Ma question, en français, s’adresse au ministre de l’Éducation. La population des écoles francophones est en forte croissance depuis des années, surtout comparée aux écoles anglophones, mais la construction de nouvelles écoles ne suit pas le rythme. Je dirais même que c’est très loin de là.

Dans son dernier budget, le gouvernement a annoncé la construction de 1 022 places en français. Mais selon le Bureau de la responsabilité financière de l’Ontario, ça ne suffira même pas à couvrir l’augmentation des inscriptions juste pour cette année, donc encore moins à rattraper les importants retards.

Le 4 avril, le ministre de l’Éducation a annoncé la somme de 1,3 milliard de dollars pour la construction et l’agrandissement de 60 écoles. Donc, ma question au ministre est très simple : combien d’écoles francophones seront-elles construites avec ce financement?

La députée d’Ottawa–Vanier.

Je suis vraiment intéressée à savoir ce qui s’en vient. Par contre, merci pour les investissements.

Monsieur le Président, les écoles francophones en Ontario souffrent non seulement d’un manque de place, mais aussi d’une importante pénurie de personnel qui dure aussi depuis longtemps. C’est une crise de recrutement et de rétention.

En 2021, un groupe de travail a publié un rapport sur la pénurie de personnel enseignant dans le système d’éducation en langue française de l’Ontario, ce qui a mené le gouvernement à élaborer une stratégie de recrutement pour les années 2021 à 2025. Nous sommes maintenant en 2024 et le problème est très loin d’être réglé.

Le dernier budget du gouvernement n’a même pas mentionné une fois la pénurie importante de personnel enseignant dans nos écoles francophones. Alors, comment le gouvernement envisage-t-il de réussir à recruter et retenir le personnel nécessaire pour combler les nombreux postes d’enseignant nécessaires dans nos écoles francophones si on ne fait pas d’investissement?

I want to thank the member opposite for the question and the partnership as we work together to build schools across Ontario.

We are absolutely committed to building more schools. It’s why I was proud to stand with the Minister of Finance, on behalf of the Premier, to announce the historic more than doubling of funding to build more schools faster in this province for the people of Ontario. We’re talking about over $1.3 billion of investment; it was historically at $550 million. This will yield more than double the number of schools we build per year.

For French-language education, we have invested a quarter of a billion dollars to build roughly 18 new schools and 16 school additions. We’ve created over 7,000 spaces within our schools, and likewise, over 900 licensed child care spaces—affordable child care spaces for French-language families.

We know there’s more to do. It’s why our government has stepped up with a historic investment to build, to invest and to grow our French-language school system.

The Minister of Francophone Affairs and I have worked together to cut through the red tape and to attract, and we’re seeing some result: 1,000 additional French-language candidates registered on the recruitment portal just last year; 151 additional internationally trained French-language teachers, newly certified by the college of teachers.

Mr. Speaker, I was proud to stand with the Minister of Colleges and Universities to more than double the amount of teacher placements in University of Ontario français and the University of Ottawa.

Together, this is going to make a difference till we bridge the gap and ensure all children have access to a qualified teacher in Ontario.

Parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Finance, the member for Oakville.

The supplementary question.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. Speaker, I hear it in the House and I hear it across my riding of Newmarket–Aurora: The carbon tax is making life more and more unaffordable. During this challenging time, families and small businesses in all communities need to feel supported, not penalized. That’s why it is disappointing to see the federal government refuse to scrap the tax.

To make matters worse, the carbon tax queen, Bonnie Crombie, and her Liberal caucus continue to stand behind their federal colleagues. Ontario cannot afford Bonnie Crombie and the Liberal carbon tax she supports.

Our government will keep fighting this regressive carbon tax and putting more money back in the people’s pockets. Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government is combatting the negative impacts of the carbon tax?

They have chosen to ignore the concerns of the people that elected them. That’s not fair. At a time of economic uncertainty and an affordability crisis, let’s not tax Ontarians more.

Speaker, can the parliamentary assistant please tell the House what our government is doing to fight the carbon tax?

Thank you to the great member from Newmarket–Aurora for a really good question. We have been clear: Now is not the time to be raising taxes and making life more unaffordable for the people here and across this great province.

Unfortunately, it seems like the Liberal plan to tackle affordability is to actually make life more expensive for the people of Ontario and Canada. We saw Liberal members refuse to support a motion to eliminate the carbon tax which makes goods and services more affordable in this province.

We even heard the Liberal member of Kanata–Carleton say that “the vast majority of Ontario households are better off with a carbon price,” in spite of all evidence to the contrary.

Speaker, it’s time for all parties in this House to unite and join us and agree that this federal carbon tax needs to be eliminated now.

Interjections.

That’s why, only a few weeks ago, we announced a new extension of the gas tax cut, providing direct relief to the people of Ontario at the pumps. This cut means hundreds of dollars in savings for the average Ontario household and billions of dollars across the province.

Our government acted early on affordability, and we aren’t stopping now. We will continue to drive down prices and we will make life more affordable for the people of Ontario.

With the greatest of respect, wrong, wrong, wrong. We have made historic investments in our health care budget and our health care system, whether it is expanding primary care, multidisciplinary teams—over a half a billion dollars that we are investing in primary care multidisciplinary teams. Whether it is capital projects that are happening in our hospitals across Ontario, over 50 capital projects that are happening right now across Ontario, new expanded and renovated hospitals, including, of course, in the Hamilton region.

We continue to invest in our health care system. We know that Ontario leads Canada, whether it is attachments to family physicians or primary care docs, whether it is the lowest wait times in Canada that are happening here in the province of Ontario, we will continue to do that work to make sure that we build up a system that, frankly, previous governments have ignored for decades.

Not even two weeks ago, I asked the Premier about a fraction of the funding the Greater Hamilton Health Network is going to receive as one-time funding. This is an Ontario health team who brought many expert voices to the table to build a plan which, if fully funded, would provide 55,000 Hamilton-area residents with a family doctor, a health team that has innovative strategies, dedicated home care professionals and team-based care close to home.

The minister talks a good game but is leaving people without a family doctor. Premier, why are you undermining and underfunding the very same groups that you created?

So let me get this clear: We have expanded primary care multidisciplinary teams in the amount of over a billion dollars since February. That equates to 78 new primary care health teams, multidisciplinary teams, community health centres—yes, including in the Hamilton area and the Niagara region.

We are making those investments. So, respectfully, to the member opposite and the members of her party: Why did you vote against those investments yesterday?

My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. Every industry in Ontario is negatively impacted by the carbon tax. This punitive tax adversely affects our businesses, economy and Ontario workers, including those in the natural resource sector. Not only does this federally imposed carbon tax make raw materials more expensive, but it also impacts the entire supply chain, resulting in higher costs for everything and everyone.

While the federal government, supported by the independent Liberals and the opposition NDP, is content to pass these costs on to individuals who are already financially struggling, our government knows that Ontarians deserve better. That’s why we will continue to call on the federal Liberals to scrap the tax once and for all.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how the carbon tax is negatively impacting industries in the natural resource sector and consumers across Ontario?

The federal Liberals and their provincial counterparts are out of touch with how the carbon tax is negatively impacting individuals and families across Ontario. Recently the Parliamentary Budget Officer found that most households will lose income due to the federal carbon tax. Specifically, the report states that 60% of households in Ontario and other provinces will pay more in carbon taxes than they receive in rebates.

Speaker, the hard-working people and business owners who power our economy have had enough. They want to see this tax scrapped now. The federal government must eliminate the carbon tax. Can the minister please elaborate on how our government is delivering relief to the people of Ontario as we fight the carbon tax?

Thank you to the member from Oxford for that great question.

You know, I’ll give the Liberals this: They’re consistent—consistently on the wrong side of supporting affordability for Ontarians, because their leader, the queen of the carbon tax, just wants to double down and say no all the time: no to northern Ontario, no to affordability measures, no to building homes and key infrastructure, no to reducing emissions while creating jobs.

Mr. Speaker, we know what the Liberals are all about. They had years and years and years to get something done. Instead, they drove manufacturing jobs out of this province by the hundreds of thousands. They neglected to build long-term-care beds. They certainly neglected to support northern Ontario. Well, we support northern Ontario in this government, and we support getting rid of a carbon tax that is nothing but punitive to northern Ontario and the natural resources sector.

Interjections.

I know the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, won’t listen to us about the carbon tax—again, consistency; I’ll give them that. But maybe she’ll listen to the federal Parliamentary Budget Officer, who said that Ontarians will pay $478 more per household because of the federal carbon tax. They said in the year 2030, the average financial loss for Ontarians would be close to $2,000 per household.

It’s a shame the members opposite are putting politics ahead of Ontario’s families and businesses. Our government cut the fuel tax by over 14 cents a litre. Our government supports innovation in creating jobs and reducing emissions. Our government is creating more jobs, putting more money in people’s pockets, and our government is delivering relief for people here in Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, the answer is clear. We need to support Ontarians in an affordability-challenged time. The Liberals need to stand up and scrap this tax.

I’ll ask the member for Brampton North and the member for Ottawa South to come to order.

The member for Oxford: supplementary question.

My question is to the Premier. Ontario Place for All has released a comprehensive audit that shows the Therme mega spa project cannot succeed without hundreds of millions of dollars in public taxpayer subsidies. Therme was just recently at risk of bankruptcy. We still don’t know the source of their financing, but they have a secret 95-year lease for prime Toronto waterfront.

The public deserve to know what you’ve signed us up for. Premier, why won’t you release the details of the lease with Therme?

Mr. Speaker, if this is such a good deal for Ontario taxpayers, then release the lease.

These are the tax subsidies for Therme that we know about: parking garage, $450 million; infrastructure, $200 million; science centre moving, $400 million; an apparently free 95-year lease on public parkland; and the maintenance of a portion of Therme’s roof.

That report from Ontario Place for All yesterday suggested that they may not be able to attract enough customers to actually pay for their business model to turn a profit.

So, the question is, if they go bankrupt, as they almost did in 2019, what does the secret lease say? Are Ontario taxpayers going to be stuck with a billion-dollar boondoggle on the waterfront, or will we be stuck subsidizing Therme’s failed business model for the next 95 years?

Mr. Speaker, I can’t believe that I’m actually responding to the question and I have to educate a colleague of mine on the other side who does not understand what an audit is and who conducts an audit. An audit is conducted by a certified accountant. What we saw yesterday was not, in fact, an audit. It was a presentation that I’m pretty sure grade 7 and 8 students from schools in my riding could do a better job of. It was a joke, in fact.

Mr. Speaker, we will continue with our redevelopment plans at Ontario Place. We are attracting an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars to build 50 acres of public realm space, a brand new stage, a wellness and water park facility for the public to enjoy after 30 years of neglect of the site because of the Liberals.

What I will do is I will work with Infrastructure Ontario, a world-renowned agency that is leading the development of all of our critical and most complex projects in the province. Whether it’s highways, whether it’s hospitals, whether it’s schools, long-term care or correctional facilities, they are leading that work. We are working in partnership with Infrastructure Ontario to bring the site back to life.

Mr. Speaker, we have two options: We could do what the Liberals did and not do anything and let the site fall apart and let it continue to flood, or we can attract hundreds of millions of dollars of investment to the site for a water park, a brand new stage, 50 acres of public realm space, a brand new marina, food and beverage so that Ontarians can enjoy the lands once again.

My question is for the Solicitor General. Despite opposition from provincial leaders of all political stripes, last week the federal government hiked the carbon tax by another 23%. Ontarians are now forced to pay an extra 17.6 cents per litre on gas. We know that the impact does not stop only on gas, Speaker. How is that right?

The federal Liberals, much like their provincial counterparts, don’t seem to care about the impact this punitive tax has on various sectors in our province.

Speaker, I’ve heard from people in my riding who are concerned about affordability issues and how this additional tax bill will affect our public safety.

Speaker, can the minister please explain the implications of the carbon tax on front-line workers who keep Ontario safe?

I want to thank the member from Ajax for the question. She knows how hard first responders and police officers and firefighters work, and everyone that keeps Ontario safe.

Mr. Speaker, last night, I attended the Toronto Police College to watch people receive awards for doing heroic acts. They work hard every day, but like everybody else in Ontario, like everybody else on April 1, they’re now paying 3.3 cents more a litre on fuel and on diesel. Let me put this into context: An average police car, an average vehicle in public safety, is now paying over $2,000 more a year just for the increase on April 1.

And do you know what, Mr. Speaker? Bonnie Crombie served on the board of the Peel police service board. This is absolutely true. She should come clean with the people of Ontario and say, “I’m not going to support this tax.”

Interjections.

Thank you to the Solicitor General for that response. It’s encouraging to hear how, unlike Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals and the opposition NDP, our government stands up for the hard-working men and women who keep our communities safe.

Last week’s hike is one of the many planned increases from the federal government. The federal Liberals actually want to exponentially increase what they call “a price on carbon” until 2030. Enough is enough. We know that front-line workers deserve to have the support and resources they need to protect Ontarians instead of paying for additional fuel costs because of the carbon tax. It is time to scrap the tax.

Can the Solicitor General explain the effects of the costly carbon tax on our public safety system?