Alavida Lifestyles is charging seniors in my riding of Ottawa West–Nepean thousands of dollars in rent and fee increases to retain their housing. A resident at Park Place retirement home has been served a $27,000 increase for this year. Another resident at the Ravines is being charged $24,000 more. Seniors on fixed incomes can’t pay these kinds of increases, so they are facing the prospect of losing their homes. And yet, the government’s response to these seniors so far has been a shrug.

What is the government’s plan to protect these seniors against price gouging and eviction?

Seniors in these retirement homes are feeling scared and isolated by Alavida’s high-pressure tactics. Some of them are even having trouble eating and sleeping.

And yet, the Minister of Housing told me in a letter that there are no limits on how much a retirement home can charge or how often they can increase the price. In other words, these seniors are being extorted on this government’s watch, and it’s all perfectly legal. So my question to the government is, why is it still legal?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As you know, of course, we’ve been working very closely with the minister of seniors. But ultimately, what we’re doing across the province of Ontario is ensuring that we rebuild the capacity that was so sorely missing for over a generation, under the Liberals and the NDP.

We have one of the—if not the most successful Minister of Long-Term Care in the history of the province, who is bringing forward thousands of units in every part of the province. Every single time that we have done that, the ironic thing is that they vote against the very same seniors they get up in the House today and say they support. They vote against them.

When the Minister of Long-Term Care brings forward billions of dollars for new homes, they vote against it. When he brings billions of dollars forward for additional care in those homes, they vote against it. When he has brought forward initiatives to increase the food budgets so that—

Interjection.

So I say to the member opposite, if you support seniors, vote in favour of the initiatives that we bring forward.

I said we had a question earlier today about the National Housing Strategy. Do you know who could help us ensure that we get the billions of dollars that are owed to the province of Ontario? The federal NDP. Do you know how they could do that? By voting against the federal budget or—because I know how important it is that they continue to support their friends, the Liberals in Ottawa—they could insist that the federal government honour its agreement of 2018 with respect to the National Housing Strategy, which will allow us to continue to build thousands of homes for the people of the province of Ontario, in co-operation with our municipal partners, so that we can continue those investments in long-term care, affordable housing, attainable housing. Do the right thing—