Yesterday, when the Premier, Minister Dunlop and I were at TMU to celebrate and mark the beginning of Nursing Week, I spoke to a nurse who trained and graduated under Bob Rae’s NDP government. Do you know what she told me? She told me that only three nurses in her graduating class stayed in Ontario, because there were no jobs. The NDP government was actually firing nurses.

I now look at the Liberal government of the day. Your previous leader, Kathleen Wynne, admitted and acknowledged in her exit interview with TVO that she wished she had invested more in the health care system.

Well, we’re doing it. We’re getting it done. We’re training more nurses. We’re retaining more nurses. We’re bringing international nurses to Ontario, who want to be here. We have two years running of historic highs of internationally trained clinicians licensing in the province of Ontario. We’re getting it done.

Last week, I was with Minister Piccini and I sat down with nursing students who are participating in an extern program. They told me how that extern program that was brought in under Premier Ford has made them more confident, has made them a better nurse. That’s the kind of initiatives we will continue—

The supplementary question.

Interjection.

The next question.

Minister of Health.

That answer had nothing to do with my question.

On the day that the changes to the greenbelt were announced, the minister’s chief of staff, Ryan Amato, asked ministry staffers to confirm that Mr. Rehmatullah’s Nobleton property in the greenbelt could be developed. Mr. Amato told staffers, “PO has asked me for a picture to make sure it’s captured.” Ministry staffers responded with assurances that changes to York’s official plan would do just that.

Who in the Premier’s office wanted to make sure that the Nobleton property belonging to the Premier’s friend was captured in the changes to the greenbelt, and why?

News flash to the member opposite: Nobleton and King are actually in York region, and York region is suffering from an infrastructure deficit.

York region was also suffering from a school deficit until this Minister of Education came on board—because what we’re doing is building communities.

This is what they do: They make enemies out of everybody who wants to move the province forward; so if you build a home, you’re an enemy; if you’re a manufacturer, you’re an enemy; if you drive a bus and want to buy a home, you’ve got to be an enemy as well. They are all about making people enemies.

What we are about is fixing the devastating damage that we inherited from the Liberal-NDP coalition government in the province of Ontario that left us with an infrastructure deficit, that left us the most indebted sub-sovereign government in the world, that left us with the most highly regulated province in the world. Jobs were fleeing the province. We are working every single day to repair the damage. The job is not done, and that is why we are going to double down to work even harder to continue the economic progress in Ontario.

My question is to the Premier. Good morning, Premier.

Speaker, 2.3 million Ontarians currently have no access to family physicians. Our communities are aging—including burnt-out physicians—and recruitment and retention of professionals is waning. The Ontario Medical Association referred to this as “the perfect storm.” They need support now to establish interprofessional, team-based models of care. Right now, only 70% of doctors have access to a team. Family doctors have said that access to an interprofessional team would help reduce their workload so they can see more patients, the fundamental basis of our health care system. But this government is moving at a glacial pace to approve new primary care teams.

Why won’t this government act with the urgency that the primary care crisis requires?

She went on to say, “I want my tax dollars to be allocated to the part of the health system that affects me and every citizen most—access to family doctors. Enough is enough, Premier. Value the family physician and compensate them fairly!”

Kathleen is also very worried about this government’s health care privatization scheme, as we all are here in this Legislature.

Will the Premier tell Kathleen his plan to attract, recruit and retain family doctors, while also paying the health professionals properly and not scamming them the way he has done nurses?

Interjections.

Thank you very much.

The next question.

I’m going to ask the member for Toronto-St. Paul’s to withdraw the unparliamentary comment.

The next question.

My question is for the Minister of Energy.

The federal Liberals continue to make life less affordable for Ontarians by hiking the carbon tax. Many families and businesses across Ontario cannot afford the skyrocketing prices for everyday essentials. Unfortunately, the opposition NDP and the independent Liberals in this House are refusing to fight this devastating tax.

While those members want higher and higher prices and higher taxes, our government is working for the people and supporting them during this difficult time.

With summer quickly approaching, can the minister please explain how the carbon tax will continue to drive up costs for Ontarians?

It’s good to hear that the minister is paying attention to what the people of Ontario are looking for.

It is truly unfair that the Liberals continue to punish Ontarians who are already struggling to pay their bills, make ends meet, and provide more for their families with the Liberals trying to hike taxes.

What’s even more disturbing is that the Liberal members in this House, knowing how much Ontarians are suffering, still refuse to rise up and do the right thing and tell their federal counterparts that this tax needs to go. It’s unacceptable. Our government will not stand for their silence and inaction. Our government will continue to fight and tell the federal government that this is a tax that Ontarians don’t want and don’t deserve.

Can the minister please tell this House why the people of this province cannot afford this disastrous carbon tax?

Oh, Speaker. I’m not sure where the member was in February, but we actually announced the largest expansion of multidisciplinary primary care teams in Ontario.

And of course, last month, with the budget, we announced another over $500 million to expand primary care multidisciplinary teams.

I am hearing from multiple communities that have said they have already recruited, hired, and started to bring online new patients with these multidisciplinary teams. We’re hearing about it in Kingston. We’re hearing about it in Palmerston. We know that this is happening across Ontario.

I only wish that the member opposite would support our budget that increases, again, the opportunities for multidisciplinary team expansions in the province of Ontario.

I will say that we had, last week, residency students, medical students, who are matched with their specialty—100% coverage now in the province of Ontario, which, again, is a historic high. We have residency physicians who want to train as primary care doctors, who have been matched and are now working towards those goals.

When I see the expansions that we are doing with medical schools in Brampton and in Scarborough, it is incredible, the amount of investments that we, as a government, have made to ensure that, moving forward, we are never in the position that we were when we formed government, when Liberal and NDP governments continuously ignored the health care system at the—

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, my question today is about protecting us from contaminated groundwater. The Kingston and Area Real Estate Association is circulating a petition about this issue.

After repeated questioning two weeks ago, the government has finally said yes to continuing free testing of well water, but it failed to commit to keeping the Public Health Ontario laboratories that do the testing.

Why won’t this government commit to protecting us from contaminated groundwater by continuing to keep open the regional public health laboratories in Peterborough, Orillia, Hamilton, Kingston, Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins?

There’s potential for contaminated groundwater in Wilmot township, where this government has told the region of Waterloo to assemble farmland for industrial use. Not only is that prime farmland at risk—across the road and downstream, you’ll find a cabbage farm where they make St. Jacobs sauerkraut; you’ll find a dairy farm where they also make award-winning Mountainoak Gouda cheese. In this region, if you need water, it has to be drawn from the underground aquifer. The Waterloo region is one of the largest groundwater users in Canada. Does this government realize that the aquifer must be protected?

How can these valuable agri-food operations be protected from contaminated groundwater with all the secrecy and non-disclosure agreements around assembling Wilmot’s prime agricultural land for industrial use?

Interjections.

Given the destructive effects of Bill 124, it is no surprise that senior health care workers have left their hospital positions and that even new nurses are being drawn into the nursing agency vortex—a situation that is pushing almost every hospital in Thunder Bay–Superior North into massive debt.

What is the government doing to attract nurses back into full-time positions and stop the flood of health care dollars going to shareholder profits?

When will the government address the wage gap identified in the Hay report and bring nurse practitioner wages up to levels appropriate to their skills and responsibilities?

Honda’s $15-billion investment is the largest investment in Canadian auto history.

Ontario has now attracted $43 billion in new auto and EV investments in the last four years. That is more than any US state.

What does that tell you, Speaker? Think about where we were under the Liberals—high taxes, red tape that was out of control, everything the Liberals could possibly do to hurt business. We step in, under Premier Ford, and what happens? Lower taxes, reduced red tape, lower electricity rates—$8 billion in lower cost of doing business every single year. That’s what’s bringing companies here into the province of Ontario. The lower cost of doing business has brought 700,000 workers here into Ontario since we were elected. This is what’s attracting businesses all over the world. They look at Ontario as this beacon, this light that’s happening here. They want to be part of it and now we’re at—

Look at today. Bloomberg has announced that Canada—and, as the Premier said, ostensibly Ontario—is now ranked number one in the world supply chain. We went from zero to $43 billion. We went from zero, last place, to number one. That is what’s happening.

We came so close to seeing the end of our auto sector under the previous government. Our workers were almost permanently sidelined because of the legacy of the Liberals.

From day one, as I said, our approach was to lower the cost of doing business—

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade—although if the Premier wants to jump in, I’m good with that.

A little over a week ago, our province welcomed an historic generational investment in my riding of Simcoe–Grey. It is an investment that, before we took office, no one would reasonably imagine coming to Ontario. Economic development was at such a low priority for the previous Liberal government that no one could fathom global companies willingly choosing Ontario as a destination to invest and expand in. The Liberals’ high-tax policy chased out countless numbers of businesses and left our auto sector on the brink of collapse.

Thankfully, under this government, Ontario is in a much different place today. We have secured tens of billions of dollars in new investments in our auto sector and right across our economy.

Can the minister please tell this House more about Honda’s generational investment in Ontario?

Honda’s investment indeed is a game-changer for this province. It will create good-paying jobs for my constituents in Alliston and the surrounding region. It is a testament to the competitive advantage that Ontario now has in the automotive sector.

Ontario’s more than 100,000 auto workers are the best in the world. Automakers recognize this, and that is why they are doubling down in Ontario. They see an automotive ecosystem that has been revitalized over the last six years. It is now thriving and robust and leading in the world. They see a province that has everything they need—talent, low costs, an abundance of clean energy, and so much more. That is why they are choosing Ontario.

Can the minister tell us what Honda’s investment means for our automotive ecosystem?

Minister of Health.

Interjections.

The Minister of Health can reply.

Supplementary question.

Next question.

Speaker, I have regularly and consistently reinforced the value and importance of well water testing in the province of Ontario. I grew up on a farm in rural Ontario. My riding is primarily served by well water. I absolutely understand the value and importance of having well water testing available through our public health units. We will continue to do that, as we have, for decades to come. More importantly, we will also invest in Public Health Ontario, something that the member opposite, under their leadership, did not do.

I made mention of Minister Piccini and I sitting down with some nursing students who are externs right now, working in the hospital sector. I asked them, “Where are your pathways? Where are you going when you graduate?” They said because of the extern program, they are more confident as students, they are better employees as registered nurses. They are excited to join the health care sector in the province of Ontario, and we are opening our arms to make sure that we make them welcome.

The Minister of Education.

The next question.

The member opposite mentioned iconic space. I would not agree with that statement at all. Perhaps back in the 1970s when it was first built, it was an iconic space which families enjoyed. They do not enjoy the space anymore. The island is falling apart. It is flooding. In fact, Live Nation had to cancel its shows back in 2017 because of the flooding.

But not to worry, Mr. Speaker. Under the Premier’s leadership, we’re bringing Ontario Place back to life, and it will include 50 acres of public realm space, more trees, more vegetation, food and beverage, a brand new marina, a science centre, a wellness centre by Therme, and a brand new Budweiser Stage for families and all Ontarians to enjoy.

Thanks to the member from the Cornwall region for his question this morning.

We’re doing a lot here in Ontario to ensure that we’re combatting the punishing impact of the carbon tax on the people of Ontario, and that includes the gas tax break, eliminating tolls in eastern Ontario, ending the licence plate sticker fees, ending that very costly and wasteful Drive Clean program which was just another scam, and ensuring we’re bringing in One Fare.

We’re also investing in clean infrastructure for the future that’s going to ensure we have the energy we need that’s affordable, reliable and clean.

I’ve mentioned a few times in the House that a couple of weeks ago I was down at Sir Adam Beck talking about our billion-dollar investments in refurbishing our hydroelectric facilities in Niagara.

I’m really looking forward to joining the member from Cornwall a little bit later on this week, when we’re going to be making a similar announcement in his riding, ensuring we’ve got clean energy for the future.

We’re also refurbishing our nuclear facilities, and this is a tremendous story. The world really is watching what’s happening here in Ontario—not just in the evolution of our EV sector and EV battery sector, but in our nuclear sector. We’re building the first small modular reactor in the Western world at Darlington. We’re refurbishing the Candu reactors that we have—multi-billion dollar investments that aren’t just coming in on time and on budget; they’re coming in ahead of time.

We are building battery storage facilities and other non-emitting resources to make sure that our system is operating as efficiently as possible, investing in energy efficiency programs like the Peak Perks program and the ultra-low overnight rate for charging the EVs and cars of the future.

We have a plan, and it’s—

On the weekend, I attended a Jane’s Walk at Ontario Place organized by Ontario Place for All. We toured the incredibly beautiful, iconic parkland down at Ontario Place, where 190 bird species have been identified—many of them at risk, some of them on the verge of extinction.

This Premier saw that there was a problem with Ontario Place. He thought, “Do you know what? No one is making money from that iconic parkland on the waterfront in Toronto.” So he’s giving it away to a European mega-spa company that is now promoting an immersive wellness experience that allows people to pay money to connect with nature by watching videos of trees.

Why is he spending 650 million tax dollars to cut down 800 real trees so people can pay money to watch videos of trees?