As many in this place will know by 2026 one in five jobs will be in the skilled trades. Through the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, our government is ensuring students are gaining the necessary skills to secure these good-paying jobs.

Recently, the Avon Maitland District School Board held its first skills competition this month in Listowel. Students from four area high schools demonstrated their craftsmanship and technical skills, taking part in welding and carpentry competitions.

Among the standout performers was Leland Gile, a grade 12 student from LDSS, whose exceptional skills secured him a spot at the upcoming qualifying competition at Fanshawe College. Listowel students Mac Frey and Kiyran Coulter earned a place in the team of two carpentry provincial competitions on May 7 in Toronto. Students in hairstyling and individual carpentry will also be advancing. Students from St. Marys DCVI, Stratford District Secondary School and Goderich District Collegiate Institute also participated, showcasing the area’s depth of talent.

Thank you to the tech teachers and the Avon Maitland District School Board for organizing this important skills competition, allowing local students to showcase their technical talents but also helping prepare the next generation of skilled tradespeople.

Through the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program and many other initiatives, our government will continue to ensure students are prepared for the jobs of the 21st century.

From the Ontario Motor Coach Association, I’d like to welcome Brian Denny, Shawn Geary, Greg Hammond, Jennifer McGregor, Ted Goldenberg, and meeting with me later today, Ray Cherrey and Vince Accardi. Welcome to your House.

It’s my pleasure to welcome the family of our page Alyssa Geene: Alyssa’s mom Janessa Geene and Alyssa’s stepdad Michael Dionne. Welcome to your House.

I recognize the member for Ottawa South on a point of order.

It is now time for oral questions.

Supplementary question?

Good morning, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. The government’s own Housing Affordability Task Force strongly recommended the legalization of fourplexes across the province over two years ago, but now the Premier is saying not in his backyard.

So my question is, why is the Premier blocking people who can’t afford a single-family detached home from the communities they want to live in and work in?

Interjections.

The Leader of the Opposition should know, of course, that there is no law banning this province-wide. What we have said is that we trust our municipal partners to make decisions that are in the best interest of their community. That is something that we have been talking about for months in this place, Mr. Speaker.

At the same time, we will allow communities to make the decision if that is appropriate in their areas. I think it’s become very clear that some communities, like Toronto, have approved, as-of-right, four, while other communities have said that they don’t want four-storey buildings to be built in parts of their communities. They neither have the infrastructure, nor were they built around four-storey buildings in the middle of communities.

So what I’m saying to the Leader of the Opposition is that we will continue to trust our municipal partners to work in the best interests of the people of the province of Ontario along with us, Mr. Speaker, but we will not force them to do something blanket across the province of Ontario. That is not in the best interests of—

This morning, I’d like to welcome to the Legislature the parents of our page Ahmad: Muhammad Zuhair Arif; Tahreem Fatima Arif, his mom; Muhammad Mustafa Arif, his brother; and Ali Murtaza Arif, his brother. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Last week, I got the opportunity to participate in two Legislative Assembly virtual tours offered to students of the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School, which is located in the town of Russell in my riding.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the tour team here at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for this great initiative.

Ontario is a big province, Mr. Speaker. To have these virtual tours available both in English and French for every school of the province is a good occasion to teach students about how the provincial government works.

It was great to be able to participate in these virtual tours and greet students and answer their questions at the end of the tour. I believe that there’s a possibility that we might have some of these students that are after my job, Mr. Speaker. A few students asked me how to become an MPP, and I told them that the best way is to get involved in helping each other and offering their service to the community. I really enjoyed explaining the role of an MPP and the kinds of services we offer to our constituents.

I want to thank all the students who took part in the event and would like to invite all schools in my riding to participate in these virtual tours so students can learn more about the provincial government of Ontario.

I would like to introduce a special education teacher from Peel, Ricky Viveiros. Welcome to your House, Ricky.

It is my pleasure this morning to welcome to the Legislature Jennifer Lachance, who is the mother of page Emily Charbonneau. Emily, in addition to doing a tremendous job here, today is going to be acting as page captain, so congratulations, Emily, and welcome, Jennifer.

I’m proud to say that one of Canada’s hip-hop artists is here: MC Mohammad Ali from Mississauga. My brother, it’s so good to see you here. Thank you for gracing us with your presence today.

I seek unanimous consent that, notwithstanding standing order 45(b)(iv), the time for debate on the opposition day motion number 3 regarding government advertising be apportioned as follows: 56 minutes to each of the recognized parties and eight minutes to the independent members as a group.

I’m delighted to welcome to the Legislature the family of Sarah Penner: Bridget Haugh, her mother; Liz Haugh, her grandmother; and Suzanne Clune-Taylor, a family friend. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I’m very honoured to welcome today Lia Cheng, who’s with us in the chamber. Lia has been an exceptional young leader in this country and she was just recognized for her exceptional contributions to the province. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

That, of course, is incorrect. What we’re saying is that we’re not forcing municipalities—a blanket policy across the province of Ontario. Of course, municipalities have the right already to make this decision. We’ve seen Toronto make that decision, Markham has made that decision and a host of other municipalities.

Still, others have said to us that allowing a four-storey building in the middle of a community that was neither built to accommodate a four-storey building, that does not have the infrastructure in place to accommodate a four-storey building, is not in the best interest of communities across the province.

So what we’ll continue to do is be targeted in our approach, remove red tape, ensure that our municipal partners can meet the goals of building the 1.5 million homes. That is why we are doubling and ensuring that sewer and water infrastructure is in place so that we can build not only hundreds of homes, but millions of homes across the province of Ontario.

And we’ve listened to our municipal partners who have said one thing and one thing only, that the biggest obstacle to building 1.5 million homes across the province of Ontario is the availability of infrastructure—an infrastructure deficit that we inherited from the Liberals. And that is why last week the Premier made an historic announcement of over $1.8 billion to get sewer and water. We don’t want to build hundreds; we want to build millions of homes.

The final supplementary?

I’m having a little trouble hearing. I’m quite congested. I’m wearing a mask. I’m going to ask the member to withdraw—

The final supplementary?

President of the Treasury Board.

Of course, the members opposite are upset that the people of Ontario are doing better under this government than they were under the previous Liberal government. Under our government, the province has a great story to tell, whether it’s the billions of dollars of investments that we’re attracting for manufacturing and electric vehicles alone; the historic investments we’re making in infrastructure; the Bradford Bypass, Highway 413, the Ontario Line; the millions of dollars we’re spending on schools and hospitals; we’re building child care places; and nearly 700,000 good-paying jobs have been created since we took government.

The people of Ontario should be proud of this province, as I am, and I hope the members opposite can find a way to stand up for the people of Ontario instead of standing in the way of the hard work that we’re doing to build a stronger and more prosperous Ontario.

They’re saying that they don’t believe we should provide important health information like vaccination campaigns and public health measures, just like we did during the pandemic. They’re saying that they don’t believe the people of Ontario should be told what the government is doing to build new homes so that young families can finally achieve the dream of home ownership. They’re saying that they don’t believe that the government of Ontario should inform Ontarians about how we’re spending their hard-earned taxpayer dollars to build a stronger economy and create new jobs. And they’re saying that they don’t believe that we should promote Ontario around the world as a great place to come and invest and create jobs to build a better economy and a more prosperous future for Ontarians. Mr. Speaker—

Even the housing minister doesn’t seem to understand the difference between a fourplex and four-storey—it’s mind-boggling.

Look, every housing expert in this province, in this country is saying we need more housing options, not less. That is what Ontarians want too. They want leadership from their government to provide more options so that we can actually find homes for our children, for the next generation, for the people that right now are at risk of losing their homes.

It is unbelievable that the Premier and this housing minister would rule out some straightforward options like legalizing fourplexes. And do you know what? They’re playing into the same kind of fears that have held back density for generations.

So I’m going to ask one more time: Why does the Premier think that people who can’t afford a single-family detached home don’t deserve options like fourplexes?

Interjections.

My question to the Premier is, does the Premier still agree that we need to end government funding of partisan advertising?

Interjections.

I want to ask the Premier, does he still agree, again, that we need to end government funding of this government’s partisan advertising?

We are giving this government a chance to show Ontarians who they truly are. Enough is enough. We need to close the loopholes and stop spending Ontarians’ hard-earned dollars on these purely partisan ads.

So my question, again, to the Premier is: This afternoon, when we retable the bill that Deputy Premier herself tabled under the previous Liberal government, is this government going to support that bill?

Interjections.

My question is for the Premier. Recently, Metrolinx put out insulting ads that were called, See Beyond the Construction, that ran in movie theatres across the GTA—Speaker, those are the ads you see when you to go a film. But these ads mocked transit riders who were legitimately complaining about broken deadlines and massive cost overruns in the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. But following public outrage and loud groans in movie theatres—believe me—the ad campaign was yanked from Metrolinx’s YouTube page. But we have since discovered that this ad campaign alone cost $2.5 million.

So, Speaker, will the Premier rise in this place today and apologize to transit users, apologize to the taxpayers of Ontario for this terrible ad by Metrolinx?