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?

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Start the clock. I recognize the member for her supplementary question.

To respond, the Premier.

The House will come to order.

Interjections.

Interjections.

I am going to remind members to refer to each other by their ministerial title or the riding the member represents.

Start the clock. The next question.

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 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.

Mr. Speaker, it has come to my attention that, when the page from Carleton was introduced, apparently his last name was mispronounced. It was pronounced “Worsley” and not “Wereley.” I received a call to my office asking if this could be corrected on the record.

I beg leave to present a report from the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs and move its adoption.

Je voudrais corriger le record : j’ai mentionné 2,8 milliards de dollars quand je voulais mentionner 8,3 milliards de dollars.

Bill Pr23, An Act to revive Ice Hockey Resources Ltd.

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order: I’d like to introduce the class from Rehoboth school in the great village of Norwich who are here this morning. I would have done it earlier, but they were caught in the traffic and they couldn’t get here. But they are here now, and we would like to say welcome to Queen’s Park.

My question is for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

Today, delegations from the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario are holding meetings with members and with our government to update us on their work to provide new and innovative tourism experiences to locals and visitors alike. It’s vital that we value and appreciate their insight as we all work together to understand and address the challenges facing businesses in the tourism sector.

Can the minister please explain what our government is doing to support Ontario’s tourism industry?

Today’s meetings with members of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario are timely since tomorrow is World Tourism Day. That being said, it’s also a reminder that while tourism is celebrated and recognized internationally, it’s also a highly competitive industry.

Can the minister please explain how our government is partnering with the tourism industry to unlock its true economic potential and ensure Ontario remains a world-class tourism destination?

Thanks for the question—and I’d also like to thank her for all the work she has done in a very short period of time and the impact she has made, not only in her community, but across Ontario. It’s great work, and thank you for that.

Mr. Speaker, tourism touches us all in many ways, and today it has touched us a lot because we’ve had the great pleasure of not only having a reception last night with the leadership group and people around and colleagues showing up—but today in meetings.

Tourism, I’ve found, has become very special to me in many ways. When I’ve had conversations and understand what tourism does on driving economic power into our province—how they do it and how they went through a very tough time. I’ve met with a lot of them, and I’m going to meet with more of them because they’re inspiring. They’re inspiring because when you sit down, they don’t say, “Here, I need this, help”; they say, “We have a problem. Here’s our solution. Will you work with us to get to that solution?”—and you bet we will, Speaker.

When I look across the industry—and really, like most things, it comes down to people, the types of people you’re dealing with, and whom we’ve been dealing with in the tourism industry have enlightened, have expanded and have been aggressive, to go through a tough time and come out the other side and find ways to be better.

A great example—and I won’t necessarily mention—yes, I will: Blue Mountain ski resort. Blue Mountain has taken a turn and they do things other than just with snow. They take advantage of the landscape and the natural beauty. They do so many things to draw people to their area—and that’s not just about Blue Mountain; that’s about the whole region. There are regions across this province that have so much to offer, like Blue Mountain, and the people who are in this—