It’s a great pleasure to be able to rise today to speak on third reading of Bill 180, Building a Better Ontario Act. Thank you to the Minister of Finance for sharing your time; I’m also sharing my time with the member from Malton.

I will say to the people of Ontario that the province of Ontario is in very good hands with our Minister of Finance overseeing our budget. Speaker, it’s also been an honour to work with the staff that have put the budget together at the Ministry of Finance. We have a great team of people that have worked day and night to put this budget forward, so I want to thank them for all their hard work in building this budget.

As the minister so eloquently explained, with the 2024 budget, our government continues its vital work and delivers on our plan to build. I would like to focus my debate remarks today on the notable pieces of work that Bill 180 is helping to move forward. When taking a step back, we can see how important these measures are—how they are important to the machinery of government and making sure our policies and programs are able to develop and evolve as smoothly and as soon as they can.

Our proposal related to the taxation of gasoline and diesel fuel is undoubtedly one of the most visible and most talked about of our government’s initiatives contained within the 2024 budget and these budget measures. We have proposed legislation that, if passed, would extend existing gasoline and fuel tax cuts until December 31, 2024. The Ontario government temporarily cut the gasoline tax by 5.7 cents per litre and the fuel diesel tax by 5.3 cents a litre—from July 1, 2022, it has already extended these cuts several times until June 30, 2024. The extension before us today, if approved, would ensure that Ontario tax rates remain at nine cents per litre until December 31, 2024.

This measure has been helping the people of Ontario. For example, if the extension is passed, households in Ontario will save an average of $320 over the two and a half years since the tax rate cuts were first introduced. As the minister has said, our government understands that the average Ontario family and the average Ontario business is feeling the sting of high inflation and interest rates. To help ease this sting, our government seeks to continue to support Ontario families at the pump with this latest cut to the tax on gas and diesel fuel.

Now, Speaker, I turn to another measure, this one aimed at supporting Ontario’s vibrant and growing film and television industry. As the members know, the film and television industry continues to create high-value jobs and attract investment throughout the province of Ontario. This is why we are proposing to simplify the Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects—or OCASE—Tax Credit. The OCASE tax credit is an 18% refundable corporate income tax credit. This is available to Ontario companies that undertake computer animation and special-effects activities for eligible film and television productions here in Ontario. The proposed changes to the OCASE tax credit would help companies get their tax credits faster, delivering on our government’s commitment to explore opportunities to simplify tax credit support for computer animation and special-effects companies.

A component of alcohol taxation is another specific item in the budget, Bill 180. Our government, as everybody knows, is for keeping costs down and supporting Ontario’s alcohol and hospitality sectors. That is why, with Bill 180, we are proposing to eliminate the wine basic tax that applies to the sales of Ontario wine and wine coolers at on-site winery retail locations. The new rate would take effect as of April 1, 2024. It is to keep costs down and support the province’s alcohol and hospitality sectors that our government stopped the estimated 4.6% increase to the beer basic tax and LCBO mark-up rates that were scheduled for March 1, 2024. You see, this increase would have resulted from rates being indexed to inflation. This is an increase the government has consistently stopped over the last six years since we attained power in 2018. Halting this increase results in approximately $200 million in relief to Ontarians.

As pointed out when our government announced this change in February, the freeze will be in place for two years, until March 1, 2026. As noted in the 2024 budget, the province will also conduct a targeted review on the taxes for beer, wine and alcoholic beverages sold in Ontario. The aim of this review is to promote a more competitive marketplace for Ontario-based producers and consumers.

Speaker, let us move on to another measure, this one having to do with the government’s continued progress with regard to Ontario’s pension plan landscape. Here, I am talking about our efforts on implementing a permanent target-benefit framework. Ontario workers deserve sustainable pensions. That is why we are taking action to implement a target benefit framework that would help protect the retirement security of workers in the skilled trades and other occupations. This framework would help Ontario employees move from employer to employer while keeping the same pension. Specific to the measures in the 2024 budget bill, I can add that they followed stakeholder consultations over the last year.

Now, the Ministry of Finance is preparing the regulations that would be necessary to implement the target benefit framework, which the government intends to come into effect on January 1, 2025. Target benefit pension plans are intended to provide a worker with a monthly stream of income in retirement, with predictable contributions from employers during a worker’s time under their employment. Implementation of a permanent target benefit framework would pave the way for employees to offer workplace pension plans, increasing opportunities for Ontario workers to save for their retirement. As a concluding point on the framework, I can say it is a demonstration of yet another way our government is working for the workers of the province of Ontario.

Speaker, now I turn from our strides aimed at building the retirement funds of workers to focus on our strides in building infrastructure in the Building Ontario Fund. Specifically, this budget measure would establish a new stand-alone statute for the continued operation of Ontario’s new infrastructure bank, the Building Ontario Fund. The Ontario Infrastructure Bank, now the Building Ontario Fund, was announced in the 2023 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review as an important tool to help attract capital to Ontario to build essential infrastructure. The Building Ontario Fund is exploring opportunities to support large-scale projects in many sectors, including post-secondary housing for students, long-term care, energy generation and municipal infrastructure sectors. This fund will help meet the infrastructure needs of a growing Ontario as the government moves forward with Ontario’s plan to build.

Speaker, there are a few additional measures I would like to touch on that are in this bill. Proposed are all minor legislative amendments to clarify or improve administrative effectiveness or enforcement, or to maintain the integrity and effectiveness of various statutes administered by the Ontario Minister of Finance.

No two bills tabled in this Legislature are exactly alike, because they are always a reflection of the time in which they are crafted. The same goes for governments and their budgets. Our economic and fiscal situation, they are a reflection of our times. Each year’s budget reflects information inputs from the year before and, through its forecasts and outlooks, projects into the future by several years. A budget, after all, is a point on the continuum, a very important one, with Ontario’s fiscal year running from April 1 to March 31 every year.

With these points in mind, I’d like to take a few minutes to flesh out some of the economic proof points of the times Ontario finds itself in now, as shown in the 2024 budget. Ontario’s economy in 2024 is expected to be negatively impacted by high interest rates from the Bank of Canada. The outlook for Ontario’s real GDP growth in 2024 has deteriorated significantly over the last year. The budget also shows that following estimated real GDP growth of 1.2% in 2023, growth is projected to be 0.3% in 2024. This is down from 1.3% at the time of the 2023 budget and 0.5% at the time of the 2023 Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review. Real GDP growth is projected to then increase to 1.9% in 2025 and further rise to 2.2% in 2026-27. Compared to the 2023 budget and the 2023 fall economic statement, this represents slower projected growth. Bear in mind, for the purposes of prudent fiscal planning, these Ministry of Finance protections are slightly below the average private sector forecast.

Meanwhile, employment in the province is projected to rise by 0.8% in 2024, slowing from a 2.4% increase in 2023. A positive is that the unemployment rate over the outlook period is projected to remain below the historical average.

Geopolitical developments pose a significant risk to Ontario’s economic outlook and can influence the government’s revenues. Commodity markets and supply chains continue to be impacted by global conflicts and tensions. Rising tensions are continuing to weigh on international trade in goods and services, which could impact Ontario’s trading relationships in North America.

I now turn to fiscal matters. For 2023-24, the government is projecting a deficit of $3 billion. The government does retain a path to balance in the 2024 budget, projecting deficits of $9.8 billion in 2024-25 and $4.6 billion in 2025-26 before reaching a surplus of $0.5 billion in 2026-27. As the minister alluded to in his presentation, we are the only major government in Canada that actually has a path to balance.

As noted in the 2024 budget, Ontario is not alone: Ongoing economic uncertainty related to inflation, high interest rates and rapid population growth is creating the need for investments in both public services and infrastructure such as schools, health care facilities and, of course, housing. This makes for challenging economic and fiscal circumstances for governments around the world.

Unlike many governments, one key aspect of Ontario’s fiscal situation is very favourable. You see, Ontario’s bonds provide investors with exceptional liquidity, and a wide range of bond offerings, including green bonds, have sold at record levels. In fact, Ontario is the largest and most consistent issuer of green bonds with $18 billion issued since 2014-15. In February, Ontario issued its second green bond for 2023-24 and 15th green bond overall for $1.5 billion. I might add: This was the first green bond issued under the new Ontario Sustainable Bond Framework. This framework released in January allows for a broader range of potential Ontario bond offerings in the future, including ones related to emissions-free nuclear power, which I know our Minister of Energy has talked so much about in the House.

Ontario will continue to finance most of its borrowing program in the long-term public markets in Canada as well as internationally. Ontario completed long-term public borrowings of $42.6 billion in 2023-24. For this fiscal year, Ontario’s long-term borrowing is forecast at $37.5 billion and, the following year, forecast at $37.7 billion. This is only $0.1 billion and $0.7 billion higher than the forecast in the 2023 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review. The government remains committed to reducing the debt burden and putting Ontario’s finances back on to a more sustainable path.

Ontario has kept its debt-burden-reduction targets unchanged from the 2023 budget, and Ontario’s interest on debt-to-revenue ratio is at the lowest level it has been at since the 1980s. That, by the way, is after coming to power in 2018 and inheriting the largest sub-sovereign debt in the entire world.

As I conclude my remarks today, let me just say that our government is proud of all we have accomplished to make life easier for the people and the businesses in Ontario. We have done all kinds of things. They range from creating new ways for individuals to receive medical care in their community and making it easier to get parking permits and book ServiceOntario appointments. As the Minister of Finance mentioned, we would enable an estimated $8 billion in cost savings and support for businesses, including $3.7 billion for small businesses alone. We are investing in vital public services and in infrastructure, investing to get more homes built faster and investing to attract better-paying jobs right here in Ontario.

Ontario five years ago had zero investment dedicated to electric-vehicle manufacturing. Today, Canada, most of that being right here in Ontario—in fact, almost all of it—has over $43 billion committed to electric vehicle manufacturing, placing Canada number one in the world for auto investments. We’re attracting the vital services and infrastructure and investing to get more homes built faster and investing in better-paying jobs.

We will also focus on keeping costs down for both families and businesses. They’re equally important. We need to attract investments in businesses here in the province, which we are on the path to doing after years of Liberal mismanagement and manufacturing jobs fleeing the province as the government didn’t even support manufacturing in this province. In fact, they said Ontario is going to go the way of the service economy; manufacturing is a thing of the past. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. We are undergoing a manufacturing renaissance here in the province of Ontario with over 300,000 manufacturing jobs created in the last six years.

It’s also important to keep costs down for families. Families are having a tough time with inflation, high gas costs, the carbon tax, interest rates. Working with the people we are eliminating licence plate sticker renewal fees, lowering the gas tax, putting through the LIFT credit—the highest tax cut in Ontario’s history for low-income earners—these are just a few measures we’ve put through and will continue to put through in the years ahead.

We are dedicated to continuing to work and keep costs down for families and businesses. I might add the key here to that point: We’ve been able to maintain economic growth, low historical unemployment, all while on a path to balance our budget, and that’s with inheriting the largest sub-sovereign debt in the world in 2018. So we’re on a very, very good path of fiscal prudence but also, where we are spending money, investing it to get a return on investment. That is absolutely key.

I encourage all members to vote in favour of Bill 180, Building a Better Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2024. I will now cede my time to the great member from Mississauga–Malton.

It’s always a privilege to rise and speak to third reading of the Building a Better Ontario Act (Budget Measures). 2024.

Before I start, as always, I’m thankful to the supreme God for giving me the health and well-being so that I can stand here and represent the residents of Mississauga–Malton. Thank you to the residents of Mississauga–Malton for giving me an opportunity. Thank you to my volunteers, my family, my extended family. Above all, thank you to all the staff members. Thank you for your support. That’s why I’m able to deliver this message.

Everyone in this House would agree, Ontario is a great place to live. Over the last several years, our economy has not only grown but has flourished, propelled by the ingenuity and the resilience of Ontarians under the leadership of Premier Ford—and our Minister of Finance has done an incredible job.

This economic expansion has been accompanied by a surge in population as we have seen individuals and families recognizing Ontario’s boundless opportunities. An example: the reason I, along with my family, came to Canada in 2000 as a new immigrant—by the way, yesterday was my birthday, 52 years strong. I just want to take a moment to thank—

Fifty-two years strong. Thank you to Malaika for this beautiful gift, which I am wearing, as you can see. Thank you to my children for amazing things.

As we celebrate this growth, we are aware of the responsibility it comes with, the responsibility to ensure that every resident enjoys access to essential services and a high quality of life. To fulfill this responsibility, our government is making strategic investments across key sectors that underpin the prosperity and well-being of our society.

Our investments in health care infrastructure, workforce development, patient-centred care reflect our unwavering commitment to health care that is accessible, efficient and responsive to the needs of all Ontarians.

Similarly, in transit, education, housing, we’re not simply keeping up with the demand, but we are proactively laying the groundwork for a more inclusive and sustainable future. From expanding public transit networks to investing in affordable housing and modernizing our education system, in every decision, this government is guided by a vision of Ontario that is equitable, resilient and forward-thinking.

We recognize that economic growth must be accompanied by enhanced public safety. That is why, in this budget, we are making sure that we are committed to creating safer streets and communities by investing in law enforcement, crime prevention and community-based initiatives. By addressing the root causes of crime and fostering collaboration between government, law enforcement agencies and community organizations, we are making sure we’re building a safer Ontario.

As we embark on this journey of progress and transformation, let’s remember that the true measure of our success lies not only in economic indicators, but in the tangible impacts. Across our province, these are the priorities and initiatives Ontarians want to see their government focus on, and we remain focused.

Madam Speaker, Ontario is part of a global economy, and there are global economic challenges that we cannot ignore. The cost of living continues to rise, placing an increasingly heavy burden on the shoulders of Ontario’s hard-working families. The Bank of Canada’s decision to maintain elevated interest rates and the federal government’s carbon tax heighten this financial strain, compounding the challenges faced by the households across the province.

This is a typical tale of two different governments: a government at the federal level that is increasing the costs by adding the carbon tax, and a government here in Ontario that understands and believes the challenges faced by Ontarians. That is why we’re reducing the gas tax by 10 cents. That’s the contrast we’re going to continue to talk about in the next few minutes.

But before I talk about it—this budget didn’t come by itself. There’s a whole team who worked hard to prepare this document. This document is the voice of the people of Ontario.

Thank you to the Minister of Finance, who criss-crossed the whole province for the budget consultation. Despite his busy schedule, he was there to listen to the people of Ontario—their challenges, their issues, their suggestions.

And of course, the member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound, who has done an incredible job—he was the PA and part of this budget consultation, along with the member from Oakville. They both deserve a big round of applause.

Interjections.