I recognize the member for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke.

It is the Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries—what did I say? I don’t know. Anyway, thank you. I’d like to correct my record. I see the good people of Hansard looking me straight in the eye. OCNI is the Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries.

I can’t finish by correcting myself. I have to talk about the fact that we have one of the cleanest, most reliable electricity grids in the entire world, something that we should be very proud of as we continue to invest. It’s going to take us a while to get those refurbishments done at places like Bruce and at OPG in Darlington, and then at the Pickering plant, where we’re refurbishing the B units there. It’s going to take us some time to build those battery storage facilities. They should be on the grid by mid-to-late next year. We’ll roll out more non-emitting resources after we get those storage facilities built in the province to ensure that our system operates more efficiently.

As a result of this pragmatic approach—and industry is seeing it, the people of Ontario are seeing it, and our farmers and agricultural sector are seeing it. They’re able to make investments in their business, in their homes, in their farms because of stable energy policy. It’s finally come back to Ontario after 15 years of skyrocketing electricity bills, uncertainty with things like the global adjustment. We brought that certainty back to Ontario.

Bill 165 builds on that certainty for people looking to invest and buy new homes in our province.

With that, I’ll turn it over to my good friend my parliamentary assistant.

My question is to the minister.

We were at OFIA last week—and by the way, I really enjoyed your comments about the Premier and the axe; I think it was very funny. What was interesting was hearing from Finland and what they do with biomass, and the huge potential that we could have here in northern Ontario.

I know GreenFirst in Kapuskasing is working on a project to build a co-gen to reduce their costs, have electricity, heat and everything. My question: Will you work with the community and move this forward—because that will be the difference between maybe seeing other mills go down. That will be also a solution, maybe, for Terrace Bay, so that we can take that biomass and save—maybe take this mill that sits idling and could be more profitable—

Madam Speaker, if you want an example of how the NDP simply don’t understand energy policy, exhibit A was the question that we just experienced from the member opposite.

This change in policy reverts back to the policy that was in place five months ago. This is a policy that is going to ensure that we can build homes in Ontario at a lower cost for the people of Ontario. That’s why we brought forward Bill 165—to ensure that the people who wanted to get a home in our province wouldn’t have to pay more to do so.

And if they had bothered to read the commissioner’s opinion, it says right in there that it will drive up the cost of building new homes in our province.

The NDP are ideological. They listen to folks like Environmental Defence. They’re not listening to the folks who are building homes or those who are buying them.

Our government has done a lot to reduce the cost of living in Ontario. While the feds have implemented this punitive carbon tax on the people of Canada, we have reduced the price of living in Ontario, reducing red tape—the Minister of Economic Development talks about it all the time—by $8 billion, the cost of doing business in Ontario. For those who drive, the gas tax—10.7 cents a litre. Eliminating that very, very costly Drive Clean program—you will remember what a scam that was. We ended that. The member is from the Durham region. We eliminated the tolls in the Durham region. There are folks in Durham and across Ontario who take transit—implementing One Fare, which is going to save the people of Ontario $1,600 a year. At every step, we’re considering the people of Ontario and their ability to pay. That’s the difference between our PC government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, and Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals.

Under the previous Liberal government—I know the member will remember this—they referred to the north as “no man’s land.”

We believe that northern Ontario is a land of opportunity for forestry, for mining—ensuring that we get clean electricity to these jurisdictions.

Absolutely, we’re working with those who are investing in our biomass sector in places like Atikokan and Hearst; the Calstock facilities; Kapuskasing; also, in Thunder Bay, at the former Resolute facility there. We’re re-signing all of these contracts—Hornepayne; I can’t leave them out. We’re re-contracting all of these biomass facilities, and we’re continuing to talk with the folks in the forestry sector about how we can ensure that they are a viable industry for our province moving forward.

And I love the axe. It was great.

Not only are our nuclear facilities ensuring that we have clean air in our province—the single largest greenhouse gas emissions accomplishment in North America, in eliminating coal-fired power with nuclear power—but these medical isotopes are an enormous opportunity for us to save people’s lives, not just in this country and across North America, but around the world. We are one of the superpowers when it comes to medical isotopes.

Things like cobalt-60—we provide almost 50% of the world’s cobalt-60 from our Candu facilities here in Ontario, from places like Bruce and Darlington, and soon in Pickering. Lutetium, molybdenum-99, yttrium-90—all of these medical isotopes are going to be sent around the world to help cure cancer. It’s an unbelievable story—all part of our nuclear energy advantage in Ontario.

Since day one, our government has delivered policies to keep costs down. I’d like the Minister of Energy to cite some of those examples, please—through you, Speaker.

Natural gas is a really important component of all of our energy utilization in Ontario, but my favourite has to be nuclear energy, not only because it’s clean and green energy, but also because the by-product is medical isotopes.

I think this is our best-kept secret: Ontario actually produces close to 50% of the world’s supply of medical isotopes.

Can the minister tell us a little bit more about how Ontario is the leading force in medical isotope production?

I received an email from London West constituent Sue Fotheringham, who shared her grave concerns about the minister’s decision to reverse the OEB ruling, which, of course, is an independent regulator in this province. She said that pushing the cost of natural gas installation onto current homeowners is absurd, given the struggles that Ontarians are facing in finding affordable housing and putting groceries on the table.

Why is the government siding with Enbridge to increase their profits and legislating increased costs for existing natural gas consumers when the OEB has determined that this is not in the public interest?

It is now time for questions and answers.

It’s a terrible thing to do.

I want to thank the member for his comments this morning.

This government will never miss an opportunity to shovel some more of our tax dollars into their corporate donors’ pockets—but this time, it’s not our tax dollars; this time, it’s the fees that we pay as consumers of Enbridge Gas in this province. This government is going to be shovelling our bills over to Enbridge to maximize their profit margins, so that we will be subsidizing the laying out of new pipelines or new gas infrastructure—

So my question to the member is, instead of subsidizing Enbridge’s profit margins, why aren’t you subsidizing heat pumps, which are a green alternative to expanding natural gas?

I hope that the member’s constituent will understand that nothing new is happening here. We’re reverting back to the way it was prior to December 2023, five months ago. The same process that was in place for 40 years is in place again until we can get a new decision from the Ontario Energy Board, after we set a natural gas policy statement for them to consider.

The one thing that is clear from the commissioner’s report is that they didn’t hear from the necessary stakeholders in this process. That’s why we had to step in. They didn’t consider the impact that it would have on our electricity grid and the ability to bring the electricity to keep people warm in the wintertime. That’s why we stepped in—and to ensure that people can get into the new home market.

Natural gas in the home heating sector keeps people warm.

Natural gas in the electricity sector makes sure that we can keep the lights on, our elevators running, our traffic lights running, and our manufacturing facilities operating, and we need it. It’s our insurance policy to keep the lights on in Ontario.

We have time for one quick question.

Third reading debate deemed adjourned.

I want to thank the minister for his excellent comments this morning. I also want to highlight the fact that his Trenton Golden Hawks were playing off against the Collingwood Junior A Blues in the Buckland Cup. It was a tough series. Congratulations to the Golden Hawks, but Collingwood came out on top.

My quick question for the minister is—to just make sure that people in this House and across Ontario understand the difference between natural gas in the heating sector versus natural gas in the energy generation sector.

Last Friday, I attended the second annual Accessibility Awards at the Abilities Centre in Whitby. The winners this year were Luca Demontis, Trevor Smith, Allison Hector-Alexander, Julie Grant and Lorin MacDonald. Each of the award recipients have demonstrated their dedication to making communities more accessible and inclusive, and to ensuring that everyone, regardless of ability, has the chance to live happy lives of purpose and dignity.

Through its innovative initiatives, the Abilities Centre has become a beacon of hope and progress, empowering individuals of all abilities to thrive.

Over the last two years, our government has provided $8 million in support of the Abilities Centre. The staff at the centre provide important supports for our loved ones in Whitby who have varying levels of ability. It is an excellent example of how a local facility can help create a strong community of inclusion.

Our government is committed to building an Ontario where individuals with varying ability have the opportunity to fully engage in their communities and live the lives they choose.

Last month, I held a meeting where I informed my community about fraud and the abuse of a type of lien against a property called a notice of security interest, or NOSI for short.

As you know, people across our province, especially seniors and vulnerable members of our communities, have been victimized by unscrupulous door-to-door salespeople who have used every trick in the book to try to scam them into a bad contract. Many of these scams involve NOSIs without the knowledge of the victim. So these liens sit unnoticed until the time comes to sell, take out a loan, or refinance your home. During this stressful time, the victims are extorted to pay large amounts to have the lien removed, or spend loads of time and money in the courts trying to reverse this vexatious registration. These liens are often in the tens of thousands. A family in my riding had over a dozen NOSIs placed on their home—a dozen.

In many cases, the personal banking and identification of these victims are trafficked and used to commit other types of fraud. In extreme cases, the victims are tricked into signing reverse mortgages in an attempt for the thieves to steal their homes.

At my town hall, residents couldn’t believe that the government hasn’t put an end to this yet. I let my residents know about our private members’ bill to ban NOSIs, and they all insisted that it be passed immediately.

Once again, I call on this government to ban NOSIs in Ontario and to notify all Ontarians who have a NOSI on their property, free of charge.

On Tuesday, April 30, I was so proud to tour Victor Lauriston Public School in Chatham to observe their initiatives for elementary students in STEM learning, literacy and coding in every classroom from senior kindergarten to grade 8. Principal Eryn Smit and his staff are fully committed to ensuring all students have a strong focus on the study of science, technology, engineering and math, including cross-curricular and integrative study, and the application of those subjects in real-world contexts.

Victor Lauriston Public School was built in 1948 and is neatly situated in an urban Chatham neighbourhood, with a school population of around 380 students. The school is maintained immaculately and boasts high morale, low employee turnover and high staff seniority, with several staff having been students there themselves.

I was thrilled to see senior kindergarten students in action, participating in applied coding exercises, and grade 5 and grade 6 students using specialized invention kits—also known as Makey Makeys—with circuit boards, alligator clips and USB cables to create a closed-loop electrical signal to literally create music and phrases from hand drawings.

Most inspiring was the school’s nutrition program, led by parent volunteers, that provides every student with fresh, healthy food offerings every day—like the expansive salad bar I helped to serve.

Thank you to Principal Smit and everyone at Victor Lauriston school for your commitment to excellence.

Go Lions!

Rudhro Prince was like any other happy eight-year-old boy. But one thing made him different: He had asthma. In 2018, Rudhro was having a severe asthma attack. His mother, Rumi, called 911. Rudhro looked at her and said, “Mommy, I cannot breathe. I’m going to die.” Rudhro died in a coma two weeks later.

Since that tragic day, Hasan and Rumi Prince have devoted their lives to raising awareness to the severity of asthma. They say that our hard-working and tireless respiratory educators and first responders need more support.

Each year, in Ottawa, they host the Rudhro Prince Memorial Walk to raise money for Asthma Canada, CHEO, and St. Mary Elementary School. This year will be the sixth year of the Rudhro Prince Memorial Walk—on September 29—and I look forward to joining, along with many people in the community, as well as our first responders.

Every day Hasan and Rumi fight through their pain to focus on the legacy they have created for their son. No matter how dark the skies are in their world, they have never given up hope—hope that the legacy they created for Rudhro can help save the lives of others.

Today is world asthma awareness day. Today, on World Asthma Day, I recognize Asthma Canada marking their 50th anniversary, working towards their mission to enhance the quality of life for Canadians with asthma and empower them to live active, symptom-free lives. It is a day to remember Rudhro and other victims of this disease, and it’s a day for us to learn and be more aware of the severity of asthma.

Today I rise to honour Gary Parent. He’s tough, he’s kind, he’s honest, and he has always been on the side of not just working people, but everyone in Windsor.

For 57 years, he has been married to the love of his life, Arden. He has two children, Jason and Jennifer; two granddaughters, Emma and Dana; and a sister, Darlene.

A Unifor member—formerly CAW—he worked at Chrysler and was elected in 1967 as a steward, wanting to follow fellow labour giant Charlie Brooks’s vision. In 1982, he became president of labour council. In 1987, he was elected financial secretary of Local 444, serving in that position until his retirement.

Gary served in labour roles for 26 years, but his service to community extends well beyond that. Gary’s belief that public services should be built on and strengthened, for the betterment of everyone, has never wavered, and his contributions to my community is why we have the Gary Parent Labour Activist Awards every year.

His belief in me is a driving factor of why I am here today as the MPP for Windsor West.

Gary is facing declining health and is in palliative care.

He asked me to share this message: “I have to say how amazing I feel, my children and grandchildren all went into a job in public service.

“Public services matter! Please let’s all come together, be better and do better. We must fight to protect our public services.

“Representing union members and our community was what I wanted to do. Little did I know I was a mentor. I just wanted the best for everyone.”

Thank you, Gary, for everything you have done. We love you, brother.

We have some very special guests in the west Speaker’s gallery from the township of Centre Wellington: Mayor Shawn Watters, Councillor Lisa MacDonald, Councillor Barbara Lustgarten-Evoy, CAO Dan Wilson, and someone else who I’m quite familiar with, but I’m not sure if I recognize her.

Welcome to Queen’s Park. It’s great to have you here.