I’d like to welcome some board members from the St. Catharines Armenian community to the chamber: Misag Belian and Gary Kacazanjian. Welcome to your House.

Meegwetch. I’d like to welcome one of my constituency office staff from Sioux Lookout who is here with me this week: Delaine Fiddler.

Also, I want to introduce Jerry Moskotaywenene, Jack McKay, as well as members of their families and friends who are here: Kevin, Michael, J.R., Clayton—also, Chief Donny Morris from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug.

Let’s join them in celebrating Jerry Moskotaywenene and Jack McKay’s respective retirements from the OPP. Today after question period, I will be providing certificates at the staircase if you want to come and say hello.

Meegwetch for your service.

I’d like to welcome to Queen’s Park retired Port Hope fire and rescue service district chief Glenn Case, who served our community with distinguished service for over 45 years. He’s here with his grandson Benjamin. He even had the President of the Treasury Board ride shotgun in a fire truck when she came down to my riding.

I appreciate the opportunity to introduce some very special guests, members of the Ontario Bar Association, who are joining us here at Queen’s Park today. In particular, I want to say thank you to Kelly McDermott, president; Kathryn Manning, first vice-president; Katy Commisso, second vice-president; Mohsen Seddigh, secretary; Mariam Moktar, treasurer; and Elizabeth Hall, executive director and general counsel. They’ve come to Queen’s Park with a team of lawyers. So for those members who’ve actually taken and approved meetings, you will have a very good discussion this afternoon.

Joining them are Darry Buxton, Dante Capannelli, Geoff Carpenter, Neha Chugh, Daniel Goldbloom, Eric Sadvari, Melanie Webb, Frances Wood, Tyler Jensen and Jenny Commisso.

It’s my pleasure to welcome to the House Zahid Butt and Shahnaz Tehseen. They are from my riding, and they’re also representatives of the Pakistan Business Association.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I’d like to propose that we continue with introduction of visitors unless there’s an objection.

Members will please rise.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

It’s my pleasure to welcome presidents from across the country who are here as part of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation delegation, including the president of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, Heidi Yetman; Stéphanie Babineau; Jason Schilling; Clint Johnston; Isabel Cotinais, Nathan Martindale; Peter Lagacy; Ryan Lutes; Justin Matchett; Matthew Miller; Andy Doran; Steven Le Sueur; Samantha Becotte; Ted Hupé; Lillian Klausen; as well as, of course, from Ontario, Anne Vinet-Roy, Karen Brown, René Jansen in de Wal and Karen Littlewood. Thank you so much for joining us today.

I’d like to welcome Kelly McDermott, president of the Ontario Bar Association, along with all the lawyers who have joined her today to speak with MPPs, and my old friend Andrew Cowan, who is in the gallery.

I have a letter dated May 16, 2024, addressed to the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that reads as follows:

“Dear Mr. Day:

“A writ of election dated the 3rd day of April 2024, was issued by the Honourable Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice, serving as Administrator of the government of Ontario, and was addressed to Marielena Lafee Perez, returning officer for the electoral district of Milton, for the election of a member to represent the said electoral district of Milton in the Legislative Assembly of this province in the room of Parm Gill who, since his election as representative of the said electoral district of Milton, has resigned.

“This is to certify that, a poll having been granted and held in Milton on the 2nd day of May 2024, Zee Hamid has been returned as duly elected as appears by the return of the said writ of election dated the 6th day of May 2024, which is now lodged of record in my office.

“Yours sincerely,

“Greg Essensa

“Chief Electoral Officer.”

I have a second letter, also dated May 16, 2024, also addressed to the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, that reads as follows:

“Dear Mr. Day:

“A writ of election dated the 3rd day of April 2024, was issued by the Honourable Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice, serving as Administrator of the government of Ontario, and was addressed to Kim Lee, returning officer for the electoral district of Lambton–Kent–Middlesex, for the election of a member to represent the said electoral district of Lambton–Kent–Middlesex in the Legislative Assembly of this province in the room of Monte McNaughton who, since his election as representative of the said electoral district of Lambton–Kent–Middlesex, has resigned.

“This is to certify that, a poll having been granted and held in Lambton–Kent–Middlesex on the 2nd day of May 2024, Steve Pinsonneault has been returned as duly elected as appears by the return of the said writ of election, dated the 4th day of May 2024, which is now lodged of record in my office.

“Yours sincerely,

“Greg Essensa

“Chief Electoral Officer.”

MPP Hamid was escorted into the House by Mr. Doug Ford and Mr. Calandra.

As we’ve said all along, we’ll continue to work with both the Integrity Commissioner and the Information and Privacy Commissioner. Nothing has changed on that score.

At the same time, the Leader of the Opposition, of course, references 2014 and the previous Liberal government’s challenges. I do recall at that time that the NDP had an opportunity at that point to vote their confidence in the government, or lack thereof, and the NDP chose to keep that government in office despite the fact that the chief of staff went to jail.

We continue to do what is important for the people of the province of Ontario; that is focus on building homes, focus on building an economy out of the ashes of what the previous Liberal government left behind, and on every account, we’re making progress. The job is not yet done, but we’ll continue on that path of economic growth and prosperity for the people of the province of Ontario.

Interjections.

This government, of course, is continuing to focus on what is important to the people of the province of Ontario. There’s no doubt that we inherited challenging circumstances back in 2018. We are continuing on the path to rebuild the province of Ontario; that is to focus on building more homes across the province of Ontario, rebuilding our economy. The job is not done yet, Mr. Speaker. We’ll continue to focus on that. And I encourage the Leader of the Opposition to work with us so that we can continue to build a bigger, better, stronger province of Ontario for the people of this province.

We continue to work on what’s important to the people of the province of Ontario. Look, we are fighting a number of issues that would help improve the people of the province of Ontario’s lives. We’ve talked about a carbon tax, how difficult that has been for the people of the province of Ontario. The Premier has led the federation in terms of asking the Bank of Canada to reduce interest rates because it has become so difficult for people not only to get shovels in the ground, but for the people who can buy the homes to actually afford those homes. We are building infrastructure. We are building more schools. We are reinvesting in health care. Those are the priorities of the people of the province of Ontario. We’re going to double down and make sure that we continue to build a bigger, better, stronger province.

Speaker, I have the honour to present to you and to the House Zee Hamid, member for the electoral district of Milton, who has taken the oath and signed the roll and now claims the right to take his seat in the Legislature.

Congratulations.

Congratulations.

Let the honourable member take his seat.

Applause.

Mr. Pinsonneault was escorted into the House by Mr. Doug Ford and Mr. Calandra.

Applause.

It is now time for question period.

Supplementary question.

This question is for the Premier. The Information and Privacy Commissioner has confirmed that she’s going to be releasing a special report on his government’s conduct in relation to the greenbelt scandal. She’s looking into allegations that political staffers in the government regularly deleted emails related to the greenbelt, and that they used their personal accounts, in an apparent attempt to cover their tracks.

The last time the commissioner released a special report into the deletion of emails by political staffers, I think we all remember what happened. It triggered a police investigation, and that Liberal Premier’s chief of staff went to prison.

So will the Premier enlighten us: What will this latest investigative report reveal?

But there’s more. Earlier today, Global News revealed new evidence that the Premier’s chief of staff used his personal email account to conduct government business on dozens of occasions. That directly contradicts his sworn testimony to the Integrity Commissioner when he claimed, “I do not conduct government business on my personal email.” Guess what? He does.

The Premier’s chief of staff appears to have repeatedly and directedly contradicted his sworn testimony to the Integrity Commissioner under oath. So, Speaker, to the Premier: Will he demand his chief of staff’s resignation?

An FOI document obtained by the NDP has also revealed that the Premier’s director of stakeholder relations was also using his personal email to set up a meeting and discuss the greenbelt scheme with one of those land speculators, Sergio Manchia. You’re going to recall, Speaker, that Ryan Amato told his colleagues, “The Premier needs to stop calling this guy.” Well, you know what? He was calling this guy. So was his director of stakeholder relations.

So I want to know from the Premier, did he discuss this greenbelt property with Mr. Manchia, with his director of stakeholder relations or any other public official in the summer of 2022?

This question is for the Premier again. We’ve known for decades—decades—that mercury was being dumped in the Wabigoon-English River system and that it was poisoning the people of Grassy Narrows. First, it gets into the fish, which is central to the way of life there, and now, of course, devastating the community.

Last week, a new study revealed that industrial discharge from the Dryden mill site is making that mercury contamination even worse. Shamefully, Speaker, there has been no comment from this government, these ministers, since this new information came to light—crickets. Nothing.

When will this government commit to cleaning up the river of all of the mercury that’s contaminating Grassy Narrows?

Studying the study doesn’t seem like much of a plan of action. In Sarnia, where the Aamjiwnaang First Nation have been complaining of illnesses from benzene released from a nearby chemical plant, the ministry finally ordered the plant to cease operations until there was a fix, so it is possible to take the necessary action.

So again, to the Premier, after decades—more than 50 years, in fact—with the new information about the ongoing contamination making the mercury poisoning impacting the people of Grassy Narrows worse, what steps is he prepared to end this ongoing tragedy once and for all?

Interjections.

Speaker, our government remains committed to working with Indigenous communities and will continue working with Indigenous communities towards remediation of the mercury contamination in the English and the Wabigoon Rivers.

The member knows that several studies have been funded to the tune of $85 million for the English and Wabigoon Rivers Remediation Trust, including the recent one by Dr. Branfireun. Those studies are to understand the mercury contamination, where it’s moving through the river system and the food web.

Ministry technical experts will be reviewing the report’s findings as part of the work on the panel and their technical subcommittee. They plan to meet with the doctor and Indigenous community tomorrow.

Speaker, our government takes this issue very seriously. The panel is also funding a project team made up of recognized mercury remediation experts. We will leave it to the experts to ensure that swift and remediation action is taking place. Speaker, we remain committed to updating the Indigenous community and stakeholders, including the public, towards the progress of remediation of mercury contamination sediments.

The question really shows why we have two new members in the House here today from the last by-elections, from Lambton–Kent–Middlesex and from Milton: because the NDP and the Liberals are obviously against workers. Our government is supporting workers in a transition after a 97-year monopoly. Let me repeat that: a 97-year monopoly. The people of Ontario want modernization, they want convenience, and they want change. They are supportive of what we are doing.

Clearly, the opposition Liberals and NDP support the status quo, which has been corporate monopolies—97 years. Our government is the first government in the history of Ontario to get it done for the people of Ontario. We ran on this in 2018 and 2022, and the people—

Interjections.

I think everyone is just excited for my question this morning. I’d really like to ask a question to the Premier, but unfortunately, my question is to the Minister of Energy.

The Liberal carbon tax is driving up the cost of food and everyday essentials. It continues to force individuals and families across our province to choose between cooling and eating. Just last week we learned that grocery prices in Ontario have increased by an additional 1.4% compared to last year. At the same time, food bank usage in our province has increased by 38%.

Speaker, the Liberals, under the carbon tax queen, Bonnie Crombie, along with the opposition NDP, persistently ignore the effects this tax has on our food supply chain. They should meet with the grain farmers who are here today and hear about how much this tax costs our farmers.

As the opposition champions the carbon tax, our government will keep costs down for the people of Ontario, and we will not stop until this regressive tax is scrapped. Minister, can you please explain—

Methyl mercury levels are now even higher—two times higher, Speaker. The chief scientist behind the study says that if the mill stopped discharging sulphate into the river, they could have prevented harmful chemicals getting into the river and into the fish.

Children, elders poisoned under this government’s watch. Studies, reviews—that’s all we ever hear from this minister. What immediate steps is this government going to take right now to stop the ongoing mercury poisoning of the people of Grassy Narrows?

Interjections.

People are struggling all across this province to find a family doctor and rural emergency rooms are closing all across the province, but this government, they have very different priorities. On Friday, we learned that the taxpayers of Ontario could be paying half a billion dollars so that this Premier can get out of a contract a year early and sell beer and wine in corner stores.

Now, I want to know, why is this Premier pouring money into the pockets of these big alcohol corporations while our emergency rooms are closing?

Families across this province are wondering if they’re going to be able to keep a roof over their heads. Families are looking for affordable child care. There’s none. They can’t find a family doctor—2.4 million Ontarians without a family doctor, people worried whether there’s going to be an emergency room open when their child is sick. These are the worries that are keeping people in this province up at night.

So, Speaker, I want to go back to the Premier—maybe he’ll actually answer the question for a change. More than half a billion dollars: Does that actually sound like a good deal for the people of this province from this Premier? Give me a break.

Interjections.

First of all, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the opposition can’t add numbers—because that’s not the number, but anyway. We had a deal, the worst deal I’ve ever seen in business, what the Liberals signed for 10 years, just giving money away. We’re here to support the workers at the Beer Store. We’re creating 8,500 new stores, thousands and thousands of jobs. The LCBO is going to be the wholesaler. They’re going to bring in a couple of hundred million dollars more.

But guess what, Mr. Speaker? They want to say no. They want to say no on the beer tax increase; they want to say no to more competitive retailing pricing. But I’ll guarantee you one thing. I will guarantee you all these members here—every single person—will be going into their retail store, they’ll be going into the convenience store to buy their wine, to buy their beer, guaranteed, 1,000%—

Interjections.