I’d like to welcome Aislinn Clancy. She won the by-election on Thursday. She’s my seatmate. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

It’s an honour and an exciting day to introduce our newest colleague, the member-elect for Kitchener Centre, Aislinn Clancy.

I would like to welcome the constit staff from Simcoe North: Jacqueline Bayley; Hannah Jones; Leslie Stroud; Eric Sterling and his partner, Ally. Welcome to Queen’s Park, and good luck on your training today.

It is a pleasure to introduce my constituency staff here today, Nathan Bahalbi and Scott McNab.

It is my great honour to introduce today guests from my riding today, Jane Ambrosino and Valois Ambrosino, who are here with their son Jack Ambrosino, a legislative assistant to my colleague Will Bouma and from my riding of Eglinton–Lawrence.

Five friends I’m introducing: Vanessa, Jollee, Satnam, Deepak and Xiang. Welcome to the Legislature.

It’s my pleasure to welcome two great workers: Deb Ransom and Barb Gonyou, from my constituency office—two great workers, serving the people of Ontario, in Elgin–Middlesex–London.

I just want to introduce to this House my wife, Tara Sharkey, and my daughter Vera-Claire, who are here visiting this morning.

Today’s page captain is Mustafa Arif from the riding of Sarnia–Lambton. I’d like to welcome Mustafa’s family: Tahreem Fatima, Zuhair Arif, Ahmed Arif and Ali Arif. Welcome to our House.

It’s my great pleasure to welcome for the first time at Queen’s Park a great staffer that I have in Ottawa, Amanda Jackson; she’s here in the gallery—also, Mark Kaluski, who’s joining us today.

I’d like to welcome my cousin to the House today, Karson Holland. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

If there are no objections, I would like to continue with introduction of visitors.

I want to acknowledge that we are meeting on lands traditionally inhabited by Indigenous peoples. We pay our respects to the many Indigenous nations who had gathered here and continue to gather here, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, meegwetch.

This morning we have with us, in the public gallery, the Bishop Strachan School choir from the riding of Toronto–St. Paul’s to perform O Canada and God Save the King. Please stand and join them in the singing our national and royal anthem.

Singing of the national anthem / Chant de l’hymne national.

Singing of the royal anthem / Chant de l’hymne royal.

Applause.

First, let me just congratulate the leader of the Green Party and the new member of provincial Parliament here, for Kitchener. It’s never easy turning a seat that has been historically Liberal and NDP, but you were able to accomplish that. I congratulate the both of you for doing that.

I would also suggest to the Leader of the Opposition that she might want to take a look at the results of the by-election. Yet another safe NDP seat has been lost, Mr. Speaker, and you know why that is? Because the Leader of the Opposition isn’t focusing on the things that matter to the people of the province of Ontario. When we reduce costs for people the Leader of the Opposition votes against it. When we put more money back in the pockets of the people of the province of Ontario, they vote against it.

The Liberals have just elected a leader who spends—

Interjections.

To reply, the Minister of Infrastructure.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and government House leader.

This question is for the Premier.

This government is fast-tracking its luxury spa bill, Bill 154. Last week, the opposition tried to find out why exactly the government is trying to pre-emptively block people from suing them for misrepresentation or misconduct when it comes to the Ontario Place scheme. We didn’t get much of an answer from the minister, so I’m hoping the Premier can shed some light on this.

Why does his government need the power to commit acts of misfeasance, bad faith, breach of trust, and breach of fiduciary obligation while building this luxury spa at Ontario Place?

Speaker, Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights gives the public the right to be consulted and heard on matters that affect our environment—matters that would include exemptions to the Environmental Assessment Act that are being included in the luxury spa act, Bill 154. But in an extraordinary step, the government won’t even send Bill 154 to committee for public hearings.

Why is the Premier so afraid to hear what the public has to say about this bill?

Speaker, this government’s luxury spa act, Bill 154, is another attack on democracy and basic norms of lawfulness and good governance. It specifically blocks people from suing the government for misrepresentation or misconduct. It specifically blocks remedies for people who have been harmed by this government. What’s more, it gives a new minister the power to issue ministerial zoning orders, which this government has already, as we know, widely abused.

With this government currently under active police investigation by the RCMP, why is the Premier fast-tracking a bill to give his government the power to ignore the law?

Speaker, when the NDP brought forward positive solutions like paid sick days and free contraceptives, the government seemed to signal some support for those things. When push came to shove, though, they said no.

To the Premier: Don’t Ontarians deserve better than a government mired in scandal and focused solely on their insiders?

The NDP put forward a proposal to close the loopholes that let unscrupulous landlords gouge tenants. The government said no. We tabled a motion to invest in desperately needed non-market and affordable housing options. The government said no.

To the Premier: Why does he keep saying no to solutions that would actually help people keep a roof over their heads?

Interjections.

Interjections.

Thank you very much to the member for the question.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve had a successful number of weeks in this House. We landed a historic deal with the city of Toronto to provide more supports for the TTC, be it in operations or safety. We released the business case which clearly defined everything our government has been saying for the last year and a half about the fact that it will save $600 million of taxpayer money to move the science centre to Ontario Place. And now we’re presenting legislation so that we can get on with it and start construction at Ontario Place, so that we can bring it back to life and make it a place that families can enjoy once again.

As we submitted our development application to the city of Toronto, we also submitted 40 different studies that cover everything from air to wind to soil to stormwater—conservation plan, heritage impact assessment.

Mr. Speaker, government believes that we have done our due diligence and now it’s time to move on and bring Ontario Place and the science centre back to life.

What this bill also does, Mr. Speaker, is provide operational dollars to the TTC for the new transit lines that we are building. It also provides money for new trains. It also provides money so that people can be safe on the TTC when travelling to work.

We landed a historic deal and we’re also making extreme progress on Ontario Place so that we can once again enjoy the site after years of neglect.

What about fare and service integration to make it easier for transit riders to cross boundaries, saving them $1,600 a year? What about building more transit stations in the greater Toronto area? I would say we have had quite the productive session this fall session and we look forward to continuing on in the next two weeks.

Well, Speaker, there you go again, right?

I’m glad to see the Premier finally join us this morning. This government—

Interjections.

Interjections.

Let’s take the rising cost of energy, shall we? New Democrats proposed a smart solution to help people reduce the cost of heating and lower emissions at the same time. The Conservatives said no. Their solution? Write a letter to Ottawa and hope someone else does something.

You’ve been in power for five long years. People are struggling. There are real issues that people deserve answers to.

Speaker, as we head into the holidays, when will this government start saying no to their insiders and start saying yes to regular Ontarians?

Interjections.

I’ll respond to the carbon-tax king that wants the highest carbon tax in the entire world. He gouged the people—

Interjections.

Interjections.

My question is for the Minister of Indigenous Affairs.

Speaker, the carbon tax is essentially a tax on everything and the residents of northern, remote and Indigenous communities feel the effects of this tax most severely. For more than a year, the Chiefs of Ontario have been calling on the federal government to consult with them on the effects of this harmful and regressive tax on their com-munities. Sadly, the federal government has failed to consult with Indigenous communities and properly address their concerns.

The Chiefs of Ontario have recently filed for a judicial review into the application of the carbon tax in Indigenous communities in Ontario, calling this tax both anti-reconciliatory and discriminatory. Speaker, can the minister please comment on the judicial review process of the federal carbon tax for Indigenous communities in Ontario?