I’m happy to talk a little bit about my excitement about Ontario Place, because I am actually really excited. There’s going to be a wellness centre, yes, as we’ve all discussed, and there will be more things. There will be bike lanes. There will be beautiful bike paths. They have these fire pits. Ontario Place is going to be amazing.

We are going to be building some parking because people need to drive because they come from your riding. They’re not going to ride a bike from the Windsor area; they’re going to have to drive a car.

So, wherever we come from around the province, we have to actually drive. We also like to be environmentally friendly but it is actually impossible for you to put four kids on the back of a bicycle, so you need a place for that car to go.

Our plan for Ontario Place is phenomenal, and if you have some other ideas, please share them.

I know the minister has been working hard. There is a map if you want to see all the things that you can share with your constituents of what Ontario Place will offer.

You can go to the aquarium, which is down by the CN Tower. You can go to the CN Tower. You’ll be able to take—because the new Ontario Line will connect everything. You can actually walk it. It’s not that far if you have the energy, and we all know that young kids have the energy to go take a walk through. Or you can rent bikes. We have bike rentals everywhere, so you can grab a bike and you can bike through the biking paths through Ontario Place and have a great day. You can stop and have a coffee; you can stop and have lunch. It’s going to be a destination for everybody.

I understand that the Liberals had an RFP and chose the same, Therme, when they were in power. So there was an RFP that was put out, and they were the winning bid. But you know what I didn’t mention? I didn’t mention the uploading of the Gardiner and the DVP. That’s part of this whole plan. This will help get people to Ontario Place. They can take the Gardiner. The city of Toronto can no longer dangle that in front of our face, saying, “We’re going to get rid of that”—because we need that infrastructure so people can get to and from work on time, people can get to and from the places. This is a major artery. I’m really happy to see that the government is going to be taking over the Gardiner.

When it comes to the carbon tax, one thing that I can look at in my riding of Etobicoke–Lakeshore, which is the home of the food terminal, is, how does that food get from the farms to the food terminal in Etobicoke? Well, they drive. They have to fill up their trucks with gas. Each time they fill up their cars with gas, it costs more. Then they come to the food terminal and the trucks ship it out again, and how much—what is that? More tax, and it’s the carbon tax. Then you look at the circle—so that means your prices of your food are going up, everything is going up. So the carbon tax, there is nothing positive about it. It is a tax. It is money that’s coming directly out of our pockets. We’re in an affordability crisis. I think it’s time to axe the tax.

I’ve got a message from St. Paul’s for this Conservative government: Hands off Ontario Place. Keep Ontario Place public.

This government has quietly taken down the Ontario Place statement of heritage value from its website. It’s not the first time this government has disregarded culture and heritage. Last year, Architectural Conservancy Ontario and other key heritage stakeholders were not consulted on the disastrous Bill 23, which served as a slap in the face to our Ontario heritage system.

Their Ontario Place redevelopment deal, or scheme? Same old deal: no meaningful consultation with community, Indigenous land keepers, environmentalists. Even its own landscape architect has stepped away from this government’s ill-fated project due to its attack on climate change, including tree-clearing which would essentially kill decades-old wildlife habitat. I oppose this government’s new “no deal for Toronto” act. It stinks of preferential treatment for friends and wedding guests, and disregards comprehensive environmental and heritage assessments that should be necessary for large-scale infrastructure projects. Bill 154 allows for a government power grab bypassing and breaking multiple provincial laws in order to complete the Ontario Place redevelopment on behalf of their private luxury buddy firm—and don’t forget, folks, the secretly publicly funded garage.

We stand with Ontario Place for All, the Future of Ontario Place Project and thousands more across Ontario saying, “Hands off our Ontario Place.”