The member from Brantford–Brant is right. He’s also a volunteer firefighter—and I want to say thank you—as was the member for Sarnia–Lambton, and others.

What the independent Liberal members don’t seem to get—and they’re downplaying the tax; they did it, in recent days, when we spoke about the cost of policing—is that every time you fill up a fire truck, any vehicle that’s used in firefighting, you are paying the carbon tax. When you are buying equipment and other resources that you need to keep Ontario safe, you are paying the carbon tax on those costs. The Ontario firefighters are being penalized for this carbon tax on the cost of fuel, on procurement and on operations. It’s totally unacceptable. Whether it’s about public safety and policing or fire-fighting, it’s unacceptable.

Our message to the federal—

Je suis fier de soutenir nos pompiers et tous ceux qui assurent la sécurité de l’Ontario.

My question is for the Solicitor General. It’s no secret that Ontarians are fed up with the unnecessary and useless carbon tax. It is a regressive and harmful tax that hurts everyone, including the important public services that keep our communities safe and well.

While we have heard about the negative impact that the carbon tax is having on rising costs for families and businesses, it is very concerning that firefighters in communities across Ontario are also being impacted. The carbon tax is driving up fuel and gasoline costs for everyone in our province. It is not right, and it is unacceptable that response vehicles used by firefighters should be negatively impacted by this federally imposed carbon tax.

Can the Solicitor General please explain the negative effects of the carbon tax on our front-line firefighters across Ontario?

It is vital that we provide our brave and courageous fire-fighters with the tools and the resources that they need to protect our communities, instead of paying for additional fuel costs because of the carbon tax. Can the Solicitor General please elaborate on how our government supports our front-line firefighters instead of punishing them through the regressive carbon tax?

My question is for the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development. Because of the federal carbon tax, life has never been so unaffordable. Northerners are already feeling the pressure at the gas pumps, where fuel costs are significantly higher than in the rest of the province. While Ontarians are struggling because of rising costs, the independent Liberals and the opposition NDP members continue to agree that the carbon tax should nearly quadruple, raising the price of everything even higher.

The carbon tax adversely affects our businesses and negatively impacts our economy and Ontario workers. Speaker, can the minister please explain how the carbon tax negatively impacts individuals and families in northern Ontario and in Indigenous communities?

Speaker, can the minister please provide further details on the adverse effects that the carbon tax is inflicting on the residents, communities and businesses throughout the north?

Speaker, we’re in an affordability crisis, yet the fall economic statement doesn’t use the word “affordability” once.

During the 2018 election, Conservatives promised to cut income tax by 20% for the middle class. That promise was never kept. The Minister of Energy even claimed last month on affordability that “our province has done everything we can.” He’s forgotten past promises. It seems the promise they have remembered is the one donors reminded them about: opening the greenbelt and gifting $8.3 billion of public value.

Tax form ON428 still has the 9.15% tax rate—promise not kept. How can Ontarians trust this government to tackle affordability when they can’t even keep or remember a basic election promise?

Can this government be trusted to tackle affordability when they wouldn’t take the opportunities to provide families with immediate pocketbook relief in their fall economic statement?

Perhaps, Speaker, you could give me—I know it’s usually a minute to respond. I’d like about 10 minutes, because there’s so much I could talk about in terms of what we’ve done for affordability that the opposition Liberals and New Democrats have voted against.

In the fall economic statement, which we’ll be voting on today, we’ve extended the gas tax for another six months to lower costs for consumers and to lower costs for businesses. Will the opposition support us? Will you support us in lobbying the federal government to stop the punitive carbon tax? Have you done it in the past?

Our government has been focused on affordability, whether it’s the carbon tax, whether it’s cutting tuition for students who are in an affordability crisis themselves or whether it’s the LIFT tax credit, which lowers the tax rate for the lowest-income individuals in this province. We have stood on the side of families and individuals in this province. Where is the opposition?

Let me just go through some of the other things that we’ve done as a province. We’ve removed the licence plate stickers for all drivers across the province, helping businesses and consumers. As the Minister of Economic Development has referred to, we’ve taken away $8 billion in costs for businesses in this province. Where are those cost savings going to go? They’re going to go to the people of Ontario. We’ve also lowered the cost of transportation in this province. Whether you’re taking the GO train or public buses in the GTA, we’ve lowered that. Did the opposition support us on that front? Absolutely not.

So, again, we continue to move ahead, get investments in this province, bring affordability to the extent that we can, and we’ll continue doing that. I hope the opposition will support us with the fall economic statement.

So again, I will remind the member opposite that it is in fact under the age of 25. Forty per cent of the population is covered. Those two programs alone are already in place in the province of Ontario.

Can we look at other opportunities to improve the system? Absolutely. That is why we are doing so many of the health system pieces that we have in place. But I also want to highlight the excellent work that the Minister of Education has been able to do in securing $10-a-day daycare for the province of Ontario.

This is not an issue that we are looking at only in one ministry. We are making sure that women empowerment—individual access is critically important, but we’re doing it in a whole-of-government approach, not one-offs.

Back to the minister: Minister, if you believe that the current policy for publicly funded contraception up to the age of 24 is effective, should that rationale not extend to those beyond the age of 24? Women’s fertility spans approximately 30 years, not nine, necessitating broader access.

Research shows a net health system cost saving of $5 per resident, underscoring the efficiency of preventive over surgical health care. The selective approach of OHIP+ risks perpetuating inequities. Given the cost neutrality, gender equity implications and bipartisan potential, will you recognize the benefits of pursuing universal contraception access, following the example set out by other provinces in Canada?

I’ll tell you what: Our American friends just celebrated Thanksgiving, and that hits home for us out in Kenora–Rainy River. Just across from Fort Frances is International Falls, Minnesota. As friends and families criss-crossed the border, here’s what they found: Gas is $3.24 a gallon in International Falls. That works out to about $1.14 a litre. Back in Fort Frances, about 150 metres away, gas is $1.70 a litre.

Now, let’s pivot to what’s on the table for dinner. Turkeys: In 2015, a turkey was $1.50 a pound. In 2023, it’s north of $2.50 a pound. That’s a 67% increase.

Mr. Speaker, when you tax a farmer who grows the food, when you tax a trucker who brings it all the way out to northwestern Ontario, a 22-hour drive from Toronto, and those who buy the—

Now, Mr. Speaker, it’s time, once and for all, for the NDP to join the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and send a clear message to the coalition in the federal government to scrap this tax, plain and simple. It’s as easy as slicing bread.

Our government is implementing a new Ontario Autism Program. In the new program, families will have access to an expanded set of core services including applied behaviour analysis, speech language pathology, occupational therapy and mental health services. This is the first time that families will be able to access mental health supports through the OAP.

Families also have access to a range of services like:

—the foundational family services, which we launched in 2020 to help families support their child’s learning and development at home;

—early intervention services to help young children access services at critical points in their development;

—an early entry to school program, which will help prepare children who are starting kindergarten or grade 1 for the first time; and

—urgent response services for children and youth who have immediate urgent needs.

Speaker, we’re meeting benchmarks and making progress every day as we continue to implement a needs-based OAP that supports children and youth with autism and their families.

Children and youth with autism may also be eligible for programs such as healthy child development programs, including the Healthy Babies Healthy Children Program; the Infant and Child Development Program; the Preschool Speech and Language Program; rehabilitation services delivered by children’s treatment centre; special needs resource teachers in child care settings; the Special Services at Home program; the Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities Program; out of home respite; and the enhanced respite for medically fragile and/or technology dependent children program.

Families who received an initial interim one-time funding payment may also be eligible to receive a second payment of either $5,500 or $22,000 based on their child’s age as of April 1.

My question is for the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. Over 60,000 children are on a wait-list to receive access to core autism services in Ontario. My office receives many calls and emails from families who have been waiting for years for answers to their questions, questions like: “Did our application get approved? How do I know where we are on the wait-list? When will my child receive services?”

Speaker, yesterday our offices received an email from your ministry liaison asking us that we refrain from contacting AccessOAP on behalf of our constituents, citing process and protocol, telling us we’re not allowed to help. Minister, why is AccessOAP denying our offices’ advocacy and making it harder for families to get answers?

Speaker, families from across the province are reaching out to all of our offices, including government members. First we’re told AccessOAP needed their own consent forms only to receive useless answers like, “We can’t tell you where you are on the list, when you’ll receive a call or even when you’ll get a case worker.” Now we are being shut out altogether. Speaker, families are desperate and this is completely unacceptable.

Minister, why are you allowing this third-party organization, that we fund, to block answers and to make sure that things are even harder for families?

Interjections.

I must admit, it’s a little surprising hearing that question from that member from Kanata-Carleton, who, in this House in the last few weeks, has said the carbon tax is good for consumers.

The carbon tax puts the cost of everything up—everything: getting to the Legislature, driving your kids to soccer, food, businesses, public transportation.

This is a government that has been committed to working on affordability since we took office in 2018. I don’t even know where to start with all the programs we’ve put in place and the cost reductions we’ve done. Let me remind the member of just a few of those things that we’ve done—and I’ll certainly talk to more of them in the supplementary.

We put through the LIFT tax credit, which was the largest low-income tax credit in the history of Canada, helping those individuals in the lowest-income tax brackets reduce their taxes.

I’ll have more to say in the supplementary.

The member opposite mentioned ODSP. Just last year, we brought through legislation which moved it up by 5%, and then indexed it to inflation, to 6.5%. That’s the largest increase in ODSP’s history. Did the member opposite and the team over there support us on that legislation? No, they did not.

But that’s not all. We’ve done a lot for affordability. We increased the minimum wage this year—the largest-ever increase in recent history—to $16.55 per hour. We’ve also brought about and extended the tuition tax credit for university students. We put through a 10% cut in tuition a few years ago, and we’ve extended that freeze for four years, putting tuition among the lowest and the most affordable, in the province of Ontario.

I hope the members opposite will join us, get some sense and support the fall economic statement.

My question is for the Associate Minister of Small Business.

We’ve heard both within this chamber and, obviously, from our constituents that the carbon tax is causing an increase in expenses for all Ontarians. This is especially true for businesses in northern Ontario, which face significantly more challenges related to the higher cost of goods and travel because of this regressive tax. The sad reality is that these additional expenses are ultimately passed on to the consumers. It’s truly astonishing to witness northern members from the opposition parties defending this tax despite its detrimental effects.

Speaker, can the associate minister please elaborate on the carbon tax’s negative impact on businesses in northern Ontario?

We have an affordability crisis in Ontario.

Interjections.

Interjections.

We have an affordability crisis here in Ontario. When this government was elected, they promised a 20% tax cut for the middle class. This government has been dragging its feet for six years. So what’s their priority? It’s certainly not the middle class. It’s not our most vulnerable. It’s not Ontarians on ODSP or at food banks, or those on surgical or autism services wait-lists.

But what do we have? We have an $8.3-billion greenbelt giveaway, now subject to an RCMP criminal investigation. We have a $650-million Therme spa parking lot, now under Auditor General investigation. Somehow there’s always enough for handouts to developer friends, but for Ontario families, the cupboards are bare. We have grocery chains and the fossil fuel industry gouging Ontarians.

Speaker, a question for the Premier: Will he keep his campaign promise and cut middle-class taxes?

The provincial government does have the most applicable tools to help the people of Ontario. If they wanted to, they could bring back rent control; they could raise ODSP; they could raise the Ontario Child Benefit. It’s not good enough to write letters if one has the power to actually ease people’s distress. Mr. Speaker, Ontarians are still waiting. They’re lining up at food banks. They’re struggling.

Apparently, the voters were wrong to take this government at its word; we know it, the RCMP knows it, and now Ontario knows it.

Will the Premier and his provincial government actually use some of the tools that they have available to them to help the people of Ontario and cut middle-class taxes?

To the parliamentary assistant, the member for Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry.

The parliamentary assistant.

Start the clock. The member for Kanata–Carleton.

November is Women Abuse Prevention Month, and today our galleries are filled with advocates from the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses. They’re raising the same question again and again as violence against women has reached epidemic levels. We’ve asked your government to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic, like almost 70 municipalities have done, but you refuse.

Last year in Hamilton, police received 13,000 calls for intimate partner violence and almost 5,000 women and their children were turned away from shelter beds because they weren’t available—again, an epidemic of violence against women and your government refuses to increase their core funding, which has been frozen for over 15 years.

So it’s nice to see all of the government wearing their purple scarves, but we need to see more than that performative action. We need to see this government declare intimate partner violence and gender-based violence as an epidemic, and we need to see core funding increase after 15 years of frozen core funding.

These women are doing important work to keep our women safe. Will we ever see your government truly support women in this province: yes or no?

No woman should ever be subjected to violence, and through legislation and investments, our priority will always be to provide support to those impacted by violence, to prevent it before it happens, while ensuring that perpetrators responsible for the horrible crime of intimate partner violence are held accountable through the justice system.

When it comes to violence against women and children, we are focused on actions that deliver concrete and tangible results. That’s why we passed laws like Keira’s Law, some of which were the first of their kind in Canada, to make it harder to victimize women. That’s why we invest significantly in both violence prevention and supports to victims of violence—support programs like emergency shelters, counselling, 24-hour crisis lines, safety planning and transitional housing supports to help women escape abusive situations.

We’ve been working with our federal government on the gender-based violence national action plan, and we welcome municipalities to join us and end this horrible crime. Every woman has the right to live—

The ayes are 66; the nays are 30.

Supplementary question?

Deferred vote on the motion that the question now be put on the motion for third reading of the following bill:

Bill 146, An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes / Projet de loi 146, Loi visant à mettre en oeuvre les mesures budgétaires et à édicter et à modifier diverses lois.

The division bells rang from 1153 to 1158.

Interjections.

On November 28, 2023, Mr. Bethlenfalvy moved third reading of Bill 146, An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes.

On November 28, 2023, Mr. Dowie moved that the question be now put.

All those in favour of the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Mr. Bethlenfalvy has moved third reading of Bill 146, An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard some noes.

All those in favour of the motion will please say “aye.”

All those opposed will please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

Call in the members. This is another five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1202 to 1207.

On November 28, 2023, Mr. Bethlenfalvy moved third reading of Bill 146, An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes.

All those in favour of the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Be it resolved that the bill do now pass and be entitled as in the motion.

Third reading agreed to.

The House recessed from 1211 to 1300.

Report continues in volume B.

My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. I’m hearing more and more from my constituents in rural communities that their day-to-day expenses have become increasingly unaffordable since the carbon tax was introduced. The sad reality is, individuals, families and businesses in rural communities are feeling more pressure from the negative impacts of the carbon tax.

Unfortunately, the independent Liberals and opposition NDP continue to ignore the serious consequences the carbon tax is having on real people—people from communities like Comber, Merlin, Highgate, Wheatley, Ridgetown. Can the minister please explain how our government supports rural communities during these challenging economic times?

The previous Liberal government neglected rural communities for 15 years, and their disrespect for rural Ontario continues to this day. It’s astonishing that the independent Liberals and opposition NDP continue to support the federal carbon tax and make fun of it, even when they’re well aware that it’s causing financial hardship for our families and friends. With the cost of everything increasing because of the carbon tax, people are paying more for transportation, groceries, and home heating, of course.

Can the parliamentary assistant please elaborate on how our government is making life truly more affordable for people in rural Ontario?