Thank you again to the member for the question. I know first-hand the sacrifices entrepreneurs make and the challenges that they face each and every day. That is why I was proud to see the Premier and the Minister of Finance stand up for both businesses and consumers by extending the gas tax cut until June 2024.

For small businesses and families, every dollar counts. By keeping an extra $260 in people’s pockets, this tax cut will allow residents greater ability to support local small businesses, whether buying goods or supporting a local restaurant. For businesses themselves, cheaper fuel means lower transportation expenses, allowing them to save elsewhere, whether it’s delivering products to stores and customers, commuting employees or other necessities.

Speaker, small businesses, including businesses in all of their ridings, shouldn’t be paying Ottawa more just to get less. We call on the NDP and Liberals to join us and tell their federal counterparts that hard-working Ontarians desperately need more money now in their pockets. Axe the tax now.

My question is to the Premier. Residents of Flamborough–Glanbrook are calling on the government to shut down the Stoney Creek dump. The industrial dump has wreaked havoc on their neighbourhood. The lingering stink has caused health issues, ruined outdoor play and forced residents to keep their windows closed.

A local mom wants the Premier to know her kids cannot play outside because the putrid smell is so awful, and now, a plan for a much-needed elementary school is paused. Residents have had enough. They feel they’ve been misled by developers while purchasing million-dollar homes. GFL is a lucrative business who have moved their own business offices off-site.

When will the Premier look out for this thriving community and shut down the dump?

Certainly, I share the concern of those families, and my heart does go out to them. I know they haven’t been able to have a summer like many other families have had because of this issue. As soon as I learned about the issue from the member for Flamborough–Glanbrook—she has had huge leadership on this front. We’ve been talking to GFL almost every day on this issue, talking with officials on the ground to take action to ensure that this issue is resolved.

And I will say that the Premier very much has his attention on this file as well. I’ve spoken to the mayor of Hamilton. Let’s be clear, Speaker, we want to get to the bottom of this issue and ensure that we’re taking every action necessary. An order has been issued for this landfill to take serious action, to take swift action to resolve the matter. I’m happy to share a copy of the order with the member opposite.

We take it very seriously, and I do have a copy of the order in front of me right here, where we have taken serious action. We’ll take whatever is necessary to get the issue resolved for these residents, who do deserve a resolution. I’ve been working with the mayor, who’s very up to speed with what we’re trying to do to ensure that this action is taken, so that residents can get back to their day-to-day lives. I will be passing on a copy of this order with a page to the members opposite.

All right, so this one is for Ron this morning, down in Prince Edward county. Listen, I’m pleased to talk about all of the initiatives that our government has undertaken, not only to make life more affordable, but also to drive down emissions across our province. You don’t have to do what the Liberals did and are doing, in making life more affordable, to drive down emissions.

We’ve introduced the Clean Home Heating Initiative, which makes hybrid heat pumps available to natural gas customers in various locations across the province, something we think the federal Liberals should support us on as well. We’ve introduced the ultra-low overnight rate for those who have and are considering buying an electric vehicle, so they can charge at off-peak times in the overnight period, saving themselves money. We’ve introduced the Green Button standard right across the province at local distribution companies, giving customers the opportunity to reduce their bills, by having the data they need, by up to 18%.

What else have we done? We’ve reduced the electricity rate through the Ontario Electricity Rebate for customers, between 15% and 17%, and of course taken 10 cents off a litre at the gas pumps, too—

Interjection.

The Ministry of the Environment approved the expansion of the landfill in 2019, against the wishes of the community and the city, who voted against the expansion. At that time, the ministry said that the environmental impacts would be appropriately managed; quite obviously, this dump is not being properly managed.

Now the ministry says the foul odour residents are experiencing is unacceptable. They’ve received over 900 complaints in six months. The city is exasperated and has called for a veto on any future expansions. One area councillor said, “If the landfill odours can’t be contained, the dump must be closed.” That’s what the residents are asking for.

Premier, why do the profits of a private conglomerate like GFL matter more than the health and well-being of Stoney Creek residents?

Thank you to the minister for being such a progressive advocate for the small businesses and entrepreneurs in Ontario.

This regressive carbon tax hurts the very people that any government should be helping. The carbon tax hurts the farmers who grow the food, the truckers who move the food, the restaurants who serve the food and the consumers who buy the food. Even worse, it is Ontario entrepreneurs and our small businesses that are forced to shoulder increased costs because of this regressive tax and rising interest rates.

At a time when concern for economic security and cost of living is so high, the last thing Ontarians need is higher taxes. Speaker, can the minister please explain why removing harmful taxes like the carbon tax is so vital to helping support our small businesses?

A point of order: On May 18, 2023, I tabled a written question to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. The 24 sessional day response deadline was this past Monday, October 30, 2023. Could the minister please fulfill his procedural obligation and provide a response to my inquiry?

This morning, the Solicitor General and I introduced a delegation that was here: our families, families who live in our communities, who lost family on October 7 or whose family is being held hostage right now. I just want to read their names into the record—that didn’t happen this morning; I think it’s important that we do that: Harel Lapidot and Galit Goren; Meirav Raviv; Aharon Brodutch; Aviv Cohen and Alexandra Fridman.

The ayes are 34; the nays are 68.

Order.

The next question.

Solicitor General.

It is my privilege to say a word of thanks to our legislative pages. Our pages are smart, trustworthy and hard-working. They are indispensable to the effective functioning of the chamber, and we are indeed fortunate to have had them here.

To our pages: You depart having made many new friends, with a greater understanding of parliamentary democracy and memories that will last a lifetime. Each of you will now go home and continue your studies and no doubt will contribute to your communities, your province and your country in important ways. We expect great things from all of you. Who knows? Maybe some of you will some day take your seats in this House as members or work here as staff. No matter where your path leads you, we wish you well.

Please join me in thanking this group of legislative pages.

Applause.

I’ll start with the member for Kingston and the Islands.

I would ask the minister to give the House some indication as to when the response is likely forthcoming.

Deferred vote on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 67, An Act respecting the licensing and regulation of temporary nursing agencies / Projet de loi 67, Loi concernant la délivrance de permis aux agences de soins infirmiers temporaires et la réglementation de ces agences.

The division bells rang from 1211 to 1216.

On November 1, 2023, Mr. Shamji moved second reading of Bill 67, An Act respecting the licensing and regulation of temporary nursing agencies.

All those in favour will please rise and remain standing until recognized by the Clerk.

Second reading negatived.

Deferred vote on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 142, An Act to enact the Consumer Protection Act, 2023, to amend the Consumer Reporting Act and to amend or repeal various other Acts / Projet de loi 142, Loi visant à édicter la Loi de 2023 sur la protection du consommateur, à modifier la Loi sur les renseignements concernant le consommateur et à modifier ou abroger diverses autres lois.

The division bells rang from 1220 to 1221.

All those in favour of the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Second reading agreed to.

There being no further business at this time, this House stands in recess until 1 p.m.

The House recessed from 1225 to 1300.

Report deemed adopted.

Mr. Bethlenfalvy moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 146, An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes / Projet de loi 146, Loi visant à mettre en oeuvre les mesures budgétaires et à édicter et à modifier diverses lois.

First reading agreed to.

First reading agreed to.

I’ll remind members it’s best just to read the explanatory note when you explain your bill.

Mr. Glover moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 148, An Act to amend the Auditor General Act and Members’ Integrity Act, 1994 / Projet de loi 148, Loi modifiant la Loi sur le vérificateur général et la Loi de 1994 sur l’intégrité des députés.

First reading agreed to.

I certainly will. The bill amends the Auditor General Act. Subsection 10(1) of the act is re-enacted to provide that the duty to furnish information applies to documents and information that are otherwise confidential or subject to certain privilege rights.

Subsection 10(2) of the act is also re-enacted to provide that the Auditor General’s right to access information applies despite other rights of privacy, confidentiality and privilege.

The bill also amends the Members’ Integrity Act, 1994. Clause (a) of the definition of “family” in section 1 of the act is amended to include adult children, siblings and parents.

Section 2 is re-enacted to provide that a member of the assembly shall not make a decision or participate in making a decision that would lead to the reasonable perception that there is an opportunity to further the member’s private interests or improperly to further another person’s private interests.

The bill adds section 6.1, which provides that no member of the assembly shall in the exercise of an official power, duty or function give preferential treatment to any person or organization based on the identity of the person or organization.

Section 31 of the act is amended to allow the commissioner to conduct an inquiry if the commissioner determines it appropriate to do so, even in the absence of a referral from a member of the assembly or the executive council. At any time before the conclusion of the inquiry, the commissioner may expand the scope of the inquiry if the commissioner determines it is appropriate to do.

I want to give a warm welcome to the president and CEO of Ontario Forest Industries Association, Mr. Ian Dunn. Welcome to the House.

Speaker, this afternoon I’d like to welcome representatives of Together We Stand: Richard Seymour and Eleanor Millar.

Speaker, I just wanted to introduce my page’s—her mom and sister’s names into the record. It’s Niti Bhatt and Shriya Bhatt.

Speaker, I will elaborate in a ministerial statement shortly.

MPP Andrew moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 147, An Act to provide for updates to training requirements with respect to Black, Indigenous, racialized, natural and textured hair styles in the film and television and live entertainment industries / Projet de loi 147, Loi prévoyant la mise à jour des exigences en matière de formation relativement aux types de cheveux des personnes noires, autochtones et racisées, et aux types de cheveux naturels et texturés dans l’industrie du film et de la télévision et l’industrie du spectacle vivant.

Applause.

It gives me great pleasure to rise today on behalf of the Premier and our government to deliver our 2023 fall economic statement, Building a Stronger Ontario Together.

J’ai l’immense plaisir de prendre la parole aujourd’hui, au nom du premier ministre et de notre gouvernement, afin de présenter notre exposé économique de l’automne 2023 : Bâtir un Ontario fort ensemble.

Ontario is growing rapidly.

Last year alone, 500,000 more people chose Ontario as home.

There are 4,400 more businesses operating in our province today than there were last year, representing over half the new businesses that opened in the entire country.

And these new businesses mean new jobs ... in fact, 170,000 net new jobs since January.

While this is good news for Ontario, we cannot take this growth for granted.

As I have said many times before, Ontario is not immune to the risks of an economic slowdown.

High inflation and the Bank of Canada’s rapid interest rate increases are weighing on Ontario’s outlook for the remainder of this year, and into next year.

Russia’s war on the Ukraine and the recent horrific terrorist attack against Israel means continued heightened geopolitical uncertainty.

With these economic and geopolitical challenges, there comes a choice: We can go back to a time when manufacturing jobs left the province in droves; when gridlock brought our communities and our economy to a standstill; when workers worked harder and harder but life became tougher and tougher. Or we could continue on our path, a path that involves creating better jobs and bigger paycheques, a path that is building infrastructure we need to serve a growing population that is fiscally responsible.

And that includes a path to balance the budget.

Mr. Speaker, our path and our road ahead is clear.

We must continue with our government’s responsible, targeted approach.

We must continue with our plan to build a strong Ontario.

Nous devons poursuivre notre plan pour bâtir un Ontario fort. Et nous devons le faire ensemble. And we must do it together.

Mr. Speaker, we are attracting new jobs and new investments.

We are building the critical infrastructure needed to support our growing communities.

We are training workers to fill the jobs needed in key sectors like health care and the skilled trades.

We are putting money back into the pockets of the people of Ontario, during a time of high interest rates and inflation.

And we are providing better public services as well as supporting our most vulnerable.

Mr. Speaker, due to a slowing economy impacting revenue and increasing our flexibility to respond to risks, our government is now projecting a $5.6-billion deficit in 2023-24.

In 2024-25, we are forecasting a deficit of $5.3 billion, followed by a balanced budget in 2025-26.

And as we deal with the uncertainty ahead, Mr. Speaker, our government will never hesitate to do what is necessary to support the people and businesses of Ontario.

Face à l’incertitude qui nous guette, monsieur le Président, notre gouvernement ne manquera pas de faire ce qu’il faut pour soutenir la population et les entreprises de l’Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, our government is building Ontario.

It starts in the north, where we are unlocking the incredible potential of critical minerals and finally building the roads to the Ring of Fire, in partnership with Indigenous communities.

Critical minerals are key to positioning Ontario as a global economic powerhouse, ready to seize the electric vehicle revolution and energy transition and be a serious player amidst geopolitical change.

That’s why I’m pleased to announce that we are proposing to enhance the Ontario Focused Flow-Through Share Tax Credit to encourage more critical mineral exploration.

Mr. Speaker, our story starts in the north, but it leads to the south, where we are connecting these critical minerals to our province’s leading electric vehicle manufacturing sector. It’s no secret that the previous government decimated manufacturing in Ontario. Jobs left the province in droves. Well, under this government and this Premier, manufacturing is back in Ontario and it’s stronger than ever.

Over the last three years, our government has attracted more than $26 billion in transformative auto and electric vehicle battery-related investments to Ontario.

From Algoma to Windsor—

Interjection.

It’s a bit like Groundhog Day, listening to the member from Ottawa South talking about the things that we can do to reduce the cost of living, when he votes against every single thing that we bring forward. The member from Ottawa South was a part of the caucus that introduced the Green Energy Act, one of the most harmful pieces of legislation in this province’s history. Their energy minister told us, at the time, that it was going to cost a dollar more a month on electricity bills. We know that drove people from every part of our province into energy poverty and reduced his caucus to a minivan caucus—

Interjections.

I want to thank the member opposite. Let me be clear: There is no excuse for violent crimes. There is no excuse for intimate partner violence. We take this matter very, very seriously. As I said prior, we are engaging all partners to act, and we’re doing so with a very broad lens. That’s why we have invested over $55 million in various grants, including supporting 45 victim services grants to help communities throughout Ontario. We will also hold offenders accountable. And we are taking further action at the Ontario Police College by having mandatory training for our cadets there to learn about intimate partner violence.

At the end of the day, intimate partner violence is completely unacceptable.

Our thoughts are with the families in Sault Ste. Marie for this heinous crime that was committed on them. It is undeniably tragic.

Mr. Speaker, $55 million is being invested in programs that will have tangible benefits. Training at the Ontario Police College will have tangible benefits. Supporting 45 projects through victim services grants will have tangible benefits. Holding the people to account will.

Tous ont le droit de se sentir en sécurité chez eux et dans leurs collectivités. Et, monsieur le Président, rien pour moi n’est plus important que la sécurité de notre province.

My question is to the Premier. Sault Ste. Marie declared gender-based violence an epidemic, adding to more than 63 municipalities across Ontario that have formally declared this truth. To date, 2023 has seen more than 50 femicides, more than one per week, all while this Conservative government continually fails to mobilize the resources—from affordable housing, to pay equity, to community crisis and response funding—needed to reverse this tragic course that Ontario is on.

To the Premier: Will he take the first step to ending gender-based violence by declaring it an epidemic, one requiring real action from this Conservative government?

This would make training on how to style and care for Black, Indigenous and racialized people’s natural and textured hair types mandatory for all practising hairstylists within the sector, to protect the health and safety of performers, boost Ontario’s economy and work toward addressing racism in the province of Ontario.

In short, this bill would prevent the inequity of Black and other racialized performers, already underpaid, having to pay for their own hairstyles on set and backstage. I want to thank union leaders, I want to thank my constituency and I want to thank community members, hairstylists, performers, allies, store owners and all of those who have made it possible to work with me on this piece of legislation.

Thank you to the member from Brantford–Brant. I’m very happy that you’re bringing this topic up because nobody else in the House seems to bring it up. The opposition Liberals and NDP don’t want to go here.

Our government has led the charge, starting in 2018, to fight against this harmful carbon tax. We are proud that we have fought against this tax, Speaker, which we know would lead to poorer outcomes for the people in this province. The carbon tax is, sadly, contributing to the overall inflation rate, which is growing rapidly in this province. That, in turn, is causing interest rates to go up, and that, in turn, is causing Ontarians who have a hard time paying off their mortgages more money to pay every single month.

If we can eliminate this tax, we can untangle our economy from the grip of inflation and make it easier for the people of Ontario to buy the goods and services they require. This is why our government continues to urge the federal government, and we would love our opposition members right here in this House to join us and fight this punitive tax.