I’m delighted to welcome page captain Emilia Rashid-Cabezas and her proud family members. Her mom, Alejandra Cabezas, her dad, Iftekher Rashid, and her brother Andrés Rashid-Cabezas are here today.

Also, I would like to introduce Robert Kim and his mom, Alysa Kim. Robert is the host of the Robert at Children’s Climate Championship YouTube channel, so check it out if you get a chance.

I, too, would like to take this opportunity to introduce a former member and former Minister of Colleges and Universities, John Milloy. He is here with his fourth-year master’s students from the political science program at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Welcome, everyone. I look forward to meeting with you this afternoon.

Remarks in Anishininiimowin. Good morning. I want to welcome Chief Rudy Turtle of Grassy Narrows, Head Councillor Cecilia Begg from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, Deputy Chief Stanley Anderson from Wapekeka, Elder Alex Moonias from Neskantaga, and other guests who are up there—Stanley Moonias, Sherry Ackabee, Bear Copenace, John Clint Kokopenace, Arnold Pahpasay, Judy Da Silva, Joseph Fobister, Mike Fobister, Chrissy Isaacs, Harriet Cutfeet, Jacob Ostaman, Samuel McKay, Joshua Frogg, and others I have missed. Meegwetch for coming.

I appreciate the question.

Obviously, the Integrity Commissioner has weighed in on that and is looking at the additional information that has been provided by the former minister.

At the same time, of course, we are not going to do what the opposition will want us to do. This is all about the same thing for them—it’s about stopping people from having what all of us wanted and what all of us have: a home for themselves.

I was speaking to somebody just yesterday whose wife delivered their first child. He did everything right. He bought his first condo when he was just out of school. And now all he wants is a home for his family, but 21 offers later, he still doesn’t have that home. All he wants—what he said to us—is this: “I want what you had. I want the opportunity to have my first home for my family.” That’s what he wants, and that’s what we will deliver.

My question is to the Premier.

Speaker, the people of this province have questions about what happened in Vegas between the Premier’s former principal secretary, his former director of housing policy, his former minister, and greenbelt developer Shakir Rehmatullah. They all stated that the Vegas trip was in 2019; none of them clarified it may have been in 2020 until they were backed into a corner.

The minister from Mississauga East–Cooksville changed his story about only going to Vegas once since being elected; now we know that he has been there twice. I don’t know how you forget that. I know that I would remember a good-luck ritual massage.

Does the Premier believe that one of his ministers and/or members of his staff lied to the Integrity Commissioner?

To the Leader of the Opposition: It was very clear that the Integrity Commissioner cleared myself and cleared my office. The Auditor General cleared myself and cleared my office.

Our intent is to build homes—build homes for new Canadians and build homes for young families who come here who can’t afford it.

If it was up to the NDP and the Liberals, nothing would get done. We go back another 15 years and talk about scandals, be it the eHealth scandal or every other scandal that they had—nothing got done. We had the highest hydro rates in North America, the highest taxes, more red tape, more regulations—and they wonder why, under their rule, 300,000 people lost their jobs.

As we stand today, there are 700,000 people who have jobs, who will have an opportunity to pay their rent, who have an opportunity to get a mortgage and buy a home. That’s our intent. We’re going to continue making sure we build the 1.5 million homes.

Again, that is something that the Integrity Commissioner will take a look at. I can understand the leader bringing that question to the floor, but honestly, she should be providing those questions to the Integrity Commissioner. That is the official who is charged with overseeing those types of investigations with members on all sides of the House.

At the same time, we’re going to continue to be focused on what matters to the people of the province of Ontario, and that is delivering a strong economy, that is delivering homes for the people of this province—whether it is the senior who wants to downgrade into a bit of a smaller home, thereby making another home available for the young family I just talked about.

I suspect this is all the opposition is going to do—try to put obstacles in the way of Ontarians having that first home. We will remove those obstacles, and we will deliver for the people of the province of Ontario, because they deserve every advantage, the same advantages that we had. The next generation deserves those exact same advantages.

But the Leader of the Opposition is right—for the NDP, it is never about housing, right? Because if it was ever about housing, they wouldn’t have put obstacles in the way, along with the Liberals, that saw us in a housing crisis in the province of Ontario. That is the reality today. We are in a housing crisis because they put obstacles in the way of people building homes. They put obstacles in the way that have led us to a housing crisis. It is the same policies that they’re supporting federally. They have the balance of power federally, and what are they supporting? High taxes, which lead to inflation, which lead to interest rates that put families out of competition for homes.

So I say to the Leader of the Opposition: Don’t do what your federal counterparts are doing. Don’t do what you did when you supported the Liberals. Don’t put housing out of the reach of thousands of people. Join us and make sure that the next generation has all the benefits that we enjoy. That’s what we’ll focus on.

We inherited a province that was brought to its knees by the policies of the Liberals and the NDP—the same policies right now, which, across this country, have led to high inflation, which is leading to out-of-control interest rates, which are putting thousands of people out of the market. And when you add on top of that the obstacles that they put in place, making new families have to decide to eat or heat—that was their legacy.

We’re going to bring prosperity back. We’ve already seen 700,000 people have the dignity of a job—and now the next step is to give those new families the same advantages that we had: a house that they can call home for their families, so that we can ensure that the next generation has all the advantages we had.

At the same time, the Leader of the Opposition and the leader of the Liberal Party can make all the jokes that they want, but the reality is this: It is not a joke, because what has happened in the province of Ontario under 15 years of Liberals and NDPs is that we have a housing crisis. These are the very same policies that they fought for here for 15 years, that we’re seeing in Ottawa right now. We’re seeing the same thing. We said a carbon tax would cost the people of the province of Ontario and drive up inflation; they said it wouldn’t, but it did. We said high interest rates would cause our economy to fall; they said it wouldn’t, but we’re showing that it does. High interest rates are putting thousands of people out of the market for homes. Why? Because Liberal policies of high debt, high inflation and red tape, supported by the NDP, don’t work. It brings an economy to its knees. We’re going to do everything that they didn’t. We’re going to continue to restore the economy—

The final supplementary.

To reply, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Withdraw.

The member from Mississauga East–Cooksville paid over $4,500 cash for the flights. He said he also paid for the hotels. The member estimates that the Premier’s staff paid him back $1,000 each and showed a deposit of $2,000 on December 20, 2019. But money the member said was for repayment for the trip doesn’t even cover the cost of the flights, and he can’t recall the particulars. Contrary to the former minister’s dates, the staff in question say they paid the minister back in 2020—but then in 2022. One of these staffers say that they actually paid the minister back $2,000—the other, over $1,000. The dates are wrong. The numbers don’t match.

Is this how the Ford government does business?

The member would know the process of how the Integrity Commissioner does his work. Having been one of the only members found guilty of an infraction by the Integrity Commissioner, she would certainly know how that process works.

The person she is talking about is no longer a member of this caucus. That person will have to work with the Integrity Commissioner to ensure that all of the documentation that he requires is made available.

At the same time, we’re going to continue to move forward to ensure that we build 1.5 million homes for people all across the province of Ontario—it’s not just homes for people; it’s homes for students; it’s long-term-care homes. It’s about getting people moving in the province of Ontario. It is why we are building subways. It’s why we are building new roads. It’s why we are opening up our economy. For the first time in years, Ontario is on a prosperous path. Do you know why? Because we’ve done everything opposite to what the Liberals and the NDP did for 15 years. People are coming back to the province, and now it’s our responsibility to do everything for the next generation to have all the same advantages that we had—

Having said that, what we are going to continue to do, and what we have done since day one in this place, is start to untangle the mess that was created by the Liberals and the NDP—a mess that has led to a housing crisis in the province of Ontario. We’re going to remove obstacles. The Minister of Long-Term Care talked about it just yesterday. Under the Liberal watch, 611 long-term-care beds were built across the province of Ontario—611, supported by the NDP. Under this minister’s watch, there are shovels in the ground for 18,000 beds. In fact, there are more long-term-care beds being built in the member for Ottawa South’s riding than there were for the previous 15 years that he was in that government. We’ll continue to get the job done on behalf of all—

Interjections.

I’m going to ask the member to withdraw the unparliamentary comment.

Meegwetch. Through you, Speaker, to the Premier: This government has all the time in the world to collaborate with developers in Las Vegas, but they won’t show these chiefs the basic respect of meeting with them. Three times they have travelled here and the Premier has ignored them.

Last week, they formally invited the Premier to meet with them face to face. They will be waiting for him out front at 12:15 today. The table is set. Will the Premier meet with the Land Defence Alliance chiefs today? Yes or no?

The Premier has encouraged the mining industry to exploit First Nations lands against their will. He has even promised to drive the bulldozer himself.

They are still waiting—he refuses to meet with the five Land Defence Alliance chiefs whose lands and people are at risk.

Speaker, the leaders are here now, today. Will the Premier commit to respecting their rights to their lands, to decide what happens on their land? If there is any other answer, if he is unwilling to meet with them, it just means that he does not care about First Nations.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, I’ve heard from the First Nations communities, and they have said there has never been a Premier who has been more accessible, returning phone calls, meeting with them. Never, ever have they had a Premier who reaches out to them, supports them in any way I can. I’m going to continue to support them. I return every single phone call and take every single meeting—ask Regional Chief Hare; he was the one who said that in front of numerous chiefs, and they all agreed. So, sorry to dismiss what you were saying.

I want to start by thanking the Premier for this important role and thanking all the many men and women in the skilled trades I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with over the last 48 hours. I’m really looking forward to working with you.

Speaker, if we’re going to be honest with ourselves and we’re going to build the hospitals we need, build the schools we need, build the highways, the roads and the bridges that this Premier, this government have committed to doing to support a stronger Ontario, we need the men and women who are going to build them. We need them—men and women like my grandfather, who came off the boats from Italy and found a very rewarding career in the trades. But for too many, that’s out of reach. The opportunity for home ownership and everything he did to provide for my family is out of reach. But under this Premier’s watch, it’s changing.

I want to draw attention to an important fact: Since the moves this government has made to support the skilled trades, we’ve seen an increase in apprenticeship registrations in the last year of over 24%. Bottom line: It’s working.

I’d like to acknowledge the work of the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity—the work that she has been doing to ensure that we have greater representation of women in the trades—and again, it is working. Under the leadership of this Premier, we have seen an increase in the number of female apprenticeship registrations, up by over 30% from last year. I hope, in the spirit of non-partisanship, that’s something that everybody in this House can say is a good thing.

My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

Our province is currently experiencing a labour shortage in every sector of our economy. Across Ontario, jobs are going unfilled every day, costing our economy billions in lost productivity. One of the most critical areas where we are missing talent is in the skilled trades. With so many job vacancies needing to be filled, people need to be provided with the opportunity to launch into these well-paying and lifelong careers.

To help build a stronger Ontario, our government must do all that we can do to help more people get into the skilled trades.

Can the minister please explain how our government is supporting people in gaining the skills they need to address our province’s overwhelming demand for skilled tradespeople?

When speaking about getting more people into the skilled trades and that the labour shortage is hurting Ontario’s economic potential, our government must focus on implementing solutions that will have a real impact on the future prosperity of our province. We need to remove barriers as well as provide opportunities and pathways to employment in the skilled trades for those who don’t currently have jobs but who want to work.

Can the minister please elaborate on how our government is supporting Ontarians in securing rewarding careers in the skilled trades?

My question is for the Attorney General.

The people of Ontario deserve a justice system that is both accessible and efficient. For years, the people of Ontario relied on outdated procedures that were paper-based, inconvenient and confusing when dealing with our provincial courts of justice. Sadly, updates to technology in this sector were clearly not a priority for the previous Liberal government, and they failed to help Ontarians who need timely access in addressing their legal matters. The people of Ontario need solutions that will replace the methods that were slow, outdated and ineffective.

Can the Attorney General please explain how our government is transforming and modernizing access to justice services?

As a government, we must ensure that our province’s justice system is effective and supports streamlined court operations. It is equally important that current technology is available in courtrooms across our province, in order to overcome long-standing barriers in the justice system. Modernization of these vital services through critical investments is essential to speed up access to services.

Can the Attorney General elaborate on how technological advancements will improve Ontario’s justice services?

Members will please take their seats.

The Minister of Northern Development and Minister of Indigenous Affairs.

Speaker, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Under this Premier’s leadership, we have settled more treaties, more flood claims and more land claims. We have struck an important balance about creating opportunities, addressing issues, to ensure, as the crown, as the government of Ontario, that we balance the interests of other communities who have moved ahead on legacy infrastructure projects, legacy resource projects, fundamentally transforming the economic, social and health landscape of those communities. That opportunity is extended to those leaders. I have a personal relationship with many of them. I’ve known them a long time. I meet with them in my constituency office. Chief Turtle is here today. I spoke with the chief of Neskantaga not long ago about some opportunities in his community. We’re prepared to work with those communities, as we do with every First Nations community, to create opportunities for Indigenous youth—

I want to thank my friend from Richmond Hill for the question.

I am proud to tell everybody here and tell the world about the bold new step, the new era that we’re entering, and our government’s plan to build an accessible and very responsive justice system. We’re building on the great work our government has done, in collaboration with the courts, to transform how people across Ontario access justice. It’s no secret to anybody—after years of being ignored by the previous governments, simply put, we needed to drag this system into the 21st century.

I’m proud to announce that we awarded a $166-million contract to deliver the most significant digital justice system project in the country, if not North America. It’s called the Courts Digital Transformation. It will completely change how people resolve legal matters in the Superior Court and Ontario Court, through the implementation of a faster, modern and more efficient new digital justice system. I’ll explain more in the supplementary.

Through this contract, Thomson Reuters will deliver a new platform that will allow you to:

—file documents quickly and easily online;

—digitally access court case information online—that’s good for transparency;

—pay fees online;

—connect virtually to hearings;

—manage court appearances; and

—receive decisions electronically.

We’re going to make sure that the antiquated system we’ve put up with for decades, the paper-based system, is a thing of the past. It couldn’t be done without our partners in justice—the courts, the users and, of course, the legal associations—and it’s in addition to our justice accelerated strategy, in 2021. In 2022, we put in tens of millions of dollars to transform this system.

We’re not just making change. We’re changing how change is made.