Speaker, the member for Burlington is absolutely right: Ontarians are struggling to heat their homes due to rising inflation.

The federal government’s tax break only targets 2.5% of Ontarians, which is absolutely not enough. Our government has launched our Clean Home Heating Initiative program, the CHHI, providing recipients with a grant of up to $4,500 to buy a standard air-source heat pump or a cold-climate air-source heat pump. This program will help save up to $280 yearly on energy bills. On top of that, it would cut their emissions by a third. This past spring, we expanded the program to help even more communities.

Obviously, the best remedy to the problem, as the member for Burlington described, would be to eliminate the carbon tax. I hope that the federal government sees how harmful and ineffective this carbon tax is.

Because of the carbon tax, households heating with natural gas see a $290 yearly increase on their energy bills, while those using propane will spend $250 more annually. Speaker, it’s ridiculous. We are talking about 70% of Ontarian households having to pay an average of $270 in increased costs due to this tax. This is a reason why we increased our rebate. I’m hoping that the federal government finally opens its eyes and joins us in reducing costs for Ontarians.