J’aimerais présenter à Queen’s Park aujourd’hui l’Association des conseils scolaires des écoles publiques de l’Ontario, l’ACÉPO. L’ACÉPO represents all French-language public schools boards across Ontario. I welcome them today for their advocacy day.

I would also like, Mr. Speaker, to introduce Bryan Fieldhouse of the Chicken Farmers of Ontario, a constituent of mine, who is here as well for their advocacy day. Welcome.

I’m very proud to welcome the Motta family from my community: Daniel, Elisa, Noemi and Jorge. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

That concludes our member statements for this morning.

It’s an honour to rise, once again, in this Ontario Legislature. I’d like to take this opportunity to share with the Legislature the news of an innovative new investment by the Ontario government in health care delivery in rural Lambton county.

On November 17, the Canadian Mental Health Association of Lambton-Kent, along with Bluewater Health in Sarnia–Lambton and the North Lambton community health clinic, launched a brand new, state-of-the-art MobileCare clinic in Lambton county. The clinic was made possible by a nearly $323,000 investment by the government of Ontario. The new 30-foot custom designed walk-in clinic on wheels is providing mental health, addiction and primary care services in rural communities around Lambton county three days a week. So far this mobile clinic has made stops in Sarnia, Watford, Alvinston, Thedford, and Kettle and Stony Point First Nation.

The MobileCare clinic includes a multidisciplinary team of mental health and addiction service providers, nurse practitioners and social workers. The clinic itself is equipped with multiple rooms to provide service and accessibility equipment to support everyone visiting. There are no appointments needed, and of course, there is no cost for patients to access services.

Mr. Speaker, the MobileCare clinic is a great way to provide early intervention care close to home, thereby reducing the burden on rural residents in Lambton county to travel to access high-quality health care. I am certain the MobileCare clinic will have a tremendous impact in Lambton county.

Good morning, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I know we have great school communities across our province, but today in the chamber, in the public gallery, I have students, teachers and staff from Chaminade College School from the riding of York South–Weston. Welcome to the Legislature.

I’d like to also welcome the Chicken Farmers of Ontario, and a special welcome to Tim Klompmaker from Asphodel-Norwood. I want to thank him for all he does for our Fare Share food banks and for our community.

I’d also like to welcome the Ontario General Contractors Association, who are here with us this morning, and a special welcome to Giovanni Cautillo, Lewis Cowan, Al Youmans and Frank Perricone. I’m looking forward to meeting with them. And a special thank you to Laryssa Waler, who keeps them in check.

Moi, aussi, j’aimerais ça accueillir des gens du Nord qui sont descendus nous voir. On parle de Anne-Marie Gélineault—pas Gélinas—la présidente de l’ACÉPO et présidente du Conseil scolaire du Grand Nord; Francine Vaillancourt, vice-présidente du Conseil scolaire du Grand Nord; et Sébastien Fontaine, directeur de l’éducation au Conseil scolaire du Grand Nord. Merci beaucoup de votre rencontre ce matin. Bienvenue à Queen’s Park.

Yesterday, I made a mistake by not acknowledging Melissa Hudson and Nicki Ward, who were both here for the Trans Day of Remembrance. I wanted to make sure that members of the House knew that their presence was here.

It really shouldn’t be so difficult. It’s not just the dates that—

Interjections.

In fact, the Integrity Commissioner has been looking into this. They’ve been “looking into Atlas Strategic Advisors for allegations of illegal lobbying since June.”

So back to the Premier: Why was a close friend of the Premier awarded a contract to write speeches at the same time that they were actively lobbying this government?

Interjections.

Speaker, it is abundantly clear the Ontario government is running the show at Ontario Place, so an environmental assessment should have been done. So will the Premier order a full environmental assessment of the Ontario Place project?

Will the Premier stop the environmental destruction of Ontario Place and order a full environmental assessment?

Interjections.

Interjections.

To the Premier: Do we have to wait for another Auditor General report or the RCMP to get the details?

Interjections.

No.

But colleagues, that has happened once before in the history of the province. You know when that was? In the last Parliament.

Interjections.

Interjections.

We’ve conducted two environmental assessments, one on the site-servicing work that is necessary in order to make sure that we can have tenants on the site. Good news: We actually completed our category C environmental assessment on Friday. It will be made public. It is shared with the public. But what’s most important is we are bringing Ontario Place back to life.

No one goes to Ontario Place anymore. The site is deteriorating, the site is flooding. In fact, Live Nation had to cancel its concerts back in 2017 because of the flooding issues. We will make sure that we improve the shoreline. We will make sure that there will be lots of activities for families to do at Ontario Place. If it was up to the NDP, they would do nothing. They would let the site deteriorate and let the site continue to flood, but we will not let that happen.

And Mr. Speaker, we had a competitive procurement process where Therme wellness facility participated and was successful, and now they will be an active tenant on the site that will contribute to the annual maintenance of the site to make sure that it does not fall into disrepair like it has done under their watch. They closed Ontario Place. We are going to bring it back to life with wonderful activities to make sure that we bring the site to good standard so that families can enjoy it for years and years to come.

If my memory serves me correct, the city of Toronto just passed a motion asking for the wellness centre to be moved at Exhibition Place, but do you know what one of their arguments was for that? “Oh, because there’s parking.” Parking is a necessity when it comes to tourist attractions. Wonderland, the zoo—every tourist attraction has parking. We want to make it as accessible for people so that the mom from Scarborough with three kids can make it down to Ontario Place to enjoy.

The government House leader.

The member for Brampton North will come to order, the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke will come to order. The member for Kitchener–Conestoga will come to order. We’re just getting started.

Start the clock. The next question.

The Minister of Infrastructure.

Minister of Infrastructure.

To the Premier: Walter Kehm, a prominent landscape architect who designed Trillium and Tommy Thompson Parks, has withdrawn his support from the Ontario Place redevelopment project. Mr. Kehm is speaking out against the Premier’s environmental vandalism at Ontario Place, including the clear-cutting of 800 mature trees and the habitats that they support in order to make way for a government-subsidized private luxury spa.

The Auditor General has already announced an investigation of the Ontario Place scheme, and now Mr. Kehm says the public needs to know the truth about the harm this project will cause. Will the Premier halt his environmental vandalism at Ontario Place?

To add to my previous comments, we will be adding a 6-to-1 ratio on trees for larger trees and a 2-to-1 ratio for smaller trees. In fact, there will be far more vegetation on Ontario Place, once fully redeveloped, than today.

But, Mr. Speaker, let’s ask what their plan is. Do you know what the plan of the NDP is? Do nothing. Don’t build subways, don’t build highways, don’t build schools, don’t build long-term care and don’t bring Ontario Place back to life. No wonder no one supports your party.

Once again, the member opposite is correct. The Bank of Canada has confirmed that Canadians are paying more for carbon tax and they’re worse off because of the carbon tax than they were prior to its arrival here in Canada and in Ontario. The federal government has admitted so because of what the member opposite mentioned: They’ve realized that it’s costing Atlantic Canadians more, so they’ve carved out home heating fuel in Atlantic Canada, but they’ve left those who heat here in Ontario and the rest of Canada holding the bag with higher costs of living, Mr. Speaker.

The Liberals are fully aware that the carbon tax is costing Canadians more, so why won’t they do the right thing, Mr. Speaker? Why won’t they do what the member opposite is suggesting, make it cheaper for everybody across Canada to heat their homes this winter?

I wonder: This party is down to a handful of members; when are they finally going to come to the realization that it’s their job to stand up for Ontario families like this party is doing—

Interjections.

The minister should actually thank the workers in Windsor and the union that helped negotiate that deal over years.

Back to the Premier, this Conservative government had two different opportunities to get this deal right, and they still missed the mark. Windsor workers have been left behind because it didn’t even occur to the Conservatives to tie the investment commitments to our local workforce. As many as 1,600 workers from outside the country are reportedly on their way to work on the plant. Windsor is excited to be the home of the future battery plant. The people of Windsor have the skills and experience to do the work.

Speaker, why did the Premier fail to ensure that Windsor workers would be at the forefront of these good-paying union jobs and fail to have the proper protections in writing for the NextStar battery-plant deal?

Interjections.

My question is for the Minister of Energy. The Bank of Canada has confirmed what the Premier and our government have been saying for years: The carbon tax is raising the price of everything. After years of pushing energy costs higher, the Prime Minister has finally announced that the federal government is pausing the carbon tax, but only on home heating oil and only for three years.

Speaker, this is a serious issue for many Ontarians as costs continue to soar. I’ve heard from many of my constituents over the weekend who heat with natural gas or propane who are concerned that the federal Liberals are leaving them out in the cold this winter. Speaker, can the minister please explain how the carbon tax is negatively impacting the people of Ontario?

It seems that there is now broad recognition that the carbon tax costs families much more than what they will ever get back. However, this recognition does little to help people who are struggling to pay high heating costs. In fact, the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed that by 2030 the carbon tax will cost families over $2,000 per year even with climate rebates. That’s why, Speaker, it was so surprising to hear a member of the Liberal caucus rise in this House to repeat the claim that families are better off because the carbon tax.

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on the effects of the carbon tax on individuals and families across the province.

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. We’ve seen a record number of investments come into our province since we took office because we have kept costs low for businesses. In the auto sector, we have attracted generational investments that are building Ontario’s end-to-end EV supply chain and creating tens of thousands of jobs in the process.

But rather than supporting our low-tax agenda, the NDP and Liberals in this House continue to support the federal government’s carbon tax. They will never miss an opportunity to support tax increases as they are doing with the federal carbon tax.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government is positioning Ontario as a global powerhouse in EV production by keeping costs low?

Interjections.

My question is to the Premier. Some $15 billion in public funds have been committed to build the NextStar battery plant in Windsor, with a third of that committed by the province. On this side of the House, we welcomed that investment and the good jobs that are supposed to come with it. Stellantis-LG is potentially looking to have international workers build and staff the plant—a pretty big loophole if the province missed it.

Speaker, the government’s going to point fingers and state borders are federal, but what is this government doing right now to protect long-term Ontarian jobs at NextStar?