No.

Oh, I love these questions, Mr. Speaker. You know what? We got into power in 2018. Who gave us an infrastructure deficit? Was it this side? No. It was that side. It was that member’s party. Mr. Speaker, we hadn’t built subways, no hospitals, no roads, no bridges, no long-term care.

And when we lowered the gas tax, did that member vote yes or no?

Good morning, Speaker. My question is to our Solicitor General. It’s no secret that people from across Ontario are fed up with the unnecessary and useless carbon tax. It’s regressive and punitive. It hurts everyone and it makes life more expensive for families and businesses throughout the province. The carbon tax is not only increasing the cost of goods, it’s driving up the costs of fuel and gasoline for all of us.

We’ve heard about the negative impacts of the carbon tax and the rising cost for families and businesses, but our front-line paramedics, police and firefighters are also impacted. Speaker, can our Solicitor General please explain the negative impacts of the carbon tax on law enforcement and public safety agencies across Ontario?

It’s vital that we provide our police services with the support and resources they need to protect our communities instead of paying additional fuel costs because of this carbon tax. Speaker, can our Solicitor General please elaborate on how funds spent on the carbon tax could be better allocated to keeping Ontario safe?

This government has a habit of admitting mistakes only when they get caught red-handed. The $8.3 billion greenbelt giveaway, well-documented by the Auditor General, the Integrity Commissioner and now under criminal investigation by the RCMP, is only their latest scandal.

They also have a habit of blaming problems in our province, which they govern, on every level of government except their own. We have an affordability crisis, and yet what does this government do in their fall economic statement? They create a new bank with $3 billion of taxpayer money.

Speaker, 2,023 days ago, on May 10, 2018, the government made a promise, one that remains broken to this day: They promised to lower taxes for lower- and middle-income households. That would put up to $1,691 back into those households’ bank accounts.

My question to the Premier: When will the government stop playing the blame game and finally keep their promise to lower taxes and help Ontario families?

Speaker, families earning between $46,000 to $92,000 could save up to $1,691 if this government were to simply keep its promise. That’s money that could help those families deal now with high rents and the cost of living. This government, and this government alone, has the power to keep its promise, but instead of doing so, it’s going to spend $3 billion to set up an infrastructure bank that will only attract the money the government says it will if the government privatizes our public services.

Once again to the Premier: Will the Premier keep his promise and make life more affordable for Ontario families by lowering taxes now?

My question is for the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. Children’s aid societies in northeastern Ontario are in crisis due to the lack of resources. The Sudbury and Manitoulin CAS is running a deficit, despite not being allowed to do so, because their budget has been cut by half a million dollars a year. The minister wouldn’t make himself available when asked to comment on this by the media, so what will he say about this situation now that he’s here in the House?

My office hears from the local children’s aid service providers who are struggling to provide services for children in care because their budgets have been cut to the bone. Sudbury and Manitoulin CAS have no new foster families to place children with when they’re in desperate need. The head of the Nipissing and Parry Sound CAS said the following: “If we had to remove a child or children from a home, we have nowhere to put them.”

Speaker, what possible explanation does the minister have for severely cutting funds to the children’s aid societies, and what’s his next plan when a child is in crisis?

This time of the year, many police services all across Ontario are fixing their budgets, and it is so obvious that one of the lines in the budget is the fuel needed to pay for the gas that runs the cars. On each gallon of gas, on each litre of gas there is carbon tax, and it’s millions of dollars of wasted money.

Our communities have a right to be safe. We have a right to be safe in our own homes and communities, and the carbon tax is adding to every municipal police services budget and the OPP. So I’d like to say to the members opposite from places like Sudbury, Ottawa and Hamilton, ask your police chiefs if they have to pay the carbon tax and tell your federal friends in Ottawa, “Get rid of it.”

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Energy. The federal government released its fall economic statement on Tuesday. Not surprisingly, my constituents in Carleton have already told me that they are very disappointed that the federal government has refused to address affordability for Ontarians. The federal government is continuing to apply a disastrous carbon tax on everything.

Speaker, it is even more disappointing that the independent Liberals in this House continue to support the federal government’s actions. What’s more, as we approach winter and as the weather becomes colder, the federal government could have removed the HST charge from home heating expenses. But sadly, they did not.

Speaker, can the minister please share his views about the impact of the fall economic statement on all Ontarians?

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on how the federal fall economic statement will affect affordability for all Ontarians?

Stop the clock. A fairly substantial number of members have repeatedly ignored my efforts to get them to come to order. So the next time, you’ll be warned.

Interjection.

Start the clock. The next question.

Interjection.

The minister has the floor.

The next question.

I thank the member for the question. I want to make it very clear, we want every child and youth in this province to have a safe, loving, stable home regardless of their circumstances.

The member has probably not paid attention, but I’ve been travelling the province, meeting with families and service providers—and she knows; she’s aware of it because I know that they’re telling her. I know that they’re telling her.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve backed up the work by over $1.5 billion of investment. We have hired more inspectors on the ground to inspect the facilities. Those inspectors are going in unannounced this fall. So there’s not only more inspectors, there are more unannounced inspections that are being done.

We want to make sure that every youth, every child in this province is protected and supported so that they can continue to succeed and thrive in their communities. It’s a commitment we will never waver from.

Interjection.

That investment of $1.5 billion that I mentioned earlier: It’s important to note where it’s going. For the first time in the history of the province, we are making sure that children and youth succeed and thrive not only now but in the future. That’s why we started that support at the age of 13. We continued that support with financial supports up to the age of 23, so that the children and youth that age out of care can have—

Thank you to the member from Carleton for the great question this morning. It appears that our pleas to the federal government have gone unanswered and unheard. I can tell you, a recent Angus Reid poll shows that only 15% of Canadians approve of the federal government’s current carbon tax scheme, and we know that includes all nine members of the Ontario Liberal caucus. The worst part about this tax is that it’s only going to get worse: It’s going to go up again next April.

The worst part about this whole thing is that the environmental commissioner federally has said that it’s not even having an impact. It’s not reducing emissions. But what we’re doing in Ontario is, we’re investing in nuclear. We have the largest procurement for battery storage out in the field right now. Just this morning, we were announcing Hydrogen Innovation Fund investments. At our natural gas facilities at Atura Power, we’re going to be driving down emissions. We have one of the cleanest grids in the world, and we’re going to make sure that it stays that way.

We know the type of waste that comes from a Liberal government. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to address the affordability crisis in the federal government’s fall economic statement.

We know the damage of 15 years of Ontario Liberals governing our province. But what’s worse is that the current crop of Liberals that are over here are still championing this terrible carbon tax, trying to convince people that Ontarians are better off with a carbon tax than they were previous to the carbon tax coming into effect. I just can’t believe that this crop of Liberals in Ontario, as small a crop as they are—they’re like a backyard garden, Mr. Speaker—

My question is for the Associate Minister of Small Business. Small businesses are the backbone of Ontario’s economy and important job creators in our communities, but sadly, many are often operating on tight margins.

Speaker, not only is the carbon tax creating greater hardship for many small businesses, but many are feeling additional financial pressure with the upcoming deadline for federal loan repayments. Unfortunately, the independent Liberals seem content to stand by as the federal government punishes businesses with more costs. Instead of standing up for Ontario’s entrepreneurs, who are struggling because of the regressive carbon tax, they once again voted no to any measure that calls for its repeal.

Speaker, can the associate minister please share more information about how the carbon tax is negatively impacting Ontario’s small businesses?

Speaker, can the associate minister please explain how our government is supporting small businesses across our great province?

Thank you to the great member from Whitby for the question.

Speaker, I had the privilege of hearing directly from entrepreneurs across the province. Time and again, they express real concern about the burden of rising costs from the federal carbon tax combined with the upcoming deadlines of the CEBA loan repayments.

The carbon tax inflates expenses at every single step of the supply chain. Whether they’re farmers producing food, manufacturers leveraging our skilled workforce or shops anchoring our main streets, Ontario’s job creators all agree: This punitive tax hits hardest just as they’re getting themselves back on their feet. Many business owners have shared fears it is could force them to reduce staff, raise prices or shut their doors for good.

Unlike the Liberals and NDP, our government is listening to entrepreneurs and taking action on affordability. If the opposition truly cared about the businesses in their ridings, they’d join us in calling on Ottawa to scrap the tax.

Every day I meet inspirational entrepreneurs who are pouring their hearts and souls into building something from nothing, providing jobs and providing hope. That’s why we’ve been there for them with our investment in Futurpreneur, which helps young entrepreneurs access financing, mentorship and resources to turn their bold ideas into thriving businesses.

The opposition are concerned about keeping people off the job but it’s this government that works hard to keep the great people of this province on the job. We’ve stepped up to the plate for small business. It’s high time the opposition did the same.

I appreciate the opportunity, Speaker, to stand up in this House today to reflect on the amazing work that our commodity organizations across this province are doing in support of food banks. Just this week alone we had both Ontario Pork as well as our Chicken Farmers of Ontario in this House. We need to celebrate what they’re doing. I hope the member took time to actually meet face to face with real farmers, because if she had perhaps she would have learned that the pork farmers of Ontario donate to food banks every year and Chicken Farmers of Ontario have donated the equivalent of eight million meals.

Our farmers across this province are doing amazing work to support food banks. But I have to share with you: We have a strategy in Ontario supported by our government. It’s called Grow Ontario. We’re increasing our food production and processing in this province by 30% by 2032. We do not have a food security issue in this province, but we—

Point of order, Speaker: I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate the newly acclaimed executive officers of the Ontario Federation of Labour. Congratulations to Team Ignite: incoming president Laura Walton, secretary-treasurer Ahmad Gaied and executive vice-president Jackie Taylor. They are the new executive officers of the Ontario Federation of Labour. Congratulations.

Unlike the previous Liberal government, which drove up the cost of electricity every single year and drove up taxes across our province, unlike the NDP that wanted the highest carbon tax in the world—and we know exactly what impact it’s having because you’ve heard from ministers right across the government this morning on the impact that it’s having on policing, the impact that it’s having on farming and agriculture, the impact that it’s having on forestry and on rural school busing.

Mr. Speaker, what we can do is work together as an Ontario Legislature, and I would ask all members to do this. Now, I know the Liberals from Ontario don’t want to do this. The NDP have shown a little bit of inclination to maybe want to do the right thing here. But let’s come together, Mr. Speaker. Let’s call Jagmeet and let’s call Justin, and let’s make sure they do the right thing and take the carbon tax off home heating for Ontarians—

Speaker, Mr. Faqiri’s death demonstrates how harmful it is when mental illness is criminalized in our justice system.

Mr. Faqiri was held in solitary confinement while waiting to be assessed for mental health treatment. His family wants answers about why Mr. Faqiri was not transferred to a hospital earlier, why they weren’t able to visit him and what he may have experienced during his 11 days in custody.

Ontarians deserve systemic change in our justice system, Speaker, and people in mental health crisis deserve help, not violence. Aside from Mr. Faqiri’s family, racialized, Black, Indigenous communities across the province are closely monitoring the recommendation coming out of the coroner’s inquest.

To the Premier: What will this government do to take steps to address the deadly mix of systemic discrimination and mental health stigma in the justice and correctional systems?

Thank you to my colleague across for the question. Any death is too many. Any death is a tragedy. And as my friend opposite knows, we do not speak to an ongoing inquest. It would be completely inappropriate. She also knows, Mr. Speaker, that the purpose of an inquest is to determine the circumstances surrounding a death and, if appropriate, make recommendations that may prevent further deaths. Our government continuously works to make sure policies in corrections are in line with best practices.

Again, Mr. Speaker, this is a complex issue, and we cannot speak to an ongoing inquest.

I’ve seen it for myself as I’ve toured our correctional complexes: I have met with the native inmate liaison officers—the NILOs; I’ve met with the chaplains. Mr. Speaker, I stay close in contact with the OPSEU union representatives as well. And at the end of the day, our government is taking this matter seriously, and we will reduce, where possible, and eliminate inmate experiences in segregation conditions.

While this government sits on a multi-billion-dollar slush fund, refusing to help people struggling with the cost of living, food bank use has hit record levels in Ottawa. One in seven Ottawa residents is currently food insecure. In 2023 alone there have been nearly half a million food bank visits in Ottawa. A growing number of food bank users are employed full time and still can’t put food on the table.

When is the Premier going to get serious about solving the affordability crisis by reinstating real rent control, increasing social assistance and raising the minimum wage?

While Ottawa food banks are extending hours into evenings and weekends to accommodate people who have full-time jobs and can’t go at any other time, this government is eroding the social safety net at every turn. We know what the solutions are and the Premier can implement them today if he wanted to. Put a stop to price gouging. Reinstate real rent control. Increase Ontario Works and ODSP. Raise the minimum wage. Why is the Premier busy pretending to be helpless instead of doing his job and helping people?

My question is for the Minister of Energy. We’ve spent much of this week talking about how the carbon tax is raising the cost of everything. That is why our government must continue to work diligently to find practical solutions to make Ontario’s electricity grid more affordable, cleaner and more reliable. For example, the minister has previously explained that installing a hybrid heat pump can save families $280 a year while also cutting their home heating emissions by a third.

Can the minister please share information about the cost-saving energy initiatives that our government has already put in place?