Tuning in from Ottawa Centre is Megan Mick. This is Megan’s last day working in her short-term placement with us in Ottawa Centre.

Thank you, Megan, for tuning in this morning and for all you did for the great people of Ottawa Centre.

I want to introduce Dave and Maria Hartney, who are in the gallery, from the beautiful riding of Perth–Wellington.

I know there are lots of folks here from Ontario Place for All. I would also like to welcome Rebecca Diedrichs, Jonathan Robinson, John Russell, Eric Cowell, Alie Rutty, and Margie Zeidler. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I would like to introduce and thank my first and wonderful OLIP intern, Razan Akiba, who has been a wonderful addition to our team. Thank you so much for all your hard work.

I’d like to take a moment to welcome and thank all of the good folks from Ontario Place for All for joining us here today. Thank you for all of your hard work and advocacy.

Interjections.

Members please take their seats. There are no political statements associated with introduction of visitors.

I’ll first recognize the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

As I planned my member’s statement for today, I intended to deliver a message encouraging everyone to shop locally and support their local economies. But I was inspired by some of my colleagues on both sides of the House to take a slightly more artistic approach. So, with the help of my amazing staff, may I present some advice from St. Nicholas:

‘Twas the weeks before Christmas, and all through the town

The parents were shopping as flurries came down.

Getting gifts for their children from local shopkeepers,

Then shopping online as the snow just got deeper.

But a local business supports so many things

From hockey to splash pads, and much in between.

From the shirts and the jerseys on local sports teams,

To the new park equipment—just look at it gleam!

While enjoying the stores, seeing people they know,

They are laughing and smiling with their faces aglow.

These local shopkeepers, so friendly and warm,

Also employ people, with kids of their own.

So we ask you to choose them and choose your home city

While enjoying the street scenes decorated so pretty.

With the many supporters, our stores are successful

So merry Christmas to all, and to all we are grateful!

I just need to take a moment to wish the very best of the season to all the residents of Hastings–Lennox and Addington, to all my colleagues here in the House and the staff. I wish you a very happy holiday season. Joy, peace, laughter and rest.

I am delighted this morning to welcome Sofia Olaya, who is a high school co-op student working in my constituency office, and my executive assistant, Amanda Stratton. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I would like to welcome the Newmarket Huron Heights Warriors football team to Queen’s Park, who will actually be arriving later this afternoon. The Warriors won 37-2 in the Golden Horseshoe Bowl on November 28, and this game marks the team as top in this great province. Congratulations to the Warriors.

From Ontario Place for All, we have Nicholas Jennings, Sheila Toller, Abdulkadir Celik, Marybeth McTeague, Beth Kapusta, Thomas Varey, Janine Miedzik, and Michelle Smith. Welcome to your House.

I think it will come as no surprise to the Leader of the Opposition that I look at things a lot differently.

When I look back at this past year, I see over 700,000 people who have the dignity of a job, who didn’t have that before. I see billions of dollars worth of investments that have come to the province of Ontario because of the policies of this government—the policies that have reduced red tape, cut taxes. We are investing in infrastructure to support the investments that are coming into this province. We’re investing in transit, transportation.

I look at our students, and for the first time, this Minister of Education has delivered peace in our school system. I say that quite sincerely. Probably for the first time in my life, there is peace in our school system.

I look at the work that the Minister of Labour has done to ensure that we improve access to skilled trades. I look at the amount of women who are coming into the skilled trades.

When I look back, I see a really good year and much to look forward to in the years ahead.

Moreover, we are making significant progress on our commitment to build 58,000 new and upgraded long-term-care-home beds—which are homes for seniors. We’re making progress on that.

We are bringing economic development to parts of the province of Ontario that have never had it before. I look at the people in Loyalist township, who will have one of the largest investments ever made in their community—jobs and opportunity for them.

I look at the Minister of Northern Development and the Minister of Mines—the fact that we are opening up the resources of the north to support investments that are coming in the south.

Good news for all.

First of all, I can’t believe what’s coming out of the leader’s mouth across the aisle about housing, when the NDP and the Liberals and the Greens have voted against every single housing initiative that we’ve ever put forward.

We could go back five and a half years, when people were leaving the province, 300,000 jobs were leaving.

But the good news is, we’ve created the climate and the conditions for 715,000 people to be working today who weren’t working under their government. There are over 300,000 jobs available. We had over 800,000 immigrants show up to Ontario last year alone. That’s what’s causing the housing crisis. But do you know why they’re coming here? This is the engine of Canada. This is the engine of North America. Everyone in North America knows we’re the hottest place anywhere in North America to open a business, to start a family, to buy a home. That’s what the real solution is—by creating that environment.

Thank you for the question from the Leader of the Opposition.

I seek unanimous consent that, notwithstanding standing order 40(e), five minutes be allotted to the independent members as a group to respond during statements by the ministry and responses today.

Next, I’ll recognize the leader of His Majesty’s loyal opposition.

The government House leader.

Stop the clock.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Restart the clock.

The Leader of the Opposition still has some time.

The Premier can respond.

Thank you, Speaker. I stand today and seek unanimous consent for the House to call upon the federal government to immediately enact special immigration measures to facilitate the evacuation and reunification of extended family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents from Gaza.

As we head into the holiday season, Ontarians are stretching every single penny to try to provide for their families.

When I talk with people, their frustrations are very clear. They’re frustrated that they have a government that isn’t putting their needs first on housing, on health care, or on the rising cost of living. They see a government captured by insiders and too mired in scandals and an RCMP criminal investigation to help them.

To the Premier: People expect so much more from their government. When will he start to deliver for them?

A new report by the Auditor General that was just released leaves absolutely no doubt about the utter failure of this government to live up to what they were elected to do on health care, on public infrastructure, on support for northern Ontario. The auditor’s report shows that people are being left behind while this government is being run out of the backrooms.

My question is again to the Premier: How many times does he have to get caught? How many policies will he have to reverse before he starts to put real people ahead of his own ambitions?

Interjections.

The only thing that the Premier and his cabinet have done in this last year is manufacture a housing crisis, a health care system on its deathbed, and a cost-of-living crisis that has Ontarians on the brink. What a shameful moment in—

Interjections.

What a shameful moment in Ontario’s history that this Premier has put us in. And what for? His insider friends?

Back to the Premier—I hope he will answer: Was it worth it?

Interjections.

Now we have reports that show the dissolution of Peel region is going to be another extremely costly boondoggle for the people of Brampton and Caledon and Mississauga—and as I pointed out yesterday, tax hikes as high as 256%.

To the Premier: Are you going to reverse this decision too?

I’m going to ask the opposition to come to order so that I can hear the responses. I think the opposition wants to hear them too.

Supplementary question.

The government House leader can reply.

To reply, the Premier.

The supplementary question?

Government House leader.

I think the questions from the Leader of the Opposition really highlight the dramatic difference between the NDP and the Progressive Conservative government. She calls the historic investments that we’ve made in Windsor a waste of time. She calls the historic investments in Loyalist a waste of time. We have the largest investment probably in Canadian history in St. Thomas—thousands of jobs coming to the province of Ontario.

This is a leader who, in the last election, brought her and her party’s disagreement with the 413, an important piece of infrastructure to support the people of that region—voted against it. The result of that was that the entire caucus that was elected from the NDP was wiped out and Progressive Conservatives replaced them.

We’re going to double down over the next year to improve on all of the things that we’ve brought forward to the province: affordability, infrastructure, jobs, opportunity—a bigger, better, bolder Ontario.

I am excited by the fact that we have 15,000—the highest level of purpose-built rental starts in the history of this province.

But more than that, Mr. Speaker, it is why I am continuously calling in this House for the federal government to come on board with us so that we can put more infrastructure in the ground. The federal government has a $15-billion program across the country right now. That program is estimated to bring about 200,000 homes online; $15 billion worth of infrastructure across this country would build millions of homes.

So I need the member opposite’s support to help us get the federal government to make those investments in infrastructure so that we can build millions of homes, so there are more opportunities for the people of the province of Ontario.

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Speaker, when the Liberals were in office, they actively implemented policies that were intended to cripple our auto sector. They knew the electric vehicle revolution was under way, but they didn’t believe our auto sector could compete with China and other US states. As a result, they looked on, with the NDP, as automakers and good-paying jobs fled our province.

Thankfully, our government quickly reversed course as soon as we took office. We know Ontario has everything to be the leader in electric vehicle production, and that’s why we have worked to secure more than $27 billion in EV investments over the past three years.

Speaker, can the minister please highlight any recent auto investments that are strengthening Ontario’s position as a leader in electric vehicle production?

Sometimes I sit back and I look across the aisle and I’m thinking, how do these people get elected? I really ask myself, how do they get elected? If their constituents actually were here and saw how they vote—and they vote to make sure we have the highest carbon tax, vote against every housing policy, vote against $180 billion of infrastructure, vote against all our great health care initiatives—they would never be voted in.

As a matter of fact—I know this is a little fantasy—imagine we stuck them in one part of the province, and the rest of us there. They’d go bankrupt. The businesses would leave. People would be moving out. They’d have tent cities all around their little region there. It would be an absolute disaster. That’s the reason they will never get elected to be running the government.

Interjections.

You voted no against the subway that the people wanted in Scarborough. They voted no for the new hospital that people wanted. They voted no to the long-term-care homes.

So please, I beg you, you’re such a nice person, start getting onside with the people of Scarborough and start supporting them, and start voting for the housing initiatives that we put forward.