Speaker, we know that farmland is critical to the success of our agri-food industry. That’s why we’re taking a balanced approach, working with communities to find the right balance.

Just look at what happened in St. Thomas: 1,500 acres of land was assembled with no expropriations. That allowed Volkswagen to announce their gigafactory—3,000 jobs, 30,000 indirect jobs. To get there, we introduced Bill 63, and that was able to change the way municipalities were handling the real estate in their areas. It facilitated Volkswagen coming here. The bill was supported by both parties.

Why are they not supporting us today?

I think the Premier was abundantly clear in how his views were on that.

I will say to the Leader of the Opposition, it is not in the tradition of the Conservative Party to compel its members to do anything. There was a free vote, and members expressed—members on whatever side of the House expressed their opinions on that. So I can assure the member opposite that we will not be compelling our members to do anything. It’s not what Progressive Conservatives do. We allow them to represent their communities.

Interruption.

We have amongst us the most diverse caucus in the history of this province—

Interruption.

I come from a caucus that is the most diverse caucus in the history of this province.

I don’t take any lessons from the Leader of the Opposition when it comes to how marginalized people feel. I’m an Italian Canadian who, in the 1970s, was spit on for being a “wop.” I don’t need any lessons from her on what it means to stand up for marginalized people. I do it every single day, and so do the rest of my caucus mates. We bring people together; we don’t divide them.

I just want to wish all those of the Jewish faith a celebratory beginning of Passover.

How is it that some people seem to know what’s going on here, but the people who are going to lose their livelihood, their farms, aren’t given any information? It’s outrageous.

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture says that we’re losing 319 acres of farmland every day in this province, and here’s this government, doubling down with their anti-farmer sentiment and a new land grab in Wilmot—

Interjections.

People are tired of this.

The Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario and the Ontario branch of the farmers’ union have called the government’s decision “shameful” and “short-sighted.”

Why does the Premier keep attacking the province’s farmers and prime farmland?

I appreciate the question from the member opposite, because it further highlights just how out of touch the NDP are with the priorities of the people of the province of Ontario.

In fact, the councillors and the regional councillors in the area have been kept well-informed. The mayors, of course, in those areas are very supportive of what we are doing, which includes downloading municipal planning to the lower tiers. But the highlight of what the transition team is doing is helping us inform the work that is being done by the parliamentary assistant on governance reform, which I thought the members opposite were in favour of. What it ultimately wants to accomplish is to ensure that we can do the number one thing that matters to the people of the province of Ontario, and that is build the infrastructure that is needed so that we can build not hundreds of homes, not thousands of homes, but millions of homes across the province of Ontario. I know the member opposite is opposed to that, because in his own area, when they had the opportunity to approve housing, a council stood in the way of it, said no to affordable housing, and he stood quiet and said nothing. But I’ll provide an MZO and make sure it happens.

Do you know who never delivered any of that, Mr. Speaker? The Liberals and the NDP, who stood in the way of everything to help improve Mississauga, Caledon and Brampton.

So what are we doing? Millions of dollars in infrastructure—we’re repairing the infrastructure that was so damaged by the previous government. We’re building roads, highways, universities—I forgot about the university campus, the medical school that we’re building.

I think we’re delivering for Peel. And do you know who’s doing it? The members of this caucus from Peel region.

Speaker, my question through you, to the Premier, is around his government’s flip-flop on the Hazel McCallion Act, an ill-conceived and poorly-thought-out plan by the Premier to dissolve Peel region—a plan that resulted in chaos and an exodus of qualified staff.

Yesterday, taxpayers in Peel region were outraged to learn from the Toronto Star that they’re on the hook for a $1.5-million bill from the Peel transition board for “efficiencies.” Local leaders who only met with the four-person board once said it has been a “non-transparent process,” and residents are now being forced to pay for the indecisiveness of the province.

Does the Premier feel it is fair for property taxpayers in Peel to pick up a $1.5-million tab for his poor performance?

Speaker, through you to the Premier: Will he admit there is nothing efficient about this fiasco, and will his government pick up the tab for hard-working Peel taxpayers so they are not on the hook for his mistakes?

Interjections.

My question is for the Minister of Energy.

At a time when people in our province continue to face high interest rates and rising cost of living, the federal Liberals plowed ahead with their plan to hike the carbon tax by a staggering 23%. It was a cruel April Fool’s joke to play on Ontarians, but it was one that we will all remember.

The dire effects of the carbon tax are felt by our agriculture and trucking industries. When farmers who grow the food and truckers who transport the food are taxed, these extra costs are passed on to our consumers as they purchase daily necessities.

This is ridiculous. The federal Liberals need to eliminate this tax today.

Can the minister tell the House how the federal carbon tax hurts farmers, truckers and families in Ontario?

The escalating fuel costs are burdening individuals and families across every community in Ontario.

With summer quickly approaching, it’s not fair that Ontario families have to worry about taking children to sports practices and enjoying road trips.

The people of this province have had enough of the Liberals’ fiscal mismanagement. The federal Liberals and their provincial counterparts continue to push forward ideas that cost Ontarians.

Unlike the Liberals, our government remains committed to making life more affordable and protecting people’s hard-earned money.

Can the minister tell us more about what our government is doing to counteract the federal carbon tax and bring Ontarians real financial relief?

Speaker, again, I refer back to the deal that was made with Volkswagen—1,500 acres.

Bill 63 was supported by both opposition parties. It’s very unclear why they’re so dead against advancing today.

Look at Windsor as an example. They made sure their land was assembled, and as a result, NextStar, there, invested $5 billion in their plant. That’s bringing 2,500 good-paying jobs to the Windsor region and tens of thousands of indirect jobs. I flew over Windsor, took a photo of that massive site, landed and toured that plant. There are 1,400 Ontario men and women working inside that plant, to build that plant today. That’s the result of being proactive and looking for these lands.

The Premier has asked these municipalities, “Assemble your land, and be part of the success of Ontario.”

The members opposite have opposed every economic development in our province at virtually every opportunity they got.

We have tens of billions of dollars of new job-creating investment in our pipeline. The Premier said to municipalities, about a year ago, “Start assembling land in your regions if you want to be in on all of the jobs that are coming to Ontario,” and communities all across Ontario are assembling land. We put a template together. Municipalities are eager to get in and list their property, list the development sites that are available. They’re hungry for these jobs. They’re hungry to assemble shovel-ready sites.

Speaker, we’re decades behind our biggest competitor in the US, and for that reason, we have a dedicated team who are taking all of these responses from municipalities.

The final supplementary.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Speaker, when businesses look around the world today, they see these heightened geopolitical tensions, lots and lots of uncertainty all around the world. But when they look at Ontario, they see this sea of tranquility; they see this endless opportunity for hope. They know things have changed now that the Liberals are gone.

Ontario is no longer the high-tax, uncompetitive jurisdiction it once was when the Liberals were in government. We’ve lowered the cost of doing business, we’ve reduced red tape, and we’ve made sure that the conditions are there for businesses to succeed. As a result, companies from around the world have flooded into Ontario to set up shop.

The Liberal carbon tax is an attempt to take us back to those days when the Ontario economy was staggering. We ask that they listen to the workers, listen to the businesses.

Scrap the carbon tax today.

For families, more money in their pockets means the opportunity for their kids to enrol in recreational activities; for young people, it means being one step closer to their dream of home ownership; for entrepreneurs, it means more money to scale up their companies and hire more of our trained workers.

The Liberals are ramping up their carbon tax because they think they know how to spend money better than the people who earned it.

Speaker, we’re asking the federal Liberals to give the people of Ontario a break and scrap the carbon tax today.

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

We know that the people of Ontario are finding it difficult to deal with the rising cost of living. That’s why our government has taken action to put more money back into people’s pockets, through cutting the gas tax and introducing the One Fare program.

Our hope is that all levels of government will join together and be aligned with our approach as a government.

Instead, the federal government is doing the opposite of what our government is doing. The Liberal government is taking more money out of people’s pockets because of their federal carbon tax. And yet, Bonnie Crombie and the Liberals who are in this chamber continue to refuse to stand up for the people of Ontario and tell them to scrap the tax.

Minister, can you outline to the House how the carbon tax is hurting the progress we’ve made for Ontarians?

Can the minister outline and highlight our government’s position on taxes and the fact that it’s much, much different than the Liberal government approach?

The member knows that we turned down that PEQAB application.

But I think what’s more important here is that this government is standing up against anti-hate on campuses across Ontario and ensuring that all students have access to safe campuses across the province.

Mr. Speaker, what I want to talk about and what I think we need to focus on are the huge, historic investments that are being made in post-secondary education—$903 million to ensure that our institutions have a financial path forward, and ensuring that students are supported along that way.

The bill reflects on the anti-hate measures but also on the mental health supports that are available on our campuses.

We are making investments in additional STEM seats. We are supporting our schools. But I think more importantly, we’re not doing it on the backs of students.

Unfortunately, under the Liberal leadership, we saw the highest tuition in all of Canada.

This Premier and this government stood up to support students by decreasing tuition by 10% and ensuring that it was frozen.

My question is to the Premier.

Speaker, this government’s scandals didn’t start with the greenbelt. A few years ago, the government was embroiled in controversy when they attempted to get accreditation for a private evangelical school led by the Premier’s close friend Charles McVety, who was well known for his anti-LGBTQ and Islamophobic statements. The government even put forward legislation to allow the school to be able to hand out bachelor degrees. Today, that same school is one of the very few private colleges that will get international students under the new cap.

Can the Premier tell us whether McVety’s insider connections played a role in his allocation of international study permits?

Speaker, a lawsuit on the matter of McVety’s school revealed a recorded call with a Conservative minister who said that he would guide McVety through the process of accreditation and ensure that McVety got where he wanted to go.

We now learn that McVety’s school is the beneficiary of another favourable decision by this government.

Again, to the Premier: Was preferential treatment involved in the government’s decision about which private colleges would receive international study permits?

Speaker, I remind the member opposite that this House and this government turned down that application. But what you’re seeing again today is a continued effort by the NDP to divide people.

What we’re going to continue to do, on this side of the House, is focus on the things that matter to the people of the province of Ontario: job creation, economic growth, giving people the homes and the housing that they need so that they can prosper, and bringing people together, because that is what we have done since day one.

In 2018, when we assumed office, Ontarians were more divided than ever before. We inherited a province where people were choosing to eat or heat their homes; 300,000 people had lost their jobs. Our budget was out of control. We were the most indebted sub-sovereign government in the history of the entire planet.

We are bringing people together, making investments to create jobs—700,000 people have the dignity of a job who didn’t have that before. We’ll continue to focus on bringing Ontarians together, leading the country in economic growth so everybody can prosper.

Government House leader.

Thanks very much again to the member.

We’re doing a lot. We have reduced the cost at the pumps by 10.7 cents a litre until the end of this year. We’ve brought in One Fare—the minister here is outstanding, saving those who ride transit $1,600 a year. We’ve scrapped the tolls. We’ve scrapped the licence plate fees.

We are doing everything we can to ensure that life is more affordable for the people of Ontario, but the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, and Justin Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh—the NDP and the Liberals teaming up again to make energy more expensive.

We have a plan. It’s called Powering Ontario’s Growth. I talked about the nuclear investments we’re making.

Last week, I was in Niagara Falls at the Sir Adam Beck facility, announcing a big refurbishment there: 1.7 gigawatts of clean, reliable, affordable water power that’s going to power our province for the next 40 to 50 years; new transmission lines that are better connecting the north to the south, to those in Indigenous communities, so those in northern Ontario can participate in our energy sector.

We have a plan. It doesn’t include a punitive carbon tax.

Meegwetch, Speaker. Remarks in Anishininiimowin. Good morning.

There is a housing crisis in the north. Kiiwetinoong and other areas need 1,500 housing units to clear the wait-list for affordable housing.

So I ask, why is Ontario putting the federal funding that can help the north with new affordable housing at risk?

My question is for the Minister of Energy. Speaker, access to reliable, affordable and clean energy continues to be a key driver for Ontario’s economic growth and electrification.

At the same time, our government is ensuring we are using every tool in our tool box to save Ontario households money, especially during a period when families are struggling as a result of the Liberal carbon tax.

On April 1, Ontarians woke up to the worst April Fool’s Day joke, as the federal Liberals hiked the carbon tax by 23%. This is just the next step in their disastrous plan to nearly triple this tax over the course of the next six years, making everything more expensive for everyone in our province.

Can the minister please tell the House how our government is ensuring that Ontarians have access to clean, reliable and emission-free energy, while the opposition wants to take a step backwards and lean on a terrible carbon—

Interjections.

I do appreciate the question from the member opposite, but Ontario is actually not putting the federal funding at risk. What has happened is, the federal government has unilaterally changed its mind on what we should fund.

As the member opposite will know, the National Housing Strategy was a 10-year strategy which was guided by a couple of principles: building additional units and renovating old units. Ontario had a target of 19,000 new units over 10 years. We’ve hit 11,000 of those 19,000 units. We had a target of 23,000 renovations. Because of the horrific record of the previous Liberal government, we have had to spend an exorbitant amount of money renovating and rehabilitating stock that would otherwise have been taken out of commission. We’ve done that in co-operation with the service managers, including many of the service managers in the north, and what we have done is renovate, rehabilitate and put back into circulation 123,000 units; that’s 426% of our target.

What we won’t do, though, is what the federal government is asking us to do right now—unless members agree, of course: to remove the power from our municipal partners and the service managers and direct what should happen in the north and in other parts of the province. We’re not there—