The member for Eglinton–Lawrence and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health.

Final supplementary question.

Government House leader to respond.

The member knows that nothing could be further from the truth. We were elected on a very strong platform to ensure that the people of the province of Ontario were well serviced by their government. What that means right now is that the people of the province of Ontario know that we are in a housing crisis. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has brought forward a very thoughtful program that would allow us to work in consultation and in co-operation with the city of Pickering to ensure that we can bring homes to the people of this province.

I look around me at my caucus here and I wonder how many of them are first-generation Canadians whose parents came here with one dream, and that dream was to have a better life for their family and for their kids. Part of that dream, I know from my parents, was to have their first home.

The opposition would take that dream away from the over 500,000 people who are expected to come here each and every year. Mr. Speaker, we won’t do that. We have a responsibility to the people of the province of Ontario to ensure that they can meet their dreams like countless generations have. They want to take that away from people; we’ll make sure that they get it.

Government House leader.

Start the clock. The supplementary question.

I want to thank the member for Carleton for that question and for an amazing day that we had in her riding on Friday.

We need all hands on deck to get more people in the skilled trades and to build those 1.5 million homes by 2031, to welcome all of those new Canadians that are going to be coming to Ontario. That’s why we are investing a record $1.5 billion over the next four years to teach anyone who is eager to work in the trades the skills they need for these life-changing careers.

The Ironworkers Local 765 in Ottawa and right across Ontario are constructing, installing and erecting the iron that our major infrastructure projects depend on. Simply put, we depend on them to keep Ontario standing tall. They are everyday heroes and we need more people like them to continue building Ontario.

To tackle the shortage in the skilled trades, we must promote these amazing careers to our young people. They are the next generation and we need them to build a stronger Ontario for all of us.

I know that the members opposite will do anything—they’re like a leak, right? You know when you have a leak in your house and you want to find out where the leak is before it does too much damage, right? Of course, the people of Ontario know what happens if you don’t find that leak. By consequence, we didn’t find it in 1990 to 1995 and the NDP almost bankrupted the province.

But more importantly, Mr. Speaker, we have a situation in the province of Ontario where we are in a housing crisis. The NDP are going to do and say everything they possibly can to stop hundreds of thousands and millions of Ontarians from having the same dream that millions have. Put your hand up in this caucus or over there if you’re a first-generation or if your parents came here. Look at the hands that are going up.

Interjections.

When my parents came here impoverished from Italy, they came here to have a better life for their kids. And the number one dream is the value of a home. They got it and look where they—

Interjections.

But more importantly, what you’re seeing day in and day out, colleagues, is the NDP who refuse to acknowledge that in the province of Ontario there is a housing crisis. That housing crisis was created by policies that they helped support.

We know that in the province of Ontario we want to continue to welcome people from all over the world to help us build a better and more prosperous Ontario, just like my parents did. When my parents came in the late 1950s and early 1960s, all of them, the brothers and their sisters—six of them lived in one house. Some lived upstairs; some lived in the basement. And one by one they managed to have the dream of a brand new home right here in the province of Ontario. That was the dream when they came. They wanted their kids to have a better future than they had. That’s why millions of people came here, struggled, and helped build the province of Ontario.

They want to take that dream away from people. This Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing said no. That is a dream that countless generations had—

There is a tremendous amount of resources that have been put not only into northern communities but across the province of Ontario to ensure that we are prepared to meet the challenges of natural disasters, both in southern and northern Ontario, in urban and rural communities. That means working very closely with our municipalities, who have expertise on the ground.

The important thing, when we talk about the north, is that we have to create those partnerships, because it is so important. That’s why we are bringing, of course, more roads and transportation networks to northern Ontario. I know the Minister of Mines has been working very hard with First Nations partners and with our mining partners to ensure that we can unleash the power of the north. I know the Minister of Energy last week just talked about how we finally were able to get hydroelectricity to some parts of northern Ontario—I know the honourable gentleman was there as well—finally taking them off diesel generators.

Look, the north is an important part of the economic prosperity to the province of Ontario, as he talked about, and that’s why we’re working so closely with our partners to mitigate that.

Good morning, Speaker. Remarks in Oji-Cree.

My question is to the Premier. Highway 105 was washed out, separating Red Lake and Ear Falls from the rest of Ontario, and Sioux Lookout experienced flooding during the spring. Kiiwetinoong experienced unprecedented flooding. Sioux Lookout experienced flooding that damaged over 30 homes and businesses, including two hotels.

Last week, the Auditor General said Ontario is not doing enough to help municipalities with this planning. Mr. Speaker, they need assistance. What is Ontario doing to help communities in the north to mitigate future flooding?

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of meeting with the ironworkers of Local 765, along with the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. Local 765 is located in the great community of Metcalfe, in my riding of Carleton. I saw the amazing work Ontario’s skilled tradespeople do to keep our province’s economic engine running.

Unfortunately, Ontario is facing a labour shortage. In Ottawa alone, there are more than 42,000 vacant positions. The skilled trades are no exception, and opportunities abound for people looking for a job in this sector.

My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development: What is our government doing to bring more people into the skilled trades? Thank you.

My question is once again to the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development: What is our government doing to market the skilled trades to young people?

It’s an important question, again, from the member opposite. I know the Minister of Natural Resources, of course, has been working with his cabinet colleagues the Minister of Northern Development as well as the Minister of Mines and the member for Sault Ste. Marie to ensure our northern parts of the province are well serviced. In particular, we’ve seen a number of forest fire seasons that were very, very challenging.

Now, of course, the member knows that we have invested to ensure that our fleets of water bombers and fire equipment are available for the north, but we’re also doing it in partnership not only with other municipalities but with our partners both in Quebec and Manitoba. We all face very similar challenges. That’s why we have been working so closely with partners across the board.

But Ontario has made those investments. There are certainly more investments to make as we continue to see growth in northern Ontario—look, simple growth that had not existed with any other government because everybody else seemed to ignore northern Ontario. We understand how important it is to the economic vitality of the province of Ontario, and we’ll continue to make those important investments.

My question is to the Premier. Over the past half decade under your watch, my community and its hospitals in Niagara have struggled to keep pace with our health care needs. Policies like Bill 124 have contributed to a nursing and staff crisis month over month. Over the summer, Niagara Health had over 608 staff vacancies. I know that number has grown now. Even worse, those vacancies have more than doubled since November 2019, the month that your health care morale-killing policy, Bill 124, received royal assent.

The courts overturned Bill 124, Premier.

Premier, will you do the right thing and recognize your policies have worsened our health care staffing crisis?

I used to work in health care, and, let me tell you, you are not tricking the nurses on the front line. You are not tricking the seniors and parents that have to wait endlessly—

We see the receipts. We see the results, and the results are the results.

Premier, why do you still plan to appeal Bill 124 when it is clear your health care policies over the last half decade have led to a worsening of the staffing crisis in Niagara and straight across Ontario?

Thank you to the member for the question. In fact, we’ve increased the number of medical seats at Brock University. I hope you’ve had the opportunity to tour the university and see the amazing things that are happening at Brock University.

Mr. Speaker, in fact, this fall we saw a record number of applications at Ontario’s colleges and universities in the province: 25,000 students were applying for nursing programs at Ontario’s colleges and universities—world-class post-secondary education. We are seeing record numbers of students looking to join the profession, and we’ve already seen that the Council of Ontario Universities says that more than 13,000 students applied to university nursing programs this past year.

We’ve also seen changes to the Ministry of Health through the Ontario college of nurses, where we’ve seen a record number of 14,000 registered nurses this season.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s lots more to come.

Ma question s’adresse à la ministre des Affaires francophones. Dans le cadre de la mise en oeuvre de sa Stratégie de développement économique francophone, notre gouvernement a récemment annoncé qu’il financera quatre projets représentant une somme combinée de 500 000 $ pour soutenir l’entrepreneuriat francophone.

La francophonie ontarienne contribue à notre richesse culturelle et à notre croissance économique, et nous savons que l’avenir de la langue française est intimement lié à la prospérité des entreprises francophones.

Monsieur le Président, la ministre peut-elle nous en dire plus sur la façon dont le gouvernement élargit le soutien aux entreprises francophones?

La ministre peut-elle nous en dire plus sur les projets retenus cette année et sur le soutien que notre gouvernement leur apporte dans le cadre de cet investissement?

The supplementary question.

The member for Niagara West to reply.

Please start the clock. The next question.

There are floods and fires that keep happening in the north, and we need to be able to have good plans for First Nations and northern municipalities to protect towns and also the First Nations. Every year, communities in Kiiwetinoong evacuate because of forest fires that threaten everything. The Auditor General found that it took up to 11 hours to coordinate a response. That is unacceptable.

Ontario can do more to prepare and manage emergency responses to these annual forest fires. What is Ontario doing to improve forest fire responsiveness and planning for First Nations and communities in the north?

Thanks to the member opposite for the question. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to some of the information that is not accurate in the member opposite’s statement.

We know the importance of ensuring that investments continue, the types of investments that we’ve seen, including in three new hospitals in the Niagara region: the West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, the new Niagara south hospital and the Hotel Dieu Shaver hospital. We’ve seen two new palliative care expansions, 20 new palliative care beds being brought into our area. We’ve seen a new nursing program launch at Niagara College, as well as an expanded nursing program doubling the amount of nursing graduates from Brock University.

These are the types of investments that, under the leadership of Premier Ford and this team, we are making in Niagara to ensure that each and every patient in our region has access to the world-class care that they deserve. The opposition had years to make that happen with the Liberals and they didn’t—

Interjections.

Je remercie ma collègue pour son excellente question. La francophonie ontarienne est un atout économique pour la province. C’est pourquoi nous élargissons la gamme de services aux jeunes entreprises francophones dans le cadre de notre investissement de 1,5 million de dollars sur trois ans pour soutenir la croissance des entrepreneurs et des entreprises francophones ici en Ontario.

Le ministère des Affaires francophones finance des initiatives qui offriront aux entrepreneurs francophones du soutien et des conseils pour les aider à naviguer dans les différentes phases du développement d’entreprise. La Stratégie de développement économique francophone de notre gouvernement vise à accroître l’empreinte économique francophone, à renforcer la main-d’oeuvre francophone, à stimuler la création d’emplois et aussi à faciliter le développement de nouveaux marchés pour les entreprises francophones et bilingues de l’Ontario.

Je suis très fière du travail que nous faisons pour appuyer les communautés francophones de l’Ontario à travers notre travail sur le développement économique francophone.

Cet investissement renforcera un écosystème en plein développement et mettra en valeur le savoir-faire de la francophonie économique ici en Ontario. Les services d’appui aux jeunes entreprises offerts par des organismes tels que le Conseil de la coopération de l’Ontario, La Cité collégiale et aussi l’Association francophone à l’éducation des services à l’enfance de l’Ontario—tous ces trois organismes, qui contribuent à assurer la prospérité de nos communautés francophones en Ontario.

This question is to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. There is a growing interest in geological carbon capture and storage to safely store carbon dioxide in deep bedrock formations. Storing carbon dioxide deep underground is one way of reducing the impact of greenhouse gases from high-emitting sources like heavy industrial activity.

In response to evolving energy needs and priorities, Ontario’s businesses have been interested in pursuing new underground storage opportunities. According to a discussion paper posted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, there is a potential for enabling carbon storage in Ontario. Several areas throughout our province might have the right mix of geological conditions for storage capabilities.

Speaker, can the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry please elaborate further on carbon storage technology and its environmental and economical benefits?

Exploring the implementation of carbon storage is certainly a significant step in helping to reduce Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions and in producing low-carbon hydrogen. Along with environmental benefits that can be achieved, this technology also provides opportunities to increase Ontario’s competitiveness and supports job creation. Ontarians are counting on our government to implement measures that will help support economic growth and productivity, while ensuring environmental protection.

Speaker, can the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry please elaborate on what action this government is taking to enable underground geological storage of carbon as we move forward?

The member for Kitchener–Conestoga will come to order.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to reply.

My question is for the Premier. Thousands of people in communities across Ontario attended rallies this weekend calling on the Premier to keep his promise not to touch the greenbelt. My favourite chant was, “No to housing in the greenbelt, yes to housing in my backyard.”

The government’s own Housing Affordability Task Force said there is no need to develop the greenbelt. There is plenty of land already approved for development to build the homes that people need. The Premier himself has said, “I’ve heard it loud and clear” that “people don’t want me touching the greenbelt. We won’t touch the greenbelt.”

Speaker, the people are speaking out loud and clear right now. So the question is, will the Premier listen to the people who don’t want him to touch the greenbelt, or will he listen to land speculators who want to pave over the people’s greenbelt?

Interjection.

If we want to solve the housing crisis, let’s end exclusionary zoning and build affordable homes where people want to live, in the communities they want to live in and close to where they work. The question is, will the Premier put people before speculators and repeal Bill 23?

So, here’s what we know, Speaker: Our per capita housing supply lags behind our G7 and our Canadian peers, who we compete with for jobs and investment. Today, our province is nearly 1.3 million homes, rented or owned, short of that G7 average. That’s why we’re in the middle of a housing crisis.

The University of Ottawa-based smart prosperity centre found that Ontario’s pre-existing shortage is already 471,000 homes in 2021. We need over an additional million homes just to get to that average of other G7 countries and our Canadian peers. And then, as has been noted this morning, we already know that we’re going to have an influx of new immigration who we want to welcome to our province—probably 60% of that half a million new Canadians are going to come here. That’s why we’re putting forward policies, procedures, bills, regulations to get shovels in the ground.

I am not going to stand here like the member for Guelph, the leader of the Green Party, and defend the status quo. He opposes building homes, he opposes getting things done and he opposes the realization of the dream of home ownership for a generation of Ontarians.