Good morning. Let us pray.

Prières / Prayers.

This being the first sitting Monday of the month, I ask everyone to remain standing and join in the singing of the Canadian national anthem, followed by the royal anthem.

Singing of the national anthem / Chant de l’hymne national.

Singing of the royal anthem / Chant de l’hymne royal.

—a report entitled Economic and Budget Outlook, Spring 2023, from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario;

—a report entitled What Gets Measured Gets Managed: Ministries’ Performance Measurement, Program Evaluation and Annual Reporting, from the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario;

—the 2022-23 annual report from the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario;

—the annual report of the review of expense claims covering the period April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, pursuant to the Cabinet Ministers’ and Opposition Leaders’ Expenses Review and Accountability Act, 2002, from the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario;

—the 2022-23 annual report from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario;

—a report entitled Expenditure Monitor 2022-23: Q4, from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario;

—a Special Report on Changes to the Greenbelt, from the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario;

—a report concerning the Honourable Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, from the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario;

—a report entitled Lessons for the Long Term: Investigation into the Ministry of Long-Term Care’s Oversight of Long-Term Care Homes through Inspection and Enforcement during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario; and

—the final report concerning the Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, from the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario.

Again, I just want to welcome our friends from Arizona: Welcome; I look forward to speaking with you. And my friends from Arizona, you think politics are tough in the United States? Watch us over the next session.

Anyways, I want to thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. I’ll answer the reason why people should trust us: When we came to office, it was like walking into a bankrupt company. There were 300,000 jobs lost, down to our friends, down to the US, and now there are 700,000 more people working today than there were five years ago. We’re building $184 billion of infrastructure. We’re focusing on $70 billion of building roads and bridges and highways. We’re focusing on making sure we have the largest transit system in North America. We’re building 50 new sites and hospitals or additions to hospitals, spending over $50 billion—

My friends from Arizona probably don’t realize that Ontario is leading North America in economic development and trade and growth. We’re the fastest-growing region right now in North America. We have over 800,000 people coming to Ontario every single year, and they’re coming to Ontario because that’s where the prosperity is. That’s where the jobs are. That’s where economic development is. That’s where the quality of life is. You want a great life, you come to Ontario. But I can assure the people out there—the new Canadians that are coming here, the young people that need to afford a home—that we’re going to build homes. We’re going to build affordable, attainable—

Interjections.

I mentioned earlier in a response about the need for us to recognize the qualifications people have when they come here from other countries, and that if there are certain things we have to adjust so that we hit the right threshold, there should be a way to fast-track them. So, 100%, I think that’s an important issue as well.

The problem, though, Speaker, is that in these bills—and we hear it all the time, and I’ve got to tell you, it’s frustrating. People in my community tell me all the time. You put forward a bill with a poison pill in it, and maybe not this one specifically, but time and time again, there’s a bill and part of the bill is pretty good and part of it has stuff that no one would be able to support. Then what the Conservative government loves to do, Speaker, is point at the good part of the bill and say, “This is what the member voted against.” Let’s not do that anymore. Let’s not play games. Let’s have bills that actually help people. Let’s pull out the poison pills from them. It doesn’t make sense; it’s a nonsense thing. Honestly, if you think somebody, at the door, believes that I don’t support long-term care or whatever your nugget is—come on, let’s just get back to reality.