Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Ontario’s farmers pride themselves on being great stewards of the land and the environment. But the federal Liberals refuse to take that into account when they saddle farmers with huge carbon tax bills. Not only does the carbon tax add financial stress by increasing input costs for farmers, but it shows great disrespect for the work farmers do and the investments they make to keep their operations as sustainable as possible.

The federal Liberals need to finally listen to what we have been saying since day one and get rid of the carbon tax.

Speaker, can the minister please tell this House what she is hearing from farmers about how the federal Liberals’ attacks are impacting them, both financially—

The supplementary question.

The next question.

The Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

The next question.

The Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.

The Minister of Health.

That is a very important question, and it is something that our government is taking very seriously.

As you know, with $525 million being invested through the Roadmap to Wellness, we’re ensuring that we’re addressing mental health issues in every segment of the community, in every segment of the population, and ensuring that first responders are getting the help that they need regardless of where they are in the province.

One of the biggest investments made by this government is the centre of excellence that’s in the process of being built for first responders. It will act as a hub-and-spoke model to ensure that supports are provided to first responders, no matter where they are in the province, at the best and highest level possible.

In addition to that, our government is making investments in mobile crisis intervention teams to be able to provide additional supports to the people who are in greatest need, but working with the first responders—not just police officers, but with paramedics as well.

So as we build the system—the system that was for the longest time left unserved—we’re making the differences in building a system that’s going to be the best it can be for everyone in the province, including our—

I appreciate the question from the member from Kiiwetinoong. Last summer, I travelled up to Lac Seul First Nation in the member’s riding, and I saw first-hand exactly how important it is to have public safety in communities like Lac Seul. I want to give a special mention to Chief Bruno Rossi, who works hard every day to keep that community safe.

Mr. Speaker, the welfare of every person living safely in their communities, regardless of whether it’s in southern Ontario or northern Ontario or in First Nations communities, is equally important. Everyone keeping Ontario safe deserves to be safe themselves. Just in a couple of weeks, I will be at the Ontario Police College, where we welcome almost 500 new cadets to keep Ontario safe, including people serving our First Nations communities.

First responders, including police officers, across the north often work alone. They are the first ones who see accidents and tragedies when they happen, but they are not given the tools they need to process the traumatic events.

Speaker, will this government commit to increasing the mental health supports available to police and other first responders such as paramedics and firefighters serving in far northern Ontario?

Again, first responders in the north work with far fewer services than urban responders in urban areas. Even services like mental health services are extremely limited. Front-line responders like Jerry Moskotaywenene and Jack McKay have told us they aren’t getting the support they need when they’re experiencing vicarious trauma.

How does this government plan to ensure the complex mental health needs of police and front-line responders in the north are met?

Interjections.

We’re doing a lot to support our farmers, because, quite frankly, Jeff Harrison also went on to say, “It’s part of the added stress”—“it” being the carbon tax—“on farmers that they are expected to do the unachievable.”

But really and truly, farmers are part of the solution, Speaker. Through their crop rotations, cover crops and the embracing of best practices, grain farmers of Ontario are actually shipping almost 30% of all grains grown right here in Ontario around the world to 50 different countries. That matters. Then, there’s another significant percentage of their production that goes into baked goods right here in Ontario, which adds to jobs and again goes around the world in terms of satisfying demand for good produced food right here from Ontario.

But you know what, Speaker? The carbon tax alone is going to cause grain farmers of Ontario to pay—get this—almost $200 million in carbon tax alone this year. That’s why we’re introducing programs that understand the issue and—

Thank you to the minister for the response. It is disturbing to hear how the Liberal carbon tax is not only driving up the cost of business for Ontario’s farmers but causing them personal stress as well.

Speaker, unlike our government’s continued support of our agriculture and food industry, the opposition NDP and independent Liberals would rather support this costly and regressive tax. They are saying no to economic growth and prosperity and saying no to supporting farmers and Ontario businesses. That’s shameful. Ontarians have had enough. Scrap the tax.

Speaker, can the minister tell the House what our government is doing to help agriculture and food businesses compete in a global market despite the federal carbon tax?

I’m not sure if the member opposite was around for the budget, where we actually increased hospitals’ annual operating by an average of 4%—we’ve done that for two years running.

We have, in February, seen a historic investment in primary care expansion—78 new primary care or expanded opportunities for people to be connected to primary care physicians and clinicians in their community.

We are already seeing those investments making a difference in the lives of people who want to be connected.

I would encourage the member opposite to actually sit down with some of these hospital CEOs and leadership and find out what and how our government investments are making a difference on the ground—

The supplementary question?

The next question.

The supplementary question.

Well, not to put words in the mouth of the Premier, but the Premier would say, “No tax. For you, we are not going to be increasing taxes, and that includes a carbon tax.”

Our plan does not include a carbon tax. Our plan is called Powering Ontario’s Growth, and it builds on the strengths of our province’s energy sector. That includes refurbishing the clean, reliable, affordable power that comes from our nuclear plants at places like Bruce and at Darlington and at Pickering; building new nuclear technology, world-leading small modular reactors that are under way now at Darlington; as well, ensuring that we have clean hydroelectric power that’s affordable for the people by refurbishing the big dams and the small dams that we have across our province in places like Niagara Falls, in places like Cornwall, in places like northern Ontario, all across our province; and ensuring that we have just finished the biggest procurement of battery storage in Canada’s history.

Our grain farmers are here. They’ve talked about the impact that it’s having on grains that they produce for our baked goods and our spirits and all kinds of great stuff in our province, and it’s having an impact at the grocery stores.

But the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, and her Liberal caucus and the NDP and the Green Party as well, they’re all in support of an ever-increasing carbon tax every April 1. We’re not. We’re saying no to the carbon tax, first of all because it’s not working, and second of all because it’s driving up costs and making life more unaffordable for the people of Ontario.

We have a plan. It’s working. It’s called Powering Ontario’s Growth, bringing record multi-billion-dollar investment—

The member opposite from the Green Party wants to put wind turbines and solar panels all over the place. Let’s just look outside today. It’s raining cats and dogs out there, Mr. Speaker. We are getting 100 megawatts of solar today, and we’re getting about 1,300 megawatts of wind, of 5,000 megawatts of installed capacity. Can you imagine, under their plan, how many wind turbines and solar panels they would need that still wouldn’t be working today?

That’s why we’re investing in our nuclear power plants, emissions-free. We are getting almost 60% of our electricity from there today, and our hydroelectric facilities—

Interjections.

Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Energy. As the cost of living continues to rise, Ontarians cannot afford the costly federal carbon tax. But the federal Liberals do not care, and neither do the Ontario Liberals, under the carbon tax queen, Bonnie Crombie. They will push for more hikes until this tax gets tripled and even though Ontarians are paying the price for their unfair tax grabs.

Unlike the Liberals, our government understands the importance of building our clean energy advantage while keeping costs down for the hard-working people of this province.

Speaker, can the minister explain how our government is bringing Ontarians clean, affordable and reliable energy without introducing a carbon tax?

Rather than providing energy solutions, the federal Liberals have deliberately chosen not only to leave the carbon tax in place but to increase it even more despite the financial struggles Ontarians are experiencing. Ontarians deserve relief, not taxes. The simplest, fairest thing to do is to scrap the carbon tax for everyone, everywhere, for good.

Speaker, can the minister please tell this House why the people of this province cannot afford the punitive Liberal carbon tax?

My question is for the Premier. Extreme heat is already here. Fire season started early. Toxic air from fires last year cost our health care system $1.3 billion. Climate-fuelled extreme weather caused insurable losses of $3.1 billion last year alone. The cost of climate is rising rapidly, and Ontario has gone from first to worst when it comes to climate pollution. In fact, 60% of the increase in climate pollution in Canada came from Ontario, yet the Auditor General says this government has no plan.

Speaker, the people of Ontario want a credible climate plan. All I’m asking for today is a date: a date of when the government will deliver a credible climate plan to meet Ontario’s emission targets.

Let’s get to the facts. Here are the facts, Speaker: When this government came into office, our grid was 96% clean. Now it’s down to 87% clean. And under their plan, climate pollution in the electricity sector will rise 300% this decade and 700% in the next two decades, undermining all the progress we made closing coal plants. The government has no plan, and the plan that the minister just talked about is actually going to make climate pollution go up, at a time when we have tornado warnings in Ottawa, right now, today.

The cost of the climate crisis is going up and emissions are going up under this government. The people of Ontario have a simple question they want an answer to: When will the government bring forward a credible plan to meet Ontario’s emission targets?

Interjection.

Mr. Speaker, I just find it so ironic coming from that member that wants to defund the police, that marched in the parades to defund the police. If it was up to that member, you could break into a house, you could put a gun to someone’s head, you could steal something out from the store. She doesn’t believe they should even be in court. Everyone should get off, according to you—everyone. Give them a second chance after breaking into a home, terrorizing neighbourhoods. She doesn’t worry about the courts. She hates the police.

You know something? It’s just a bunch of you-know-what. I’ll leave it at that.

My question is to the Premier. Ontario’s justice system has made recent headlines for all the wrong reasons.

CityNews has broadcasted: “‘Stop with the Excuses:’ Emotional Appeals to Overhaul Court System Amid Growing Backlogs.”

Toronto Star prints: “Defence Lawyer for Accused in Terrorism Case Wants Charges Stayed Due to Court Delays.”

CBC reports: “Mould, Asbestos at Milton Courthouse Have Led to ‘Delays in Judicial Process’....”

Is the Premier actually proud of these headlines that his government has garnered?

The crisis goes beyond the courts. We see the crisis of mismanagement with the historic backlogs in tribunals. Tribunal Watch, which is an independent, non-partisan watchdog of tribunal systems in Ontario, has revealed in their annual report that the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s backlog grew by 500 cases, despite historically high rates of applications being dismissed without ever being heard or the fact that the complainants are now abandoning their applications due to record delays at the tribunals.

On top of these historic delays there, we’re seeing historic delays now also at the Landlord and Tenant Board, without any fixes in sight.

Yes or no: Is the Premier also proud of his record in the tribunals?

Thank you for the question. It gives me a chance to highlight some of the amazing things that we’re doing as a government, and things that only this government is prepared to do. At a time when the opposition is calling to defund the police, Mr. Speaker, we are supporting our front-line officers. We’re making sure that the justice system has the tools that it needs to work the way that Ontarians would expect. We are investing new money—millions of dollars, Mr. Speaker—in new systems, in staffing. In all areas of the justice system, we are getting the job done.

We’ve seen this type of act before in this Legislature. What the member of the Green Party is supporting is the Green Energy Act, which drove hundreds of thousands of jobs out of our province. And do you know what? It hasn’t just been Ontario’s experience. We’ve seen what’s happening in places like Germany. We’ve seen what’s happening in California, where they’ve gone down these roads. They don’t have power for the growth that we are experiencing in our province. We are guaranteeing that we will have the growth.

Now, the member talks about the fact that our emissions are going up. Do you know what? We are refurbishing our nuclear facilities right now. We have four reactors that are down. When they come back, we’re going to have more than enough power, as we continue to see investment in our province. We are also building out non-emitting resources, right across our province, because we’re putting the storage in place—something that the Liberals didn’t know enough to do. And we’re continuing to build out our hydroelectric fleets in places like Niagara Falls, in Cornwall, in Kakabeka Falls—

The great member from Scarborough Centre is absolutely right about the harmful impacts the carbon tax is having on our province’s small businesses. The tax is not only driving up fuel costs for transportation and deliveries, but it’s also increasing prices across the board for energy and goods and services that these entrepreneurs rely upon. Think of a family business in Milton, started by immigrants who came to this country seeking more opportunities for their families. Instead, thanks to the Liberals, their dream of entrepreneurship is now struggling under the weight of these surging operating expenses, brought on by the federal carbon tax.

Speaker, these businesses see Ontario’s PC government, led by Premier Ford, providing relief by cutting gas taxes and the small business corporate income tax rate. The choice was clear to Milton and Lambton–Kent–Middlesex entrepreneurs, because only our party—

Entrepreneurs in Milton, Lambton–Kent–Middlesex and right across Ontario all agree they want a government that fights for businesses, not against them.

Costly Crombie and her federal Liberals are piling on more costs through the carbon tax, but under this Premier, we—

This gives me a wonderful opportunity to talk about the scope-of-practice changes that we have started with nurses, with nurse practitioners and, of course, with pharmacists. Do you know, Speaker, that since we made changes to primary care allowing access for minor ailments in pharmacies, we’ve had over 700,000 Ontarians access that service? Minor ailments, where you don’t have to take a day off work, where you don’t have to go to the emergency department, you don’t have to book an appointment and take time off work—those are the changes that we are making through policy, through scope-of-practice changes that are truly making a difference in accessing primary care and accessing treatment in the province of Ontario.

Well, under Premier Ford, we have a very different approach. We are going to absolutely continue to work with our regulatory colleges to expand scope of practice, whether it’s for midwives—which we’ve done in the last number of months, and people are already seeing impacts when they have that young baby and they want to get their midwife to have the access. We will continue working with our colleges to make sure expanded scope of practice is absolutely one of the improvements that we are making in the province of Ontario.

And again I will say, 19 minor ailments—in just over a year and a half, and we have seen 700,000 Ontarians access that service. That’s the kind of improvements we will continue to make with our health care—

Ma question est pour la ministre de la Santé.

Since the government introduced new sources of profit for pharmacies, pharmacists at Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart are being directed by their corporations to perform unnecessary MedsCheck to drive profit up and up.

What has the government done to ensure that corporations like Loblaws, and Galen Weston are not abusing our publicly funded health care system?

Things are so bad that the Ontario College of Pharmacists did a survey. The survey said Shoppers and Loblaws drugstores are the two workplaces where most of the pressure happens. Pharmacists are being pressured to do more MedsCheck, cold-call MedsCheck, dispense naloxone, verification therapeutic checks. They’re pressured to do more ailment assessments but do them within a time limit. All of this generates more profit. All of this is against the position statement issued by the College of Pharmacists, putting pharmacists’ licences at risk, as well as patient care.

Is the government happy that Shoppers and Loblaws are raking in more profit at the taxpayers’ expense?