We’re five days away from the federal carbon tax increasing by a massive 23%.

Interjections.

Bonnie Crombie was out last week announcing the new hand-picked members for her advisory committee. Kathleen Wynne’s environment minister Chris Ballard helped design the Liberals’ multi-billion-dollar cap-and-trade program; he’s on the committee. And before being voted out by rural voters for this giant-slayer right here, Lisa Thompson, the new agriculture minister, Carol Mitchell wanted to impose a carbon tax on farmers, and she was the agriculture minister. Let’s scrap the tax while we—

Interjections.

It’s Groundhog Day.

Thank you very much.

The Minister of Energy.

The Minister of Health.

The next question.

Thanks to the member opposite. We’re taking a common-sense approach and ensuring that energy and electricity prices are affordable in the province of Ontario, something that those in the Liberal caucus and even the NDP caucus really don’t understand. It’s because we have brought that stability to energy prices in Ontario that we’re seeing our economy grow.

Now, Bonnie Crombie, the queen of the carbon tax, and her Liberal caucus are telling the people of Ontario that we’re better off with this federal tax. As a matter of fact, the federal environment minister said last week that Bonnie Crombie was happy to have the federal increase on carbon taxes—a whopping 23% that’s going to happen five days from today when we’re in the midst of an affordability and cost-of-living crisis in Ontario.

It’s completely unacceptable that Bonnie Crombie and her cast of Liberals are supporting this expensive tax that’s driving up the cost of everything in our province. It’s time to do the right thing. It’s time to scrap this tax.

My question is to the Premier. OPSEU/SEFPO Local 5115 workers, the front-line workers of the Regent Park Community Health Centre, are on strike for fair wages. This government is starving public health care. Their wages were frozen by Bill 124 during an affordability crisis.

These health care professionals are doing some of the most difficult work in this province, literally at the epicentre of a poisoned drug supply and opiate overdose crisis. Despite all of this, they continue to show up for our communities, doing that hard work. Will this government show up for them in today’s budget and fund public health care so that they can get back to work and receive the fair wage they deserve?

Real, honest Ontarians like Kirsty Millwood, who actually is in the chamber today to listen to this debate—she is a front-line foot health worker and the president of OPSEU/SEPFO Local 5115. She tells me, “We need funding for community health care centres. We need to provide critical services. We keep people out of hospitals. We save lives daily.”

We lost so much because of Bill 124, Speaker, but they continue to show up for work. Now is the time for the government to stop forcing them out of their jobs because they are living with unlivable wages. Will this government properly fund community health care centres at the health care rate of inflation?

Interjections.

While I’m obviously not going to talk about specific labour relations that are happening, I will say that public health units have had a 16% increase since 2018, when we formed government, and that is of course outside of all of the investments that we made sure were in place for our public health units to protect the people of Ontario during the pandemic, obviously making sure to distribute the vaccines to people to keep them safe. I will say a 16% increase for public health units across Ontario is unprecedented.

Of course, in the last Association of Municipalities of Ontario, we also made a commitment and shared with our municipal partners that a 1% increase was part of our plan to invest in public health infra in the province of Ontario.

The $110-million investment in primary care multidisciplinary teams does in fact include community health centres, and they do get an increase in their annual operating budget. Why, Speaker? Because we see the value in the multidisciplinary teams. Why do we continue to expand primary care in the province of Ontario? Because we see the value in making sure that we have a stable health care force that is connected to the people in our communities.

We’ll continue to make those investments and rebuild the province of Ontario and our health care system, and the people of Ontario will watch who votes in support of those investments.

The dream of home ownership in Ontario is no longer a dream for young people and families. It has become a nightmare under this government.

Speaker, they claim they are the government of yes. To quote the government members in this House:

The Minister of Housing: “We’re trying to end NIMBYism.”

The member from Brampton North: “NIMBYism is one of the most dangerous forces in our politics today.”

The former Minister of Housing: “We’ve gone past NIMBYism. I think we’re now in BANANAism ... ‘build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone.’”

But as we found out, they are the government of, “no, not in my backyard,” and “build absolutely nothing near anyone anywhere.” My question is, when did this government decide to make like a BANANA and split on building housing for the people of Ontario?

Meanwhile, the Premier and the head of the provincial housing supply action team are dead set against gentle density that will help Ontario get on track with the housing crisis. They are losing out on crucial federal funding because they refuse to be bold and lead the charge on allowing fourplexes. The legacy of the government will be one of NIMBYism.

But it’s not too late to change course. You can even borrow the Ontario Liberal housing bill; we’ve done the work for you. Start with fourplexes and start now.

Speaker, my question is: When will this government actually get the shovels in the ground instead of leaving them on the shelf in Home Hardware?

Oh, Speaker—

Interjection: Where do you start?

Let’s get this straight: The Liberal leader, who takes one position one day, another position the next day, one position one day, another position the next day—it’s like one of those weather vanes in a hurricane; you never know which way they’re going.

Do you know what the reality is? We made the decision to work with our municipal partners, and do you know what they told us? The number one obstacle to building homes is the infrastructure deficit that was left behind by the previous Liberal government. They said that because of the infrastructure deficit, there’s not enough sewer and water in the ground to build millions of homes. That is why Liberals advocate for policies that will build hundreds of homes while we want to build millions of homes. We are not ashamed to work with our partners to put infrastructure in the ground to build millions of homes so that everybody can have the dream of home ownership.

If I was to borrow Bonnie Crombie’s housing plan, I would have the massive record that she had as the mayor of Mississauga. What did we see? The population of Mississauga actually decreased when the population of the province was exploding. In fact, in her last months in office, she had a massive start of 12 homes in her community. So thank you very much. I don’t think this caucus here wants to borrow anything from that small group of individuals over there who, for 15 years, stood in the way of building homes.

You know who agrees with me? The former Liberal cabinet minister who testified at one of our hearings and said that the crisis started under the Liberal watch, Mr. Speaker.

What I’m going to do is this: I’m going to put infrastructure in the ground, and I’m going to make sure we build millions of homes instead of the hundreds that they would like to build.

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. The people of Ontario are tired of Liberal tax hikes. They remember what the province was like under the previous Liberal government, when it was hiking taxes at every opportunity. Businesses fled the province in droves, and workers’ hard-earned paycheques shrunk, and the future of Ontario’s economy looked bleak.

Our government came in and reversed course. We know that lowering taxes and reducing costs are the keys to prosperity for our workers and for our businesses. That’s why we’re calling on the federal Liberals to stop their carbon tax hike of April 1.

Speaker, can the minister highlight what we’ve done to lower costs across the board so that the federal Liberals can learn from our example?

It just goes to show you that, even with a new leader, the Liberals have not changed—not one bit. They’ll watch as Prime Minister Trudeau hikes the carbon tax again, even though they know it punishes businesses and households across Ontario.

Speaker, can the minister please tell the Liberals how lowering costs creates growth and new investment across our economy?

Supplementary question?

Look, we have shown the Liberals the way—shown the Liberals that cutting red tape and lowering taxes are the keys to creating growth and jobs in Ontario: 11 red tape reduction bills, nearly $1 billion in cost savings, 500 unnecessary pieces of red tape reduced—all voted against by the Liberals and the NDP. A 10% Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit, $2 million in savings per business per year—voted against by the Liberals and the NDP. The gas tax reduction, 11 cents a litre—voted against by the Liberals and the NDP.

Speaker, that’s how you get 700,000 jobs created: by lowering taxes and cutting costs. Listen to the people of Ontario. Scrap the tax today.

We’ve shown the Liberals the way: lower taxes, cutting red tape, that’s how you create jobs, not by bringing in a carbon tax.

Staffing shortages are having a severe impact on our schools, robbing our children of the supports they need to learn, to be safe, and in some cases, to even be at school.

As one Ontario principal says, “We are not staffed properly to support students. We can only respond to emergencies....” The Minister of Education has been frantically pointing fingers in every direction instead of taking responsibility and coming up with a plan to fix it.

Where is the plan, Speaker? Will we finally see it in today’s budget?

We have over 40,000 teachers who are qualified, certified and in good standing with the Ontario teacher’s college who are choosing not to teach in our schools because of this minister’s policies.

Meanwhile, we have an attendance problem in high schools because why bother going to school if you’re not going to learn anything today? And more than half of principals say they’ve asked parents to keep their children with special needs home. This is serious, and it deserves a better response than finger pointing from this minister.

So, I repeat, will we see a plan to address staffing shortages in today’s budget?

What you will see in today’s budget is a continued commitment to public education with a commitment to build schools, to invest in back to basics on literacy and math and improving standards in Ontario’s publicly funded schools. That is the cornerstone of our plan to get back to basics and to create pathways to good-paying jobs for our young people.

If the members opposite want to be constructive, if they’re concerned about absences within schools that impact quality education, then they will stand up to their union friends and insist that retired educators are permitted to be in classrooms where they belong instead of unqualified staff ahead of teachers. It makes no sense that the NDP—

Interjections.

Unlike provinces east and west that have significant shortages that are plaguing the continuity of learning, we have gone ahead of this, and we’re committed to going even further, in partnership with the Minister of Finance, to invest in quality learning, to raise standards and ambitions, to give hope and economic opportunity to young people. When they graduate, they can get a good job and achieve the dream of this country.

My question is to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. Before the March break, in a brief elevator conversation, the minister and I had a discussion about what our plans were when we’d be going home for the March break. Part of my plan was to continue the ongoing tour that I’ve been doing in lumber mills and forestry operations across northern Ontario.

Well, Minister, the report card is in. Do you think you received a passing grade?

That’s quite a question. Do you know what? In talking with the forestry sector throughout Ontario, talking with mayors, talking with people all throughout the sector, I think we are getting a passing grade. We are making investments in the sector that are unprecedented. And I’d highlight the recent announcement of $60 million to support our biomass plant—$60 million to drive innovation, to drive the future of forestry in Ontario, to make sure that there are opportunities not only today but tomorrow.

Speaker, we will continue to drive that innovation. We will continue to work with our forestry partners. We will continue to make sure that northern Ontario thrives, grows and is part of the great economy right here in Ontario.

My question is for the Premier. Many times in this House, New Democrats have called on this government to raise Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program rates to an amount that will bring people out of legislated poverty. Our constituents are struggling to pay the rent, and they’re left with little to nothing for anything else, like food or utilities.

Speaker, can the Premier tell me, will today’s budget finally support Ontarians and make OW and ODSP rates livable for people of Ontario?

So back to the Premier: Will this year’s budget provide real, meaningful benefits for people of OW and ODSP, and end the punitive clawbacks?

Interjections.

The supplementary question.

Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.

The next question.

Supplementary?

It’s absolutely astounding to me that the member opposite would stand up and say that. They had years to support a Liberal government that made no investments in the forestry sector. They did not push them at all. They did not make sure that forestry was a significant part of the economy here in Ontario—but we are, every single day.

We are talking with the mill operators. We are talking with the forestry operators. We are making sure that we’re making critical investments in the north. We’ll continue to do that, because this is the only government that recognizes the value of the north. We’ve heard time and time again that the north was referred to as a “no man’s land” by the previous government.

Well, this government knows the opportunity that lays within the north. This government is working with the forestry sector. This government is working with sectors throughout northern Ontario to drive economies, make sure that people have prosperity, make sure that we can integrate the economy in the north with the economy in the south and have a strong, prosperous Ontario.

I make no apologies for the efforts that we have made in northern Ontario and will continue to.