From the ZAKA search and rescue organization, I’d like to welcome Irene Nurith Cohn to the Ontario Legislature.

Speaker, following the lead of my colleague from Hamilton west, I’d also like to welcome Erik Schomann, Donna Deneault and Verne Deneault from Save Our Water Tiny township, and the Thomas Moore from Simcoe County Kairos. Welcome to the Legislature.

Meegwetch, Speaker. I want to welcome to the Legislature the people from Rescue Lake Simcoe: Margaret Prophet, Claire Malcolmson, Susan Sheard, Jessica-Margaret Paige Merriman, William Alexander Agnew, Diana Wells and Carolyn V Boyer. Meegwetch for being here.

I’m so sorry. I’m just trying to catch my breath here.

We announced $3 billion for infrastructure today with the Premier and the Minister of Finance as part of the 2024 budget—very happy to see that happen.

Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear: There is no phase 2. There is no paving of the Brigantine Cove. What we decided to do, Mr. Speaker, was instead to expand the public realm space to 50 acres. We’re building a brand new stage, wellness facility, park and, as well, a new science centre, marina and food and beverage on the site. That is what we showed to the public in April; that is what we are constructing today.

What’s most exciting is that Ontarians will finally have an Ontario Place that they can enjoy for years to come.

Good morning. This question is for the Premier. Speaker, the closer you look at the government’s Ontario Place scheme, the worse it gets. Yesterday, we revealed a previously unknown phase 2 of the project that even involves a plan to fill in parts of Lake Ontario to build a “large-scale entertainment centre.” While the minister tried to brush this off, she didn’t directly deny it.

So, I want to hear from the Premier: Does he plan to fill in parts of Lake Ontario for this vanity project, yes or no?

Yesterday, the minister said over and over and over again that the government only plans to move the science centre to Ontario Place. They only came up with that plan in 2023. Today, the official opposition is sharing more documents that show the plans to relocate the science centre were already in motion in January of 2020. That’s three full years before the plans were announced to the public.

We need some transparency from the Premier today. When exactly did the government decide to move the science centre, and why did they hide it from the public?

The final supplementary.

I’m going to caution the Leader of the Opposition on her choice of words.

To reply, the Minister of Infrastructure.

Government House leader.

The minister’s timeline keeps changing, and that’s what happens when you make major infrastructure decisions in the shadows and the backrooms.

The government had already decided on this plan more than a year and a half before they announced that Therme won the contract. The documents we uncovered appeared to show the undisclosed attraction plan for Ontario Place has the exact same footprint as Therme’s proposal—quite a coincidence.

So, Speaker, did the government give preferential treatment to Therme for its luxury spa proposal?

Last year, the Premier confirmed that his family friend Carmine Nigro was negotiating a mysterious sole-source agreement with Ontario Live. Ontario Live happens to be run by another family friend, Zlatko Starkovski. What is the relationship between the secret Ontario Live agreement and the secret phase 2 plan for Ontario Place?

People shouldn’t have to make freedom-of-information requests to find out about a major infrastructure project happening with their money. People shouldn’t need a chart of the Premier’s friends and family to find out who is securing sole-source contracts.

We need this Premier and this minister to come clean about this project. So to what extent were these deals made to benefit the Premier and his personal friends?

How can this shady deal proceed considering this government is already under investigation by the RCMP?

Interjections.

Meegwetch, Speaker. Remarks in Anishininiimowin.

Neskantaga First Nation is coming on its 30th year with a boil-water advisory. That is 10,641 days. Once again, tomorrow is World Water Day. In the riding of Kiiwetinoong, I have 14 First Nations that have boil-water advisories.

Speaker, it is racism to do nothing. Next week’s budget is an opportunity for change. I ask, will there be any allocations for money to lifting boil-water advisories on reserves?

Interjections.

I appreciate the question from the member opposite. Look, I can’t confirm anything that will be in the budget. The member will have to wait until next Tuesday for the details of the budget.

At the same time, I know that the minister has continued to work very closely with our federal partners. As you know, Mr. Speaker, the federal government made a commitment to First Nations back in 2015 that they would provide the necessary funding to remove all boil-water advisories across the country. That is a promise that has still not been kept by the federal government. We will continue to hold their feet to the fire to make sure that we can get this promise, not only for First Nations, frankly, across the province of Ontario, but I think all First Nations across the country who are relying on the federal government to live up to this promise back in 2015.

Speaker, tomorrow is World Water Day, March 22, and we have many people here in the gallery who have travelled from the Lake Simcoe area. They, along with the Chippewas of Georgina Island, are very concerned with the health of this beloved lake. We have a majority government. There are five Lake Simcoe area Conservative MPPs, including the Minister of the Environment, in this area. There’s existing legislation dating back to 2008, and yet, we have seen no action in cleaning up the phosphorus issues in Lake Simcoe.

This budget, the Conservative budget, is coming next week. Will the Premier finally adequately—adequately—fund the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan, yes or no?

Interjections.

Members will please take their seats.

To reply, the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

Supplementary question.

The supplementary question.

Interjections.

And once again, I will remind members to make their comments through the Chair.

Start the clock. Next question.

My question is for the Minister of Energy. Constituents in my riding are telling me that they can’t afford the Liberal carbon tax, and the last thing they need is another Liberal carbon tax.

Interjections.

Speaker, can the minister please tell this House why it’s time to scrap the carbon tax?

As the federal Liberals continue reaching into the pockets of taxpayers with more and more tax hikes, we need the opposition parties—the Liberals and the NDP—to help us fight the carbon tax.

Speaker, can the minister please explain why Ontario families simply cannot afford this unfair carbon tax imposed upon us by the queen of the carbon—

I really welcome the member’s interest in this file. This government has been interested in protecting Lake Simcoe from day one. For instance, there’s this historic project to take five tonnes of phosphorus per year out of the Holland Marsh, thanks to the actions of this Premier and this government. A project that was on the books for decades that wasn’t getting done, this government is getting done.

Work is already under way, Speaker. This is a great project for the watershed, a great project for the jewel of Lake Simcoe. This builds on the millions of dollars of investments in the lake, to date. We’re working with partners like the Lake Simcoe conservation authority and the St. Lawrence River institute, amongst many other partners, in terms of reducing chloride levels, reducing phosphorus and making sure we have a great state-of-the-art lake for generations to come.

Thanks to the member from Essex, who is doing an outstanding job representing his residents in southwestern Ontario, where we’re actually seeing growth happen at a record pace, Mr. Speaker, and that’s in spite of the regressive carbon tax that’s being imposed on the people of Ontario and the people of Canada by the federal Liberal government.

Now, the member of the Liberal Party is saying, “Well, you opened the door for this by getting rid of the cap-and-trade.” We campaigned in 2018, Mr. Speaker, to cap taxes and to trade Kathleen Wynne, and we were very, very successful in doing that, with a massive majority government, and then won another one four years later.

As a result, we went from being the most uncompetitive jurisdiction in North America in the eyes of the global auto sector to a jurisdiction that is now seeing multi-billion-dollar investments like ones in Essex and in Windsor, ones in St. Thomas, in Loyalist township and right across Ontario. In spite of this regressive tax, we’ve been able to return Ontario to its rightful place—

And the queen of the carbon tax, the leader of the Liberal Party of Ontario, is hand in hand with Justin Trudeau championing this increase when the people of Ontario and the people of Canada are hurting, Mr. Speaker. We disagree. We disagree wholeheartedly with this approach by the federal government.

We have cut taxes. We’ve reduced taxes. We’ve eliminated fees. We brought in things like One Fare in our transit system across the greater Toronto and Hamilton area. That’s going to save people $1,600 a year. This is what a responsible government should be doing, working for the people, not against them.

My question is to the Premier. Speaker, we recently learned that nearly 300 seniors in Ontario have been moved from hospitals to long-term-care homes that they didn’t choose. Under Bill 7, patients can be sent to a long-term-care facility up to 150 kilometres away from their homes without their consent or be charged $400 a day if they refuse. These are our moms, our dads, our grandparents, our aunts, our uncles—the people who built this great province.

Speaker, why is this government choosing to force almost 300 vulnerable seniors to be moved without their consent away from their homes and their families?

As that minister stands up and talks about people leaving our hospitals, let’s not forget about the 6,000 seniors who lost their lives during COVID and the government responsible is now taking away their families’ ability to have a home accountable.

This government is giving away licence extensions—think about this—to the very same private for-profit homes where the Canadian military had to be called in to save these residents from dehydration.

They then passed Bill 7 without holding public hearings, preventing families from commenting on the devastating impacts of this legislation. This government refuses to treat seniors and long-term-care residents with the respect and dignity they deserve.

Speaker, will this government repeal Bill 7, apologize to those 300 families and finally show seniors the respect they deserve and have earned in the province of Ontario?

By the same numbers, what the member is saying is that 17,337 seniors went from being ALC patients in hospitals to being residents in long-term care. Speaker, that’s 17,000 more beds in hospitals for more acute care. That’s 17,000 seniors who get to call a home a home, because it is this government that is investing into these homes, not just by building more capacity, but making sure that they have a level of comfort that they deserve.

Interjections.

Guess what? This morning, the cameras must be on because the member stands in his place and he claims to be a defender of seniors. But in his own riding, Oakwood Manor, Crescent Manor, Radiant Care Pleasant Manor Long-Term Care—it’s a long list and thousands of beds. The member votes against building beds in his own riding, against supports for beds in his own riding.

You want to give an apology? You should apologize to the seniors of this province for not protecting them before the pandemic hit.

Interjections.

I can see the minister is very angry, and there are a lot of reasons to be angry when you think about the Liberals, especially the federal Liberals. You know something I’m angry about, Speaker, and people of my community are equally angry about it, and it’s the federal carbon tax. It’s leading us to soaring fuel prices, making it unaffordable for everyone—tough to even drive a car. People have to think twice about driving a car in my riding now and ridings across northern Ontario.

It’s unfair to every driver in this province, especially those in the north who rely very heavily on their vehicles, just so that they can go to work every day, run errands, take their kids to soccer practice. All of these things are just too expensive because of the federal Liberals and their provincial counterparts who refuse to change this awful position on the carbon tax and are constantly hurting northern communities. We continue to take leadership on addressing affordability in this province to help the north get the help it deserves.

Can the Minister of Transportation please tell us how the carbon tax is hurting northern Ontario communities with this regressive, terrible—

It’s unacceptable. It’s breaking the backs of common, hard-working Ontarians, northern Ontarians. And the Liberals across the aisle, they just want to sit silent. I guess it’s because their leader is one of the only Liberals left in the entire country of Canada who will not speak out against this terrible carbon tax and the additional nearly triple—triple, again—they want to increase it.

Can the minister please explain to us how this negative tax is hurting the people of our province?

Minister of Transportation.

The next question.

The member is absolutely right. When we look at the north, the challenges are even more significant when it comes to the carbon tax. But it’s no surprise that the Liberals and the NDP are not listening to the people. They’re out of touch. Just a couple of weeks ago, it was a federal Liberal environment minister, who is now trying to impose this 23% increase of carbon taxes on the people of the north and across Canada and especially in Ontario—he was the one who said, “No more roads,” and that Canada doesn’t need any more roads. How out of touch can you be?

But on top of that, now they want to increase the carbon tax by 23%. That’s a tax on food. It’s a tax on groceries. It’s a tax on fuel, on energy, on heating your home. People cannot afford it. I hope that the provincial Liberals and the NDP step up right to the federal government and tell them to scrap the tax.

This is going to hurt not only truckers, who are out $15,000 to $20,000—they could use that money to support their families, put their kids through school, put their kids in extracurricular activities—but think of the people in the north, how much their food is going to increase, because that food travels on trucks. A 23% increase being proposed by the federal government, it’s unbelievable.

What’s more shameful, Mr. Speaker, is the provincial Liberals and the NDP are doing nothing to advocate to stop the carbon tax from going up 23%. Under the leadership—