My question to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. The Liberals continue to tell Canadians that their carbon tax is the only way to fight climate change, but the people of Ontario know that paying more for gas and groceries is not fighting climate change. In fact, in my riding of Leeds–Grenville–Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, all we have to do is look across the St. Lawrence River, south of the border, to our biggest trading partner, the United States—they don’t have a carbon tax, but yet they managed to have greater emission reductions than Canada.

My question to the minister is: Please explain why the Liberal approach to fighting climate change through the carbon tax is a misguided approach?

While Ontario’s economy, as you noted, Minister, has made significant progress since we took office, just imagine what we could do in Ontario if the Liberals scrapped the carbon tax.

Speaker, can the minister explain our approach to economic growth and how it’s so, so different from the Liberal approach?

The lineage of this carbon tax is well documented. It actually predates Justin Trudeau. It was Stéphane Dion who tried to introduce it and Canadians said no. But he couldn’t hold back. When he became Prime Minister, he brought in the carbon tax. So this is all en famille. One of the biggest supporters was Bonnie Crombie, who has now rightly lived up to the appellative term “queen of the carbon tax”—no surprise, from a party that referred to northern Ontario as a wasteland.

I referenced some projects in the previous answer, and the point here is that no government should be in the business of picking and choosing the kinds of energy efficiencies or the sources of heat and hydro in different regions across Canada. The goal here is to scrap the tax, let jurisdictions make good policy decisions on how we can reduce GHG emissions and have more energy efficiency and maintain the assets—

Interjections.

Thank you to the minister for his response. The reality is the carbon tax does not lower a single emission. It’s a useless tax that just makes it harder on families and businesses. It’s shameful that the federal government continues to force people in the north to pay more for their daily necessities. It’s fine for the Liberal elites in southern Ontario to say, “Just use public transit,” but Speaker, how does somebody in Whitefish Bay, Elizabeth or Emo hop on a subway? The federal Liberals must learn to respect northern communities and finally scrap this punitive tax.

Speaker, can the minister further elaborate on the detrimental effects the carbon tax is having on communities all across northern Ontario?

My question is for the Associate Minister of Small Business. Small businesses in my riding of Oakville are concerned about the negative impacts of the carbon tax on their operations, and they’re worried, indeed, about their very survival. It’s forcing entrepreneurs to pay increased costs that they cannot afford, especially during these difficult inflationary times. Our small business owners do not support these counterproductive tax measures.

Unlike the NDP and Liberals, our government understands the financial burden that the carbon tax places on businesses. That’s why, under the leadership of Premier Ford, we are reducing costs for families and businesses.

Can the associate minister please explain how our government’s pro-business approach ensures Ontario’s small businesses are saving money despite the burdensome carbon tax?

Unlike the members of the Liberal Party in this Legislature, we here believe that Ontario families and small businesses are not better off with a carbon tax. They’re not better off with increased operating costs, making it harder for them to stay afloat. They’re not better off with increased gas prices, making it harder for consumers to come out and support them. And they’re not better off being forced to pay the most in carbon taxes while they haven’t seen a dollar in promised rebates.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy here in Ontario. I don’t know why the members of the Liberal Party and Bonnie Crombie do not understand that.

Speaker, through you: Can the associate minister please tell the House how our government is working to offset the negative impacts of the carbon tax on small businesses right here in the province of Ontario?