Let’s be clear: Ontario has a carbon tax that you imposed. What people want to know is, what are you going to do with the revenues that this government is collecting? You collect a carbon tax. You didn’t hold a referendum, if I recall. This government is going to collect billions—billions—on your carbon tax.

So while you talk about the concerns of people needing to be able to afford housing in this province, which are very legitimate concerns, my question to you is, why are you hiding the fact that you have a carbon tax? Why are you hiding those revenues? And how are you going to spend them to make life more affordable for the people of Ontario?

I have to say, listening to the member just speaking now: Trying to discredit the Ontario Energy Board to justify your kneecapping of their decision; to try and say that the process that the OEB went through was substandard; to, in fact, present statements about their year-long process and about the many, many people, the over 30 or 35 expert witnesses, that came to this decision; to watch this government do anything to twist themselves in circles so hard that they’ll fly up—you know, something—is unbelievable.

But I shouldn’t be shocked, because this is just the government’s MO. This is the government that will spend millions and millions—hundreds of millions—on ad campaigns, and the cringe of those ad campaigns for all of us is unbearable. So let me give you a bit of your own medicine: What if I told you there was a place where the government took the side of a for-profit, huge corporation and forced the costs on individual residents? What if I told you that place is Ontario? And what if I told you this bill before us, called “Keeping Energy Costs Down,” is evidence—exhibit A—that that’s what’s happening here? This bill is entitled “Keeping Energy Costs Down,” but my question is, keeping energy costs down for who? Because these do not keep energy cost down for ratepayers in the province of Ontario. It just jacks them up.

Who is this government working for? We see time and time again where this government stands, whose side they stand on, and it’s not on the side of individuals in this province; it’s certainly not on the side of young people, who have such anxiety about our future, given the impending climate crisis.

We’ve seen a government that certainly didn’t take the side of families who lost loved ones in long-term-care homes. Whose side did this government take? They took the side of the for-profit corporations, the operators, and made sure that they continued to make profits on our seniors, despite an abysmal track record in those for-profit long-term-care homes. In fact, they went to great lengths to inoculate these long-term-care homes from any consequences for their mistreatment of our loved ones.

Has this government taken the side of people who can’t afford groceries? We keep talking about food insecurity. The government says “food insecurity.” Do you know what that means? People can’t afford to eat. That’s what that means. In this province, they can’t afford to eat. They can’t afford to feed their kids. Did the government take their side? Did they stand on the side of families struggling to feed themselves and their kids? No. Whose side did they stand on? The side of Galen Weston and Loblaws, the corporation that has seen billions in profits, rising profits, during this time, and that also was given a nice, sweet deal by this government so that Shoppers Drug Mart could administer vaccines. And what have they got now? Shoppers Drug Mart gets insider access.

Didn’t this government also give Loblaws cash money for fridges and freezers? So this government didn’t stand on the side of consumers. This government stood on the side of Galen Weston and that huge corporation.

Did this government stand on the side of people all across this province who didn’t want to see the greenbelt grabbed from their province? Did it stand on the side of environmentalists? Did it stand on the side of farmers losing prime farmland to the tune of 320 acres a day? Did this government stand on the side of democratically elected municipalities that said, “We don’t need your urban boundary expansion. We can make our housing targets within the existing urban boundaries”—which is happening. No. Who did they stand on the side of?

This is an unprecedented situation, where a government is under an RCMP criminal investigation, so it would be interesting see what side they stand on that—whether they’re found guilty or not.

I’d like to see a government that finally takes the side of individuals.

Let’s talk about the Eglinton Crosstown. This government has people living in that community—how long is it? Eight years?

It’s still not operational. Small businesses have lost their businesses. They’ve been suffering for this long. And who does this government take the side of?

How about ServiceOntario? The minister is here today. I would like to ask the minister: Did you take the side of small business owners who have been operating for years and years in our community? Did you take the side of people who wanted to see access to ServiceOntario in their communities? No. You took the side of Staples and Walmart. Not only did you take the side of Staples and Walmart, but you made sure that they were well-compensated for that.

And now who is this government taking the side of? This government is taking the side of Enbridge. And who is Enbridge? Enbridge, essentially, is a regulated energy monopoly operating in our province. The only thing that protects us from that monopoly is the OEB, which this government has spent hours and hours here discrediting. That’s the only thing that protects us from the monopoly of Enbridge. And what is Enbridge? Let’s just talk a little about Enbridge, how the CEO of Enbridge makes—how much? Some $19 million a year: That’s how much the CEO of Enbridge makes. How much profit did Enbridge make?

Interjection.