SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Ontario Assembly

43rd Parl. 1st Sess.
November 14, 2022 10:15AM
  • Nov/14/22 10:50:00 a.m.

I just want to thank the opposition for their question. Mr. Speaker, we have a housing crisis. We have a housing crisis that the majority of our kids can’t afford to buy a home. They can’t afford to live in Toronto or the GTA because the previous government didn’t have the backbone to make the changes.

We’re increasing the greenbelt more than 2,000 acres, unlike the previous government that changed the greenbelt 17 times—and you voted for it 17 times. You supported them changing the greenbelt to suit their buddies, to change it 17 times.

We’re creating 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. And I’d like to ask this chamber, where are we going to put the 1.5 million people who are going to show up just over the next five years right here in Ontario, and in Canada, 1.5 million people in the next three years? We need homes. We’re going to build homes, affordable homes.

But, Mr. Speaker, again, I’d like to ask the opposition, what are they going to do when 50% of the 500,000 people a year come to Canada and they arrive in Ontario? What are we going to do? Are we just going to stack them up into rooms? No, we’re going to build them affordable housing; we’re going to build them attainable housing, something that the opposition would never, ever do. We need to plan for the future, not only for the new Canadians that are coming but the next generation, so that they can afford—that’s the reason we are building transit that extends into areas that we’re building, and we’re building right beside existing developments that are right there and on the other side of the street.

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberals, if you’re a farmer, you won the lottery—$40 million, $50 million, $100 million. But your next door neighbour, the exact same piece of property—guess what? He will be struggling for the next—

Interjections.

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  • Nov/14/22 3:30:00 p.m.
  • Re: Bill 26 

That is an excellent question. I do believe the province would benefit by having a round table. As we know, one of the first things the Conservative government did was slash a round table that was particularly created and co-chaired by two phenomenal human beings, Pamela Cross and Farrah Khan, literally created to help address the issue of violence against women. The government slashed that round table, along with slashing funding to rape crisis centres across this province.

I would also say as well, as the member from Toronto Centre has raised previously, where is the support around participatory work-integrated learning opportunities like co-op placements, internships? Are those employers, if they happen to be perpetrators, also included in this bill?

But what we could do right now is to pass the piece of legislation that the member from Toronto Centre had put forth calling for a consent awareness week, right here in the Legislature. The member from Toronto Centre put forth this call repeatedly so that we could have had this legislation passed before the end of the summer sitting, and this government said no. If you’re going to help survivors of sexual assault, there’s a tool for your tool box, a piece of legislation put forth by Toronto Centre. Pass that legislation. Let’s have that consent awareness week so the courageous conversations and the actions that have to happen on campus and in the school communities are taking place.

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