How’s that been working, eh, Speaker? The government is falling far behind their own affordable housing targets.

And 80% of Ontarians can’t afford a single detached home. They need other options like semis and townhouses or a home in a fourplex. These options would let more people stay in the communities that they live in instead of being forced out. This government used to agree with that, but something’s changed, and now, the Premier is fearmongering.

So why is the Premier willing to give up, again, billions in federal cash just so he can block people from living where they want to live?

This is a classic Conservative flip-flop on one of the most important issues facing people today in this province. Instead of building the housing that we desperately need, we have a Premier who is reversing course, who is ruling out options and sowing fear about density.

So back to the Premier: Is it that he doesn’t like fourplexes or is it that he doesn’t like people who can’t afford single, detached homes?

In fact, we’re doing no such thing. What the Premier has said, and what we believe, of course, is that municipalities are the best place to decide what type of development should happen in their communities.

We, of course, are looking forward to working as closely as we can with the federal government, but more importantly, we’re going to be working with our municipalities to come forward with a team Ontario approach to the federal government’s offer over the last couple of weeks.

As you know, there are very few details with respect to what the federal government has put forward but we’re going to take the, I would suspect, unusual step of being one of the first governments that will sit down with our municipal partners, work together with them to come forward with a team Ontario approach to how we can ensure the maximizing of this benefit for the people of the province of Ontario.

We at this point have very few details on what these funds—how they can be used. But we’ll work closely with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, with the big city mayors, with the Rural Ontario Municipal Association, with the small urban mayors, and we will come forward with a team Ontario approach to access these federal dollars but at the same time, we have the highest housing starts that we have had over the last couple of years.

We understand there is more work to be done. There is no doubt that the high inflation and high interest rate policies of the federal government, which are a result of the high carbon taxes, are causing some challenges within the home building industry. We will continue to fix some of the problems that we’ve inherited from the previous Liberal government, and we will ensure that for the people of the province of Ontario the dream of ownership is within everybody’s grasp.

What we’re doing is we’re focused on building more homes for the people of the province of Ontario. Do you know how we’re doing that? By working with our municipal partners to get the job done.

We have said right from the beginning that the best way to build not 100 homes, not 200 homes but over a million homes would be to get sewer and water infrastructure in the ground. We’re talking about building communities, so we’re building transit and transportation. The Minister of Education is building schools with one of the largest investments in new schools in the history of this province, the Minister of Transportation is building subways, expanding GO train service and the Minister of Infrastructure has announced one of the largest programs in sewer and water infrastructure in the province’s history—in the history of the province. Because we don’t want to build a couple of homes, we want to build 1.5 million of all types of homes, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re building communities for the people of the province of Ontario.

My question is to the Premier. Last week, the Premier said that he wants to get rid of international students in Ontario. He wants Ontario universities to be attended by 100% Ontario students. These statements reveal a stunning lack of understanding not only of the purposes of post-secondary education but also the value that international students bring to our province, which is far more than the tuition dollars they generate to subsidize completely inadequate provincial grants.

Speaker, it’s almost as if the Premier wants our post-secondary system to fail. Does he?

Instead of dog whistles blaming international students, will the Premier commit to the $2.5 billion in base funding that the government’s own expert panel said—

Interjections.

Thank you to the member for that question. Let’s talk about what we were doing on Friday: We were announcing a new medical school for York University. Alongside my colleagues and the mayor from Vaughan, we made an exciting, historic announcement.

Let’s talk about our government’s record in medical seat expansion in this province—three new medical schools in Ontario: a new Scarborough U of T campus, the new TMU medical school and now the York University medical school.

Mr. Speaker, while the opposition votes against every single medical seat expansion that we bring to the table, followed by the Liberal government, who cut medical seats while they were in power, this government, under the leadership of this Premier, will ensure that we have access to primary care in this province.

Again, to the opposition—I urge you to vote with us to ensure that we open this new medical school and increase the number of medical seats in Ontario.

Unlike the opposition, who will vote against this, this government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, is ensuring that we have more access to medical seats in this province.

My question is for the Minister of Energy. The carbon tax does nothing to reduce emissions, it only hurts hard-working people. Just last week, the federal Liberals hiked the carbon tax yet again. They ignored what people across the country have been asking from day one: an end to this disastrous tax. And where were Bonnie Crombie and her Liberal caucus? They did nothing to stop this from happening.

Unlike the independent Liberals, our government knows that taxing Ontarians is not the solution. That’s why we are continuing to build on Ontario’s clean energy advantage in powering new homes, transit, job creators and more. With shovels already in the ground on major projects, our government is ensuring that people across the province have access to affordable and reliable energy.

Speaker, can the minister please explain why the Liberal carbon tax is punishing Ontario families and businesses?

Thanks to the member opposite for the question. We’re ensuring that we have energy in our province that’s clean, reliable, affordable and safe, Mr. Speaker, with an emphasis on affordable and reliable.

Last Monday, the Prime Minister jacked up the carbon tax by a staggering 23%. Premier Ford and all of the Premiers—NDP, Liberals and Conservatives alike—wrote a letter to the Prime Minister last week, encouraging him once again to realize the failure of this carbon tax and he responded by saying, “Oh, now, this is a nice irony. Ontario actually started a cap-and-trade program. It was scrapped by Premier Doug Ford”—darned right it was scrapped by Premier Doug Ford, and given the opportunity to scrap that carbon tax, he would do it all over again.

A cap-and-trade system is an increased cost for the people of Ontario, something that our party won’t stand for. Bonnie Crombie, the queen of the carbon tax, sure does.

Interjections.

Order.

The supplementary question?

The next question.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

The next question.

The Minister of Finance.

Nearly 200 residents at Chartwell Heritage Glen Retirement received eviction notices. They have until the end of July to leave.

Chartwell, a private, for-profit retirement home and long-term-care provider with an ugly track record of neglect and non-compliance is selling the land to a private developer.

With massive wait-lists for long-term care, retirement homes are increasingly expected to provide direct intensive care. When a retirement home closes, a senior loses a roof over their head and loses their care.

Is this government going to allow Chartwell to throw hundreds of seniors out of their home, potentially to homelessness, to make a quick buck?

Interjections.

Absolutely not, Mr. Speaker—no one’s benefiting from this carbon tax. This is the irony of the Prime Minister’s comments last week. He said that we scrapped the cap-and-trade system in Ontario—which we did, because it was driving up the cost of everything.

This is Liberal dynamic math here, Mr. Speaker. When McGuinty was the Premier here, they believed the health tax that they implemented wasn’t a tax, it was a premium. It was the largest income tax increase in our province’s history. Then they bring in a cap-and-trade system, which is just a tax and driving up the cost of everything.

That’s why we scrapped the carbon tax, and we sent Kathleen Wynne for a hike, Mr. Speaker. It was the right thing to do for the people of Ontario. It’s about time the Prime Minister woke up to that fact and followed the Premier—

Mr. Speaker, as you know, there are rules in place with respect to retirement homes when they transition. Of course, they are going to require that all of the individuals who are currently resident within that facility are transitioned into a new facility before they can move on out.

At the same time, I know there are a number of subsidies that are being provided to the residents. I know the member for Mississauga–Streetsville has been working very closely not only with the city of Mississauga but with the proponents and residents so we’re quite encouraged that all residents will be treated in a respectful manner.

Interjection.

Mr. Speaker, I hate to contradict the government House leader, but there are family members of the seniors who are being evicted from Chartwell and they have said that the member from Mississauga–Streetsville has not met with them, has not spoken with them even though their seniors are being evicted.

Both the Harris and this Conservative government have given millions of dollars to Chartwell, which is a real estate investment trust, and Chartwell has generated a reported $7 million for its chair, former Conservative Premier Mike Harris. Now, Chartwell is evicting 200 seniors in Mississauga and these seniors’ family members are here. Among them is Karen, whose mother, Joyce, is 92 years old and is not able to eat or sleep because of the anxiety of losing her home.

Will this government stand up for seniors and stop these evictions, or will they allow the tax-subsidized Chartwell corporation to sacrifice seniors in the name of profit?

Interjections.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. Just last week, as some kind of April Fool’s joke gone wrong, the federal government hiked their carbon tax by a whopping 23%. For many Ontario households, they are already struggling to make ends meet and this is a devastating move that will cost them more of their hard-earned salaries.

Unlike the opposition NDP and independent Liberals, our government has asked the federal government to put an end to this costly Liberal carbon tax since day one. Ontarians are looking to our government to provide them with some relief to keep costs down. We must continue to advocate for the people of this province and ensure that they keep more money in their pockets.

Speaker, could the minister please share with the House how our government is supporting Ontarians as we continue to fight the carbon tax?

The 2024 budget is an outline of our plan to build a better Ontario, and I could not be more proud of being part of a government that prioritizes Ontario workers, families and businesses, especially in the face of the costly Liberal carbon tax.

As I spoke to people in my riding of Newmarket–Aurora last week, many of them asked the same thing. They asked how it was possible that, during an already incredibly difficult time for families in Ontario, the federal Liberals would ask them to pay even more money on a tax that raises the price of everything.

Speaker, to the minister, what is our government doing to help put a stop to the carbon tax and give Ontarians a much-needed break from the—

Many thanks to the member from Newmarket–Aurora for that question.

Speaker, as my colleague just said, the newly raised Liberal carbon tax is a punitive and unwelcome burden on Ontario taxpayers. That’s why in my 2024 budget we announced we’re extending the gas tax cut and providing billions of savings to Ontarians across the province. This represents one of the largest tax cuts in this province for the people of Ontario this century.

We acted early to provide support for Ontarians and we’re not stopping now. We’re going to stand with our workers and with our families as we rebuild this economy and keep costs down for every single Ontarian.

Mr. Speaker, every government across this great land should be working together to make life more affordable for the people here and across the country. Unfortunately, it seems that the Liberal plan to tackle affordability is to make life more expensive for the people of Ontario and for the people of Canada.

Speaker, it’s possible you heard me call on the federal government—or perhaps my esteemed colleague over here or perhaps our esteemed Premier—to scrap the carbon tax. Maybe you heard that once, maybe you heard it twice, maybe you heard it thrice.

Today, my call is for the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, and the Ontario Liberals: Call your counterparts in Ottawa. Go up the 401 and tell them how much people are hurting across this province and join us in the fight to end this regressive carbon tax.

My question is to the Premier. People in Durham need health care and need to know that a new Durham hospital is coming. Lakeridge Health convened an expert panel to site a future hospital, and Whitby was chosen.

Premier Ford was a guest on our own local CKDO radio and said, “There is going to be a Whitby hospital. Is it going to be tomorrow? Not tomorrow, but down the road, very shortly, we’ll be issuing the planning grants.”

We didn’t see any planning grants in this year’s budget, but since the Premier clearly promised on the radio to everyone waiting for a Durham hospital, my question is, when will Durham get the planning grant for the new hospital at the proposed Whitby site?

The Premier is dragging his feet on this decision and seems to be backing away from his promise, which is making people very nervous. This Premier gave away MZOs and greenbelt chunks as wedding favours to PC donor developers, so surely he can appreciate that trust feels like too much to ask of people.

PC donor developers are chomping at the bit to develop the environmentally sensitive Carruthers Creek headwaters, and they want the Premier to put a hospital in northeast Pickering. Speaker, make no mistake; allowing development of the Carruthers Creek headwaters is about speculative profits and not health care.

So my question is whether this Premier will come good on what he told Durham folks and put the Durham hospital in Whitby to meet growing health care needs or if his flip-flopping means that donor developers will be making this decision—

Interjections.

Thank you.

The supplementary question?

Premier.

Once again, I’ll remind members to make their comments through the Chair.

The next question.

Once again, I’ll remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.

The supplementary question?

The Premier to reply.

The member for Ottawa South must come to order.

The Premier has a few more seconds to reply.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Interjection.

If we could start the clock.

Every one of us in this chamber knows that every day, more and more Ontarians are struggling to pay their bills, to pay their rent, to pay their mortgage, to put food on the table. And every day, more and more families are having to use their credit cart instead of their OHIP card just to get their son or daughter the basic medical attention that they need.

By any measure, Speaker, life is harder for most Ontario families, except for the Premier and his office. At a time when Ontario families are struggling, how does this Premier justify increasing the staff in his office from 20 to 48 and more than doubling his budget to $6.9 million?

And in the Premier’s office, all of those 48 staff make more than the median family income in Ontario—some of them double, some of them triple, some of them quadruple the median family income, Premier.

Is the Premier so out of touch, Speaker, that he thought it was a good idea to raise his office budget by more than $4 million and that each of his 48 staff make more than the median Ontario family?

Interjection.

Thank you for that question. I find it ironic, coming from the opposition—between the Liberals and NDP, they built no hospitals. We’ve invested over $50 billion in building new hospitals. Durham will eventually get their hospital.

But I’ll tell you one thing, Mr. Speaker: The mayor of Whitby—it doesn’t work. I don’t even know if it’s legal that she’s asking for emails, collecting data—and God knows for what. I have an idea why she’s collecting data. But she’s holding her little lottery: “You give me your name and your email, I’ll put it in my data bank, and guess what? You may get an iPhone watch. You may get a backpack. But guess what? You’ll get a membership over at the local workout club.” Who does that? Who absolutely does that? Mr. Speaker, is that legal? Imagine if I went out there and asked for people’s emails: “You want a hospital? Send me your email, send me your phone number, and I’ll put it in my data bank.” That’s what’s happening out in Whitby, with the mayor of—

Interjections.

But what’s really staggering is when the mayor of Whitby stands up there with a Liberal MP, telling us we should use our health care funding to build a hospital. She’s not informed. She doesn’t have a clue what she’s talking about. The Liberal MP doesn’t have a clue what they’re talking about. We can’t use that money directed by the federal government to build a hospital. Get your head around that, understand that, because I’ll tell you, the federal Liberal MP won’t be there much longer, by the way. But when he disappears, and the mayor—we’re putting more investments into health care than any government in the history of this province. We’re going to continue investing in the nurses, in the doctors, in the infrastructure. That’s what we’re—

Interjections.

You say about affordability, but you, sir, vote for a tax increase on every item that we put forward, along with your leader. There’s one thing that the Liberals and NDP understand in this province: increase taxes; take money out of people’s pockets until they can’t even go buy a burger at the corner store.

I was at Restaurants Canada, and all they’re saying is, “We need more relief.” Well, the Liberals and the NDP—we saw what happened for 15 years: They increased taxes, drove 300,000 jobs—

But guess what, Mr. Speaker? The—

Interjection.

You know, Mr. Speaker, we’re going to reduce taxes—

Interjections.

To build on that last response, my question is for the Minister of Energy. Across Canada, elected officials of all political stripes have called on the federal government to scrap the carbon tax. Even the Liberal Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador spoke out against the 23% hike. And yet, the federal Liberals decided to follow through with their decision and increase this punitive tax.

Last weekend, I was in the town of Sunderland as they hosted their annual maple syrup festival. As sweet as that festival was, I spoke with constituent after constituent who expressed how the carbon tax was souring their day-to-day lives.

My constituents and Ontarians deserve better. Can the minister please share with my constituents and Ontarians how we are fighting the punishing carbon tax?

Speaker, come on. During a period of high interest rates and living expenses, Ontarians need financial relief, not higher taxes. Our government, under Premier Ford, has consistently opposed this regressive tax from the outset. The opposition NDP and the Bonnie Crombie Liberals continue to remain silent. They’re ignoring their constituents.

Could the minister please tell the House more of what our government is doing to fight this carbon tax?

Thanks very much to the great member from Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock, one of the sweetest members of this Legislature, no doubt, who has concerns and has shared them with us here at the Legislature that she’s been hearing from her constituents. But it is not just constituents from Kawartha Lakes-Brock that are feeling the impact of the punitive carbon tax, it’s residents of Toronto, it’s resident of London, it’s resident of Ottawa, it’s residents right across the country, because of Prime Minister Trudeau’s massive increase to the carbon tax on April 1, last Monday. It’s having an impact at the grocery stores. It’s having an impact at the gas pumps. It’s having an impact on your home heating.

So what we’ve done is ensure that we’ve reduced the cost of gasoline by 10.7 cents a litre. We’re making sure that there’s an Ontario Electricity Rebate for the people of Ontario. We’ve eliminated fees and tolls and licence plate sticker fees. And we’ve introduced One Fare for transit riders right across the GTHA. Every step of the way, we’re doing everything we can to make sure that life is more affordable for the people of Ontario while the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, and her pal Justin Trudeau are driving are up the carbon tax by a whopping 23% last week—

We’ve done everything we can to get this message through to the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. As a matter of fact, the Premier sent him off another letter last weekend, encouraging him to step away from this harmful policy. But what did he do? He said, “Well, we wouldn’t have this carbon tax if we still had cap-and-trade.” That is just another energy tax, Mr. Speaker.

What we’re saying is get rid of the carbon tax. Get rid of cap-and-trade. Make life more affordable for the people of Ontario today. He could have done it last Monday. He still has time.