My question is to the Minister of Education.

As Ontario drags its feet to create new $10-a-day child care spaces, this government has forced many affordable spaces we do have to leave the program, and this means doubling the costs that parents pay.

Ontario child care centres have been urgently calling for a funding formula that actually works. Back in September 2023, this government said it was working on a new formula that would be in place at the end of 2024. Now they’re telling child care operators to wait another year.

Minister, what excuse do you have to give families who have to pay the price for your funding formula delay?

Ola, a child care provider, pulled out of the program, citing a broken funding model.

The YMCA, the largest operator in the province, has been warning for months about the risk of closures if the funding formula isn’t updated soon to actually cover the costs for providing child care.

Families are worried about whether there will be affordable child care available when they need it.

Why is the minister putting more child care spaces at risk with these delays?

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, to our great member from Orléans: I appreciate his question, but I just have to remind him that his party was the one that bankrupted this province. His party was the one that chased 300,000 jobs out of the province, that destroyed our health care system. When we walked into the office almost six years ago, every single ministry was a disaster.

Move forward to today: There are over 700,000 more people working today, paying taxes.

We’re the only government in the history of this country that has never raised a tax. We’ve actually reduced taxes. We’ve reduced the gas tax by 10.7 cents; we got rid of the tolls on the 412 and 418; we got rid of the car registration stickers, saving millions and millions of dollars for the people of Ontario.

Think of that: raised revenues by $64 billion, never raised a tax, cut and reduced the burden off companies by $8.5 billion each and every year—and we’re seeing tens of billions of dollars of investment in our province.

My question is for the Minister of Energy.

At a time when Ontario families continue to struggle with the rising cost of living and high interest rates, the federal Liberals went ahead with their 23% carbon tax hike last month. To make matters worse, the Liberals are doubling down and tripling the tax by 2030. It’s unfair that the federal Liberals, supported by the carbon tax queen, Bonnie Crombie, are hiking this regressive tax on the back of every Ontarian. When this tax gets tripled, the increase in the cost of food, goods and services will triple for all of us. That’s unacceptable.

Our government condemns the carbon tax, and we are once again asking the federal Liberals to scrap this tax now.

Speaker, can the minister please explain what our government is doing to address the devastating impact of the carbon tax?

In my community of St. Paul’s—the question is to the Premier—we are fortunate to have the John Howard Society community office working tirelessly to support people affected by the justice system and those trying to rebuild productive lives post-incarceration.

JHS has been on the front lines, advocating for a just and reformed bail system. They have offered substantive recommendations to this government’s Standing Committee on Justice Policy. One of those key recommendations was for the government to invest in bail supervision programs that have a proven history and provide a lower-cost alternative to pretrial detention, a practice that is disproportionately applied more to Black, Indigenous and racialized individuals than white individuals for the same and similar charges.

Can the Premier share what investments they have made in the current budget to address the need for more bail supervision programs?

The John Howard Society is recommending deep government investments in programs focused on prevention, intervention and reintegration, as well as robust investments in supportive housing, people, since the overall dismantling of the social safety net by this government has led to an increase in incarceration.

My question, again, is back to the Premier. Hopefully he’ll answer. Why is spending $300 a day to warehouse legally innocent people the status quo, as opposed to lower-cost, effective, community-based interventions like supportive housing?

The Attorney General.

I appreciate the question. It’s a very important area, because we do want people who are finished serving their sentence or on the back end of that situation to have the supports that they need to be successful in our communities.

We’re in constant communication, whether it be with the John Howard Society or others who are providing service and bail supervision. We’re making constant investments. We’ve increased capacity in terms of funding for victims’ services. We’ve increased funding for those areas of need.

I’ll get into some more specifics in the supplementary.

We are providing the supports, and we are going to hold people to account, but at the same time, we are doing things differently. We have started justice centres, which are one of a kind in Ontario. We got the idea from Red Hook in New York. They are meeting people where they are at, helping them with some of their underlying issues, while we provide appropriate responses from the justice system. We will not apologize for investing in all areas of this, and at the same time holding people to account.

Last year, to help Ontarians through the winter, Ontario Liberals proposed removing the HST from home heating. This Conservative government said no.

This spring, Ontario Liberals have proposed a $1,000 tax credit for parents who put their children in extracurricular activities and sports.

And just this week, Ontario Liberals have proposed a massive tax cut for small businesses that will save them up to $18,000 a year.

What have we seen from the government? The Conservative gravy train getting longer and longer—bigger budgets for the Premier’s office; a sunshine list of six-figure salaries that eclipses all others in history; sole-sourced contracts and special access to greenbelt lands for their friends, donors and insiders. While Ontario Liberals propose concrete measures to help families with the affordability crisis, this Conservative government is focused on adding passengers to their gravy train.

When will this government vote for common-sense Liberal tax cuts and start putting Ontario families first, over their friends, their donors and their insiders?

When campaigning for office, the Premier promised a 20% tax cut for the middle class—six years later, nothing.

The Premier campaigned on reining in spending and cutting the deficit. Six years later, his government is breaking all records for spending, and the province’s debt has increased by $90 billion.

The Premier famously promised buck-a-beer, and while Ontarians prepare for the May Two-Four weekend, they know that a two-four in Ontario has never been more expensive.

While the Premier has broken all of his promises to the middle class, he has done his best for his friends, his donors and his insiders. The passengers on the Premier’s gravy train are treated to first-class patronage, sole-sourced government contracts, greenbelt giveaways and special access, all leading to an RCMP investigation.

Why does this government continue to put the interests of highly paid insiders, lobbyists, friends and donors over the interests of Ontario families?

Mr. Speaker, when the Liberals were in power here in Ontario for 15 years, they tripled our electricity rates. They drove jobs out of our province to other jurisdictions. The Minister of Finance just referenced the tail lights that were heading out of the province as manufacturers picked up and left.

Well, those same Liberals, when they were annihilated here in Ontario, where did they go? They’re all now working for Justin Trudeau up on Parliament Hill. And what has happened? We have this torturous carbon tax that’s driving up the price of everything in our province.

Again, since we’ve come in, we’ve provided stability for electricity customers, and we’re seeing the fruits of our labour: multi-billion dollar investments in our province. Those headlights are coming back to Ontario again and reinvesting here, while the voters in Ontario continue to put the vehicle in reverse and back over the Liberals because they are torturing businesses and residents, constituents, across our country.

We are cutting taxes. We’re lowering electricity rates. We’re giving people a break in Ontario. Liberals—

I want to rise in this House and acknowledge that, yes, the Ontario Greenhouse Alliance was here last week. I hope the members opposite heard loud and clear how the carbon tax is punishing the people who produce good-quality food close to home here in Ontario.

The carbon tax is now 30% of everyone’s energy bills, whether you are a chicken farmer or a greenhouse operator. Any relief that greenhouse farmers actually had was completely wiped out on April 1 with the 23% increase in the carbon tax.

Do you know what the irony is in this? HST gets charged on top of the carbon tax. So we have a tax on a tax.

Moreover, people need to understand that farmers need carbon. They’re part of the solution. In greenhouses, that carbon is needed to grow our food.

Why do the federal Liberals continue to punish—why does Bonnie Crombie stand with those federal Liberals and enable them to continue to punish Ontario—

It’s unfortunate, because right in the member from Chatham-Kent–Leamington’s area, there are four greenhouses that are looking to grow—but unfortunately, because of this Liberal ideology that is costing them to see an increase in the cost of production of food, they’re going to look to expand south of the border.

We’re going to see the tail lights of farmers leaving Ontario because of this punishing carbon tax.

People need to wake up and understand that Ontario farmers can be part of the solution. Scrap the tax.

I was listening very intently to the message, and what I heard was that a landlord is communicating with his tenants about potential future action. There are rules for that. There’s a tribunal for that. There are ways that this can happen in a balanced way.

Interjections.

So I think the member’s constituent has avenues to resolve this dispute if she doesn’t want to talk to the landlord himself.

As for disputes, if landlords are doing things inappropriately, there is a tribunal for that. There are rules. They have recourse. This is how the system works. It’s an independent tribunal. We have resourced it with additional staff. We have doubled the number of adjudicators. We have fixed the back end that the NDP, supporting the Liberals, left in shambles. We had to build the thing from the ground up because they left it so bad.

We are getting the job done, and we won’t take any lessons from the NDP.

My question is to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Greenhouse growers are a significant contributor to the local economy in my riding of Chatham-Kent–Leamington and throughout Ontario, providing a wide range of great-paying jobs and nutritious food.

Just last week, many of us here had the opportunity to meet with members of the Ontario Greenhouse Alliance to talk about challenges facing the sector. I heard how Ontario’s greenhouse farming families are being hurt financially as a result of the federal Liberals’ unfair tax schemes.

It’s clear we need immediate action to end the carbon tax. It’s time the federal Liberals listened to what we have been saying for years and scrap the tax.

Speaker, can the minister please tell the House how the carbon tax is costing Ontario greenhouse growers?

It’s shocking to hear how the Liberal carbon tax is negatively impacting Ontario’s fresh flower, fruit and vegetable growers. Our food supply chain relies on these very fruits and vegetables grown year-round in Ontario’s greenhouses. That’s why all governments should be working to ensure the success of this vital sector.

Speaker, the Liberal carbon tax is harming our farmers by adding unnecessary costs. The federal Liberals and their provincial counterparts and the opposition need to face reality and eliminate this unnecessary, costly tax.

Can the minister please share with the House how the carbon tax is negatively impacting the prosperity and growth of Ontario’s greenhouse and farming sectors?

My question is for the Premier.

Speaker, in Sudbury, multiple tenants have been targeted by their landlord. He’s trying to force them to move out of his apartment. Marie is one of these tenants—and that’s not her real name; she’s afraid to use her real name. Marie told me the entire building had no heat all winter. She said the landlord was literally trying to freeze them out. When that didn’t work, the landlord sent Marie a text. I’m going to read it verbatim: “Hi, this is the owner. Can we talk tomorrow? I want to discuss incentivizing you to give me the apartment unit back.”

Tenants like Marie have been living in this building for years without any issues, then the building was purchased by an out-of-town landlord, and these tenants are being forced out of their own homes.

We’re in a housing crisis, and unscrupulous landlords are doing everything they can to kick people out of their homes so they can double the rent.

Why isn’t the Premier protecting people like Marie?

The next tenant—I’ve got to call him Ray because he can’t use his name, because he’s so terrified about losing his home. Ray is a tenant in the exact same building. Ray’s rent is supposed to include hydro, like all the tenants in there, but I guess shutting off the heat and bribing the tenants wasn’t working, so the landlord stopped paying for hydro. The problem is, Ray has medical equipment he needs to stay alive, and it needs hydro. So, Ray has to decide: Does he give up groceries, or does he risk dying? That’s the situation the Premier has put us in.

These stories aren’t uncommon. They’re happening all around the province. And pretending they have blinders on—they’re out to lunch.

When will the Premier implement rent controls and other safeguards to protect tenants from bad landlords like this one?

Interjections.

Thank you. The supplementary question.

The Attorney General.

That was a bit of a news flash. I hadn’t heard that.

The queen of the carbon tax isn’t fooling anybody. Her majesty is in full support of the federal Liberal government’s federal carbon tax—one that went up 23% on April 1, and one that’s going to go up again next year. It’s driving up the cost of everything in our province.

We know that when the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, comes in, she is going to continue to make life more expensive.

They’re trying to rebrand over there. They’re trying to talk about some tax credits, but it’s just not believable because we know the track record of Liberals at every level.

The funny thing is, when it comes to the carbon tax, across the country, Liberal Premiers, NDP Premiers—they’re all with Premier Ford on this.

We need to scrap this punitive carbon tax now because it’s driving up the price of everything. It’s driving people to food banks. It’s driving people into energy poverty. We don’t need it. It’s time to scrap the tax.

Thank you to the minister for that response. It is reassuring to hear that our government stands firmly behind the people of this province and continues to fight the costly carbon tax.

While we have constantly introduced measures to make life more affordable, more needs to be done to address Ontarians’ ongoing affordability concerns.

But last month at the Empire Club in Toronto, the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, called our gas tax cut a gimmick. She said that she would cancel it when she got a chance.

Many of our constituents are already struggling. Denying them financial relief is not only unfair but also cruel.

Speaker, can the minister please tell the House why Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals are out of touch with their support for the carbon tax?

The member addresses something extremely important, which is planning for the future.

I think back to 2006, when the government of the day introduced something called the Ontario growth plan, which said they knew Ontario was going to grow at a record pace. But we also knew, at the same time, that we have an aging population, which means that we have record growth within the senior sector.

Speaker, the last Liberal government, even though they knew about this growth, failed abysmally to plan for that growth. In fact, they said they were simply hoping for the best. They made this plan to build 35,000 spaces in long-term care—and guess what? They missed the mark by 33,000. When they left government in 2018, they had built a net new 611 beds.

That’s exactly why this government, after years of neglect by Bonnie Crombie’s party over there, is getting it right. We’re building for seniors. That is our plan. It is simple: Let’s build. Since 2018, 18,000 spaces have been built or have shovels in the ground.

We are working for our seniors because they worked for us. We’re taking care of them in Ontario.

Willowdale—four and a half kilometres north to south, three and a half kilometres east to west. I have more spaces being built in my riding alone than the Liberals built over their entire mandate in the province of Ontario. And that’s the story across every single region.

I have letters here from members of the independent party, from the members of the NDP, asking for more development in their neighbourhoods, because they understand something very important: that seniors took care of us, and it is our turn to take care of them. That is what this government is doing.

We are supported by the Ontario Long Term Care Association, who says, “No ... jurisdiction has made this level of continued commitment and investment in long-term care.”

Speaker, this Premier is showing his leadership in taking care of our seniors. We’re getting it done for those who took care of us in Ontario.

My question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Representatives from the Niagara region visited Queen’s Park this week with a simple request for collaboration: Help build an affordable housing project within St. Catharines at 320 Geneva Street with the regional government. This project means 85 new—new—units of bridge and supportive housing. Niagara is seeking a provincial partnership on capital costs. It means getting people off the streets, out of encampments, and into safe, stable homes.

Minister, will your government commit to funding the completion of 320 Geneva Street in St. Catharines?

We all know this government is lagging on its affordable housing targets, risking federal funding and leaving communities in desperate need.

Minister, here’s an opportunity to build affordable housing served on a silver platter to you. The municipality will soon have shovels in the ground. With a provincial commitment, we can ensure the federal government comes to the table.

Will you fully support the 320 Geneva Street new-build project and help provide families with dignity and a place to call home in Niagara? This is a new build; this isn’t what you’ve done. We’re asking for a commitment from this government.

Parliamentary assistant and member for Niagara West.

The next question.

I have to say, it’s a pleasure to be able to stand here and speak about Niagara Week. We’ve had an amazing visit from representatives across the Niagara region, who had the opportunity to sit down with many of the ministers and the Premier. We had a great meeting with the Premier, the Minister of Transportation, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Infrastructure, who all spoke about the incredible amount of investments that are happening in the Niagara region.

I want to give one example that refers to what the member opposite is speaking about. One of the things we heard from the delegation from Niagara was gratitude for an 86% increase in the Homelessness Prevention Program funding. What that increase means is—it used to be $11 million a year going into the Niagara region for homelessness prevention funding to support exactly the investments in bridge housing that you’re speaking about. That is now over $20 million a year—annualized funding, tens of millions of dollars going into these services to ensure that those who need it most are getting the investments.

I’ll talk more about all the investments that are happening in Niagara in the supplementary.

But it’s not just when it comes to that program—it’s also investments that we’re seeing in health care and in education. New schools are going up in every corner of our region. It’s investments in health care—by seeing not one but two new hospitals coming to the Niagara region, the largest investment in Ontario’s history. It’s about changes to ensure that we have good jobs, and yes, it’s about—earlier this week—ensuring that the people of the Niagara region are going to have excellent jobs at Asahi Kasei, with a $1.6-billion investment in the EV battery plant. Those are providing good jobs. It’s not just putting food on the table for hard-working families, but ensuring that they’re able to put a bit away for a future rainy day.

That’s the kind of investment that this Premier and this government is going to continue—

Interjections.