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.

Ma question est pour le premier ministre. La population de l’Ontario—en particulier, du nord de l’Ontario—voit que le gouvernement ignore nos besoins, et ce, en faveur de leurs amis riches. Le gouvernement a dit qu’il était pour faire le ménage. C’est ce qu’il nous a répété pendant la campagne électorale l’an dernier. Mais maintenant, il est impliqué dans un scandale incluant la violation des règles d’éthique. Trois ministres ont démissionné en déshonneur ou se sont faufilés vers la sortie. Le personnel entourant les conservateurs s’en va sous un nuage de soupçons, et ils se cherchent tous des avocats.

Le premier ministre a déclaré que la responsabilité lui incombait. Alors, monsieur le Président, le premier ministre va-t-il enfin nous dire la vérité et expliquer son implication personnelle dans le scandale de la ceinture de verdure?

Speaker, as you know, as I said earlier, the Integrity Commissioner will be reviewing that.

The Integrity Commissioner also did say this: “In fact, I have found that the Premier’s office staff were not providing such direction.” He went on further to say, “I accept the purpose of the decision to remove lands from the greenbelt was to address the housing crisis.”

This member in the north should know just how important it is that we address the housing crisis. She, of course, was part of a coalition with the Liberals that said that the north was just a wasteland, that nobody should make investments in the north. They stood by the Liberals when they made that claim. This member from the north stood by the Liberals when they made that claim.

Here’s what we’re doing: We’re restoring the North-lander, because that’s what is important to people in the north. We’re opening up the economy of the north.

I visited Kenora to ground-break on a new long-term-care home in a housing project there. I got delayed because they were blasting, because they were making new roads in Kenora.

That is what we are doing when it comes to the north—we’re getting the job done for all Ontarians, including your constituents.

We’re talking about bringing long-term-care homes to the north. We’re talking about building homes in northern Ontario. We’re talking about bringing jobs and prosperity back to northern Ontario.

In fact, when we changed the Mining Act to help benefit the people of northern Ontario, the member for Sudbury, whose riding is so dependent on mining jobs, voted against it. But we shouldn’t be surprised, because they supported the Liberals when they called the north a wasteland; they supported the Liberals, who brought in carbon taxes, which directly impact the people of the north.

To the people of the north, I say very directly: We’ll get the job done for you. The NDP and Liberals have always failed you; we will not.

Il y a encore tellement de questions auxquelles ce premier ministre et ce gouvernement refusent de répondre entourant le scandale de 2,8 milliards—pas des millions, des milliards—de dollars.

Encore, au premier ministre : comment ces spéculateurs ont-ils su donner à votre bureau de l’information sur les terrains à retirer de la ceinture de verdure avant même que cette possibilité soit rendue publique? Qui leur a donné la puce à l’oreille?

My question is for the Minister of Transportation. Traffic congestion and gridlock on highways lead to delays and frustration. For people who live, work or travel through the western part of the GTA, Highway 413 will make a significant difference and have a huge impact on the quality of their lives. The hard-working people across Peel region know that Highway 413 will make travel more convenient and will help to prepare for the massive population growth expected in the next 30 years. It is clear that this project is essential not only for the people living in Peel region, but it is also necessary for the overall prosperity of Ontario.

Can the minister please explain how our government’s investment in critical highway infrastructure projects, like the 413, will benefit the people of Ontario?

The reality is that we need critical infrastructure such as Highway 413 to continue attracting investments here in Ontario. The people of Peel region are tired of the voices of “no” and the people who continually oppose this project. They expect our government to deliver on building Highway 413 in order to keep up with the GTA’s population growth and business needs.

Can the minister please elaborate on how Highway 413 will contribute to supporting our province’s economy and growth?

Again, it is worth noting that the changes we had anticipated making to the greenbelt that are no longer happening are not costing taxpayers a cent—unlike the Liberals, who cost the taxpayers billions of dollars. And what did the Liberals accomplish with the billions of dollars that they cost? Nothing. Their big accomplishment was that 300,000 jobs fled the province of Ontario. They called the north a wasteland. They said that Ontario should transition to a service economy and forget manufacturing. That is the legacy of the Liberal Party.

It was a Progressive Conservative government that actually brought in the Ministry of the Environment.

It was a Progressive Conservative government that protected the Oak Ridges moraine.

We’ll take no lessons from a party that opened up the greenbelt 17 different times. In fact, what are we doing? We’re protecting the greenbelt. We’re codifying it in legislation. We’re adding 9,400 acres to it—the largest increase in lands ever. And we’ll—

Interjections.

My question is to the new Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Congratulations. I look forward to working together with you.

The greenbelt scandal has left an $8.3-billion stain on this government, resulting in the resignation of ministers and senior staff. And while the decision has been reversed, I seriously worry about the environment under this government’s leadership, and so do Ontarians. Notably, the previous Minister of the Environment was absent from the discourse of the greenbelt sale, at least publicly, when the destruction of the greenbelt would directly affect Ontario’s environment.

Why wasn’t the ministry an active participant in the Greenbelt Task Force, and how will this minister be involved in the development of upcoming legislation that will return the greenbelt lands to their protected status?

At the end of August, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks quietly released a report called the Provincial Climate Change Impact Assessment; the previous minister had no press conferences about it, and this government has yet to say a word. Maybe it’s because the findings are so damning. Ontario is not doing enough on infrastructure or for Ontarians to protect us from the future; your Financial Accountability Officer even told you that.

Does the new minister believe that there’s a climate crisis, and how will she utilize the recommendations from the climate change impact assessment report to influence—

Again, anything coming from the Liberals, supported by the NDP—I find it really rich. And I really like Triple M. We work together at Queen’s Park. You’ve been sucked in, Triple M; I’m sorry for that.

Let’s talk about the infrastructure. Let’s talk about the $184 billion that we’re investing and the $50 billion in the hospitals, building 50 sites. Let’s talk about the billions of dollars we’re spending on transportation, building the largest transportation system in North America, building $30 billion of subways. We’re doubling the size of the TTC to get people out of their cars and into the subways. Let’s talk about the billions of dollars being invested by Algoma and Dofasco that’s taking two million cars off the road. Let’s talk about the 600 schools that you closed and the hundreds of new schools that we’re building. That’s what we’re doing on infrastructure.

Interjections.

The people of this province sent a very clear message: Build Highway 413.

Mr. Speaker, just like my colleagues, I hear the same thing every single day: Gridlock in the GTA is taking away from things that matter most, like spending time with your family. That’s why, in Peel region, one of the fastest-growing regions, with an expectation of over a million more people, it’s even more important for us to build these critical highway infrastructures across the province.

Unfortunately, the previous Liberal government, supported by the official opposition, refused to support the building of this highway. They expect the status quo.

We’re going to continue to invest $27 billion in expanding highway infrastructure across this province.

The opposition and the Liberals are completely out of touch with the challenges that Ontarians are facing. That’s why we’re going to build—

Thank you very much. The next question.

The supplementary question.

We know that building Highway 413 is the right thing to do for families, for the economy and for our future.

Under the leadership of this Premier, we’ve attracted over $25 billion in new investments into this province.

Gridlock has cost this province over $11 billion per year, and it will only get worse if we don’t build these critical highways.

Highway 413 will keep the economy moving. During the construction of Highway 413, we will support an estimated 3,500 jobs; we’ll add approximately $350 million to the GDP each year. Once construction is complete, we will reduce gridlock and keep our goods moving.

Highway 413 will also have a dedicated transitway to connect people to our major employment centres and attract more businesses to the area.

It is very critical that we build Highway 413. The independent Liberals—

We saw this yesterday—it’s the next shoe for the opposition. It’s never about building homes. You can never get a question—“How can we help you build more homes for the people of the province of Ontario?” You’ll never get that from them.

No, we’re not going to continue to put obstacles in the way of building homes. Let me be very clear: As the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, I’m going to remove obstacles. Do you know why? Because it is our job to ensure that the next generation has all of the same advantages that we have.

We have one job as parliamentarians: to leave the province in better shape than we found it in. Under the Liberal and NDP coalition, what did you do? You brought the province to its knees.

So, no, I will not put new obstacles in the way of building homes.

And to our partners who have said clearly that you have enough land to build in your areas—we’re going to make sure that you come on board and that we build those homes in those areas.

We have been talking about removing taxes from building purpose-built rentals. We talked about this. Finally, the federal Liberals agree with us—they recognized—that when you put a tax, it drives the economy down. They have finally agreed with us, and they’ve agreed to remove the tax on purpose-built rentals—something that we put in the budget. Colleagues, you’ll remember, we put this in the budget. The finance minister put this in the budget. We’re seeing purpose-built rentals at the highest level in over 15 years. We put it in the budget. The member talks about it. How did she vote? She voted against it. The member talks about transit and building in communities, but when we talk about densifying around community infrastructure like GO trains and subway stations—how did she and her party vote? They voted against it.

Don’t worry. We’ll get the job done for your com-munity as well.

My question is for the Minister for Seniors and Accessibility. My riding of Simcoe–Grey recently had the pleasure of hosting the minister for the first annual Grand Parade fundraiser hosted by Contact Community Services in Alliston. I want to commend the work of Contact Community Services—for their leadership in organizing this event and for the important work they do supporting seniors in our riding. For over 40 years, Contact has provided support to the residents of Simcoe–Grey through seniors programs and a range of other free services for those in need. I am very happy to share that Contact Community Services exceeded its fundraising goal of over $20,000 and that they had the most teams registered of any of the walks across Canada.

Can the minister please explain how events such as the Grand Parade fundraiser in Alliston are important to the well-being of our seniors across this province?

I appreciate the opportunity to talk about some of the things that we’ve been able to do to, in fact, keep emergency rooms open, because we know the temporary closures are very disruptive to local communities. Of course, the member opposite would know that there has not been a single closure of an emergency room north of the French River, which covers the entire northern part of the province. We’ve worked incredibly hard to make sure that those temporary coverages, where committed physicians are prepared to go into communities that are not their host communities, working those hours to make sure that we have that covered—as I said, there has not been a single emergency department closure. That is a result of the coverage that we’ve been able to do with physicians. We’ll continue to do that work.

I’m guessing the member opposite is specifically referencing Mindemoya. We’ll make sure that we work with all of those partners to ensure those coverages.

In fact, it is our government, under the Premier, which has ensured that if you are a physician in any part of Canada and you want to live and practise in the province of Ontario—come on down. We have made it easier for people to do that.

It was, of course, a Progressive Conservative government that opened a northern medical school.

And it was our government that actually expanded those positions so that we have more physicians being trained in the province of Ontario.

We have more access for individuals who want to practise in the province of Ontario. We will continue to do that work because we see a population that is expanding, aging and wanting health care and housing.

My question is to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Minister, your own experts have said very clearly time and time again that we don’t need to open up more land to meet our housing targets. While this government has backed down on opening the greenbelt, this government continues to force municipalities to expand their boundaries and pave over 35,000 hectares of farmland, even when municipalities from Hamilton to Waterloo are telling you they can build the homes they need with the land they’ve already got.

Minister, can this government reverse course and stop paving over farmland?

What we’re also seeing now is that housing starts in Ontario are starting to go down; they went down by 20,000 in July, and they went down another 13,600 in August.

To build the homes we need for Ontarians, we have been calling on this government time and time and time again to do more to increase density in towns and cities so we can build homes in neighbourhoods people want to live in. What is your plan to do that?

My question is to the Minister of Health.

Last week, Manitoulin Health Centre announced that they will have to close one of their emergency departments on days throughout October due to a shortage of available doctors. This will mean that people who live in central and western Manitoulin will have to travel at least an extra 40 kilometres when they are experiencing a medical emergency.

Before the summer break, I warned the minister about the shortage of primary care physicians on Manitoulin, and now we are seeing the consequences of understaffing play out. This is unacceptable. This government cannot continue to allow rural emergency rooms to go short-staffed.

Can the minister commit that she will not allow ER closures on Manitoulin so that it doesn’t become a common occurrence?

However, this government has not shown any urgency in addressing the physician shortage facing northern Ontario. We know that ignoring the problem is only making it worse. Overburdened doctors in the north are burning out and being forced to close their practices.

While I appreciate that the minister is extending locum coverage in the Manitoulin area, the fact is that officials are still saying it is not enough to avoid ER closures.

What is the minister going to do to ensure that all northerners have reliable access to physicians in their communities?

The supplementary question.

The supplementary question.

Once again, I’ll remind members to please make their comments through the Chair.

Start the clock. The next question.

Are there any more points of order before we recess?

This House stands in recess until 3 p.m.

The House recessed from 1152 to 1500.

Introduction of visitors? I hope I didn’t scare anyone off.

Report adopted.

Ms. Smith moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr33, An Act to revive 1000067464 Ontario Inc.

First reading agreed to.