Colleagues, the traffic in Brampton is out of control. Our population has doubled in the last 20 years; our transit, road and highway infrastructure has not.

Highways are a provincial responsibility, and Brampton residents had to watch as the previous Liberal government studied, delayed and ultimately cancelled Brampton’s bypass highway, Highway 413. When our party made the 413 a key platform item in the 2022 election, Brampton responded in a huge way, sending me and my four PC Brampton colleagues to Queen’s Park as part of the majority government. The message was clear: Build the highway; get it done.

Apparently, the federal Liberal environment minister wasn’t listening, and his government wasn’t listening, because they have stepped in and declared a federal impact assessment. This is massive government overreach, for one purpose: to kill the Highway 413. Colleagues, the federal impact assessment is the same study required for a nuclear power plant. The federal government has never declared one for a new provincial highway before the 413. That means highways like the 401, 412, 404 and 418 never had to undergo this impact assessment. And yet, when Brampton wants a new highway, we hear all the excuses come out.

Speaker, I am, and my residents are, so tired of excuses. I have one message to the federal Liberal environment minister: Get on board with Highway 413, or get out of our way.

Mr. Speaker, our government has launched the largest expansion of public transit in the history of this province. The NDP and the Liberals have voted against it every step of the way.

Let’s look at the Ontario Line: 28,000 cars being taken off the road, and what do the NDP do? They vote against that.

We were just announcing a milestone on the Yonge North subway extension just this past Friday, another large milestone in making sure we get shovels in the ground. That project will reduce travel time by 22 minutes, but it will also put over 26,000 people in 10 minutes’ walking distance to a transit station.

Under the leadership of Premier Ford, we have built an incredible $70-billion program to support public transit across this province. It’s about time that the NDP support that plan.

The NDP have had multiple opportunities to support public transit in this province and they have said no every single time. On one hand, they want to support the Liberals and the highest carbon tax, on the other hand, they don’t want to support $70 billion of public investment into transit. They’ve got to pick a side. Like the House leader said, they stand for absolutely nothing.

When we’re taking 28,000 cars off the road on the Ontario Line, on the Eglinton West LRT extension, taking 6.5 million fewer trips in your cars, what do the NDP do to that? They vote against that every single time. The highest carbon tax from the NDP, no investment in public transit—they vote against it every single time.

Under the leadership of Premier Ford, we will build highways, we will build roads, we will build subways and we will build LRTs and change the transportation network across this—

Interjections.