In 2015, when I was Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, we gave Canadians fair warning that this carbon tax was going to be the single biggest reason for increase in the cost of goods and services this country had ever seen. It has come to fruition—on a collision course with inflationary times.

Out in northwestern Ontario, I can’t help but say, with our friends from the district services board and school boards here today, that it costs more to fuel buses; it costs more to send kids from one school to another school some 215 kilometres away for a football game or a basketball game. When those ambulances go out much farther distances than other regions in this province, it costs more money. With gas at $1.70 a litre right now in Dryden and Kenora, and the deep freeze setting in of winter, I can’t help but think that we’re going to be bearing more and more costs as the carbon tax goes up and up.

Mr. Speaker, this ludicrous tax needs to go. Let’s scrap the tax.

The problem is, it has fallen on deaf ears. The federal government has no plans to eliminate the carbon tax on the cost of fuels to energize our communities up north or the cost of goods. It’s a ludicrous tax. It needs to go. Let’s scrap the tax.

I want to thank my friend from Chatham-Kent–Leamington. He’s absolutely right for asking the question. Who would believe that when you think of public safety, it costs more because of the carbon tax? Police officers, firefighters, special constables, all the first responders that drive cars to keep our place safe have to pay the carbon tax in every gasoline fill-up they make. The carbon tax has made a crucial operation that keeps our communities safe so expensive. And Mr. Speaker, we’re talking about thousands of automobiles. We’re talking about 4,000 automobiles alone at the OPP. This is millions of dollars of wasted money that could be used to keep our province safe.

Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. We’re calling on the federal government to do the right thing and get rid of the tax.

Interjection.

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 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.

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—