I think the Premier said it so incredibly well—but let’s go back in time a little bit, when they were in power for 15 years and they increased the debt by $200 billion. It’s kind of incredible to think that all those hospitals they built and all those highways they built and all those subways they built and all those—

Interjections.

I have to correct the record: They built nothing. In fact, they saw the tail lights on those cars—those manufacturing jobs leaving Ontario to go to the United States.

Do you know what you’re seeing now? Those headlights of the people coming to Ontario, 700,000 headlights coming back to Ontario—good-paying jobs in St. Thomas, in Alliston, and now in Port Colborne.

There’s something happening in Ontario. The member opposite should take note of that.

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.

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.

My question is for the Minister of Long-Term Care.

Ontario’s long-term-care sector is being impacted by a rapidly aging population.

Speaker, the previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, failed to plan ahead for the needs and care of our seniors. As a result, only 611 long-term-care beds were added across our province, and 40,000 Ontarians were left waiting for a place in a long-term-care home.

While our government has made critical investments that address the care needs for seniors across the province, there is still more that needs to be done to increase capacity in long-term care.

Can the minister please tell the House how our government is ensuring all Ontarians can get the care they need in long-term-care homes?

Speaker, families in my riding of Newmarket–Aurora want to ensure that their loved ones will be taken care of in a long-term-care home in their community.

As Ontario’s aging population continues to grow, it is clear that we need to build more long-term-care homes across our province. By investing in long-term-care infrastructure and services, our government will be able to build a stronger system that will provide care and support for Ontario seniors and their families.

Once again to the minister: What is our government doing to build more homes faster in this province?

The member is quite correct; the Premier and the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Infrastructure did undertake a quite historic agreement with the city of Ottawa. We’re working very closely with the city of Ottawa to make sure that our priorities align. Obviously, there are priorities with respect to infrastructure in that area and public safety. That is something that the Premier made a focus on.

I’m meeting with the mayor next week, and we will further discuss some of the priorities for the city of Ottawa.

Ultimately, we want to make sure that the city of Ottawa continues to grow and prosper, and that it continues to have the best infrastructure that it possibly can.

We have been told that after years of neglect by the previous Liberal government, the investments in hospitals that we’re making, the investments in roads that we’re making and the investments that we’re going to be making with respect to public safety will all help ensure that Ottawa is prosperous going forward. We need the federal government to help out, as well, but—fingers crossed—they’re not always there for us when we need them.

My question is for the Premier.

We’re working on a new downtown community safety plan in Ottawa to respond to a request from this government that we use funds to enhance people’s safety downtown and on our transit system. We now have 120 days to respond to the government. We’re meeting actively with local officials to help us come up with the best plan.

My question, which is a straightforward one, which is part of our preparations, is, is the government prepared to fund, in our community safety plan, an unarmed crisis response unit that could help our neighbours who are suffering with mental health issues and addictions?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to welcome Dr. Purna Kandel from Brampton.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

On behalf of the member from Barrie–Innisfil, our Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, I want to welcome the mom of one of our great pages, Harry Patel, who has been working very hard in the last two weeks. Krutika Patel is visiting. Krutika happens to work with Aecon on the Darlington nuclear plant.

Welcome, Mom.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to do quick introductions for Dr. Purna Kandel, Kiroj Shrestha, Chanda Adhikari, Kamal Gywali, Bidya Karki, Man Poudel, Rajan Khatri and Dibesh Khanal, who are visiting from the Nepalese community—leaders here with us today at Queen’s Park.

Mr. Tabuns moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 198, An Act providing a climate change adaptation program for Ontario / Projet de loi 198, Loi prévoyant un programme d’adaptation aux changements climatiques pour l’Ontario.

The ayes are 65; the nays are 32.