J’aimerais souhaiter la bienvenue à l’AFO, l’Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario : M. Fabien Hébert, président; Peter Hominuk, directeur général; et Bryan Michaud, directeur des politiques et des relations gouvernementales. J’ai eu la chance d’avoir de belles discussions avec eux ce matin. J’ai bien hâte de participer à leur évènement ce soir dans les nouveaux édifices du Collège Boréal de Toronto, le cocktail dans le cadre des journées de réflexion sur la santé en français 2024.

Au nom des Franco-Ontariens, merci pour votre travail. Vous êtes toujours bienvenus à Queen’s Park.

It’s an absolute pleasure to welcome the St. Francis Xavier model Parliament to Queen’s Park, with Ananya Agarwal, Caitlyn Chin, Joshua Dcunha, Anushka Desai, Angelina, Arianna, Gunar, Alex, Sara, Larry, Swasti, Jordan, Suriya, Amanda, Hannah, Francis, Aryan, Evan, Zaid, Tiya and everyone. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I, too, would like to welcome the Young Politicians of Canada, who I met with in the office this morning. They’ll be around Queen’s Park, so when you see them, say hello. They’ve got a lot to say.

It’s my pleasure this morning to welcome students from Our Lady of Grace Catholic School in Angus, Ontario. Welcome. Enjoy the session.

From my hometown of Amherstburg in the great riding of Essex, I’d like to welcome Philomena and Larry Elliott. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

As we know, this is National Volunteer Week, and so it’s my pleasure to be able to introduce six students from my community, who are active volunteers in my office: Arthur Chao, Sagan Garg, Armaan Moon, Logan Stitt, Molly Zhang and Emma Wunderlich.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, we launched the largest GO expansion in over a decade: a 15% increase in weekly trips; 300 new weekly trips for trains and for commuters across many lines, whether that’s Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, the Stouffville line, the Kitchener line. This is our government’s commitment to get people moving. And of course, the NDP wouldn’t support that, just like the previous Liberal government, for 15 years, did absolutely nothing on public transit. I expect nothing less than when we launched the largest expansion of GO rail transit in over a decade that they would oppose that, just like they’ve opposed every one of our investments into public transit and getting people moving faster.

We will continue to invest in public transit and increase services across our networks.

Let’s recap what the NDP and Liberals have voted against on public transit—the largest investment in North American public transit. The NDP and Liberals have voted against the Ontario Line. The NDP and Liberals have voted against the expansion of GO Transit like we have here today, infrastructure improvements that support the expansion of 300 new trips per week. They voted against the west extension that we just announced the RFQ process on a couple of weeks ago. They have voted against the Scarborough subway extension. The Eglinton Crosstown West extension, when that is built, is going to take over six million cars off the road. Guess what? The Liberals and NDP have opposed that. Their record on public transit is horrible.

Our government has a mandate to build and to get people moving, and that’s exactly what we are doing when we are putting these investments forward.

Interjections.

Our government is getting it done. We’re building transit. We’re investing in public transit—$70 billion over the next 10 years—when the previous Liberal government failed to do so. We’re making it more affordable. I hope the NDP and Liberals will support this government’s investments in public transit. Until this day, they haven’t, and that’s a shame.

I urge that member and the Liberals to get out of the Queen’s Park bubble, get onto the roads of Milton, of Brampton, of Mississauga, of Vaughan, and see first-hand the gridlock and the necessity for this project.

Flashback to June 2, 2022, Mr. Speaker, when this government received one of the largest majority governments based off their commitment and promise to build the 413, and we will get shovels in the ground.

Interjection.

Actually, the official opposition believes that people going to work deserve reliable and affordable transit. And you know what? That is why we in the NDP had to fight to integrate the UP Express into communities after the Liberals envisioned it as just this boutique line.

People don’t want a government that’s actively making their lives harder by just recklessly changing their transit routes overnight. Had the minister spoken to a single commuter—a single commuter—he wouldn’t have even put this forward.

Why does this government keep putting forward policies without consulting a single person impacted by their decisions?

The Minister of Health herself has acknowledged that the province can take action to stop this predatory practice, but has chosen not to—has chosen not to. Why has this government chosen to sit back instead of taking action to protect patients?

Interjections.

Not only are these clinics charging patients thousands of dollars just to get through the door, but patients are also being misled and upsold. It’s illegal and these clinics are knowingly breaking the law because they’ve been given the green light by this minister to expand in Ontario. Now she’s pretending that there’s nothing she can do about it, except for writing a letter, and that is pathetic, Speaker.

Why won’t this government show some leadership to stop this predatory practice once and for all?

We’re seeing the expansion of these so-called executive health clinics that provide primary care only to patients who are willing to pay really hefty fees. We saw this starting under the Liberal government, but it has totally taken off under this government. These for-profit clinics are taking advantage of the primary care crisis that has left 2.4 million patients in this province without primary care physicians.

My question to the Premier is, again, when will this government address for-profit clinics that are taking advantage of worried and anxious patients in this province?

If we can’t get this information through an environmental assessment, Speaker, maybe the Premier will finally tell us here. To the Premier: How much will Highway 413 cost Ontario taxpayers?

The government’s expert panel said Highway 413 would save drivers only 30 to 60 seconds per trip. The same experts said that if this government used Highway 407 better, it would solve the problem.

But when the NDP put forward a solution to relieve the burden of tolls for trucks on the 407, the Conservatives said no. This Premier won’t even say how much this highway through the greenbelt is going to cost the taxpayers of Ontario.

So I want to know: Why is the Premier ignoring solutions that would save drivers money and time today in favour of a project that will only be complete in decades and has no price tag?

Interjections.

Order.

The final supplementary?

To reply, the parliamentary assistant, the member for Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry.

The supplementary question?

Ontario is leading the country with 90% of Ontarians having a family doctor or primary health provider. The Ontario Health Coalition is an out-of-touch, NDP-backed special interest group that has spent the last decade ideologically opposed to innovation taking place in our health care system.

Our government has taken bold action to connect more people to the care they need when they need it. Over the last year, we have increased publicly funded diagnostic imaging capacity by an additional 97,000 MRIs and 116,000 CT operating hours, added tens of thousands of OHIP-covered cataract surgeries and achieved some of the shortest wait times in Canada.

We look forward to working together with the provincial, territorial and federal governments to ensure that this loophole is closed.

Our plan is adding thousands of hours of MRI and CT scans and more procedures, including hip and knee replacements closer to home, all accessible with their OHIP card, not their credit card. Our plan has already reduced the surgical backlog to below pre-pandemic levels, Speaker.

I urge both the Liberals and NDP to talk to the people of Milton, talk to the people of Mississauga, talk to the people of Brampton, of Vaughan. This is going to make a significant difference in commuting for all of them: over 30 minutes saved each direction per trip.

We have seen over a million people come into this province in the last two years. The NDP and Liberals have opposed every project that we have put forward, whether that’s public transit or whether that’s building highways. This highway will support 3,500 good-paying jobs, have an impact of over $350 million to the GDP. We need to continue building infrastructure for 15 years.

We saw what the Liberals did: absolutely nothing. They cancelled projects. Our government is about getting shovels in the ground and building for the future generations of this province, and that is exactly what we are going to do. The 413 will have shovels in the ground, and we’re going to build this 52-kilometre-long highway.

Interjection.

Perhaps the member opposite wasn’t here yesterday, when I answered this question very clearly. Because we have the benefit of Hansard, I will repeat that answer:

“Let me be as clear as I can possibly be: There is no one in the province of Ontario or in this Legislature who believes that putting well water testing at risk is on the table. I want to be very clear on that matter.

“Of course, the Ministry of Health funds Public Health Ontario to provide testing services for individuals who rely on private drinking water systems to serve households. We all know that.

“The ministry has not made any decisions about changes to the provincial well water testing program, including which laboratories conduct testing of water samples.

“I want to be very clear: There have been no changes.”

Yes, it is medical lab technology week today, and we have a Learn and Stay program—

Interjections.

That’s the expansion that we’re doing. That’s the investment that we’re making. The member opposite needs to get her facts right and actually look at the numbers to see the investments that we have made, not only in the training, but in our public health system as a whole.

Back to the Premier: The Hamilton public health lab completes thousands of water samples and time-sensitive medical tests every day and often takes overflow from other locations that are beyond capacity. In fact, Hamilton’s lab has one of the largest workload volumes in the province, which includes water testing for more than 11,000 private residences and hundreds of beaches. And yet, closure is looming.

The province should be improving access to health care and increasing our public health capacity, not cutting it.

So I ask the Premier, during National Medical Laboratory Week, why are you not investing in our public health infrastructure which is needed to keep Ontarians safe and healthy and keep all of these labs open?

My question is for the Premier. This week is National Medical Laboratory Week. Instead of celebrating their important work, the Conservative government is discussing the potential closure of six of the 11 Public Health Ontario labs. Those are labs in Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, Orillia, Hamilton, Kingston and Peterborough.

The mission of Public Health Ontario is to enable informed decisions and get actions that protect and promote health and contribute to reducing health inequities. Closing six of 11 community-based PHO labs goes against that mission. Many of these labs are hundreds of kilometres and several hours from the next closest location.

Closing public labs will increase health inequities and will endanger northern and rural families. We deserve access to the free diagnostics and testing needed to be healthy.

Speaker, not everyone in Ontario knows where Walkerton is, but we all remember what Walkerton was. Seven people died, and 2,300 people became ill.

My question is, will the Premier learn from Walkerton and keep these labs open? Yes or no?

My question is for the Minister of Energy. Ontarians need access to affordable electricity. They never want to return to the days of the skyrocketing hydro rates we had under the previous Liberal government.

People want their homes and their businesses powered by clean and sustainable power. At the same time, they also want to be sure that our government continues to fight the costly Liberal carbon tax and keep costs low.

Can the minister share with this House what our government is doing to ensure Ontarians have clean, reliable and emissions-free energy while the opposition wants to take a step backwards and lean on a terrible carbon tax?

We know that these refurbishments are massive undertakings, and by completing them ahead of schedule and on budget, we are demonstrating that major energy infrastructure projects can be built here in Ontario on time and on budget. That’s why it’s disappointing to see the opposition completely neglect Ontario’s nuclear industry. They would rather support a regressive carbon tax that punishes hard-working individuals and families in Ontario.

Can the minister explain what the NDP and Liberal opposition to our nuclear sector means for our Ontario skilled nuclear workforce and the businesses that make up our nuclear supply chain?

Members will take their seats.

Interjections.

Minister of Transportation.

Please stop the clock. We are 15 minutes into question period and there are a small number of members who are repeatedly ignoring my requests to come to order like I’m not even here. I am here. We’re going to revert to warnings if you completely ignore my requests to come to order. We know where that leads.

Start the clock. The next question.

The supplementary question? The member for Hamilton Mountain.

Thanks to the great member from Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock for the question this morning.

We are continuing to increase the province’s supply of clean, affordable, reliable and safe nuclear power in the member’s own region with four small modular reactors—world-leading small modular reactors that are going in at the Darlington OPG site. We’re refurbishing the Candu reactors that are there. OPG and our building trades and skilled trade workers and engineers are ensuring that those refurbishments aren’t just on time and on budget, they’re actually ahead of schedule and on budget, which is a tremendous success story, and that’s given us the confidence to move forward on the refurbishment of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station.

Just yesterday, I was down announcing a $1-billion refurbishment of the Sir Adam Beck hydroelectric facility in Niagara Falls—clean, reliable water power for our province’s future. We’re building out a clean grid, but it’s the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, and her friend Justin Trudeau, that are increasing the carbon tax, driving people into poverty.

Speaker, 76,000 people are working in Canada’s nuclear sector every day, and 68,000 of them are working in Ontario’s sector, in the supply chain and operating the plants. Those are hard-working people—skilled trades, engineers and plant operators—who get good paycheques every single day. They’re providing almost 60% of the province’s baseload power—clean, reliable, affordable electricity.

It’s our party, it’s our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, that is supporting not just the current crop of skilled trade workers and nuclear operators, but those who are training to become nuclear engineers in our universities and who are going to be operating the new Candu or large nuclear plants that are being built at Bruce, and the small modular reactors, which are world-leading in the G7, that are coming online later this decade, that are going to continue to provide our province with the clean, reliable, affordable electricity we’ll be able to count on for decades to come.

Yes, I listened to the federal budget yesterday, like a number of Canadians across the country who were disappointed in what they saw.

Listen, massively increasing taxes—not helpful to getting more homes built; massive inflationary spending—not helpful to getting more homes built; inflationary spending, which leads to higher interest rates—not helpful to getting more homes built; not eliminating the carbon tax—not helpful to getting more homes built across the province of Ontario; no path to a return to a balanced budget—not helpful to getting more homes built.

What we saw in yesterday’s federal budget is a government whose spending is out of control, not focused on what matters to the people of the province of Ontario, which is affordability, giving them the opportunity to buy homes and giving the people who build the homes the opportunity to build those homes. We need lower interest rates, Mr. Speaker. We can’t accomplish that with a federal government whose spending is out of control and who will not reduce taxes for the people of the province of Ontario so that we can get our economy moving.

They’re dividing provinces against each other. That’s not what a federal government does. It’s up to Ontario again to lead the way and we will.

Now, Mr. Speaker, where the NDP can be helpful—but we know that they won’t be helpful, colleagues, because unless it’s increasing taxes, unless it’s making things more unaffordable for people—they just talked against the 413, even though they got wiped out in the last election about it. They’re talking against building communities. But where they can be helpful is picking up the phone, calling Jagmeet Singh and saying, “Do not support a budget that does not make the appropriate investments in getting shovels in the ground and making life more affordable for the people of the province of Ontario.” We can move forward with a government in Ottawa that—

Now, we went to Ottawa. We signed a new deal with Ottawa which was roundly applauded by the mayor of Ottawa and which was applauded by the community as a whole. Now a guy who built a train in Ottawa that does not work is giving us advice on infrastructure, coming from a party who, when asked to build bridges in the province of Ontario, built them upside down. So I’ll tell you what we’ll do—

Interjections.