The worsening housing crisis is the number one issue that constituents bring to my office. It’s also the primary concern I hear knocking on doors in Kitchener—young people wondering if they will ever be able to own a home, while struggling to pay the rent; minimum wage workers with two full-time jobs just to pay the rent; people on ODSP living in legislated poverty, finding it impossible to find an affordable home; others sleeping in tents as the temperatures drop below 0.

Speaker, I’m calling on the government to stop prioritizing speculators and start building homes ordinary people can afford in the communities they know and love—by passing my bills to legalize building gentle density and missing-middle housing; to work with us to provide operating funds for permanent supportive housing projects, like the 32 homes for the Kindle project that’s ready to open in Guelph soon.

Instead of spending $3 billion for a bank, use that money to support non-profits and co-ops to build deeply affordable homes. Bring in real rent control. Drive speculation out of the housing market. And permanently reduce home heating costs by funding a building retrofit program to help people save money by saving energy.

Greens have solutions to the housing crisis, and we’re asking you to work with us to get it done.

Over the past few weeks, the Ingersoll, Tillsonburg and Woodstock chambers of commerce handed out their annual awards of excellence. These are given to local businesses and entrepreneurs who have made a positive impact in our community. I would like to congratulate each of the winners here today.

From the Ingersoll chamber: Ingersoll Music Academy; JTK Meat Shoppe; Emily Bula for the Youth Citizen of the Year Award; Denise Vyse for the Mark Warnick Citizen of the Year Award; and Ted Comiskey for the President’s Award.

From the Tillsonburg chamber: J.D. Lighting; 3E Power Services Ltd.; Solid Edge Wood Products; Grassmere Construction Ltd.; Armtec Inc.; Roselyn D’Ascania for the Community Service Award; Dave Martin and Shawn Winters for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award; and Brad Martin for the Esseltine Positive Change Award.

From the Woodstock chamber: Deep Purple Lavender Farm; Blue Cow Delivery; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oxford County; Maglin Site Furniture; Brickhouse Brewpub; Fore! Oxford; Cassandra Benard OC Realty Team; and Dance In Style Studio Inc.

To all the winners and nominees: Thank you for making Oxford a great place to live and grow. I wish you all the best for the years ahead.

Next week, on November 27, Sikhs across the world will be celebrating Gurpurab, the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism and the first of the 10 Sikh gurus. Guru Nanak Dev Ji fought against discrimination and prejudice and preached a message of equality for all, regardless of religion, background or gender. Gurpurab holds a profound significance for millions of Sikhs across the world, making it not just a religious celebration but a time of reflection on unity and service to humanity.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s teachings of compassion, equality and selfless service continue to aspire us and guide us. They continue to remind us that diversity is our strength, and that we all have a role to play to make our world a more just and inclusive place.

Speaker, the five key principles of his teachings are vand chakkō—share whatever God has given to you with others and help those who are in need; kirat karō, meaning making an honest living; naam japo—chant the name of the true God; sarbat da bhalla—ask for everyone’s happiness; and speak the truth without fear.

Celebrating Gurpurab, gurdwaras and homes around the world will be decorated with flowers and lights to commemorate this auspicious day. From my family to yours, I wish you all a joyous Gurpurab filled with love, peace and prosperity. May the spirit of Guru Nanak Dev Ji continue to guide us on the path of righteousness and compassion.

Happy Gurpurab to everyone celebrating.

The 110th Grey Cup championship took over Hamilton last week, and it was a wild week indeed. Visitors came to our city from all across Canada, and they left knowing for sure that Hamilton knows how to throw a party.

The Grey Cup arrived in style with a naval escort aboard the HMCS Harry DeWolf, with an official arrival ceremony at the HMCS Star naval reserve. Our Grey Cup celebrations included a holiday for students; a free breakfast for fans; beer gardens, many official and unofficial; food trucks; a Christmas market; and live music up and down James Street North.

Saturday morning, I had the thrill of walking in the Santa Claus parade with MPP Monique Taylor. The streets were lined with tens of thousands of folks in the holiday spirit. Many, many CFL jerseys were on display, but of course, there was a sea of Ticat black and gold. To the absolute delight of hometown fans, Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence joined Mrs. Claus in the parade.

Then there was the sellout game between the Montreal Alouettes and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. And what a fantastic game: The Bombers led after the half, but Montreal took the lead with only 11 seconds on the clock. I learned last night that 12 out of 16 of the last Grey Cup games have been decided in the last three minutes, proving without a doubt that there’s no football on the planet more exciting than Canadian football.

Hamiltonians may be disappointed that the Cats weren’t in it this year, but next year, in BC, the Cats will be there. Oskee Wee Wee!

Point of order.

My question is to the Premier.

Speaker, this side of the House has spent months trying to get to the bottom of just how widespread the alleged corruption which the RCMP is investigating goes. Public accounts revealed that the Premier’s former principal secretary, Amin Massoudi, after leaving the Premier’s office, was paid nearly a quarter of a million dollars to do the same job, only this time through his private company, Atlas. Yet this government has refused to answer questions on just exactly when that contract started.

My question is to the Premier. When did the contract with Atlas Strategic Advisors start with the Conservative caucus?

The Premier’s office told the Toronto Star that this government paid Mr. Massoudi’s firm at least $237,300 from about July 1, 2022, through to March 31 of this year.

Back to the Premier: Can he confirm that the contract with Atlas Strategic Advisors started in July 2022?

Did the Premier’s friend double-bill the taxpayers for speech-writing services because he was, indeed, a close friend of the Premier?

This question is also for the Premier.

While our public services, like health care and schools, are crumbling across this province and housing is getting more and more out of reach, somehow this government brags about spending more than ever.

To the Premier: People who are stuck in longer and longer waits in the emergency room or being treated in hospital hallways want to know, where is the money going?

The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario is here today. They also have a reception later on this evening. I’d like to welcome, from my riding of Waterloo, Shara Bierman. She’s the central west director, and she represents Waterloo.

Welcome to your House.

I’d like to give a very warm welcome to my friend and former colleague Margo Duncan, who was here in this building at Queen’s Park working with three different MPPs, and is a community activist in the Lambton area and with Heritage York. Welcome.

It really is my privilege to introduce members from Takeda’s patient value and access team who are visiting Queen’s Park today. Takeda is a 240-year-old global R&D-driven biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan.

Thank you for the important work that you are doing in the life sciences space. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

It’s my pleasure to introduce the former member of Parliament and current mayor of St. Thomas—and, as the Premier likes to call him, “Mr. Yes”: Joe Preston.

It’s my honour to welcome the Economic Developers Council of Ontario. I encourage all members to attend their reception in the dining room this evening, from 4:45 until 7.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

It’s my great pleasure to welcome friends from the Unite Here workers’ union: Guled Warsame, Alejandra Muro, and Derrick Ahn, who are all here visiting Queen’s Park today. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

To respond, the government House leader.

I appreciate the question.

As the Leader of the Opposition highlighted, this is something that was in the public accounts of the province. It is not a secret or something that was hidden—just the opposite.

At the same time, we are continuing to focus on those things that matter to the people of the province of Ontario; that is creating jobs, building more homes. We are seeing really extraordinary results across the province of Ontario. Some 700,000 people have the dignity of a job who didn’t have that when we came to office. We’re going to continue on that path of building more jobs and a bigger, better, stronger province of Ontario for the people of the province.

At the same time, we’re going to continue to do what is important, focusing on creating jobs in the province of Ontario, building a strong economy, and really doubling down on ensuring that we can build more homes across Ontario.

I’m very glad to see today that the mayor of St. Thomas is here. That is a mayor who has undertaken extraordinary work to remove obstacles so that we could bring a massive amount of jobs to his community, so that we could build homes, economic growth. That is the type of leadership that we need across the province of Ontario from our municipal partners. I’m really happy that His Worship is here. We will continue to work with Mayor Preston so that can ensure that not only St. Thomas but all parts of Ontario can experience the exact same growth that they’re going to have in St. Thomas. Thousands of jobs, economic growth—it’s good for the people of the province of Ontario.

Well, I’ll tell the Leader of the Opposition where the money is going. Since we’ve been in office, we’ve registered over 63,000 nurses. Last year was a record—over 15,000 nurses, and there are 30,000 in the hopper. But they voted against that legislation. They voted against building a new medical university up in Peel.

As a matter of fact, our backlog of surgeries has dropped by 25,000 patients—but they vote against that as well. They vote against building 50 new or additions to hospitals across the province, to a tune of $50 billion. They voted against that as well. They don’t believe in fixing the health care system. What they believe in is the status quo. Under the previous two governments, the Liberals and propped up by the NDP—not spending. As a matter of fact, they fired nurses when they were working together.

We’re hiring thousands and thousands of nurses. That’s what we’re doing with the health care dollars.

Interjections.

It gives me great pleasure this morning to introduce, in the gallery, Judy Hanson from Bowmanville, in my riding of Durham. She is a champion and advocate for adults with autism, and she is the representative today of Autism Home Base.

Welcome to the House.

It is my great honour to welcome the remarkable Dragon Boat Team Canada. This summer, they achieved victory in an international race in Pattaya, Thailand. After question period, a photo op with some of the team’s exceptional athletes will take place at the grand staircase. Members are welcome to join.

On the Trans Day of Remembrance, there’s a flag raising at 12 o’clock, and there are a number of esteemed guests in the gallery today who are here: Rev. Cheri DiNovo—of course, the former member of provincial Parliament—and she is joined by Rev. Junia Joplin from the Metropolitan Community Church. We also have members from the community at large: Stephanie Woolley, Monika Gontarska, Arson Gontarska, Tomasz Kosut, Aleksander Kosut, Anastazja Kosut, and Keith McCrady.

Welcome to your House.

It’s Ontario Pork’s lobby day, and there are a few of the directors in the members’ gallery. I’d like, on their behalf, to invite you to their lunch in 228 and 230 this afternoon.