I’d like to welcome to the Legislature some journalism students and staff from Durham College in my riding. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Good morning, powerful people. It’s lovely to see you all again.

They’re not in the chamber but they’re coming, so hopefully we’re behaving when they come. It’s my clever and creative kids from sensational Secord public school in the east end.

I, too, want to join in welcoming the Bowman family who are here this morning for Bill 149 third reading, in addition to members of the Welland firefighters who are here. We value the work that that they do.

Greg Horton, I believe, just joined us, from the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association. Under Greg’s leadership, firefighters have done so much over the last few years in presumptive coverage, and I thank him for his advocacy. Thank you for being here today.

As I look around the gallery, I see Peter Garrett here with a crew of students from Durham College. He, of course, works in the office of the president. As always, glad to welcome you to Queen’s Park.

As the Speaker of this provincial Parliament, I’m pleased to have a colleague at the far side of the chamber today. In the lower gallery is my friend the MLA from Olds–Didsbury–Three Hills, Speaker Nathan Cooper of the province of Alberta. Speaker Cooper is currently one of the longest-serving Speakers in Canada. He is joined by the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Shannon Dean; his chief of staff, Lianne Bell; and parliamentary and engagement coordinator Andrew Koning. Welcome to Queen’s Park. We’re delighted to have you here.

Minister of Colleges and Universities.

It gives me enormous pleasure to welcome members of my family, the Bowman family. I want to welcome Alisen, Lexi and Colin. They are the family of our fallen hero, Captain Craig Bowman.

I just would like to share that my dad and your dad, Carol, came together on the boat when they first came from the UK, so we have long ties, and it’s really wonderful to see you here. I’m going to thank the minister for the work that he’s done on behalf of firefighters.

Good morning, Speaker. Our public colleges and universities are nearing the breaking point after decades of underfunding, while for-profit career colleges have been seeing a massive expansion under this government.

Yesterday, we got a hint about why in a report that was done by Trillium. They found out that government members have raked in more than $151,000 in political donations from private college operators since 2018. One of the biggest beneficiaries? The local campaign of the Minister of Colleges and Universities herself. That’s thousands of dollars in donations from the very same insiders who stand to benefit directly from her decisions as minister.

To the Premier: Is it acceptable for the Minister of Colleges and Universities to take donations from people lobbying her office on behalf of private colleges?

Interjections.

Private colleges have existed for years, but under this government, they have exploded, so much so that even the Auditor General flagged it. Speaker, is this really how things are going to be done in today’s Ontario?

Interjections.

Speaker, it’s pretty clear who can get it done under this government: anyone willing to fork over the cash. They started handing out licences to private health care companies after receiving thousands of dollars in donations from clinic owners and investors looking to set up private hospitals. And now, here we are. We can connect the dots again: massive donations to the PC Party, massive expansion of private colleges.

How can the Premier defend a return to the bad old days of Liberal cash-for-access culture, where policies are decided by how much you’re willing to hand over to the governing party?

Interjections.

My question is for the Premier. What exactly are attendees getting out of spending $1,000 to attend the minister’s mental health mixer?

To the Premier again, and I hope he answers this question: Why is this government and this minister playing a cash-for-access game with the mental health of Ontarians?

Interjections.

I think the government needs to wake up. Ontarians have caught on to this government’s backroom deals and their insider favours. There are communities all across this province that are waiting for an answer from this government about funding for critical services, and that minister is holding a mixer tonight—$1,000 a pop—to raise money for his own campaign coffers while the mayor of Belleville is so desperate they’re willing to go it alone.

Is this how people are supposed to finally get action on the mental health crisis facing their communities, or the education crisis, the university students? I mean, my goodness.

My question to the Premier is, what next? Are toddlers going to have to give up their toys for child care spaces? What is next? That’s my question to the Premier.

I don’t know if the Leader of the Opposition has done anything to lobby for additional seats in this province, but we on this side have been working hard at that. In fact, I’ve met with the tourism industry and the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. The number of workers that your ministry needs alone—look at March break coming up: the resorts, the front desks, the ski hills. The workers that we need in this province—it’s absolutely incredible.

We are disgusted with the federal government for dropping this on the provinces with no consultation. The Minister of Labour and I tried to meet with the minister months ago and were not able to because they kept cancelling on us. We have been there, working with our stakeholders, the colleges and universities, to ensure that we have a pathway forward as we deal with the disgrace that the federal government has dropped on us.

Mr. Speaker, I sympathize with the Leader of the Opposition. She is correct that under the previous Liberal government, these types of programs became endemic, and we didn’t see, of course, any results with the previous Liberal government.

I remind the Leader of the Opposition that she and her party supported the Liberals throughout that time when they actually held the balance of power. What is so disappointing about that is that during that time of support, we didn’t see investments made in health care, transit, transportation. We didn’t see investments made to build new subways. In fact, they left us the most indebted sub-sovereign government on the planet. They left us the most over-regulated jurisdiction in Canada. They scared away 300,000 jobs. Throughout all of that, the NDP supported them. That’s the legacy of the previous Liberal government.

I’m glad the Leader of the Opposition finally recognizes the destructive nature of the—

There are so many people who have come to me—and I’m very passionate about this—and talked about the failings of the previous Liberal government which have left their families, their children without the ability to get care. And through it all, the NDP supported them.

Interjections.

Members will please take their seats.

Minister of Colleges and Universities.

I’m having difficulty hearing the Leader of the Opposition ask her question, so I’d ask the House to come to order so that I can.

Restart the clock. To respond for the government, the government House leader.

The government House leader will respond.

Start the clock. Supplementary question.

The Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

The final supplementary.

We answered this question yesterday, but I’m going to try to answer it again. One of the first things we did was speak to the mayors, speak to the first responders, speak to CMHA to find out what the immediate needs were. And we were there. We made those investments.

We also went out to Belleville and had the opportunity to meet with all the first responders and with the mayor and we discussed a plan that needs to be put in place. I drove out to Belleville and I spent the time with the mayor and the other service providers. Where were you? Where was the NDP at that point in time? You were busy making cat videos, I assume.

But let’s just talk about the reality of what’s happening in Belleville and everywhere else in the province. We are the first party that is making substantial investments in creating continuums of care in the communities, looking after everyone, and we’re doing it in a culturally safe way, not just in southern Ontario but—

It’s six years of failure, Premier.

My question is to the Associate Minister of Transportation. In my riding of Scarborough–Agincourt, constituents have raised concerns over the steep transit costs. At a time when many individuals and families feel like they are struggling to get ahead, paying a double fare is another added expense to their household budgets.

Speaker, commuters who travel daily to make a living are looking to us to make public transit more convenient and affordable. We must act now to lower transit costs. Can the associate minister please share what our government is doing to make transit more affordable across Ontario’s fast-growing communities?

Our government must remain committed to delivering real, tangible relief for Ontarians. Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on how one fare will keep costs down for the hard-working people in my riding and across Ontario?

My question is to the Premier. In the Auditor General’s annual report released last December, it was revealed that this Conservative government spent about $25 million on partisan ads. “The primary objective of these ads ... was to foster a positive impression of the government,” the report stated—$25 million spent on ads while Ontario experienced 203 emergency department closures; $25 million on ads while 2.3 million Ontarians did not have a family physician; and $25 million on ads while regions across northern Ontario declared a health state of emergency.

This government added insult to injury by opting for a Super Bowl ad, the most expensive ad on television, Speaker. Will the Minister of Finance or will the Premier please tell the citizens of this great province exactly how much of their money was spent on these fictional Super Bowl ads?

Interjections.

Speaker, not just one commercial from this government was aired during the Super Bowl; there were several commercials, which he’s bragging about.

In Waterloo region, I had—

Interjections.

Not just one commercial, Speaker; several. Money was flowing out of the Treasury Board from this place instead of people having access to doctors or to education.

In Waterloo region, I have a constituent who’s been waiting six months for a mammogram. Mammograms save lives. Is that a priority of this Premier? No, it is not. There are almost 300,000 people on a wait-list for mammograms. These tests save lives.

So I want to ask this Premier, who’s bragging about commercials in the LAX airport, can he explain to Ontario why he’s spending public money praising himself over the people of the province who you are elected to serve?

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, I got a call this morning from someone who landed in LAX, and they said they got off the plane and all they saw is Ontario ads running all the way down the terminal. It’s in Chicago. They’re all over the US. Do you know why they’re all over the US? They’re our number one trading partner, Mr. Speaker. And when governors and senators coming up to me, when they come here—and said, “Wow, what are you doing? You’re eating our lunch.” We created more manufacturing jobs than all 50 states combined.

We saw an EV auto sector that both these parties, the Liberals and NDP, absolutely destroyed, chased the whole sector out of the province—$28 billion of investment, more to come this year; $20 billion in tech; $3 billion in life sciences. That’s the reason. They basically chased 300,000 jobs out of the province, and there are 700,000 more people working today than there were five years ago.

You need a lesson on market—

Mr. Speaker, we’re investing $28 billion in transit. In one sector alone, we’re building $70 billion worth of transit across the province. We’re investing $28 billion in highways and roads and bridges. We’re building hospitals. We’re building schools.

This is the place to open up business. Everyone knows it in the US. Again, Mr. Speaker, we’re eating their lunch. This is the place. If you want to do business, the world knows you come to Ontario. We have another $30 billion of investment coming to Ontario this year alone. Hundreds of thousands of people are going to collect a bigger paycheque, a better job because of what our government is doing. Thank God you guys are never going to be in government.

Interjections.

Thank you so much to the member from Scarborough–Agincourt for that question. Speaker, our goal has been always to provide Ontarians with affordable, reliable, and convenient transportation across this great province. That’s why, starting this coming Monday, February 26, under the leadership of Premier Ford, we are introducing eliminating one fare. That will save $1,600 every year.

Mr. Speaker, this program, the one-fare program, is fully funded by our provincial government, and this program will boost the ridership by nearly eight million new riders per year. That means eliminating gridlock and taking cars off the roads.

Our government will continue to put more money back into peoples’ pockets, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’ll get it right.

When a transit rider is going from one transit agency to another, moving from one city to another, no more do they have to pay this double fare. They are going to have an affordable payment, as well as a seamless transition between one transit agency to another.

We want to make sure—the Premier made it crystal clear: We want to stand for affordability. We will work with all the municipal boundaries, all the municipal leaders to make sure one-fare goes beyond—

Stop the clock. Again, I’m having difficulty hearing the member who has the floor, who was duly recognized to ask a question. I’d ask the government side to allow me to do so.

Start the clock. The Premier can respond.

Interjections.

The supplementary question.

The member for Carleton will come to order. The member for Sault Ste. Marie will come to order. The member for Kitchener–Conestoga will come to order.

Restart the clock. The member for Waterloo, I apologize once again for interrupting.

We’ll start the clock. The Premier can respond.

The next question.

The next question.

After six years of this Conservative government, the housing crisis has gone from a fire to a raging inferno. People are struggling, and yet Conservatives made new roadblocks for municipalities to access provincial housing funding. Conservatives even admitted that, to the government, building affordable housing is like “taking power away” and would “destroy the integrity of the free market.”

This Legislature is full of words about housing and little action. Speaking of words, at a time when no one can afford housing, would the Premier please provide a definition for his term “attainable housing”?

Back to the Premier: Across the province, the finance committee heard from municipalities who are breaking under the burden of providing affordable and supportive housing, yet this government has spent 18 months trying to figure out what their own words meant. It’s pretty embarrassing that this government uses slogans that literally mean nothing—literally nothing, even to themselves. It kind of reminds me of the kid who tries to give themselves a cool nickname, and nobody—and I mean nobody—actually uses that name.

When will this government stop using empty words and make good on their promise to make municipalities whole?