I beg leave to present a report from the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy and move its adoption.

Merci, madame la Ministre.

La population francophone de l’Ontario est une composante essentielle de notre composition culturelle. C’est pourquoi nous devons promouvoir la francophonie ontarienne comme un atout économique important dans la croissance de l’économie de la province. Ce faisant, nous pouvons nous assurer que nous améliorons le réseautage entre les entreprises, les entrepreneurs et les organisations essentielles pour augmenter les opportunités commerciales et les alliances stratégiques.

Monsieur le Président, la ministre pourrait-elle nous parler des avantages économiques du premier réseau provincial d’affaires franco-ontarien?

En 2020-2021, par le biais d’un investissement initial de 500 000 $, nous avons soutenu la création de la Fédération des gens d’affaires francophones de l’Ontario, de ses services de conciergerie et de sa plateforme de marketing en ligne, Quartier d’affaires, qui soutient la promotion des biens et des services des entreprises franco-ontariennes.

Depuis, grâce à un investissement de 1,5 million de dollars sur trois ans, l’Ontario élargit la gamme de services de soutien aux entreprises et aux entrepreneurs francophones. Monsieur le Président, ces initiatives visent à aider les entreprises francophones de l’Ontario à saisir les occasions d’affaires ici et dans les marchés francophones à l’extérieur de l’Ontario et à faire rayonner la francophonie dans nos communautés et aussi au-delà de l’Ontario.

An Act to amend the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 with respect to patients requiring an alternate level of care and other matters and to make a consequential amendment to the Health Care Consent Act, 1996 / Loi modifiant la Loi de 2021 sur le redressement des soins de longue durée en ce qui concerne les patients ayant besoin d’un niveau de soins différent et d’autres questions et apportant une modification corrélative à la Loi de 1996 sur le consentement aux soins de santé.

Bill 3, An Act to amend various statutes with respect to special powers and duties of heads of council / Projet de loi 3, Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne les pouvoirs et fonctions spéciaux des présidents du conseil.

I’m very excited to welcome some wonderful guests from Scarborough here today. Please welcome Md. Hossain Soman, Tawfiq Ahmed, Fuad Hasan, Mahin Md. Shahriar, Azmol Miah, Md. Ilias Khan, Arif Imtiaz and Mohammad Zilani. Please welcome my brothers from Scarborough to the House today.

This petition is called “Housing Crisis: Safe and Affordable Housing Now.”

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Toronto’s residential rental vacancy rate is 1.1%; and

“Whereas the average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in Toronto is over $2,000/month...; and

“Whereas the wait-list for social housing in Ontario is nearing 200,000 households; and

“Whereas the Ford government eliminated rent control protections on new rental housing; ...

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“—Reverse the recent elimination of rent control protections for new rental units;

“—End vacancy decontrol” which allows landlords to increase the rent to whatever they want once a tenant leaves;

“—End above-the-guideline increases...;

“—Strengthen the Residential Tenancies Act to protect tenants from renovictions and illegal evictions.”

I support this petition. I’ll be affixing my signature to it and giving it to page Evan.

My question is to the Premier.

Today, on August 31, we recognize International Overdose Awareness Day, an annual campaign to end overdose, to remember those lives we have lost to addictions, and to acknowledge the grief of the family and friends left behind.

More than 2,400 Ontarians died from opioid-related causes in 2020. During the first year of the pandemic, there was a 96% increase in apparent opioid toxicity deaths compared to the year before. Since then, deaths have remained high. An increasingly toxic drug supply; increased feelings of isolation, stress and anxiety; and changes in the availability or accessibility of services for people who use drugs have led to a worsening of the opioid crisis.

In my community, the Windsor-Essex Community Opioid and Substance Strategy group has released five alerts already this year due to a high number of opioid-related emergency department visits and overdoses.

In 2021, 66 people in Windsor–Essex lost their lives to overdoses.

My question is this: How many lives must be lost before this government takes action to address this crisis?

Yes, today is International Overdose Awareness Day. I want to begin by reflecting and thinking about the families who have lost loved ones and the pain and the suffering that they are experiencing as a result of those losses.

I also want to reflect and think on the things that we have done as a government and continue to do—and that’s the investments we make through the Addictions Recovery Fund, the $90 million that went into ensuring that there are supports and services. We’ve invested in 400 beds and 7,000 treatment spots. These are all investments that are being made by the government because it recognizes the importance of providing the supports for mental health and for addictions in the province of Ontario.

I’m also reflecting on the fact that it’s this government that is making these significant investments—not former governments, which left the province of Ontario in shambles, and not providing supports and services that are needed.

It’s important that we continue thinking about people that overdose and making sure that we provide supports and services where and when they need them, no matter where they live in the province of Ontario.

Deferred vote on the motion for third reading of the following bill:

Bill 7, An Act to amend the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 with respect to patients requiring an alternate level of care and other matters and to make a consequential amendment to the Health Care Consent Act, 1996 / Projet de loi 7, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2021 sur le redressement des soins de longue durée en ce qui concerne les patients ayant besoin d’un niveau de soins différent et d’autres questions et apportant une modification corrélative à la Loi de 1996 sur le consentement aux soins de santé.

Thank you. Petitions?

This petition is to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas from electric and hybrid vehicles to barbecues, the government is supporting the development of homegrown supply chains, creating the next generation of products and returning Ontario to its rightful place as the workshop of Canada; and

“Whereas low-carbon steel production has become critical for jurisdictions to compete for manufacturing investments as businesses look to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chain. These investments support the creation of new jobs and economic growth as steel producers, automakers and other industries transform their operations; and

“Whereas critical minerals in the north will drive electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing in the south, where Ontario’s automotive sector is poised for resurgence as the industry continues its large-scale transformation; and

“Whereas the government’s plan will help Ontario become a North American leader in building the vehicles of the future and will build the next generation of vehicles in Ontario by securing auto production mandates to build electric and hybrid vehicles; and

“Whereas Ontario invested $1.5 million through the Regional Development Program to support an $18.5-million investment by auto parts manufacturer Ventra Group to create the Flex-Ion Battery Innovation Centre in Windsor and invested $250,000 to support the development of two new battery production lines at the Electra Battery Materials Corp.’s future Battery Materials Park near Cobalt;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to continue to invest in the manufacturing sector that will contribute to the economic success of the province.”

This petition comes from Rolando, and I will affix my signature to it, grateful that this petition came forward, given its—

I have a petition here to raise social assistance rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and woefully inadequate to cover the basic costs of food and rent;

“Whereas individuals on the Ontario Works program receive just $733 per month and individuals on the Ontario Disability Support Program receive just $1,169 per month, only 41% and 65% of the poverty line;

“Whereas the Ontario government has not increased social assistance rates since 2018, and Canada’s inflation rate in January 2022 was 5.1%, the highest rate in 30 years;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized through the CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to increase social assistance rates to a base of $2,000 per month for those on Ontario Works, and to increase other programs accordingly.”

Speaker, I fully support this petition. I will affix my signature to it and give it to page Juliet to take to the table.

I have a petition to raise social assistance rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and woefully inadequate to cover the basic costs of food and rent;

“Whereas individuals on the Ontario Works program receive just $733 per month and individuals on the Ontario Disability Support Program receive just $1,169 per month, only 41% and 65% of the poverty line;

“Whereas the Ontario government has not increased social assistance rates since 2018, and Canada’s inflation rate in January 2022 was 5.1%, the highest rate in 30 years;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized through the CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to increase social assistance rates to a base of $2,000 per month for those on Ontario Works, and to increase other programs accordingly.”

I fully support this petition, thank Dr. Sally Palmer for sending them to my office, and will give them to Arushi to bring to the Clerk.

I’d like to read this petition.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas everyone in Ontario deserves to find housing that is right for them, and our government is taking action to increase housing supply and make sure that everyone in Ontario can find a home that meets their needs and their budget; and

“Whereas throughout our consultation with the public, municipalities and the Housing Affordability Task Force, the message is clear: Red tape and bureaucratic inefficiencies are holding back Ontarians from buying homes and driving up the cost of homes; and

“Whereas our government has committed to implementing the task force report with the housing supply action plan every year over four years, starting in 2022-23; and

“Whereas delivering bold changes that can last requires a strong partnership between all levels of government to ensure the policies the province introduces will actually be implemented on the ground; and

“Whereas since our government introduced the More Homes, More Choice Act in 2019, we have seen significant progress:

“—the year 2020 saw the highest level of housing starts in the decade with the highest level of rental starts since 1992;

“—the year 2021 broke even more records with the highest level of housing since 1987 and the highest level of rental starts in 30 years; and

“Whereas our plan is working, but we are just getting started—under the leadership of Premier Ford, we will continue to get it done for the people of Ontario by building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years;”—

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support the PC government’s housing supply action plan and efforts to build 1.5 million homes across Ontario.”

I fully support this petition, Mr. Speaker, and I’ll give it to page Apollo.

I’m pleased to bring forward a petition to raise social assistance rates in Ontario, and I want to express my thanks to Dr. Sally Palmer from McMaster University.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and woefully inadequate to cover the basic costs of food and rent;

“Whereas individuals on the Ontario Works program receive just $733 per month and individuals on the Ontario Disability Support Program receive just $1,169 per month, only 41% and 65% of the poverty line;

“Whereas the Ontario government has not increased social assistance rates since 2018, and Canada’s inflation rate” is “the highest rate in 30 years;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized through the CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to increase social assistance rates to a base of $2,000 per month for those on Ontario Works and to increase other programs accordingly.”

I’m pleased to affix my signature and will send it to the table with page Sharmin.

I’m proud to rise on behalf of our entire government to speak about our Plan to Build Act.

Je suis fier de me lever au nom de tout notre gouvernement pour parler de la Loi de 2022 pour favoriser le développement.

This legislation supports our 2022 budget, which is entitled Ontario’s Plan to Build. Mr. Speaker, as you know, our government’s budget was first released earlier this year, in April. It is a budget to make life more affordable for families by keeping costs down, and a budget that helps Ontario’s talented workers get the skills and support they need to succeed. It will get shovels into the ground to build highways, to build roads and to build public transit. It invests in hospitals, long-term care and home care so that people across the province can get access to the quality health care system they deserve. In short, this is a plan for a stronger Ontario.

To begin, I will go over some key areas of our budget as well as provide highlights for the next steps in our Plan to Build Act.

The first pillar of our plan is rebuilding Ontario’s economy. Our government has a plan to rebuild Ontario’s economy so that it gets stronger each day, building prosperity everywhere, for everyone. Part of our plan to build includes taking advantage of the province’s critical minerals opportunity.

Canada is the only country in the western hemisphere that possesses all the critical minerals needed for an electric vehicle battery. The Ring of Fire has the potential to fuel a provincial supply chain for battery technology, electronics and electric and hybrid vehicles. This brings multi-generational prosperity to northern and First Nations communities. That’s why the government’s plan includes close to $1 billion for vital legacy infrastructure, such as all-season roads to the Ring of Fire, accessing potential mining sites, building the corridor to prosperity. Critical minerals will be transported via these roads to manufacturing hubs in the south and help deliver prosperity to Ontario’s north. Likewise, it will help improve access for First Nations communities to health care, goods and services, education, housing and economic opportunities.

The plan is supported by a Critical Minerals Strategy and $2 million in 2022-23 and $3 million in 2023-24 to create a Critical Minerals Innovation Fund.

Ce plan s’appuie sur la Stratégie relative aux minéraux critiques et sur deux millions de dollars en 2022-2023 et trois millions de dollars en 2023-2024, constituant le Fonds pour l’innovation relative aux minéraux critiques.

During the past two years, Ontario has secured a string of historic investments of nearly $16 billion that will make the province a leader in automotive manufacturing. But I will leave it to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade to speak to how our government is transforming this province into the economic engine of Canada once again, as it was at the beginning of Confederation.

As part of our plan to bring prosperity everywhere, we are proposing to extend the temporary enhancement to the Regional Opportunities Investment Tax Credit. It helps lower costs for businesses that expand and grow in areas of the province where employment growth in the past has lagged the provincial average. To provide additional support to businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, we temporarily doubled the tax credit in the 2021 budget from 10% to 20%, until the end of 2022. Our government is proposing to extend the temporary enhancement to the Regional Opportunities Investment Tax Credit to the end of 2023. This financial support will stimulate real growth and create jobs in regions that need it the most.

Madam Speaker, the shortage of housing supply impacts all Ontarians, regardless of background or budget. The Ontario government introduced legislation that would give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa more responsibility to deliver on shared provincial-municipal priorities, including building 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years.

Le gouvernement de l’Ontario a déposé un projet de loi qui donnerait aux maires de Toronto et d’Ottawa une plus grande responsabilité pour mettre en oeuvre les priorités provinciales-municipales, dont la construction de 1,5 million de nouveaux logements au cours des 10 prochaines années.

If passed, the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act would give the mayor of Toronto and the mayor of Ottawa the ability to move priority projects forward and get more homes built faster. This legislation is an important tool to increase the housing supply, and is one of a number of initiatives being taken by the Ontario government to address the housing shortage.

Additionally, to help communities across Ontario build more attainable homes, Ontario is also launching the housing supply action plan implementation team. This will provide advice on market housing initiatives, including building on the vision from the Housing Affordability Task Force, More Homes for Everyone and other governmental conversations.

Our plan also includes keeping costs down for Ontario families. Our government has recently released the 2022-23 first-quarter finances, which provide updated information on the movement of Ontario’s economic and fiscal outlook since the 2022 budget. The numbers reflect that people and businesses are experiencing the effects of inflation in a very real way in their daily lives. While this global economic trend is happening, we’re taking action to help every Ontarian with the cost of living. We are doing our part to help keep a few extra dollars in people’s pockets and to help keep costs down.

The Plan to Build Act proposes amendments that would provide relief to families and workers by helping with the cost of everyday essentials. Beginning with the 2022 tax year, our government is proposing an enhancement to the low-income individuals and families tax credit, also known as the LIFT credit. The proposed enhancement would mean roughly 700,000 more people would benefit from this tax credit for the 2022 tax year.

À compter de l’année d’imposition 2022, notre gouvernement propose une amélioration au crédit d’impôt pour les personnes et les familles à faible revenu. Cette amélioration signifierait qu’environ 700 000 personnes de plus profiteraient de ce crédit d’impôt pour l’année d’imposition 2022.

It will increase and expand this tax benefit, providing $320 million in additional tax relief to even more of Ontario’s workers. And with the general minimum wage rising to $15.50 per hour as of October 1, 2022—by my calendar, that’s a little over 30 days from today, this will help ensure eligible minimum wage workers continue to receive additional relief.

Let me take a few minutes to explain how the LIFT credit works. Introduced in 2018, this non-refundable tax credit has provided up to $850 in Ontario personal income tax relief each year to lower-income workers. Under the current LIFT credit, the benefit is phased out at a rate of 10% for individual income above $30,000 and family income above $60,000. So, combined with other tax relief, the introduction of the LIFT credit means that about 90%—90%—of all Ontario taxpayers with taxable incomes below $30,000 will pay no Ontario personal income tax. And under our proposed enhancement, the maximum benefit will also increase from $850 to $875, helping to keep more money in the pockets of many eligible beneficiaries.

Our plan for keeping costs down also includes cutting fees. Our government is helping people who are feeling the pinch at the gas pumps, as the cost of gas has never been higher—although it’s lowering, it’s still very high. As of July 1, we cut the gas tax by 5.7 cents per litre and the fuel tax by 5.3 cents per litre for six months.

Notre gouvernement aide les gens qui subissent les effets de la hausse des prix de l’essence. Le 1^er juillet, nous avons diminué la taxe sur l’essence de 5,7 cents le litre et la taxe sur le mazout de 5,3 cents le litre pour six mois.

In addition to these cuts, we are making it less expensive to drive, because we know that driving is necessary for many families. By eliminating and refunding licence plate renewal fees for passenger vehicles, light duty trucks, motorcycles and mopeds, drivers in southern Ontario will be saving $120 per year, per vehicle, and about $60 per vehicle in northern Ontario. Further, Madam Speaker, we have also removed the tolls on Highways 412 and 418, bringing relief particularly to people in the Durham region, and a benefit to every single person who uses these highways.

The next pillar that I would like to speak about is working for workers. Our economy needs skilled workers, and our workers need our support. That is why our government is working for workers and reducing the harmful stigma around trades, especially for women and young people. Building on the success of the Skills Development Fund announced in the 2020 budget, Ontario is providing an additional $15.8 million in the 2022-23 fiscal year to support the development and expansion of brick-and-mortar training facilities, which could include union training halls, to help more workers get the skills they need to find good, well-paying jobs and to ensure employers can find the talent they need to build and grow their businesses.

The next part of our plan I will cover is building highways and our infrastructure. Ontario is growing, and as Ontario grows, we will need roads, highways, transit and other infrastructure. That’s why we have a plan to keep moving Ontario. At the heart of our plan is a capital investment of $158 billion over the next 10 years, with planned investments of over $20 billion in 2022 and 2023. Our plan fights gridlock, with improvements to trains, to subways and highways. We’re investing an historic $86.6 billion—let me repeat that: We are investing an historic $86.6 billion over 10 years to build and expand roads, highways and transit infrastructure right across the province, including Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass. Highway 413 will save drivers up to 30 minutes each way during rush hour on their commute, while supporting thousands of jobs each year.

Nous faisons un investissement historique de 86,6 milliards de dollars sur 10 ans dans des projets d’expansion et de réhabilitation de routes à l’échelle de la province, dont l’autoroute 413 et le contournement de Bradford. L’autoroute 413 permettra aux conducteurs d’économiser jusqu’à 30 minutes à l’heure de pointe, dans les deux sens, tout en soutenant des milliers d’emplois chaque année. D’accord?

And construction of Highway 413 is expected to support up to 3,500 jobs each year and generate up to $350 million in annual real GDP—I thought the associate minister would like that.

The Bradford Bypass is a new four-lane freeway connecting Highway 400 in Simcoe county and Highway 404 in York region. The Bradford Bypass will relieve pressure off of Highway 400 and existing local roads.

Interjection.

It would seem that the time for petitions has expired. I will point out that the length of the petitions seems to be getting longer by the day. Members in many cases want to present the petition in its entirety and I understand that completely, but you don’t have to. If you wish, you could abbreviate it, which would allow more petitions to be presented on both sides of the House.

Mr. Bethlenfalvy moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill 2, An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes / Projet de loi 2, Loi visant à mettre en oeuvre les mesures budgétaires et à édicter et à modifier diverses lois.

Yes, we have many supporters on all sides.

Drivers in the region will experience relief from endless gridlock, saving them up to 35 minutes. And during construction, the Bradford Bypass is expected to support about 2,640 jobs per year on average and generate an estimated $274 million in annual gross domestic product.

Interjections.

Further to building new highways, our government’s plan also includes widening or improving highways in Peterborough, in Belleville, in Brockville, in Leamington, in Cochrane and many more. Our capital plan will invest more than $61 billion over the next 10 years and a huge expansion in new subways, GO rail and other vital transit infrastructure.

And in the north—we have a number of people from the north here—we have a plan to improve road safety, create jobs and make life easier for people in the north. In 2022-23, the government plans to spend $492.7 million on critical infrastructure projects in northern Ontario.

The final pillar of our budget is our plan to stay open. Our plan includes unprecedented investments and measures to keep our economy open and to invest in our health care and long-term-care system.

Notre plan comprend des investissements et des mesures sans précédent pour garder notre économie ouverte et investir dans notre système de santé et de soins de longue durée.

Our government’s 10-year, $40-billion capital plan includes building or renovating hospitals, supporting more than 50 major hospital projects and adding 3,000 new beds over 10 years.

Now, we know that people would prefer to recover at home where they are comfortable, in comfortable surroundings, along with their loved ones. That is why our government is planning to invest an additional $1 billion over the next three years to expand home care. We’re also going to support aging at home. Our government is proposing to create a new seniors care at home tax credit. This refundable personal income tax credit would assist seniors who have a low-to-moderate income and help cover the cost of eligible medical expenses such as grab bars and grip rails, vision and dental care and walking aids. Starting with this tax year, 2022, eligible recipients would receive up to a maximum credit of $1,500. This new tax credit, should this legislation pass, is expected to provide $110 million in support to about 200,000 low-to-moderate-income senior families, or on average about $550.

To make it easier to claim the new Ontario Seniors Care at Home Tax Credit, it would be based on the medical expenses claimed for the existing Ontario medical expenses tax credit. Furthermore, the proposed credit would be refundable, supporting low- to moderate-income senior families even if they do not owe any personal income tax. This would fill a gap for those seniors who cannot fully benefit from the existing non-refundable medical expense tax credits because they owe little to no personal income tax. So the new seniors care at home tax credit means seniors could more easily and comfortably age in their own homes, within their community, surrounded by their loved ones.

Our plan to stay open also takes immediate action to support our health care workforce, investing $142 million to recruit and retain health care workers in underserved communities. In order to keep health care strong so it can deliver care across the province, the government is also investing $42.5 million over two years, beginning in 2023-24, which would support the expansion of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education and training in Ontario, with an expected increase of 160 undergraduate seats and 295 postgraduate positions over the next five years. And we are investing more than $1.3 billion in making the wage enhancement permanent for more than 158,000 personal support workers and direct support workers.

Now, in a time of inflation and economic uncertainty, the opposition has had every opportunity to help us put more money back into the pockets of the people of Ontario, but let me ask you this: Did they vote for the Tax Relief at the Pumps Act?

Further debate?

It’s an honour for me to rise today on behalf of the great residents of London North Centre to discuss Bill 2, the Plan to Build Act, for its third reading in this House.

Last time, I discussed some items that were good in the budget—I’m very much in support of moving WSIB to London—but today I would like to discuss some of the elements that are missing. It’s often been said that if we do the same thing again and again and expect different results, it’s the definition of madness. But also, in nature, the tree that is unyielding will eventually break, whereas the one that will move with the wind is the one that will thrive and persevere. This budget is an example of unyielding, of unchanging, of not learning the lessons over the past number of months.

You see, Speaker, we have a budget that was tabled in April that has not undergone significant modifications. We’ve seen the affordability crisis explode—inflation at 8.1%. We’ve seen ERs closing across the province. We’ve seen nurses walking away from their jobs, retiring in droves. And this government has not done enough to address that in this budget.

The budget, as well, is a statement of priorities. We discuss values often in financial terms, but a budget also includes a government’s values in terms of principles. In short, the budget is a statement of values as guiding principles; it is both an ethical and a moral document.

In this Legislature, we ought to enforce equity to ensure those who are pushed to the margins are heard, respected and strengthened. We have to affirm as a Legislature that those at the beginning of their lives and at the end of their lives, with some exceptions, need more support than the rest of us in between. We ought to ensure as well that every single dollar that is spent by this government achieves its intended result. If expenditures are ineffective or compromised by outside forces, we should similarly adjust our approach.

We have this opportunity to learn the lessons from COVID, and we have the benefit of retrospection and clarity to see what worked and see what did not. Seniors, children, those living with disabilities, social services and small businesses were all pushed to the brink. At the same time, we saw others profiting from these disastrous conditions. We have yet to see this government stand up to pandemic profiteering and do the right thing, do the honourable thing.

As I mentioned, inflation has hit a staggering 8.1%. In this budget, the government has 2.5%. It’s less than half the current level of inflation. It’s even been called wishful thinking by some. It’s delusional. It’s unresponsive. It’s unrealistic to our current fiscal climate.

Additionally, the budget’s $1-billion rainy day provision is far, far too low. That amount is just one half of 1% of the total spending. If there are going to be spending hiccups, overruns or any other difficult or problematic decisions, this government is going to be in grave difficulty. And I worry that it’s going to be an excuse for further privatization and further cuts to our public spending if this government doesn’t do the right thing.

Furthermore, we hear a lot about this ridiculous and unnecessary highway, Highway 413, which is going to benefit many wealthy developer friends of this government, but in this budget there is no detailed costing for it and other highway spending. It’s not itemized. That’s disturbing, Speaker.

As well, with inflation being as high as it is and not being addressed thoroughly by this government, it means working people and families have lost almost one tenth of their buying power. It could mean taking on more household debt to put food on the table. People are having to make difficult decisions. To actively combat this affordability crisis, the government could raise minimum wage. They could focus on ensuring good jobs have equally good pay.

In health care, we’ve seen that Ontario has 5,400 fewer nurses than one year ago. They could repeal Bill 124 and show some respect for our front-line heroes, who have worked tirelessly, made tremendous personal sacrifices, put their families at risk. Instead, we see them plowing forward with this cut to nurses’ wages, because 1% is a cut with inflation being at 8.1%.

We also do not have wage parity across sectors. The Victorian Order of Nurses cannot respond to the number of requests that they have for service, and part of that is a direct result of wage parity, because in the community care setting, PSWs earn $3.57 per hour less, whereas nurses earn $11 less per hour. That’s a gap that needs to be addressed by this government.

I also am deeply surprised that, in terms of seniors’ care, this government has not yet learned that—having profit off of someone’s ill health or someone’s old age is something that they’re content with. When we saw that the army came in and saw the conditions that they did, this government should have been incentivized to act to make sure seniors were treated with respect and dignity, but instead we see rewards going to the worst of the worst, multi-million-dollar contracts, 30-year contracts going to homes that do not deserve to care for yet more seniors. It is a moral horror and one that is on this government’s conscience. I wish they would listen to their conscience.

As well, when we look at young people, students do not have enough supports. We see that this government has frozen tuition, but they’ve cut from the university sector. We also need to see greater further mental health supports for students, as referenced by OUSA and Eunice Oladejo. Unfortunately, we don’t see enough investments in mental health, either for the province or for children. The two-and-a-half-year wait time for children for mental health supports is unconscionable and something that needs to be acted upon.

There’s so much to discuss in this budget. Ontarians with disabilities are hardly even mentioned. We take a look at this government and their investments in hospital infrastructure, but not in the people who support that infrastructure. There’s no mention of the AODA whatsoever. It doesn’t mention the goal or the fact that they’re not going to achieve it by 2025 as promised.

I see that I’m running rather low on time, Speaker, but I also wanted to mention something that the last Liberal government let southwestern Ontario down on for a number of years, and that would be rail connections to southwestern Ontario. It’s something that was promised, and we still have yet to see shovels in the ground.

This crisis that we have in health care and long-term care and privatization should be a wake-up call for us all that privatization steals money from the public purse. It siphons tax dollars into the pockets of insiders, and how Conservative governments can justify not spending the entire health care dollar on front-line care is beyond me. It goes against the fiscally prudent values which they claim to espouse. No one should profit off of someone’s ill health or old age.

I cannot accept this budget as written. It needs to be improved.

Let me ask you this: Did they vote to raise minimum wage, which we introduced in our fall economic statement in 2021, Build Ontario?

La Loi de 2022 pour favoriser le développement est une loi importante qui nous permettrait de mettre en oeuvre ce plan.

Madam Speaker, I urge all members to vote for this plan. Together, let’s build Ontario.

No.