I’m happy to rise for the second reading of Bill 131, Transportation for the Future Act. I will be sharing my time today with the Associate Minister of Transportation, my former parliamentary assistant, the MPP from Scarborough.

Infrastructure plays a critical role in supporting the quality of life enjoyed by all Ontarians. It’s what makes our roads safer, our travel more convenient, and our communities healthier and more vibrant. When we build hospitals and long-term-care homes, we’re ensuring the most vulnerable people and our loved ones are taken care of. When high-speed Internet infrastructure is deployed, we’re ensuring that all communities across the province can participate and thrive in the 21st-century digital world. When a new highway or transit line is built, we’re helping hard-working residents get home to their families faster.

Our government is moving forward with the most ambitious capital plan in Ontario’s history by investing more than $184 billion over the next decade. We are making historic investments in infrastructure that will make a difference in people’s lives while creating good jobs in communities across Ontario.

Every day, our ministry is working hard to improve the lives of millions of people. But to do that, we need to build better infrastructure, faster and more efficiently, while saving taxpayers money. That includes a well-functioning transit system that is critical for those who rely on it every single day, whether they’re travelling to work or school, visiting family or friends, or making their way to a medical appointment.

Now, more than ever, our province continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. There is an urgent need to build better transit for the future. We have much work to do, and we cannot delay. We know that we face challenges that, if left unchecked, will lead to much more significant problems down the road.

We know that our province, like many areas across the country, is facing a housing crisis. We also know that we’re experiencing the fastest population growth in years. Therefore, we need the necessary infrastructure to support this growth. We need to deliver a transit system that meets the challenges of today, while preparing for the needs of tomorrow. And we need new tools that will help fund and deliver new transit stations, while expediting transit-connected housing to meet our goal of building at least 1.5 million new homes by 2031.

That’s why, today, we are introducing the Transportation for the Future Act, 2023, that, if passed, would build more GO transit stations, spur more housing and create mixed-use communities around transit, resulting in a more convenient commute across the greater Golden Horseshoe. Speaker, before getting into the legislation, I’d like to talk briefly about why this is so important.

We have over 500 kilometres of GO rail service. As we expand service with OnCorr, we also have an opportunity to build new stations. These transit-oriented communities will bring more housing, jobs, retail and public amenities close to transit. People’s day-to-day lives are getting busier. Between work, family and other responsibilities, they not only want convenience; they need it. TOCs create places that are more livable and walkable. By building transit where people live and work, we are increasing ridership, reducing gridlock, stimulating economic growth, increasing housing supply, and lowering the cost of building infrastructure for taxpayers. And we’ve made excellent progress. Work is already under way to deliver eight TOCs along the new Ontario Line and Yonge North subway extension, which will create approximately 77,000 jobs and about 48,000 residential units, including affordable housing. We are also creating new housing and mixed-use communities around GO stations within the greater Golden Horseshoe.

Through TOCs, we are taking a bold and innovative approach to city building. To support the delivery of GO expansion, several years ago, the province, through Metrolinx, introduced a market-driven strategy to help build new stations and improve existing GO stations. That meant new stations would be delivered by the private sector, where financially feasible. While that strategy has worked well and transit-oriented communities are being built, this approach typically relies on one single landowner or building partner, and it could mean years before a new station is actually built.

Our proposed legislation would, if passed, create a station contribution fee as an innovative new tool that municipalities can use to help spur the construction of new GO transit stations, leading to accelerated transit expansion and vibrant, complete mixed-use communities with much-needed housing. If adopted, it would allow municipalities to recover costs from funding the design and construction of new GO transit stations. The station contribution fee would be charged on new developments within areas surrounding these new GO stations identified by municipalities, with revenue collected over time, as transit-oriented communities are built around them. The municipality would only collect the fee until the full station costs are recovered. Municipalities proposing to use this tool would be expected to show a reduction in other development costs to help offset the fee. To give an example, municipalities could reduce parking requirements, which is a huge development-related expense. Such a reduction would be made possible because of the introduction of new transit, which would reduce the reliance on single-occupancy vehicles and the number of required parking spaces. Therefore, municipalities, builders and Metrolinx will have to work together to keep costs down. Together, we will build more stations, housing, and improve access for riders. Also, it is important to note that this would be an optional tool that could only be used in places where the province has determined a new GO station is warranted. We have consulted with a number of municipalities, and they have indicated their support for such a tool to help them expedite transit expansion in their jurisdictions.

If passed, our proposed legislation would help municipalities take an active role in transit expansion and delivery, while serving as a catalyst for unlocking new transit-oriented communities without burdening taxpayers. It would lead to more housing, local businesses, investment opportunities, reduced travel times and better connections across the province, benefiting residents and municipalities, and encouraging more housing near transit. And it means stations will be delivered sooner in many communities.

This voluntary tool could help deliver new stations along the Lakeshore East extension into Bowmanville, Lakeshore West into Niagara, and along the Milton and Kitchener lines.

This is a win-win-win for the province, municipalities and residents. It would mean that transit stations are built sooner, at little cost to the province and taxpayers. The proposal would give municipalities an additional revenue tool to bring a regional transit connection into their cities and their towns, spurring economic growth and bringing vital housing to their residents.

Meanwhile, residents and local businesses will clearly benefit from a new transit station that connects to jobs, opportunities and destinations throughout the region, as well as the increased housing options that are built around them. It means more convenience. It means fewer cars on the road and less time spent in traffic. It means getting to where you need to go faster and more conveniently, with more travel options. And it means more businesses forming in those communities, and more jobs, along with opportunities for those businesses to reach even more customers. It will be especially beneficial for less densely populated areas that have limited or no access to regional transit, as rural and urban areas are further connected. It will help boost local economies, such as local construction and engineering businesses that benefit from the design and construction of new stations.

And with increased growth around future stations, we’re also encouraging more walkable communities, further stimulating the local business economy as more people walk by and visit shops, restaurants, cafes and local services. It will mean people can have better access to vital services in their communities and across the region, such as education and health care, while benefiting those who rely on public transit every day. And this will help more people reduce their carbon footprint.

Everyone benefits from better transit infrastructure and greater regional connections. Should municipalities choose not to use this proposed funding tool, the province will continue to work with them through a market-driven strategy to help fund and build new GO stations.

Speaker, this proposed tool would be used with the utmost transparency, as municipalities will be required to conduct a background study and also consult with the community on that study before submitting a proposal to the province. The decision will then lie with the province to approve the use of the station contribution fee for each municipality. The province would only select proposals where the municipality is in a financial position to ensure they have sufficient borrowing capacity.

When we were developing this innovative new tool, we looked to other jurisdictions to find best practices. Studies have shown how collaboration amongst government, transit agencies, municipalities, builders and others can help finance world-class transit infrastructure. Fees like our proposed station contribution fee have been part of financing strategies for successful transit expansion projects such as new stations in various countries.

In fact, the use of land value capture funding methods similar to our proposed tool is well documented. These methods have, for example, been used to fund two world-renowned transit systems.

In Hong Kong, they have a model where transit is built simultaneously with residential development by capturing real estate income to finance the capital and operating costs of new transit. This approach has been adopted to deliver several projects in the city, including Kowloon station, Tin Hau station and the Island Line.

Meanwhile, in London, UK, you’ll find a major cross-London rail link that serves the entire region called the Elizabeth line. That line was made possible through an innovative program of project financing and land value capture.

We also found other examples of development-based fees in North America that helped fund the costs of building transit infrastructure.

The city of Vancouver has a development cost levy that applies to new development projects through the amount of square footage, similar to how our proposed station contribution fee would be implemented. The funds collected through this levy are used to support various infrastructure projects, including transit.

Portland, Oregon, uses a transportation system development charge applied to new development projects. It helps fund transportation infrastructure, including transit expansion and construction of new stations.

So our proposal follows in the same tradition of best practices used around the world.

TOCs have also been successfully implemented in cities like Sydney and Washington, DC.

Speaker, it’s time that we think of innovative, creative solutions that will help reach our common goals, help build much-needed housing, and ensure our infrastructure meets the needs of today’s rapidly growing population.

Earlier this year, I had the honour of leading an infrastructure mission to Japan to continue building on our history of friendship and close economic and cultural ties. I was there to strengthen relations, share best practices and exchange ideas with key Japanese builders on building urban railways and transit-oriented communities, while also promoting Ontario as a place to invest. We met with officials from various government bodies and transit companies, including Tokyo Metropolitan Government; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; Osaka Prefecture; Tokyo Metro; and JR Central. I also met with private sector leaders with extensive experience in infrastructure development. It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to exchange ideas on building key infrastructure, including urban rail and transit-oriented communities. I visited Shinjuku Station, which had well over 200 exits, surrounded and filled with shops and restaurants. I rode the Shinkansen, also known as the bullet train, visited Tokyo Station, and learned about all of the different lines for the local subway system, the regional system, and the bullet train. As we are also building transit-oriented communities here in Ontario, it was extremely valuable to learn how jurisdictions like Tokyo developed TOCs, which created mixed-use communities around their transit stations.

Japan has the world’s most extensive railway network and one of the most reliable transit systems, with countless examples of successful and vibrant communities centred around their stations. We found that what makes their transit-oriented communities so successful was thinking outside of the box, along with the partnerships between various levels of government, transit agencies and municipalities, and the adoption of various land value capture models.

If we want a world-class transit system, now is the time for creative solutions.

This proposed tool, if adopted by municipalities, will help accelerate transit expansion all across the greater Golden Horseshoe and unlock significant housing opportunities across the region. It will help address the challenges associated with the typical market-driven approaches that require a single landowner and building partner, especially for communities outside of Toronto.

If adopted, the proposed tool would apply to all landowners and developers looking to redevelop within a specific area around a GO station, which means that the funding contribution is spread out among many interested parties instead of just one. It would also provide more certainty around the timing and the delivery of the station, and it would allow municipalities to initiate and have more control over when the station will be delivered, while encouraging them to take an active role in spurring more housing in their jurisdictions. If a municipality funds the delivery of the station using this proposed tool, the province, through Metrolinx, would be responsible for owning, operating and maintaining it upon completion.

It’s exciting to see various levels of government and our private sector partners working together to build better transit and create vibrant mixed-use communities along our transit lines, while addressing one of the biggest issues of our time by spurring the creation of more housing. Speaker, by passing this legislation and approving the use of this new tool, we will create more GO stations and transit-oriented communities so that people can get to where they need to go faster, while reducing gridlock and encouraging economic renewal and growth. TOCs are a forward-thinking approach to strengthening the relationship between transit, employment, housing, commercial spaces and public amenities to create vibrant and mixed-use communities.

With today’s challenges, it’s time we build a world-class transit system that looks to the future. That’s why we are taking bold steps to build integrated mixed-use communities around the subway and the existing GO rail network. This will help families and businesses better access transit and jobs in their neighbourhoods so they can better participate in our province’s economy. By bringing jobs and housing closer to transit, we’re also helping the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, resulting from fewer cars on our roads.

Our Transit-Oriented Communities Program is allowing us to leverage third-party investment to explore new funding avenues and opportunities to deliver the cost-efficient transit solutions commuters have been waiting for, and we are making terrific progress.

On the Ontario Line, we have proposed transit-oriented communities at six stations. East Harbour will be an integrated transit-centric station that will include a diverse range of commercial, residential, affordable housing, retail, food, cultural uses, and community amenities. The site will be a multimodal transit hub incorporating GO train, TTC light-rail transit and the future Ontario Line subway. It will also become the gateway to the Port Lands. At Corktown station, the site will provide a mix of new housing opportunities and commercial, retail and public realm space, while commemorating the history of the first Parliament site. The other three transit-oriented communities along the Ontario Line south will be at Exhibition, King and Bathurst, and Queen and Spadina stations, featuring new housing, office and retail space.

Most recently, we announced a proposed transit-oriented community on the northern portion of the Ontario Line at the future Gerrard station, which will create about two acres of public space including access to retail, a grocery store and other amenities, while adding housing and jobs and a new public park. The future Gerrard station will connect users to local TTC bus, streetcar and subway service.

Interjection.

Associate Minister of Transportation.

I am honoured to rise in this House for the first time, as the Associate Minister of Transportation, to speak on Bill 1, the Transportation for the Future Act, 2023.

I would like to thank my honourable colleague Kinga Surma, the Minister of Infrastructure, for her remarks. I’m thrilled to stand by her today as Ontario’s new Associate Minister of Transportation, having served as Minister Surma’s parliamentary assistant for over a year. I am forever grateful for her guidance and support.

Thank you, Minister Surma.

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise to speak in support of Bill 131; specifically, on how the proposed legislation sets the groundwork for making travel more convenient for transit riders in and around the Toronto region. At a fundamental level, the City of Toronto Act amendments proposed in Bill 131 are proof that our government is a collaborative government—a government that is willing to work with municipal partners to get it done for the people of Ontario. In the spirit of collaboration, the City of Toronto Act amendments are our direct response to the city of Toronto’s request to run its transit system the way it sees fit to better serve its residents and neighbours. In sum, the proposed changes in Bill 131 provide the city of Toronto with the tools to better integrate transit services with other regional transit networks by allowing the TTC to enter into cross-boundary service agreements with neighbouring transit agencies.

Speaker, this is great news for commuters, who, at the end of the day, don’t care about what colour bus they are getting on. They only care about getting from point A to point B safely, quickly and affordably.

Working in close collaboration with our municipal partners for the benefit of transit riders around the greater Golden Horseshoe is something our government, I’m proud to say, is making a habit of doing, whether that be in terms of improving existing service or building for the future. In regard to the former, our government is making transit more convenient and easier to use by offering riders more ways to pay.

Following the successful rollout of credit payments on GO transit and most local transit agencies across the 905 between September 2022 and early 2023, in May of this year we launched debit payment across much of the Presto system, including GO transit, UP Express, Brampton Transit, Burlington Transit, Durham Region Transit, Hamilton Street Railway, MiWay in Mississauga, Oakville Transit and York Region Transit, allowing riders to get on board with just a tap of their debit card, including debit cards stored on their smart phones or smart watch.

This upgrade marked another milestone for the Presto system, giving transit riders yet another convenient payment option when travelling for work, school and more, and demonstrating our government’s commitment to making the transit experience easier for Ontarians, no matter where they live.

The launch of credit and debit payment on GO and local transit agencies around the 905 served as another example of our government making transit more convenient. By increasing transit payment options, we gave more people more options to access public transit in ways that work for them.

We didn’t stop there. Last month, we made it even easier and more convenient for commuters in Toronto to take the TTC. Since August 15, TTC riders have been able to use their credit or debit card—including cards, as I said, stored on their smart phones or smart watches—to pay their fares. This is a game-changer for anyone who uses the TTC, and it has made life more convenient for people across the GTA area, once again proving that our government’s efforts, working in tandem with partners like the city of Toronto, are actually paying off.

Whether Ontarians are travelling for work, for appointments or anything in between, the transit experience should be safe, fast and as convenient as possible. Adding the option to tap a debit or credit card on Presto devices across the TTC gives riders more choices in how they pay their fares as they travel throughout the region. More choice is not only what Ontarians need; it’s what they deserve. And that’s exactly what we will continue to deliver.

Since our government took office, we have worked with municipal partners to make it easier for transit riders to get from point A to point B. We are continuing to do that by improving Presto services and introducing new and innovative payment options that make fare payments faster and more convenient than ever before.

In addition to making public transit more convenient, we’ve also made it more affordable. By working together with municipalities and transit partners, we have eliminated double fares on transit throughout much of the greater Golden Horseshoe. That means when you transfer from, for example, a Mississauga MiWay bus to a GO transit train, you only pay the GO fare.

Our government’s introduction of one-fare transit travel has been a game-changer for commuters around the 905, saving riders hundreds—in some cases, thousands—of dollars, leaving more money in families’ pockets at a time they need it the most. For example, a Mississauga resident who commutes five days a week using MiWay and GO Transit can now save $1,600 a year on their transit expenses. That’s a game-changer savings for riders. Imagine having an extra $1,600 or more each year to pay for your family expenses, save for a trip, or invest for the future of your kids. Thanks to the work done by former Associate Ministers of Transportation Miss Kinga Surma and Mr. Stan Cho, in collaboration with our ministry partners and transit partners, these savings are now a reality for many Ontarians in the greater Golden Horseshoe. Because of their efforts and those of our municipal partners, today GO Transit riders pay only one fare when connecting to Barrie Transit, Bradford West Gwillimbury Transit, Brampton Transit, Burlington Transit, Durham transit, Grand River Transit, Guelph Transit, Hamilton Street Railway, MiWay, Milton Transit, Oakville Transit and York Region Transit. That’s a lot of transit agencies that serve a lot of riders.

I’m happy to report that for riders right here in the city of Toronto—

I want to thank the member from Ottawa Centre. I think that many of us, if you’ve been paying attention to Metrolinx, have some genuine concerns around that agency. I feel like they have completely and utterly forgotten their mandate, which is to construct and improve public transit in the GTHA. There’s a lot of work to be done on that front, and I wish the new Minister of Transportation well in that job.

I am concerned about this new station contribution fee. Kitchener is desperate for a new GO station. Under this schedule, the original idea was for Metrolinx to negotiate deals in which developers would fund a new GO station in exchange for development rights. This government’s relationship with developers is a little dicey right now, and so now they evidently expect municipalities to assume funding responsibilities. We have no idea what sort of funding agreements the government has in mind or how the risks will be allocated. Municipalities may be required to assume risks and cost overruns. This is a pretty serious issue.

If we’re serious about building transit infrastructure, can the member address these concerns that municipalities have?

You know, it’s interesting: an act called the Transportation for the Future Act is right up my alley as a civil engineer. Even though Metrolinx and GO Transit really don’t touch upon my constituency of Windsor–Tecumseh, certainly I see a lot of potential in this bill to make things better for the people of the GTA, improve transit connections to surrounding communities and get us out of the infrastructure deficit that I know we have province-wide.

The main things are, number one, GO Transit stations will be built faster. Adding more capacity to the ability to pay for a station through the station fee gives that opportunity to implement the changes needed as they are needed, not 30, 40 years behind, and that’s something I will get into in a little bit.

Incentivization of housing around transit stations: We can best leverage density in those locations and the available services. The greater Toronto area is legendary for its congestion. I make that trip often enough; most of the time, I do take the train, and I’ll elaborate a little bit on that further in the debate. But really, I’ve driven in Los Angeles on the 405. It doesn’t compare to the 401. There is so much traffic here that keeps families from getting home.

We have to start addressing our capacity issues. This bill brings us down that path. In fact, I think it was data from transportation group Inrix—they did a study recently—that noted that Torontonians lost 118 hours waiting in traffic just last year. That’s about a 60% jump between 2021 and 2022. In 2021, the city was in 22nd place for congestion; in 2022, it was in third place. We can definitely combat this by making transit and the broader travel network more convenient and give more options for the residents of the GTA.

As noted, this bill doesn’t apply to the residents that I represent in Windsor–Tecumseh, but certainly applies to the goods and services that my constituents buy. A lot of them originate here from distribution centres. They’re manufactured here. Services are predominantly hosted here.

Down in the southwest, we don’t have a lot of the professional services. We have, certainly, a strong manufacturing base, but when we are reliant on banking, insurance and other matters, we need those people at work to answer our calls and to actually make the decisions that will facilitate our livelihoods. We know, in Windsor, that delays mean costs, and delay after delay could mean the difference between a shop opening and a shop closing. Just-in-time delivery is a necessity for local competitiveness. I don’t see why it would be any different for Toronto.

Our rights of way are not infinite. There’s only so much widening you can do of a freeway. Investing in public transit is certainly a tool in the tool box to help make sure that our lands are used well and that we use the best possible assets to bring people from point A to point B. Shifting modes of transportation is truly vital. It’s one of the things I do appreciate about the time I spend here in Toronto, where I get to walk from where I live. And really, supporting public transit is a tool that we have to support our goals, and the most recent Ontario budget had an ambitious capital plan. I believe it’s the most ambitious capital plan in the province’s history.

We know that gridlock on highways and roads costs the economy more than $11 billion a year in productivity, including the time that was lost to commuters and drivers—the higher costs of doing business if your employee doesn’t show up for work because they’re stuck in traffic, or your delivery is stuck. Hey, someone has got to eat that cost. It means that things become more and more expensive for us and it keeps people, more importantly, from getting home to their families faster.

To support this growth, the Ontario government is investing $70.5 billion over the next 10 years for transit. Building our province through critical public transit projects is vital to supporting Ontario’s economy, to get people home faster and alleviating gridlock, connecting people to their jobs and to housing, creating thousands of terrific jobs—I know there are a lot of terrific jobs. In fact, I remember when I was canvassing for my municipal election for the first time, I wanted to identify all the people I knew in town—bad for me. I looked at my voters list, and I just wrote every name on there of someone that I knew or grew up with who had moved out, moved away. Yes, they’re on the voters list; they did not reside locally anymore because they could not find work in my region, in the Windsor-Essex region. They came here to Toronto because this is where the job opportunities existed.

We do need to invest, as a government, to catch up, but the demand for service that is created from land development very much ought to be satisfied through the land development projects. This is where we see lots of local issues, and I’ll certainly get to go through them and I’ll mention a couple.

Development charges do exist to help pay for the capital costs of infrastructure to support new growth. If we want to avoid the mistakes of the past—we heard earlier in the debate, a lot of assumptions were made in the past that growth would be more static than it is realistically—we need to have foresight and to plan for that growth, and that means capitalizing the projects. We need to set a good path for the future. The GO station contribution fee is an appropriate measure in which to ensure we have the funds that we need and avoid having to play catch-up later.

The consequences of unrealized investments in my area are visible every single day. During a 1983 public meeting, as I found published in the Windsor Star, the Ministry of Transportation advised the local community that an interchange, the freeway, at Banwell Road and E.C. Row Expressway, would need to be constructed within a decade. An environmental assessment of the expressway 10 years later in 1993 confirmed that the traffic volumes were set to be reached in 1994.

Forty years after that mention and 30 years after the stats showed we needed that interchange—and this key interchange is located right where the NextStar Energy battery plant is being built—there is no interchange. The intersection has not changed. This is the result of not enough capitalization of our infrastructure projects. E.C. Row Expressway turns into County Road 22 at its east limit, where Windsor meets Tecumseh, and it’s still a controlled-access road. In 2005, it was determined that grade separations at Lesperance Road and Manning Road would be warranted as the 2005 level of service was E. In traffic engineering parlance, that is a step away from failure. The 10-year level of service was failure. That was 10 years ago. We have been in failure for 10 years.

These projects are supported by property taxes; they’re not supported by development charges. The funding is planned for between 2034 and 2037. But truly, think of the cost of a highway interchange. They’re running about well north of $50 million these days—probably closer to $80 million. Given that Essex county’s capital budget was $43.6 million for the entire county, every single project combined, the chances look pretty challenging, to say the least, that those two interchanges will come online in the 2034-37 time frame.

This situation that I get to face back home in my own neighbourhood speaks to why development charges for regional arterial roads and transit infrastructure are terrific tools in the tool box that can help accelerate infrastructure investments. Development charges are discretionary fees. Sometimes they’re the right tools; sometimes they’re the wrong tools. But municipalities can choose whether to use development charges, and if they are used, which services or infrastructure they want to include from the services that are listed as being eligible in the Development Charges Act. Truly, there is no greater opportunity for the province of Ontario than to further develop GO Transit to move our people quickly and safely.

Speaker, my father often told me that in order to pursue his career in his company, moving to the GTA was the only option. It was the only opportunity for promotion because the headquarters were here in Toronto. Then they moved to Mississauga and, ultimately, they ended up in Hamilton. But for the sake of myself, my brother and our whole family, he would forgo those career opportunities because it meant that approximately 90 minutes of his day in each direction likely would be spent in traffic. And that’s away from us, his family. He worked 12 hours a day, as it was, often longer. My own commute back home when I worked in downtown Windsor was 30 minutes on a bad day from the eastern limit of the town of Tecumseh, the far east of my riding. Happily, we’re in a better, more nimble world now. Those choices aren’t as necessary.

But having lived here in Toronto during our legislative sittings, I have benefited from the connectivity that transit provides. I can get on board the Walkerville VIA station in Windsor. It’s right in my riding; I’m very proud of that. I can then take the train, which takes about four and a half hours, transfer onto the TTC subway and then get off at Wellesley station and walk two blocks to where I get to sleep while I’m here—and, truly, finish that walk here to the Legislature each and every day.

You know what? I know there’s always room for improvement. Certainly, I’d love to get home earlier than 1 in the morning after House duty tomorrow. But I’m truly happy that this service exists for us. There are tremendous benefits that go to those communities where these stations are built, and access to transit is something I truly appreciate having here. We can unlock so, so much opportunity for our people by having the capitalization to respond to those stations being built.

Even back home, when I was on municipal council, public transit service was offered on a loop basis, but it only connected at one point in Tecumseh Mall. That’s the unfortunate byproduct of a dispute over inter-jurisdictional coverage, which is also another part of this bill. But they truly did rely on transit to get to and from work, to go shopping, to find stores that carry clothing. Living in a suburb, there aren’t a lot of options, to be honest. We had a time in the 1980s when residential was the only type of development that was built, and so the mix of communities is not always there in the built environment. That’s why it’s important that we have that connectivity to go between communities.

I remember also at the University of Ottawa, I often took the 95 and the 97 on the Transitway, and it certainly gave me access to all the services I needed. I did not bring a car up to Ottawa. I often took the train. Sometimes I flew out of Detroit, actually, to get to Ottawa; it was the shortest way. But the 95 and 97, which have now been somewhat supplanted by the LRT, truly provided me an opportunity to access the services, the stores and the various things that I needed while living, including access to recreation.

I truly commend the foresight that the city of Ottawa has put forward in its broader network to develop its transit system. I know there were almost certainly good intentions with the LRT and, undoubtedly, I hope we all learn from their experience. It’s truly a shared responsibility to make sure that we are where we need to be.

Municipalities may have goals to accelerate construction. I’ll give one example: The city of Windsor does require developments to pay for their arterial roads. There was a time, though, when the developer didn’t want to build. There’s an arterial called Wyandotte Street, and it crosses the entirety of the city, really. It doesn’t quite reach the eastern limit at the town of Tecumseh, but it comes darn close. For many years, there was a gap because the land developer was just truly not ready to build. Still to this day, the lands are vacant where that gap in Wyandotte Street was.

The city council took the initiative to use its development charge fund and complete that road so that it’s unbroken from start to finish, with one small block in the east still remaining. Having that ability to be nimble, have access to funding and to be able to not only assess from our existing financing methods but also have the municipalities be able to collect as well through the station fee is something that I know will turn the corner and ensure that we’re not always playing catch up on infrastructure.

The other part of the bill spoke to the cross-border connectivity of the systems, and the city of Toronto had requested that they be given this permission. Transit disputes between jurisdictions are pretty common. I mentioned Tecumseh and Windsor; Windsor didn’t want Tecumseh operating in the city. There is a connection point at Tecumseh Mall; they had to go to the transportation board to get that. But in an ideal world, we would all work together, Speaker, and we would put transportation and opportunity front of mind, but sometimes life is not like that. This paves the way for an opportunity to open the discussion between the city of Toronto and its neighbouring municipalities to consider the cross-border transportation options so that someone doesn’t reach a barrier or a wall that’s unnecessary at the municipal limit. There are many people who would like to go in both directions to visit, to shop, to see family. This is an essential part of life, connectivity.

Years ago, I had the chance to go to Ghana and Burkina Faso—no public transit to be had in either of those countries that I could tell. But everyone had a cellphone—actually, multiple cellphones. The reason why they had those cellphones is because it was the only way they could talk to their families. Cellphone coverage was so expensive because each network had high roaming charges. But that phone is a lifeline. We’re blessed that we don’t have that in Canada, that we have the opportunity to actually find a way to go see our families. They are often expensive, but there are methods to do that here that we can leverage.

I look to the interoperability of systems in different municipalities. In York region, the Viva system is one that—honestly, routes have come and gone, but it’s had a number of operators. It demonstrates you don’t really need a consolidated operator within a given network.

Looking at Metrolinx and the fare integration that has already been attempted, really, that’s going to be a game-changer. As I mentioned, in Windsor–Tecumseh, you still have to pay several fares when you hit the municipal border—or, actually, at the last stop. You get off, and the transfer is not recognized, and that’s unfortunate. I’d love to see a consistent fare to encourage public transit and to ensure that we have the opportunity to go access what we need to have a great life here in Ontario and to make those journeys as seamless as possible and as hassle-free as possible.

I’ll conclude by going back to my time in Ottawa: The STO, which is from the province of Quebec, operates somewhat in the city of Ottawa, with a transfer station at Eaton Centre—or the Rideau Centre, rather. There was Eaton’s there, but no longer. Now it’s Simons. We also have that in Windsor-Detroit. We have the tunnel bus that crosses into the United States. It opens up a world for those that cannot afford a car to go see pro sports, go see the fabulous Detroit Institute of Arts and the different amenities. The architecture there is phenomenal. It’s such a quality of life improvement for us in Windsor and Essex county to have access like that, but it’s made possible because of the investments in infrastructure. So this bill provides the opportunity for that investment, to capitalize those projects and making sure that the services can exist, that we’re not always playing catch-up, as many municipalities have experienced.

I’ll conclude there.

Earlier today, the new Associate Minister of Transportation spoke, and I do want to officially congratulate him on his new role. Today, he spoke so eloquently about my riding, because in the town of Aurora, we have amazing things going on with our transit, specifically with the GO train. I think we are a prime example of the investment that’s happening in that station and how all of my constituents in Newmarket and in Aurora are going to benefit, and even further out. I say all of that because I have constituents who do call in and send emails. They’re so excited. They can’t wait for that two-way GO all day long to Aurora.

All of that to say, my question to the member from Windsor–Tecumseh is, why are we trying to pass this legislation, and why now?

That’s a good question. Frankly, I’m not entirely sure, because this second schedule of the bill that lays out basically a fairly drastic policy shift for the government about who pays for provincial public transportation infrastructure is going to change things for municipalities. Will they factor that into their plan and save up all of their ducats for one day they could build a station too? I don’t know. I think a lot of places are looking to the government for leadership but also for that commitment to help them as they are growing communities with growing and changing infrastructure needs. This would be a sign to them that the government doesn’t seem to be in the game of building public transportation anymore. And I would love clarity—because I’m not just trying to scare people, but it does seem like a pretty significant policy shift, so I don’t know what this says to London.

But when the government is suggesting, “Don’t worry, there’s going to be a consultation period,” that means nothing to me, because your consultation periods are often—you take information in, and then that’s the end of it. So if it doesn’t shape what you do—and when I hear from engineers that they weigh in and that they give opinions and then the government goes ahead with things anyway and says, “Thanks for your comments, but we’re doing it anyway,” I don’t have faith at all. Prove me wrong, though, please.

Your question—I don’t remember it. Are we at a tipping point? Where do we go from here? Something like that? I don’t know. I would have thought that with a bill called Transportation for the Future Act—I mean, it’s fine that there are these two pieces that we’re debating. I look forward, though, to both this Minister of Infrastructure and the new Minister of Transportation hopefully working with not just Metrolinx but with other agencies and partners to re-up some of the confidence and actually build the transportation infrastructure that is needed in this province.