The housing crisis is a mental health crisis. The housing crisis is a suicide crisis.

I know the government talks about “all Ontarians,” and I know that sometimes we are left out—as First Nations, as Indigenous people—in the policy approaches of this government. They talk about real people.

If you’re not going to invest in Indigenous, First Nations housing, what is your plan, on-reserve, to address the housing crisis in our communities?

I have heard about empowered mayors, but I’ve also heard about disempowered councillors and disempowered communities who will be losing substantial access to their voice at council. There’s also nothing to say that any family will be able to afford any single one of these homes, because there is nothing in the bill that addresses this.

So how does the bill, or how does your government, intend to address accessibility and affordability?

Thank you, my colleague from Eglinton–Lawrence, for your presentation on giving more powers to the mayors.

Sometimes the mayor and council can’t even make a decision on a zoning application or building application, and sometimes they have to fight with the bureaucracy and red-tapeism at city hall. This legislation will give a little bit of power to the mayor to move a little bit more projects—small developments in terms of zoning applications, building permits, not only the official plan amendment. They had to go through too much red tape.

My question to the member: How would these proposed changes affect our housing supply? We talk about supply and demand based on the market economy. How will this proposed legislation at least help to increase the supply?

Questions?

I want to congratulate the member on her re-election and for her submission and speech today.

She said, for instance, the mayor of Toronto has 500,000 votes. But councillors receive cumulatively, across the city, the same number of votes, essentially, as the mayor does. People vote for councillors and expect them to have the paramountcy on local issues, the understanding of local issues. When you’re in a city of millions, you don’t expect a response from a mayor when something goes wrong.

So what is it about this government? Why do they want to weaken local councillors in their ability to make decisions when the mayors of municipalities already have overwhelming powers to be able to get their agendas across?

Thank you to my friend the member opposite from Humber River–Black Creek. It’s an important question.

I think you said yourself that what the mayor has is stature, as the mayor, to try to influence folks, but the mayor doesn’t have a lot of powers per se.

At least in your speech, you talked about his stature being influential etc. I think that isn’t sufficient, in a big city the size of Toronto and a big city the size of Ottawa, to realize the vision the mayor has run on and which people would like to hold them accountable for. The mayor has not got the tools to be able to achieve those results for the city.

I think that people running for council—yes, they are also democratically elected to represent their area, but the mayor is the one person on city council who has to look at what is good for the entire city. I think that part is so important that we need to give the mayor more tools to realize a broader vision and to make a better city.

I’m certainly looking forward to passing this legislation and having the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa be able to avail themselves of more powers to achieve their vision to make better cities here in Ontario.

Further debate?

My question is really—a bit of a confusion that I’m sensing here in the members opposite. The member referred to the 42nd Parliament; we started off with a bill at that point in time that reduced the size of Toronto city council. I’m not sure if anybody can help me, but I don’t think the sky fell when that bill passed. In fact, as far as I remember, it seems like things actually worked out a lot better.

Now we’re proposing another measure to deal with a crisis that is out there. We need the million and a half homes we want to build in Ontario over the next eight to 10 years. We need a lot of housing right across the country, and we are really, really struggling with being able to find that housing, so we’re trying to [inaudible] a measure here to try to remedy that situation, and all I hear is “no.” All I hear is complaining from the opposition.

Now, we went into this last election, and the opposition party has been reduced to the teeny, tiny little caucus that we see before us today. I’m just wondering if the member opposite will ever learn to say yes. That’s my question, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to thank the member from Hamilton Mountain for her comments. Like the member from Hamilton Mountain, I heard a lot on the doorsteps about the need for affordable housing. I heard it from families of all types and sizes, whether they owned their own home or they were renting. Another thing I’ve heard a lot about was tenants who risked being evicted from the housing that they had, because their landlord was trying to push them out, knowing that the landlord could jack up the rent to whatever they wanted for the next tenant.

What I did not hear anything about from any of my constituents—I did not hear it from my Conservative opponent, either—was a demand for any additional powers for the mayor. Even the mayor of Ottawa said he’s not interested in additional powers. So I’m wondering if the member can comment on whether it would have been a better option for the government to in fact introduce real rent control and vacancy control to address the housing crisis, rather than giving mayoral powers nobody is asking for.

Questions?

It should have been health care, and it should have been housing for real—real issues to fix housing, real issues to ensure that those same students I just talked about are not sleeping in closets with a single bed and less than $50 a week to eat. I’m sure none of your kids are doing that. Let’s make sure other kids in this province have the opportunity too.

Interjections.

His priorities are backwards. We should be talking about health care. We should be talking about real solutions to housing. We should be talking about affordability. There are so many things that we could be talking about instead of increasing the power of a couple of mayors, which aren’t even going to cover the whole entire province. How are they going to deal with regional chairs? How are they going to deal with those unelected folks who are appointed to these positions? I guess we’re going to have to wait until we see the regulations to actually understand fully the impact that this legislation is going to have on the people of this province.

So he’s looking for more power. This is all this is about. There is nothing in here that benefits the people of this province. The only thing this bill does is benefit the Premier.

The rental market is a big enough problem. We have people who are literally piling up into rooms to be able to have a roof over their heads. We have tents that are building up and building up and building up, because people do not have affordable housing. That could have been the first measure that came before this House—making sure that we were dealing with the renovictions, that we were dealing with rent stabilization, rent control. Instead, this government has removed any protections that there were in front, and then their first course of action is to provide the strong-mayors bill, which is nothing—I’m curious, actually. I would hope that maybe with the next question that comes forward, the member could take the time to tell me that their constituents specifically asked for this bill over health care and housing.

I want to thank the member for her submission today. I want to draw a parallel to what this bill would be like if this was the province. I would like all people to consider this fact: The Premier of Ontario, arguably the most powerful person in Ontario, has one vote in this chamber—a single vote, no veto power—and yet despite this, through appointments and through the power that he has over his own government, he’s able to win every single vote in this chamber. He doesn’t require these other additions to his power; he’s able to do it in all the same ways that mayors do it to win all their votes in their own municipalities. Now, super powers are being given to mayors only if they fall in line with what the Premier of this province wants, who already gets everything he wants.

Do you see any concerns, given the priorities this government has shown to give these powers to mayors who are not even asking for it?

Last week, the Toronto Star columnist Martin Regg Cohn wrote in support of Bill 3. He wrote that the Premier “got it right with” our stronger mayors plan:

“A weak mayor system keeps Toronto weak..... municipal amalgamation, paired with mayoral emasculation, equals political gridlock.

“By restoring balance to the equation, Ontario can help Toronto balance its budgets, sparing us the” usual fiscal crisis on council.

I want to give the member an opportunity to comment on the article that Martin Regg Cohn wrote.

It should have been health care.

It is really an honour to rise to speak on second reading of Bill 3, the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022. This legislation will provide the city of Toronto and my beautiful city of Ottawa with the additional tools needed to advance provincial priorities. We’ve heard many of those issues over the last few days of discussions at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and I believe if we were listening, as my side of the House was, that we understand those problems that were brought to us.

One of the provincial priorities is to create more housing in this great province of Ontario. During the election campaign, it was loud and clear that we need to address the housing shortage Ontario currently faces. We heard that message and that’s why our government has a plan to deliver more housing, and the legislation will help us reduce red tape and allow municipalities to remove barriers to creating homes. We know that too many families are frozen out of the housing market, particularly younger families, and we believe that everyone deserves a safe place to call home.

Under the leadership of the Premier and my colleague the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, our government passed the More Homes, More Choice Act and More Homes for Everyone Act in the last Parliament. Our government has an ambitious goal of increasing the housing supply in Ontario by 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. The most populous province in Canada will continue to grow, and our government needs to ensure that new housing is created to meet that growth. It is expected that one third of this population growth will take place in the city of Toronto and the city of Ottawa.

For example, my riding, Kanata–Carleton, is home to approximately 110,000 people. We’ve grown by 10% between 2011 and 2016, according to the Canadian census, and neighbourhoods continue to grow. At 10%, our growth is above the average provincial growth of 4.6%. If passed, this legislation will give the city of Ottawa’s mayor the strong powers they need to ensure that housing demands are met.

I have to emphasize that this is a tool that mayors have the choice to use or not. It is a tool in their tool box; it is not a super power. This tool will provide an additional array of supports in terms of the creation of housing that can be developed more quickly and deliver on the shared municipal and provincial goal to increase the supply of housing. We will empower the newly elected Ottawa mayor and city council to work more effectively with the provincial government to reduce timelines for development, standardize processes and address local barriers to increasing the housing supply.

Mr. Speaker, speed matters. To this effect, implementing the strong-mayor system in Ottawa will allow the mayor some level of autonomy and, if needed, to veto bylaws that would obstruct broader priorities, like the creation of new housing, to take one example. Again, I want to emphasize the importance of a home being foundational for a stable society and for stable families and individuals. And again, I’m going to point out that mayors do not have to use this tool. It is a tool in their tool box. Our hope remains that mayors and councils work together to proactively enable the conditions to increase the housing supply which we so badly need. Bill 3 is intended to support the mayors of Ottawa and Toronto to get it done for their communities.

Mr. Speaker, we’re elected here as voices for our communities. People are depending on us to do what is necessary, to take sometimes difficult decisions, to address some very complicated issues of our society, and to continually work to make progress. That’s what we’re doing. Bill 3 is also intended to give mayors the flexibility to fix things faster, to achieve better outcomes in the housing crisis. We’ve seen the impact of COVID on the supply chain and the impact that it has on prices. We know that every day, every month, every year that goes by that a house does not get built, it will cost more in the future—when the demand is now.

If they choose to, mayors would be able to create and reorganize departments, as well as appoint chairs and vice-chairs of committees and local boards, if any are identified by regulation, and establish committees. Our democracy is built on checks and balances, and that’s what this is. We’re creating a bill in an effort to create a supply of housing that is going to help people in our society across the board.

Additionally, the mayor could bring matters before council consideration related to provincial priorities. Implementing strong-mayor powers in Ottawa and Toronto would provide the tools these two communities may need to break the barriers that have historically slowed down progress—and I’m going to say it again: Speed matters. A house not built this year is going to cost us more. It’s going to be harder for young families to afford a place to live, and a place to live is a foundation for a stable society.

If passed, the proposed changes will come into effect on November 15, 2022, so that the new mayor and city council can utilize these powers accordingly.

By increasing the housing supply with the support of our municipal partners—and it is a true partnership—we will ensure that there is a good mix of housing available for all Ontarians. This must be the goal. This must be what we are dedicated to achieving. And we must create the environment in which that can be achieved.

Speaker, we must acknowledge that our communities are growing, and we must acknowledge that growing communities need places to grow. Many young people are choosing to move to Ottawa, as they know our community is an incredible place to live, work and play. There is opportunity here, and people see Ottawa as an ideal place to have families, with access to good schools, great jobs and strong essential services and, more than that, to have a community they can call home.

There are other people who are looking to downsize, like seniors or soon-to-be empty nesters who want a home that meets their needs without the need to move far away from the people, the communities and the places they cherish.

Many residents, young and old, have chosen to live, work and raise families in Ottawa because it is a beautiful place to live and a great place to work that is a hub for innovation. We have many great neighbourhoods like my community of Beaverbrook where I grew up, Glen Cairn, Bridlewood, Emerald Meadows, Katimavik-Hazeldean, West Carleton, and that diversity is appreciated.

Kanata–Carleton is home to Silicon Valley North, home to Canada’s largest tech park, and this requires talent. It requires people. It requires skills that need to be brought to the community by our talented workforce, and they need places to live.

With that said, Speaker, I’d like to focus the remaining remarks on people who choose to rent, and not everyone is able to afford a home or wants a home. For some people the maintenance of a home is too much. They want the benefits of renting, and our government has been steadfast in supporting people with a choice.

Renters make up 34.3% of residents in the nation’s capital. They’re finding it increasingly difficult to secure housing as prices soar to record-breaking heights while the number of listings available to rent continues to drop. Currently, the average monthly price for a two-bedroom apartment, condo, townhouse, duplex or house in the city of Ottawa is approximately $2,100 per month. Rental listings for two-bedroom units have half the supply they did just a year ago with 130 listings compared to 310. Last October, the vacancy rate of Kanata–Carleton for a two-bedroom rental unit was 2.2%. All of this is without even touching on the supply of affordable housing.

Meg McCallum, the interim executive director at the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa said fewer than half of those rental units are affordable: “There’s not enough rental stock to begin with. And when people are looking for affordable homes, there’s so much competition.”

With increased housing supply, the cost of home ownership and renting will decrease, giving more opportunities for the people in our community to call home. Giving strong-mayor powers to Ottawa and Toronto will ensure housing will be created in a timely manner. Mayors can choose to use it or not.

Speaker, I am supporting this legislation and ask all members of this House to pass Bill 3. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as someone who came to this country as an international student, I can tell you from experience how difficult and challenging it is to buy a house in the province of Ontario because of the inaction of the previous government, because they didn’t do anything to fix this crisis. We are the government that believes in action and that is why, this past election, we made a commitment to the people of Ontario that we would keep costs down and build 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years, so that more people can afford to buy a house in the province of Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t understand why the opposition continues to say no and oppose giving the tools to our local leaders to get things done. Why?

One of the things that I’ve definitely been talking to constituents in my riding about—because I border onto Mohawk College and McMaster is right there, and we have a lot of international students who are paying the highest tuition rates in the country right here, and this government has done nothing to support that. They also have to be able to afford to pay the rent. There is nothing in this legislation to support that. They’re barely able to keep up with meals and food. There are food fridges on campus, there are food banks being put up on a regular basis to help support these same students.

Why is the member supporting legislation that’s going to do absolutely nothing to address the concerns that he knows that he himself, his constituents and other international students who come to our country are also facing?

The member for Brampton West.

I know that throughout Ontario, people need a place to live. People need a place to grow, grow their families. And I keep hearing “crisis—the housing crisis.” The housing crisis, I said earlier, is a mental health crisis. The housing crisis is a suicide crisis in our communities. I know, in far northern Ontario, the First Nations, the 49 First Nations in NAN territory, their backlog of homes is 4,500 homes. How does this plan address the housing issue so we actually can have affordable housing?