Well, Mr. Speaker, you know something? I have a great respect for Triple M over there, but sometimes the cheese slips off the cracker.

In your own riding, Triple M, we created 370 long-term—

Interjections.

But they voted against creating more long-term-care homes. They voted against hospitals, voted against the roads to get to the hospitals, voted against the highways to get to the hospitals. They would be against a permit to build a doghouse; they’d vote against it. That’s what they’re about. We get the job done. They sit back, and all they do is complain.

My question is to the Minister of Energy. Unlike the opposition Liberals and NDP, our government has always known that the carbon tax is driving up energy prices across this province. That’s why our Premier and our government took our fight against this useless and regressive tax all the way to the Supreme Court. As we head into the winter, I’m glad to see that the federal government is starting to understand the harmful effects of the carbon tax, but they did not go far enough.

Speaker, can the minister please explain why the federal government would only pause the carbon tax on home heating oil, which is more emitting and used by only 2.5% of Ontarians, instead of natural gas, which is less emitting and used by, let’s say, 70%?

As we head into the winter, home heating costs are top of mind for our families in my community. They’re looking for us to put in place policies that are going to reduce costs, not increase them.

Speaker, can the minister please explain what our government is going to do, and keep doing, to keep costs down for families across Ontario?

The member’s question is a pretty difficult one to answer, because the federal government’s approach to scrapping the carbon tax doesn’t make much sense at all. The federal Liberals have decided to pause the carbon tax on one type of home heating fuel, but continue to increase the costs for those who use less emitting types of home heating fuel, like natural gas and propane.

Most of the people here in Ontario, as I have already said, more than 70% of the people in Ontario are using those lower-emissions fuels. Ontario families just shouldn’t be punished because of a decision made by the Prime Minister and his team in Ottawa. The feds need to expand this pause for all people across Ontario. They’re the government of Canada and they should be putting a pause on this for all residents across Canada, not just in Atlantic Canada. It’s time that the opposition parties stand with us and oppose this federal carbon tax once—

When it comes to home heating and natural gas, we need the federal government to come to the table and join us in trying to make life more affordable for the people of Ontario, not just the people of Atlantic Canada but for people across Canada.

As the Premier said this morning, this tax is wrong. It’s hurting people in Ontario. It’s hurting people right across Canada. It’s not fair to the people and we should—

As the Minister of Agriculture has been saying for a couple of years now, Mr. Speaker, it’s driving up the cost of fruits and vegetables in our grocery stores. And it’s pretty simple, because the carbon tax is applied to the fertilizer that the farmers are using. The carbon tax is applied to the fuel that runs their tractors. The carbon tax drives up the cost of the distributors’ trucks to get it to the grocery store. Then, the carbon tax also drives up the cost of energy at those grocery stores, and it drives up the cost of the individual’s fuel to go to the grocery store to get the fruits and vegetables.

This is a terrible tax. We’ve been fighting this tax here on this side of the House since 2018. We need the federal government and we need opposition to come together to make life more affordable for Ontarians.

Last week, on October 23, four people, including three children aged six, seven and 12, were fatally shot in Sault Ste. Marie. Police are calling the shootings a result of intimate partner violence. The Premier called the news “gut-wrenching,” but his words ring hollow when he refuses to even act on the first recommendation of the Renfrew inquest, which is to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic.

I’ll give the Premier one more chance today to stand with survivors. Will the Premier support cities and their public health officials by finally declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic?

Speaker, we need to talk about how intimate partner violence harms and kills children as they live with their mothers. On average, a woman is killed by an intimate partner every six days in Canada, and as of September 30, there have been 46 femicides in Ontario alone, and that number has now become higher. The Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative has found at least 30 children are killed annually in Canada by one of their parents.

Speaker, the clock is running out. When will the Premier finally take action to protect children and their mothers by declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic?

Interjections.

My question is to the Minister of Energy.

As the Premier said last month, “The delivery of every product we have in the province is being affected by the worst tax this country has ever seen—it’s a useless tax—and that’s the carbon tax.” I absolutely agree with the Premier on this, because while our government has remained laser-focused on lowering costs, the carbon tax is working against us.

Speaker, we have heard a lot about the high cost of energy bills today, but can the minister also please explain how the carbon tax is driving up the costs of everything else?

Mr. Speaker, this is a serious matter and our thoughts are with the victims and their families. But symbolism does not effect change. That’s why we know that this is an all-systems partner that will be engaged, and we’re taking a broad lens.

I said last week there were concrete things that we’re doing. We’re enhancing the training at the Ontario Police College for the newest cadets, and I’ve seen this for myself. I said that we are giving grants to 45 organizations that will help people in their communities through victim services. This is part of a $55-million investment that we’re doing. And, Mr. Speaker, we will also and always hold the offenders to account.

But Mr. Speaker, as I said before, we’re engaging all partners to act, and we’re looking at this through a broad lens. Most importantly, we will hold the offenders to account for their actions, which are absolutely inappropriate.

Order. I’m sure we all had a nice weekend and we’ve come back to the House with a great deal of enthusiasm. It’s wonderful to see it, especially this close to Halloween. However, I can’t hear what’s being said in the House. I would ask the House to come to order or I will start calling members out by name and graduate from there, if necessary.

Start the clock. The next question.

Next question.

The Solicitor General.

The supplementary question.

The next question.

The supplementary question.

The next question.

Call in the members. This is a five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1141 to 1146.

Mr. Mamakwa has moved private member’s notice of motion number 66. All those in favour, please rise and remain standing until recognized by the Clerk.

Motion negatived.

This House stands in recess until 1 p.m.

The House recessed from 1150 to 1300.

Mr. Harris moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 143, An Act to proclaim Harvest Season Road Safety Week / Projet de loi 143, Loi proclamant la Semaine de la sécurité routière pendant la saison des récoltes.

First reading agreed to.

First reading agreed to.

On the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, Ms. Taylor replaces Ms. Bell; and

On the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, Mr. Kernaghan replaces Ms. Begum and Ms. Hazell replaces Ms. Brady; and

On the Standing Committee on Social Policy, Ms. Andrew replaces Mrs. Gretzky; and Mr. Gates is removed; and Ms. Brady is added; and

On the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy, Ms. Armstrong replaces Ms. Andrew; and

On the Standing Committee on the Interior, Mr. Bourgouin replaces Ms. Stiles and Mrs. McCrimmon is added; and

On the Standing Committee on Government Agencies, Mr. Glover replaces Ms. Begum and Mrs. Gretzky replaces Mr. Bourgouin.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

Motion agreed to.

Thank you to the minister for his response. This is exactly why our government spoke up about that carbon tax and why we fought it tooth and nail, because we knew it would increase the cost of everything in our communities. The most concerning part about the carbon tax is that it will only get worse; the federal government and opposition parties want to nearly triple the tax by 2030.

Speaker, can the minister please explain why Ontario families cannot afford the tax increase the Liberals and the NDP are planning and pushing for?

My question is to the Premier. Data recently released by the Landlord and Tenant Board shows that applications for personal-use evictions are up 77% in Toronto. Disturbingly, the data also show that the Landlord and Tenant Board has only issued 11 fines for bad faith evictions in nearly four years. Tenant lawyers are saying that number is staggeringly low and reflects a failure by the province to protect tenants. Tenants are losing their homes in record numbers.

What is this government going to do to end bad faith evictions and keep tenants housed?

What tangible actions will you take to put an end to bad faith evictions and keep tenants housed?

I’ll tell you what the government is going to do. The government is going to continue to do what it has been doing, which is putting resources, change processes, double the number of people who are adjudicators. We have changed absolutely every part of it. We are chunking away at the backlog because we paused evictions during COVID.

Mr. Speaker, what is the common theme among all of these things, investing in people, processes and technology? The opposition voted against every single one, every single time.

Mr. Speaker, the NDP supported these Liberals in letting the system go fallow. We are going to make sure the people of Ontario, both landlords and tenants, get the hearings that they need and deserve.

My question is for the Minister of Energy. We’ve heard today about our government’s work to make life in this province more affordable. One of the programs that we put in place to help Ontarians is the Clean Home Heating Initiative. This program will help make home heating not just more affordable but also cleaner, by providing grants to support the purchase and installation of hybrid heat pumps.

Speaker, through you to the Minister of Energy: Has the federal government reached out at any point to inquire about topping up this program with federal dollars to make home heating more affordable for Ontarians?

We’ve heard loud and clear today that the federal government must take broader action to help all Ontarians who are experiencing the impact of rising costs. My constituents remain concerned that the federal government is not exploring opportunities that will lead to real solutions. In fact, the federal government has doubled down on their failed program by keeping the carbon tax on all other forms of home heating.

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on what benefits could be provided to Ontario families as part of the hybrid home heating system?

My question is to the Minister of Agriculture. As I’ve made the House aware many times, we have a former dairy lagoon in the district of Timiskaming, which is now used to house raw human sewage. Now that sewage is being spread on farmland, farmers need a nutrient management plan for their agricultural waste, but we’ve been unable to find the non-agricultural source material plan that agriculture needs when raw human sewage is spread on a farm. Is that plan needed when raw human sewage is spread on agricultural land from which crops are sold that could be very well used in human food?

Thanks to the member for the question. What our government recognized right from the start was that this tax was going to have a harmful impact on our economy and for the people of Ontario. That’s why we fought it. It’s not a choice; it’s a necessity in this province. A family shouldn’t have to decide. I almost feel like back in my opposition days, when we were criticizing the provincial Liberal government for making people choose between heating and eating. That’s what that same crop of Liberals have now done on Parliament Hill. They haven’t just done it for Ontario, though; they’ve done it for all of Canada.

A construction worker has no choice on how they’re going to get to work. They’re driving their truck and they’re paying the carbon tax on that. The mom who’s taking her son or daughter to school has to pay the carbon tax on their fuel.

While we’ve been busy on this side of the House making life more affordable for the people of Ontario when it comes to electricity prices and fighting the carbon tax every step of the way, getting rid of tolls, getting rid of licence plate stickers—

Interjections.

But the answer to the member’s question is, no, the federal government didn’t reach out to talk to us about how we could expand this program across Ontario. It’s unfortunate, because it is working for the people of Ontario. They chose to only expand this type of program for the people of Atlantic Canada. I’m not exactly sure why they would do that, Mr. Speaker, because it’s not just Atlantic Canadians that are hurting with the impacts of the carbon tax in that jurisdiction; it’s people right across this country, and that includes all of the people in Ontario, who are suffering with an affordability crisis because of the federal government’s carbon tax. We need to—

It’s so disheartening, when we’re doing everything we can in Ontario to make life more affordable for the people of Ontario, when the federal government and members of the Liberal opposition and members of the NDP opposition and that Green guy in this Legislature want to drive up the cost of everything.

We’re taking tolls off toll routes in Ontario. We’re giving people back their fees on licence plate stickers, Mr. Speaker. We’re doing all of this, and at the same time—

I appreciate the opportunity to talk about the Environmental Farm Plan that we have in Ontario, because, really and truly, we lead North America with the Environmental Farm Plan that dates back to the 1990s. We have demonstrated time and again that we are the best stewards when it comes to the efforts that have been put forward by farmers.

Back in the 1990s, I’m sure the member opposite himself ran to OMAFRA offices to take part in the winter courses that improved the knowledge and the ultimate application on farms when it comes to environmental farm plans.

With that said, I can tell you with absolute certainty that OMAFRA is working with the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change in a proactive way to address this matter.

The ayes are 34; the nays are 67.

The Trent University political science students are up in the gallery now. We have an opportunity for members to meet them in room 247 over lunch, if you’d like to come down, meet the political science students and inspire our next generation of MPPs.

I move that the following changes be made to the membership of the following committees:

On the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, Ms. Taylor replaces Ms. Bell; and

On the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, Mr. Kernaghan replaces Ms. Begum and Ms. Hazell replaces Ms. Brady; and

On the Standing Committee on Social Policy, Ms. Andrew replaces Mrs. Gretzky; and Mr. Gate is removed; and Ms. Brady is added; and

On the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy, Ms. Armstrong replaces Ms. Andrew; and

On the Standing Committee on the Interior, Mr. Bourgouin replaces Ms. Stiles and Mrs. McCrimmon is added; and

On the Standing Committee on Government Agencies, Mr. Glover replaces Ms. Begum and Mrs. Gretzky replaces Mr. Bourgouin.

It’s my great honour to present the following petitions on behalf of the hard-working Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario Thames Valley Teacher Local teachers. It is entitled “Keep Classrooms Safe for Students and Staff,” and it reads:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario,

“Whereas students and education workers deserve stronger, safer schools in which to learn and work;

“Whereas the pressure placed on our education system has contributed to an increase in reports of violence in our schools;

“Whereas crowded classrooms, a lack of support for staff, and underfunding of mental health supports are all contributing to this crisis;

“Whereas the government of Ontario has the responsibility and tools to address this crisis, but has refused to act;

“Therefore, we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to:

“Take immediate action to address violence in our schools;

“Invest in more mental health resources;

“End violence against education workers and improve workplace violence reporting.”

I fully support this petition. It’s my honour to sign it and deliver it with page Clara to the Clerks.