I was at AMO, and a lot of folks there were talking about this government’s targets for municipalities and the contingent targets that were required so that they would get the funding needed to build housing and all of that. Because Guelph has been oft maligned in this place by the government, I would ask the member how it’s going when it comes to meeting those targets in your neck of the woods?

My question to the member for Guelph is around that over $5-billion contingency fund that’s been set aside in this budget.

The CCPA did an analysis looking at program spending over the last five years with the numbers adjusted for inflation. They found that real per capita spending on post-secondary education has dropped 11% since 2018 when this government was elected; in children and social services, down 12%; in education, down 11%. What does the member think about a government that allows program spending to decline to that extent and also puts aside over $5 billion in an unallocated contingency fund?

That’s a lot of hospital.

It’s an honour to rise this afternoon to speak in support of Bill 146, the Building a Strong Ontario Together Act, introduced by the Minister of Finance.

Before I begin, I want to offer my deepest condolences to the minister on the passing of his mother, Ester. As the minister said, she came to Ontario as a refugee when she was just nine years old, with her family from Budapest, Hungary, at the end of World War II. Like other Hungarian Canadians, she did so much to help build a stronger Ontario, and I was proud to introduce the Hungarian Heritage Month Act to recognize their contributions.

As the minister said, Ontario grew by almost half a million people last year, including over 60,000 refugees that came from the Ukraine. We’re on track for another half a million people this year. That’s more growth than any US state, including the fastest-growing states, like Florida and Texas.

But after 15 years of mismanagement and underinvestment, the previous Liberal government left us with an infrastructure deficit in health, long-term care, transportation, energy, at the municipal level and in so many other critical areas, as well. Our infrastructure needs to catch up and to keep pace with the growth we expect. The Minister of Finance said that this is one of the reasons he ran for office. It is one of the reasons I ran for office, and I think it’s why many of us ran for office, because we know you can’t have long-term prosperity without infrastructure.

Last week, I joined the President of the Treasury Board at the Royal York for a speech from the Minister of Finance to the Canadian Club. As the minister said, we can’t build a hospital, road or subway overnight. We need to have a vision of how the province will look in 10 to 20 years, and we have to focus on that. That’s what the fall economic statement does.

Speaker, that’s why we have the most ambitious capital plan in North America: $185 billion over 10 years. This includes the largest hospital and long-term-care building program in Canadian history. In my community of Mississauga–Lakeshore, we’re building the largest hospital in Canadian history, and we just opened the largest long-term-care home in Ontario.

After the minister’s speech here two weeks ago, I joined the Premier and the Minister of Long-Term Care to celebrate a real milestone in my community: the grand opening of Wellbrook Place. Speaker, this is now the largest long-term-care home in the province—larger than the Credit Valley Hospital when it first opened 38 years ago.

From 2011 to 2018, the number of Ontarians over 75 increased by 75%, but the former Liberal government, with the support of the NDP, built only 611 new long-term-care beds across the entire province. When we were elected five years ago, there were over 4,500 people on a wait-list for long-term care in Mississauga alone. We had 20% fewer long-term-care beds than the provincial average, and some of them were badly out of date, like the four-person ward rooms at the Camilla Care Community.

But now, in just one location, on Speakman Drive in Mississauga–Lakeshore, 632 residents are moving into a modern, comfortable, safe new home which follows the latest standards for long-term care design and safety, including single-person rooms, appropriate-sized dining rooms, outdoor spaces and enhanced HVAC systems with 100% fresh air supply. This will be part of the new campus with programs and services for seniors, including a new health services building, with special services for residents living with kidney disease and advanced dementia, as well as the first residential hospice in the city of Mississauga. Again, I want to thank Tess Romain and her team at Partners Community Health, and Karli Farrow at Trillium Health Partners for all their hard work to deliver this project on an accelerated schedule.

I also want to take a moment to thank our former Ministers of Long-Term Care Merrilee Fullerton, Rod Phillips and the government House leader. Because of their work, our government is making historic investments of $6.4 billion to build and upgrade almost 60,000 long-term-care beds here. There are projects like Wellbrook Place that are under way right across the province of Ontario, including over 1,100 beds in Mississauga–Lakeshore alone—more than any other riding in the province of Ontario.

Under the leadership of this Premier and this Deputy Premier, the government is also investing over $48 billion in hospital infrastructure, including a historic multi-billion-dollar investment in the complete reconstruction of the Mississauga Hospital. Last month, we hit an important milestone on this project as well, as the RFP process which began last April has now closed. Construction can now begin next year on this project, which will be the largest and most advanced hospital in the history of Canada—almost triple the size of the current hospital, with 24 storeys, three million square feet, 1,000 beds and 80% in private rooms.

Speaker, in September, I joined the Premier and the Minister of Health to announce that this will include a new 200,000-square-foot women and children’s hospital, which will be the first of its kind in Canada. It will transform how health care is delivered for women and children and families in Mississauga and Etobicoke. As the Minister of Finance said, this is our vision for health care, and I want to thank him again for these investments.

Speaker, I also want to thank the minister for making a new $200-million investment in a Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund for the repair and expansion of core water, waste water and stormwater infrastructure. Last week, I was proud to join the minister and the Minister of Infrastructure to announce this fund at the Arthur Kennedy water treatment plant in Lakeview in Mississauga–Lakeshore. An expansion there will support the construction of 16,000 new homes in the Lakeview Village on the site of the former OPG coal plant. The new water systems fund is an important step towards our province’s target of at least 1.5 million homes by 2031.

Neil Rodgers, the CEO of the Ontario Home Builders’ Association said that this investment “will accelerate the construction of more housing,” and his “4,000 members across the province applaud the Minister of Finance for making this necessary investment, and we join him in calling on the federal government to match this investment to unlock even more housing choices for Ontarians.”

The water systems fund will build on several other programs, including the Building Faster Fund and strong-mayor powers.

It’s worth taking a moment, Speaker, to reflect on how far we’ve come. Just a year ago, Mayor Crombie and our Mississauga city council supported only 30% of our Housing Affordability Task Force recommendations. They opposed fourplexes, and they actually shared pictures of residential streets with giant, scary orange boxes to show what a fourplex would look like, but last month, when a council motion to allow fourplexes failed, at least there was a tie of five to five. Unfortunately, Mayor Crombie missed the vote. She was busy campaigning—

I also want to thank the Premier and the Minister of Finance for their leadership in removing the HST on new purpose-built rental housing, including apartment buildings, student housing and senior residences built for long-term rentals. For a new two-bedroom rental unit valued at $500,000, this will mean a $40,000-tax cut from the province, and $25,000 from the federal government.

The Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario will be here at Queen’s Park next week, and I know that they are very excited about these changes.

I want to join the minister, as well, in calling on the federal government to match our $42-million top-up to the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit, to provide urgent help for newcomers claiming asylum. This is a federal-provincial program that should be cost-shared 50-50. As the Minister of Finance said, Ontario has done its part, and now the federal government should do their part.

Speaker, the minister’s plan also includes $71 billion for transit infrastructure, including the new 18-kilometre Hazel McCallion LRT line on Hurontario, which is still on budget and on schedule, to open next fall. Last year, I joined the President of the Treasury Board, who was then the Minister of Transportation, to see the first piece of LRT track installed in Mississauga. And just this past week, we marked another milestone, as the first LRT tracks were installed in Port Credit. They will connect to the Port Credit GO train station, with 15-minute service or better, and the new bus rapid transit line on Lakeshore. We’re working towards a modern, reliable transit network right across the GTA.

We also recognize the cost of traffic gridlock. That is why this government is investing $28 billion to expand and improve our highway network, because we know this is critical to the economic well-being of Ontario.

As the fall economic statement notes, we just hit another important milestone, as the first phase of the QEW/Dixie interchange improvements is now complete in Mississauga–Lakeshore. And then, at the end of August, the new twin bridge over the Credit River opened to traffic on the QEW. This is part of the $314-million QEW/Credit River improvement project.

When I spoke last year about my friend from Brampton North’s motion in support of Highway 413, I mentioned that the highest court in Alberta found that our federal Parliament is not allowed to require federal oversight and approval of intra-provincial projects like Highway 413—in other words, the federal Impact Assessment Act that they were using to target Highway 413 for a potential federal EA is unconstitutional—and a month ago, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed. In a 5-2 decision, Chief Justice Wagner wrote that the federal government clearly overstepped. So, again, I want to call on the federal government to withdraw so we can complete the provincial EA for Highway 413 and build this important provincial project as soon as possible.

But as the minister said, we know that Ontario taxpayers alone can’t build all the infrastructure we need. We need to attract trusted investors, like Canadian public sector pension plans, to help us build essential infrastructure. Many of these plans already make investments in infrastructure around the world. Just take one example: The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has over $200 billion in investments, including water infrastructure in Australia, roads in the US and India, electricity infrastructure in Brazil and Chile—and I could go on. The Ontario Infrastructure Bank will give pension funds like this new options to put their members’ investments to work right here in the province of Ontario. And as the minister said, it will follow in the steps of many other places around the world with similar banks—including our federal government, the UK government, and US states like California and Connecticut.

Finally, in the time I have left, I want to thank the minister for schedules 3 and 4 of Bill 146, which would extend our gas and fuel tax cuts until the end of June 2024. As Jay Goldberg, the Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said, “This gas tax cut extension is great news for Ontario taxpayers.” This “gas tax cut has saved the typical Ontario family hundreds of dollars over the past 18 months, and this will ensure that critical relief continues into 2024.”

At the same time, the federal government has announced an exemption to their carbon tax for home heating. Unfortunately, Speaker, it only applies to home heating oil, which is used by 40% of homes in PEI and 32% of homes in Nova Scotia, but only 2% right here in Ontario. And I want to join the Premier—and the Premiers across the country, including the newly elected NDP Premier Kinew in Manitoba—in calling on the federal government to provide an exemption for all Canadians, including those who are heating their homes with natural gas.

As the Premier wrote in an open letter, providing relief only to Atlantic Canada is not fair and it is causing division across the country. As the Premier pointed out, the federal Liberal ministers said on CTV that Atlantic Liberal MPs lobbied for a special exemption for home heating oil, and if other provinces want exemptions, “perhaps they need to elect more Liberals.” Speaker, there are 76 Liberal MPs from Ontario, and now we’re counting on them to treat Ontario fairly and cut the carbon tax on all home heating, including natural gas. As New Brunswick Premier Higgs said, no Canadian family should have to choose between heating their homes or buying Christmas gifts for their children.

Speaker, I want to close my remarks by thanking my friend Dr. David Jacobs, the president of the Ontario Association of Radiologists. As many members know, he’s been a strong advocate for scanning for breast cancer in women aged 40 to 49, and we’re now lowering the age to receive publicly funded mammograms to 40, beginning next year. Dr. Jacobs said the day of this announcement was “the proudest and most impactful day” of his medical career, because we know that scanning saves lives.

And that’s the reason I introduced Bill 66: to encourage people to get a stethoscope check for heart valve disease. Unfortunately, Canadian women are less likely to get a stethoscope check than Canadian men.

I want to thank Dr. Jacobs again, and I want to thank the Minister of Finance and his team, including his parliamentary assistants, for all their great work on the fall economic statement and on Bill 146. I look forward to voting for this bill, and I encourage all members in this House to support this bill.

Further debate?

Thank you to the member for his remarks on this bill.

People in Ontario are really hurting right now. We have record numbers of Ontarians using food banks. We have people who are living on our streets and in homeless encampments because they can’t find affordable places to live. We have people who are waiting 12 hours at the hospital to see a doctor, 2.2 million Ontarians who don’t have a family doctor, and yet this government is sitting on a very large contingency fund of $5.4 billion. Instead of spending that funding down during the first part of the budget year, in fact, halfway through the year, they have now increased it by adding another $2 billion.

Can the member explain why on earth the government needs such a large contingency fund that they’re not actually using, instead of investing in services and measures that would actually address the very immediate and urgent challenges that people in Ontario are feeling today?

It’s now time for questions.

I want to thank the member for that question. As you know, I come out of the automotive industry, and we’ve been able to attract $27 billion worth of automotive investment here in the province of Ontario. When I was in the automotive industry, we were worried about plants shutting down, but our great Minister of Economic Development has been able to attract that $27 billion, as well as having the funds from the Treasury Board with our new President of the Treasury Board always there to support the growth of this province.

But with 500,000 people coming into the province each year, we are going to have a lot of work to do, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re building homes for these people in the province of Ontario. Not only that, we have removed the HST on affordable homes and removed development charges so we can build more homes here in the province of Ontario to help the newcomers who are coming to this province.

As you look at other jurisdictions in the world, they have an infrastructure bank as well. As you know, the teachers’ pension plan has $200 billion which they invest around the world. Why not keep that money in the province of Ontario so we can build the infrastructure projects we need so that our economy can grow much better here?

We’re going to keep doing things to help our families here in Ontario, so they can achieve what they have to achieve. I know that the federal NDP have supported getting rid of the tax as well, so that’s nice to hear, that the federal NDP are supporting what we want to do here in the province of Ontario.

My question to the member is around the proposed Ontario Infrastructure Bank. There was an interesting article from the CBC entitled, “Why Is Doug Ford’s Government Creating a Bank to Finance Public Projects?” It goes on to say, “Questions swirl over Ontario’s plan for luring private investment....” One of the people who was quoted in the article—a former chief economist for the province—said, “The current [financing] system seems to be working pretty well”—the problem has always been around timelines to get projects completed on schedule.

Why has the government decided to move forward with this significant change, and why have so few details been provided about what this is going to mean for the province of Ontario?

I want to thank the member from Mississauga–Lakeshore for his comments. Actually, over the years, I’ve looked at Mississauga–Lakeshore particularly with envy—the growth and the success that that community has had over many, many years, attracting businesses, attracting people—something that has alluded us in Windsor-Essex for many years, but now it feels like we’re on track, thanks to, certainly, the recent efforts of the government to support business growth and population development.

As you’ve heard reported, nearly 500,000 more people came to Ontario last year, 4,400 more businesses operate in Ontario today versus the prior year. We know that our population is growing, jobs have been created and companies are choosing Ontario. So I’d like to know from the member, could you explain what Ontario is doing to ensure that it is well positioned for the future to come?

Further questions?

Report continues in volume B.

Thank you to my friend from Mississauga–Lakeshore for such a wonderful speech.

One of the components in this fall economic statement is extending the gas tax cut that will save people money—5.3 cents at the gas pumps. By the way, I would encourage the federal government as well to step up and scrap the carbon tax on gas so that people can save money, so they can see more relief at the gas pumps. Since then, I’ve been receiving calls from my constituents that are so pleased to hear that we’re extending the gas tax cut.

So my question to the member is, can you highlight for this House how this will assist the people of this province?

I was listening intently to the member from Mississauga–Lakeshore—

Laughter.

No, you were talking to me.

Just quickly: You touched a little bit during your time on the new long-term-care builds that are happening in Mississauga–Lakeshore. The previous Liberal government was only able to build—what was it?—611 beds in their province in their tenure over 15 years. It’s great to hear we have a new long-term-care home being opened in Mississauga–Lakeshore that actually eclipses that in just the one building. I’m hoping you can touch a little bit more on what that means to your constituents.

Further debate?

I move that, in the opinion of this House, the government of Canada should take immediate steps to eliminate the carbon tax on fuels and inputs for home heating.

Mr. Speaker, we currently live in very uncertain times and, for many Canadians, quite difficult ones at that. According to Statistics Canada, the nation’s inflation rate rose to 8.1% last year alone, marking the fastest annual increase in the cost of living in decades, reaching a 39-year high. Additionally, a major factor of inflation was food prices, which rose by around 10.3%. A recent report by Dalhousie University predicts that food prices will increase by another 7% in 2023.

The challenge for hard-working Canadians to make ends meet grows with every new announcement. In July 2023, the Bank of Canada raised the benchmark interest rate to 5%, its highest rate since 2001. Prices are rising fast and people across the province and across this country are finding it difficult to make ends meet and afford the basic services and essentials.

The necessity of heating homes is not a luxury, but a fundamental requirement for Canadians. The looming prospect of a tripling carbon tax raises questions about the feasibility of such a plan, especially given the existing economic challenges faced by Canadians across the board. Sadly, currently 14% of Canadians find themselves grappling with inadequate heating in their homes, a situation exacerbated by the economic challenges of our time. Not surprisingly, one in 10 individuals has been forced to forgo paying a heating bill within the past year.

The repercussions of eight years of the federal Liberal policies, marked by carbon taxes and inflationary spending have resulted in a staggering reality: one and a half million people now rely on food banks, and seven million Canadians have been compelled to reduce their dietary intake due to the soaring costs of essential groceries.

To put it bluntly, Speaker, in a country where nine out of 10 young people feel they may never realize the dream of owning a home, and where one and a half million Canadians rely on food banks, the carbon tax seems out of touch with the daily realities of Canadians. It’s not just a tax; it symbolizes a broader economic predicament, pushing one in five Canadians to skip meals due to the financial strain of putting food on the table. But instead of backtracking from their failed carbon tax, the federal government has continued down this reckless path.

We already saw how last year’s heating costs, tied to the price of natural gas, spiked as much as 30% for Ontarians. Now we see that not only has the federal Liberal government failed to not completely halt the arbitrary and cruel tax on Canadians’ heating bills, but they have continued with the scheduled increases. This is contributing to a cost-of-living crisis, plain and simple.

Natural Resources Canada states that the cost of home heating for households in Canada in 2023 could be 70% higher than it was in 2020. We need to do everything we can to correct this trend. Rural residents in particular are confronting the possibility of a doubling of their home heating bills. This escalation in expenses adds to the broader economic strain experienced by Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, during a time when house prices have doubled and now home heating prices are doubling, with costs expected to rise as much as $6,000 for a single family to heat a home in communities in northern Ontario, now is not the time to be increasing the financial burden this tax has already caused. The only thing this tax has ever done is raise costs on people’s energy use—energy to heat their homes. People do need to heat their homes. This is not a luxury good; heating is a necessity—we should all understand that—especially in a Canadian winter and especially in places like rural Ontario, where there’s a greater dependence on oil or gas for heating.

Additionally, taxing energy essentially impacts everything, given its integral role in various activities such as extraction, construction, transportation, temperature control and agriculture. Energy analysts anticipate that Canadians could witness a staggering 50% to 100% increase in their home heating bills this winter. The implications are profound and paint a stark picture of the economic challenges faced by a significant portion of the population.

The concerns raised about the economic impact of the government’s carbon tax are underscored by the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s assertion that 60% of individuals paying the tax will end up contributing more than they receive in any rebate. A critical examination of the history of this tax reveals a series of false promises and miscalculations. Initially touted as a measure that would leave citizens financially better off, the reality as confirmed by the federal Parliamentary Budget Officer paints a different picture: Individuals will end up paying approximately $1,500 more in carbon taxes than they receive in rebates. Also revealed by the Parliamentary Budget Officer was that the latest carbon tax initiative is poised to disproportionately impact the most economically vulnerable individuals, amplifying the financial strain on those with the least means. This regressive impact arises from the fact that energy expenses constitute a more substantial proportion of the family budget for lower-income households, increasing the economic disparity.

Simply put, across the board this tax on home heating imposed by the federal government is hurting Canadians—and Canadians know this. They are well aware that their monthly bills for basic necessities have been steadily increasing; that is, the majority of Canadians want the carbon tax on home heating removed.

Take, for example, a recent Leger poll that revealed that close to 60% of all Ontarians and close to the same number of Canadians nationwide demand the federal government to remove the carbon tax from everyone’s home heating bills. The prevailing opinion suggests that the majority of Canadians find it unjust for the government to force taxes on individuals for the essential act of heating their home. This sentiment is echoed across all regions of the country, underscoring a shared belief that providing relief on home heating bills for only a select group of people is inherently unfair.

The resounding call from Canadians is for the federal government to heed this collective voice and promptly remove the carbon tax from home heating bills nationwide. The argument extends beyond a mere aversion to taxation and encapsulates a fundamental belief in the necessity of equitable policies that do not disproportionately burden certain segments of the population. While the federal government has taken a step by announcing the removal of the carbon tax from home heating oil for a three-year duration, the impact of this relief is limited, benefiting only a mere 3% of Canadian households. This fact underscores the need for a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to carbon tax relief that addresses the concerns of the majority. The data from the Leger poll serves as a barometer of public sentiment, and it reinforces the urgency for policymakers to consider a broader strategy that aligns with the values and expectations of Canadians.

As discussions on tax policies continue, it is imperative for the federal government to engage in a dialogue that genuinely reflects the needs and desires of its citizens, fostering a sense of fairness and inclusivity in the implementation of taxation measures related to essential services, such as home heating. Economic hardships are attributed to seven years of what is characterized as the government’s inflationary policies. The interplay between taxation, inflation and the rising cost of essential services raises valid concerns about the long-term sustainability of such economic strategies. As Canadians navigate these challenges, there is a growing call for re-evaluation of policies to ensure they align with the well-being of the citizens they are meant to serve.

Becoming increasingly panicked by new polling data coming in, like the one aforementioned, the federal Liberal government finally acknowledged how harmful the carbon tax is when the Prime Minister announced that they are removing the carbon tax on home heating oil entirely for the next three years. Unfortunately, Speaker, instead of offering any reprieve, this new measure was just another slap in the face to the millions of Canadians struggling under rising heating costs. Statistics Canada reports that, in 2021, only 3% of households nationally and 2.5% in Ontario relied on home heating oil. What about the people heating with natural gas? What about the people heating with propane?

This Ontario government knows that the federal Liberals’ decision to exempt only home heating oil, which is used by just 2.5% of Ontarians, from the carbon tax is not fair. Just this year alone, the federal carbon tax is adding about $290 to the average household’s annual natural gas bill, or more than $24 a month. The same goes for households that heat with propane, which are already paying $250 in carbon taxes alone for home heating this year. For many individuals and families, especially in northern Ontario, the use of fuels to heat their homes is a necessity, not a luxury, and not an option. Unfortunately, for many people in rural and remote communities, they are extremely limited in the options they have when it comes to heating their homes. That’s why I put forward this motion in Ontario’s Legislature formally calling on the federal government to take immediate steps to eliminate the carbon tax on all fuels and inputs for home heating.

It’s bad enough that the Prime Minister’s panicked carbon tax flip-flop doesn’t benefit the vast majority of Canadians; it’s also a highly discriminatory, arbitrary, and unfair move that chooses a small number of Canadians to be winners and a much bigger pool of Canadians to be losers, and all depending on where they live.

From an emissions point of view, that just doesn’t make sense. According to data compiled by the US Environmental Protection Agency, home heating oil generates approximately 42% more greenhouse gas emissions than natural gas when producing an equivalent amount of energy. In effect, Speaker, the Prime Minister’s decision to postpone the taxation on home heating oil until after the election comes with a sinister twist: He intends to retain the tax on lower-emission fuels, natural gas heating, which will result in an imminent spike in bills in the coming weeks as colder temperatures set in, but the tax won’t apply to the higher-emission heating oil.

So not only did this exemption leave the majority of Canadians out in the cold; the Prime Minister decided to tax the significantly more environmentally friendly home heating sources. Nothing about this move makes any sense and it prompts serious questions about the consistency and fairness of such policies. It brings the intent of this limited exemption and the carbon tax into question. Targeted exemptions like these call into question whether this arbitrary and limited home heating exemption is more about politics and less about what is best for both Canadians and the environment—or is it just a tax grab?

Any attempt at playing divide-and-conquer politics using the cost of home heating as a consequence is absolutely unacceptable. That is exactly why we have this motion to eliminate the carbon tax on fuels and inputs for home heating for all Canadians.

This motion is something that the majority of Canadians across the board support. Regardless of where they live, who they voted for or their income levels, the vast majority of Canadians desperately want to see their home heating bills exempt from the federal government’s carbon tax.

Polling data unequivocally shows that Canadians want the Prime Minister to cut the carbon tax on all home heating and that his decision to lift the levy on heating oil for a select group of one million households is unfair. The people of this country want something that would benefit all Canadians during this winter period and not just a select few.

According to a recent survey conducted by Abacus Data, a significant majority of Canadians are in favour of the Liberal government providing additional exemptions for home heating; 72% of the survey’s respondents said the federal government should exempt other types of home heating fuels, like natural gas and propane, from the carbon tax for a few years to help people deal with the rising cost of living. Conversely, only a meager 28% of those surveyed supported the government’s current position.

By now, we all know that that the ambitious targets set forth by the Prime Minister, once lauded as bold initiatives, have succumbed to a series of setbacks and inevitable shortcomings. Over the past decade, seven out of eight key objectives have failed to be met, raising significant doubts about the effectiveness of current climate policies. The government’s promises to lead the charge in mitigating climate change have fallen short, and the discrepancy between rhetoric and action is becoming increasingly evident.

Despite the Liberals’ assurances that the implementation of the carbon tax would herald a transformative era for environmental conservation, the stark reality paints a drastically different picture. Canada’s standing on the global stage for climate action is disheartening, currently positioned at a sobering 58 out of 63 nations. The nation, as the sole G7 member unable to curtail emissions below 1990 levels, bears the weight of a conspicuously deficient environmental track record.

Adding to the growing skepticism is the latest revelation unveiled in the environment commissioner’s report. The findings cast a shadow over the feasibility of achieving the 2030 targets set in the Paris accord under the current administration.

As Canadians grapple with the implications of these revelations, there is a pressing need for a thorough reassessment of environmental policies and a renewed commitment to sustainable practices. The urgency of addressing climate concerns demands a recalibration. It is plain and clear: all of this is not helping the environment, nor is it helping Canadians. It’s a tax on the cost of living, plain and simple.

Actually, when it comes to protecting the environment while at the same time promoting the economy, the federal Liberals, for all their talk, could learn a lot from the Ontario government. Unlike the federal Liberals, we don’t pit ourselves against the people we came here to represent. We don’t penalize them for heating their home, commuting to work or buying groceries. Instead, we offer positive solutions to protect the environment and make life more affordable. We provide both the tools and incentives to empower Ontarians, giving them the resources they need to create a more prosperous province, both in terms of the economy and the environment.

Speaker, let me take a moment to outline some of the initiatives our government has launched to promote environmental protection that comes without penalizing the people of this province. When it comes to energy, Ontario boasts a world-class grid fuelled by a mix of diverse resources, such as hydroelectric, nuclear, natural gas, solar, wind and bioenergy.

The Minister of Energy has unveiled Powering Ontario’s Growth, the latest instalment in the province’s clean-energy narrative. This plan outlines our commitment to delivering dependable, cost-effective and environmentally friendly power to both households and industries. Moreover, Ontario is embarking on a comprehensive energy strategy including the first large-scale nuclear build at Bruce since 1993 and three small modular reactors at Darlington.

New transmission lines are being constructed for the conversion from coal to power electric arc furnaces at Algoma Steel and to support growth in northeastern Ontario, Ottawa and eastern Ontario. Pumped hydroelectric storage projects are under way along with optimization of hydroelectric power generation. The future involves energy efficiency programs, competitive procurement for clean resources and the development of Ontario’s first long-term integrated energy plan emphasizing affordability to support electrification across the economy.

Look at the great work of our Minister of Economic Development in promoting the EV industry right here in Ontario. Speaker, when it comes to transport, the Ministry of Energy collaborated with Ontario Power Generation regarding Ivy, reporting charging speeds of 150 kilowatts at ONroute locations. The Ministry of Transportation is investing $91 million to expand public EV charging infrastructure beyond urban centres.

This government remains committed to the environment. It remains committed to addressing affordability in Ontario. Only as you make the green transition and green tech more available and affordable to consumers and business alike can we lower emissions in a sustainable way over the long term.