Again, there can be no doubt that when we came to office in 2018, Ontario was facing a crisis, largely as the result of policies of the previous Liberal government, policies that of course are under way in Ottawa: high inflation, high interest rate policies, which have made it difficult to build homes.

However, because of the policies of this government, we are seeing, month after month after month, housing starts continuing to increase in the province of Ontario. In fact, we have met our target for last year, and the year has actually started off very strong. But the trend line is a very important one, and we’re going in the right direction. I’m very happy about that, Mr. Speaker.

When it comes to purpose-built rentals, in fact, more purpose-built rental starts have happened under this government’s watch than at any time in the history of the province, Mr. Speaker, because what we’re trying to do is end what the NDP and the Liberals did for 15 years. We’re trying to end NIMBYism, to make sure that we make the most use out of the investments that we’re making in transit, in transportation.

We will meet our targets, we will reduce obstacles and we will restore Ontario to the best place to live, work, invest and raise a family, to ensure that all Ontarians have the dignity and the opportunity to have the same dream that millions more did. That dream was lost under the previous Liberal government. This Progressive Conservative government will restore it.

The member from Thornhill is absolutely right: After 15 years of previous governments neglecting their duty to build infrastructure, transit and highways across this province, our government is getting it done. Our population is growing rapidly—over a million people in the next two years—and we need to build that infrastructure now. That’s why, in 2019, our government made it a priority to introduce the Building Transit Faster Act to ensure that we can better connect the people in the GTHA, and faster.

Speaker, we know that more transit is needed today, and it couldn’t come soon enough. Whether it’s highways or transit, our government is committed to building Ontario, which is why later today our government will introduce legislation that tackles unnecessary delays and makes it easier and faster to build. We are the only party working to save Ontarians money while fighting for fast and reliable infrastructure.

We’re also giving commuters more certainty by permanently banning tolls on provincial highways. We know we are the only party standing up for Ontarians. We are the only party focused on making life easier for people and building our future. That is why we have removed vehicle val tags. That is why we have reduced taxes by over 10 cents per litre at the gas pumps and that is why we will also continue to fight for the people of Ontario and keep costs down.

My ministry and our government are always looking for alternative service delivery models, building on a century of private sector delivery models. Small business will always be part of that, but the retail partnership process is also such a great success, with the extended hours, with the convenience and the community hubs associated with it. Every single location that was due to expire anyway, every single one of those employees is eligible for employment at any one of the retail partnerships, including that of Staples Canada.

This is good news for Ontarians. They welcome the longer hours—up to 9 p.m. weeknights, all day Saturday—more accessibility, more parking and the convenience of online booking. That is interaction with government that puts the customer first. The people of Ontario come first every time with ServiceOntario.

As I have indicated, there are no job losses whatsoever on the government side. Everyone on the private side has the opportunity and are eligible for employment at the extended-hours locations of the nine Staples Canada locations.

Speaker, through you to the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery: This month, 11 small business people in Ontario were told they would lose their business. Their ServiceOntario contracts were ripped away without a tendering process and handed to Staples, a big box American corporation that is in the process of laying off staff. These businesses were then sent a threatening email telling them not to speak to the media.

What followed was an interview between this minister and Richard Southern, from CityNews, that can only be described as a dumpster fire inside a train wreck. This minister couldn’t produce a business plan and was not aware of the costs or basic details of the sole-source contract.

When will this government stop pandering to big box corporations and apologize to small business owners who feel they’ve been slapped in the face?

Interjections.

But she told CityNews she feels she’s been treated like garbage and said, “I’ve been a PC member my entire life. I’ve stuck by them my whole life. I’m finally done.”

Did the Premier have prior knowledge that small business owners like Klaudia were going to be used and abused in this manner, or is this yet another example of incompetence in the offices of the Premier and his cabinet?

Members will please take their seats.

Interjections.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

To reply, the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery.

I want to say a heartfelt welcome back to all my friends and colleagues in the House.

My question is for the Minister of Transportation. Residents in my riding of Thornhill have been extremely vocal about the need for more infrastructure to support the rapid and consistent growth of Ontario’s population. In 2018, our government promised to get people moving and better connected to communities across the province. We’re keeping our promise and building new highways, roads and transit, but at this time, these projects just can’t come soon enough.

Speaker, can the minister please explain what steps he is taking to build infrastructure faster?

Speaker, we know that in order to ensure Ontario remains the best place to live in Canada, to work, to raise a family, we also need to ensure that costs remain low for Ontarians. People in my community and across this province need stability and certainty. Can the minister please explain what steps our government is taking to make life more affordable for communities and businesses?

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. When the Liberals were in office, Ontario was known for its high-tax, overly regulated and uncompetitive business environment. Companies that were here left in droves and companies abroad would not even consider Ontario as a place to expand their businesses. Thankfully, when we got in office, we immediately reversed course. We are tearing down the unnecessary red tape that the Liberals put up. As a result, we’ve seen investments flood in from across the globe.

I understand that the minister just came back from a trade and investment mission to India where he spoke with companies who are intrigued by what Ontario has to offer. Can the minister provide an update on how Ontario’s mission to India went?

Can the minister elaborate on why companies in India and abroad are choosing Ontario to invest and expand in?

And the supplementary question?

The supplementary question?

Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Transportation. Once again, the Conservatives are only showing up when it’s convenient for them. Many of us on this side of the House have been advocating all-day, two-way Milton GO service for years, and the federal government offered to provide funding for this project three years ago. The minister’s predecessor declined that offer.

But it’s obvious that this government is only reversing course on that because of the upcoming by-election in Milton. It appears that the only way to get this government to invest in a riding is to have the PC MPP jump ship from their caucus—and don’t get me started on how much time the Premier has spent in Mississauga since December 3.

Speaker, can the minister explain to the people of Milton and Mississauga why they have had to wait this long for the government to move forward with all-day service on the Milton line?

In 15 years of the previous Liberal government, absolutely nothing got built in this province. This government undertook the largest investment in public transit under the leadership of this Premier, and guess what, Mr. Speaker? That Liberal member voted against every single one of those transit investments, every single time, whether that’s the Milton GO or whether that’s the Scarborough subway extension in her own riding, in her own area. She voted against that multiple times.

When the Associate Minister of Transportation introduced One Fare, those members over there voted against it. Mr. Speaker, every time we put more money into public transit, there’s one common theme: The Liberals do not vote in support of it and don’t support our investments that we’re making across the province. We’re seeing record population growth. Our government is getting it done, and we’re getting shovels in the ground, and we will take no lessons from the previous Liberal government that did nothing—

Interjections.

My question is to the Premier. Today, I’m joined by former patients of a family doctor at Taddle Creek Family Health Team. They, along with 1,600 other patients, were left scrambling when their family doctor moved to an executive health private medical clinic called MD Direct. MD Direct charges patients an annual fee of up to $4,995 a year to see a doctor.

The Canada Health Act is very clear. Canadian health care providers are prohibited from extra-billing and user charges for medically necessary services, like primary care.

My question is to the Premier: Does the minister think it is legal that patients are being required to pay $4,995 a year to see their family doctor?

My question, back to the Premier and the Minister of Health: I am worried about the Conservatives’ push for a two-tier health care system. It is distressing and dangerous for people to be without a family doctor, yet there are 2.2 million people in Ontario who do not have one. Ontarians should not have to go to busy emergency rooms to get access to basic care, and they should not have to pay $4,995 a year to access their family doctor.

My question, again, to the minister: Does the minister think it’s acceptable for patients to be required to pay $4,995 a year to see their family doctor?

Thank you very much, Speaker—

Interjection.

Interjections.

Two weeks ago, we were able to announce 78 new expanded primary care practitioner teams in the province of Ontario. As part of that announcement, Speaker, we actually also set aside an investment of $20 million for existing primary care multidisciplinary teams in the province of Ontario.

Speaker, would I, would Premier Ford, like to do more? Absolutely. The challenge is that we had a previous Liberal government that actually cut medical seats in the province of Ontario, so we are now dealing with a shortage courtesy of the previous Liberal government. If they had not cut those 50 medical seats, we would have 200, almost 300—

Now, the member opposite is talking about the need for extended and added services in our primary health care space. I absolutely agree. Ontario actually leads Canada in terms of individuals who are matched with a primary care practitioner, but I know that we can do more, which is exactly why we have expanded 78 new expansions of primary care practitioners. It is something that we have not seen in the province of Ontario since multidisciplinary teams were started.

And, yes, there are primary care expansions in Toronto. There are primary care expansions in Sault Ste. Marie. There are primary care expansions in London, in Woodstock, in Innisfil and on and on. We know that we want to make sure that everyone who wants a primary care practitioner can get attached to one in their community.

My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. The restaurant and hospitality industry is essential to our province’s economy and labour market. People employed in this industry work day and night to provide high-quality service and experience for Ontarians and tourists alike. Unfortunately, unpaid trial shifts and punitive deductions are still commonplace for workers in the sector. This is unacceptable. Our government must ensure that workers in the service industry are well supported and their earnings are safeguarded.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government is delivering better protections and bigger paycheques for Ontario’s workers?

Speaker, can the minister please share how our government is ensuring all workers have every opportunity to earn a good living and provide for their families?

Mr. Speaker, I will say again, there’s an RCMP investigation on its way.

This government likes to boast about their investment in public transportation, meanwhile Ontarians don’t see any results. My constituents in Scarborough know that all too well. What they mention less is how many of those projects have been in place for years and have only been delayed under the Conservatives: GO train electrification—delayed indefinitely under the Conservatives; Hamilton LRT—cancelled by the Conservatives in 2019 before they did what they are best at and reversed course a year later; Eglinton Crosstown—they wouldn’t even give the people of Ontario an update on that one. There’s still no word on all-day, two-way GO to Kitchener from the government, and the Milton service is only happening because one of their MPPs wanted to escape from the Premier.

Mr. Speaker, will the minister clarify when they will actually deliver these projects that were started years ago?

Interjections.

Stop the clock. Members will please take their seats.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Start the clock. Supplementary?

The Minister of Transportation can reply.

The next question.

Let’s take a look at the record of this government: shovels in the ground on projects like the Ontario Line; shovels on the Scarborough subway extension; the largest rail infrastructure investment in this entire world—that’s the leadership of this Premier. That’s the record of this government. We will stand on it every single day.

We’ve seen rapid population growth in this province—15 years of absolute neglect by the previous Liberal government has left us in this position of gridlock all over this province. But we’re building Ontario. We’ve introduced legislation to make sure we can speed up the process of building subways and transit.

Mr. Speaker, just look at Scarborough. That member, that government had 15 years to act for the people of Scarborough. They did absolutely nothing. It was this Premier and the members from Scarborough that committed to investing in Scarborough and building transit there. When we look at the Milton GO, when we look at GO rail, the previous Liberal government made no investments to make sure that we could have better transit for the people of Milton and Mississauga. Our government is delivering, and we will keep building—

Interjections.

It’s so nice to be back here with everyone, and thank you to the member for that important question.

Speaker, I think, yesterday, on Family Day, many people likely spent a lot of time with Ontario’s fantastic restaurant and hospitality workers. I’d like to thank Kelly, Tracy and the incredible team at Restaurants Canada for the work that they do. In fact, it’s 400,000 diligent workers in Ontario’s service sector who get up each and every day, working hard, and that’s why we’ve tackled to implement significant measures to support them.

In our latest Working for Workers bill, we’ve introduced measures that, if passed, will disclose salary ranges in job postings, ban unpaid trial shifts and prohibit wage deductions in instances like dine-and-dash. These are important measures we’re taking to ensure that we stand with these great workers who help make our precious time with friends and family worth it. I want to thank them for the great work that they do. This government will always have their backs.

Thank you, Speaker, for the question.

I want to touch on two other measures we’re taking. One, we’re ensuring the disclosure of policies related to sharing of pooled tips in restaurants—that’s another important measure we’ve heard from workers is important—and empowering those workers to take home more of their tip pay. We’ve seen in many restaurants they use apps on your phone now to access your tips, and that’s taking deductions off of the hard-working pay of these workers. That’s why we’re empowering them to select where and how those tips get deposited into the bank accounts of these hard-working workers.

But I will just close saying, for these workers to work, you actually need to create the conditions for jobs. That’s why our government has worked so hard. You’ve heard from the Minister of Economic Development the incredible conditions we’ve put in place to attract these high-paying jobs in Ontario that support our hospitality and service workers—

Ma question est pour le premier ministre.

Le contenu du rapport « PEQAB » que la ministre des Collèges et Universités a tenté de cacher et qu’on dit avoir influencé le refus du financement de l’Université de Sudbury est clair : l’université répond et même dépasse les critères pour recevoir du financement.

Monsieur le Premier Ministre, expliquez aux Franco-Ontariens pourquoi vous persistez à refuser de financer cette institution. Êtes-vous simplement complètement indifférent aux besoins de la communauté francophone?

Le Droit a révélé que la ministre avait déjà dit oui à l’Université de Sudbury pour du financement. Ma question pour le premier ministre : qui est passé par-dessus les pouvoirs de la ministre pour retirer le financement qu’elle avait octroyé à l’Université de Sudbury?

Thank you to the member for that question, but let me be clear: This government has done more for francophone post-secondary education in Ontario than any previous government. We stood up not only one but two francophone universities.

Let me be clear: The Ontario government was never directly providing funding to the University of Sudbury as it was never a stand-alone institution. But when the proposals were submitted to make the University of Sudbury a stand-alone institution, our government did a thorough assessment and concluded that it did not reflect the current demand, the enrolment trends or the existing capacity of institutions offering French-language programs in the Greater Sudbury area.

Look, over the past five years, domestic enrolment in francophone-language-education universities has declined by 30% in Ontario. So at this point, it would be irresponsible to stand up a third institution.

We have done more for francophone education in this province. We respect francophone education and giving students the opportunity. We stood up not only the Université de l’Ontario français but also the University of Hearst, so two stand-alone universities. We are giving students the opportunity to study in francophone education in this province. That’s why we are supporting sectors like health human resources by ensuring that Collège Boréal has the opportunity for stand-alone nursing not only in Sudbury, but also in Toronto. I also had the opportunity, with the Minister of Education, to announce more French-language teacher positions right here at the Université de l’Ontario français. So we are doing more for French-language university in this province than any other government has in the past, and we will continue to be responsible with the taxpayers’ dollars.