For those joining us at close to 5 o’clock, we’re debating the Keeping Energy Costs Down Act, 2024.

What’s clear is that, since day one, our government, led by Premier Ford, has taken action to lower energy costs, including by cancelling the previous government’s cap-and-trade carbon tax, cutting the gas tax and introducing the Ontario Electricity Rebate.

Now, while previous governments implemented schemes that led to skyrocketing energy prices, we’re using every tool in our tool box to keep costs down for residents and businesses like those situated in the town of Whitby and other part of the region of Durham. The Keeping Energy Costs Down Act, 2024, will protect future homebuyers from increased costs and, yes, keep shovels in the ground on critical infrastructure projects.

The proposed legislation would, if passed, give the province authority to reverse the Ontario Energy Board decision to require residential customers and small businesses to pay 100% of the cost of new natural gas connections upfront. These costs would have previously been paid over 40 years. Once the government introduces a natural gas policy statement, a recommendation of the Electrification and Energy Transition Panel’s final report, it will require the Ontario Energy Board to consider this issue again.

The government will also appoint a new chair of the Ontario Energy Board this spring with the expectation that the board and commissioners conduct appropriate consultation—in line with the proposed legislative requirements—before reaching decisions that support the objective of an affordable, reliable and clean energy system.

Natural gas will continue to be an important part of Ontario’s energy mix as we implement our pragmatic plan to invest in and bring online more clean nuclear energy. For example, the recently announced refurbishment of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station which creates and sustains approximately 6,400 Ontario jobs per year for decades to come in towns and cities that surround Pickering like Whitby.

Unlike the previous Liberal government, which saddled families with sky-high hydro bills, our government is taking a thoughtful approach that keep costs down for people and businesses and delivers energy security.

To ensure that future decisions made by the Ontario Energy Board consider a wider range of affected parties and government policy priorities, the proposed act would require the Ontario Energy Board to conduct broader engagement with stakeholders and provide the Minister of Energy with the authority to ask for a separate hearing on any matter of public interest that could arise during an Ontario Energy Board proceeding. This would include both transferring an issue from an ongoing Ontario Energy Board proceeding to its own generic hearing and directing a hearing for a matter not currently before the Ontario Energy Board under certain circumstances.

If passed, the government may subsequently propose regulations to require the Ontario Energy Board to notify and invite participation or testimony from specific stakeholders or economic sectors—for example, transit, low-income service providers, construction, housing or government agencies—that could be significantly impacted by an upcoming decision or hearing.

With the proposed legislation, the government would also ensure new customers do not have to incur upfront contributions towards the construction of certain gas transmission projects that are critical to the province’s economic growth. This would preserve the historical treatment of these transmission projects that provide broad energy system benefits and serve many customers in different areas. Preserving this treatment will help ensure that the province can continue to attract critical investments in sectors like greenhouses and automotive in southwestern Ontario, some of which we heard about earlier today during question period.

In discussing legislation like this, I think it’s helpful to hear perspectives from third parties, and one of those third parties is Ontario Real Estate Association, and their particular quote, which I’m about to read into the record, I think provides valuable context to our deliberations this afternoon. And it’s from Tim Hudak, who is the chief executive officer of the Ontario Real Estate Association:

“If we want to create more Canadian homeowners, we should not whack them with this massive upfront bill for infrastructure that will last for generations.” And this legislation is generational.

“This head-scratching overstep by the” Ontario Energy Board “will push affordability further out of reach for Ontarians, and put provincial and municipal housing targets at risk. Such one-size-fits-all policies will be particularly harmful to Ontario’s smaller and northern communities, where energy infrastructure is not well-developed....”

The Ontario Energy Board’s “bad move to upend Ontario’s long-standing approach to finance infrastructure like natural gas over time puts new neighbourhoods and desperately needed new homes in jeopardy....

“If the short-sighted OEB decision goes through, fewer new connections will be made and fewer homes will be built. Those that do get built will be more expensive and homebuyers will need to pay the entire hookup cost upfront, adding thousands to the price of a home.”

This legislation would also enable the government to require the Ontario Energy Board to conduct a separate hearing on any matter of public interest.

The proposed legislation would also maintain the existing treatment of gas transmission projects that are critical to the province’s economic growth by ensuring new customers do not have to incur upfront financial contributions and update the Ontario Energy Board’s leave-to-construct process to respond to concerns raised by municipalities around supporting critical housing projects and local economic development initiatives.

I’d like to spend a little bit of time on the leave-to-construct process, because I have eight municipalities that form the region of Durham, an upper-tier government, where I live. Many municipalities are very supportive of proposed legislative approach—not only the eight that are in the region of Durham but from the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus. This is what they had to say: “Modernizing these outdated regulations would reduce delays and costs for economic development initiatives including new industries seeking to locate in Ontario and create jobs (or existing seeking to expand), transit projects, community expansion projects, housing developments” and fuel blending as well. That’s from the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus.

Speaker, I see I only have about a minute and nine seconds left, so I’m going to sum up right now.

All of these proposed changes will improve processes, building on the work of the Ontario Energy Board’s modernization started back in 2018, ensuring that the entire energy sector and other impacted sectors have more input into Ontario Energy Board decisions and will ensure that future OEB decisions take into account government policy priorities including protecting ratepayers in the town of Whitby and other parts of the region of Durham.

Speaker, as demand continues to grow across Ontario and, yes, the region of Durham, due to economic and population growth, our government, led by Premier Ford, will continue to work hard to ensure a reliable supply of energy continues to be available for hard-working Ontarians now and in the future.

Well, Speaker, once again, we see the NDP trying to find a way—any way possible that they can to oppose a piece of legislation, even one that makes as much sense as the one that I just spoke to.

This legislation is necessary when we find ourselves in a housing crisis—and I think my colleagues would agree—to ensuring that we can keep shovels in the ground and build the homes that we’re talking about building.

Now, recently, Minister Smith, when he was debating the bill, responded to a similar-type question. I’m going to quote from Hansard—it’s not a prop, Speaker, so I think that’s permissible. He said this: “A recent condominium development here in the GTA would see an upfront connection charge of approximately $290,000. I don’t know who the opposite member thinks is going to pay that....”

I thank my colleague for that. You know, that’s an excellent question, because it also, I think, allows a more direct response.

The savings if we implement this act are big, not just for the homeowners, but for taxpayers and businesses as well. Under the OEB’s decision, a new recreation and wellness centre in the GTA would cost approximately $128,000 upfront. A new 39-home subdivision in the GTA would cost approximately $357,000 upfront. A recent restaurant project in southwestern Ontario, inside of a commercial plaza, would cost approximately $18,000.

By reversing this decision, these costs will be paid over 40 years, just like a mortgage, making new homes and developments—yes—more affordable. That’s a win. That’s a win for taxpayers.

And we’re talking about natural gas connection costs. That’s what we’re talking about here, and access to reliable, affordable energy is critical to powering the new homes we are building and will be building as, increasingly, we meet our targets—and we are meeting our targets. We just had announcements in Brampton. We had announcements here in the city of Toronto. We’re meeting our targets.

The Ontario Energy Board’s recent decision to require natural gas connection costs on new homes and small businesses which were previously paid over 40 years to be paid upfront will only increase the cost of new homes and buildings.

Anyway, thank you for the question from the member from Sarnia, and all of his sterling service here in the Ontario Legislature.

What’s clear is that Ontario is continuing to grow. That means that our regulations need to grow with it. Does that make sense? It does.

Our friends over in British Columbia—and I’m sure the official opposition have a lot of friends in British Columbia—have a threshold of $20 million for their natural gas. How is Ontario’s threshold only $2 million, the same that it was 20 years ago?

If Ontario wants to keep up with the growth that Ontario has seen in the past 10 years, and it’s been significant, then we need to continue to cut red tape, and yes, make life affordable for hard-working families.

As Premier Ford’s parliamentary assistant, I’m pleased to respond. Since we took office in 2018, we have set out to restore Ontario’s reputation as a jurisdiction that is open for business.

After 15 years of a Liberal government, Ontario had lost its way. The Liberals took an economy that was once competitive and crippled it with high taxes and mountains of red tape. At every opportunity, they raised taxes and increased costs for businesses and the hard-working people of this province. Businesses packed up their bags and fled Ontario in droves, seeking out more competitive jurisdictions. So too did some of the brightest and most talented workers, who were being deprived of economic opportunities thanks to Liberals’ failed economic plan. When we heard from companies from across the globe who were looking at new places to invest and expand in, Ontario was not even a consideration for them. Simply put, Ontario wasn’t on the map.

When we got elected, we knew we had to reverse course, and that is exactly what we did. We lowered costs and created the conditions businesses need to succeed. Since 2018, our government has cut more than 500 pieces of red tape, saving businesses more than $939 million each year in gross compliance costs. As a result, we’ve seen new investments and good-paying jobs being created in every sector and every region of our province.

Look at the auto sector, for example. The Liberals watched as the sector stagnated because they didn’t believe Ontario’s more than 100,000 auto workers had what it took to compete in a global economy. But our government knew Ontario had everything it needed to be an auto-producing powerhouse, and that’s why, over the last three years, Ontario has secured more than $28 billion in new auto and EV investments, creating thousands of good-paying jobs across the province and setting our auto sector up for success in the years to come. Because of the actions we’ve taken, the cars of the future will be assembled and produced by Ontario workers.

Earlier this month, as a result of the important investments Ontario has secured, Bloomberg announced that Canada ranked first in their annual global battery supply chain rankings. This is the first time China has not claimed the number one spot since the ranking started.

Unfortunately, the Liberals were happy to watch auto and manufacturing jobs leave Ontario and relocate in foreign jurisdictions. They hollowed out our manufacturing base and chased 300,000 manufacturing jobs out of the province. In contrast, we’re restoring Ontario’s manufacturing might, reassuring manufacturing jobs and building things in our province again.

Just last year, Ontario’s economy added more manufacturing jobs than all 50 states combined. In our tech sector, we’ve seen tens of billions of dollars in investments flood into our province. More than 100,000 good-paying tech jobs have been created since we took office.

In our life sciences sector, we’ve secured over $3 billion in new investments over the last three years. Ontario is now the largest life sciences sector in Canada with over 2,000 firms that employ more than 72,000 people.

The Liberals and the NDP want us to stop promoting Ontario as the destination of choice and close our doors to businesses and good-paying jobs. I can assure you tonight, Speaker, that we will never turn our backs on Ontario businesses and workers. We will never go back to the Liberal days of watching on as jobs and businesses fled the province. In 2023, more than 180,000 good-paying jobs were created across the province, and this is just the start.

To companies looking to invest and expand our message is clear: There is no better place to be than Ontario. We’ll continue to create the conditions for businesses to succeed and promote our province as the best place to do business, so that we can continue together attracting more jobs, creating investments in every region of our great province.