I’d like to thank the member from Kiiwetinoong for his presentation. The analysis and reaction to the budget are coming through. One of the stakeholders, Children’s Mental Health Ontario, has said that the budget is not meeting the need for urgent and sustained funding in mental health care and they also noted the long wait times for services in the community for children and youth in mental health care.

The member talked about the suicide crisis in his community. Can you please share with members of the House, particularly the government side, what should have been in the budget, what action does the government need to take in order to address the growing mental health care and addiction crisis we’re seeing among children and youth?

First of all, I want to acknowledge the member from Kiiwetinoong. I was listening to you. We actually—Madam Speaker, you won’t believe it—share a resident, who used to be his resident and lives in Malton now. And my OLIP intern is with him, so we have too many things in common, as well—and we were together at SCOFEA.

A few quick things: I was looking at what is in the budget for the northern communities and Indigenous communities. The government is investing $94 million over three years for health and well-being, $60 million to maintain mental health and addictions services, and $15 million over three years to support the ongoing delivery of Indigenous public health programs. So these are some of the investments we’re making.

But one investment that’s stuck to my heart, that I always talk about, is the Skills Development Fund. The government is investing another $100 million for the Skills Development Fund. So I just want to ask the member: Have you heard anything about the Skills Development Fund in your riding or in northern communities, or anything we can do to increase or improve that service—

When I was in northern communities I heard loud and clear that there is a need for skilled development in the northern communities. To the member, again, I would ask you a question: What can we do to support the northern Indigenous communities through the Skills Development Fund in creating those skills in local communities so that they can work, become financially better and give back to the communities?

I can say I was here in May 2019, and I remember some of the First Nations from the riding of Kiiwetinoong—and not only that, the Ring of Fire—I remember sitting and listening to the Premier: “We will not move forward without your consent.” But he later understood that “free, prior and informed consent” is a term that addresses the issues, how we’re going to move forward.

I think the approach where they continue to—this government actually ripped up the regional framework agreement, where the nine First Nations in the Ring of Fire were working together. Now there are only two. I think with that, again, that will not happen, because you have to work with people. It’s a divide-and-conquer approach, and without the proper consultation, I believe the Ring of Fire will not move forward.

I talked about some of the impacts of intergenerational trauma, some of the issues that we faced a long time ago, the long-term impacts. But I think one of the things, when we talk about programming, like healing programs, healing centres—that would go a long way to start the process of healing for people. People are going through that on a daily basis and they need to be able to find a way to come to terms with whatever that they are dealing with, whether it’s a suicide attempt, whether it’s intergenerational trauma. Because it’s not the kids that suffer, it’s the families that we need to deal with—we need to be able to have that holistic healing approach.

I think it’s important to be able to address the issues that are in the north. The issues are very deep-rooted, and incremental funding, incremental change makes it look as if you’re doing something without really doing anything. What incremental change, what incremental funding does is it perpetuates the crisis in our communities. I think we need to have significant resources to be able to go there. We need to be able to provide that healing, housing, the high schools. We need proper runways and there is the cost of living as well.

I’m pleased to rise today to speak to motion 22, the budget motion, especially since my remarks on budget day to the media following the Minister of Finance’s statement in the government press room are not available.

There has been a lot written about this in the media over the last few days. Apparently this government spent $310,000 of taxpayer money on this media press room. And so because either the media room isn’t working or because the government is withholding the video—I have asked but I haven’t had a response yet—I don’t have that video.

That aside, I also only have 14 minutes to speak to this motion. Let me say that if the House leader is listening, he might say I should be grateful to the government for being given this time as an independent member. Speaker, I disagree, because his premise is absolutely wrong. I’m only considered an independent member because it was this government that chose to change the rules of the game and therefore made Liberal members independent.

There are only two possible explanations that I can think of: They don’t believe they should be held accountable to the residents of our ridings, or they’re afraid to hear what we have to say. Either way, the outcome is the same. They are suppressing opposition voices.

Speaker, 14 minutes really is not enough time to highlight one by one all of the issues in this budget, all the people and organizations it lets down, specifically those who struggle to afford a home, those who struggle to put food on the table because the government cancelled the Liberal government’s planned increases to minimum wage. Because they constrained wages for workers with Bill 124, there are kids going to school hungry.

I need to say that I respect the Minister of Finance, and I like him too. He’s a person who I believe wants to do the right thing for the people in Ontario. He had a career in finance, so he probably knows that this budget is a disaster in waiting for this province. I expect that he may have even tried to tell this to his Premier. He likely knows that this $9.8-billion deficit and forecasts for deficits for three more years before maybe having a balanced budget is actually at risk.

One reason for this, of course, is that this government has a terrible track record for their forecasts. The deficit projections in nearly every budget tabled by this government have been off by billions. The second reason is the government’s misguided decision to implement Bill 124 and restrain wage increases for nurses and education workers, mostly women, to 1%. The government has already had to pay catch-up payments of $6 billion and will likely have to pay another $7 billion more. By the way, Speaker, this government’s budget is so lacking in transparency that I don’t even see the $7 billion planned for in this budget, even though they know these payments are coming. It might be hidden in the contingency fund, but, of course, we don’t know because they only show the contingency fund amount for the coming year.

Another reason this outlook is at risk, of course, is because, contrary to their rosy ads declaring how rosy things are in Ontario, which cost $8 million dollars during Super Bowl, things are not okay in Ontario. By the time they plan for a surplus, did you know that if the minister’s forecast for growth is off by even 30 basis points, 0.3%, we would have a $7.5-billion deficit instead of a modest surplus of half a billion? The agencies who rate our province’s economic health will now be in the throes of evaluating this huge deficit budget and the huge amount of debt the government is adding to our books. If these agencies lower our ratings based on this poorer economic performance, that will mean higher interest costs for the government’s $160 billion in debt they will have added to our books.

Earlier this week, the minister took us on a proverbial drive across the province while delivering his budget remarks. Well, Speaker, I want to take you on a stroll through the green meadows of the greenbelt, the very one owned by their insider friends, the very one that this government is now under an $8.3-billion investigation for. It’s also the greenbelt that they want to pave over to build their $20-billion Highway 413, which will also make a few of their rich developer friends, some of the same ones who would benefit under the greenbelt giveaway, even richer.

The Conservatives believe that less government is better for the people, and so they like to say that if you believe in less government, then less money will be spent on government, and therefore, that they are fiscally responsible with taxpayer money. We have a Premier that says the worst place you can give your money is to the government. I think what he meant to say is the worst place to give your money is to his government. This budget puts the fallacy of fiscal conservancy to bed. In this budget, we see a government that is spending $214 billion of taxpayer money to run this province, and we see they’re running it into the ground.

They brag about saving people a few hundred dollars a year on things like licence fees, but they’re actually costing us thousands of dollars a year because they’re paying their friends and supporters. For example, I would estimate that about half a billion dollars of taxpayer money is being paid out in profits from the public purse to private nursing agencies, like those owned by their insider friends, including those who sit here in this House. And to make it worse, they’re financing this with debt. They’re paying another half billion dollars to build a parking lot for a foreign-owned spa and financing that with debt.

So what do we have to show for this record level of debt and $10-billion deficit? We have record high rents; we have record ER closures; we have record numbers of people without a family doctor; we have record numbers of people lined up at food banks; and we have record numbers of problems in classrooms.

Speaker, can I just take a moment here to mention the TDSB? They’re looking at how to balance their budget given the underfunding by this government. One of the things they’re looking at to do that is cancelling seniors’ learning programs because it isn’t core programming for kids K to 12. Many of my Don Valley West constituents have written to me about this. The government needs to step up and pay the few million dollars for this program to the TDSB so that seniors get the programs that they need, but it’s not at the expense of our kids’ education.

This budget and this government have failed those people. This budget takes taxpayers’ hard-earned money—more money than they’ve taken ever before—and gives little in return. That’s just the day-to-day running of the government. Let’s talk about the rest of the taxpayer money they’re spending.

They’ve added $93 billion in debt since they came into office. They’re on track to add $60 billion more according to this budget. Interest payments are ballooning under this government, meaning every tax dollar goes more and more to servicing debt than supporting the people of Ontario. We’re over-leveraged on inefficient projects and bad policies: half a billion dollars for the foreign-owned spa at Ontario Place; $375 million in federal funding that they’re leaving on the table because they just don’t believe in affordable housing. How else could we explain this? Do you know why? Because their rich developer friends won’t get richer.

They’ve created conditions where hospitals are spending $1 billion on agency nurses instead of retaining public staff. They’re subsidizing private long-term-care facilities that are failing to address the needs of their residents, simply because they’re owned by friends of Ford. Billions and billions of taxpayer dollars are going out the door to private companies and the Premier’s friends. That means people who trust us with that money are losing while the Premier’s friends win.

These are just a few of the big mistakes they’ve made. We can’t forget the pointless and broken change of the Ontario licence plates that can’t be seen in the dark, nor the $1 billion in penalties this government failed to collect from the operators of the 407. They spent $230 million breaking renewable energy contracts during a climate crisis, then spent millions of dollars taking nurses to court. They sole-source projects rather than finding the best deal for the people of Ontario. All of these examples show how they’re taking money from taxpayers in this year’s budget and beyond, borrowing money from taxpayers to pay out to the companies of their rich friends. This is fiscal conservatism.

We’re over 200% net debt-to-revenue—that means we owe $2 of debt for every $1 we collect—the debt-to-GDP ratio is creeping higher; growth is low and slowing; that’s what the Minister of Finance told us this week; unemployment is rising—all the things that credit agencies look at to determine our borrowing interest rates.

We can’t grow our way out of this problem. Under this government’s failed leadership, GDP growth has only been 1.5% on average for the last six years, and it’s not projected to improve. By the way, it averaged 2.6% under Kathleen Wynne.

I’m not surprised they’re failing to handle the taxpayers’ money well because they don’t take their own promises seriously. They promised buck-a-beer; we don’t see that. More importantly, they promised a middle income tax cut—haven’t seen that yet either in the six years they’ve been in office. That tax cut would have saved people hundreds of dollars a year, according to the Conservatives’s own claims. They promised to not touch the greenbelt. Well, we know how that one went. It’s probably not what the voters expected.

Let me bring it back to where I started. Why are Conservatives considered to be good fiscal managers? How could they possibly be considered on the taxpayer’s side? They can’t; they are not. They’re wasting billions of taxpayer dollars and giving little in return.

These failures make life harder for the people of Ontario. They have real consequences for the people of Ontario. Their failure to respect and manage the public’s tax dollars means that people have less support.

I don’t believe this is simply a mistake or incompetency. I believe the government is deliberately stifling funding for public institutions like health care so they can justify the expansion of private services that enrich their friends. I believe we’re seeing that with the expansion of nurse practitioner-led clinics. They’re charging fees because there’s a market need. The market need has been created by this government underfunding family doctors. For everyday people, that will mean fewer resources and higher costs. That might just be the theme for this government: fewer resources, higher costs. Never has a government spent so much to deliver so little.

Speaker, there are things that are very unsettling in this budget. I feel very unsettled, but there are things that could be done to help people and build prosperity in Ontario:

—investments in the economy;

—spend that $40 million to continue the Digital Main Street program instead of cancelling it effective March 31;

—implement an “IP box” tax credit to help keep innovative ideas here in Ontario;

—provide incentives to small businesses to adopt new technologies to save time and improve productivity; and

—prioritize the use of the already allocated $3-billion infrastructure fund in the Ontario Infrastructure Bank away from programs that already have capital and use it to incentivize new high-growth communities in Ontario.

Let’s build healthy communities by prioritizing capital funding to the highest-growth, most beneficial projects, like building health care and making sure they’re staffed; building affordable housing; repairing the schools where workers of tomorrow are learning; funding our universities and colleges so that those kids have a bright future in whatever trade or field they choose; prioritizing the support of the public services Ontarians need rather than subsidizing private services that provide fewer services at greater cost; and immediately helping those community service organizations that need 5% to survive.

We need to address the affordability crisis. We could do things like giving $28 million to the Ontario Student Nutrition Program, which will serve over 761,000 meals to students in the province each day.

Stop playing the blame game and blaming everything on the federal government or the Bank of Canada and take action now by providing immediate financial relief for Ontario families by returning the provincial portion of HST related to home heating. Allow fourplexes province-wide to help improve gentle density and increase housing supply.

This government’s bad decisions and fiscal mistakes spell trouble. I know it’s not popular to cast gloom on our future prospects, and I don’t really want to, but I feel compelled to speak out against the position this government has put us in. There’s a fundamental issue at the heart of our provincial finances that’s leading to a fundamental breakdown of our public services and the quality of life in our province.

The Conservatives may claim to be prudent fiscal managers; they’re not. They’re populists, plain and simple—populists making short-term decisions in order to stay afloat for just one more term so they can extract as much money as they can from the public coffers before Ontarians realize what they’re doing and throw them out of office in 2026.

Questions?

Thank you to the member opposite. I think this budget, budget 2024, is a budget that’s focused on building Ontario, that’s building infrastructure, hospitals, education facilities, transit infrastructure and subways. It’s also focused on affordability for Ontario residents.

When our government took office in 2018, we did inherit the largest sub-sovereign debt in the entire world. Since then, both Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s have upgraded Ontario to positive outlook. They have upgraded the financial standing of Ontario, and this government has had six clean financial audits from the Auditor General, unlike the previous Liberal government. So, how do you account for that, to the member opposite?

I serve also with this member on the finance committee, and I need more than a minute and a hot second to talk about their financial record, but I’m going to focus on what we heard at committee.

Region of Peel Chair Nando Iannicca said the dissolution of Peel would have delayed housing in Peel by three, five, seven years. What would it take to make Peel whole? Some $1.5 billion. Since the revoking of the Hazel McCallion Act, Peel has been sent into a spiral, essentially, and that is how this government makes decisions or establishes legislation.

Can the member please talk about why it is so crucial to have strong partnerships with our municipalities and not create chaos, as they did with the Hazel McCallion Act?

In this budget—well, let’s just say there’s no Ontario government that has spent so much, borrowed so much, added to the debt so much and failed to address the issue of the day, the most important issue: affordability.

There are no measures in this budget to protect renters who are facing massive rent increases across this province, in all of our communities. The dream of an affordable home just got dimmer in this budget; there’s nothing there to give people hope.

Two million Ontarians don’t have a family doctor, and now they’re having to use their credit card instead of their OHIP card to get primary care.

So it’s evident that the Premier is able to point his finger, but he can’t lift a finger to help Ontario families facing an affordability crisis. My question to the member is: Why do you think that is?

I thank the member for her comments and certainly respect the member’s commercial background that she brings to this House. She has been an accountant and she has been on the board of the Bank of Canada, so good commercial experience.

I was also very interested in her comments about the size of the deficit. The implication is that she would like to see the deficit lower, and yet, also in her remarks, she was talking about increasing spending, whether it’s the TDSB or tax credits or health care. I don’t know. I started life as an accountant too, and those statements don’t quite add up together.

So I guess my question to the member would be: I’m encouraged by your comments on the deficit and wanting to get it down. To get that deficit lower, would you increase taxes to Ontarians, cut spending in health care or education, or what would be your formula of cuts and tax increases to get the deficit down?

I guess the member—I want to thank her for her question. I guess she assumes that we’ll be forming government in 2026. I’m not going to make commitments on behalf of a future government, but I would like to say that it was the Conservative government that privatized long-term care, long-term-care beds that saw people die at extremely high rates under COVID, instead of the not-for-profit long-term-care homes.

I will say that the Liberal government also created nurse practitioner-led clinics that could be billed through OHIP, whereas we have this government not advancing that cause and actually allowing the market to fill the need in creating nurse practitioner-led clinics where people pay with their credit card and not their debit card. People, we’ve been very clear: We’re very committed to public care.

The member also needs to remember that family doctors actually run a small business. That is how they run their practice today. If she wants to talk about overhauling the health system, I’m happy to do that in a future debate.

Further questions?

Further debate?

I thank the member for her presentation. Yesterday, I hosted a health care town hall in my riding, and it’s very clear that people in Ontario are opposed to the privatization of health care. Polling on this issue reflects that as well. Overwhelmingly, Ontarians don’t want to see the health care system privatized.

There was also an acknowledgement that, while things have gotten a lot worse under the Ford Conservatives, it didn’t start there. The problems in our health care system started long before, and in fact, under the Liberal government, we did see further privatization of our health care services, of home care and of long-term care.

My question to the member is, it sounds like the member and her colleagues have changed their position, and I hope they have. Could she commit that our health care system will remain publicly funded and publicly delivered in its entirety?

In 2018, when the Liberals left government, you had nearly a $13-billion deficit with no plan to balance, no long-term-care homes to show for it—611 net new you built. You came to me asking to build in your own riding because your government back then couldn’t do it.

The question back to you—and we have no time for this—is, how could you fail so miserably? Lisa Levin, CEO of AdvantAge not-for profits, has already said that this government has done more than your government had done in 15 years. We’ve done more in just one—

It is my pleasure to rise in this House today to speak to the Building a Better Ontario Act. Like the rest of the world, Ontario continues to face economic uncertainty due to high interest rates and global instability. These challenges are putting pressure on Ontario’s families and their finances, as well as the province’s finances.

In these challenging times, we must have a sound plan and execute it. That is exactly what the Building a Better Ontario Act is all about and why our government refuses to slow down our work to rebuild this province. We are stepping up to build a better future for everyone, and we are not doing it by putting additional costs and taxes on families, businesses and municipalities.

The Building a Better Ontario Act, if passed, will support economic growth and build stronger communities for the generations to come. Our plan will continue to support people and businesses in Ontario through targeted investments to build a strong future together.

Thanks to the leadership of this Premier and the Minister of Finance, there’s a lot happening in Ontario to be excited about, but we also know that there is more work to be done.

These last years have highlighted the weakness of global supply chains and the overreliance on others for what we have here in abundance. Take natural resources like critical minerals, for example. The world is racing to secure reliable sources of minerals for the electric vehicle revolution and the technologies of tomorrow. However, nations that do not share our world-class human rights, environmental standards and labour practices have a dangerous stranglehold on the minerals we need. We do not want to build EVs with nickel mined from Indonesia that uses energy from burning coal and dumps the mine waste in the ocean, and we don’t want cobalt from the Congo for obvious human rights issues.

Speaker, I have said it many times: We have what the world needs right here in northern Ontario. We have the minerals, expertise and talent to become the foundation of the growing supply chain for critical minerals and clean technology in North America and beyond. We have an obligation to produce the fuel of the future here in Ontario, because we have the best miners in the world and we have the best environmental standards. That’s why we launched the Critical Minerals Strategy, which includes targeted investments in everything from exploration to innovation.

Our plan also includes cutting red tape that has been holding back our sector for years. It is simply unacceptable that it takes 15 to 17 years to permit a mine. That’s why our government passed the Building More Mines Act, and the regulations are set to come into force on April 1. This act ensures that the ministry can operate at the pace of business, because we know that governments do not build mines; companies do. The act improves our system without sacrificing our world-class environmental protections or how we consult with Indigenous communities. I’m very proud of that fact, Speaker. This is just one more thing our government is doing to ensure that we are prepared to capitalize on the critical minerals opportunity we have in northern Ontario.

Our government’s Critical Minerals Strategy is building an integrated supply chain for clean technologies by connecting mineral producers in northern Ontario with the manufacturing might of the south. But the made-in-Ontario supply chain starts with mining, and mining starts with exploration. That’s why we are investing $35 million in the Ontario Junior Exploration Program to help junior companies find the mines of the future.

But our investments don’t stop with exploration. We are investing in the downstream industries like processing, to ensure that we will fill the supply chains. That’s why we launched the Critical Minerals Innovation Fund: to help solve modern mining and supply chain challenges and leverage Ontario’s highly educated and experienced workforce.

Through the Building a Better Ontario Act, we are investing an additional $15 million over three years to fund the support, research, development and commercialization of technologies, processes and solutions for critical minerals. This fund is open to companies and open to partnerships between companies and Indigenous communities, academics or non-profit organizations.

This program is the direct result of conversations we have had with industry leaders and will support the rest of our government’s infrastructure initiatives. Just listen to what Trevor Walker of Frontier Lithium had to say about our $15 million investment: “This investment underscores the importance of research, development and technology commercialization and reinforces the collaborative efforts between government, industry and academia and building and maintaining a strong critical minerals sector in Ontario.”

When we invest in mining, we are investing in an industry that is leading the charge towards a cleaner, brighter and more sustainable future. We have seen fantastic examples of companies leveraging these investments to change what we think is possible, like Carbonix, an Indigenous-owned company, partnering with Trent University, who are turning mining waste into crucially in-demand graphite components of EV batteries. The president and CEO of Carbonix, Paul Pede, said that thanks to our government’s increased support, “Carbonix is now partnering with SGS Lakefield to develop a critical minerals processing demonstration plant at their facility in Lakefield, Ontario.” He said, “Carbonix will use this facility to process high-sulphur petroleum coke, sourced from refineries in Ontario, into battery-grade graphite materials for Ontario battery manufacturers.”

Mark Selby, CEO of Canada Nickel, said, “Ontario’s commitment to invest in the Critical Minerals Innovation Fund in budget 2024 is the latest in a series of strategic moves to strengthen the province’s economy and its position as the world’s leading mining jurisdiction.”

He is correct. Our plan and targeted investments are driving up the growth, and we are seeing and building critical links in our supply chain, from mining to manufacturing.

Mr. Selby goes on to say, “The opportunities for growth and innovation in critical minerals are unlimited, and Canada Nickel Co. is proud to be at the forefront of this exciting new chapter for Ontario’s economy.”

Canada Nickel has already leveraged this program in the past to research and develop groundbreaking zero-carbon-footprint processing techniques that they plan to use in two world-class processing facilities. The facilities are planned to be built in the great riding of Timmins and will support our EV supply chain and clean steel processing capacity, and create good-paying jobs in the north.

Processing was overlooked and forgotten by previous governments, but it is one of the most crucial links in a stable supply chain. Our government understands this. Processing adds value to the product by refining the ore into the materials needed for manufacturing modern technologies. That’s why our investments are ensuring we are building the processing capacity in Ontario while creating jobs, adding value to our exports and building a strong made-in-Ontario supply chain.

Wyloo Metals is leveraging the program to research how to reprocess and store tailings materials underground to backfill mine workings to future reduce potential service impacts on their projects in the Ring of Fire. There are too many other projects to name, but they all highlight not only the collaborative work being done across Ontario but also the innovation and brilliance of our people.

Speaking of the Ring of Fire, we are making historic progress, thanks to our government’s investment of $1 billion in the region and the strong partnerships with Webequie First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation. For the first time ever, three First Nations-led environmental assessments are under way for the roads to the Ring of Fire. But we also know we cannot wait for the EAs to be complete to start thinking about the next steps. We must be prepared and act with urgency. That’s why, at PDAC earlier this year, I signed a community development agreement with Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation. This agreement is the next major step in building the corridor to prosperity, connecting the communities to the highway network and mining opportunities in the Ring of Fire.

The agreement will support shovel-ready infrastructure projects like new training facilities that will create more local jobs and upskill individuals to prepare them for meaningful careers. It supports recreational facilities that will be important community gathering spaces for the increasing number of youths that will be able to stay in their communities. Most importantly, the agreement is designed to improve the well-being and readiness of First Nations partners to participate fully in future economic development, including building roads and mineral development. We have also agreed to work together to make decisions on construction, ownership and governance of the proposed road network so we can improve project timelines.

Speaker, this is one of the most important projects of our lifetime, and the people of Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation have waited far too long. Under the leadership of this Premier, we have made more progress on the Ring of Fire than any other government ever has, and we will continue to realize this opportunity because we know the benefits it will bring.

I am honoured to be associated with Chief Bruce and Chief Cornelius. They have a strong vision for building stronger communities. That is a vision our government shares.

Our government’s commitment to a strong mining sector is evident in the Building a Better Ontario Act. We will continue to seek out ways to sharpen our competitive advantage and bring prosperity to Ontario. Mining is a pillar of our economy and will only grow in importance. I am proud to be a part of a government that not only recognizes that, but puts a priority on it, because the future will be fuelled by mining. It is our obligation to our children and our grandchildren that we realize these opportunities.

When Ontario comes together, the people of this province can accomplish remarkable things. Working together, we can overcome any challenge. Thanks to the leadership of this government, we will continue to build Ontario into the place that we all know it can be. This is a future I know we all want. This budget, if passed, will help us build a better Ontario together.

Questions?

I’d like to ask the minister: We had 15 years of a previous government that ignored northern Ontario; referred to it as a “no man’s land”; did not respect, I think, the opportunities that were available to all Ontarians by working with northern Ontario to really develop opportunities and grow our economy.

You’ve talked a lot about the mining sector today and how we can do that. I’d like you to elaborate on that: on how the investments of this government and what this government is doing in the budget are really going to assist northern Ontario and drive mining forward, and how they’re going to help integrate the northern economy into success for all Ontarians.

Minister of Mines, I was listening to your presentation, listening to your comments. When we talk about free, prior and informed consent, how much resources have you put to Nibinamik First Nation?

The minister talked about the development of the Ring of Fire. I have a very simple question: Did he receive the consent of Neskantaga First Nation, as he is required to?

Speaker, we believe fully in and have exercised the duty to consult on these projects—fully. The Building More Mines Act was endorsed with royal assent in May of last year. We have finished the regulations, and they will be enacted on April 1. We’re fully committed to the duty to consult, and we’ve filled every obligation that’s required of us. Our relationships with the First Nations people are superb. Mining has done a great job.

What else are they doing with that $3 billion and with the technology? They’re so concerned about the environmental impact that they won’t even discharge water. That’s what miners do. All across Ontario where we mine, the discharge water is cleaner than the intake water. That’s why we support the mining sector in Ontario. That’s why we’re committed to—