It is now time for further debate.

Interjections.

I recognize the member for Kitchener Centre.

First, I want to thank the minister, who rolled back the changes of our official plan, changes that were done in haste and without consultation last November because they got it done wrong. I acknowledge that when you get it done wrong, you fix those mistakes. This is a wise choice because the decision was made in haste. It caused confusion and shock in my community and undermined local government. I felt this as a city councillor and as someone who was part of the planning process.

Our planning process that we embarked on included the voices of municipality leaders, community leaders, experts, citizens, stakeholders, environmental groups etc., to ensure that we allotted the right amount of land to meet the housing targets we had for decades to come but also were mindful of our forests, our farms and our wetlands, taking only what we need. Our community is dependent on groundwater, one of the few communities in Ontario that uses solely groundwater for our drinking etc.

Unfortunately, the ministry has got it done wrong again, and we continue to waste time and money from cash-strapped municipalities, undermining our local farming economy. Lands were added to our regional official plan 6. Our process used expert data, and we were concerned about impact. This recent addition of hundreds if not thousands of hectares of land does not use good process. Even the province’s own housing task force clearly stated, “Land is available, both inside the ... built-up areas and on undeveloped land outside greenbelts....

“Greenbelts and other environmentally sensitive areas must be protected.” Farms that “provide food and food security” need to be protected. “Relying too heavily on undeveloped land would whittle away too much the already small share of land devoted to agriculture.”

Speaker, this government continues to get it done wrong by doubling down on a flawed process to pursue a sprawl agenda which only benefits wealthy developers.

Former mayor of Toronto and cabinet minister David Crombie said, “The last thing Ontarians need in a housing crisis is a new law that supports building the wrong” kind “of housing in the wrong places at the wrong prices”—his words.

Speculators in my area—our area—are having a field day. They are buying up all the farmland on the countryside line and sitting on it so they can cash in big when the winds turn their way, which has been happening. Our own Waterloo Federation of Agriculture said and protections are now permeable, and our farmers are leaving the province. This flip-flopping is costing our $47-billion farming economy that supplies more than 750,000 jobs. It’s costing us the next generation of farmers. It’s also costing us a livable planet for my kids and our children by doubling down on a way of life that leads to soul-crushing commutes and financially unfeasible municipal costs.

Speaker, I call on the minister to reinstate the regional official plan 6 for the region of Waterloo, to respect our thorough and world-class process, the community, the money that we spent, the time and love we put into it to honour the clean water and air that sustain my children and all of our children.

I’m ready for questions.

I thank the member for his comments. Chair of the public accounts committee—and I won’t be on the committee anymore; as a result, it’ll run much more efficiently going forward than it did before.

I was very interested in the member’s detailed description of what it’s like being in government, and I was taking notes. It was very effective description of the government. Then, I realized, wait a minute, he’s not in government—and may never be. But I want to react to the comment about being powerless, because it got me thinking about what we’ve done here—

Here is what we’ve done. Infrastructure: $70 billion in transit, $185 billion overall; jobs: 700,000 jobs in this mandate; nurses, comment on nurses, we’ve hired 17,000 last year; on, on and on. Far from powerless, Madam Speaker. I think that’s a very powerful agenda that all of us on this side of the House are proud to be a part of. Wouldn’t you agree and therefore want to support the bill?

Thank you for that question. It’s astounding to me that after 20 minutes of me commiserating with the government side, actually not blaming them for bad decision-making individually, and saying collectively that the decisions are made somewhere high up by a PR guy and by special interests, they get their feathers ruffled instead of saying, “Yeah, you’re right. You’re right. It really sucks.”

But that’s exactly what the reality is of this. They may not want to admit it today, but they know—they know—what I’m saying is true. They absolutely know that what I’m saying is true. They’re just too scared to say it themselves.

Health care Tory math: You want to talk about numbers? You? Under this government, hospitals are being forced to pay double the amount to hire agency nurses than have their own nurses. At the same cost, they could be doubling the amount of nurses in our hospitals. These are things not to be proud of: escalating costs of everything, an affordability crisis, skyrocketing costs of literally everything under this government; claiming that they’re going to fight a housing crisis, and all they’re doing is making land speculators rich while people struggle, while workers struggle. How is this something to be proud of?

But again, I don’t blame the member, because it wasn’t him. It was the people making the decisions that they’re all forced to have to walk in line with and follow. I get it: It ruffles feathers—ruffles feathers to know that you made it to government and you’ve got no power, individually. That’s why I commiserate with them, and I wish that they would stand up to their leadership and have an opinion.

I was called out by a government member saying that I wasn’t sticking to the topic. I’m not really sure how that comes into play about the current bill or even what I was saying. Respectfully, I was talking most recently about the privatization that this government is wreaking on health care and what the effect is, that it is bad Tory math, that they take spots—instead of paying nurses and respecting them so that they stay in hospitals, they stay in their long-term jobs, private agencies are coming in. We’re paying double the cost. A quarter of that at least goes into administration—their profits. This is our taxpayer money. Health care is spiralling out of control. They’re making rich friends and donors richer and richer and richer. That money, as the Tory cycle of life, comes back into their coffers.

This has to stop. I hope these members of this government in caucus somewhere get the ministers aside. Shake them. Tell them, “Stand up to the leaders. Stand up to the special interests and the PR guy and do what’s in your heart. Do what’s in your conscience.” Because I know a lot of you are not happy.

Thank you, Madam Speaker—

To my colleague opposite, my neighbour in the adjoining riding: To me, it’s so obvious. It’s economics 101. When you cut taxes and you lay the groundwork for businesses to thrive, they grow; they hire. The new employees pay taxes. When you have new people paying taxes, you have an economy that is growing. This is exactly what history has shown.

I want to ask my friend: Do you not agree that the seeds to success lie in a prudent social economy that is based on keeping the regulations and the taxes as low as possible to encourage people to come here and start a business and hire people, and that’s how you grow an economy?

Snark. Snarky snark. Lack of substance.

Next question.

I was listening to the member quite closely and I just wanted to ask her: She talks about municipalities, and I agree with her—of course they are frustrated, and we hear that frustration, too, which is why we’re helping municipalities so much, because they had such a shortfall in infrastructure funding for the last 15 years under the Liberals—

It is now time for questions and answers.

Further debate?

I appreciate the comments from the member for Kitchener Centre about the concerns that her community has raised over the changes to the official plan. I’m curious to know, as a new member of this House, what her opinion is on a process that sees the government bring forward MZOs without community consent, then brings in legislation to reverse all those MZOs, and then brings in new legislation to un-reverse some of those MZOs. Does the minister think that that is a good use of the legislative time that we have available to us in this chamber? Does it address the real concerns of the people of this province?

I first just want to say good afternoon to everyone in the House. It really is my pleasure to rise today to speak in strong support of Bill 162, the Get It Done Act. If passed, Speaker, this legislation will drive economic growth by keeping costs down for individuals and small businesses across our province, including many in my riding of Mississauga–Streetsville.

I do want to start by thanking our hard-working Premier, Doug Ford, and our Minister of Transportation, Prab Sarkaria, for their leadership in introducing this very important bill. From lower taxes to improved infrastructure, our government is laser-focused on making life more affordable and creating good jobs. With Bill 162, we are taking significant steps towards getting more shovels in the ground faster and delivering on our promise to get it done.

Speaker, the most important issue I hear from so many small businesses is the unfair effect the carbon tax has on their day-to-day operations. That is why I am so happy to say that this vital legislation our government will introduce will help protect people from the high cost of a provincial carbon tax. Carbon pricing puts an extra financial burden on households and businesses through higher prices on everyday goods. That’s why we’re bringing in a bill that, if passed, would give voters a direct say over any future provincial carbon tax, cap-and-trade system or other pricing program.

This proposed legislation would strengthen affordability by requiring any government to obtain consent through a referendum before imposing a new carbon pricing scheme. Speaker, this builds on steps we’ve already taken through the Taxpayer Protection Act to safeguard people from unexpected tax hikes. Our focus as a government remains to keep costs down for Ontarians as they battle rising inflation.

The potential for any added provincial carbon tax is unacceptable, so we continue to urge Ottawa to immediately return the $1.3 billion it collected and set aside for Ontario businesses over the past five years and eliminate the federal carbon tax entirely. According to the CFIB, the average small business would have received about $1,245, but now, because of the changes Ottawa has made, that amount has been reduced by more than half. With families and job creators feeling the pinch like never before, protecting small businesses must be a top priority. That’s why we must lock in accountability and prevent a backdoor carbon tax from sneaking past voters.

The people of Ontario deserve to have a say over what comes out of their wallets and that is precisely what Ontario families expect from us.

Speaker, we were elected to keep more money in people’s pockets. This proposed legislation honours that commitment and guarantees transparency over any scheme that hits wallets with a punitive price on carbon.

We do recognize that more money in consumers’ pockets means more money going back into small businesses in all our local communities, and more money to help families pay for food, heat and necessities.

A carbon tax only punishes entrepreneurs and families through higher operating costs on everyday essentials like energy. Any added provincial carbon tax would push many over the edge, as they are already struggling with inflation. It would be yet another burden, with its increasing costs passed down through higher prices at the pump, energy bills, and everyday goods. For small businesses, this chips away at their competitiveness. Every dollar lost to carbon tax is a dollar that can’t be reinvested back into their businesses.

Our proposed legislation is about defending small businesses and families just trying to make ends meet.

Operational costs, especially for energy-intensive industries, need stability, not unpredictable price hikes from new carbon taxes. Many business owners I’ve spoken to simply can’t absorb carbon taxes on top of other cost pressures. Some have shared fears that they may need to scale back or, sadly, even close their shop as a result. That’s not a risk we can take lightly when small businesses employ so many in communities across Ontario.

That’s why we’re ensuring voters have a say on carbon pricing. We cannot idly watch as carbon pricing threatens the very livelihoods of business owners who power our economy. The last thing they need is a carbon tax increasing their electricity bills and fuel expenses. That money would come out of hiring or capital investments.

Our proposed legislation will protect both individuals and job creators. So I do hope, on that basis, all members will be supportive.

Speaker, as the Associate Minister of Small Business and MPP for Mississauga–Streetsville, I know too well the challenges our entrepreneurs face. High costs are a major barrier that can prevent smaller companies from reaching their full potential. That’s why our government is laser-focused on creating the right conditions to success. We’ve worked hard to lower taxes and reduce costs significantly for job creators. Just last year alone, we saved small businesses over $3.6 billion through our efforts. This is money our entrepreneurs can re-invest to expand operations, hire more staff and fuel economic growth.

With families and businesses feeling the impact of high inflation and interest rates, we must act. That’s why I am so proud that this legislation includes measures to ban new highway tolls across our province. For too long, tolls have acted as an unnecessary tax on commuters and commercial vehicles alike. By prohibiting future tolls, we’re helping drivers in Mississauga and across Ontario keep hundreds of dollars in their pockets each year—money that can instead be spent at local shops and restaurants.

Speaker, this bill will also make the freeze on driver’s licence fees permanent, through our legislation. For the average Mississauga resident, this ongoing freeze translates to real savings that will add to the numerous ways our government is making life more affordable.

With the cost of living higher than ever, our government is doing everything possible to make life more affordable.

Another crucial part of Bill 162 is designating the Hazel McCallion light rail transit extensions to downtown Mississauga and Brampton as priority transit projects. As the MPP for Mississauga–Streetsville, I could not be more supportive of fast-tracking these critical investments. Our aging infrastructure can no longer keep up with the growth that we need to see in Mississauga. As it stands, severe congestion on our roads is costing the average driver in our city over 30 minutes per day, and this leads to lost productivity for our job creators and mounting frustration for commuters.

The new LRT extensions will provide for a faster, more reliable transportation option to boost mobility and economic opportunity across south Peel. And by streamlining the approval process, these vital projects can break ground that much sooner. Transit options like the LRT have overwhelmingly positive impacts on attracting and retaining talent in Mississauga, like our growing workforce, which in turn allows businesses to scale up their operations and create more local jobs.

Speaker, as the Associate Minister of Small Business, I am delighted to see changes to streamline mine permitting processes across the province in this bill. Small businesses in the mining sector are the backbone of many northern and rural economies, and the lifeblood of communities that rely on the resources that they produce. However, long application timelines were a challenge for many exploration and smaller mining companies seeking permits and approvals. That’s why our government took action by implementing the Mining Act modernization in 2019.

The current multi-year process for approving new mining projects hinders growth for many small businesses that operate in our thriving mineral resources sector. From mining supply and service companies to local shops and restaurants, these job creators depend on a healthy industry to run their operations. Streamlining rules will drive greater investment and productivity right across Ontario. By cutting unnecessary layers of bureaucracy and overlapping requirements between ministries, we can welcome more mining projects faster while maintaining the highest environmental standards. This would provide small businesses involved in the sector with greater confidence to hire staff and invest in expansion, knowing demand from mining clients is more predictable and timelier.

For rural and Indigenous businesses in particular, economic spinoffs from an accelerated permitting system could truly be transformative. We must also reduce the burden placed on Indigenous communities through the current permit-by-permit approach. Coordinating engagement on a project would address consultation fatigue and support business relationships between mining companies and First Nation suppliers. Getting resource developments approved in a timely yet thoroughly responsible manner will fuel economic prosperity across multiple regions, all the way from mines in Timmins to the tech companies that use those minerals to make computer chips in southern Ontario.

Speaker, the proposed changes mean more sustainable growth and good jobs in communities that depend on our thriving natural resource sector and the small businesses that support them. Our government is committed to reducing barriers for job creators of all sizes in all sectors. With a streamlined mining permitting system, we will create exciting new opportunities for small businesses all over Ontario.

I know several of the opposition members have constituents who earn their living in the natural resource sector, so I do hope they support these proposals that promise widespread economic benefits for many, many years to come.

On top of that, Speaker, the transit priorities in Bill 162 contain amendments to speed up key infrastructure like highways, rail lines and power grids through environmental assessment reforms. While maintaining our strong oversight and protections, these targeted changes could shave years off project timelines, and that means less time spent tangled in red tape and more time spent building.

Expediting processes, as this bill proposes, will help infrastructure dollars go further, building more roads, more hospitals, more schools and other necessities with the same public funding. And if these projects can be completed sooner, the economic spinoffs will also be returned to the communities more quickly through jobs and new business opportunities.

In Mississauga, getting shovels in the ground faster on priorities like Highway 413 could not be more critical. These proposed expressways will slash commute times for our residents by up to 30 minutes each way on some of the busiest corridors in North America. That’s an hour back in the day for working parents or an hour gained for a local small business to serve customers better. With a population projected to grow by one million people in the next decade, Ontario desperately needs new road infrastructure simply to avoid gridlock.

By fast-tracking responsible development, Bill 162 will help ensure Mississauga and the rest of the GTA have the highways, the transit and logistics networks required to support sustainable growth well into the future. And Speaker, of course, none of these benefits matter if we cannot build more housing to meet sky-high demand.

That’s why I’m so thrilled to see this legislation support streamlining municipal planning approvals. For too long, tedious red tape at the local level has constrained new development. If we want young families to call Mississauga home, or businesses to set up shop, having an adequate supply of housing options is a must.

With the proposed changes, our municipal partners right across the GTHA will be better equipped to modify this quickly and get much-needed projects off the drawing board. Residents will see results faster, from new waste water treatment plants to community centres, as municipalities gain more control over their destinies. Meanwhile, our small business community will have an expanded customer base as our population grows responsibly.

Speaker, I urge all members of this House to vote yes on Bill 162 and, if passed, this forward-thinking legislation will drive investment, attract top talent and build the modern infrastructure our growing communities require, accelerating Ontario’s economic recovery. Streamlining processes while maintaining strong environmental protection strikes the right balance. With a common-sense, efficient approach like this, we can get critical projects done on schedule and on budget. Most importantly, we can deliver for the hard-working people of Mississauga and all of Ontario who just simply want to get ahead in life.

This legislation is about unleashing job creation, revitalizing our municipalities and affirming our government’s unwavering commitment to get it done. Bill 162 will move key projects off the drawing board and into construction, and that means more opportunities for every one of all of our constituents in this House and a brighter economic future we can all be proud of.

Speaker, in closing, let’s all get it done for the people of Ontario.

Thank you to my colleague for her remarks. I officially welcome her to the House—I know I’ve welcomed you earlier, but officially now that I have the floor.

I know the official plan changes the member from Kitchener Centre referenced are being made after careful consultations with the affected municipalities. This is what they requested, and I know the member, from her time on Kitchener city council, will understand that process very well.

She spoke of agriculture. Obviously, as she knows, my riding has a lot of agriculture in it. I know she hasn’t had the opportunity yet to vote on a budget bill, but in the last budget, we invested a lot in agriculture and supporting our farmers. We have a Grow Ontario Strategy. Will she support us in calling on the federal government to remove the carbon tax, which the OFA calls for?

I think farmers also recognize that climate change impacts them more than anything else. And I will say that the oil and gas companies take 18 cents a litre in pure profits, and that’s more important than money people get back in their pockets.

But what I’ll say is the process that they went through in this way is asking cities to bite the hand that feeds them. It was not a fulsome process. We had a world-class process that led to this result. It was democratic. It involved all levels of government. But instead, we’re cherry-picking municipalities and asking them to push back on a PC government that actually holds the purse strings to the very funds that they rely on. It is biased and problematic at best.

I know from my city council—I’m not an expert planner; I never was, and I never claimed to be. I relied on experts in my community to make my decisions. So, to me, to abandon a world-class process was getting it done wrong.

Thank you to the member from London West. What I’ve experienced, and I know from my municipalities, we have had to hire so many additional planning staff in order to meet the expectations of this government. Meanwhile, most of our funding is being cut. We aren’t getting the same funding from our developers. Our city has always said, “Growth pays for growth.” That’s not the reality anymore; instead, we keep doubling down, downloading more and more responsibilities, and less and less money, onto municipalities. Do you know what that leads to? Property tax hikes.

So, in a time of unaffordability, we are coercing our local municipalities to raise property taxes, which is really not helpful, and that’s as a result of the flip-flopping.

One thing that is not good bang for your buck is new highways like the 413. This is something that will balloon out of control. It will cost billions and billions and billions of dollars to save people 30 seconds. Meanwhile, we need two-way, all-day GO in our area. We need an LRT to—

It’s now time for questions.

There have been a number of motions passed in this House relative to the carbon tax: to remove the carbon tax on the transportation of goods, to remove the carbon tax on food production at our farms, to remove the carbon tax on home heating.

Can the member please tell me how this bill will continue to work towards and protect consumers against future carbon taxes?

I really appreciated the minister’s comments for this debate. She was speaking about the mining industry and how this bill will actually help to move that forward. Leaning into her own experience as the Associate Minister of Small Business, I would like her to talk more about the multiplier effect; how all of those small businesses, which are the vast majority of businesses in this province, will continue to thrive and continue to build the revenues for this province like has never been seen before.

It’s the first time I stand up today. I just wanted to say on the carbon tax, it was your government that brought in the carbon tax; we supported cap-and-trade. You should at least tell the citizens of Ontario the truth, and you should tell the truth about the tolls in schedule 6. We know that you privatized and sold off Highway 407, but the east part of the 407 is owned by your government, and just the other day, Durham—where you have a number of MPPs—voted asking your government to take the tolls off Durham and that 407 east, which you’re in charge of.

My question to you: Are you going to support the residents of Durham and take the tolls off the 407 east, which you could do today?

I want to thank the member from Windsor West. However, that question really didn’t pertain to this bill. However—

One way to do that is calling on our federal government to remove the carbon tax off everything; however, we are going to do our part. What is in our control is to make sure that no future governments can add a carbon tax or carbon pricing or cap-and-trade—whatever they want to call it—without holding a referendum first. Let the people of this province speak. The people of this province did speak last year when they brought back our government with a bigger majority, because they wanted us to get it done and to make life more affordable for the people of this province.

So I’m excited about this bill. When it’s passed, it’s really going to make sure that those communities like Timmins continue to grow and continue to thrive.

Today, we are debating Bill 162, the Get It Done bill.

So in the vein of getting it done, I just want to give some acknowledgement and a shout-out to some of my colleagues, my colleague from Humber River–Black Creek, my colleague from Hamilton Mountain and my colleague from Nickel Belt because, today, in the province of Ontario, is the first day that the ban on celebrities and athletes being used in gambling ads for online gaming that this government brought in with no regulations or plans around that. So, in the vein of getting it done, I would like to say to my fellow MPP colleagues, congratulations on pushing so hard along with so many vulnerable people in our communities to actually get the ban on celebrities and athletes to be enacted.