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?

Thank you.

The supplementary question?

The parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health.

Next question.

My question is for the Premier. Sudbury has one of the highest opioid mortality rates in Ontario, and our only supervised consumption site, the Spot, just closed. It closed because the Conservative government chose not to provide any provincial funding. The Spot is health care. Health care is a provincial responsibility. And the Premier refused to fund it. The Spot has had an application in for two years and seven months. And the Premier refused to fund it. When it opened, the Spot ran for 16 months using only municipal funding and local donors, all because the Premier refused to fund it.

My question is, why did the Premier refuse to fund the Spot and save lives?

Interjections.

Let me tell you abut James Gough. James was a former addict. He told me that the Spot staff saved his life when he overdosed. He said that if the Spot wasn’t there, he wouldn’t be alive today. He said that without them, he would be one of the white memorial crosses downtown. The Spot saved James’s life. So James volunteered at the Spot to save more lives, so that we would have fewer memorial crosses.

My question is, why won’t the Premier help save more lives like James’s by funding Sudbury’s supervised consumption site?

I thank the member opposite for that question.

The Premier and the minister have been very clear: All sites need to be in compliance with the requirements as set out in their funding agreements. CTS sites are expected to build trust in the communities where they are located through consultation and ongoing engagement. We understand the importance of community feedback in this matter. These reviews will inform the next steps taken by the Ministry of Health. All applications for new CTS sites currently with the ministry are on pause.

We will continue to work with our health care partners across the province to ensure that people have health care when and where they need it.

Thank you for the question.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve done more as a government to support harm reduction programs in the province of Ontario than any government has in the past, including the Liberals supported by the NDP.

Last year alone, we invested over $75 million to support harm reduction programs in Ontario, including $12 million for needle exchanges and single-use sterilization and injection equipment; $22 million for naloxone distribution, free to anyone who wants it; mandatory on-site naloxone for high-risk workplaces; $9 million for street-based outreach programs and HIV/hepatitis C education and prevention programs.

We know the value of harm reduction, and we’re making those investments. And we’re determined to meet people where they are, but we’re not going to keep them there. We’re going to help them recover.

Mr. Speaker, our support for evidence-based harm reduction programs is clear, and we’re going to continue investing to help the—

My question is for the Associate Minister of Transportation. People in my riding of Richmond Hill were upset to see the federal Liberals proceed with their 23% tax hike last week.

Since the implementation of this regressive tax, Ontarians across the province are paying more for groceries, for services and for fuel.

And to make things worse, the federal Liberals are planning another six increases by 2030. That is not right.

The carbon tax is making life more expensive for everyone, including our trucking industry. Truckers have a critical role in transporting the goods we need in our daily lives. They should not be forced to pay unnecessary costs.

Can the minister please explain the impact of the federal carbon tax on Ontario’s trucking industry?

Thank you to the member from Richmond Hill for her advocacy.

The people of Ontario watched in dismay as the federal Liberals imposed a staggering 23% carbon tax increase.

Mr. Speaker, think about this: The solar eclipse brings darkness here for a few minutes in Canada, but the carbon tax will bring darkness to every single household in Canada every single day. From the grocery stores to the gas pumps, the tax is draining the pockets of the people of Ontario.

It doesn’t stop there. Like the member mentioned, the federal Liberals plan to introduce six more hikes by the end of the decade.

And the truckers are the unsung heroes of our province in keeping essentials moving, but this tax forces them and all of us to pay more of a premium on essential goods.

Our message is clear: We will fight the carbon tax and—

Thank you.

The supplementary question?

The supplementary question?

Interjections.

The Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.

Thank you, Minister, for your response.

The hard-working people in our trucking industry are responsible for delivering goods that keep Ontario moving. They deserve our support. The impact of the carbon tax on this critical industry affects all families and businesses in every corner of this province. The cost to fuel the trucks to transport the goods is passed on to the consumers as they purchase their daily necessities.

We know that the NDP and the Liberal members in this House won’t speak up on behalf of their constituents. That is why our government will not stop fighting until this punitive tax is eliminated once and for all.

Speaker, can the minister please further explain the financial impact the carbon tax has on Ontario’s truckers?

Let’s be clear: The truckers, who are the drivers of our economy, are being hit hard by this unnecessary carbon tax. While drivers are taking the weight, the Ontario Liberals and Bonnie Crombie sit silent with no relief, no support and no solutions. The tax is a burden on every Ontarian, from the price of a loaf of bread to keeping our homes warm. It’s a chain reaction started by a tax that takes more from those who already give so much to keep our economy moving.

We ask the Ontario Liberals and NDP to step up and do the right thing, and join us in the fight against the carbon tax, Mr. Speaker. Under the leadership of Premier Ford, this government and this transportation minister and these caucus members will fight the carbon tax and we will stand with truck drivers.

Speaker, my question is to the Premier, through you: Last week, the Premier told reporters that the Terrace Bay mill is not likely to reopen. That’s an awful way for the people of Thunder Bay–Superior North to hear that the government has given up on the mill.

Forestry experts are telling you sustainably produced forest products are climate-friendly, in demand and can provide a much greater contribution to Ontario’s economy than they do now. The closure not only affects all the families and businesses in Terrace Bay and Schreiber, it affects workers and families throughout the entire region: about 10,000 people.

Is this government giving up on the pulp and paper industry?

The people of Terrace Bay, Schreiber and the entire region of northwestern Ontario want to know: Why have you given up so easily?

Mr. Speaker, I’m incredibly disappointed at the member across the way, that she would characterize the Premier’s statements supporting workers in this province as anything but just that.

But it’s typical, Mr. Speaker, that they just don’t get the brief right. They don’t hear and see what is going on, what this government is doing for northern Ontario. Of course we want that mill open in Terrace Bay, and we’ve talked numerous times with leaders in the area about how we’re working on doing that.

More importantly, Mr. Speaker, what we’re doing is saying, “We look after workers in this party,” and everybody in the north knows that, because everybody is tired of 15 years of disrespect during the previous government when they were linked up with the opposition that did nothing for the north.

So, again, no lessons from the opposition today. We’re working for the people of Terrace Bay. We’re working to get that mill back open. We’re making investments—

Interjections.

We could tell stories, time after time after time, about the investments that we’ve made. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we continue to make those investments today. I’ve talked about the biomass program that we’ve expanded for the next three years—$60 million of investment strictly for northern Ontario to grow and prosper, to work with Indigenous communities, to find new pathways. That’s just part of what we are doing.

What we are doing is looking at an integrated forestry sector—how it works together. Terrace Bay is part of that. Opportunities that will come in the future are certainly part of that.

The NDP never understood forestry. They show their ignorance every time they stand up. We’re working on behalf of the forestry sector here in Ontario. We’ll continue to do it every single day.

I’d like to wish everyone a belated happy Tartan Day; that was on Saturday.

My question is for the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development. The people of northern Ontario are being treated unfairly by the federal Liberal government. The cost of transporting goods is already much higher in the north than anywhere else in the province. It’s a vast land where many individuals have to travel by car, and in many cases large vehicles are needed for safety due to the many backroads and unpredictable weather conditions. It’s not fair that they’re being hit hardest at the gas pumps and in the grocery stores.

Speaker, while our government’s position on the carbon tax has always been crystal clear, the NDP and the Liberals representing these communities continue to ignore their concerns. It’s time to scrap the carbon tax.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how the carbon tax negatively affects northern municipalities?

The carbon tax is, in essence, a tax on everything: your groceries, your gas, heating your home and so much more. It is not right. The businesses and families in northern communities are negatively impacted because of this regressive tax. Rather than offering support, the Liberals and the NDP have turned their backs on northern communities.

Unlike other parts of our province, northerners face unique challenges when it comes to fuel costs that need to be understood and to be respected. It’s disappointing to see how the opposition continues to underplay the repercussions of the carbon tax on northern and Indigenous communities.

Speaker, can the minister elaborate on the detrimental effects the carbon tax is having on people, communities and the businesses all across the north?