Now, there’s a member that gets it, Mr. Speaker. There’s a member that listens to his community, that drives on the roads that those families are driving on every single day trying to get to and from work in the gridlock that has been created because the previous Liberal government refused to invest in roads and bridges and highways.

I’m equally shocked at the comments from the federal environment minister saying that he won’t build or invest in more bridges and highways. We’re seeing explosive growth in Ontario, a million people over the next two years, and the federal government doesn’t want to invest in infrastructure. That’s crazy. But thankfully, we’ve got good members, like the member for Brampton North, fighting for their residents, fighting for the people of this province.

We’re going to invest $28 billion over the next 10 years in building highways and roads, and we will take no lesson from the previous Liberal government that—

I can tell you it’s world-class, Mr. Speaker, because this program was developed by the autism community for the autism community, and I thank them for the great work they do and the continuous support they’re providing.

The member across and the previous government may have been okay with families languishing on a wait-list where only 8,000 families were being served. It wasn’t good enough for us, Mr. Speaker. It wasn’t good enough, which is why we’ve worked with the communities, clinicians, to put in a program that is designed by the community for the community. Thousands of families are now accessing programs and supports that were provided, again, by the community—even the implementation team that supported us in putting this program together was done by the community.

So, once again, taking lessons from the NDP on a failed program by the previous government where they sat on their hands and did nothing is not something I’m going to do.

Interjection.

My question is for the Minister of Mines. The previous Liberal government all but ignored the importance of the north, failing to invest in northern Ontario’s mineral exploration and development sector. Their inaction had dire effects on the economy of northern Ontario. Even the NDP, after being given the opportunity to build a stronger mining sector and vote in favour of investment and development, chose to say no and do nothing.

Unlike the opposition members, our government understands that exploration and development of critical minerals is essential for the economic prosperity of our province. Can the minister please tell the House what our government is doing to support the mining sector while attracting game-changing critical mineral investments in Ontario?

Order.

The Attorney General.

The next question.

To reply, the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

Mr. Speaker, let’s talk about the day that Dalton McGuinty stepped down. Do you know what happened that day? He filled two positions, associate chief justice positions—two of them—that very day. And guess what? Those positions weren’t open yet. They weren’t to be open for over six months in the future, and that night he announced he was stepping down.

I will take no lessons from these people on how the system should work. They abused the system. We are treating it with the respect that it deserves.

My question is for the transportation minister. He’s a fellow Brampton boy, so it won’t take me long to go knock on his door tomorrow if he gives me the runaround today.

Actually, Speaker, getting around Brampton takes a heck of a lot longer than it used to, thanks to 15 years of dithering, delays and neglect from the previous Liberal government. Now, we have a federal Liberal government that decided that the first provincial highway that they ever wanted to declare a federal impact assessment on just happens to be Brampton’s bypass highway, Highway 413.

I wish I was joking about this next part, Speaker, but could you believe that the federal Liberal environment minister, Steven Guilbeault, actually said that Canada should get out of the road-building business altogether? I wish I was joking. Can you believe that—a minister of the crown?

Speaker, could our transportation minister please highlight our government’s approach on whether or not the Ontario government should be in the business of building roads and highways?

The federal carbon tax is making life more expensive for everyone in this province. I’ve heard from many people in my riding of Brampton North that they’re finding it difficult to keep up with the rising cost of living. They’re paying more for everything, from buying groceries to gassing up their cars to heating their homes. People in our province should not be experiencing financial hardship for the simple acts of buying groceries, taking their kids to school or going to work. We need to stand up for Ontarians all across the board and ensure their concerns are heard loud and clear.

For many residents in Brampton and across our province, heating your home is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Driving is not a luxury; it’s a necessity.

Speaker, can the minister highlight what our government is doing to keep costs down for drivers, families and individuals across Ontario?

My question is for the Premier. Over 60,000 children and youth have been waiting for years without assessments, supports or funding for core autism services, funding that is calculated by an annual determination of needs meeting. Done virtually, it’s about four hours long and is intense, and if that isn’t stressful enough, the funding allocated is far less than it has been in years past with absolutely no explanation and uncontested. An appeal is the only option left. Some take over a year and lapse over the next DON.

Premier, how could you possibly call this a world-class program?

This year, Lisa has been told by AccessOAP that, starting in March, they will be receiving $8,900—over a $56,000 cut. Her care coordinator has no explanation and tells her to file a dispute, a process that could take over a year and will absolutely interfere with Jaxon’s progress. I call that a black hole, not progress.

Premier, is this acceptable to you?

Thank you to the member from Sault Ste. Marie for the question. Speaker, I’ve said many times that we have what the world needs right now to fuel the EV revolution right here in northern Ontario, especially in Timmins.

Under Premier Ford’s leadership, the critical minerals investment strategy was announced, backed by $45 million in innovation and exploration investments. These investments were not supported by the NDP.

It’s clear our efforts are working. I recently joined Canada Nickel’s announcement that they are looking at Timmins, to build two new mineral processing facilities here in Timmins. Our $500,000 Critical Minerals Innovation Fund investment helped Canada Nickel research and develop innovative processing techniques that will be used at these facilities to produce clean nickel and clean steel.

Thanks to our government’s sound strategy and investments, we are securing major investments from battery plants in the south to processing plants in the north—

Speaker, these facilities will bring more jobs, increase Ontario’s processing capacity, and make Timmins a pillar of the supply chain we are building to fuel the EV revolution. One facility is going to be the largest nickel processing centre in North America, while the other will be the largest stainless steel and alloy production facility in all of Canada.

When asked why he chose Timmins, CEO Mark Selby said, “You’d be very hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the world that has the unique combination of advantages we can find right here in Timmins.” I couldn’t agree more. But these projects aren’t just about a better future for Timmins. They’ll create a better future for everybody in Ontario, especially Indigenous communities. Canada Nickel has been working with First Nations from the start, and Chief Bruce Archibald of TTN proudly voiced his continued support for these superb projects.

We have the opportunity of a lifetime in our province, and thanks to Canada Nickel, we are turning opportunities into realities, proving again that there’s no better place to invest and to do business than right here in Ontario.

Thank you.

Supplementary?

I want to thank the minister for his answer. This is amazing news, not just for Timmins and northern Ontario, but for all of Ontario.

These facilities will ensure that the minerals from Timmins are getting processed in Timmins, boosting local employment opportunities and creating sources of nickel for the North American electric vehicle supply chain.

Speaker, the opposition has made it clear, based on their voting record, that they do not believe in the potential of the mining industry in northern Ontario. They would rather rely on minerals from overseas to fuel the electric vehicle revolution.

On this side of the House, we believe it is our obligation to ensure critical minerals are developed and processed right here in our wonderful province of Ontario.

Will the minister please tell us more about how these processing facilities are going to help us build a made-in-Ontario supply chain for electric vehicles?

My question is to the Attorney General. In 2022, we found out that the Attorney General was personally interviewing candidates to be Ontario’s next Chief Justice. Now the government is openly admitting that they are seeking conservative candidates.

So in interviewing Chief Justice candidates, what questions did the Attorney General ask? Did he ask the candidates who they vote for? Did he ask how the candidates would rule in certain cases? Did he give the candidates instructions on the political agenda that they’d be expected to carry out? And does the Attorney General think it’s appropriate for a government under criminal investigation by the RCMP to be so involved in the selection of judges?

In interviewing candidates and assessing their conservative credentials, is the minister asking judicial candidates to override their constitutional responsibility to provide people with a fair and impartial hearing, or is he asking them to make judicial decisions based on political bias?

There were four candidates who applied to become the Chief Justice, and as I’m charged with making that decision—the establishment thought that maybe they should make the decision for me and give me a recommendation. I thought that wasn’t really the appropriate way to go forward. I sat down with each candidate for an hour. Politics never came up. It’s not appropriate. The opposition may not understand. Judges don’t take direction and it would be foolish to try. It would be crossing a line.

What I was interested in in those interviews was their understanding of the court system across the province because it’s very unique. We can talk about the northwest and the northeast and how Ottawa is different than Windsor. Look, Mr. Speaker, it’s a very complex system. I wanted to hear their plans to help keep the courts moving properly.

I would challenge the member opposite to go through the 89 judges that I have appointed so far and tell me that it is not a balanced list. I have appointed excellent judges. They are the cream of the crop right across the board, and I couldn’t tell you who donated or voted Conservative. I really could not tell you.

Thank you to the member for the question. I’m always thrilled to be able to talk about our great fire rangers here in Ontario and how we are supporting them.

We’re going to play a little game called, “Did you know?” Did you know that the previous government’s base funding for fire fighting was $69.8 million and we raised that to $134.9 million? Did you know that, last fall, we invested an additional $20.5 million to support our fire rangers, support new aerial suppression technologies, support science and innovation, including entering into collaborative research agreements with universities and building capacity to work with Indigenous communities in wildland fire management? Did you know that? Because that’s what this government is doing to support our fire rangers every fire season since we’ve taken over.

Mr. Speaker, we have their backs. We have the backs of the communities in northern Ontario, the individuals, the infrastructure that Ontario needs to continue to grow, and we’re going to keep everybody safe.

What are we doing to help more people come into the fire ranger network? We’re reimbursing them for tuition costs to help remove that barrier and providing more equipment bonuses for them to make sure that what they need is covered. We’re providing, for the first time, standby pay and on-call pay.

This is a tough job, Mr. Speaker. We recognize that. We celebrate the men and women who answer the call and do this on behalf of Ontarians. We will always have their back. We are always looking for new ways to support them, and we’ve got more good announcements coming up to support our fire rangers right here in Ontario.

Good afternoon, colleagues. It is my pleasure and honour to welcome to the Legislature this afternoon Black student and community leaders from across the province and representatives from: Delta Family Resource Centre; Early Childhood Development Initiative; Youth Now on Track; Youth Association for Academics, Athletics and Character Education; Smile for Sache; Kingdom House Christian Centre; and, lastly, the chair of the Premier’s Council on Equality of Opportunity, Mohamed Firin. Welcome to your House.

I seek unanimous consent that, notwithstanding standing order 40(e), five minutes be allotted to the independent members as a group to respond to the ministerial statement today on Black History Month.

I seek unanimous consent of the House that, notwithstanding standing order 100(a)(4), five minutes be allotted to the independent members as a group during private members’ public business today.

In budget after budget, we’ve made investments in the judicial system in terms of the administration. We finished the courthouse with 73 more courtrooms, 63 plus 10 meeting rooms. We have done a ton of work to modernize this system, more work than has been done in decades.

The member opposite and her party, and the Liberal Party, voted against every single step forward and keep talking about defunding police and yanking supports out of the system, redirecting those supports.

I can tell you, let’s just talk about any part of the system and the investments that we’re making; they are historic. We have moved the system forward decades in a matter of years, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we have revolutionized the way that the courts work. We are seen across the country as leaders. A former federal Attorney General said to me, “You know, with the COVID money that you got, you were the only province that was deploying it the way it was meant to be done.” I am very proud of that fact.

We are doing things that couldn’t be done for decades, that wouldn’t be done for decades, because the Liberals weren’t paying attention and the NDP were focused on the social worker side of everything. We’re focused on the offenders. We’re focused on the victims. We’re focused on making sure the administration runs exactly the way Ontarians expect it to, and we’re going to keep that up.

Thank you to the terrific member from Hastings–Lennox and Addington.

Crushingly high interest rates are hurting families right across the province. We’ve called on the Bank of Canada to do the right thing and stop raising interest rates—in fact, start lowering those interest rates. When the price of gas is making life harder and less affordable for the millions of Ontario drivers, we stepped in and we cut the gas tax, providing savings right across the province.

Now, Mr. Speaker, we all know that the carbon tax unnecessarily is driving up inflation and harming the pocketbooks of Ontarians. We continue to call on the federal Liberals to do the right thing, listen to the people and end the carbon tax.

My question is to the Premier. The newly appointed chair of the judicial appointments committee is a registered lobbyist for an American gun manufacturer. The Premier then claimed that he wanted to quadruple down on violent offenders, but it’s actually on his watch over the last six years that we’ve seen offenders going free because the criminal justice system is literally collapsing under this government’s neglect.

Chronic underfunding has led to critical understaffing, which has led to the critical courtrooms being closed, which also means that serious cases are being thrown out because they have missed their basic administrative delays.

Will the Premier explain to victims of crime in Ontario why his focus is naming gun lobbyists to the judicial appointments committee as opposed to being laser-focused on funding and fixing the broken court system?

Under this government, court delays have exploded, forcing judges to release violent and gun-related offenders because they have not had their trials completed in a constitutionally allowable time frame. What I think Ontarians want to understand is, how can we have a Premier that has no respect for the charter rights of Ontarians?

Speaker, will the Premier own up to his track record and let Ontarians know how many sexual assault charges, how many impaired driving charges and how many gun-related charges have been thrown out because of the dysfunctional court system, because they can’t get their trials done in time, because they refuse to fund the courts properly and they refuse to fix the system?

Interjections.