Thank you to the member for Spadina–Fort York for your presentation. I’m referring to what the member from Kitchener–Conestoga was saying, how at the age of 20 he had to come from North Bay to another place to develop his career and his future. I heard this very, very often when I was at either ROMA or AMO, that the problem is that a lot of the next generation has to go either to Toronto or to the south to find jobs. The problem is the seniors, the older folks, will stay behind and they have all sorts of social problems.

I still can’t understand why the opposition is voting against this act, when members from the party are clearly in favour of industry—

Question?

Thank you to the MPP for Spadina–Fort York. I want to pick up a little bit on the theme that this Conservative government has not built confidence or trust when it comes to the environment. With this bill, they are actually undermining trust in this mining industry, particularly when it comes to the idea of watering down financial requirements.

You talked about a mine—was it Iamgold?

I thank the member from Brantford–Brant for the question. We did support that bill to expedite the development of the battery factory in St. Thomas. The big concern that we have is that governments in Ontario, governments in Alberta—Conservative governments in particular—do not have a good record of enforcing regulations so that mining companies leave the site clean and safe for local communities.

In Alberta, for example, they’ve got 170,000 abandoned oil wells that the taxpayer is now on the hook for cleaning up and sealing. We don’t want the communities to be left with a toxic mess and we don’t want the taxpayers to be left with millions or billions of dollars in cleanup costs. That should be part of the operation. That’s the concern we have.

The government has not created trust in their ability to be stewards of the environment for future generations.

I enjoy interacting with my friend from Spadina–Fort York. I’m curious, because I’ve heard this a couple of times about the hesitation that the opposition has about allowing the minister to expedite—not politicize, but expedite—some of these approvals for things because, just a couple of weeks ago, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing had a bill before the Legislature on changing the boundaries of St. Thomas and, I think, Central Elgin in order to expedite putting together a parcel of land so that we could do something really good for workers in the province of Ontario. It seems to me that this legislation does the exact same thing.

I guess my question is, why were you so comfortable supporting a minister expediting something there, on the one hand, but now have great hesitation on a minister being able to expedite something in the north to make life better there?

We’re not voting against it.

Thank you to the member from Spadina–Fort York. During his debate, he was talking about the auto strategy and all the things that are connected, and it reminded me that, in 2018, I had meetings with several of the larger car companies. More or less what they had told me, Speaker—it was during a time when the Conservative government was tearing up charging stations—removing charging stations and removing the incentive for EV vehicles. They said, “Look, the next Detroit is on the horizon.”

Ontario is very desirable because of our universal health care. We’re very desirable because of our post-secondary education—because these new cars are as much technology as they are physical machines—and very desirable because of the mineral strategy and the minerals that we have here.

You talked about several of those things. I’m just wondering: The member opposite was talking about the grades of the past government. What grades would you give this government when it comes to post-secondary education, when it comes to universal health care and anything else?

There’s a theory out there that business will do this and move in this direction on their own at some point, but I know factually that the reason we made this move was because over time, legislation forced less and less pollution to come out, to the point now where they’re talking about removing the Superstack because it’s no longer needed.

And so I’m just wondering, to the member: Do you think that it’s positive to have regulations that protect the environment or do you think that business will make these moves on their own?

First of all, I can appreciate the need for jobs in northern Ontario. One of the things that I would recommend doing is that if the government is working on a last-mile strategy for broadband—broadband is absolutely essential to northern and remote communities, and right now, the government’s standard for rolling out broadband is 50 gigs upload and 10 gigabytes download. That’s an old standard. The broadband that this government is rolling out is actually obsolete before you roll it out, and you’re going to be cutting job opportunities from future generations and from this generation of northerners.

I would highly recommend you go for one gig symmetrical for the broadband rollout. That would be one way that I would create jobs in northern Ontario and create opportunities for people in northern Ontario.

This Bill 124 wage-suppression bill that disproportionately targets women needs to be repealed. It’s actually already been declared by the courts to be unconstitutional, that it’s an infringement on the constitutional, fundamental freedoms of the health care workers, and yet this government is appealing that in court.

Our post-secondary education system: I would have to give them an F on that, but I’m out of time, so I’ll have to wait for a supplementary question to answer.

One of the things that drove me most crazy before I got into this House was that the Conservatives, when they were in power from 1995 to 2003, started to break up and sell off Ontario Hydro. Then the Liberals finished that off by selling off the majority share of hydro. Our hydro rates in Ontario used to be one of our biggest competitive advantages, at four cents a kilowatt hour. We’re now paying four times that, and we’re subsidizing a private, for-profit company that used to be Ontario Hydro: $6.9 billion a year.

We’ve got to maintain our competitive advantages—health care, education, post-secondary education—and somehow, we’ve got—

Just a quick question for my friend from Guelph—I have spoken to him about this personally. I so appreciate how supportive he is about our Critical Minerals Strategy and how we have to get this from Ontario because we can do this cleanly and greenly here. He knows and was actually educating me on how so many of the critical minerals that go into our batteries come through child labour and through horrible practices and environmental devastation in other parts of the world.

I do apologize, because I wasn’t listening as intently as I would like to, but I did want to ask him—and I think I heard that—will he be supporting this bill at second reading so that we can get it into committee and look at some of those things?

It’s an honour to rise to participate in second reading of Bill 71.

I want to be very clear to everyone watching today: Mining is going to play a critical role in Ontario having a competitive advantage in the fast-growing climate economy. We need critical minerals that are mined in a sustainable, ethical way. We need to have a mining-to-manufacturing supply chain not only to build electric vehicles but to also build renewable energy generation, battery storage, micro-grids, electrified public transit. Critical minerals are going to play a vital role, so I want to say to the government, let’s not be hostile to renewable energy anymore. Let’s have this Critical Minerals Strategy be a part of building low-cost renewable energy and resilient grids.

I also want to say to government—and I said this to the Liberals when they were in power—if we’re going to avoid delays in developing the Ring of Fire, then two key critical things need to happen. One is a comprehensive, sustainable land use planning system in place ahead of time to minimize environmental damage and to ensure that we mine in a both fiscally and environmentally sustainable way; and, two, that we work with Indigenous communities to ensure that there’s free, informed and prior consent in the development of mining projects and that we work with those mining companies—and I have met with them—who want to have Indigenous equity ownership as part of mining development in the north.

We can do this. Sudbury’s already leading the way globally in developing sustainable mining practices, especially if you look at places like the mining innovation centre in Sudbury—

One is the phased financial assurances plan that’s in the bill. There can be very good reasons why you would phase that in, but we need to do it in a way that protects Ontario taxpayers. The 2015 Auditor General report says there’s $3.1 billion worth of liabilities of abandoned mines to the people of Ontario. Let’s avoid that in this legislation, moving forward, to protect taxpayers.

And the second one is through the deferred closure plans. Again, I can see the rationale to have flexibility in closure plans, but we need to ensure that those are approved by an independent third party, not by mining companies themselves, to avoid a conflict of interest. So let’s fix that at committee, Speaker.

We need to ensure that the financial assurances system protects the taxpayers of Ontario. According to the Auditor General, we have $3.1 billion in abandoned mining liability; some estimate that’s as high as $7.6 billion now. So we need to ensure that the system is set up in a way to protect the people of Ontario.

And secondly, deferring closure plans: I can understand why we would need flexibility there, but the approval should be done by an independent third party, not by the mining companies themselves.

So I would ask for those changes at committee.

Question?

You’re voting against it, Mike.

Point of order.

Question?

Further debate?

It’s always a pleasure to rise in this House and speak on the wonderful, important bills that we debate here. Before I start, I just want to talk about the only thing, in this House of responsibility—I say, the only thing certain is the uncertainty. When we talk about things today, I must start my debate with: What day is today? March 8, which is International Women’s Day. As we celebrate the remarkable achievements and contributions of women around the world, it is a day to recognize the progress we’ve made towards gender equality and to acknowledge a lot of work that still needs to be done. Together, we can create a world where every woman is valued, respected and empowered. Let’s choose to challenge the status quo and work towards a more equal and just society. It’s not just a word; we need to take action.

By the way, Madam Speaker, I want to mention—an honourable mention: Kudos to my wife, Aruna Anand, and daughter, Suvidhi Anand, two wonderful women, for doing a great job. I have to say this: Thank you for doing everything you do. I don’t know what I would do without you. So thank you, Madam Speaker, I just wanted to acknowledge this. Happy International Women’s Day. Now you guys can clap.

Over to Bill 71: I rise in the House today to speak on Bill 71, the Building More Mines Act, 2023, and the benefits that this bill will bring to our province’s economy, industry and its hard-working people. Canada is a source of many, many resources. It is a resource superpower. But years of neglect and red tape have been roadblocks for our mining sector. I think it is fair to say that it should not take 15 years to issue a mining permit, but that’s what is happening right now in the province of Ontario.

Mining in Ontario supports 28,000 direct jobs and approximately 47,000 indirect jobs. It is a big driver of our provincial economy. In 2021, the average median weekly wage in Ontario’s mining and quarrying sector was 60% higher than the average for all industries combined, according to the Labour Force Survey. That’s how important it is. By 2025, the mining industry will need to hire between 30,000 and 48,000 workers to fulfill its labour needs. These are immense challenges we must confront head-on, as part of this government’s strategy to address labour shortages in this province. On one side, when we talk about saying that there’s going to be a lot of immigrants coming to Canada, about 500,000 every year by 2025, and 300,000 of those are going to end up coming and choosing Ontario as their new home, we want to be making sure there are enough resources, there are enough jobs, there is enough structure in place to support them. This bill helps in that direction as well.

The Ontario Mining Association’s 2022 economic report said that in 2019, OMA member mines provided nearly 3,000 jobs with average earnings of over $87,000 to Indigenous community members. Indeed, these are positive figures, but our government is dedicated to further improve these numbers, so that we can share the prosperity with everybody.

In 2021, mining in Ontario directly contributed to an estimated total of $8 billion to GDP, $2.9 billion in wages and salaries. Additionally, the 2022 State of the Ontario Mining Sector survey said that the GDP contribution from the mining industry in Ontario will grow 25% in the next five years. Approximately 77% of Ontario’s mining company contributions stay inside Ontario. Look at it this way: When we create this economy, we actually have the benefit of income multiplier. When you create $1, that actually adds up, gives a job to someone else. There is a domino effect, and it creates an additional $8 to the economy. That’s what we’re doing. When we strengthen our mining sector, we’re strengthening our Ontario. These figures indicate that the mining industry is indeed one of the major drivers of our economy. That is why it is important for us to pass this bill.

Ontario’s rare minerals are used in products worldwide, not just for us. We are helping the world to grow as well. Our province sits on mineral reserves considered critical by many places for domestic and economic needs.

Madam Speaker, you must have heard this loud and clear multiple times from our caucus members: While the Liberals and the NDP like to burn bridges in our province’s economic prosperity, this side of the members is here to build, to make sure we have a strong Ontario, and we will continue to do that. We are building a supply chain bridge between southern and northern Ontario. Northern Ontario will boost mineral supply production and the south gets game-changing investments like the EV industry. This way, we’re able to help each other. This will build a resilient supply chain and will greatly contribute to the wealth and prosperity of our province.

Let’s look at what this bill is doing. If passed, the Building More Mines Act, 2023, would save companies time and money without sacrificing our world-class environmental standards or the crown’s duty to consult. Specifically, the act will approve mines faster by eliminating duplication, providing operational flexibility and reducing costs, and advance critical mineral projects by making it easier for companies to get a permit to recover minerals from mine tailings and waste. These are the materials left behind after a mine has closed.

Madam Speaker, think about a situation when, many, many years back, if there was a mine which closed and had the deposits sitting, back then, the value of those metals was maybe a fraction of what it is today. That metal today is worth way more than when it was there. It may not be economically feasible at that point in time to regenerate or recollect that mineral, but today, that makes it easier, makes it financially better, and when we recover those metals, they’re actually taking less from our Mother Earth so we’re able to accomplish a better economic benefit without even going back to our Mother Earth to ask for more. This is what we’re doing through this bill, Madam Speaker.

It will improve closure planning by having more qualified professionals available to certify plans and allow companies to conditionally file a closure plan while deferring certain documents to a later date, and allow more flexibility in the techniques used to rehabilitate mines once they’re closed, again, without changing anything related to Ontario’s world-class environmental standards and duty to consult.

We’re doing this as we create more options for companies to pay financial assurance. Instead of paying financial assurance upfront, it could be paid in phases tied to the project’s construction schedule so they can invest more, they can invest better, into these mining projects.

Madam Speaker, as you can tell, this act has nothing to do with cutting corners. It is all about making sure government is acting in the most efficient way possible.

But I do want to talk about what this bill doesn’t do: This bill will not compromise our world-class environmental labour or Indigenous consultation standards. We’re not going to compromise on the environment. We’re not going to compromise on labour standards, and we’re not going to compromise on our Indigenous consultation standards.

This is about improving the ministry processes and making sure that we are able to attract more investment into the mining sector. This is what we’re doing through this bill, Madam Speaker.

Every time you talk about prosperity, we can’t do it without the people of Ontario. In order to service and sustain the mines, we are promoting careers in the mining sector. We’re encouraging enrolment in the skilled trades and mining-related training programs. We are targeting funded apprenticeship programs to help skilled trade workers and get them working in well-paying positions in the mining industry.

We are accomplishing all of this while being committed to our strong environmental standards. Madam Speaker, Ontario has exceptional mineral potential and environmental governance fundamentals, which will ensure that we create jobs while minimizing any impact to our environment.

With the continued work and collaboration between ministries and our partners in the mining sector, we will continue providing opportunities to our workers and continue on the path of growth for our province.

Madam Speaker, I’d like to share something very important. I want to talk about the Mining Act, R.S.O. 1990. The purpose, it states—

I appreciate the member’s question. Actually, it has been well documented that environmental regulations not only improve communities, like what we’ve seen in Sudbury, but, most of the time, it improves the company’s bottom line. Most of the best fiscally run companies also comply with environmental regulations and have strong environmental and social goals. The reason is because if you are going to manage your ESG goals well, you’re likely going to manage your financial goals well. The two go hand in hand. We’ve seen that.

Sudbury now is seen as a global leader in sustainable mining practices. Everything from electrifying mining equipment to re-mining tailing ponds—there are a whole host of opportunities that, if we have the proper regulations in place, we can be economically competitive in and be a beacon to the world around sustainable mining practices.

I think it’s a false narrative to say that we don’t need regulations or that we need to overregulate. We need smart regulations that protect the public, the environment and the people of this province.

I’m really enjoying the conversation this afternoon. I appreciate all the members, I appreciate the support on second reading—oh, I still have a few seconds there where I can ask this question. I always appreciate having a conversation with my colleague from Guelph. It’s always profitable for me.

The comment was made by the member from Sudbury that we need government regulations in order for the companies to do the right thing, and I can’t disagree with that. That is often the case. Yet, talking about ESG goals for companies, I don’t think there’s any government involvement in ESG. This is something that companies are doing entirely on their own because that’s what investors are looking for.

So, is there room for companies to figure things out, to innovate to find those solutions without government overreach?

I appreciate the member opposite’s debate on it. One of the concerns we have on this bill has to do with closure plans and weakening environmental protections. The question I have is that, on the day this bill was tabled, the chief from Neskantaga First Nation had said they’re strongly opposed to any sort of process towards the Ring of Fire and actually talked about having to drag their bodies away to prevent this.

It feels like this is a bill that doesn’t have strong support by Indigenous people in the communities where the mining companies are. What can be done to this bill to improve that relationship so that they’ll have faith in mining in northern Ontario?

I was a bit worried when I saw Madam Speaker standing up that I wouldn’t be able to finish this important piece. Thank you to our deputy Houser leader. Thank you so much. I truly appreciate your giving me an opportunity to read out the rest of my remarks.

Madam Speaker, I would like to share something very important. The Mining Act, RSO 1990, starts with the purpose:

“The purpose of this act is to encourage prospecting, registration of mining claims and exploration for the development of mineral resources, in a manner consistent with the recognition and affirmation of existing Aboriginal and treaty rights in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, including the duty to consult, and to minimize the impact of these activities on public health and safety and the environment. 2009....”

Madam Speaker, this reaffirms that our government is committed to First Nations consultation. It is very important that every member of this House understands that First Nations consultation is 100% preserved, and we’re not making any changes to it.

In a nutshell, our government is making real progress to help develop the infrastructure necessary to ensure Ontario’s long-term competitiveness. Our mining sector is a major part of the position. We need to develop our mining sector to provide more opportunities and drive innovation. This bill proposed by the Minister of Mines, Bill 71, the Building More Mines Act, will help achieve this goal. The changes in this bill will help cut red tape, encourage investment and develop the economy of northern Ontario, which benefits all of us.

This bill exemplifies the mission of this government to cut red tape, to encourage economic growth and, as the Minister of Labour always says, to work for workers. Under the leadership of this Premier, we’re going to get things done for the workers of this province and the residents of this province to get prosperity.

I encourage everyone in the House to support this bill and support northern Ontario’s economy and the future of our province.

As I said earlier, Madam Speaker, I talked about the Mining Act, RSO 1990. I talked about the consultation and I made sure that I said, “The purpose of this act is to encourage prospecting, registration of mining claims and exploration for the development of mineral resources, in a manner consistent”—I used the word “consistent”—“with the recognition and affirmation....” Madam Speaker, this bill reaffirms our commitment to First Nations communities, and we will always stand by that.