Back to the Premier: It’s not just Pickering city council that voted against Bill 39. Last week, Ottawa’s new city council voted unanimously in support of a motion condemning Bill 39 and its attack on democracy. Ottawa residents are furious that this government is trampling on basic democratic principles, imperilling affordable housing, destroying wetlands and costing our city millions of dollars with its Bills 23 and 39.

My question to the Premier: Does the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services stand behind those bills or does she stand with her constituents, the people of Ottawa?

My question is to the Premier. In Durham, there is a layer of protection around the greenbelt called the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Act. This Premier is peeling it back in Bill 39.

The minister’s public justification was a letter from the former mayor of Pickering. However, late the other night, Pickering city councillors unanimously decided they don’t support the repeal of the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Act. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has no justification for removing the ag preserve protections from the greenbelt, and now he doesn’t have the support of council.

Will the Premier let the member for Pickering–Uxbridge side with his community, abandon his assault on the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve and choose to protect prime farmland in perpetuity as promised?