Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Supplementary question?

The next question.

The supplementary question?

Mr. Speaker, I have to be honest here. I just met with Dairy Farmers of Ontario this morning. The fact of the matter is, time and again in this House I rise to talk about the investments that, under the leadership of Premier Ford and the support of this entire government—we are making historic movements forward in support of our agri-food industry. One example is the $1.7 billion that we’re investing over five years in partnership with the federal government through the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership. Another example is what we are hearing from the Dairy Farmers of Ontario today, because they’re ready to grow, and they know it’s with our government, with our leadership that their industry is going to continue to grow and flourish for generations to come.

Again, the meeting I had this morning with the Dairy Farmers of Ontario points to our Grow Ontario Strategy, where we’re going to be increasing the consumption and production of Ontario-produced food and beverage by 30% by the year 2032. The Dairy Farmers of Ontario were identifying how they can support that strategy, because I can tell you specifically the dairy farmers in southwestern Ontario, they’re ready to grow, and I am going to do everything I can to make sure that they understand they’ve got the full support of our Ontario government.

The thing that the members opposite could really do if they were sincere about helping farmers throughout Ontario is fighting that carbon tax, because—

Interjections.

Interjections.

Let’s make this clear: What’s happening in Wilmot could happen in any farm community in Ontario. A developer shows up, offers you a deal, you don’t take it, and then the government comes along: “If you don’t take the deal, we’re going to expropriate it.” That could happen anywhere in Ontario, just like it’s happening in Wilmot for an undisclosed project. And then what will happen, if this undisclosed project is a factor, all of a sudden the land that was taken from the farmer will quadruple, will go 10 times in value, and that money will go to the speculator, to the developer, not to the farmer.

Is that the Ontario that you support, Minister of Agriculture?

Interjections.

Speaker, and let’s talk about that carbon tax. My question is for the Minister of Energy. People in my riding of Kitchener–Conestoga continue to express concerns over the federal carbon tax and how it will make their lives more expensive. Since the introduction of this regressive tax, the costs of food, transportation and people’s everyday essentials have reached a new high.

Speaker, contrary to what the Liberal members in this House believe, the carbon tax is not—and I repeat, not—in the best interests of Ontarians. Its sole purpose is to take money out of people’s pockets. The punishment and the never-ending tax increases under the federal Liberals are propped up by the carbon tax queen herself, Bonnie Crombie, every step of the way. It’s shameful, Speaker.

Can the minister please tell this House why the federal government must immediately cancel this punitive tax?

It is disappointing to see the federal and provincial Liberals simultaneously turn a blind eye to experts’ warnings as we continue to see the hardships that people face here in the province.

Unlike the Liberals, our government is taking action to reduce the risks and impacts of carbon emissions through our clean energy advantage while prioritizing affordable and reliable energy for everyone.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government is securing clean, reliable and affordable energy for Ontarians without needing the carbon tax?

My question is for the Premier. The agri-food industry in Ontario contributes $4 billion to Ontario’s GDP each year, and more than 750,000 Ontarians are employed throughout the agri-food supply chain. Farmers play a vital role in Ontario. They are the backbone of this province. We are losing 319 acres of farmland a day in Ontario, and yet this government continues to advocate for undisclosed industrial sites located on prime agricultural land like in Wilmot township, where developers offered to buy the land before any official rezoning information happened, just like the greenbelt scandal.

My question is to the Premier: Why is this government prioritizing putting money in the pockets of developers rather than supporting Ontario farmers?

Mr. Speaker, the federal Liberals seem like they’re unwilling to listen to farmers across Ontario or across Canada. The current queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, the leader of the Liberal Party here in Ontario, is happy to have the federal carbon tax in place.

If the NDP really wanted to stand up for farmers, like our dairy farmers who are here today, they would join us—Premier Ford and our team—in fighting the carbon tax all the way to the Supreme Court. It’s just activities here in the Legislature to get attention. They’re not actually standing up for farmers in Ontario, while our Minister of Agriculture is and our Premier is by fighting the federal carbon tax, Mr. Speaker.

Now, if you don’t think the carbon tax is having an impact on our dairy farmers, you’re crazy, because everything they do requires natural gas or propane or some other type of heating oil, Mr. Speaker, and the cost is enormous to heat the barns. The cost is enormous to transport the milk to the processing facility and then onto the distributors. It’s a huge, huge impediment. I’ll tell you more—

Interjection.

We saw what the Green Energy Act did when the Liberals were in charge of our energy sector here in Ontario. It drove people into energy poverty. And the federal carbon tax, which the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, supports, is doing the same to farmers like the Dairy Farmers of Ontario today. And not just the dairy farmers, Mr. Speaker. What our agriculture minister wanted to get in was the impact on just the grain farmers alone. The carbon tax is going to increase costs to just the grain farmers by $2.7 billion by 2030.

That’s what the NDP stands for. That’s what the Liberals stand for. We don’t. It’s time to scrap the tax.

Interjections.

To be very clear: We are concerned when a vulnerable person goes missing, and nothing is more important than the safety of everyone in Ontario. The issue of missing and vulnerable people is serious and deserves careful attention. That’s why we have acted. That’s why our government has funded initiatives like Project Lifesaver in the riding of Sarnia–Lambton and in Essex and in other towns in Ontario. This project, as an example, provides vulnerable people with bracelets that help police find them, using radio signals when necessary.

Mr. Speaker, the opposition does not have an exclusive for vulnerable people. We take this matter seriously.

Let’s be clear: That was a forecast in 2022, and that is why our government is investing record amounts into our health care system, including $743 million in this year’s budget over the next three years to address immediate health care staffing needs. That’s on top of the 63,000 new nurses that have registered to work in Ontario since 2018. An additional 80,000 nurses will join the health care workforce by 2028, increasing the number of post-secondary education seats, as well, by 2,000 registered nurses and an extra 1,000 registered practical nurses.

Our government will continue to do what is required to ensure that we have the best publicly funded health care, when and where the people need it.

It’s important to remember where our health care system was when Minister Jones was sworn in as the Minister of Health in 2022. Ontario and the rest of the world was only beginning to recover from the global pandemic, a pandemic that showed the holes in Ontario’s health care system caused by over a decade of neglect by the Liberal government, propped up by the NDP.

Since Minister Jones was sworn in as the Minister of Health, our government has registered a record number of new nurses two years in a row, registering a total of 32,000 nurses in Ontario. Our government recognized that the status quo was no longer working for Ontarians, and that is why, under the leadership of Premier Ford, we have taken action to build a more connected and convenient health care system.

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, who’s done phenomenal work bringing investment to Windsor-Essex like we’ve never seen before.

The carbon tax affects every single worker in Ontario. It doesn’t matter what sector you work in or how much money you make, the carbon tax is hurting everyone. Workers see it when they go to the pump to fill up their car with gas or when they go to the grocery store to buy food to put on the table for their families.

At the same time, it’s taking money away from business owners who want to invest in their workers. We want our businesses to succeed so we’ll have great-paying jobs. We need them in our country, in our communities all over the province. But we need the Liberals to stop burdening them with the carbon tax.

Can the minister explain how the carbon tax is hurting Ontario’s economy?

When the Liberals keep hiking taxes, they are pushing away entrepreneurs and businesses and stifling innovation. We want businesses to see Ontario as the place where they can succeed, but the Liberals are telling them not to come here, with their carbon tax.

Unfortunately, Bonnie Crombie and the Liberals in this House endorse the Trudeau Liberals’ approach. They want to see the carbon tax hiked every single year, to try to undo the progress we’ve made in Ontario.

We need the Prime Minister to stop listening to his Liberal friends and start listening to the hard-working people of this province.

Can the minister let the Liberals know the risks that accompany their carbon tax?

Speaker, we have been saying this for quite some time: The Liberals don’t realize the importance of leaving the people of Ontario with more money in their pockets. Think of the entrepreneur who wants to undertake a new business venture. That extra dollar in their pocket means being able to bring their ideas to life. It gives them the ability to scale up by hiring new workers and entering new markets. That extra dollar can be the difference in what makes their dream become a reality. That is what the Liberals are trying to take away when they hike taxes at every opportunity they get.

They missed an opportunity to correct course and scrap the carbon tax in their budget last week.

Speaker, we urge them to scrap this terrible tax today.

Look at the previous Liberal government, Speaker. Their high taxes chased out business. It cost us 300,000 manufacturing jobs in the past years. Businesses were looking everywhere but Ontario to invest and expand. Now the federal Liberals are trying to do what they did here in Ontario all over Canada, all over again, with their 17-cent-a-litre carbon tax. And now they’re doubling down on their budget disaster of last week.

We’ve built up Ontario’s global reputation as the best place to do business. We did it by lowering taxes, not by raising taxes.

Scrap the tax today.

This government’s underspending on special education means that children with autism are going without badly needed supports in school. This is not only impacting their learning; it is putting their safety at risk.

More than half of principals in Ontario say they’ve had to ask parents to keep their child with special needs at home because staff shortages are putting their safety in jeopardy.

Why does the Premier not believe that children with autism deserve a safe, high-quality education in Ontario?

First off, we’ve worked very hard to ensure all children are in school for the next three years with stability. Children with special education needs are the ones with the greatest exceptionality, are the ones who need stability in schools, and our party alone stood up and delivered deals with every teacher union, providing some stability in their lives.

We also increased the funding for special education. We’re talking about an increase of nearly $540 million since 2018, $125 million more this year compared to last year—3,500 additional EAs in school boards, as reported by our school board associations.

Mr. Speaker, we know there’s more to do. It’s why in this year’s budget we announced additional funding for additional staffing in addition to supports for co-op education to help ensure these young individuals are able to put their talents to work in the labour market and seek employment and build skills.

We’ll continue to be there every single year to increase funding, staffing and supports for our kids with the most exceptional needs in Ontario.

Stop the clock. Members will please take their seats.

Interjections.

Restart the clock. The next question.

Member for Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry.

Ma question est pour la ministre de la Santé.

The health care staffing shortage has reached crisis level. The government has the data that shows this, but they are actively hiding that information from the public. The government was elected six years ago, and what have they done, Speaker? They have been disrespectful and harmful to our health care workers.

Is the minister so ashamed of her work on health care that she is hiding the workforce numbers?

So can the minister explain to the people of Ontario why the government is pulling the wool over our eyes?

Interjections.

Interjections.

This is what happens when you leave the Liberals and the NDP in charge of energy policy. The Green Energy Act tripled our electricity rates. By 2018, they were booted out of office and remain the minivan party that we see today.

The federal Liberal government is doing the exact same thing, only they’re doing it with their carbon tax. They’re making life unaffordable for the people of Ontario and the people of Canada.

The member from Brantford–Brant just mentioned the price at the pumps. It’s up around a buck 80 a litre right now, and the federal Liberals want to triple the carbon tax. Holy mackinaw, in the words of Joe Bowen. That’s going to make it completely unaffordable for the people of Ontario.

We have to do the right thing. The queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, does have to come to her senses. The NDP have come to their senses. We can’t afford this carbon tax. We have to scrap it today.

But the federal Liberals want to do it all over again. It’s unbelievable that they want to triple the carbon tax, which is already crippling the people of Ontario and crippling the people of Ontario.

Interjection.

My question is for the Minister of Energy. Across the nation, Premiers from all political stripes are speaking out against the federal carbon tax and its detrimental impacts on families and businesses. Inflation has already reached devastating levels, resulting in many households not being able to make ends meet.

Every day, I receive emails and phone calls from constituents who are struggling to get by as a result of the carbon tax. I know that’s the case for members all across this great Legislature. The message from the people of Ontario is clear: They feel betrayed and punished for having to pay more at the pumps just to go to work and feed their families. This carbon tax must be scrapped immediately.

Can the minister please tell this House why the carbon tax queen, Bonnie Crombie, and her Liberals must come to their senses and join us in calling for an end to this disastrous tax?

While our government has consistently opposed the carbon tax from the start, the NDP and Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals continue to support further hikes to this punitive measure. That is unacceptable.

Can the minister please explain why Ontarians cannot afford more NDP-Liberal taxes?

I thank the honourable member for the important question. As I said earlier, when we formed government, 75% of the families were waiting with no prospect of support at all. Today, because of the supports and services under the leadership of this Premier, we have increased the funding to more than double, $600 million, and this year, as a result of the budget—which, unfortunately, so far you’ve voted against, and I hope you vote in favour of it when you have the next opportunity, because in the budget there’s an increase of $120 million more to support families. That will help us more with getting tens of thousands of families enrolled in core clinical services, like the member alluded to.

Unlike before, when families had one route to service—IBI—today, they have multiple opportunities through family foundational services, through urgent response, through entry to school and through care-mediated therapy, and tens of thousands of families are accessing these services because of our decisions.

In our most recent budget, which I hope the member and all my colleagues in this House support, we increased funding by $310 million for the sectors who are doing—

Interjection.

The member talked about supportive living. We increased supportive living funding by more than $2.2 billion. Journey to Belonging is our long-term vision, but we’re making the process easier and more streamlined for families so that they can access services and supports digitally, regardless of where they are in the—

My question is to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services—a busy morning for you. Developmental services remain woefully underfunded in Ontario. In the run-up to the 2024 budget, developmental services organizations across Ontario led the #5ToSurvive campaign, calling for a 5% increase to their base funding to make up years of frozen budgets. The 2% they did receive is totally inadequate.

I wrote two letters to the minister outlining the strain on groups like Community Living Algoma, Community Living Espanola and Community Living Manitoulin. These organizations work tirelessly to serve people with developmental disabilities while working on increasingly tight budgets.

My question to the minister: Why did he ignore the needs of the developmental services sector once again in this budget?

Here’s an example from people in my riding: Karen and Jacques Ribout in my riding were forced to set up their own micro-board to support their daughter Emily through the Passport Program. They work full-time coordinating support for their daughter in making sure that she gets the services she needs. This year, they were informed that they will receive a 0% increase to their Passport funding, putting them behind inflation once again.

Karen and Jacques wrote to my office saying, “This just piles on from previous years of lower-than-inflation increase and even years when 0% increases and cuts were the norm.”

People with developmental services deserve to have the resources to live healthy and full lives. My question again to the minister: Why is this minister refusing to make that a reality for people that are in need in this province?

Premier, I wrote the minister in June of last year on behalf of families like Bethany’s. Her daughter has been waiting for years for autism core services and is still waiting. Bethany tells us that at her daughter’s school there is only one EA for three kids with special needs, and without OAP funding her daughter is falling further and further behind because she cannot get the ABA or the speech therapy she needs.

Under your government, autism services are only getting worse for this family and all the families here today. Premier, why are kids waiting for years for the OAP core funding they need and deserve so they can thrive?