It’s an honour to be able to speak in the Legislature today, to follow the Minister of Finance and my colleague from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound, the parliamentary assistant as well to Finance.

I rise to speak to the third reading of the Progress on the Plan to Build Act (Budget Measures), 2022. As demonstrated by the fall economic statement and the fall bill that is before us now, our government is taking an approach like no other. We are building Ontario’s economy and we are attracting investments and good jobs to our province. We are building Ontario’s workforce by ending the stigma against being employed in the skilled trades. We are building key infrastructure for Ontario, getting shovels in the ground on critical projects across our province. And we are keeping costs down, putting more money back in the pockets of people, where it belongs.

For example, to reduce costs, we are making changes that would allow a person with a disability on the Ontario Disability Support Program to keep more of the money they earn by increasing their monthly earnings exemption from $200 to $1,000 per month. We heard in the committee stage from employers that this will have a positive impact on workers and businesses. Businesses are short of labour and many folks who are not able to work to the extent that they wanted to will now be excited to be able to work and keep more money.

We are also investing an additional $40 million in 2022-23, for a total of $145 million, for the latest round of funding in the Skills Development Fund, to help the businesses that are driving Ontario’s economic growth to hire, train and retain workers.

Starting in 2023-24, we are investing an additional $4.8 million over two years to expand the Dual Credit Program so more secondary school students are encouraged to enter a career in the skilled trades or early childhood education.

We are also providing Ontario small businesses with $185 million in income tax relief over the next three years. To support eligible small businesses, we are now automatically matching municipal property tax reductions for small businesses within all municipalities that adopt the small business property subclass.

Together, Ontario has come far. We have stood together through tough times and got through them together. A growing economy and new jobs are the best ways to support the province’s path to balance and long-term prosperity.

When faced with a degree of uncertainty, governments need to be ready for anything. Governments need to be flexible and forward-thinking. We have a fiscal plan that is ready to support people and businesses when and if the time comes.

As our progress update and the fall bill illustrate, we remain committed to managing Ontario’s finances responsibly and transparently while maintaining our commitment to support the people of Ontario during these uncertain times. The Ministry of Finance is working, along with the Treasury Board, to manage the province’s $198.8-billion budget and to oversee our $186.8 billion in revenues through taxation, business enterprises and non-tax revenue. Our government is making record investments in the priorities that matter to every family, worker and senior in Ontario. This is not an easy task, but our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, is getting it done. We remain strategic, responsible and measured when it comes to how we support the people of this province.

In the province’s 2022 fall economic statement, Ontario’s real GDP is projected to rise by 2.6% in 2022, then by 0.5% in 2023, 1.6% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2025. These projections are prudently set slightly below the average of private sector forecasts due to uncertain global economic conditions. Ontario’s economy will continue to see growth in the near term, but growth is projected to slow significantly, below 2% in 2023 and 2024. This is something we are thinking about today because the province must remain agile and responsive to any short-term instability while also thinking about our long-term plans for growth.

Ontario’s net debt-to-GDP ratio is now forecast to be 38.4% in 2022-23. This is a decrease of three percentage points compared with the forecast of 41.4% in the 2022 budget. While this has been an improvement, we anticipate that economic uncertainty could cause the net debt-to-GDP ratio to rise in the near term. We are making sure we proceed in a cautious way. Right now, paying interest on the province’s debt remains Ontario’s fourth-largest expense. That’s billions of dollars that could be invested in public services and programs.

That is why our government has taken prudent steps in our 2022 fall economic statement. We are making record investments in the priorities that matter to the people of this province: building infrastructure, training workers and keeping costs down for families and businesses.

Speaker, one of the ways we’re working to keep costs down while fostering economic growth in our time of global uncertainty is in the regulated sector of auto insurance. The main way we do that is through the provincial regulatory agency, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario or FSRA for short.

Insurance companies are crucial to Ontario’s continued economic vitality and growth. Just the other week, I spoke at an auto insurance sector event. I reiterated to the audience what Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said in the 2022 Ontario economic outlook and fiscal review: that the province is facing economic uncertainty, like the rest of the world. You see, many sectors, like the insurance industry, are experiencing challenging market conditions. In the face of these challenges, they must continue to meet the needs of their Ontario insurance customers. Insurance companies are also seeing the stubbornly high costs that businesses and consumers are seeing across the board. They see it through their high claims costs. And the year ahead is likely to be marked by ongoing economic turbulence and an economy-wide slowdown in growth.

To help keep costs down in this part of the economy, in the spring of 2020, we took quick and targeted action to enable financial relief for drivers. FSRA has reported that those actions have allowed over $1.8 billion in consumer savings since March 2020. We are continuing to work with FSRA on our commitment to improve auto insurance and reduce the cost to families across Ontario. We are creating more choices for consumers and developing strong anti-fraud measures in the auto insurance system.

Our government is also working with FSRA to develop a new framework for ensuring fairness in rates that would replace outdated guidance, including on existing territorial rating.

Speaker, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for not only overseeing Ontario’s auto insurance sector, but also, of course, overseeing the province’s finances. As noted in the fall economic statement, our government is projecting a deficit of $ 12.9 billion in 2022-23. That is nearly $7 billion lower than the outlook published in the 2022 budget. However, over the medium term, our government is projecting deficits of $8.1 billion in 2023-24 and $0.7 billion in 2024-25. This shrinking number could get our province back on track for a balanced budget. This approach demonstrates our ongoing effort aimed at eliminating the province’s structural deficit in the face of numerous challenges over the past couple of years.

Revenues in 2022-23 are projected to be $186.8 billion. That is $7 billion higher than forecasted in the 2022 budget. The increase in revenue is predominantly due to higher-than-expected 2021 taxation revenues. This revenue and deficit situation will help our government and the people of Ontario, because as a responsible government, we are making sure that we preserve the flexibility necessary in case of unforeseen events while continuing to implement our long-term plan to invest in the people of Ontario.

We know the economic road ahead may not be easy for our government or the people of Ontario. In the face of persistent inflation and more economic turbulence, we must promote stability by remaining flexible, responsive and strategic. We simply cannot ignore fiscal challenges that may be on the horizon and embark on a massive spending spree. This would only worsen inflation. Our government spared no expense to protect and support the people of Ontario throughout the COVID pandemic, but now is the time for us to show restraint. More provincial spending will only drag out an economic downturn.

I know many people from all walks of life are concerned about a possible economic downturn. Our government is focused on making sure Ontario is in a strong position to manage risks while remaining supportive of the people in this great province of Ontario. Whatever economic uncertainty may bring, we have a plan.

Our first-ever Building Ontario Progress Report shows many of our recent accomplishments, including attracting $16 billion in transformative automotive investments over the last two years to help Ontario become a North American leader in electric and hybrid vehicle building and battery manufacturing. And in my riding of Oakville alone, the Ford of Canada plant is being retooled to build electric vehicles so that Ontario will not only build electric vehicles but will actually be a global hub of electric vehicles, with essential manufacturing and critical minerals all located right here in our province. Indeed, later today Premier Ford is in Ingersoll, Ontario, to have another announcement in the province of Ontario related to electric-vehicle manufacturing.

Attracting these investments didn’t come by luck; it came by putting in the proper policies, the proper framework to attract investment. From 2003 to 2018, our great province saw over 300,000 manufacturing jobs leave our province, but by reducing red tape, reducing the cost of electricity for major manufacturers, by creating the right regime for business to flourish, Ontario is now attracting net investments, and we will be a global leader.

Ontario has also attracted investments of $2.5 billion over the past year, which will support the transformation in the steel sector and help make us a world-leading producer of clean steel. In both Hamilton and Sault Ste. Marie, our government is helping industry adapt and modernize so that Ontario is a leader not only in steel manufacturing but in clean steel manufacturing. We should be proud of the investments we’re making and the environmental impact that will come out as a result of that.

We are also supporting $8.7 billion in cost savings and support for Ontario businesses in 2022, with $4 billion going to small businesses.

We have also added over 11,700 health care workers, including nurses and personal support workers, since 2020.

We’ve also committed $25.1 billion in highway expansion and rehabilitation over the next 10 years so our communities are connected, gridlock is reduced, goods and people keep moving across the province. Our government is committed to getting people from A to B more quickly and safely by investing in subways, GO trains, roads and bridges, ensuring the people of Ontario spend less time commuting and more time with their families, their loved ones. Ensuring businesses can get goods and products to market quickly and safely has certainly been a goal of the government of Ontario.

I am confident that the Progress on the Plan to Build Act (Budget Measures), 2022, and our fall economic statement demonstrate this government’s strong track record and well-considered projections for the future of this province. We are making progress, Speaker, building what this rapidly growing province wants and desperately needs: hospitals, long-term-care homes, schools, subways and highways.

Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to the third reading of the Progress on the Plan to Build Act (Budget Measures), 2022, as well as discuss the 2022 Ontario economic outlook and fiscal review, Ontario’s Plan to Build: A Progress Update. As shown in the fall economic statement and the fall bill before us today, our government is taking an approach like no other. Together, we have provided cost savings and support for Ontario businesses through actions such as lowering payroll costs, providing relief from electricity prices and taxes, and cutting red tape. These are the kinds of issues you may not see on the front page of the paper every single day, but they are critically important to ensuring businesses succeed and new investment is put into the province of Ontario. These are actions taken to increase Ontario’s competitiveness, strengthen provincial supply chains and make government services easier to access and interact with.

Our responsible, targeted plan demonstrates how we have been able to maintain a strong record of fiscal management while remaining responsive to the people of Ontario. It is the right plan to help families, seniors, workers and small businesses weather the economic challenges we may face.

Despite what may be on the horizon, I have confidence in Ontario’s economy, its businesses, its workers and its people.

We are committed to laying a strong and resilient fiscal foundation for future generations. We know that when our government took office, in June 2018, Ontario was the most indebted subsovereign government in the entire world. That was the legacy we were left with. That’s why the people of Ontario voted for a Progressive Conservative majority government back in 2018—for the future generations, to ensure we had economic stability and prosperity, to ensure we had the financial path to be able to support great education, great health care, great transportation. We needed that in order to secure our future. And once again, of course, we were elected in 2022 with an even larger mandate, to support that same policy plan.

We’ve laid out a path of economic prosperity for everyone in Ontario, despite what challenges may come our way. This government recognizes the potential in every person who calls Ontario home. We are responsibly managing government spending and ensuring financial integrity. We want to get through these uncertain times better and stronger than ever to ensure Ontario remains the best place for people to call home. We are building a stronger province—a province with a strong economy and good-paying jobs.

We’ve increased the minimum wage for workers in the province of Ontario to support lower-paid workers.

We want to be a province where anyone can start and grow a business. That’s why we are a government that actually opened and supported the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction to help get rid of duplicative regulations. Ontario has over 300,000 regulations. We have more red tape and regulations than any jurisdiction in the world. Our government is removing those that are duplicative, those that are unnecessary, those that are burdensome, to support families and individuals in this province, so we continue to make our province the best place to live, work and raise a family.

We want to be a province where everyone feels connected through highways, new roads and more reliable public transit. The largest transportation infrastructure investment in the history of Canada is being led by our government to build subways throughout Toronto, but, beyond that, to expand and electrify the GO network to regions outside of Toronto and the GTA and beyond; to build roads, bridges, highways supporting the 413. Individuals and families are supportive of this, but so are businesses. They know that the Toronto and GTA highways are among the most congested anywhere in North America. People looking into our province see a great talent pool of people. Toronto, the GTA—in fact, all of Ontario—is a hub for electric vehicle manufacturing in the future, but also for finance and technology. We have some of the most innovative and exciting companies in the world. But if people can’t commute in a responsible and reasonable time, if they can’t afford a house to live in those communities, if they can’t get safely and quickly from A to B, they’re not going to want to live here, and we’re not going to be able to attract the best and the brightest. So our government is committed to getting people connected through public transportation as well as highways, subways and bridges.

Our goal, of course, is to have a province where you can build a career and raise a family, to make it affordable. Our government has been committed to making life affordable, whether it’s the child care tax credit, whether it’s reducing the licence sticker fees that my colleague talked about earlier, helping save families hundreds of dollars, in many cases, per year.

The economic challenges before Ontario may not be for an easy road, and there are some things we cannot predict. Ontario is not an island; we are subject to the world’s economy. But by remaining flexible, we can overcome any challenges and make Ontario a better place.

I’m confident in our plan and proud of the significant progress our government has made on our plan to build. I certainly hope that the opposition will see all the good that is in the fall economic statement here, and even if they may disagree with some things and typically not vote to support the government—I understand they have a role as opposition. But I hope they’ll see the good in the fall economic statement here, the good that we’re doing for those that are on ODSP, for the seniors, for the businesses, and support the fall economic statement.