Supplementary question.

We know that the Montfort Hospital in the Ottawa region is a critical hospital partner that will continue to operate strongly in the province of Ontario and in the Ottawa region.

Specifically regarding the ER closing: As I’ve mentioned, whether an emergency department has to close for two hours, a shift or, unfortunately, over a weekend, there are processes that are in place to avoid in all possible cases that happening. In some situations, that cannot be the case, and there is a very clear process that lays out what has to happen in terms of notifying first responders, notifying the community. And of course, the hospital continues to operate and have staff there to redirect people to nearby hospitals if and when an emergency does appear at their doors.

I will say, Speaker, that as I mentioned in my previous answer, Montfort Hospital is a very critical partner in the Ottawa region, serving the people of Ontario.

We will continue those partnerships. We will work with our partners. We are about solutions.

They can talk about the problems.

In the meantime, let’s get the job done—which is what we have been doing and what we will continue to do.

Ma question s’adresse à la ministre de la Santé. Le 6 et 7 août, l’Hôpital Montfort, l’hôpital francophone de notre ville, a fermé ses urgences, à chaque fois pour une période de 12 heures. Le problème était la pénurie d’infirmières. Cet hôpital existe parce qu’un puissant mouvement communautaire l’a sauvé d’un gouvernement conservateur, en 1997, qui voulait fermer définitivement ses portes.

Monsieur le Président, ce gouvernement a-t-il l’intention de revenir à cet héritage?

Donc, monsieur le Président, je crois que les francophones méritent le droit à ces soins de santé dans leur propre langue. Qu’est-ce qu’il faut faire pour continuer de la sorte?

Il faut se souvenir des paroles de Gisèle Lalonde, qui était la chef du mouvement SOS Montfort qui a sauvé cet hôpital en 2002. Elle a dit : « Pour faire entendre nos voix, on doit continuer la bataille par ici. »

For the Anglophones in the room, she said, “To make ourselves heard, we had to fight them from here. And Toronto would listen because we’d fight so hard they’d hear” us from Toronto.

Les gens sont là pour défendre l’Hôpital Montfort. Quel est le message de la ministre aujourd’hui—en français?

We are thankful to our health care heroes across this province for the contributions they make.

Our record investments into health care, Mr. Speaker—let’s take a look at our record in the city of Windsor. For the first time, a government—this government—is building a new hospital in the city of Windsor. After 15 years of being neglected by the Liberal government—which the members opposite propped up—this government took action to build in cities like Windsor and Brampton that were ignored.

Unfortunately, the member opposite voted against a new hospital in Windsor.

We are going to continue to ensure that we build health care capacity across this province, whether it’s building new hospitals in Windsor, in Brampton, in Mississauga, in Niagara or across this province. We hope that the members opposite can support that plan to build Ontario.

My question is to the Premier.

Windsor has some of the highest wait times for emergency room care across the entire province. I’ve heard from constituents who are waiting 20 hours to be seen. Nurses and other health care workers are burnt out, working multiple shifts back to back. The minister recently blamed the same health care workers for the government-created crisis that we are experiencing. This Conservative government continues to suppress their wages, forcing nurses to leave the profession in record numbers. Many in Windsor–Essex work in the US, where they are respected, protected and paid appropriately.

Will this government immediately repeal Bill 124 and work to fix our health care system rather than tear it down?

Interjections.

I want to send this over to the Minister of Health so she knows that there is a crisis here in Ontario.

We have a shortage of family and emergency department physicians in Windsor and across Ontario.

It is imperative that Ontarians have access to timely medical care, to cancer screenings by family physicians.

Why won’t this government finally do something to address the health care shortage, repeal Bill 124 and ensure that people have access to timely medical care?

I would like to present this petition on behalf of 224 residents of Gogama in my riding. It was sent to me by Wivine Bruneau, and it reads as follows:

“Gogama Nursing Station

“Whereas Gogama is an isolated northern community with many seniors and residents who need access to primary care;

“Whereas the Gogama Nursing Station provided access to quality primary care for decades but service has been inconsistent and infrequent since ... 2018;

“Whereas residents in isolated northern communities in Ontario deserve equitable access to health care,”

They petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

“To ensure that the Gogama Nursing Station is funded, staffed and fully functioning to deliver quality primary care consistently.”

I fully support this petition, will fix my name to it and send it to the table with page Pania.

“Gas Prices

“Whereas northern Ontario motorists continue to be subject to wild fluctuations in the price of gasoline; and

“Whereas the province could eliminate opportunistic price gouging and deliver fair, stable and predictable fuel prices; and

“Whereas five provinces and many US states already have some sort of gas price regulation; and

“Whereas jurisdictions with gas price regulations have seen an end to the wild price fluctuations, a shrinking of the price discrepancies between urban and rural communities and lower annualized gas prices;”

They “petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

“Mandate the Ontario Energy Board to monitor the price of gasoline across Ontario in order to reduce price volatility and unfair regional price differences while encouraging competition.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and give it to my good page Zane to bring it to the Clerk.

I want to thank the member from Mississauga–Malton for this question. I think it is timely, with the challenge of national inflation rising and the cost of living impacting every single one of our constituents.

We have an opportunity in this House to provide additional financially—even if it is incremental—to make life a bit more affordable for the moms and dads of this province, who have borne so much of this pandemic.

It’s interesting; the member from Davenport, as she criticizes me on the other side, said yesterday, “It’s very disappointing.” What is disappointing, Speaker, is that when as legislators we have a duty, an opportunity, to provide relief, that we all stand up and we provide it to the parents of this province—every one of us should be united by that mission. It’s sad that when we did this in August 2020, with $200 to every child; and when we did it in February 2021, with another $200 to every child; and when we doubled it to $400 in May 2021, in each and every example, New Democrats and Liberals opposed it.

This Premier will continue to make life more affordable. And the message to parents is quite simple: Relief is on the way.

Our mission is simple: It is a normal, a stable and, yes, a more enjoyable school year for these kids. They deserve it, and I know we all believe that. In order to put that vision into practice, it’s about having a plan to help these kids catch up. The most consequential policy we can achieve as legislators for these kids is to keep them in school and stand up for stability—be it from the pandemic or from the labour negotiations.

These kids deserve to be in school. In every region of the province I’ve heard this same message from parents, “Get my kids in school and keep them there,” and our commitment is to do just that.

Speaker, through you: There is no one who thinks that a 19-hour wait in an emergency room, waiting for a physician to see the patient, is acceptable—which is, frankly, why we are doing so much. We have been seized with this. The Premier talked about this.

In the throne speech, we said we are going to build a better health care system in the province of Ontario, because, frankly, the NDP and the Liberals didn’t do it when they had the opportunity.

We will make sure that foreign-credentialed health care professionals get the opportunity to get credentials, to get their licence in the province of Ontario quickly. We will expand—we’ve already expanded—the Learn and Stay program so that nurses who learn in their communities can stay and work in that community. We have expanded the opportunity for residency, for new grads to stay in the province of Ontario. All of this work is ongoing, without a doubt.

I don’t find a 19-hour wait acceptable; I’m sure that you do not. But work with us to build up this system and be positive about what we have been able to—

I just wanted to correct my record from this morning. In debate I suggested to the Minister of Health that it wasn’t her right to respond in one of Canada’s two official languages. That was incorrect and wrong and I apologize to the Minister of Health for making that remark this morning. I’ve got to be better than that.

“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” a maximum of “$1,169 per month, only 41% and 65% of the poverty line,” respectively;

“Whereas the Ontario government has not increased social assistance rates” until recently “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” the Ontario Works program, “and to increase other programs accordingly.”

I’m happy to sign this petition and send it to the Clerks’ table with page Adam.

Mr. Speaker, talk about part-time—let’s look at the record of the NDP. The first time they started asking about air conditioning was when we were 90% of the way of getting air conditioning in every single room in the province of Ontario. Then, all of a sudden it became important to the NDP. That’s when it became important. But here’s the reality, for the new colleagues who might not have been here. They actually voted against air conditioning in every room. They voted against it. They voted against adding 28,000 PSWs and health care professionals in our long-term care. He got up in his seat and voted against it. They voted against 58,000 new and upgraded beds for our seniors. That is the shameful record of the NDP.

Welcome to the party. We’re getting it done for seniors. We’re getting it done for health care. We’re getting it done for the people of the province of Ontario in a way that they never could and they never—

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, I’ll congratulate all members on what was a very fun and entertaining and very fruitful first week for the people of the province of Ontario and congratulate all members on their hard work.

On Monday, August 15, and on Tuesday, obviously the House will not be sitting so that members from all sides can attend the AMO conference in Ottawa.

We will be returning on Wednesday, August 17. In the morning, obviously, we will be dealing with Bill 3, the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022—again, to remind all colleagues that we will be returning at 1 o’clock on the Wednesday. In the afternoon, we will be dealing again with Bill 3, the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act.

Then, on Thursday, August 18, in the morning, we will be dealing with Bill 2, the budget measures act—and again in the afternoon, on the budget, Bill 2.

My question is to the Premier.

The Premier passed legislation requiring long-term-care homes to have air conditioning for residents in their bedrooms; 15% missed the deadline. Despite this, almost 100 homes across Ontario have no AC at all.

In June, July and August—just days ago—temperatures were in the 30s, with a humidex of nearly 40 degrees. In homes with COVID outbreaks, this meant seniors were roasting in rooms above 40 degrees for several days at a time, some having heatstroke and dying.

Across Ontario, staff were overwhelmed and under-supported. Bill 124 continued to cap their wages and force people out of the profession.

He knew that seniors were deprived of water. He knows they’re being confined to their rooms for days and denied air conditioning in a deadly heat wave. Clearly, seniors’ care is not a priority for this government.

Speaker, will the Premier finally make seniors in long-term care a priority? Announce today that being the Minister of Long-Term Care will no longer be a part-time job in this government. Our seniors—

To reply, the Minister of Health.

The House recessed from 1139 to 1300.

Motion agreed to.

I move that when the House adjourns today it stand adjourned until 9 a.m. on Wednesday August 17, 2022.

My question is for the Minister of Education.

Minister, in the past, the government has provided direct financial support to hard-working, caring parents. It was music to my ears when I heard in the throne speech that the government is again going to provide financial relief to parents. While the opposition has criticized this relief, we know its importance and its impact to the parents.

Minister, why is this investment critical, especially now, more than ever, when parents are facing economic difficulty?

Speaker, to the minister: While financial relief is on the way, what can students, like my own high-school-going daughter, expect and look forward to this September?

“Whereas our government was elected with a plan to stay open by investing in hospitals, long-term-care homes and home care and Ontario’s health care workforce; and

“Whereas to accomplish this our government is:

“—investing $40 billion in capital over 10 years for hospitals and other health infrastructure to meet the challenges that may lie ahead;

“—spending $764 million over two years to provide nurses with up to $5,000 retention bonuses;

“—investing $42.5 million over two years, beginning in 2023-24, to support the expansion of 160 undergraduate and 295 post-graduate positions, including” the new hospital and the “medical schools in Brampton and Scarborough;

“—investing an additional $1 billion in home care over three years;

“—shoring up domestic production of critical supplies and ensuring Ontario is prepared for future emergencies by committing, as of April 2022, more than $77 million of the Ontario Together Fund to leverage almost $230 million in investments to support manufacturing of Ontario-made personal protective equipment;

“—investing $3.5 billion over three years to support the continuation of over 3,000 hospital beds put in place during the pandemic, and $1.1 billion over three years to support the continuation of hundreds of new adult, pediatric and neonatal critical care beds added during COVID-19;

“—a new refundable Ontario Seniors Care at Home Tax Credit to help seniors aged 70 and older with eligible home care medical expenses to help people stay in their homes ... ; and

“—a province-wide expansion to the community paramedicine program, enabling community paramedics to provide key non-emergent health care services within homes for eligible seniors;

“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 make strategic investments....”

I fully support this petition, and I will send it through page Benjamin.

I’d like to bring forward a petition.

“Whereas we know that building critical infrastructure is crucial to delivering better services, moving people faster and generating long-term sustainable economic growth; and

“Whereas under the leadership of Premier Ford our government is making historic investments to build and repair infrastructure in every region of Ontario; and

“Whereas at the heart of the plan is a capital investment of $158.8 billion over the next 10 years, with $20 billion in 2022 and 2023 alone, and includes plans to invest in trains, roads and subways; and

“Whereas our plan includes $25.1 billion in capital over 10 years to support planning, building and improving highways, including Highway 413, the Bradford Bypass, the 401 and Highway 7; and

“Whereas part of this capital investment includes $61.6 billion in capital over 10 years for public transit, including expanding GO rail services to London and Bowmanville; and

“Whereas our government plans to invest in hospital infrastructure with a $40-billion, 10-year program; and

“Whereas these investments will increase the capacity in our hospitals, build new health care facilities and renew existing hospitals and community health centres; and

“Whereas in education, our government is investing $21 billion, including about $14 billion in capital grants over the next 10 years to support the renewal and the expansion of school infrastructure and child care projects;

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

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support Ontario’s historic program to build highways and key infrastructure.”

Would the minister care to lead off the debate? I recognize the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

J’aimerais remercier M^me Carmen Girard de Hanmer dans mon comté pour ces pétitions.

« Rendre l’autoroute 144 près de la rue Marina sécuritaire.

« Alors que les résidents de Levack, Onaping et Cartier, et les gens qui voyagent sur l’autoroute 144, sont préoccupés par la sécurité d’une section de l’autoroute 144 près de l’intersection de la rue Marina et aimeraient prévenir d’autres accidents et décès;

« Alors que trois accidents sont survenus l’été dernier et quatre accidents sont survenus cet été, qui ont entraîné des blessures, le déversement de diesel dans l’eau et la fermeture de l’autoroute 144 pendant des heures, ce qui a retardé la circulation et bloqué les résidents;

« Alors que le ministère des Transports a terminé l’examen de l’autoroute 144 près de la rue Marina, et ils ont recommandé des améliorations et se sont engagés à réévaluer pour que l’autoroute devienne sécuritaire. »

Ils pétitionnent « l’Assemblée législative de l’Ontario pour que le ministère des Transports revoit immédiatement l’autoroute 144 près de la rue Marina et s’engage à la rendre sécuritaire, le plus tôt possible, » mais au plus tard, au mois de décembre 2022.

Je vous remercie. J’appuie cette pétition et je la donne à Lucia pour l’amener à la table des greffiers.

“MS Specialized Clinic in Sudbury.

“Whereas” northern “Ontario has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Ontario;

“Whereas specialized MS clinics provide essential health care services to those living with multiple sclerosis, their caregiver and their family;

“Whereas the city of Greater Sudbury is recognized as a hub for health care in northeastern Ontario;”

They “petition the Legislative Assembly ... as follows:

“Immediately set up a specialized MS clinic in the Sudbury area that is staffed by a neurologist who specializes in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, a physiotherapist and a social worker at a minimum.”

I support this petition, Speaker, will affix my name to it and ask my good page Ria to bring it to the Clerk.

Mr. Clark moved second reading of the following bill:

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 would love to, Speaker. Thanks so much.

It is a real pleasure and a privilege to rise for second reading of our government’s proposed Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act. I want to, right off the top, say that I’ll be sharing the government’s time with the Associate Minister of Housing and the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. So the three of us will share the government’s time.

Speaker, Ontarians re-elected our government at a time when they are facing rising living costs and a shortage of housing. They sent us back to work with a strong mandate, because we promised to get more housing built faster. We know that Ontario is in the middle of a housing supply crisis; people are desperately looking for housing that meets their needs and their budget. Yet today in Ontario, Speaker, too many families are frozen out of the housing market. Young people are searching for their first home, a home where they’ll have room to have children and grow their family, while still being close to work, schools and essential services. Seniors are thinking about downsizing and want homes that meet their needs as they age, without having to move far away from the people and the places that they love.

Everyone is looking for something different, and we knew we needed clear support to get the right policies in place to build more homes faster.

Nous savions que nous avions besoin d’aide pour adopter les bonnes politiques afin de bâtir plus d’habitations plus rapidement.

Our government created the Housing Affordability Task Force of industry leaders and exports to recommend additional measures to increase the supply of market housing to address the housing crisis, and that task force stated in their introductory letter of their report—I’m going to paraphrase it for members now, Speaker:

“For many years, the province has not built enough housing to meet the needs of our growing population....

“Efforts to cool the housing market have only provided temporary relief to homebuyers. The long-term trend is clear: house prices are increasing much faster than Ontarian’s incomes. The time for action is now.”

Speaker, the task force also pointed out, after meeting with a variety of housing sector partners, that they heard solutions that fit into five themes:

(1) increasing density across the province;

(2) ending exclusionary municipal rules that block or delay new housing;

(3) depoliticizing the housing approvals process;

(4) preventing abuse of the housing appeals system; and

(5) financial support to municipalities to build more housing.

I want all members of the House to keep the second and the third recommendations in mind. Those are ending exclusionary municipal rules and depoliticizing the housing approvals process.

Speaker, our government’s target is to build 1.5 million homes in the next 10 years. We have and we will continue to explore ways to help municipalities get more homes built faster. As the task force pointed out, there’s a bottleneck when it comes to getting shovels in the ground for new home construction. Development approvals and appropriate zoning are often delayed or, in some cases, hindered because of opposition from some members on local municipal councils. Some projects are even abandoned. Even if the project finally gets a go-ahead, a tremendous amount of damage is done.

The C.D. Howe Institute found restrictions and extra costs on building new housing are dramatically increasing the price of housing developments. These restrictions include delays on projects and also permitting approvals. The institute found, Speaker—you really have to listen to this, because this is staggering—that these barriers add approximately $168,000 or 22% to the average cost of a single detached home in the city of Toronto. What’s more, Speaker, the Ontario Association of Architects concluded that for a 100-unit condominium building right here in Toronto, delayed approvals cost home builders almost $2,000 per unit per month—unbelievable. These are costs that are ultimately passed down to homeowners and to renters.

Delays are contributing to an unfortunate statistic that was highlighted recently by Rescon, Ontario’s leading association of residential builders. Rescon says that we are underproducing housing by about 12,000 units per year here in Ontario. I think we all agree: We need to do everything we can to help ensure that there is unimpeded construction of homes.

A good step, Speaker, would be for us to tackle the political logjam in getting approvals. As the Housing Affordability Task Force found in its consultations, stakeholders agree with us that ending exclusionary municipal rules and depoliticizing the housing approvals process are good first steps. This is an issue that transcends municipal ward boundaries, yet it can be at the ward level that the logjam begins. In fact, the cost of housing is the top issue for voters in the upcoming municipal elections this fall. People with well-paying jobs are unable to find housing in both urban city centres and communities across the province because of how quickly costs are rising.

In our electoral system, residents vote for the mayor of their lower-tier and single-tier municipality, in addition to their local councillor. They expect the mayor to look after the overall challenges their community faces, including the need for more housing. However, it’s often unrealistic for mayors to meet the demands under our current system. I want to quote the Premier. Our Premier has said mayors are “accountable for everything. But they have the same single vote as a single councillor.”

In Ontario, a mayor has got one vote on their municipal council, just like all other members. That means the mayor, who could be responsible for three million people, has just as much say on a local issue as one councillor. And yet, despite this, voters have an expectation: Voters expect their mayor to be responsible for all the major city projects and priorities. They’re counting on their mayor to get things done. They count on their mayor to find solutions important to them, including housing.

Today, I think we can agree: Priority projects simply take too long to get through municipal councils and through committees. To be truly effective for their communities, mayors need our support. They need to be empowered. That’s why, Speaker, I am so very proud that we’re leading off second-reading debate on the proposed Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act. The changes would, if passed, give the mayors of the cities of Toronto and Ottawa the ability to drive policy changes, select municipal department heads and bring forward budgets, and it would help our municipal partners deliver on our shared priorities, including housing.

Our government is keeping costs down, and we’re going to build 1.5 million homes to address the housing supply crisis. We know that empowered mayors can better help the province and municipalities work together on housing and other initiatives that are critically important to communities. It is something we need to keep in mind as we expect record growth in the province.

The population of our province of Ontario continues to grow. As it grows, housing has to keep up. I said this this morning: The reality is over one third of Ontario’s growth in the next decade is going to happen in Toronto and Ottawa. These cities have shown us that they’re shovel-ready. They’ve shown us that they’re committed to growth and committed to cutting red tape.

Now I’d like to take a few minutes before I pass the torch along to my colleagues. I’d like to explain specifically how our proposed changes would support growth in Toronto and Ottawa. Our bill proposes changes to the Municipal Act, the City of Toronto Act and other pieces of legislation that, if passed, the changes would provide the heads of council in the city of Toronto and the city of Ottawa with additional governance tools and increased powers to align municipal decision-making with provincial priorities. These increased executive powers would allow them to better organize city hall.

These mayors would be able to hire and fire the chief administrative officer, as well as other department heads. They would also be able to create and reorganize departments, and they would also have the authority to appoint chairs or vice-chairs for committees and for local boards identified in regulation, as well as establish committees. These mayors would also be able to forge a path on the council floor.

If passed, these changes would allow the mayors in both the cities of Ottawa and Toronto to direct provincial priority items for council consideration. This could also include directing staff to prepare proposals. We believe the proposed changes would maintain a solid municipal decision-making framework. Of course, there needs to be a system with checks and balances in place. Mayors would be able to support priority items, as well as their vision for their communities, through the ability to develop the municipality’s budget and then table it for council consideration.

Council would be able to propose amendments to the budget, subject to the mayor’s veto and the council’s override process. Mayors would also have the ability to veto bylaws passed by council in order to further a provincial priority. But as I mentioned, council would still have a role in amending the budget. They could override a mayor’s veto with a two-thirds majority vote.

We’re also proposing changes to the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act that would require a mayor to declare any financial conflicts related to the use of the new powers. The changes would also prevent a mayor from using the powers where they have a financial conflict.

Because of this increased authority that we’re proposing for the mayors, we also want to ensure that voters have their say if a mayor leaves office earlier than expected. That’s why we would require a by-election to replace a mayor with these increased powers if their office becomes vacant, rather than having the current choice of either a by-election or an appointment.

Speaker, we did not take the development of our proposals lightly. We’ve looked at other cities that provide mayors with executive powers. Cities like Chicago, London, Los Angeles and Paris all have a strong-mayor system that works. The mayors in these cities have strengthened roles and additional administrative and executive powers in developing budgets, and some have the opportunity to veto certain items.

These strong-mayor systems support the needs of their growing communities, just as it can support the needs of growing communities in Toronto and Ottawa. This is why we’re putting our trust in local leadership of these two cities, to give the mayors the responsibility to help deliver on our shared provincial-municipal priorities.

Our government believes that a strong-mayor system will help address the housing crisis. We’re not alone in our belief. I’d like to share a quote from the Toronto Region Board of Trade:

“Toronto faces numerous urgent city-wide challenges, from housing, land use, transit, transportation, budget, economic development and climate. Effective, timely solutions require a city chief executive with clear authority to set an agenda, appoint senior city staff, and bring forward policy solutions to council.”

The board goes on to say that for almost two decades, they have long advocated stronger powers for Toronto’s mayor. And they conclude, “Now is the time to act.” We’re moving quickly on this priority as we want to get our proposed changes in place in time for that council term which begins in mid-November.

Our government trusts Ontarians. The population is growing and housing needs to keep up. We’re looking at places that are shovel-ready, committed to growth, and cutting red tape.

Nous envisageons des localités qui sont prêtes pour les travaux, engagées envers la croissance et disposées à réduire les formalités administratives.

That’s why we’re putting our trust in local leadership by giving the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa more responsibility to develop on our shared provincial-municipal priorities, including our commitment to build 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. The province and these two municipalities can work together to ensure housing is more attainable for the people of Ontario.

I’d be more than happy to send things over to my associate minister to continue the conversation. Thank you so much for listening.

I’d like to thank, certainly, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for sharing his time with me today.

I’m very proud to rise in the House today as Ontario’s new Associate Minister of Housing to speak to a bill—

Interjections.

The rising cost of housing has had an impact on so many Ontarians. Families are being priced out of the market, seniors on fixed incomes worrying every month how they will be able to pay their mortgage, and too many members of our next generation feel they will never have a place of their own.

Every single day all of us show up to work here to make choices, tough choices, choices that aren’t always easy. Allow me to be crystal clear that this government will always choose the side of hard-working Ontarians. Today the government of Ontario is proposing legislation that will reinforce how committed we are in supporting our municipal partners to deliver on our shared priorities—priorities that matter to the people of Ontario; priorities such as our election promise to build 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years.

Through this legislation, the government of Ontario will empower our municipal partners to get things done, because the people of Ontario expect nothing less. This includes helping to speed up new home constructions so that we can get more homes built quicker and make sure more families can realize the dream of home ownership. A house isn’t just four walls and a roof, it’s a home; a place for families to build their futures and make memories. Our government has the firm conviction that everyone deserves to have one of their own.

Since day one of being in power, our government has been laser-focused on tackling the province’s housing crisis. In 2019, we released our first housing supply action plan. It was called More Homes, More Choice and provided a road map to help address the housing challenges our province was facing at that time. It was a call to action on the need to build more homes to keep up with the rapidly growing population in Ontario. And it was effective. Since the plan was introduced, the province’s actions and close collaboration with municipalities have delivered results. Last year, in 2021, we saw more than 100,000 housing starts in Ontario, and that is the highest since 1987. Last year also saw more than 13,000 rental starts. Again, the most rental starts since 1991.

Despite our progress, we knew it wasn’t enough. Across the province, no matter where you went, one thing seemed to remain the same: Too many Ontarians were still finding the dream of having a place of their own out of reach. We recognized we needed to go further, so we began a three-part consultation with housing sector experts, municipalities and the public to help identify and implement real solutions to address the housing supply crisis.

First, we conducted an online public consultation through which we received more than 2,000 submissions. Second, we brought together municipalities and municipal associations to hear from leaders on the ground about what needed to be done for us to be able to build more homes. We conducted these consultations through the Ontario municipal housing summit and rural housing round table. The third part of government’s thorough consultation was the creation of the Housing Affordability Task Force.

The task force was made up of a diverse range of experts in non-profit housing, Indigenous housing, real estate, home builders, financial markets and municipal governments. We knew that for this task force to put forward the most fulsome recommendations it needed to include every voice and needed to represent all voices across the province.

Through their engagement with stakeholders, including municipalities and advocacy groups, they developed thought-provoking and detailed recommendations in their report. These recommendations ranged from proposed changes to the planning policies to ways to lower costs for development and to aligning efforts between all levels of government to incentivize building more housing.

Along with the dozens of recommendations provided by the task force, they again issued an urgent call to action. They told us that our province does not currently have enough housing to meet the needs of Ontarians, and that if we didn’t act we would not have enough housing to meet the needs of our growing population tomorrow. So we used the task force recommendations, along with other consultation feedback, to get to work and to take bold actions. We used the task force report as a foundation to craft a new housing supply action plan designed to make sure all Ontarians can find a home that meets their needs and their budgets.

We passed More Homes for Everyone, the next step to help boost housing supply in our province. The legislation laid out ways to get rid of the red tape and bureaucratic inefficiencies that are driving up the cost of homes, all while creating more housing options for renters and buyers. More Homes for Everyone delivers real solutions and addresses the province’s housing crisis.

It includes the new community infrastructure and housing accelerator, which is a tool that helps municipalities expedite approvals for housing and community infrastructure such as hospitals and community centres.

It also made changes to the site plan control decisions. Site plan control is a planning tool that municipalities use to manage development on a parcel of land. What we saw, Mr. Speaker, was that too often, politics was getting in the way of good planning. So we made sure that our plan requires local council to delegate site plan control decisions to municipal staff.

We also extended the timeline for municipalities to review the site plan applications before appeals can be launched, from 30 days to 60 days, to make sure municipalities have the time they need to review projects while preventing unnecessary delays.

In the interests of transparency, we now also require municipalities and development charge bylaw to make their annual reporting on these charges available to the public on the municipality’s website.

These are just some of the ways our comprehensive More Homes for Everyone plan is helping us to get shovels in the ground.

But we knew we couldn’t stop there. Housing affordability is one of the greatest challenges of our time and it must be treated as such. How we, as elected officials, choose to tackle this challenge over the coming years will determine whether an entire next generation will be able to own a home, start a family and build our communities to be even stronger. As a result, we must take bold, decisive action to address the housing shortage. We mustn’t be afraid to challenge the status quo, and we must work with every partner willing to help us get shovels in the ground.

We must deliver real, long-term solutions to ensure home ownership is in reach of all Ontarians. We’re going to use the Housing Affordability Task Force recommendation as a long-term road map to help us get there, a road map that will allow us to work with our partners to develop a new housing supply action plan each year over four years. This includes our municipal partners, each with unique circumstances on the ground and in their communities.

We believe taking a long-term integrated approach will give our municipal partners the time and flexibility they need to work with us to be able to achieve our ambitious goals, because solving the housing supply crisis is a long-term mission and it certainly won’t happen overnight. It requires long-term commitment, partnerships at all levels of government and a solid plan, all three of which will happen in spades.

As the minister outlined when speaking to today’s proposed legislation, Ontario is a growing province. It’s a place where good people of all backgrounds come to begin a new life. As Ontario grows, we must help communities across the province to grow as well. That includes building more attainable homes, because addressing the housing supply issues in our communities is a critical issue and we need to have success. The time for talk is over. The time for action, the time for cutting through red tape and the time for getting shovels in the ground and building the dream of home ownership is now.

To help us get there, we committed to establishing a housing supply action plan implementation team this summer. I’m honoured to stand here in this House and give you the details of this team. The team will be a formal advisory body made up of a volunteer chair and up to eight other members representing key sectors. The team will provide expert advice to the government on implementing and recommendations on the Housing Affordability Task Force. They will help us take decisive action to get more homes built and they will make ongoing improvement to our annual housing supply action plans. Mr. Speaker, they’ll be laser-focused on market housing initiatives and will provide confidential advice to the minister on an ongoing basis about measures to increase housing supply and attainability.

I want to be crystal clear: The core mandate of this team is to get the job done. No more talk, no more reports, no more committee to study the findings of a working group to study the findings of a consultation table; this team is an action team. They will examine the commitment we have made under the More Homes for Everyone plan, as well as the vision and objectives of the Housing Affordability Task Force report and help us implement that, and they will be there to react to any emerging housing priorities and issues identified by our government.

We’re going to count on the expertise of this team to weigh in on a wide array of market-housing-related issues over the next four years. This includes helping us assess any initiatives that our government is considering towards increasing market housing supply. The team will also provide feedback on the best way to roll out our planned initiatives.

Speaker, I’m a results guy. Measuring our success and constantly keeping track of our progress is crucial. As I just mentioned to you earlier, the time for talk is over, and the time for action is now. As such, team members will provide advice on how we can measure the success of our plans when it comes to increasing the amount of attainable housing. This team, made up of some of the province’s foremost experts in the housing sector, will be a crucial part in helping us reach our goal of ensuring every Ontarian has a place to call home.

Because of how serious an issue this is, we ensured that the Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team has access to every tool necessary to carry out their mandate. That’s why the team will be supported by topic-specific expert ad hoc consultation tables. These additional groups will include other housing experts who will weigh in on very specific topics and provide expert technical advice. They will be formed on an as-needed basis and will be dissolved once the needs of their main team are met.

In order for the Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team to provide its best advice to market housing initiatives, our government knew we needed a strong voice to sit at the head of the table. That’s why I’m proud to say that the minister and I will be appointing Mayor Drew Dilkens from the city of Windsor as chair. Mayor Dilkens is a fierce and strong champion for getting homes built. After a successful career as a lawyer, Mayor Dilkens stepped up to serve his community, first as a councillor before being elected as mayor in 2014. He understands the challenges families face accessing the housing market, and is ready to get to work to help our government get shovels in the ground. Undoubtedly, his expertise and passion for solving the housing supply crisis will be a major asset as the team begins its work.

We’re also proud to announce Mayor Cheryl Fort of the town of Hornepayne as the vice-chair.

Interjection.