I appreciate the opportunity. Of course, we are working very closely with Mayor Chow on developing approval of those official plans, but at the same time, we understand that, after 15 years of Liberal government, no homes were being built across the province of Ontario. In fact, they took away the dream of home ownership. That is the legacy of the Liberal government when they were in power.

They introduced a housing policy the other day. The new housing critic, what did he say about his own policy in 2022? When asked about major transit station area building, he said he was going to fight against it and use whatever levers he could to stop this outrageous type of development from happening. So on the one hand, the Liberal critic says he wants more, but when he’s in private with his community groups, he calls it outrageous.

Now their Liberal leader, she doubles down. She calls a 12-storey condo unit that she disapproved of and rejected “an abomination.” That’s the Liberal record. They say one thing, they accomplish nothing—

Interjections.

You know what happens, Mr. Speaker, when you increase taxes? You make housing unaffordable. When you put in carbon taxes, you make housing unaffordable. When you increase development charges, you make housing unaffordable. You know what communities have done that? Mississauga did it. That’s why the population of Mississauga decreased. Burlington is doing it, and that’s why they’re missing their housing targets. Where there are Conservative mayors, they reduce taxes; they remove obstacles; and they’re getting the housing done. Stouffville—

Thanks to the member from Sault Ste. Marie for the question. He is right: Members in northern Ontario, like in Sault Ste. Marie, don’t have a lot of choice when it comes to how they heat their homes. A lot of them are using home heating fuels, natural gas and propane.

April 1 is coming up fast; it’s about 25 days away. April 1 is known as April Fool’s Day, and this year it happens to be Easter Monday as well, but do you know what it is again in Justin Trudeau’s world? It’s Groundhog Day, because once again this year, they’re increasing the carbon tax. This time, they’re increasing the carbon tax by 23%. What does that mean for those who heat their home in Sault Ste. Marie and across Ontario? Almost $400 a year in an increase to their home heating bill, not to mention what it means for you when you fill up at the pump and what it’s going to mean in the grocery store.

Mr. Speaker, it’s time to stop this charade at the federal level. Call Justin. Call Jagmeet. Put a pause on this carbon tax. We need to stop it today.

With an increase of 23% in the carbon tax on April 1, it’s going to drive up your home heating bill by another $400 a year. There are many people across this province who simply can’t handle that.

We’ve done everything we can possibly do in Ontario to make life more affordable. We fought the carbon tax all the way to the Supreme Court. We’ve lowered gasoline taxes by 10.7 cents a litre, eliminated licence plate sticker fees and eliminated tolls on our highways. We’ve never raised a tax. We’ve never raised a fee. And do you know what has happened? In spite of that federal carbon tax, that terrible tax, being in place, we’re seeing record growth in our province: 700,000 more people are working today than when we took government in—

The reason I’ve been asking, over and over again, questions about the housing crisis, putting forward proposals to legalize housing so we can build homes that ordinary people can afford in the communities they love is because we’re facing an unprecedented housing crisis. And let’s be clear: That crisis is the primary driver of the affordability crisis people are facing.

There is no city in Ontario where a minimum wage worker can afford a one-bedroom apartment. As a matter of fact, a minimum wage worker would have to earn $25.96 to afford average rent for a one-bedroom apartment. In Toronto, even two full-time minimum wage workers cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment without spending more than 30% of their income.

On top of that, the dream of home ownership, especially for a whole generation of young people, is falling further and further away. Housing prices have tripled over the last 10 years. Incomes haven’t even begun to keep pace. You now have to work 22 years of full-time work for a typical young person to save a 20% down payment on an average-priced home. Those living in the GTA have an even tougher time, having to save for 27 years to be able to have a down payment. It will take the average Torontonian making a median income of over $90,000 to save over 25 years to be able to afford a home.

That’s why, three years ago, the Ontario Greens put forward a housing plan that some called a master class plan in delivering the solutions. One of Canada’s top housing experts said the Ontario Greens have the best housing plan of any political party in the country. Why? Because we’re legalizing fourplexes and four-storeys, six-to-11-storey buildings on major transit corridors. We’re getting speculation out of the market, because homes are for people, not speculators. We’re making proposals to build deeply affordable, non-profit, co-op, social and permanent supportive housing to address chronic homelessness. And we’re putting forward proposals to protect renters.

A little over two years ago, the government’s own hand-picked Housing Affordability Task Force put forward 55 recommendations. Two of those key recommendations that came from the task force are directly related to the bill I put forward, Bill 156, Homes You Can Afford in the Communities You Love Act, legalizing gentle density and missing-middle homes so we can build homes that people can afford in the communities they love without paving over our forests, our farms and our wetlands.

What has been the government’s response to their own Housing Affordability Task Force? It hasn’t been to build more homes. It hasn’t been to implement recommendations to legalize housing. It has been to impose sprawl and open the greenbelt for development so a handful of wealthy, well-connected speculators can cash in billions while the people of Ontario still struggle to have an affordable place to call home.

That’s why I asked once again, yesterday, in this House if the Premier will get it done for people—not speculators—by supporting my bill to end exclusionary zoning and legalize housing so we can build homes that people can afford in the communities they love. One analysis shows that if only 18%—imagine this—of single-family homes within core urban boundaries became fourplexes, that would build two million homes. The government’s goal—the goal we all agreed on—is 1.5 million homes. We could do it just with fourplexes—I’m not suggesting we will deal with just fourplexes, but we could do it. That would not only be more affordable for people, but also for property taxpayers and municipal governments, because that’s where the infrastructure already is. We don’t have to build more sewer lines, waterlines, transit and roads, because they’re already there.

That’s why, when the government continually refuses to answer the question—yes or no; will they legalize housing so we can build homes people can afford, close to where they work, in the communities they love? I’m hoping they’ll answer it tonight.