, $3,000 per year higher than any other province or territory—a 10% cost premium just for doing business here in the province of Ontario. That was absolutely unacceptable.

That’s why our government took action. It’s why, since 2018, Ontario introduced and passed eight red tape reduction bills and nine red tape reduction packages, consisting of more than 400 individual measures to reduce burdens. These changes have included changes to regulations, to legislation, to policies, all with the common goal, as Minister Gill spoke about, of making it easier for people to live, to work and to do business here in the province of Ontario, while simultaneously protecting health, protecting workers, and protecting our vital environment.

And yet, despite all that work, despite all the effort, our province continues to face big challenges. We’re facing continued supply chain disruptions, some of which started during the COVID-19 pandemic and were exacerbated by that pandemic. We have seen seismic shifts in habits as people change their demands and as businesses have had to change to evolving situations. There are ongoing labour force disruptions, and these are beginning to impact both day-to-day life and, frankly, here in Ontario as well, our economy. In fact, nearly two thirds of Ontario businesses reported that their supply challenges got worse in the past year, and more than one third of businesses said that labour-related expenses or obstacles will continue to limit their growth.

Speaker, we know that governments can and must play a supportive role in reducing the red tape that can inhibit supply chains and ensuring that we have a well-oiled economic machine here in the province of Ontario. We need to solve challenges like those seen in the labour market, and one of the best ways we can do that is by continuing the efforts that we’ve already made so far to reduce red tape.

That is why we’ve brought forward this legislation. It’s why Bill 46, the Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario Act, contains 28 measures that will strengthen Ontario’s supply chain, support farmers and agri-food businesses like those in my riding of Niagara West and in so many ridings across this great province, grow our labour force to ensure we have people who are able to meet the careers of today and tomorrow, make life easier for people and for businesses by making it easier for them to interact with government—ensure that government works for them—and ensure that Ontario also remains competitive in the global economy.

This bill, if passed, will continue our ongoing work to streamline and modernize Ontario’s regulatory system across multiple areas of government and across multiple sectors of our economy. I’m confident that this proposed legislation will lead Ontario to more economic certainty, confidence and stability. It’s going to help ensure that our province continues to be competitive in the global market.

I want to take a few moments, before I delve into some of the specifics of this legislation, to also reflect on some of the past initiatives we’re building on with the Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario Act.

Our government’s first red tape reduction bill was in the fall of 2018, when we passed the Making Ontario Open For Business Act. It established, for the first time in Ontario’s history, the rights of workers to take up to three days off for personal illness, two for bereavement and three for family responsibilities. This also addressed the backlog in Ontario’s skilled trades—a huge area of concern—by replacing Ontario’s outdated, old-fashioned model with a 1-to-1 journeyperson-to-apprentice ratio for every trade in which ratios apply. This change allowed us to better align Ontario with other provinces and territories.

Then, we continued. We built on that work by introducing, in April 2019, the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, with 31 actions to cut red tape in 12 different sectors, along with regulatory changes. The legislation cut business costs, harmonized regulatory requirements with other jurisdictions, ended so many unnecessary duplications, and reduced barriers to investment. And we weren’t done that year.

In December 2019, the Legislature passed the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2019, which was part of a broad suite of changes, with 80 actions to cut red tape and modernize regulations, making life easier for families and businesses.

Interjections.

No, what they want is a greenbelt. What they want you to do is to actually build on the land that you have.

Just because the Premier believes it’s part of his job to make his already really rich friends a little bit richer, we’re opening up the greenbelt. You took all the red tape off for those few very rich people who are going to make a little bit more money, even though your own commission said to you, “You know what? You’ve got the land. Don’t do this. You don’t need to do it.” But you did it anyway. Why? Because the red tape you were interested in removing was for a very small number of people.

That’s not the red tape we need removed. We need red tape removed from OHIP+, a rare disease strategy, take-home cancer drugs, Bill 124, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.

I’ll be happy to take any questions; I’m sure I’ll get a couple.

Listen; there are good things in here—that’s what I led with—but here’s the thing, to the member opposite: I know you don’t want families to have a harder time getting the drugs that they need. I know that you want to have a rare disease strategy here in Ontario. I think you would like to have take-home cancer drugs, too; I’ll make that assumption.

What I’m saying is, that’s red tape in people’s lives. And when we talk about red tape—you know, there’s nothing wrong with doing what we’re doing; we still have to dig into it a bit more, but we actually have to look at what’s happening in people’s lives. If they can’t get the drugs that they need because the government has made up some crazy rule, that’s red tape. That should be in this bill. That should be changed. That should be fixed.

It would be easier to vote for the bill if you had something like that in it.

And you know what? What would be really nice is if you could save those families that are spending thousands and thousands of dollars on drugs 5,000 bucks a year. That would be a great thing.

I want to thank the member opposite for her comments.

With this bill, we are helping create the conditions for businesses and people to thrive, and we’re not going to stop until the job is done.

One thing the member mentioned was that Toronto is a magnet for employment, and she’s right—through you, Madam Speaker. But to be a magnet for employment, we have to create the environment—and that is what this government is doing, by cutting red tape, keeping taxes low and building houses.

Since being elected in 2018, our government has taken over 400 actions to reduce red tape while maintaining important regulations that provide people’s health, safety and the environment. This has led to savings of almost a half a billion dollars in annual compliance costs—$500 million.

Will the member opposite agree that cutting red tape saves people and businesses time and money so they can grow their businesses and spend more time with family, therefore creating more jobs in Toronto?

The government side keeps talking about reducing red tape. Those of us on this side of the House are very leery when the government—any Conservative government, like the previous Mike Harris government—talks about reducing red tape, because what you often find is something like Walkerton, where people were very ill and died because the Conservative government cut red tape and the water was contaminated.

Speaker, I want to ask my colleague from Toronto Centre to speak a little more about access to justice. She talked about jury duty. I don’t think many people would know that if you are called for jury duty, you are not paid for that duty, you lose time at work and pay, and child care costs are not covered. So I’m wondering if my colleague from Toronto Centre could talk about how that, in itself, is a barrier to access to justice—because you’re talking about people not being able to keep a roof over their head or food on the table or take care of their children if they actually are called for jury duty.