My question is to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

I was shocked to learn, Minister, that nine of the developers that own land being removed from the greenbelt donated more than $572,000 to the Conservative Party. These developers bought the protected land at a very cheap price, and now, with a stroke of your pen, they can develop that land for incredible profit.

Minister, how did you decide which land owned by which donor should be removed from the greenbelt?

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario is not happy with Bill 23. Since this government refused to extend the hearings and let them speak, I’ll read from their written submission: “The bill transfers up to $1 billion a year in costs from private sector developers to property taxpayers without any likelihood of improving affordability.” In other words, “Developers stand to gain. We all stand to lose. Housing will remain unaffordable.”

Minister, why proceed with the developer fee cuts if experts are telling you it won’t make housing affordable?

Speaker, through you to the Premier: On the heels of controversial legislation that would axe conservation authorities, open up the greenbelt for development and download hefty costs from private developer friends of the Premier onto the backs of municipal taxpayers, this Premier is now forcing his unwanted and undemocratic strong-mayor scheme onto regional councils so he can wield even more power, giving himself the authority to hand-pick regional chairs whenever he chooses and institute minority rule.

This affront to democracy has left AMO, conservation authorities and newly elected municipal councils struggling to understand the Premier’s motives. Everyone knows it has nothing to do with building affordable homes.

Will the Premier admit he’s playing “let’s make a deal” politics, setting up a system where he can serve up our greenbelt and farmland to his rich friends in exchange for political support and donations to the Ontario PC Party?

Is the Premier playing “let’s make a deal” politics, setting up a system where he can serve up our greenbelt and farmland to his rich friends for donations to the Ontario PC Party?

Whether it’s a local cultural centre or the municipal pool, residents, especially those in rural, remote and northern communities, rely on these types of facilities to stay connected to one another. We know that people’s lives are enhanced through community connection and interaction with others.

Unfortunately, under the previous Liberal government, the infrastructure needs of the people in these communities were often overlooked and neglected. That is why our government must take action by providing critical funding support.

Speaker, can my neighbour in the north, the Minister of Northern Development, please share with the House what support we are providing to communities in northern Ontario?

The community infrastructure needs of northern Ontario are just as vital as anywhere else in this province. Local community infrastructure is a critical point of connection for recreation and cultural engagement opportunities.

Speaker, can the minister elaborate further on how local infrastructure support is essential for northern Ontario?

The next question.

Interjection.

Start the clock. The member for Beaches–East York.

To reply on behalf of the government, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

The supplementary question?

Start the clock. The member for Beaches–East York has the floor.

Speaker, I made my intention crystal clear to the city of Hamilton. I actually wrote an op-ed cautioning the city against the frozen boundary because, at the same time, their own planning staff made recommendations on properties that should be developed, and they ignored them. Over and over again, Hamilton city hall wanted to have it both ways. They didn’t want to intensify within the city, and they didn’t want to extend the boundary.

We’re facing an incredible rising cost of housing because of these delays. Hamilton has some big challenges with housing affordability. We needed to ensure that this official plan set up the community for success so they were able to meet the growth targets we were projecting. Putting your head in the sand and not recognizing that things needed to change is not an option, and we adjusted the official plan accordingly.

Interjections.

It’s expected that the city of Hamilton’s population is going to grow by more than 800,000 people by 2051. Again, according to the city of Hamilton’s own planners, the existing urban boundaries could not keep pace with that projected growth. We cannot deal with the status quo. That is the biggest problem in municipal politics right now when it comes to housing. The status quo doesn’t work. We need to do more. We need to build more, and we need to ensure that we work with the new mayors, like Andrea Horwath in Hamilton, to ensure that she has the tools to be successful.

In addition, the government, in the middle of the pandemic, placed a number of rental protections forward. The Attorney General did a great job in ensuring that evictions were paused during the pandemic. We interceded this year on those properties that were rent-controlled to invoke the cap to provide further protection.

As well, since the pandemic began, we’ve provided municipalities over $1.2 billion to support our most vulnerable, including encouraging them to create robust rent banks to ensure that our most vulnerable are protected.

We’ll continue to work towards it. I just wish that, when we place these measures forward, the member opposite—

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Thank you to the associate minister for that answer. Ontario’s population is steadily increasing, but housing construction is not keeping pace. With Ontario families feeling disadvantaged due to the housing supply shortage, it is clear that we must take action now to work with all levels of government to respond to this issue. We must take the initiative to empower our municipalities, as they play a crucial role in supporting Ontario’s housing needs.

Speaker, can the Associate Minister of Housing please share how our government works with our municipal leaders to prioritize housing supply?