This is really rich, Mr. Speaker. You know something? We’ve implemented 21 of the housing affordability task force recommendations as we’re moving forward. We led the country in getting the federal government to knock off the HST. We’re knocking off the PST for purpose-built rentals. We have eliminated skyrocketing municipal fees on affordable and non-profit housing—and, by the way, they voted against that. They voted against the previous. We introduced a Building Faster Fund: $1.2 billion in new funding for municipalities, large municipalities, and another $500 million—and guess what, Mr. Speaker? They voted against that. All the parties voted against it, by the way. They’re anti-development; they’re anti-housing, anti-infrastructure, anti-everything.

If they were in charge, this province would be a disaster, like they were for 15 years, Mr. Speaker.

And I am proud to say my father was part of that government. They created 700,000 jobs when they were in power. I know Mike Harris Jr. is proud of what his dad did too. They’re the ones who accelerated the economy, accelerated the boom on housing. I’ll go to toe any day about Bob Rae versus Mike Harris. The Bob Rae days—don’t forget the Bob Rae days.

Interjections.

I wrote a letter to the Governor of the Bank of Canada insisting that he does not raise interest rates. Do you know what the difference is? The Governor of the Bank of Canada is sitting in his ivory tower not talking to the common folks.

I took a call this morning about a married couple with kids that are going to have to sell their home. They’re going to have to sell their home because their mortgage has tripled. It has absolutely tripled and went up thousands of dollars. They won’t be able to afford it.

See, the Bank of Canada is way out to lunch, in my opinion, Mr. Speaker, way out to lunch. They’re creating inflation. They’re creating inflation on groceries. Then we have the carbon tax that the federal government implemented; it created inflation on building homes. They’re doing nothing but creating inflation. They’re living back in the 1970s. They need to get their act together. If anything—

What we’re all against is making sure we get rid of the carbon tax. Folks, let me tell you what we have done. We’ve cut the gas tax by 10.7 cents per litre. We scrapped the licence plate stickers for eight million people. We cut the tolls for 412 and 418. We increased ODSP by 5% tied to inflation. We cut income tax to 1.1 million low-income workers. We increased minimum wage. We extended the 10% tuition fees to take the burden off the students going to colleges and universities. We’re doubling the payments for low-income seniors, which will provide a maximum increase of almost $1,000. And what we’re asking the federal government: Knock off the 14.5 cents of carbon tax.

I don’t even know what to say about that, Mr. Speaker. I don’t even know what to say about it. So let me be very clear: We’re not voting for a program that was taken out of the playbook of Communist Russia. It’s just not happening, all right? So let me just put that.

I would suggest to the member opposite, don’t listen to the NDP socialist caucus. Listen to what is happening and what is working; vote with us to remove obstacles because, when you do, housing starts go up. Vote with us to remove taxes because, when you do, housing starts increase, Mr. Speaker.

And you know what else you can do? Call your friend in Ottawa, Mr. Singh—Jagmeet; 1-800-Jagmeet—and say, “Remove carbon taxes,” because that will put more money back in people’s pockets. Don’t do what you did here: support a Liberal government that brought the province to its knees, Mr. Speaker. That is what they do.

Very clearly, we’re not voting for government building homes. We’re going to let the private sector do what they’re doing in record numbers, under this government, and that’s build—

Interjections.

Speaker, my question is to the Premier. Tomorrow, the Bank of Canada will announce their decision on whether they will implement another interest rate hike. Sadly, for many Ontarians, this decision could lead to devastating economic consequences. If another painful interest rate hike is announced, many individuals and families might not be able to pay their bills, pay their rent, mortgage or be able to keep their home. It is hard-working, ordinary people across this province who are being hit hardest and are having to pay a heavy price at the checkout and at the pumps.

The people of our province need to know that our government hears their concerns and understands their fears. Speaker, can the Premier please continue to advocate on behalf of the people of Ontario about the damaging impact that another interest rate hike would have on them?

Premiers of all political stripes agree that further increases are counterproductive and will do more harm than good. Now is the time for the federal government to work with the provinces to address the long-standing root causes that have led to inflation and to high interest rates.

Speaker, can the Premier please share what priorities should be addressed with the federal government that will help to provide real relief to struggling families and businesses.

My question is to the Premier.

Environmental Defence and Ecojustice filed a freedom-of-information request late last year. They say the purpose of the request was to find out what kind of influence developers had on the Ontario cabinet and Premier in its greenbelt decision. This government unlawfully ignored their request. So the Information and Privacy Commissioner ordered the government to comply with the law. The government then unlawfully ignored the order. Now Environmental Defence and Ecojustice are suing to enforce the order.

Why is your government breaking the law to avoid disclosing these records?

The Premier can’t keep ignoring freedom-of-information laws and IPC orders. Do I need to remind the Premier and the minister that the Liberal government’s gas plant scandal cover-up sent the Premier’s chief of staff to prison?

Supplementary question?

Restart the clock. The member for Niagara Centre.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Speaker, this government has issued more MZOs since coming to office than the previous 25 years combined. Just last week—

Interjections.

Since this minister is now so busy throwing the former minister under the bus, why won’t he just tell us what he’s concerned about?

Interjections.

A very good question from the member opposite. What I’m concerned with are those MZOs that have led to no action being taken. The MZOs that I’m pleased with, of course, are the ones that the Minister of Long-Term Care has asked for, the ones that the Minister of Education has asked for, the ones that the Minister of Health has asked for. Across the province of Ontario, we have received requests from municipal leaders, but there are a couple of MZOs where they were issued and no work has been done to advance the goal of building homes or building long-term care or building hospitals. So I’m reviewing those, and if we’re not seeing the action to do what the MZO was issued for, I’ll revoke them.

But let’s look at some of the things that we’ve done. Social housing in the city of Toronto: 44 additional social housing units in the city of Toronto; hospital expansions; in Ajax, a 320-bed long-term-care home; a long-term-care home in Oakville; a long-term-care home in Toronto; a medical park in Oro-Medonte. Do you want me to go on? I can go on if you like—modular housing; 252 supportive housing units in Toronto. The Leader of the Opposition doesn’t want that, right? I can go on, Mr. Speaker. If you give me extra time, I’ll go on.

At the same time, as I have been saying constantly and as this government has been showing, we will not stray from our desire to build 1.5 million homes for the people of the province of Ontario. That is our goal. It is the overriding goal of everything that we’ve been doing since 2018. It includes why—the reason why we’re building transit across the province of Ontario. It’s to support the over 700,000 jobs that have been created in the province of Ontario, not by government, but by the private sector. They’re coming back to Ontario, and the province is booming as a result. We want to build more homes, so we will not stray from that.

I know they’re going to try to put obstacle after obstacle after obstacle in the way. They’re good at that. We’ll untangle the mess that they left behind, and we’ll get the job done.

It really is an awkward question, coming from the member opposite. What it is an attempt to distract from the challenges that the opposition has. They’re offside with the people of the province of Ontario. They support a carbon tax; nobody else in the country does. They hold the balance of power in Ottawa. Tomorrow, they could have their federal leader insist that the carbon tax be removed and millions of dollars be put back into the pockets of the people of Ontario. Will they do it? No.

But what we will continue to do is focus on the priorities of the people of the province of Ontario, building strong communities, building the environment where we can continue to create jobs. We’re seeing jobs come back, housing starts are at their highest level—

With more than 420,000 tech workers at more than 25,000 firms, Ontario is the global tech leader. By cutting red tape and reducing the cost of doing business by $8 billion annually, we’ve created the conditions for the tech sector to prosper. That’s why we’ve seen the creation of more than 100,000 good-paying tech jobs since we took office.

In just this last year, cutting-edge tech companies like Snowflake, DNEG and USEReady invested $142 million to expand their operations and have created 950 good-paying jobs. As a result, Ontario is now one of the largest IT clusters in North America. Our message is clear, Speaker: If you’re a tech worker, researcher or firm, there’s no better place to be than right here in Ontario.

The brightest tech workers and leading tech firms are packing their bags and coming to Ontario, reaffirming their confidence in the thriving tech ecosystem that we have built.

Our government will continue to do absolutely everything to ensure Ontario remains a global tech powerhouse.

Last night—I usually don’t watch the news—I was flicking the channels, and Mister Green was on the show saying we need more housing. In Guelph, they have the lowest—

Anyway, I’m glad that you’ve agreed to vote for our infrastructure and housing plan, Highway 7, Highway 413. It’s going to benefit the people from Guelph.

Thank you very much.

The next question.

Supplementary question?

My question is for the Premier. This government has wasted years failing to address the housing crisis. Breaking all the rules, so a handful of wealthy well-connected insiders can cash in paving over farmland. Greenbelt, boundary expansions, MZOs: It’s past time to start building homes that ordinary people can afford in the communities they want to live in, on land already approved for development.

To do this, local governments will need money for sewer and water lines, streets and transit operations in order to service new homes, but this government took that money away and residents are now facing big property tax hikes and delayed home building, making the affordability crisis worse.

Will the government make people and municipalities whole by closing the financial gap they created?

Last week, Guelph city council approved a major housing project for students. Guelph has passed rules for multiplexes. Guelph is ready to build. Here’s the challenge municipalities including Guelph face: The government took $1.5 billion away from municipalities. Municipalities need that money for sewer lines, water lines, to build the infrastructure needed for new homes. I want those new homes to have sewer and water lines. They won’t be built if it doesn’t happen.

The government a year ago said they would make municipalities whole. They have failed to deliver that. Will they commit to it today, Speaker?

I have to say, what we’ve been able to do with a brand new RSV vaccine that was not available ever—we, for the first time, have made that available, free of charge, for our seniors in our most vulnerable settings. Of course, those are our long-term-care homes and our high-risk retirement homes. Why did we do that? Because we understand and we know that with limited supply, you focus on the people where it’s going to make the biggest impact. We are doing that.

Of course, we are also making it available through our pharmacy channels, because we know how valuable and important our pharmacy partners are in accessing and giving those flu and RSV shots to individuals in community who want it. But first and foremost, free of charge, using your OHIP card, we are providing it to high-risk seniors in retirement and long-term care.

I’m happy to expand on that important topic the member brings up for Richmond Hill, who works very hard for seniors in her riding. Thank you for that.

Just last Tuesday, Mr. Speaker, I was at Belmont House—about a click up the road here from Queen’s Park, not far at all—to announce $10 million in diagnostic funding. This funding will allow long-term-care homes in the province to purchase specialized equipment that will help manage or treat conditions that normally lead to an emergency room visit or a hospital visit. Nobody wants that, of course, for our seniors—so think minor ailments, fractures. Instead of the senior going to the hospital for diagnostics, imagine the diagnostics coming to the senior—the right care in the right place.

This would also enable specialized staff training to make sure they can diagnose residents within the comfort of their own home. It’s this Premier that’s investing record capital dollars into expansion, record dollars into making sure that we have the human health resources and into diagnostics for better outcomes for our amazing seniors in Ontario.

This fund will make sure that specialized teams of nurse practitioners and registered nurses will be available in underserved communities. This fund, along with the Local Priorities Fund, will make sure that long-term-care homes have access to specialized equipment. We know seniors are living longer, coming to long-term-care homes with more complex needs. We need to be aware of that situation and adapt with the times.

That’s what we’re doing here. We’re not building beds; we’re building homes in this province for our seniors. Let’s remember, our seniors built our communities. They built this province. They built this country. They built our lives. They took care of us; we’re going to take care of them. It’s this government that’s getting it done for seniors.

My question is to the Premier. My caucus colleagues and I have heard from a number of seniors in our communities who are struggling to find flu shots, RSV vaccines and COVID-19 boosters. From reports of limited eligibility for seniors in my own riding of St. Paul’s to RSV doses costing seniors $200 to $300, this government is once again failing to support vulnerable Ontarians, especially those in rural communities, quite frankly, heading into another respiratory illness season.

My question is for the Premier, and hopefully he’ll answer today: Why haven’t you ensured all seniors in Ontario have reliable access to vaccines to keep them healthy?

My question is for the Minister of Long-Term Care.

As the needs of Ontarian’s seniors become more medically complex, the services to address those needs must be available. After years of neglect by the previous Liberal government, we are seeing excellent progress in creating a long-term-care system that Ontarians can be proud of, but there is still more that needs to be done. The ability to provide in-home diagnostic services has been limited by the availability of equipment and trained staff.

Can the minister please explain how our government is supporting long-term-care homes to better address the care and needs of our seniors?

The purchases made with this funding will prove critical in supporting seniors across our province. It is reassuring that residents with complex needs can get the diagnostic services they deserve in the comfort of their home instead of a hospital.

However, our government must remain focused on implementing solutions that will continue to ensure our seniors receive the quality of care they need. Can the minister please elaborate on how our government is expanding specialized services in long-term-care homes?

My question is for the Premier. The RCMP has announced a criminal investigation into the $8.3-billion greenbelt land giveaway. Yesterday, the Minister of Municipal Affairs announced he would reverse the controversial changes to urban boundaries that were imposed by his predecessor. The minister admitted that there was too much involvement from the previous minister’s office in these decisions and that they failed to meet the standard of public trust.

Mr. Speaker, given the criminal investigation into the greenbelt and the similarities with the decisions on the urban boundary expansions, will the Premier take responsibility for leading the government under a shroud of secrecy, leading to criminal investigations, or will he continue to throw his ministers under the bus and back it up again?

The government delayed the approval of Ottawa’s official plan by a year, dragging it out throughout the election, and it seems that they spent that time fundraising on changes, or potential changes, to the plan that could be seen if they won re-election. Not only did they get caught with their hand in the cookie jar; they took a giant bite out of the cookie and are trying to put it back in without anyone noticing.

Mr. Speaker, given the criminal investigation into the greenbelt and the similarities with the decisions on the urban boundaries, will the Premier invite the RCMP to expand their investigation to include these urban boundary decisions as well?

It’s a busy week, Small Business Week in northern Ontario. We started out in Kirkland Lake by expanding the industrial park for natural gas, telecommunication infrastructure and some design innovations. B&G Industrial Services and Holdco in Thornloe are getting robotic welders, product positioners and an overhead crane. Tricube Contracting in Matheson is going to expand their agri-crushing capacity.

Jean’s Diesel Shop in Hearst is getting additional capacity to reduce customer wait times and more storage space. In Hearst, we’re helping a logging company purchase new equipment for increased demand from local sawmills and the Lee Golf Club in Cochrane for new equipment to allow the facility to operate all year long.

Mr. Speaker, they’re so excited about these opportunities. It’s too bad that no less than two NDP members and an independent member voted against it.

In Kenora, the Lake of the Woods Brewing Company public relations manager is onboarding, including a community outreach and events coordinator. Down in Fort Frances, D.J. Roach Electric is hiring an electrician apprentice to work in a busy construction and maintenance field. And in Dryden, the Clever Corvid Art and Art Workshops with Rhonda Beckman has built a beautiful facility just outside of the town.

These investments are going to create more cultural profile, attract more tourists and foster artistic capacity in our communities. Fortunately, their member from Kenora–Rainy River voted in favour of these projects, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you to the Minister of Health for that response, and I do hope that you will respond to the letter that I sent to you by hand on long COVID.

Anyway, back to the Premier: Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have increased, but Ontario seniors can’t find vaccines and boosters. People in Haliburton were told they would have access to shots by early October, but their local pharmacies say they haven’t received the doses. Did we learn nothing from the chaotic and inequitable distribution of vaccines in the early stages of the pandemic, courtesy of this Conservative government?

My question is back to the Premier. COVID-19 vaccines were promised by October. Why are seniors across this province still unable to access them?

Well, again, I’m going to respectfully say that if you have limited supply, you focus on where it’s going to make the biggest impact. That is what we have done. We absolutely are making it available in pharmacies; that rollout is actually happening by October 30.

It is exciting, in fact, that people are interested and engaged and want to get that vaccine as soon as possible. We are making sure that we have put in place all tools and all pathways to make sure that people get the flu shot, the vaccine, the RSV—whatever they want—and we are doing it through multiple channels, whether it is through our primary care partners, our pharmacy partners, and of course, our public health teams.

We’ll continue to do the work. If you want to talk to Health Canada about increasing the supply, I’d be happy to take it.