I listened intently to the speakers this morning and I was thinking about back in my area of Essex county, about all the great builders we have in Essex county—and I’ve mentioned them here in this House before. I have mentioned the builders who are building homes, like Norville Construction and others. Many, many projects are going up in Essex county, including multi-level and multi-unit residences. Those are going to provide great homes for people who want to retire and stay in their communities, but also possibilities for people who are just starting out.

I’m wondering if any of the speakers would like to stand and elaborate on what the government is doing to help people who want to retire and perhaps downsize remain in the communities where they lived and grew up.

Many communities in my region of northwestern Ontario cannot afford to build housing. It’s far too expensive to bring in the workers, bring in the materials. I know that those communities have been waiting for the announcement, from the building homes faster, about the rural and northern program part. You mentioned that today; the associate minister mentioned that today.

When will the details of that program be announced? We need dollar amounts, application details and so on.

It’s always great to stand and speak about the great things that are happening in Etobicoke–Lakeshore. First of all, I’d like to recognize Pat and Murray Wood, who reside in Tapestry at Village Gate West retirement home. They were recognized for the good work they did to make their home a better place. It was recognized by the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority’s 2023 Resident Champion Award. I had the opportunity to have coffee with Pat and Murray, and what a lovely time it was to learn about their residence and what they do to make everyone’s lives that much better in our community. So thank you to both of them.

I also want to congratulate the team at MABELLEarts. I had the opportunity to join a seniors’ chair yoga class, and what a great time that was. That yoga class was made possible by our own Raymond Cho and a seniors’ grant. I want to thank the Minister for Seniors and Accessibility for ensuring that our seniors can be active in their residences. I had a great time too, and I’m not a senior just yet.

Then I walked across the street to see the community centre that they’re building. It’s under construction, but I want to thank our government for an almost $200,000 investment into this wonderful place, which is going to be a meeting place for the community members to have barbecues, to watch plays, just to get together and have that conversation, because so many of our seniors out there need that companionship.

Lastly, I know Remembrance Day is coming up, and I’d like to take the time to remember and honour those who have fought for our freedoms and continue to keep us safe. May they never be forgotten.

Again, we’ve increased funding by over $200 million to a record-setting level of over $700 million for immediate housing. At the same time, we’ve asked our federal partners to assist in communities across the province that are having challenges. We’ve acted unilaterally in that instance with a $49-million fund, including in the member’s community, to ensure that the underhoused have access to housing. At the same time, we are continuing with our housing supply action plans to make sure that we actually build the 1.5 million homes—

As we’ve said the entire time, we will assist the RCMP in its work, but that’s not going to stop us from doing what we set out to do: That is ensuring that we build more homes across the province of Ontario.

Look, we’re encouraging and inviting over a million people to come to Ontario each and every year. That is a million people who will help build our economy, who will help build our province to make it a bigger, better, stronger Ontario, but, at the same time, we have to worry and help those who want the dream of home ownership.

I was just out on Sunday, I came across a young Ontarian who has done everything right: Christina. She said the same thing: “I’ve done everything right. I had a 20% down payment, but the increase in interest rates is hurting me. It’s hurting my family. You have to do something about it.” We’re doing something about it. We’re reducing taxes for all the people in the province of Ontario. The Premier has shown leadership with encouraging the Bank of Canada to stop its rapid rate increase. We’re going to continue to do everything we can to support Ontarians and the economy.

It is no secret that we inherited a government and a province that was really hurting. We were the most indebted jurisdiction. We were the highest-taxed jurisdiction. We were the most over-regulated jurisdiction in Canada. We had out of control hydro rates. People had to choose between heating or eating. Companies were fleeing Ontario. Investment was fleeing Ontario. All of that changed in 2018 when Ontarians elected a strong Progressive Conservative majority.

What have we done? We’ve put in the environment to create 700,000 jobs. We’ve reduced taxes, eliminated useless red tape. We’ve cut the cost of doing business in Ontario by $8 billion while at the same time, cutting taxes for the lowest-income Ontarians and building, with the largest investment in transit and transportation in the history of the province. We’re getting the job done for the people of the province of Ontario and we will not stop.

I can tell you, as the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, I will not stop on that mission to ensure that we can meet our goal of building 1.5 million homes, because they may want the next generation to live in their parents’ basement, we want the next generation to have all of the same advantages that we have had: The dream of home ownership to become a reality, and we will not let obstacles stand in the way.

In her own question, she highlights just how bad the previous Liberal and NDP coalition government was. They got nothing done for the people of Ontario. We’re doing just the opposite. We’re getting it done.

Now, the member opposite might be opposed to that, but in my community, we are very much in support of that. Do you know why, Mr. Speaker? Because more purpose-built rentals and more seniors-focused housing means more homes available for the next generation who want to get out of their parents’ basement and into the community. That’s why we’re doing MZOs.

The member is opposed to that. I am not; this Premier is not; this Conservative caucus is not. We’ll get the job done for the people of the province of Ontario. We’re in a crisis, and we will ensure that we meet the goal of 1.5 million homes.

But when we’re talking about building homes, what you see is that municipalities, towns, are asking us to bring these MZOs. There is a favourable motion from their council because they want the exact same thing: They want to build homes for people. This Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade and this Premier are bringing billions of dollars of investments to communities across the province, and they need housing. When long-term-care homes are built with four hours of care, that means more nurses, more PSWs. They need to have a place to live. We’re building that in different communities, and we’re going to continue to get the job done.

We have so much to untangle, left behind by the previous Liberal and NDP administration, but we’re on the right path: 700,000 jobs, 700,000 people who have the dignity of a job who had lost the dream of that under the Liberals and NDP, who were moving to every other part of this country because they didn’t see Ontario as a place to live, work, invest or raise a family. That all changed in 2018. We’re on the right path, and we will not be distracted by the opposition.

Enough of the distractions, Mr. Speaker. The bottom line is, this government is failing on its promise to build homes. The province is relying on accounting trickery, and it’s not even Halloween yet. Rather than actually moving forward with getting homes built, they find loopholes to attempt to reach their goal, like counting long-term-care beds.

Can we just, for once, stop with the distractions, with the debauchery, with the dynamics and focus on the task at hand: to actually build housing—in a housing crisis, no less? There are simple solutions. Be bold. Legalize building up on transit corridors and on provincially owned lands. Start with Danforth Avenue, which runs through the middle of my riding.

My question to the Premier is: When will the government commit to building up along transit corridors and building in our own backyards on provincially owned lands?

My question is to the Premier. It has become quite clear to the public that this government is far from meeting their promised housing target of 1.5 million homes. Now we learn that they have quietly included long-term-care beds in their total housing-built numbers. I’m not sure if the minister’s old documents got mixed up with his new portfolio, but he should be clear that Ontario has both a housing crisis and a long-term-care crisis. We’re not fixing either by just padding the numbers.

Could the Premier tell us the real numbers today and let Ontarians know how far off they are from meeting their housing goals?

You don’t need to take lessons from me; I’ll teach you. As we witness the declining housing starts in the province of Ontario, the people of our province are left in dire need. Your solution: just add the numbers together and hope nobody notices. But it’s not accurate, and it means we’re far off from tackling our housing crisis.

Can the Premier come clean with Ontarians: After being forced to reverse all their housing policies for the past year—and we know why that happened—is creative math the only solution he has left to the housing crisis?