Speaker, that’s all a bit rich, because last week’s budget has no new funding to build new social housing or even to protect the ones that are already built. And the Premier’s own Housing Affordability Task Force said that a shortage of land was not the cause of the housing crisis. They said we need to make better use of land already available. The NDP supports this principle, but this Premier does not. He ignored his own task force and targeted prime farmland and the greenbelt for destruction. Now, the budget shows that housing starts are going down instead of up.

Speaker, to the Premier, will he admit that his housing policies are failing?

Speaker, my question is to the Premier again: Will he protect tenants by bringing back real rent control and invest meaningfully in affordable and non-market housing?

Budgets should reflect the needs of the people that were elected to serve. During budget consultations, we heard from Ontarians who presented solutions to the major issues facing Ontarians who are facing record evictions, barriers in access to family doctors or even access to an open emergency room in this province. People in Ontario are hurting, but there was no sense of urgency in budget 2023. In fact, one editorial said, “If this budget were a Christmas present, it would be a three-pack of white socks. Not entirely useless. But an exercise in going through the motions.”

Why didn’t this government listen to the people of this province? Because they presented solutions to our health care crisis, to a housing crisis and, yes, to a climate change crisis.

Municipalities were promised to be made whole by the minister after Bill 23 removed the development charges and compromised cities’ abilities to actually produce housing in the province of Ontario. In fact, budget 2023 contains a $124-million cut.

Education: School boards are facing millions in shortfalls with depleted reserves, and OSSTF notes that the entire budget change for the education sector comes from the federal child care money—which leads to a general question about transparency in the budgeting of this government.

Will this government be amenable to fixing this budget? Because we are focused on solutions on this side of the House.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. To begin, congratulations to the minister on the introduction of the budget that lays out our government’s plan to build a strong Ontario economy. Under the leadership of Premier Ford and this minister, the province is on a steady path to meet any challenge that comes our way.

However, Ontarians know that we’re not immune from the effects of global economic uncertainty, high interest rates and inflation. All these factors can adversely impact the ability of manufacturers to grow, innovate and become more competitive while creating new jobs.

Speaker, can the minister please explain what steps our government is taking to create the right conditions for expansion in Ontario’s manufacturing sector?

No.

Speaker, you’ve got to be kidding me. In Minister Bethlenfalvy’s budget, the number 1 and number 2 asks for municipalities: (1) we need more supportive housing—$202 million we’re adding to the homelessness prevention program; (2) wraparound mental health and addiction services with those supportive housing units. We have delivered exactly what municipalities asked as their number 1 and number 2 asks.

It’s going to be very interesting though, Speaker, to see if the Leader of the Opposition and Ontario New Democrats support the number 1 and number 2 requests from 444 municipalities.

That’s who we’re listening to.

Interjections.

The final supplementary.

Start the clock. The next question, the member for Waterloo.

Thank you to the minister for that great response. It’s encouraging to know that our government is continuing to support local communities by attracting key investments that protect jobs. The clear, decisive and targeted investments announced by our government will help contribute to the creation and retention of thousands of good-paying jobs. In contrast to the previous Liberal government, with its reckless policies and complete disregard for the manufacturing sector, our government is leading with a balanced and sound approach that will benefit individuals, families and our communities.

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on how the proposed Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit will improve our province’s competitive edge?

Mr. Speaker, you bet I can. That’s a great question. I also appreciate the member recognizing what happens within his community when the film and television industry comes in not for a visit, but to do their work and stay for a while. The ripple effect is positive for everybody. Thank you for noticing.

The film and television production industries continue to thrive. Some people might say to me, as they have before, “Thrive? How could they have thrived?” Well, let me tell you: 2022 was the best year ever. Hard to believe, but that goes to show you what a great industry it is. It is thriving, as I said, and it has wonderful people driving the bus—highest productions ever. I don’t like to say numbers but I will say it’s over $3 billion back into the economy. That’s 46,000 jobs.

This is an industry that’s moving forward aggressively—

Interjection.

Our schools are facing significant cuts to the supports our children need next year, yet this government’s new budget continues to massively underspend on education. If the government had just kept up with inflation since 2018, they would be spending $2.5 billion more on education. That doesn’t even take into account the additional supports our kids need because of the pandemic.

Will the government finally invest in our children, reimburse school boards for their COVID expenses and provide the stable and adequate funding our children need?

The supplementary question.

And the supplementary question: the member for Nickel Belt.

The supplementary question.

I am incredibly proud of the work that our team was able to do, ratifying an agreement with the Ontario Association of Optometrists for the first time since 2011. Some 98% of Ontario optometrists voted in support of this deal. Why? Because they understood clinically—and we worked very closely with the Ontario Association of Optometrists, and I really have to thank them for their commitment to getting this deal done. They worked very closely to ensure that we were looking at all of the services, where they needed to be expanded—which, of course, we have expanded in appropriate areas like access to glaucoma—and also saying, “Where are those investments and where do those pieces need to be?” Is it a healthy 65-year-old who has no eye issues or is it that young patient who has diabetes, that senior who has—

I think we all know that good vision has a huge impact on our quality of life. The move that has been done by this minister leads me to ask: What body of evidence that was used does the minister have to support her decision to reduce access to eye care for vulnerable seniors with deteriorating vision? What is the body of evidence that supports the move that this government is doing?

Preventive care keeps older Ontarians out of hospitals and emergency rooms. Currently, seniors can access an eye exam every 12 months, but under this government’s new rules, they will have to wait 18 months to get an exam covered by OHIP. This is a move to push seniors into using privatized services that many seniors cannot afford, nor should they have to.

To the Premier: Why is this government jeopardizing seniors’ health by reducing access to OHIP-covered eye care?

My question is for Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. The film production industry has been a major success story in Cambridge, and we welcome the tremendous economic injection into our local economy from domestic and foreign film productions. Nearly $900,000 was brought in just last year.

One production that has been filmed here since its first season is The Handmaid’s Tale, which became Cambridge’s unofficial claim to fame on the small screen. While viewers greatly enjoy this show as it wraps up its final season, local businesses in my community greatly benefited from the production and the work completed here.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government is supporting the film industry in Ontario, especially in communities like mine, with new film and cinema production opportunities?

Besides enjoying the annual growth of this industry and the benefits to our economy, the people of Ontario expect our government to ensure we have a permanent foundation for homegrown film and television industries. Can the minister please elaborate on the outlook for the film and television industry in Ontario?

My question is for the Minister of Red Tape Reduction. Red tape gets in the way of businesses and is a waste of time, energy and money. Unnecessary and outdated regulations implemented by the previous Liberal government, backed by the NDP, led to frustrations, delays, and compromised Ontario’s competitive economic advantage over other jurisdictions.

Under the leadership of the Premier and this minister, our government is following through on our promise to tackle the inconvenience and hardship of pointless fees, complicated paperwork and duplicative processes. While significant success has been achieved to make life easier through the Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario Act, more work needs to be done.

Speaker, can the minister please explain what positive impacts the people of our province can expect to see as a result of this legislation?

People and businesses in my riding and right across the province are best placed to help our government identify and eliminate outdated regulations and burdensome red tape. A focused and collaborative approach will ensure our continued economic success. Their knowledge and expertise will pinpoint unnecessary rules that do not serve a purpose and those that could be improved.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government will engage with Ontarians to identify how best to remove regulatory barriers?

Minister of Education.

Supplementary question?

The next question.

I thank the member opposite for the question. I am very proud to confirm that the budget increases funding in the public education school system by $2.3 billion, of which $1.3 billion specifically in baseline education funding is up from the year prior, Mr. Speaker. This year, compared to last year, it’s up $671 million. Every single year, we’ve increased funding.

In fact, under the Premier’s leadership, funding is up, compared to the former Liberals, by 27% in the Ministry of Education. That is an investment in children.

We’ve hired 8,000 more staff. We have 200 more principals. We have another 800 more teachers.

Mr. Speaker, we just announced a $15-billion investment to build new schools after the systematic closure of schools under the former Liberals. We’re going to con-tinue to invest and ensure these kids get back on track.

Mr. Speaker, the special education budget this year is up to $3.2 billion. That is the highest level it has ever been in our province’s history. I assure the member opposite that for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, we are working together across the ministry to ensure they have the supports, the resources and the staff in place to succeed in our schools.

A glorious morning, everyone, and welcome to the new member from Hamilton Centre.

Housing is an issue that is top of mind for most Ontarians. For many, owning a home is completely out of reach, and finding a home to rent is also a struggle. There are simply not enough homes to go around and not enough that are affordable.

Enter the government, with their impressive, albeit lofty, goal to build 1.5 million homes in the next 10 years.

Last week, we received the 2023 Ontario budget. The government projects over 80,000 housing starts a year for the next three years. This is a substantial decrease from the forecast in last year’s budget, and if we continue this way, we’ll need to build almost 200,000 homes a year thereafter. This will be next to impossible, Mr. Speaker.

Can the Premier explain to Ontarians how the government plans on achieving the goal of 1.5 million homes in 10 years based on the numbers we saw in the budget last week and considering we are already behind schedule?

We know people want to live in existing communities, in urban centres and vibrant neighbourhoods, with access to infrastructure they need to enjoy a fruitful life: schools, public transit, parks, hospitals, shops. We should focus on creative solutions—building up and not building out, not creating more sprawl. It can and should be done. Homes don’t have to be built in the greenbelt. They don’t have to be built on flood plains and wetlands. They don’t have to be built in areas where you need to access everything by car.

Mr. Speaker, my question is, will the government be focusing on building in existing communities, and if so, what are some of the solutions that they are exploring and how will they do so quickly, efficiently and sustainably?

I want to thank the hard-working member for Brampton North for the important question. We know that under the previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, the province was drowning under red tape. Of course, we know that businesses were fleeing our province and families were having a hard time making ends meet.

Since 2018, reducing red tape has been one of the top priorities for this government, and we have been working hard. We’ve introduced nine different bills to help Ontarians when it comes to unnecessary red tape burden. What all of that means, Mr. Speaker: It means saving businesses and individuals over half a billion dollars in annual costs. Of course, our most recent bill, Bill 46, the Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario Act, again includes a number of meaningful, impactful legislative and regulatory changes to boost our economic growth and modernize our government processes. And we will continue that hard work, Mr. Speaker.