Good morning, everyone. I will be sharing my time with my colleague, who is coming to the chamber.

Well, Speaker, here we are, almost a year to the day that the government announced it would be carving into our precious greenbelt. November 4, 2022: This Saturday will mark one year. What a great anniversary. Now we must debate this, their backtrack cover-up, basically, their we-are-sorry bill.

What I’m saying is that the government has wasted one year, one full year, of taxpayers’ dollars paying for their mistake, and we’ve wasted the time in this House. More importantly, we’ve wasted the time of Ontarians. How disrespectful is that? This is not “for the people.”

And now they will continue to do so while the RCMP conducts a criminal investigation of the Premier’s $8.3-billion backroom deal. It should be deeply disturbing to the people of Ontario that there are grounds to launch a criminal investigation into the Premier’s actions, and the ministers’. There’s not a lot of faith in a government when things like this happen.

The Auditor General and Integrity Commissioner both found that the process in which land sites were selected was not transparent, it was not fair, nor was it objective or fully informed. There are procedures and practices that government should follow. It was not done here. It was not done, because two ministers resigned because of the greenbelt scandal—two ministers. One of these ministers vacationed with a developer who directly benefited from this deal. Schedule 3 of the bill provides protection from personal liability to those directly involved in this mess.

Let’s be clear about this we’re-not-sorry bill. The government shot down my motion at the standing committee of heritage, infrastructure and culture to have members of the government testify in front of our legislative committee on this debacle. They shot it down. Nothing to hide, nothing to fear, right? Nothing like transparency and integrity.

I am baffled that the government can stand up and debate this bill as if it weren’t their fault that we are here in the first place. We don’t have to be here. We shouldn’t be here. We have other important things to do. We are in an affordability crisis, a housing crisis, a health care crisis and an education crisis, yet we are playing games with the greenbelt.

It’s as if it wasn’t their fault for this $8.3-billion scandal. And what are they calling it? They’re just calling it a mistake. I think we all need to get out our dictionaries and look up that word. I could use much harsher language, Madam Speaker—after all, I am Irish and I have a colourful lexicon—but it would be seen as unparliamentary, so I’ll save that.

Beautiful Beaches-East Yorkers and I have been fighting the government on this decision since day one. I want to take the time to thank residents of my riding and all Ontarians.

They’ve stood up against the destruction of the greenbelt tirelessly. Every day a new newspaper article comes out—a big headline with the greenbelt, yet another scandal—and they wake up, they pick themselves up, they dust themselves off and they get back in the fight and they get back out to protest and they get back out to rally. You are all my heroes, and it just shows that people power works. Always, always, people power wins. We may do the governing in here, but we are representing you out there.

And the things we did—I hosted a greenbelt rally in November last year at East Lynn Park in Beaches–East York. We had more than 300 people come out: the media came out, babies came out, children came out, teenagers, seniors—everyone came out. And they spoke. The youth spoke passionately. Environmental groups spoke passionately. They have done the lion’s share of the work, rallying the troops to get out there and preserve what is so sacred to Ontarians: the greenbelt.

We had local politicians, Environmental Defence and many other groups. Even our own Green East group in Beaches–East York has been working tirelessly, writing letters, writing opinion pieces in the newspapers, speaking to their neighbours. People were exasperated. People were frustrated. People completely lost faith in this government.

Then we were distributing lawn signs all over. Basically, it was busier than election campaigns. We couldn’t keep enough “save the greenbelt” lawn signs in stock. We were scrambling to bike around to deliver them, to walk around, to drive around to deliver them. People wanted to have their voices heard and have that statement on their lawns, how much it matters to them.

I did member’s statements, multiple questions, debates on Bills 23 and 39, amendments, more rallies with ROMA at Queen’s Park—it was endless. It was such a colossal amount of work. It was a full-time job, preserving the greenbelt, but we did it. But we didn’t have to. We didn’t have to. We should have been working on important things that matter to Ontarians, not distractions.

Speaker, the Premier has broken the public trust, and it’s clear that those close to him were able to benefit and were given the opportunity to make billions of dollars. It’s time that there’s clarity and a real criminal investigation. The Ford government should not spend one dime of taxpayers’ dollars on lawyers for anyone implicated in this scandal—for staff or elected officials. And do you know what? We can stop hiding under the guise that the greenbelt was about the housing crisis, because it was not. You can stop with the distractions, the debauchery and the dynamics and get the bloody shovels in the ground and actually build housing.

Questions?

Questions? Questions? Further debate?

We’re sharing our time.

It’s always a pleasure to stand up in the House and speak to the greenbelt bill, one that is very interesting to me. We have a bill before us that Conservatives put forward to protect themselves from the greenbelt—because we all know what happened here.

I’m going to talk about the Premier quickly. The Premier, prior to the last election, met with a bunch of developers, which we all know about, and he told them that he would develop on the greenbelt. But what he didn’t know was somebody was taping it. Then it got out into the community, it got out to Ontarians, and then the public outcry started. And I can tell you, it was led by Niagara. Niagara led that public outcry. Do you know why, Madam Speaker? Because of what we have in Niagara and how important the environment is to our communities, whether that be in Niagara-on-the-Lake, whether that be in Fort Erie or whether it be in Niagara Falls. But quite frankly, the member from Niagara West, who belongs to that party, has a very, very important part of the greenbelt in his own riding. He has 50 small and medium-sized wineries yet he never once stood up and said, “What you are doing is wrong.”

So what happened is, people across the province, a few months before the election, went after the Premier and said, “You are not going to develop on the greenbelt.” So what did the Premier do? He went in front of the TV cameras, very clearly, and said, “I’m not going to be like those Liberals that were there for 15 years and misled Ontarians for 15 years. I’m going to be up front with the residents and everybody in the province of Ontario.” You know what he said? “I’m not touching the greenbelt. I’m listening to people. I’m different.”

And people believed him. That’s obvious, because they got a majority government. And that was one of the biggest issues in the election, bar none. Yes, we’ve got issues with affordability and all those other things—rents and all those things that go with it—but the number one issue people cared about was the environment, because if we can’t have clean drinking water and we can’t breathe the air, we are not going to be on this planet very long.

The environment became a big issue, and the Premier saw that. So every one of those MPPs over there and the Premier said, “I’m not touching the greenbelt.” They knocked on doors, and Mrs. Gates would answer that door—that happened to be my wife; they came to my house, knocking on my door, thinking they could sway my wife’s vote, but it didn’t work. They said it to her: “We’re not touching the greenbelt.” When I came home from my office, my wife said, “Oh, the PCs came by today”—the candidate who was running against me. I said, “Oh yes, what happened?” She said, “They’re not touching the greenbelt.” I said, “Well, that’s good. I’m glad they’re not.” We left it at that.

Then guess what happened after they won the election? We found out they were having secret meetings. We found that through those documents. I think I’ve got 700 pages of documents, now that they’re being charged by the RCMP. And guess what? They were already planning to touch our greenbelt. That was wrong.

It went on for months—actually, it went on for a year—and they hid behind the fact that they said they wanted to build housing. I want to be clear, because every one of my colleagues who is here today and all the ones who aren’t here today all said one thing: We support building 1.5 million homes. We want homes for our kids and our grandkids. We want to make sure they’ve got a future. We want to make sure that they don’t have to live in our basements for the next 20 years. There are a lot of reasons around that but one was they deserve to have a home, they deserve to have family, they deserve to raise their family in our communities.

But what happened? The Premier said, “I’m going to develop on the greenbelt because we need to build homes.” Then his own task force—his own task force—said, “We can build 1.5 million homes without touching the greenbelt.” What did they do? “Oh, no, we need to build those homes on the greenbelt.”

We all know that wasn’t accurate because their own task force told them and made 17 recommendations—that they now think are good recommendations, but which we said they should have followed in the first place—that they didn’t have to develop on the greenbelt. But they were going down the greenbelt. They were going to take over our greenbelt.

Then they went a step further with MZOs. I’ll talk real quick about long-term care. They put an MZO so they could build long-term care, even though that council in Pickering said, “No, Orchard Villa has a terrible record. They had over 40 people die in their long-term-care facility. We do not want this company to continue to have a contract here and take care of our seniors.” This government said, “Well, that’s too bad, because we’ve got to build and we’re going to do it, no matter what.”

And that was wrong. You’re wrong on MZOs when you go against elected officials in the community that they represent.

We’re getting back to the Premier. He got off the greenbelt. He stood up here and he said, “Oh, I’m sorry. We made a bad decision.” But guess what happened? They lost two ministers and two, kind of, chief of staffs because of what happened, but the big issue is—and you can’t say it in here. For people that are listening at home or people that are here listening, you can’t say that they lied. You can’t say that in the House because then the Speaker will stand up and tell me I have to retract. I think that’s wrong, by the way. I’ve said that to not only you as a Speaker but to all of our Speakers. I believe if somebody stands up in this House and doesn’t tell us the truth and they know it’s not the truth, I should be able to stand up here and say, “You know you lied to the residents of the province of Ontario.” I think we should be able to do that. If I stand up and do that, then that member over here should call me out and say, “Gates, you’re not being truthful here.” But I can’t do that here. I can do it in Ottawa. Think about that. You can do it in Ottawa; you can’t do it here.

I can’t say the Premier lied. I can’t say that. But follow the balls. He said he was going to develop on the greenbelt. And then, because of all the public outcry, because the environment is really so important—I know my member right here from Toronto would tell you that—he said, “I’m listening to Ontarians. I’m not going to be like the Liberals. I’m going to listen. We’re not touching the greenbelt.” The minute they get elected, guess what happens? They’re touching the greenbelt.

Follow the balls. First, he says to the developers, “I’m going to develop on the greenbelt.” Then, the second step is, he says to the residents, so he can get some votes, so he can come to my door and say, “I’m not touching the greenbelt.” The minute they get a majority, what do they do? They hide behind building 1.5 million homes, even though his own task force—this is important during this discussion, for the amount of time that I have—made 17 recommendations, and guess what they said? “We have lots of land. We can build those homes, all different types of homes, all the homes that people and young families need in our communities. You don’t have to touch the greenbelt.”

Guess what happened? They made a deal with developers that were going to get $8.2 billion in profit the minute that they’re allowed to develop on the greenbelt. That’s what it was about. It was about taking care of 10 or 12—whatever the number of developers is. That will come out, obviously, in the RCMP investigation. That’s all going to come out. Guess what happened? They got caught. Then, the Premier, even though he knew exactly what he was doing, because the balls were very clear: “I’m going to develop.” “I’m not going to develop.” “I’m going to develop.” “I’m sorry. I’m not going to develop.” Now, they bring a bill forward to protect themselves from the greenbelt.

It really upsets me that this is what we’re standing up here talking about when I know, because I watched the news last night—we saw our new Canadians sleeping outside in Toronto. We saw young families going to food banks in record numbers. That’s what we should be discussing, finding those types of solutions. Instead, we have all of this corruption around us. I hope the RCMP gets to the bottom of it. If they did what everybody thinks they’ve done, they deserve to have the RCMP probably charge them.

I want to talk quickly about Niagara, because I don’t think I can do my whole time. I’m not sure how it works on the timing part of this. In my area—let me get back to Niagara. It is by far one of the most important areas in all of the province of Ontario. We have some of the best area in Ontario by far: our tender fruit, where we grow our apples and our peaches. Why would we ever want to destroy that? Why would we want to take away our food source? I’m having struggles right now, today, with our grapes that are rotting on the grapevines because we have laws in place and policies in place by your government that are not protecting the grape industry and are allowing, if you can imagine, other countries to ship their grapes into Ontario as our grapes that are freshly on the vines and that could be used in our wine are going to end up rotting on the vines. It doesn’t make any sense. That’s what we should be discussing today.

Interjection.

Okay, I’m just getting directions here, sorry. I’m looking right at the Speaker, so I’m kind of looking over John’s head. When you’re only five foot nothing like I am, it’s tough to see over people’s heads.

Anyway, it’s so important to me, in Niagara—the wine industry, the tender fruit industry. What are we doing? Why would we ever want to destroy that? Why would we ever want to destroy our food source? We thought we should have learned something.

I know during this time some people don’t listen, and I understand that they’re playing on whatever they’re doing, but this is important. It’s important that we understand that we learn from our mistakes.

And what was our mistake? Our mistake was that we were relying on other countries to provide our PPE when COVID hit; when people started dying, started getting sick, started being in our hospitals, and we didn’t have any PPE, we didn’t have any masks, we didn’t have any aprons, we didn’t have any gloves. Guess where they were being made? In China, and some in the southern states. And what did they say to us? “No, we need those for ourselves. We need those to take care of our own residents. We’re not sending them to you”—including the United States of America. And then what did we have to do? We scrambled. We had to have companies start to make gloves and masks and change their whole companies over to try to provide it.

But what will happen—

Interjections.

At the end of the day, what should we have learned? We should have learned that we can’t rely on other countries to provide important things to us. And what’s more important to us than our food and our water and our environment?

If you think that we can continue today, Madam Speaker—because I know you always listen; I appreciate that. We’re losing 319 acres of prime farmland every single day in the province of Ontario. And what I’m saying to my colleagues is, why would we do that? Why would we destroy our food source? In Niagara—I’ve given you examples of our grapes, our peaches, all the things. Our local farmers’ markets are incredible, and there are lots of them. If you go down a little ways, there are some on this corner. They’re everywhere. Why would we want to destroy that? That makes no sense to me. I’m trying to say to this government, why would we ever try to do that? We need to protect our farmers. We need to protect our food source.

What they were trying to do with the greenbelt was awful. I can use different words than that, but you’d have to stand up and call me out. It was one of the worst decisions ever made by a government, and I said, just like I said to Premier Wynne when she fell in the same footsteps as the Conservative government under Mike Harris, when they privatized Hydro and when they sold off Hydro One—I went right to the Premier then, and I said, “This the biggest mistake you’ve ever made, and if you don’t back down on that mistake”—and my good friend Jim Bradley, who I still go to hockey games and Blue Jays games with. He’s still a good friend of mine. He’s a Liberal, and I know some people think you don’t talk to the opposite side, but Jim is a good friend of mine. I said to Jim, “You’re going to lose your election if you can’t convince Premier Wynne to back down on hydro.” I know that he went to their caucus meeting—we all have caucus meetings—and he went to his cabinet, and he tried to convince her not to do it.

Guess what happened to Premier Wynne? Not only did she lose, but what have they got? They’ve got a van and a quarter there—and there’s nothing wrong with a minivan, by the way. They’re made in Windsor by good auto workers, so that’s not the issue. But it’s a good thing we make those vans, so they can take themselves around. And why did that happen? It happened because she decided to sell off Hydro One. That was the number one issue as we watched our bills go from $50 to $300, and people said that was wrong and they didn’t vote for her.

I’m telling you, the greenbelt will have the same effect on this government—that if they continued to go down the path of the greenbelt, they were all going to be defeated; they would have been the new minivan party, because people care with passion about the environment and they care about our heritage.

And there’s no bigger place in my riding—and quite frankly, I’m being honest with the member from Niagara West. His riding is the same as ours. A little bit in the Welland riding, as well, with my member; not as much in St. Catharines, but they also have it—but the Niagara area. I can ask my colleagues—they probably won’t put their hands up—how many have been to Niagara? Everyone goes to Niagara-on-the-Lake, I think, at some point in time. As a matter of fact, if I’m not mistaken—it just hit me—I think the entire PC caucus was in my riding when the Premier stood right beside the casino in Niagara Falls and apologized and said they’re not going to touch the greenbelt.

Now, we’ve still got lots of problems with it, obviously, because the RCMP investigation and all that is going to go on; it’s going to go on for a while. They’re going to interview people. That’s going to continue to happen.

So that’s how I know that the entire PC Party loves my riding. They were down there, and I was a little surprised—I’ll say this: Usually, when you come into somebody’s riding, you at least say that you’re there. Nobody called me up to go for dinner or go out and show the riding, maybe drive them around. I was so shocked at that; I couldn’t believe it. I’m thinking to myself, “They’ve got to be calling,” you know? I checked my cellphone to see if it was still working. Actually, I thought maybe the House leader for the other team might have called me and said, “Hey, do you want to go and watch the Niagara IceDogs play some hockey?” Nothing. You guys didn’t call me at all.

But the important part of that is that you have backed down on the greenbelt. That’s the important part. How you got there, other people than me, that are a lot smarter than me, are going to do that investigation. You’ve already lost a couple of your ministers. You’ve already lost a couple of your chiefs of staff. My concern is who’s next. Who’s next? Who’s the next one that’s going to end up under the bus on this issue?

The bigger issue for me, I’m going to say as I finish up, the most important part of all this for me is protecting our food source, protecting our environment, protecting our water. I want to be clear—because I know they stand up every day and say, “Well, that’s the party over there that’s hook, line and sinker with the Liberals, that didn’t want to build housing.” I want to be very clear: I have stood up in this House many, many times—you can check Hansard all you want—and said how important it is to build housing in the province of Ontario, the 1.5 million. Your task force said it was doable without touching the greenbelt. I’m going to continue to say, on behalf of my colleagues—because I know every one of these colleagues that are here today and knows that we’ll be here for question period have said the same thing—we want to build homes.

I want to be very clear. I know you’re all sitting out there thinking that, you know, I’m probably 35, 37 years old. Well, I’m a little older than that. I have three daughters and I have five grandchildren. My oldest grandchild is 19. You think about it. I want a future for my three daughters. I want to make sure that they can afford a house. My youngest daughter just bought a house a year ago; she’s struggling a bit with the cost of it, with interest rates, but she has had the opportunity to buy—guess what it was—a little starter home, something like a wartime house, but at least she got into the market. I want that for my kids. I want that for my three daughters. I want that for my grandkids. So when you stand up and say that we don’t want to build homes for our kids, that’s absolutely not accurate.

We love our kids just like the Conservatives love their kids, just like the Liberals and the Greens love their kids, and we want the best for them. You know what’s best for them? That we make sure that we have an environment so they have clean air, they have clean drinking water, and make sure they can afford to buy a house, that they have a good-paying job.

As a lot of you should know, I came out of the labour movement. I was a union president; I’ve done all that. I joined a union. I was lucky; I got paid fair wages. I made a good, fair wage. I got benefits. I have a pension. And guess what? I was able to raise those three daughters. I was able to provide for them, to play some baseball; I coached baseball for close to 20 years. They figure-skated. They got an education. They went to university. One’s a teacher, one works in special needs today, and the other one is in public health. How could I do that? Because I had a good-paying job. I had a house that I bought.

I want the same thing for my kids. So please don’t stand up here and say I don’t want to build 1.5 million houses, that I don’t really care about young people having a place to live, that I don’t care about students, that I don’t care about this—

That’s a really good question, because I know that, for four terms, they have tried to beat me, so they haven’t been very successful. I know what they do appreciate is that you want to be honest; you want to tell them the truth. And the truth is that we don’t need—we never needed—to develop on the greenbelt. That’s really, really the truth. So I’m a firm believer that if you’re honest with your constituents, if you’re out front of your constituents and telling them what you think, they will always support you.

Will they forgive the Conservatives going forward? I’m going to leave that up to the voters. Am I going to forgive them? The answer is no, because I always want to be told the truth, and we weren’t told the truth on this particular greenbelt fiasco that we’ve gone through.

I appreciate the question. Thank you.

As far as other things, yes. I don’t know if you were here when I started my speech and I talked about the fact that it’s heartbreaking to watch, in one of the richest provinces in the country, where we have people sleeping on the streets last night in Toronto—new Canadians. That’s the first thing they’re seeing from Ontario, that they’re sleeping with their suitcase and their little kids on the streets of Toronto. So we should be making sure that people have a place to live. We should be making sure they can afford to buy their groceries. We should make sure that builds after, I think, 2018 have rent controls on those so that they can get housing.

So there are lots of issues. Affordability is probably the biggest issue in this province. I knock on the doors almost every weekend. Affordability: “I can’t afford my rent.” “I can’t afford my mortgage.” “I can’t buy food.” “I can’t buy the gas.” So what we should be discussing is affordability when we—

But I’ll be honest with you, your shot about me going to sporting events and how I might be in the golds—let me tell you, I pay for every one of my tickets that I go to a ballgame with, and I’m very proud of the fact that I’ve worked hard, that I can afford to buy a ticket. But when I go to Blue Jays game, I sit in the 500 level; I don’t sit in the box. When I go to a Leafs game, I sit up in the end blues and I buy my tickets off Jim Bradley.

I don’t think that was a very good shot. There is nothing wrong with people buying sporting tickets so they have entertainment, so they can get away. And a lot of times, I take my grandkids to the baseball game. I take my grandkids over to the Bisons games or to a Sabres game. I’ve worked very hard to be able to afford tickets up in the red, in section 5 for ball games. I’ve worked very hard to sit in the end blues in the Toronto Maple Leaf games. I don’t think I have to apologize for being able to afford to go to a sporting event in the province of Ontario because of the—

We all know why we’re here. This government is trying to make their loss look like a win because the RCMP has a criminal investigation against them. They’re trying to distract from that.

Now, they’re proposing to return lands that were just taken out by themselves. They’re going to add in a few more lands that are, frankly, already protected. And though they’re codifying the boundaries of the greenbelt, in this majority government situation, they can still shuffle lands in and out of the greenbelt before the next election, the same way they shuffle ministers in and out of cabinet.

So my question to the member from Niagara Falls is, do you think, despite all of this, that your constituents will still forgive the government?

I appreciate very much and thank the member for his remarks on this important piece of legislation. I know the member talks a lot about his labour background, and I admire that. Earlier in my life, I was a rebar bender and a crane operator, so I have worked in a labour environment for a little while. And obviously, the member had a great success, because he talks a lot about his Maple Leafs tickets—and I don’t know whether they’re gold tickets or platinum tickets, but obviously, he did very well. I saw him going to a Leafs game once.

But my real question is, aside from the fact that—the most important thing, in my view, that this bill is doing, is any changes to the greenbelt in the future require a legislative change. That’s a very significant change and a much more open process. Isn’t that something that the member can support, this important change to the process in the future?

Please refer the bill to the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure And Cultural Policy.

It’s now time for questions and answers. Questions?

Mr. Calandra has moved second reading of Bill 136, An Act to amend the Greenbelt Act, 2005 and certain other Acts, to enact the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Act, 2023, to repeal an Act and to revoke various regulations. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? The motion has carried.

Second reading agreed to.

Orders of the day? I recognize the deputy government House leader.

The House recessed from 1002 to 1015.

The Ministry of Transportation has given the green light to start early planning work for the Sheppard subway extension, which will examine connecting the current terminus of Line 4 at Don Mills station with the future Scarborough subway extension.

As part of this work, Metrolinx has also been tasked with investigating a possible western extension from Sheppard-Yonge station to Sheppard West station at Allen Road. Accordingly, Metrolinx is launching three community consultation meetings this November to seek the input of the community to extend the TTC’s current Line 4 along Sheppard Avenue. Input and feedback received from community members during the consultation is an important component of the initial business case recommendation.

Finally, after years of failed promises, endless debates and redundant votes, the Sheppard extension is one step closer to realization. Commuters in Scarborough deserve the same access to reliable public transit as people living in downtown Toronto. Delivering safer, faster and more convenient travel options to our commuters is my ultimate goal.

It is my honour and privilege to serve the residents of Scarborough–Agincourt.

Promise made, promise kept.

Yesterday, on November 1, an unprecedented 12 Waterloo region ambulances were on off-load delay for up to 15 hours; St. Mary’s Hospital—same day—10 ambulances waiting to off-load. Paramedics say that they are facing a crisis that can no longer be ignored. This is dangerous. It’s happening across Ontario, with no cure offered by the Ford government.

Off-load delays occur when paramedics cannot transfer the care of the patient over to the hospital due to a lack of space or staffing, so they are stuck waiting, instead of responding to calls, usually waiting in a hall in a hospital or a parking lot.

When people call 911, it’s because they need an ambulance, they need a paramedic, they need medical assistance. It’s not one of the calls that you make and you’re saying, “Well, I can stay on hold for an hour.”

Code reds occur when there are no ambulances available to respond to calls. In Waterloo region, there were 87 code reds over the first nine months of 2022, a major jump from 21 in the past year. John Riches, chief of paramedics, calls this deeply concerning. Paramedic services is currently losing the equivalent of three 12-hour ambulance shifts per day to off-load delay.

Waterloo is resilient. They have brought in their own local solutions, but let’s be honest: The province needs to acknowledge that this is a real issue affecting Ontarians. Code reds should not be the new normal in the province of Ontario.

Film production in Ontario contributes over $3 billion in economic activity and supports over 45,000 jobs. Film production and festivals support and provide cultural bridges, connecting diverse communities and fostering dialogue and understanding.

With Mississauga–Malton serving as a central hub for several of its major activities, the International Film Festival of South Asia, IFFSA, celebrated their 12th film festival as a shining beacon of cultural celebration, artistic exploration and economic vitality for Ontario. IFFSA Toronto made a significant economic impact. By attracting local and international participation, it enhanced Ontario’s reputation as a global cultural hub. IFFSA is actively working to strengthen the South Asian film production and distribution industry in Ontario by promoting the various credits and supports provided by the government of Ontario and fostering wider international connections.

Through the IFFSA Talent Fund, the festival fosters homegrown talent and extends its impact throughout the year with a comprehensive learning series and various year-round activities.

My best wishes for IFFSA Toronto to continue being a cultural and economic catalyst in Ontario as it evolves and expands as a symbol of Ontario’s commitment to cultural diversity and creativity.

I want to pay tribute this morning to the many non-profit organizations that operate on inadequate budgets while providing essential services to our communities. Non-profits provide supports in times of crisis, and they are also the cultural and recreational lifeblood of our communities. Demand for non-profit services is through the roof, yet the sector is running on fumes.

In Thunder Bay, we have lost the important Street Outreach Service, known as SOS, and we have also lost the sexual assault clinic in Victoriaville mall. These losses are devastating for my community.

The Ontario Nonprofit Network is warning that many more vital services will collapse without significant changes in how the government supports this sector. Organizations struggle to attract and keep staff because one-off, project-based funding means that all jobs are short-term and precarious. Organizations need stable and long-term funding that reflects the true cost of delivering services and programs. Without a significant change in how governments deal with the non-profit sector, it will disappear, and with it, our social cohesion.

Government members need to look carefully at the recommendations of the Ontario Nonprofit Network and do what is necessary to support the critical work of these vital community organizations.

As Remembrance Day draws near, it becomes even more important for us to honour the brave Canadian heroes who have sacrificed so much to defend our freedom, rights and democracy. During times of war, every Canadian in every province, regardless of age, came together in their own way, all aiming for a common goal, which was peace. Our brave men and women gave their lives for freedom and peace, not just for us, but for future generations.

Remembering their sacrifice is vital. We must never forget the courage and commitment they showed. We must never forget the likes of an Oakville resident whose name stands etched on the Bronte Cenotaph. This cenotaph, located in the centre of Bronte Village by the lake, honours those individuals from World Wars I and II and Korea.

It stands in Chris Vokes Memorial Park, dedicated to Major-General Christopher Vokes, an Oakville resident and distinguished World War II veteran. Major-General Vokes exemplified courage. He led the 1st Canadian Infantry Division through several battles in Italy and Germany; the most famous, of course, which many know, was the capture of Ortona.

While the park recognizes Major-General Vokes, the Bronte Cenotaph is a tribute to everyone who served. It tells us we must always remember, and I hope that everybody in Ontario will take time this November 11 to remember the brave individuals who gave their lives for our country. Lest we forget.

Mr. Speaker, time is money. The time wasted in the Conservative government’s shady greenbelt deals, digging a hole and filling it in, getting it done and then getting it undone, has delayed the building of housing.

Time is money. A minister resigned and staff were replaced. The new minister, after he took the time to get up to speed, even had to compensate municipalities. Pickering and Grimsby spent $442,000 for time spent working on greenbelt removals. Others will have to be compensated for the time wasted on shady, undone urban boundary expansions.

Time is money. Now, interest rates have gone up. Housing projects are stalled. Why didn’t the Conservative government follow their own task force, or any of the task forces from cities across Canada, since rents started taking off in 2018? Why didn’t they eliminate exclusionary zoning and make it legal to build the medium density and mixed neighbourhoods we need, instead of waiting for the federal government to hold their hand and show the way?

Time is money. Now, the Conservative government is following the federal lead and cutting the HST on purpose-built rentals. That’s great, but why wait to have their hand held by the federal government? Why couldn’t they have done this much earlier? This government has wasted the time of Ontarians, wasted their money and wasted this province’s opportunity to prosper and thrive.

Last Sunday, it was my pleasure to be at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 6 in Owen Sound for a great event put on by the Billy Bishop Museum honouring nine local veterans in our Grey-Bruce community.

Colleagues, as you may know, Billy Bishop was a Canadian flying ace in the First World War. He was officially credited with 72 victories, making him the top Canadian and British ace of the war. He also received a Victoria Cross. What you may not know about Billy Bishop was that he was born and grew up in the great community of Owen Sound. Billy Bishop’s home on 3rd Avenue West is now a wonderful museum where visitors can learn more of the history of this great Canadian hero.

Last Sunday, the Billy Bishop Museum and Owen Sound Legion again hosted a wonderful event to honour nine local veterans. The event was attended by many family members and friends of the honourees because, as we know, when veterans serve, their families also serve. We heard about the amazing service of these veterans, their perseverance, their dedication and their commitment to our country.

Sergeant Terry Bates, Private Alvin Cameron, Leading Seaman William Cutting, Lieutenant Luella Denton, Private John Des Jardine, Lieutenant-Colonel James Gale, Ordinary Seaman John Garvey, Sergeant Leonard Smith and Sergeant Wallace Sprung: Thank you to all these nine great Grey-Bruce veterans. Your actions have given us the way of life we are so lucky to enjoy today.

The Premier said the greenbelt is a scam, but we know that it’s important for the environment and that it’s the heart of our agricultural industry in Niagara. It’s an important part of our local economy, through the wine and grape-growing industry.

My riding and the riding of Niagara West account for nearly 90% of all grapes grown in Ontario. Local farmers are suffering due to a lack of support, an unfair tax structure on 100% Ontario wine, and limited shelf space for local wines at the LCBO. Farmers watch their grapes rot on the vine while the government ignores their struggles. It’s not right that the Conservatives prioritize wine from other countries over local wines. We need a level playing field and support for our local industry, our grape growers, and the land they work on.

The LCBO must step up and provide more shelf space for Ontario wines. Our local wineries create jobs, boost tourism and drive our economy. They deserve better.

It’s time we come together to protect our greenbelt and support our Niagara wine and grape-growing industry. We must ensure our farmers can thrive, not just survive. The time is now to stand up for our local economy and the environment we hold dear. Let’s make Ontario’s greenbelt and wine industry stronger than ever.

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. As noted by the member from Simcoe–Grey, this year marks 100 years since Dr. Banting and Dr. Macleod received their Nobel Prize for their discovery of insulin to help people with diabetes. Before that discovery, people with diabetes were people dying of diabetes—and now they are people living with diabetes.

Speaker, did you know that 30% of Ontarians live with diabetes but only 11% are actually diagnosed?

Living with diabetes can be a full-time job. Those with diabetes need to be pharmacists, dietitians, doctors and mathematicians in their everyday lives. This is why our government continues to support Ontarians living with diabetes. In March 2022, we added the life-saving, real-time glucose monitoring systems to the ADP program, leading to better self-management, leading to healthier lives. And then in April of this year, our government passed a motion made by the amazing MPP for Eglinton–Lawrence for the Ministry of Health to develop a framework on chronic diseases, including diabetes.

What started as Banting’s research project to save the life of a 13-year-old boy on the brink of death has now become an entire life-saving medical sector.

Mr. Speaker, I’m very proud to be part of a government that continues to work towards improving the lives of Ontarians living with diabetes.