I’m honoured to be able to speak on behalf of the Better Municipal Governance Act, 2022. Before getting into the specifics of the bill, it is important to put this bill into context. Ontario has a shortage of over 300,000 workers right now, and that shortage is expected to increase. Without new workers, we will struggle to fix health care and grow the economy for all Ontarians. These 300,000 workers need an affordable place to live, a place to raise their families and become part of their communities. In addition, the federal government’s recently enhanced immigration target of half a million new residents per year will put even more pressure on the existing housing market.

Last December, this government created the Housing Affordability Task Force to recommend measures to increase the supply of market housing. One key finding from the task force was that, for many years, the province has not built enough housing to meet the needs of our growing population.

Measures to cool the housing market have provided only temporary relief to homebuyers. The numbers are clear, and the timeline is clear. The only way to get housing costs under control and meet the new demand is to increase the supply of housing to meet the unique needs and budgets of our growing population. We need to build 1.5 million new homes in the next 10 years, and those homes need transit, schools and services nearby. There is no single solution to address a problem this large. We’re committed to looking at every impediment and putting practical, timely solutions in place.

In 2019, after consultation with over 2,000 stakeholders, we introduced More Homes, More Choice: Ontario’s Housing Supply Action Plan. This comprehensive plan addressed five key issues:

—speed: of getting construction projects through the approval process;

—costs: of layers of permits, approvals and development charges;

—mix: making it easier to build different types of housing that suit different buyers with different budgets;

—rent: increasing the rental stock;

—innovation: supporting creative designs and using environmentally sustainable building materials.

The action plan paired a housing boost with the necessary infrastructure and transit investment, but it wasn’t enough. Housing rental and purchase pricing was getting further out of reach. We went back to our municipal partners at the Ontario-Municipal Summit and the rural housing round table and asked for more input. From those consultations, we developed our second housing supply action plan, titled More Homes for Everyone. The second action plan addressed increasing the supply of rental stock and making better use of our already developed neighbourhoods by allowing more missing-middle homes to be built without local bylaw amendments. It seeks to reduce the burden on homebuyers and renters by exempting those units from development and parkland dedication fees.

We should take a moment to clear up the misconception that was brought to my attention recently. There is a notion going around that development fees don’t affect the price of housing because they’re paid by the developer and not the buyer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Fees and delays get built into the price of a home, just the same as the price of lumber, concrete and shingles. It all ultimately gets passed to the purchaser and added to the mortgage. Reducing development fees and reducing the time to get projects going makes homes more affordable. And still, it isn’t enough.

The Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act gives the mayors of Ottawa and Toronto more tools to deliver on shared provincial-municipal priorities, including increasing the supply of housing. The purpose of the legislation is to give mayors of Ontario’s largest two cities the tools needed to streamline process and address local barriers to increase the housing supply.

We’ve been making the bold decisions to accelerate new housing supply, but still more needs to be done, which brings us to the Better Municipal Governance Act before the House today. To further reduce red tape and accelerate building new homes and supporting infrastructure, this bill will enable democratically elected mayors of Toronto and Ottawa to propose certain bylaw amendments related to provincial priorities. If the proposed bylaws are related to prescribed provincial priorities such as building new homes, the bylaw can be passed with one third of council.

So the question is, why do we need to change the status quo? The answer is, the status quo isn’t working. Transformative change isn’t easy, but we can’t continue to have decisions on housing requirements of those who need it held captive by those who already have it.

Protectionism has costs. There are hard costs brought on by delays. The Building Industry and Land Development Association estimated that each month of delay can cost between $2,600 and $3,300 per unit. Putting that into perspective, a 12-month delay will add an additional $39,600 to the cost of the unit. That additional cost gets passed on to the ordinary homebuyer. Tacking that onto the mortgage over 25 years adds another $29,561 in interest at today’s mortgage rates. So those first-time homebuyers already struggling to find housing within their means get stuck with a $69,000 bill because someone insisted on yet another round of consultations. That is $69,000 that could be put towards furnishings, a child’s education or starting a business. Instead, it’s lost to the person and to the Ontario economy. This needs to stop. This government is giving the tools to strong mayors to make it stop.

Strong, efficient decision-making must be balanced with appropriate accountability and oversight. Already, mayors in all municipalities are subject to their local codes of conduct, and persons can make complaints to the local integrity commissioner, who has the power to investigate and report findings to council. In addition, mayors are subject to the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, which was recently amended to prevent mayors from using their new powers if they have a financial interest in the matter.

This government is working on creative solutions to meet the housing demands of today and tomorrow. We’ve introduced measures to make more effective use of existing housing stock, created the opportunity to make better use of environmentally friendly building materials, reduced housing costs by limiting development fees, eliminated red tape at the province level and provided strong-mayor cities with some of the tools they need to further streamline the process of getting housing and related infrastructure projects approved.

Thank you to the member opposite for the question. I will point out that the person that you mentioned in your question has donated to all political parties.

I’d like to remind the member that the status quo is not working. We are in a housing crisis caused by a severe lack of supply. That is why our government introduced the Better Municipal Governments Act, which, if passed, takes decisive action to address the housing supply crisis by working together with our municipal partners with the aim and goal of building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years.

With the province set to grow by nearly two million people over the next decade, Ontarians are counting more than ever on all governments at all levels to work together to increase the supply of housing. Once again, that’s why our government is taking bold action to address this crisis, and we’re working to get 1.5 million homes built in the next 10 years.

It’s an honour to rise in the House to speak to my motion tabled earlier today that would require Ontario schools to include mental health literacy in the curriculum as a requirement for graduation.

Since 2019, I’ve been advocating to have mental health education included in the public school curriculum, working closely alongside Minister Lecce. I’m incredibly grateful for his assistance in making this happen. This is a topic that is close to my heart, and we have an opportunity to do right by our children and future generations.

Mental health issues start early, and young people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to experience mental illness or substance-use disorders than any other age group. COVID-19 has impacted all students, with many facing new vulnerabilities.

The introduction of mandatory mental health education delivered directly and intentionally to Ontario students complements our government’s unprecedented investments in student mental health supports. Developing literacy is what schools do best, and mental health literacy can be taught, just like any other subject, including math, English or physical health education.

Mental health education empowers students with the knowledge, skills and tools they need to navigate their mental health before getting to crisis, reducing health care costs and the strain on our health care system and saving lives.