To the member, thank you for that question. I’m going to state again that the toll on the 407 is very expensive. Ontarians are facing a massive affordability crisis, and removing those tolls is just going to better the families of Ontario. It’s going to put more money into the people of Ontario’s pockets. Open up the 407—it’s going to help with the gridlock—and get off of Highway 413.

I’d like to thank the member from Windsor–Tecumseh for his presentation. A question regarding schedule 6 of this bill: Schedule 6 prohibits tolls on highways, but those highways that the government is “removing tolls from” are highways that already don’t have tolls. The one highway that does have true tolls is Highway 407, and this bill does not remove the tolls on Highway 407. It’s the same highway where this government inexplicably waived a billion dollars in congestion penalties.

Can the member please explain, why would you remove tolls on highways that don’t have tolls but keep the tolls on highways that do have tolls?

Thank you so much for that question. Removing tolls on roads that don’t have tolls is not going to result in people having more money to pay the bills, to buy food at the supermarket and to pay their rent at the start of the month. It’s just not going to.

We’ve got a provincial budget coming up shortly. My hope is that in this provincial budget we see some real investments in public services, we see some real measures to address the affordability crisis, because what I’m seeing in the Get It Done bill is not going to cut it, is not going to make things more affordable.

There are better things that we can do. There are better things we can invest in to help people get from A to B at an affordable price and spend time with their families or doing what they want to do in their spare time, in their free time—investing in transit, doing smart urban planning so people live near where they work and play so that they don’t have to spend an hour and a half in a car in the first place, really thinking about where we’re going to put our employment hubs so that we’re thinking it through and people don’t just have to come to downtown Toronto for that job. There’s a lot we can do. I don’t think Highway 413 is the answer.