Speaker, the Premier has been on record—in fact, it was in his book—about his interest in the strong-mayor system.

When we tabled this bill, the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, almost immediately upon election, we made it very clear that we were going to put a plan in place not just to give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa strong-mayor powers, but the Premier was extremely transparent in communicating that we were going to continue that opportunity to other regions. Bill 39, the Better Municipal Governance Act, is on the floor for debate in the Legislative Assembly. It provides exactly what the Premier promised, and that is to extend these powers to other regions in the province. As well, in the spirit of collaboration, we’re acting on the suggestion that Mayor Tory put forward and putting it in this bill so that he has tools to get shovels in the ground faster.

We’re in the middle of a housing crisis. I hate to keep reminding—

Speaker, the Premier is using Bill 39 to allow the mayor of Toronto to pass laws at city hall with the support of only one third of council. The mayor could pass laws with the support of just eight members out of 25. We operate in a democracy—50% plus one, majority rule. But this bill silences two thirds of council. It silences the voice of the majority of Torontonians in how our city is run.

Will the Premier abide by the democratic process and withdraw this absurd bill?

Speaker, I want to remind the House that we’re in the middle of a housing crisis. Our best year in 30 years was last year, when we had over 100,000 starts. New Democrats, this morning, in debate on Bill 23, acknowledged the 1.5 million homes that are needed in Ontario over the next decade. The status quo does not work.

The fact that our government is advancing the strong-mayor powers over and above Toronto and Ottawa is not something that the Premier has hidden in any way, in any shape, or in any form.

We need to ensure that mayors across the province have all the tools that they need to get shovels in the ground faster. We need to ensure that we have a plan in place to build those 1.5 million homes.

We’re going to continue with our agenda as we work with our municipal partners.

Interjections.

Speaker, we learned that the mayor of Toronto and the Premier were having these backroom conversations as far back as this summer. This is how the government operates—secret conversations behind closed doors. We saw that with the cuts to the greenbelt. Backdoor meetings led to results for wealthy donor developers at the expense of the interests of the people of Ontario.

Will the Premier stop his backroom deals with donors and serve in the interests of the public?

I want to thank the member for Humber River–Black Creek for the question. I’m glad he brought up elections—because I’m glad that he, Niagara Falls and Kiiwetinoong are still in the race for NDP leader. In fact, the member opposite mentioned that he’s still kicking the tires.

Well, I’ve got news for you, man: You keep with these policies, and the wheels are falling off during the election; there are no more tires to kick.

You need to stand up for realizing the dream of home ownership. You need to support municipalities—like Mayor Tory—who have asked for new tools. And you need to understand that this kind of status quoism is adding over $100,000 to the price of a new home in Toronto. You’re literally putting a generation of Ontarians out of home ownership because of your failed policies.

The member opposite from St. Paul’s, who just asked that question, actually said in this House that building more housing won’t solve our problems, which I can’t believe she would actually put in Hansard—

Interjections.

To the Premier: During the recent Toronto election, the Premier and Mayor Tory made a secret deal so that Mayor Tory would be able to govern the city with only one third of city councillors; that’s eight out of the 25 who were elected. I’ve been wondering, if you’re going to override democratic majority rule, why one third—why not one quarter or one sixth or one tenth?

I did some research, and of the recently elected 25 councillors in Toronto, Mayor Tory endorsed seven and Premier Ford endorsed two. That makes nine—one third plus one.

My question is, did the Premier look at the results of the Toronto election and then decide that a one-third minority would allow Mayor Tory to govern the city with the votes of only their endorsed candidates?

Back to the Premier: Toronto elected 25 city councillors, but under Bill 39 only eight plus the mayor will make decisions, effectively silencing 17 councillors and the communities they represent.

Toronto’s council is the most diverse in its history, with 27% of councillors being racialized. This is a step in the right direction but still a far cry from Toronto’s full diversity, where 55% of folks here are visibly racialized. But now, because of the Premier’s secret deal with Mayor Tory, their voices would be silenced through this bill’s minority rule. When progressive women and BIPOC city councillors achieve historic elections in city council, the government changes the rules and strips them and the voters who elected them of their power.

Will this government withdraw their dangerous, undemocratic and inequitable Bill 39 and actually allow racialized Torontonians—all Torontonians—to have power on city council with the councillors they elected?

Interjections.