Speaker, a few minutes ago, you heard the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing say that 700,000 new jobs were created in Ontario in just the last five years. Let me give you a bit of a breakdown: 70,000 workers work at 1,900 life science sector firms in Ontario, 420,000 workers are at 25,000 tech firms in Ontario, and over 120,000 direct jobs and hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs are now in our auto sector all across Ontario. All of that, Speaker, is not by raising taxes; it’s by lowering taxes and lowering the cost of doing business by $8 billion a year. Record job numbers have hit Ontario by keeping taxes low.

My question is for the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development. The carbon tax should be called the tax on everything as it hurts every aspect of daily life for Ontarians. The pain of the carbon tax is felt hardest by the residents of northern Ontario and Indigenous communities. These individuals feel the pressure at the gas pumps most severely, where fuel costs are already significantly higher than elsewhere.

The federal Liberal government has increased the carbon tax on gasoline five times, with plans for seven more increases by 2030. These continual price hikes on fuel contribute to the overall increase of the cost of goods throughout the supply chain, particularly in the north.

Can the minister please explain the negative impact of the carbon tax on northern Ontario and Indigenous communities?

Clearly, the federal government doesn’t understand or appreciate just how unaffordable daily living is in northern Ontario. It is just as disappointing to see that the opposition members consistently downplay the repercussions of the carbon tax on northern Ontario.

Can the minister please elaborate on how the carbon tax is negatively impacting residents, communities and businesses throughout the north?

From coast to coast to coast, Canadians have been clear: They want this tax scrapped. Let me point out that in Hearst, gas is $1.59; Sioux Lookout, $1.62; Terrace Bay; $1.54; Gogama, $1.51; Kirkland Lake, $1.54; Blind River, $1.53. This is a premium on gasoline that costs us more to fill up our pickup trucks, more for us to support the resource industries and drive larger distances than any other place in the province.

This is a premium on gasoline supported by the NDP. Now, that sounds like a New Democratic premium. What we call it is a carbon tax, and the carbon tax needs to go. Scrap the tax.

People who are running the district school boards in our vast region are now going to face cutting back on having children and high schools play against each other when they live 150 to 170 to 250 kilometres away. No more hockey or football for those schools, unless they want to play against themselves. This tax needs to go, and the NDP needs to stop supporting it.

Interjections.

I know this is something that is very close to that member’s heart, coming from an area with so many greenhouse growers.

The carbon tax is a perfect example of ideological devotion overriding basic common sense. Unfortunately, the cost of that devotion to ideology is ultimately being borne by hard-working Ontarians.

The holiday season is on us—Christmas, for many—and with it comes a lot more financial burdens for the average Ontarian and the average family. There’s travelling, there are family get-togethers, dinners, presents.

The carbon tax doesn’t just impact heating costs. Its insidious cost creeps into the final amount of virtually everything that we pay for.

Ultimately, if the federal government genuinely cared about affordability and about Canadians, about Ontarians, they would start with something really simple and axe the tax.

My question is to the Minister of Energy.

The people of Ontario are well aware that the carbon tax is making life more difficult. Winter is approaching. People across Ontario are worried about the impact the carbon tax will have on their home heating bills.

Speaker, the Premier has accurately stated that the carbon tax is making life more expensive for everyone. Further, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, business leaders and economists have all echoed our Premier’s statement.

The carbon tax hurts hard-working Ontarians. This ridiculous tax is raising the cost of energy and impacting the cost of everything we have to purchase.

Can the minister please explain how the carbon tax is negatively impacting the people of Ontario?

My question is to the Premier. Let’s just recap what’s happened so far in this session. First, the Premier got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, trying to give his rich friends an $8.3-billion payday. The Premier’s principal secretary, his director of housing, his former executive assistant and his handpicked chief of staff for the then Minister of Housing were all implicated. Three cabinet ministers resigned. And the RCMP has launched a criminal investigation. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

We also know that urban boundary changes and ministerial zoning orders were all used to pay off the Premier’s ultra-rich friends. So Speaker, will the Premier please explain just what he has accomplished—

Here’s what the Premier got done: legislation to protect the greenbelt from himself; legislation to undo the urban boundary; ministerial zoning orders frozen for review.

Speaker, this Ford is stuck in one gear: reverse.

Here’s the kicker: At a time when people are trying to pay the bills, trying to pay the rent—they’re just trying to take care of their families—what does the Premier do? He creates a bank—unbelievable—one that I know will mean more high-paying jobs for his friends.

When will the Premier do something other than taking care of his wealthy, well-connected friends?

The Premier and the Progressive Conservative caucus have managed to reduce the Liberals to a rump in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Firstly, they went from a majority to seven people.

And the other things that we’ve accomplished—700,000 people have a job who didn’t when he was in government. He will remember that 300,000 people lost their jobs.

In fact, the happiest people in the world, when the Liberals were in power—it was the state of Michigan, because all our jobs were going to the state of Michigan, because we couldn’t compete with them.

Thankfully, we’re going to work together with our friends in the state of Michigan so that both of us can be successful, and the only way that we can do that is to never again elect a Liberal government supported by the socialist NDP, who will drive jobs away not only from Ontario but from our good friends in Michigan.

You would think that the Liberals would have learned a lesson. The Liberals have been reduced to seven people in the Legislative Assembly. When they were in power, they didn’t build long-term care, they didn’t build hospitals—we all know that. They couldn’t decide on subways. They decimated our education system, brought our colleges and universities to the ground. And we literally lost thousands of jobs because the Liberals said that the north was a wasteland that we shouldn’t invest in, that the Ring of Fire was of no value, and that Ontario—the manufacturing hub of Canada, responsible for the success of this country—should transition to a service economy.

People had to decide between heating and eating under the Liberals, and this guy gets up and asks a question, “What have you done for me lately?”

Two majority governments, 700,000 people, the dignity of a job, and a booming economy—that’s what we’ve done this week.

I find that response profoundly disappointing to the policy discourse directed at women’s health and gender equity. Six million Ontarians have access to public funding contraceptives? The vast, vast majority of those six million Ontarians are men, children and seniors.

While I recognize your numbers are provided by staff, let me be clear that only a fraction of the six million you mentioned are women and gender-diverse individuals that need these barriers removed. It’s not the time for coached language.

Speaker, through you, with two days until the debate, we need you to be crystal clear that you commit to universal contraception access—that means everyone who needs it can get it.

Interjections.

Thank you to the member from St. Catharines for the question. Our government is making great strides to support women’s health, including the recent announcement of breast cancer screening from 40 years of age, which has been welcomed by the community. We have six publicly funded drug programs for Ontarians who need help getting the medications they need to live a healthy life. Through the Ontario Drug Benefit Program, many commonly used birth control products are available to eligible Ontarians as part of nearly 5,000 medications, which are part of this program. With six million Ontarians eligible to receive the Ontario Drug Benefit Program, nearly half of all Ontarians are eligible. OHIP+ assistance is also available to Ontarians 25 years of age or younger that are not covered by a private insurance plan.

Ontario invested through the ODB roughly $16 million on contraception in the 2021-22 fiscal year. With almost half of people covered, we’re making sure that Ontarians get the health care that they need when they need it.

Our government is making it easier for Ontarians to get prescriptions they need, such as birth control. Thanks to changes that we announced recently—I think it was November 6—we’ve made qualified midwives and registered nurses now able to provide convenient access to birth control prescriptions.

Through the Ontario Drug Benefit Program many commonly used birth control products are available to eligible Ontarians as part of nearly 5,000 medications covered by the program. With six million Ontarians eligible to receive the Ontario Drug Benefit Program, nearly half of all Ontarians are eligible.

We are going to continue to work to make sure that Ontarians are connected to convenient care where and when they need it across the province.

Thank you to the parliamentary assistant for her response.

Lowering the cost of living is precisely what our government has fought for, and that’s precisely why we challenged the carbon tax all the way to the Supreme Court.

However, the worst part about the carbon tax is that it will only make life worse and more expensive for all of us. Worse, the federal government and opposition parties want to nearly triple this tax by 2030.

The carbon tax hurts our businesses, impacts our economy and hurts workers.

Can the parliamentary assistant please explain the impact of future tax increases on the people of Ontario?

I’m thinking back to my days in court, and one of my favourite objections was, “Your Honour, this question has been asked and answered.” I would say that some would say that’s happening here. But why? Because the carbon tax is still here. So we’re going to keep on asking and we’re going to keep on answering until the carbon tax is gone.

It’s driving up heating costs, it’s driving up food costs—but it’s not just that. I called the effect of this tax “insidious” and that’s what it is, and in every question and answer that we’ve had here about the carbon tax, we’ve seen examples of that over and over. You drive up the cost of gas. You drive up the cost to farmers who produce our food. You drive up the cost to truckers to ship our food. As the dominoes fall and the ripples spread, ultimately someone has to pay that price and, unfortunately, right now, it’s the taxpayer. It comes down to common sense and axing the tax.

Member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

Thank you to the member opposite for the question.

For years, health care in the north has not been performing well, and we know that more needs to be done.

In the 2012 Auditor General’s report on health human resources, it was revealed that northern Ontario had a shortage of 200 physicians, or 40,000 hours of care.

Under the former government, supported by the opposition as well, little was done.

But this government is getting things done. That’s why we issued Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, and thousands of copies of that plan have been distributed.

Our government is expanding the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. The Northern Ontario School of Medicine offers a total of 108 seats—nearly doubling that capacity for their MD program. The Northern Ontario School of Medicine will increase those graduate positions from 60 to 123 by 2028.

We’re making sure that the resources will be there for people in the north.

Years of neglect by previous governments, supported by the New Democrats, got us into the situation that we’re in today. But we’re taking action to fix the mistakes of past governments.

I can’t believe the member opposite is complaining about the number of ministers going to the north from this government. That should be a good thing.

We are paying attention to what’s happening in the north, and we’re already seeing results from our plan.

We’re nearly doubling the capacity of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, which keeps northerners in the north while pursuing the education they need to become medical professionals. The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is attracting future professionals who will experience the advantages and the beauty of living in the north while they’re making plans about where to live and work.

We’re going to continue to work with all of our partners, including Ontario Health, northern hospital corporations, health sector unions, to address the challenges that are unique to northern Ontario. Thank goodness our ministers are going there all the time so that they know what those challenges are on the ground and can let us know so we can make sure that we’re addressing them. We’re going to keep working for the north.

To the Premier: 40-plus ministerial visits to the north, and this government still has no idea of our lived realities—or they don’t care.

The government is now studying whether district health units in northern Ontario should be merged. Can you imagine one health unit to cover 400,000 square kilometres?

The government is limiting funding increases to 1% per year, far less than inflation, and, shamefully, they are downloading another 5% of costs onto already strapped municipalities.

Why is this government trying to reduce health care services for the people of northern Ontario?

The carbon tax is hurting truckers and their families. These are the same people who keep our shelves stocked. They were the same ones who were driving across this province when nobody else wanted to drive, during the pandemic.

I was speaking to many truckers over the past couple of weeks. The Ontario Trucking Association told me that there’s about a 17.5-cent impact per litre on the truckers. For a long-haul trucker, that equates to about $15,000 to $20,000 a year. That’s $15,000 to $20,000 that that trucker could be spending to support his family, put his kids in hockey.

At a time when we’re facing a cost-of-living crisis, I urge the member of the independent Liberals, in his last couple of days as leader, to call the Prime Minister and tell him to do the right thing and scrap the carbon tax.

Imagine an owner of five trucks, long-haul drivers—the cost of the carbon tax per year is anywhere between $75,000 to $100,000, because of the carbon tax. This is directly relating to an increase in not just grocery costs but everything that gets delivered by these hard-working men and women in our trucking industry.

It’s important that the Liberals and the NDP stand up for truckers and ask the federal government to scrap the carbon tax.

My question is for the Minister of Transportation.

Since the federal government imposed the carbon tax, the people of Ontario have been paying more for everything.

Speaker, people in my community tell me that every time they go to the grocery store to buy food, they find it challenging to keep up with the rising costs.

The reality is that the carbon tax is making life unaffordable for everyone. It’s unfair that many individuals and families across this province continue to struggle to buy the necessities for daily living.

Can the minister please explain how the carbon tax negatively affects the hard-working people of Ontario?

Speaker, the federal government has increased the carbon tax on gasoline five times so far, and they are planning another seven increases by the year 2030.

Grocery prices are already unaffordable for too many people, as are the costs for other products and services.

Simply put, the carbon tax is wrong and unfair and makes life harder for everyone. The carbon tax adversely affects our businesses and negatively impacts our economy and Ontario workers. Further increases to the carbon tax will only make the situation worse.

Can the minister please elaborate on how the carbon tax makes life unaffordable for all Ontarians?

My question is to the Premier.

The Alliance for a Liveable Ontario came out with a new report. It shows how bad our housing affordability crisis is. It gives a snapshot of the amount of affordable homes that we need, and the numbers are, quite frankly, astronomical. Ontario needs over 300,000 affordable one-bedroom homes for low-income households.

Given the need for affordable rental, why have the Conservatives been relentless in their approach, in pushing for expensive, sprawl-style housing instead?

I don’t know, Speaker; I mean, we’ve been relentless on all forms of housing: affordable housing, attainable housing and long-term-care homes for seniors. We’ve been relentless on purpose-built rentals. That’s why we have the highest starts in the province’s history.

We want all forms of housing, because ostensibly what we want to do is get people out of their parents’ basements, for one—because I think that has always been the dream of the people of the province of Ontario. When you’ve come to this country and when you come to this province, many people dream of owning their own home. That has escaped them, ostensibly because of the policies of the Liberals and the NDP to put obstacles in the way of doing so.

We are on track to building 1.5 million homes for the people of the province of Ontario. We’re going to build it along our transit corridors because we’re spending billions of dollars along those corridors. We’re making it easier for people to access affordable homes. We have a bill before this House which is modifying the definition of “affordability,” which they support, and I think we’re well on our way.

To the Premier: A constituent in my riding has been living in Kapuskasing for the last five decades, and over 20 years ago her family doctor left the city to close the practice, leaving her without a primary care physician. For those 20 years, every time a new clinic has opened, she applied, but every single time, she was told that they were already full. She is now past her retirement age, health issues are arising, and she cannot access primary care.

Premier, what is your government going to do today to put an end to the shortage of family doctors in the north?