I think the member opposite has a reading comprehension issue, because that is not what we have been saying at all.

Here’s the thing: They continue to raise the same issue over and over because they don’t want to talk about things like the fact that the carbon tax is going up. The only stated position of the Liberal Party on the carbon tax is that it’s good for people.

Interjection.

Well, I’ll tell you something, Mr. Speaker: There is some hope. They have a new leader, and the new leader has never heard of the issue before, so here’s what she needs to know: The carbon tax is going up by 23% on April 1, and that should be job one.

My question is for the Premier. The Premier says he wants judges who will be tougher during bail hearings, and on this we can agree. That’s why we worked with the government last year on bail reform. But the Premier also says he wants to abolish the independent judicial system in exchange for a politicized one with like-minded judges—one that’s used and abused south of the border. So he has appointed biased, unqualified political insiders, notably his former deputy chief of staff, to lead the panel that makes judicial recommendations.

But the problem with politicizing the judicial system, Mr. Speaker, is that the Premier’s former deputy chief of staff is also a paid gun lobbyist for Colt’s. How can we expect judges to get tougher on gun crime when the guy recommending them for the job is the guy who sells the guns?

Gun crime is no laughing matter. Police in Ontario reported 4,791 violent gun crimes in 2014. That’s 1,000 more than the previous year. Homicide by gun crime is at an all-time high. The Premier has nice catchphrases like “stop the crime” and “get tough on bail reform,” but he has asked the guy who sells the guns for advice.

Mr. Speaker, there is a violent gun crime in Ontario every two hours. How can we believe the Premier’s tough-on-crime stance when he has asked the guy who sells the guns to appoint the judges?

I guess it takes two parliamentary assistants to be just as great as the minister.

I’d like to thank the member for that additional question.

Our government continues to make investments aimed at keeping energy costs affordable for families.

In the past year alone, we’ve announced the enhancement of the Ontario Electricity Rebate, ensuring stability and predictability in electricity bills. That’s going to save an average household more than $300 this year alone. But that’s not going to help if the opposition and federal government keep pushing a painful carbon tax.

We urge the federal government to join efforts in terminating the carbon tax on home heating for Ontarians, just like they have done for a majority of people in Atlantic Canada. It is imperative for the federal government to act promptly. Winter isn’t over yet, and folks are still paying for the electricity bill.

That sounds like a no to enforcing the law.

Speaker, back to the Premier: Almost 10 years ago to the day, the headline of pay-for-plasma centres is back in the news.

Grifols, this private for-profit company from Spain, has pinpointed it down to postal codes with the highest unemployment rates and the lowest income in the province. They plan to set up shop and prey on our most vulnerable by way of an exemption loophole, in a community where many are unhoused, waiting in long food bank lines and struggling day to day to make ends meet.

Does the Premier think it’s appropriate that people will be selling their blood to survive?

Thank you to the member for Ajax for that question. We know that the federal environment minister is completely out of touch with the realities of Canadians and especially Ontarians. We have called on him—I have personally called on him—to come drive on the 427, the 401, the 410 to see for himself the challenges our truckers and drivers are having across this province. But Minister Guilbeault spends more time flying around the world in airplanes, trying to meet with elites across the world, rather than meeting with truckers that are driving every single day on our roads across this province to put food on the shelves, to put groceries on shelves across this province.

They shouldn’t have to worry about the rise in the cost of gas as they do their job. I’ve stated in the House before that $15,000 to $20,000 are the current costs on a long-haul trucker in this province with the current carbon tax today. That’s about to go up by 23% on April 1, and I hope the members opposite join us in calling on the federal government to stop the carbon tax.

As this government has committed to putting more money back into the pockets of families across this province, the federal carbon tax will increase by 23%. That is unacceptable. We’re always looking at ways to make sure we put more money back in your pockets, whether it’s by reducing the gas tax by 10 cents, whether it’s making sure we eliminate the val tag, a $120 savings for a car or truck for families across this province.

We’re going to continue to urge both the Liberals and NDP to call on their federal counterparts and stop the carbon tax on April 1.

My question is to the Premier. Once again, this morning, there’s been a lot of talk about like-minded appointments, but while this House has had their eyes set on judicial appointments, I’ve had mine set on the Ontario Land Tribunal.

Just before Christmas, I hit refresh on the Public Appointments Secretariat page, and exactly as I had expected: the appointment of the former mayor of Haldimand county, Ken Hewitt, to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

Keep in mind, this is a tribunal meant to protect public good. Speaker, I respectfully ask if the Premier can articulate what skills and qualifications one must possess to be considered an appointee to the OLT?

But it gets worse: A developer friend of the Premier’s plans to build a seasonal cottage development on agricultural land at Lowbanks in Haldimand county, and just days before that developer is to appear before council, he coincidentally cancels and says he’ll take his chances at the OLT.

It’s difficult not to conclude that the tribunal has been hijacked. The Hamilton Spectator reported in 2022 that the OLT rules in favour of developers 97% of the time. Speaker, through you, to the Premier: Is the OLT in place to protect the public good or is it in place to accelerate development and feather the nest of developers and friends of this government?

Interjections.

I’m wondering if the member is asking me if we will pierce the independence of the Landlord and Tenant Board adjudicators. I’m hearing an inconsistency. I’m not quite sure what direction they want us to take in terms of the independence of adjudicators and the enforcement of orders. For us to reach in and make the adjudicators do something—now that would be a question; that would be something that we would have to discuss.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like a clarification, if I could, in the second question.

We are investing in the Landlord and Tenant Board. We have doubled the number of adjudicators. We’ve added more staff. We’ve had more hearings than we’ve had intake. We are making sure that they’re properly resourced and people are having a place to have their hearings.

But tenants also need a place to live. You can take Mississauga as an example, where they only built 12 housing starts in the last term and the development charges are up 27%. That’s a problem because, no matter whether you have a hearing, you wouldn’t have a place to live.

The individuals who apply through an open process are evaluated by the chair of the tribunal, and recommendations come forward for appointment. And I don’t want to speak on behalf of the chair who does the interviews and does the recruitment because that’s a hands-off process, as you would expect it to be. But I can tell you, any mayor of any municipality in this province likely has some exposure to how things work in terms of committees of adjustment and otherwise.

So through you, Mr. Speaker, back to the member: What disqualifies that member?

Interjections.

We have 1.5 million homes to build, and we want to make sure that matters are moving through that tribunal. And if you want to accuse us of meddling because we’re getting homes built, I will tell you, there are rules and professionals in place to help get the job done, and we will get those homes built.

Thank you to the minister for that response. We’re all indebted to the dedicated workers in the trucking industry who deliver essential goods that Ontario’s families and businesses rely on. It is unfortunate that the impact of the carbon tax on the trucking industry ultimately affects the consumers and the drivers. We are all forced to pay for the additional cost to fuel the trucks that transport the essential items for our everyday living. That’s not fair, Speaker.

Our government hears these concerns day after day, and that is why we will not stop until this tax is scrapped. Can the minister please explain further why the carbon tax must be eliminated to protect Ontario’s trucking industry?

My question is to the Premier. Ontario can now fine landlords that illegally evict up to $250,000, but it never does. A Toronto Star analysis found that the Rental Housing Enforcement Unit and the Landlord and Tenant Board issue very small fines to guilty landlords, fines the landlord can quickly recoup by hiking the rent on the next tenant.

My question is to the Premier: Will this government start enforcing its own illegal-eviction laws?

Rental protection laws are useless if they’re not enforced. We have presented practical solutions to this government to help renters stay housed. We have introduced amendments in committee. We have introduced bills in this Legislature. When will this government start taking effective action and do its job and start enforcing its illegal eviction laws?

Back to the Premier: As someone who has owned several small businesses, I know first-hand how hard it is to get a small business off the ground. I launched my businesses before today’s challenges of every fast technology change and costly inflation hikes.

Sonja Scharf, a small business owner in my riding, told me, “The Digital Main Street Program helps small businesses like ours offset costs and build an online presence. This program is an extremely valuable asset to small businesses. I can only praise their work.”

Now is not the time for the Premier to pull the plug on Digital Main Street funding, and it’s never time to abandon small businesses in Ontario. Yes or no: Will the Premier reverse course, listen to the small business owners and maintain funding to keep the lights on for the Digital Main Street Program?

My question is to the Premier. Small businesses have not fully recovered from the pandemic. They are still struggling with inflation and economic uncertainty. The government’s website encourages small businesses to sign up for the Digital Main Street grant program, but this Conservative government told the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas members that the funding for the program will be cancelled in three weeks.

Why is the government abandoning small businesses yet again?

They did so with good reason, Mr. Speaker. And I want to thank the honourable member for his question.

We heard earlier this morning about a Prime Minister who backed up his words with policies, commitment and change. So I’ve got to take the Prime Minister at his word when he says, “We’re walking the road of reconciliation,” and then says, with respect to costs, “Indigenous communities on affordability and supports”—you’d think he would do something. Silence, Mr. Speaker.

The calls from First Nations communities across the province, but particularly from communities in the isolated parts of northern Ontario, who look at $7 loaves of Wonder Bread with a built-in cost for transportation of those goods, have put the carbon tax front row and centre. And what did the federal government do? Well, they have pledged 0.7% of total charge proceeds to First Nations communities in Ontario. We don’t know where this is and how it will materialize, Mr. Speaker, but it’s a small sliver, a fraction of the costs that First Nations communities are paying as a result of the carbon tax—

In light of a difficult winter road season, all-season roads have become the topic. And since it will be a little while before electric vehicles provide part of that transportation solution, not only communities on diesel but communities who need transport this winter and winters moving forward—you’d think the federal government would remove the carbon tax as a starting point and join in our discussions around all-season roads, Mr. Speaker. Again, radio silence.

This government is laser-focused on challenging the federal government to reduce costs for our northern communities, and it starts with scrapping the tax.

My question is for the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development. The carbon tax is essentially a tax on everything, Speaker. It’s on your groceries, your gasoline, your home heating and every other day-to-day essential.

For over a year now, the Chiefs of Ontario have been calling on the federal government to consult with them on the impact that this harmful tax is having on all of their communities. Due to the federal government’s failure to address the First Nations’ concerns, the Chiefs of Ontario filed for judicial review into the application of the carbon tax in Indigenous communities. They have called this tax anti-reconciliatory and discriminatory.

Can the minister please tell the House how this carbon tax is disproportionately impacting northern Ontario communities?

Instead of helping northern Ontario foster economic growth and to reach our full potential, the federal government is bringing one tax hike after another after another after another. It is clear that neither the Liberals nor the NDP understand, respect or care about the financial hardship that many individuals and families are going through.

Northern and Indigenous communities should not be paying the price of this harmful and regressive tax. Speaker, can the minister please explain further why the carbon tax has such detrimental effects on northern Ontario and especially First Nation communities?

The supplementary question.

The supplementary question: the member for Toronto Centre.

The next question.

I want to thank my colleague for the question. Ontarians have told us very clearly: Public safety means everything to them. And do you know what, Mr. Speaker? It’s a top priority for our government, led by Premier Ford.

The carbon tax has significantly increased the cost of public safety, and in a few weeks, as we know, the federal government will do it again and raise the carbon tax by 23%. It’s affecting our firefighters and our police officers, our special constables and our first responders—people who are there to fight crime. Every day, thousands of vehicles are on the road that help keep our province safe, and the police budgets have to cover the carbon tax on these cars that get fuelled up.

My message is simple: The Liberals across the way can call their friends in Ottawa and say, “This is not fair. Scrap the tax.”

My question is for the Solicitor General. We all know that the carbon tax is making it more expensive for Ontario families and businesses. Not only is it increasing the cost of goods, but it’s also driving up the cost of fuel and gasoline for everyone in our province.

What’s more, public safety services across the province are being impacted by the carbon tax as well. Our police services need more support and resources to protect our communities, not additional fuel costs because of the carbon tax.

Speaker, can the Solicitor General please explain the negative effects of the carbon tax on law enforcement and public safety agencies across Ontario?

I want to thank the member opposite for the question. The Digital Main Street Program was a phenomenal program. Although brought in prior to the pandemic, throughout the pandemic it was key to helping many of our businesses—actually, over 82,000 businesses—to get an online presence and about 24,000 businesses to start or expand their e-commerce journey over two years.

But do you know what’s really exciting, Speaker? The sudden concern for our small businesses by the members opposite. We are talking to our stakeholders. We’re engaging with them constantly. But let me talk about some of the other wonderful supports available to our businesses.

The Digitalization Competence Centre connects companies with innovative digital solutions and helps SMEs across all sectors implement new digital technologies. The Canada Digital Adoption Program—

What would have helped small businesses recently was where the federal government provided absolutely no reprieve for the CEBA loan repayments. When I asked everyone in this House to contact their federal members, they did nothing. They stayed silent.

Another area that could really help our small businesses is if they would pick up the phone, talk to their federal cousins and ask them to scrap the carbon tax, because it hurts every single business and individual in this province. But they won’t do that. They will not call their federal cousins. And Carbon Crombie’s Liberals over there? Silent. They will do nothing.

Pick up the phone. Scrap the carbon tax right now. You can do that for your small businesses today.

This bill aims to provide rental protections at a time when more and more renters are facing high rents and displacement. It asks to reinstate rent control on units built after 2018. It asks to reinstate vacancy control, to prevent high increases between tenancies. It asks for a rental task force to investigate above-guideline increases that have been rampant these days. It amends a requirement for landlords who are looking to renovict tenants, so that they provide protections to tenants to ensure that they don’t lose their housing.

This is what we are doing today—trying to ensure that there are mechanisms in place to make sure people keep their shelter—and we are calling it the Keeping People Housed Act.

Supplementary?

The member for Ottawa–Vanier has a point of order.

Interjections.

The House recessed from 1205 to 1500.

First reading agreed to.