Speaker, it’s a great pleasure for me to lead off debate on third reading of our proposed Better Municipal Governance Act. At the onset of my speech, I want to indicate that I’ll be sharing the government’s time with my colleagues the Associate Minister of Housing and the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Housing.

I’m proud to speak about the good work that we know Bill 39 will do if it’s passed. The proposed act is another step towards fulfilling our commitment to get 1.5 million homes built by 2031.

Madam Speaker, it’s great to see you in the chair this afternoon.

I want to start the conversation by reminding members of this House that our government received a very strong mandate when we were re-elected in June. The mandate we had was to help more Ontarians find a home that meets their needs and their budgets. I also want to point out that in achieving that goal, municipal governments continue to play a very large and essential role in helping us fulfill that mandate.

As Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, it’s my job to make sure that municipalities have the tools that they need to get more homes built quickly. That’s exactly what this legislation is going to provide.

At the start, Madam Speaker, I want to talk about the housing crisis. Ontario is a growing and prospering province, and it is indeed the best place in the world to call home. But it’s hard to call Ontario home when you can’t find a home that you can afford. That, unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, is the situation today in our province, where far too many young people are nearly giving up on the dream of home ownership.

The housing supply shortage that we have in Ontario affects all Ontarians, whether you live in rural, urban or suburban Ontario, whether you live in the north, the south, the east or the west. Our government recognizes the scale and the seriousness of the problem, and the need to act without delay to tackle it. As a government, we remain, and will continue to remain, laser-focused on policies that will get more homes built faster.

Madam Speaker, let’s look at some of the highlights of what the government has been able to do so far. We’ve actually introduced three housing supply action plans: More Homes, More Choice in 2019; More Homes for Everyone, earlier this year, in 2022; and our most recent plan, More Homes Built Faster, which just received royal assent on November 28. In total, over the last four years, our government has introduced over 85 initiatives to build more housing.

That includes our Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, which came into force late last month on November 23. That act brought local government in Ontario firmly into the 21st century, with a recognition that major and fast-growing municipalities like Toronto and Ottawa must have the tools to get housing built. It’s built on best practices from other jurisdictions, and it has provided a road map for other parts of Canada as they work to make local government respond to the needs of their constituents. Because, Madam Speaker, we trust Ontarians to elect leaders who will deliver, and we’re counting on local elected officials, especially mayors, to help tackle Ontario’s housing supply crisis.

The Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act is a precursor to the bill that we’re discussing today, which I will address shortly, but I’m proud to say, now that enough time has passed to see the effects, we have proof that the first housing supply action plan and the related initiatives worked very well. As I’ve said many, many times in this House, Ontario saw around 100,000 new housing starts in 2021, which was the highest number since 1987 and far, far higher than the 30-year average, which was just 67,500. Even despite economic headwinds, we are expecting to see nearly 100,000 starts this year as well.

So yes, Madam Speaker, we’ve come a long way, but we know how much more needs to be done if we’re going to reach that 1.5 million new homes by 2031. Projections already show that our province is expected to grow by more than two million people by 2031, and approximately 1.5 million of those new residents are expected to settle in the greater Golden Horseshoe. On top of that, we now have the federal government’s recently enhanced immigration target of a half a million new residents per year, which will put even more pressure on the housing market.

Now, I want to be very clear on this, Speaker: We are counting on these newcomers. We want to be able to welcome them to Ontario, because they are so very important for our future here in Ontario. We know how critical immigration is for ensuring that Ontario has the workforce it needs, so that our economy can continue to grow and so that the quality of life for all Ontarians continues to improve.

But that means we need to make sure that newcomers to our province are able to find a home—a suitable home, a home that they can afford. At the same time, we have to acknowledge that the same is true for long-time residents of our province. That’s why the government has worked hard and we’ve taken decisive action to bring the housing supply crisis to an end.

On November 28, our next step in addressing the housing supply crisis, the More Homes Built Faster Act, received royal assent. The legislation supports our third housing supply action plan. This action plan represents, and I’ve said this many times, our boldest and most transformational plan to date. It cuts through red tape, it eliminates unnecessary costs and it addresses the bottlenecks that are slowing our progress in building the housing that Ontario needs.

It does a number of very positive aspects. It promotes the building of more homes near transit, and it promotes more gentle-density housing. Unlike some of the assertions that the opposition has made in the House today, it uses provincial lands for more attainable homes. It protects new homebuyers. It includes consultations on how to help more renters become homeowners. It has many, many aspects. It’s the plan that Ontario needs.

Madam Speaker, we know that if we address the barriers that are causing housing delays, we can help lower the costs of building homes. These barriers include a very complex land use policy that makes it very difficult to access land in urban areas and the lengthy planning approvals for new homes.

I also want to point out that one feature of this plan, which is gentle density, works only in some cases. There are cases such as near major transit hubs where bringing more housing, more jobs, more retail and more public amenities to the area is beneficial for a community. With more housing being built closer to transit, more people can get to and from school and work much faster. I think we can all acknowledge that faster commutes save money. They enable people to spend more time with their families. They make people’s lives easier.

Really, Madam Speaker, that bill that just received royal assent has helped us, as well as all the other three housing supply action plans. It really brings us to why we’re here today, and why we’re here today is to deal with a bill which is our next step, our next piece to ensure that mayors have the tools to get shovels in the ground, and that’s the Better Municipal Governance Act, Bill 39. This legislation builds upon our Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, which I talked about a few minutes ago.

That act, along with its associated regulations, gives the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa the ability to drive policy changes. It enables them to select certain municipal department heads, and it empowers them to bring forward budgets. Those changes can help our municipal partners deal with those shared priorities. We’ve made it clear as a government that increased housing supply is one of those priorities.

Our new proposed legislation, Bill 39, is going to build upon those tools that were in that first bill that I talked about earlier, the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act. It would make further changes to both the Municipal Act and the City of Toronto Act, and if passed, the mayors in the cities of Toronto and Ottawa would have a new tool to move forward on those very narrowly scoped shared municipal-provincial priorities. I’m going to say this again: priorities like ensuring we get 1.5 million homes built over the next 10 years, by 2031—

Interjections.

I’d like to thank my honourable colleague the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for all the great work that he has done, and certainly for sharing his time with me today.

Madam Speaker, I’ll be sharing the remainder of the time that I have with the incredible parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, who has done amazing work in his role as parliamentary assistant to the minister.

I’m very proud to have the opportunity to stand in the House today and speak to our government’s proposed Better Municipal Governance Act.

I want to begin by reiterating that this government was re-elected in June with a clear mandate to build more homes in the province. The reason this government was re-elected is because the people of Ontario have faith in this party and in this Premier to be able to get the job done.

We have been working tirelessly, since we first took office, to resolve the housing crisis brought on by the lack of preparation and the inaction by the previous government. The focus on building more homes is a shared priority among the province and municipalities. It’s no secret that the shortage of homes we’re experiencing is one of the biggest issues facing our municipalities. With this shared goal, I’m confident in the successes our collaborative efforts will achieve. We’re fighting for the same thing. We’re all fixated on getting more shovels in the ground faster, on building more housing for all Ontarians, and on building homes for generations to come. I stand here today in full support of our better municipal governance legislation because it will help us fulfill the promise we made to the people of this province. This is yet another step we’re taking to achieve this goal.

This problem, the lack of available homes, is an issue affecting every single Ontarian. From constituents in my riding to those in every community across this province, every person is feeling the repercussions of this crisis—newcomers entering this province with hopes of achieving the dream of owning a home, young families trying to plant roots and begin their lives. Everyone is trying to achieve the same dream of home ownership. That’s why we need to use all the tools and resources available to us to help bring this dream back within reach for all hard-working Ontarians.

When I think about who our government is doing this for, I think of every person I’ve spoken to and every constituent I’ve met with. I think about the population of Ontario as a whole and all the people we promised to help one day have a place in our province that they can call home. We were re-elected with a clear mandate to get 1.5 million homes built over the next 10 years, and we will not disappoint.

I’ve been in this position now for about five months. I’ve travelled the province and have listened to the people. And throughout my time, and regardless of where I go, whether it’s London to Ottawa, Kenora to Windsor, Toronto to Thunder Bay and everywhere in between, one message is clear: It must be all hands on deck to build homes, and we need our municipal partners at the table as well. The experts agree.

For example, the Toronto Region Board of Trade posted on their website earlier this fall that the region’s “housing shortage is making our labour shortage worse, creating far-reaching economic consequences.” They continued by saying, “When our region is unaffordable, businesses struggle to grow and thrive and it may soon be near impossible to attract net new business and investment.” We agree with that. We agree that now is the time to get homes built, and we agree with them as they continue to call on municipal leaders to work with us, to deliver the solutions needed to build more housing across the region.

Another expert opinion is that of Nadia Todorova, executive director of Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario. She recently said, “The housing crisis has been a prominent issue in municipal elections ... and leaders need to do everything possible to ensure the cities can address the shortage.” She went on to say, “Key things we know will help reduce wait times and costly delays ... are to speed up the development approvals process.” This concern regarding the lengthy development approvals process is a major focus of this legislation. Our bill will help to streamline approvals at the municipal council level, because we know there’s just too much duplication and delay in the system right now. There is a better way to get things done, and that is what we’re bringing forward in this legislation.

We know that one third of Ontario’s growth over the next decade is expected to happen here in Toronto and in Ottawa. If passed, the Better Municipal Governance Act will add to the powers that our Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act gives to the mayors of the two cities. As the mayors of Ottawa and Toronto begin their terms in office, they will soon have more powers to break the cycle of delays in the municipal approvals process. The Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act was proclaimed to come into force just a few short weeks ago. It empowers Toronto and Ottawa mayors to bring our shared municipal and provincial priorities forward by building a team—a team which will help get shovels in the ground faster for residential housing development and the infrastructure that would support it.

To be specific, the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act makes changes to the City of Toronto Act to empower its mayor. And for Ottawa, changes to the Municipal Act—along with supporting regulation—empower the mayor of Ottawa. Because of the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, the mayors of Ottawa and Toronto now have the ability to appoint a chief administrative officer, as well as the authority to hire certain department heads for their municipalities. They can also establish identified committees, as well as appoint the chairs and vice-chairs of those committees. But remember, they do not have the ability to hire or fire the chief of police, the medical officer of health, the integrity commissioner, the chief building official or others that are described in the legislation. We believe that giving the mayors of Ottawa and Toronto these powers to create and reorganize city departments will help them better address the current needs of their rapidly growing communities.

Speaker, we want to make sure that the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa have the tools they need to get more housing built. Through the legislation we’re proposing, we’d have the ability to give them the powers to propose bylaws related to the provincial priorities that we’ve set out and to pass these bylaws if more than one third of the members of council vote in favour. If passed, the proposed legislation will allow the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to make regulations that put in place the rules for using this new bylaw power. The minister could, for instance, impose limits and conditions or set out procedural rules for proposing a bylaw. I will emphasize here that this bylaw power is a tool that can be used to deliver on our shared provincial and municipal priorities. These priorities will be set out in regulation and would include working towards a target of building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years and building the infrastructure to support these new homes, which includes expanding the footprints of transit-oriented communities so more people can live and work near the convenience of public transit.

Let me place the emphasis again on shared priorities to help remind the House that, on municipal election day this last October 24, housing was the biggest issue many constituents in communities across the province were facing. And yet we know that the bold action we’re proposing to address the supply of housing has been met with criticism from some municipal councillors—with some critics going so far as to say that our proposals in this bill are undemocratic.

Here’s our perspective: We trust democratically elected officials to use their best judgment, and it is in our best interest to work with local governments to meet our housing goals together.

Toronto mayor John Tory’s office has said that he “supports this update to the strong-mayor powers that will only apply to items deemed a provincial priority and that he also deems a Toronto priority.”

Speaker, I ask you to please bear in mind that these powers can only be used where, in the mayor’s opinion, proposing the bylaw could advance the provincial priorities that will be defined in the regulations. This is all because urgent action is needed to address Ontario’s housing crisis. Too many families are already struggling with housing and the rising cost of living, and our proposed changes would provide the democratically elected mayors of Toronto and Ottawa with additional tools to deliver on these shared provincial-municipal priorities. This isn’t undemocratic, as the opposition would have you believe. This is about empowering the municipal leaders who are close to their communities.

Yes, as the Minister of Municipal Affairs indicated earlier, these proposals are bold, but they reflect the housing crisis that’s facing our province today. As you’ve heard the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing say throughout our government’s tenure, we need to cut through the NIMBYism and the “build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone” attitudes that are now so pervasive in Ontario. In fact, a spokesman for Toronto mayor John Tory recently said something similar in a statement about the mayor asking for expanded powers. He said that they were needed “to make sure we can get more housing built as quickly as possible, to avoid NIMBYism, and to help make sure this new system works as efficiently as possible.”

The C.D. Howe Institute also agrees with our approach. They acknowledge that “every ... homeowner has a financial incentive to have fewer competing homes on the market.” This means that when new developments are proposed, there is usually someone who wants to stop it. As a result, if enough residents want to halt it, then the local councillors look for a way to stop the new construction.

This simply cannot be allowed to happen anymore. The status quo is simply not working. We cannot allow a small yet loud minority of NIMBYists to prevent an entire generation from being able to enter the housing market. So we’re proposing this addition to the strong-mayor powers in order to provide some certainty that housing will get built. As the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing said, this is why we took decisive action. We did it to provide municipal leaders the tools they need to plan for future population growth and get more homes built faster. And yes, we knew there would be opposition to these proposed actions, but the fact is that we were elected to make tough decisions and to ensure that our fastest-growing communities are supported in both the short term and long term.

Speaker, I hope that critics will remember what I say next. The Better Municipal Governance Act would, if passed, have the same contingencies in place as the first strong-mayors bill did. We have accounted for the possibility of an abuse of power, and we’ve maintained the existing municipal accountability framework, including rules about conflict of interest. On top of that, heads of council would also be required to provide their rationale when using the proposed new bylaw power. This is all because we have built a strong system of checks and balances into the Strong Mayors, Building Homes legislation. And remember that council members are already, and are still, subject to legislated accountability and transparency rules—and that includes the mayor.

The Strong Mayors, Building Homes legislation also made changes to the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. If you recall, the mayors of Ottawa and Toronto would not be able to use the new powers where financial conflict exists, and they are required to declare any financial interests related to the use of their new powers.

Put simply, we trust elected municipal officials to best reflect the values of the people who democratically elected them. And by extension, we trust those leaders to use these new powers judiciously when it comes to moving our shared priorities forward.

It bears repeating that the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing will also have the power to set out procedural rules for proposing a bylaw. We will also be monitoring how the mayors use this new power and, if necessary, will step in to set limits and conditions, or to clarify when it can be used.

Empowering the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa to work more effectively with the province to increase the supply of housing will help us get the politics out of planning and speed up approval timelines. The mayors in these municipalities are being asked to cut red tape and get more homes built faster so that more families can realize the dream of attainable home ownership.

We’ve all heard that the way residential housing projects are currently approved in Ontario takes far too long and is way too complex. A big reason for that is because builders need to obtain different levels of approvals, which can take months, if not years. BILD, the Building Industry and Land Development Association, cites that municipal approval timelines range from 10 up to 34 months, with municipal approval timelines in the GTA being among the worst of major municipalities across the country. Study after study has also found that development approvals and appropriate zoning are often delayed or hindered because of opposition from some members on local municipal councils. Some projects are even abandoned altogether. So even if the project finally gets the go-ahead, the damage has already been done, and it’s everyday Ontarians in search of a home who are paying the cost. Ontarians are counting on us to fix that. And as I’ve said many times here and as the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has said, we are simply not going to let them down.

Recently, the federal government announced that Ontario could be home to approximately 300,000 newcomers by 2025; that’s over half of the 500,000 federal immigration target. That adds to the urgency of our bill and makes clear why it’s so important for us to look at every measure to increase the supply of housing.

Our government promised bold and ambitious action to end the housing supply crisis and to help all Ontarians, including newcomers, find a safe place to call home. While our new More Homes Built Faster Act, which received royal assent last week, addresses many of the barriers that cause housing delays, the changes we’re changing in the Better Municipal Governance Act are further steps forward in our mission, because the municipal councils play such a crucial role in determining the housing supply. We believe that our proposed changes will help municipalities better meet the needs of their rapidly growing communities and help to drive increased housing supply in some of Ontario’s biggest and fastest-growing municipalities.

I began today by saying that our proposed Better Municipal Governance Act is necessary, timely and, if passed, would be another important step forward in addressing Ontario’s undersupply of housing. Giving the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa the enhanced bylaw power that we are proposing would allow them to remove barriers and find solutions for the housing supply shortage in their communities and would make them true partners in addressing the housing crisis.

Madam Speaker, I really appreciate the opportunity, and I would now like to call upon the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to further elaborate on this very necessary piece of proposed legislation. As a former mayor himself, I know that his insights into this legislation will make an important contribution to this debate. When I was in Thunder Bay with the parliamentary assistant, we travelled across his riding and met with many, many residents who were telling us the same thing: They were telling us to keep going. They were telling us that they now have a champion in the member from Thunder Bay–Atikokan. And they said, “Thank you to your government for what you’re doing. We appreciate it. We now have a strong voice in the government.” So I thank him for the great work that he’s doing. And I thank the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for his leadership.

I look forward to the continuation of debate.

I’d like to thank both the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Associate Minister of Housing for sharing their time with me today, and also for the tremendous leadership they have provided me during my first six months sitting in this great House.

It’s my pleasure to rise for the third reading of our government’s proposed Better Municipal Governance Act. I’m proud to be speaking on behalf of a government that takes bold, urgent and decisive action on such an important priority as the province’s housing supply crisis. Our government has made housing such a priority because we know that too many Ontarians are finding it too hard to find the right home and things are getting even more challenging for them.

This problem cuts across geography and age. It is in the north—where my home riding of Thunder Bay–Atikokan is located—it is in the south, the east and the west. It plagues young people and newcomers wanting to put down roots in a community of their choosing, and it impacts seniors wanting to downsize and find a home near family and loved ones. It impacts new home buyers as well as people wanting to rent. It’s not just a big-city, urban problem, but it’s a rural and suburban problem as well. I’ve seen it in my home riding of Thunder Bay–Atikokan, and I know members on both sides of this House have seen the same. I think you can agree, that’s too many people seeing their dreams of home ownership dashed.

The legislation we are speaking to today is one of the many bold actions our government is taking to address the housing supply crisis. I’d like to take a few minutes to remind some members of this House of some previous initiatives we’ve taken—because this bill builds on dozens of pieces of legislation, regulations and policies introduced by our government over the last four years to help build more housing.

I’d like to point out that our municipal partners have been with us in this journey from the beginning.

In May 2019, our government announced More Homes, More Choice, our first housing supply action plan—