This government knows that the vast majority of Ontario households are actually better off with a price on carbon. Not only does it keep our world habitable—

Interjections.

This government knows that 270,000 households in Ontario use heating oil and that they are eligible for the climate price exemption. This government knows that the oil and gas industries made record profits last year: 18 cents of additional profit on every litre of gas. The carbon price was two cents.

This government knows that they have the power to do something rather than just point fingers. We put forward an amendment to motion 74 to cut HST on home heating. The government rejected it. When will the Premier tell the people of Ontario the truth?

Interjections.

With all due respect to the member for Kanata–Carleton, when I was out there door-knocking—and granted, I congratulate you, you won by 600 votes in a by-election, and God bless her—I didn’t hear her ever say when she was door-knocking that the carbon tax is good. Never heard that once.

But I will do you a favour. I will call your riding, right across the board, and say you believe in the carbon tax. You believe in the 15 cents additional on a litre of gas. You believe that—the clothes that these students are wearing have gone up because of the carbon tax. The food they’re eating is because of the carbon tax. Everything that moves is based on the carbon tax. It is killing this country. It is killing this province. It is making it unaffordable. That’s the reason why every single Premier two weeks ago agreed to kill the carbon tax.

My question is to the Minister of Energy.

In northern Ontario, temperatures drop to negative 30 in the wintertime. I know; I’ve worked in some of our most northern-most communities. Unfortunately, many people in our rural, remote and northern communities are limited in their options when it comes to home heating. It’s unfair that this regressive carbon tax should punish them for the fuel they need to survive. Sadly, because of the actions taken by the federal Liberal government, we’ve seen how this carbon tax is creating two classes of Canadians: those who pay the carbon tax and those who don’t have to.

Can the minister please explain the impact of the carbon tax on the people of our rural, northern and remote communities?

Over the last few weeks, it’s been very disappointing to see that even as we fight to make life more affordable, the independent Liberals and opposition NDP still support the carbon tax.

While the opposition members have no problem supporting this harmful tax, the additional financial burden it places on our farmers is unacceptable. The reality is, the federal carbon tax is producing disastrous results that are hurting our farmers and our consumers across the province. Unfortunately, our province’s farmers are encountering soaring energy costs because of this very regressive and harmful tax.

Can the minister please elaborate on the effects of the carbon tax on our agricultural sector?

Stop the clock. Stop the clock. The government side will come to order so that I can hear the member who rightly and duly has the floor. Order.

Restart the clock. The member for Kanata–Carleton.

Interjection.

Interjection.

Restart the clock.

I’m going to ask the member to withdraw the unparliamentary comment at the end of her question.

Interjections.

Restart the clock. The supplementary question.

Supplementary question.

Interjections.

The next question.

Mr. Speaker, it’s unbelievable what we’re hearing this morning from the Liberal Party of Ontario. The Liberal Party of Ontario, at every opportunity, has voted in support of a carbon tax, a provincial carbon tax and a federal carbon tax that the Parliamentary Budget Officer has said is costing families in Ontario and Canada more. The Bank of Canada—it’s unbelievable.

Interjections.

It is unbelievable that they are trying to fool the people of Ontario into believing that they want to see the carbon tax reduced, when at every opportunity they voted for it to go higher. It’s on its way from 14 cents a litre on gasoline to almost 38 cents a litre on gasoline by the end of the month. It’s costing every Ontarian more now than before, and it’s only going to get worse.

It’s absolutely ludicrous. We all know that the carbon tax is hurting the people of Canada. That’s why the federal government has adjusted their position on the carbon tax, Mr. Speaker. Talk to any farmer in this province. Talk to the people in northern Ontario.

If these shrinking Liberals over here—and they’re down to, what, nine now?—keep up this kind of talk, they’re not going to have party status in the Legislature anymore. They’re not even going to have a party in the Legislature. It’s time for Liberals across the country to wake up.

Interjections.

The specific question was about farming and the effect on agriculture. Obviously, the price of carbon is increasing the cost of diesel for the tractors. It’s increasing the cost of gasoline for the trucks that take the products to the grocery stores and the processing facilities. It has increased the cost for the grain dryers, and the propane and gas that are used in that process. Mr. Speaker, it’s driving up the cost of everything, but these Ontario—

Interjections.

My question is to the Minister of Health.

In my riding of Waterloo, a 66-year-old constituent received a letter that it was time for her mammogram appointment by December 15, through the Ontario Breast Screening Program. She called Freeport hospital. They could only offer her an appointment on June 7. That’s six months later—a six-month delay to access screening that this government has acknowledged, in its own fall economic statement, “can save lives,” “can mean less invasive treatment and better outcomes.” The receptionist suggested that she call Cambridge and that perhaps they could get her in. She’s shopping around for a mammogram in Kitchener–Waterloo. Unfortunately, Cambridge told her that they actually can’t make these kinds of appointments for people who are already receiving mammograms at a different location—even if it’s six months late.

Can you please explain why Kitchener-Waterloo residents are not able to access breast cancer prevention care in their own community?

It’s an interesting answer. You need to resource these programs, because the announcements don’t actually do the work; it’s the people in the system who do the work.

Women aged 40 to 50 were always able to get mammograms with a referral. The real problem is that the existing sites are already booked months in advance. You can resource and address this delay, but so far, you’ve refused to do so.

This government stresses the importance of early detection and prevention while at the same time making no efforts to reduce our existing health care backlog.

We learned that 11,000 Ontarians have died while waiting for surgeries, MRIs and CT scans in the past year. That is your record. This government is only growing that number by forcing women to wait for life-saving mammograms.

To the parliamentary assistant: How will this government address the six-month wait-list for mammograms that women are being forced to accept? People will pay with their lives if they don’t get those services.

Perfect timing. Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to move a motion without notice to call on the federal government to remove the federal portion of the HST and carbon tax from home heating.

Thanks to the member from Essex for his outstanding work and for his continuing advocacy.

We have been saying it from day one: The federal carbon tax is hurting Ontario’s economy. It’s only making it harder for businesses to keep their costs down and make life more expensive for families. We warned the government years ago. When you add a tax to farmers growing our food or to truckers who deliver our food, it’s no surprise that grocery prices will go up.

While Canadian families and businesses struggle with the rising costs of “justinflation,” now is not the time for another increase of the carbon tax. Mr. Speaker, I urge the federal government: Do the right thing. Support Ontario’s families and businesses and scrap your carbon tax.

The Prime Minister said the purpose of the carbon tax was to shift Canadians to other options. When it comes to trucking, there are no other options.

The carbon tax doesn’t reduce carbon emissions; it only makes the cost of transporting goods, transporting our food more expensive. Let’s work—

I want to thank the member opposite for the question. I think we both share an interest in expanding affordable child care in this province. We also both know that after 15 years of Liberals, where child care rose by over 400%, we left so many working parents behind. I’m proud that under our Premier’s leadership we have cut child care fees by 50% for families in High Park and right across Ontario, with a commitment to build 86,000 more spaces.

Today, I’m going to be joining the parliamentary assistant, the Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity and others to announce another step forward to support the workforce, to shore up the critical ECEs who make a difference in our schools and to further respect them by increasing support to retain and recruit more of them, because we’re going to need more workers as we create more spaces and as we continue to cut fees for the people of this province.

Members opposite can point their fingers. They should look in the mirror, stand up for choice, stand up for the rights of parents to make the best decision for their kids and stand with Ontario as we deliver a better deal, billions of dollars more in funding and, yes, more flexibility so that all parents could benefit from affordable child care in this province.

Across the province, we are hearing of closures, of enrolment being limited because programs cannot retain qualified educators. Ontario is one of only four provinces that still has not introduced a salary scale as part of the $10-a-day child care program. Without it, we will be in the child care crisis we’ve endured for years, with more program closures and more families scrambling.

The minister talks about respecting child care workers. Child care workers need respect; you’re absolutely correct. But they want to know when this government will finally address the root of this crisis and implement the salary scale that they’ve been asking for, starting at $30 an hour for registered ECEs and $25 an hour for all other child care workers in the sector, so you can actually fill the spaces that you’re building with workers and respect them with the wages they deserve.

Thank you to the member opposite for the question.

I don’t know the particulars of this particular case. I would be very happy to meet with the member afterwards and discuss the issue and see if there’s something that can be done to make sure that this patient gets breast cancer screening in a timely way and in a convenient place. I have no information about exactly why she couldn’t get it in her community.

As you know, we recently announced an expansion of breast cancer screening, for self-referral, for women 40 to 50 years of age, which is a huge advancement in breast cancer screening. We want to make sure that women are screened appropriately and get treatment when they need it.

The member opposite should know that the Ontario breast cancer screening program screens 700,000 every year, and it’s offered at 241 sites across the province.

This government doesn’t make announcements without resourcing them, so we’re going to make sure—

Interjections.

We’re going to make sure that we protect women’s health in Ontario.

The member for Eglinton–Lawrence and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health.

The next question.

The next question.

I understand the government House leader has a point of order.

Same point of order? Another point of order, the government House leader.

Interjections.

Deferred vote on the motion for second 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.

The division bells rang from 1143 to 1148.

On November 14, 2023, Mr. Bethlenfalvy moved second reading of Bill 146, An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes.

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

My question is to the Minister of Education. Due to a shortage of early childhood educators, the High Park YMCA, in my riding, is being forced to suspend its infant care program starting in January. This has left many families scrambling for alternatives on very short notice. The staffing crisis in the childhood sector, driven by low wages, is a problem this government has been warned about for years. Now, we’re seeing exactly what we feared would happen: desperately needed affordable child care spaces closing.

Speaker, families in High Park want to know: What actions will the minister take to ensure that the infant program at High Park YMCA can continue?

The ayes are 95; the nays are 0.

I declare the motion carried.

Second reading agreed to.

I recognize the member for Orléans.

Further debate? I’ll recognize first the member for Orléans.

The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs.

This is a party that has the opportunity to call the federal Prime Minister—a Liberal Prime Minister—not just today, but for the last number of years, and say, “Remove a tax from the people of the province of Ontario.” This is a member and a party that, when we took the carbon tax to court—Speaker, we took the carbon tax to court, along with our partners in other provinces, because we said it would cost the people of Ontario, the people of Canada, billions of dollars. It was that Liberal Party that stood in the way. Do you know what they said? They said that we were crazy to believe that the carbon tax would have that type of an impact on the people of the province of Ontario.

I say to the member—he talks about a motion—I say to the member: Pick up the phone, call your federal colleagues, and tell them to remove the carbon tax first. Tell them to remove the carbon tax.

The member knows full well that the provincial government can’t remove the harmonized sales tax. We actually don’t have the authority to do that. Do you know who does have the authority to do that? The Liberals. That’s who has the authority to do it. This member knows full well that if we wanted to remove the harmonized sales tax from heating and fuel that it would have to come from the federal Liberal government. This government here—

I am seeking the unanimous consent of the House to introduce a motion that, in the opinion of this House, the government of Canada, in conjunction with the government of Ontario, remove the harmonized sales tax on fuels and inputs for home heating.

As we know, we are facing an affordability crisis in our province that has been ongoing for some time. Families are having difficulty paying their bills. We’ve seen rents go up dramatically. We’ve seen mortgage rates and mortgage payments go up dramatically. We’ve seen the cost of buying groceries to feed your family go up dramatically. We’ve seen utility bills, like electricity, which is regulated by the province of Ontario, go up. As a result, families across the province are having trouble paying their bills. Families are being forced to make decisions about whether they serve their kids breakfast in the morning before they go to school or whether they pay the rent. They’re having to make decisions about whether they can put their kids in extracurricular activities—all because of the affordability crisis.

While the government of Ontario is committed to writing letters to the federal government, they have failed repeatedly to take actions that are within their purview to support Ontarians. The government of Ontario could introduce legislation to remove the provincial portion of the HST from home heating. They could go one further: In addition to that legislation, they could work co-operatively with the federal government to remove the entirety of HST from home heating. This would provide direct and transparent relief to families each and every month.

It’s fine to talk about a tax that is very difficult to see. For sure, the carbon tax has had an impact on families, affordability and on prices, but you can’t see it. You can’t see it every day, even though it’s there. HST on your natural gas bill, HST on propane delivery, HST on your electricity bill, if that’s how you choose to heat your home, is something that you see every month when the bill comes in. And if we can provide relief to families—$15, $20, $25 a month, in a way they can see—over the course of a year, that could be the difference between paying for soccer next spring or not. It could be the difference between feeding your kids before they go to school or not. It will make a real and observable and transparent difference in the lives of all Ontarians.

And this is action that the government of Ontario can take directly. They can introduce a law; they can pass a law. They’ve just done it. They did it with HST on new rental construction. They can do it for home heating as well, Mr. Speaker.

And so, in an affordability crisis, when families are having difficulty paying the bills, when they’re having to make hard choices between food or their rent or paying for a utility bill or putting their kids into hockey or soccer or other extracurricular activities, this is something that this government can do immediately to provide direct relief to families.

Mr. Speaker, I would urge everyone in this House to take off their ideological blinders, see the entire picture. Take the action that you were elected to take, to do the job you were elected to do. Get it done. We can provide relief to families right away, before Christmas.

I’m going to caution the member on the intemperate language that he’s using—and to conclude his remarks.