The Ontario government is providing over $4.9 million to help create 27 supportive housing units at The Refuge in Oshawa that will support youth experiencing homelessness. Located at 357 Simcoe Street South in Oshawa, the two-storey converted school building will include studio apartments as well as four accessible units.

I believe that affordable, accessible and suitable housing is essential for healthy communities within the region of Durham. It underpins the quality of life for people in Durham at every stage of their lives. I look forward to continued collaboration with the members of Durham regional council as together we ensure that local communities within the region continue to be safe, healthy and caring, as well as sustainable for future generations.

John Henry, the regional chair of Durham region and chief executive officer, had this to say about the new funding for The Refuge: “On behalf of the region ... I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the province ... for this investment. It signifies our shared vision of creating safe, welcoming and caring communities for all.”

My question is for the Minister of Transportation. Many people living in my riding of Whitby and across the GTA rely on public transit as their primary form of travel. Their experience in using public transit should be convenient and efficient across the entire transit network. However, as the TTC works with other local transit authorities, including the GO transit, the fare system under different transit agencies is inconsistent. This leads to confusion and dissatisfaction. My constituents have been asking for a simpler way to pay their transit fare and it’s up to our government to come up with workable and common-sense solutions.

Can the minister please explain how our government is making it easier and more convenient to take transit across the greater Toronto area?

Back to the minister: It’s great to see how our government is providing transit riders with more choices to make it easier to travel. However, it’s essential that our government continues to remove barriers to ridership and make life more affordable. Life is already expensive for the hard-working individuals and families across our great province. For many of them, transit fares add on to the financial burdens that they’re already experiencing.

The previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, failed the people of Ontario when it came to addressing important transit issues. Speaker, the people of Ontario deserve better. Can the minister please explain how our government is offering Ontarians cost-effective ways to travel?

Thank you very much for your presentation.

We’re now under questions and responses.