Thank you to all the members in this House who have contributed to the debate on this bill. I would like to thank the member from Oshawa for her comments. One thing I really enjoy is seeing both sides of the House work together.

I’m very pleased to rise today to in support of Bill 153, the Building Infrastructure Safely Act, 2023. I know many members in this House have indicated their support, and we look forward to hearing from them as well.

I want to second the minister in acknowledging all parties involved in this extensive consultation held by the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery, Ontario One Call and the Ministry of Energy to bring Bill 153 to the point it is today.

As part of the development of this bill, many stakeholders, including underground infrastructure owners and operators, excavators and developers, were engaged. With the hard work and dedication of public and business service delivery officials and One Call staff, we were able to craft the bill and lead stakeholder consultations throughout. These consultations emphasized the need to modernize Ontario’s locate delivery framework as well as invest in the future. They underlined how important it is for us to improve locate delivery service and find a balance that minimizes financial impacts and burdens on industry while enhancing safety, which is key for workers and the overall public.

The minister shared in detail about the proposed legislation and its many measures: prohibiting owners and operators of underground infrastructure from charging to provide locates and aligning Ontario One Call powers and responsibilities with those of other administrative authorities.

I would like to take some time to review a couple of the ways this bill is vital to our communities and to Ontario’s overall growth. When the government’s fall economic statement came out in November last year, I believe its title said it all: Building a Strong Ontario Together. That’s our number one goal. As our Minister of Finance said at the time, we must keep investing to build the critical infrastructure to support growing communities across Ontario. Ontario needs new infrastructure, from affordable housing to new public transportation, roads and broadband Internet that reaches every corner of our wonderful province.

The Minister of Finance also laid out our government’s plans for the new Ontario Infrastructure Bank, which will help to drive investment participation so that we can deliver more infrastructure faster. This starts priority areas such as long-term-care homes, affordable housing and infrastructure in the municipal, community, energy and transportation sectors. We owe it to the people of Ontario today and we owe it to our future generations to build this critical infrastructure, to get it done.

As the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery said earlier today, Ontario’s population is growing by half a million people a year, and we’re creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. That’s wonderful news, but it’s no news that to support all that growth, we need more housing and we need vital infrastructure like transit, roads, schools and high-speed Internet.

The road ahead is clear: We must find new ways to build that essential infrastructure while maintaining public safety. Building Ontario means putting investments and infrastructure in place to strengthen local economies and communities across the province now and in the future. That is why Ontario has made a historical commitment of $185 billion over the next 10 years.

Since last year and continuing in 2024, $20.7 billion has been put toward the most ambitious capital plan in Ontario’s history to build highways, roads, transit, hospitals, long-term-care homes, schools, child care spaces, broadband and other critical infrastructure, so it’s touching everything.

Some of you may be wondering how does the Building Infrastructure Safely Act, 2024, fit into the larger picture. The answer is right under your feet. Any time we break ground for a house or a highway or any time we dig, from a small-scale operation like planting a tree to something major like a subway tunnel, we must first identify what infrastructure is buried there. That includes natural gas, high-voltage electrical cables, water, sewer and telecommunications. They’re all right there, right beneath us. And if we want to build infrastructure to meet the needs of our growing population, we need to put in the work. We need to work smart and, most of all, we need to work safe. As a provincial government, that means implementing policies that foster growth sustainably and, most importantly, safely. We must lead and we must continue to work closely with municipalities, private sector partners and community stakeholders.

Speaker, this brings us to why all Ontarians are required to obtain locates before they start to dig on projects of any size. You think about it: A broadband line is only a foot under the ground. You cut that line, you could shut down a whole neighbourhood for a week.

Ontario One Call is an administrative authority. It is responsible for coordinating requests from excavators to locate underground infrastructure. One Call plays a vital role in enhancing overall industry performance and ensuring public safety on excavation projects. They play a vital role in raising awareness about responsibilities under the act, working collaboratively to meet a shared goal of public safety and compliance with the law.

One Call’s main objective is to promote safe digging practices and increase the efficiency, timeliness and coordination of locate delivery to ensure public safety for all.

If passed, Bill 153 would help to improve the system for identifying the location of underground infrastructure, or “locates,” and support the vital infrastructure development that Ontario needs so dearly. Most importantly, these changes would maintain Ontario’s strictest safety standards, because safety is our number one goal.

Before shovels can go into the ground, we need to make sure that critical safety steps are taken. Locating underground infrastructure helps prevent damage to our entire network of underground infrastructure and reduces the risk to public safety.

I remember, and this is a long time ago, when I was a kid, there was a house at the end of the street. An excavator came in and was digging in the front of that house. It hit a gas line, and about 15 minutes later, that house was no longer there. I’ve always remembered that my whole life. Thank God we have One Call today.

Ontario workers need to be assured that they are as protected as they can be when they are out there building, anywhere, working in our great province. These hard-working and dedicated skilled trade workers put their lives and livelihoods on the line every time they go on that job to help make sure we have roads, sewers, homes and telecommunications. We owe it to them to create work environments that are as safe as possible. And that’s why providing locate services at no cost is so important.

By helping to keep these costs down for construction projects, it removes a potential cost barrier to people complying with the public safety requirement to call or click before they dig. We simply do not want there to be any financial disincentives to safety. Safety is paramount. By prohibiting owners and operators of underground infrastructure from charging fees for providing locates, we would minimize public safety risks that would happen and align with long-standing industry practices in Canada and the United States by enshrining it into law.

Speaker, our government knows how much depends on solid infrastructure. The economy growth for the entire province relies on it by allowing businesses to operate and create jobs, connecting our communities and promoting the exchange of goods and services. Well-developed infrastructure reduces the effects of geographical distances and helps our fellow citizens access employment, health care and education that we all need to prosper in this province. This legislation would help usher in a safer, more efficient, cost-effective approach to building critical infrastructure in our great province.

This is our government’s forward-looking agenda to meet the challenges of tomorrow as we look to build capacity for Ontario to grow and succeed for generations to come. Many of my colleagues have said this before, and I will reiterate it again: This bill is part of a pledge that we have made to the people of Ontario to make our province the best place to work, live and play. And that means ensuring the continued success of Ontario One Call and the vital roles it performs so we can all benefit from sustainable, safe infrastructure development today and tomorrow.

I strongly urge all members of the House to support this bill and I look forward to continued discussion on how we can build a stronger Ontario together.