On behalf of the official opposition, I’d also like to welcome the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association. I look forward to meeting with them and attending their reception this afternoon.

Thank you to the member for Whitby for that applause.

I want to acknowledge again the great mayor of Pickering, Kevin Ashe, joined by his wife, Karen O’Brien.

Kevin and Kim Cahill also did a great job. Thank you for being here.

Theresa Deboer and Ajax ward 2 councillor Nancy Henry, welcome to the House.

And my constituent manager, the great Edward White, is up there.

He’s not here yet, but I know he’s coming for question period—I’d like to introduce former member of Hastings–Lennox and Addington, Daryl Kramp.

My question is to the Minister of Transportation.

Ontario already has responsibility for the Trans-Canada Highway, Highway 11. Last week, north of North Bay, on November 22, it was closed for 13 and a half hours. On November 24, it was closed for 12 and a half hours.

Our sympathies go out to the families involved. This isn’t something new. If your car is registered in the district of Timiskaming, you’re four times as likely to die on a provincial highway than if it’s registered in Toronto.

My question to the Minister of Transportation is, can northerners also expect a new deal to actually put Highway 11 up to standards so people don’t die on it?

Interjections.

There are many other roads in northern Ontario, and many of them were downloaded by the Harris government to municipalities—the town of Iroquois Falls, the town of Kirkland Lake, the city of Timmins. Many of these places are also suffering. They can’t afford to provide vital services because they’re actually looking after highways that should be provincial.

So those municipalities across the province—can they also expect that this government actually uploads the highways that a previous Conservative downloaded? Can they expect a new deal on roads as well?

Interjections.

As the member knows, it is our utmost priority to ensure we have safe and efficient highways across this province, and that includes Highway 11. We have some of the safest roads in all of North America. We have the trans-Ontario standard that is met by this province and this province only—across the country and across North America.

And we will continue to work—we had the Good Roads Association that was at Queen’s Park just this past week, listening about further measures that can be taken.

We commit to always ensuring that we have the safest roads, and working towards safety across this province, especially on the roads. We do have some of the safest roads, but we’ll continue to make sure that we do whatever we can, making the necessary investments on Highways 11 and 17 in the north, to do—and ensure that our roads remain safe.

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

The federal carbon tax is hurting businesses across this province. It’s significantly harmful to small and medium-sized businesses, which are crucial sources of employment for our regional communities.

When the federal government hikes energy costs with their carbon tax, it hurts these small businesses—their bottom lines. Unfortunately, this has meant that many small businesses and businesses have been left with the difficult choice of scaling back production, laying off employees, or closing their doors altogether. Sadly, the federal government, along with the independent Liberals and opposition NDP, do not care.

Can the minister please explain how, unlike the NDP and Liberals, who want to penalize businesses, our government is providing support for them?

There is a very clear and concise differentiation between the Liberal-NDP coalition and the PC Party. They hurt business. We help business.

We’ve reduced the cost of doing business by $8 billion annually. We’ve created the climate for businesses to succeed.

Speaker, we have regional development programs. We’ve invested $110 million in regional development programs for 100 companies. Those 100 companies, in turn, invested $1.18 billion in the province of Ontario and hired 2,300 people.

That’s what you get when you have a favourable business environment that is created. That is exactly what our party is doing. We can only imagine the heights we could achieve if we did not have a carbon tax.

As the member opposite knows, we are bringing forward legislation around use-it-or-lose-it. The reason we can bring in such legislation is because this government is putting billions of dollars of infrastructure in the ground, and we want to make sure the infrastructure both below and above the ground is used for building homes for the people of the province of Ontario.

I’ll remind the Leader of the Opposition that her party has voted against every single investment that we’ve made in terms of helping unleash home building. She and that party have voted against every single investment that we have made in terms of building transit and transportation across the province of Ontario.

We are bringing forward use-it-or-lose-it legislation, because we expect those people who have permits, who are holding up sewer and water allocation, to get shovels in the ground. We’ll bring it forward. We’ll do it in a fair way that brings our municipalities on board as well as those who are building homes, and I fully expect that the Leader of the Opposition will get up in her place and support that legislation. For the first time, she’ll support building homes for the people of the province of Ontario.

The socialist NDP are in a frenzy. Do you know why? Because we’re creating jobs, because our municipal partners want to work with us to get shovels in the ground. Do you know who has come on board? Mayor Olivia Chow, an NDP stalwart. A former councillor, a former member of Parliament for the NDP has come on board, because she and the Toronto council understand that the best way to create jobs and economic growth is to cut taxes, work together, get shovels in the ground. It is only they who don’t understand that.

Do you know why we were able to strike a deal with Olivia Chow and the NDP council in Toronto? Because we work with them, Mr. Speaker. We work with our municipal partners, and that is why we are seeing growth across the province of Ontario, the likes of which we’ve never seen, despite policies of the federal government to hold back our economy.

Speaker, I’m reminded by the member for Waterloo that it has been one year and one week since this government promised to make municipalities whole, but here we are.

Toronto is not the only municipality that needs support. Municipalities all across Ontario are doing everything they can to issue permits to encourage affordable housing developments, but they don’t have the power to force developers to start building after they get their permits, and this province is doing nothing to help. They still haven’t brought in use-it-or-lose-it legislation, as we suggested.

So, to the Premier, I’ll ask again: When will this province give other municipalities a new deal too?

So, Speaker, back to the Premier: What will it take for this government to finally put the people of Ontario first and before their insider friends?

Interjections.

And the supplementary question.

To respond, the Minister of Transportation.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

It’s pretty clear that the member opposite and the NDP have no interest in doing anything creative or anything different or innovative in the province of Ontario.

We have partners like the Don Mills surgical centre, which moved their 20-bed facility to a different location. It does in fact not contravene the Private Hospitals Act.

But what we have been able to do, what the member opposite does not want to talk about, is actually expand the access that is available. When we expanded the cataract surgeries in January, when Premier Ford made that announcement—we now have 14,000 people who have had access to minor surgery and cataract surgery, who are now back in communities, back volunteering, back working, back reading stories to their children. That’s why we’re doing this innovation. That’s why we’re doing this expansion.

We knew that because of the condition our health care system was left under the Liberals and the NDP, because of the conditions as we paused during the pandemic, we needed to aggressively work with our hospital partners to ensure that we were dealing with surgical backlog and surgical recovery.

And that billion-dollar investment has led to some incredible innovations, where we have partners—as the member opposite mentioned—where we now have ORs that are operating over later hours, into the weekend. Why? Because those hospitals have submitted proposals, innovative ideas, to the ministry. We funded them, and we are dealing with that surgical backlog.

Supplementary question?

Interjections.

Minister of Health.

Thank you to the minister for his response and his solid work on a world-scale basis for the people in the province of Ontario. It’s great to hear about the success of our government’s regional development program.

Before we took office Ontario’s manufacturing capacity had diminished. The NDP-Liberal agenda of high taxes and unnecessary red tape pushed manufacturers out of our province and into foreign jurisdictions. As a result, our economy stagnated and we were beholden to other countries to manufacture the goods and supplies that Ontarians needed.

Now they want to try their failed experiment all over again with the ever-increased federal carbon tax. Unlike the opposition, our government must support and protect our manufacturing sector, which is it vital to our province’s economic prosperity.

Can the minister please describe how our government’s actions continue to strengthen Ontario’s manufacturing sector?

The Liberal-NDP agenda of high taxes has crushed our manufacturing sector. Some 300,000 manufacturing jobs were lost under that coalition. But we created the conditions for Ontario to become the manufacturing powerhouse that it used to be.

Now we are home to 20,000 manufacturers, employing more than 800,000 workers. This year alone, since January, we have seen 23,500 manufacturing jobs created. In fact, in one month this summer, we saw more manufacturing jobs created in Ontario than in all 50 US states combined. There’s $99 billion of manufacturing that goes on in Ontario every single year. Lower taxes and red tape reduction equals jobs.

Ma question est pour le premier ministre. Why is Ontario paying 330% more for surgeries in for-profit clinics than in public hospitals? The member from Eglinton–Lawrence stated, “These centres have higher costs because they’re purchasing equipment.”

Don Mills Surgical Unit, a for-profit hospital, expanded from three to six operating rooms and to seven recovery bays while our public hospital ORs sit dark and empty, against the Private Hospitals Act, which forbids expanding for-profit hospitals. Why is this government expanding private hospitals, where we pay more for less?

Speaker, the previous Minister of Health is now a lobbyist for Clearpoint, the corporation that owns Don Mills Surgical Unit. The Members’ Integrity Act prohibits former cabinet ministers from ever making representation to the provincial government. Don Mills received a 278% increase when Christine Elliott was Minister of Health. Does the Premier support the fact that his former Minister of Health is lobbying for preferential treatment for Don Mills?

Interjections.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. Last week, the federal government released their fall economic statement, which many would describe as disappointing. It was disappointing because it failed to end the damaging carbon tax that is hurting so many people in my riding and across the province. My constituents are rightfully asking why the federal government punishes them with this regressive tax while other provinces are exempt. The people in my riding are looking to all levels of government to step up and provide assistance during these challenging economic times. The people of Ontario want support and relief, not additional taxation that makes life more expensive. Can the minister please explain how this unnecessary tax creates economic hardship for all Ontarians?

Can the minister please elaborate on why all members of this House should advocate for Ontario by calling on the federal government to end the carbon tax?

Thank you to the great member from Whitby for that question. He’s a champion.

Interjection.

It’s a Durham day. We’ve got the mayor of Pickering here. We’ve got members from the council in Ajax. Guess what they have to do? There’s no subway in Pickering. Many people have to drive their car to work, take their kids to school, move around the great riding of Pickering. That’s why I was disappointed by the lack of action on the carbon tax by the federal government’s fall economic statement.

Like the member from Whitby, I was hoping that the Liberal government would finally come to its senses and end the carbon tax, which seems only effective in hurting the pocketbook of Ontario families.

Sadly, the Liberals’ attachment to the carbon tax seems to far outweigh their concern for the economy. While families and workers are calling for a break from this regressive tax, the federal government is ignoring their voices. So we’re asking the federal government, don’t just help Pickering; don’t just help Ontario; help all of Canada with this—

Mr. Speaker, the other part of my riding, Uxbridge—guess what? People use their cars not only to get around in Uxbridge. Guess what the farmers do? They have the tractors in Uxbridge. They use energy and power. They need a break as well, the hard-working people and farmers of Uxbridge who grow the food, and obviously the food gets shipped and then we buy the food. We need to all work on affordability in this country, and it starts with the carbon tax.

We took action by lowering the gas tax, when combined with other measures, 10 cents a litre. And when we table the fall economic statement, I’m highly confident the members opposite will vote to reduce that gas tax and join us as we work all across Canada to make life more affordable for—

Good morning, everyone—beautiful day to be in here with you.

Mr. Speaker, tell the Premier that instead of holiday bells, I am ringing the alarm bells, because the climate crisis is here and it’s costing Ontarians already. While we wait to hear about the RCMP criminal investigation into the $8.3-billion sale of the greenbelt, the government could and should read the damning report released last week by the Financial Accountability Officer of Ontario. Spoiler alert: There’s a frightening financial impact of the climate crisis on our infrastructure. If we don’t begin to proactively plan and build for the extreme weather events that are definitely coming due to climate change, it will cost an extra $4.1 billion per year.

Interjections.

My question to the Premier is, when will he wake up, smell the wildfires and declare a climate emergency in Ontario?

The FAO report clearly proves that we need to be proactive about this—no more short-term thinking. The fatal consequences of climate change are already in effect. The global mortality rate associated with extreme heat accounts for five million deaths per year. The 2021 heat wave in BC amounted to over 600 people dying. It’s only a matter of time before Ontario faces an extreme heat wave.

My question is to the Premier: Will he commit to an expansive and informative public education campaign and an extensive plan to ready our infrastructure before next summer comes blazing in with potentially deadly temperatures?

The member opposite should know that our government’s history in dealing with human-trafficking survivors and perpetrators is clear and very, very deep. When I think of the work that the member from Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock has done, when I think of the legislation that we have brought forward as a government to protect and ensure that individuals who perpetrate human trafficking are brought to justice, it is our government, under Premier Ford, who has done that work.

I really think it’s important for the member to understand that we are absolutely seized to ensure that every piece of human trafficking and the survivors’ pathway to treatment is something that our government and multiple ministries have been working on for many, many years.

Interjections.