Thank you to the minister for his response. The carbon tax is failing on all fronts, except driving up the cost of basic necessities. The federal Liberals can reduce the cost of food today for children, for seniors and for everyone who is going hungry by eliminating this punitive tax. But unfortunately, it seems they’re all willing to let Ontario suffer under this carbon tax.

The Liberal and NDP members sitting in this House are content to see the carbon tax triple—triple—by 2030. This is unacceptable, and this Premier and our government will continue to fight this punitive tax.

Minister, can you tell this House why the members opposite must come to their senses and join our government in fighting this carbon tax?

Interjection.

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—

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 great Associate Minister of Small Business. The federal government’s carbon tax continues to make life more expensive for Ontarians. Small business owners across our province cannot afford the high prices of essential goods and services driven by this punitive tax. Unfortunately, the NDP and the Liberal members in the Legislature are ignoring the devastating impact of the carbon tax on our job creators. Their silence is a shocking endorsement of higher prices and more tax.

Unlike the opposition, our government is taking action to support Ontario’s hard-working business owners during these difficult economic times. Can the associate minister tell the House how the carbon tax compounds the financial pressure on Ontario’s small business?

It is not fair that the federal Liberals continue to punish Ontarians with tax hike after tax hike. Can the associate minister explain what our government is doing to support these vital job creators and offset the damage caused by the Liberal carbon tax supported by Bonnie Crombie?

My question is for the Solicitor General. From groceries to gas, the Liberal carbon tax is making life more expensive for everyone in our province. People in my riding of Newmarket–Aurora have told me that they are concerned about the impact that this tax is having on our public safety system. They want to make sure that our first responders in Ontario have the tools and resources that they need to keep our communities safe.

Speaker, under Premier Ford’s leadership, our government is fighting back against crime and building safer communities, but we need all governments to do their part. The federal Liberals and their provincial counterparts need to listen to what we have been saying since day one, and that is, scrap this tax.

Speaker, can the Solicitor General tell the House how the carbon tax is negatively affecting Ontario’s—

Thank you to the Solicitor General for the response. It is alarming to hear how the carbon tax is negatively affecting our public safety system. While our government remains focused on delivering solutions to keep Ontarians safe, the opposition NDP and independent Liberals continue to support a tax that puts a strain on resources for our first responders.

Speaker, I think it is interesting that the former mayor of Mississauga, Bonnie Crombie, who would have approved the budget for her municipal fire department and understood the implications that this punitive tax was having on the budget of her emergency response system—but now, today, as the leader of the independent Liberals, she is supporting the federal government and tripling this tax by 2030.

Speaker, can the—

I have a petition here: “Time Ontario Provides Relief to Families From Federal Carbon Tax.” It talks about the fact that the government of Saskatchewan has removed the federal carbon tax from home heating, natural gas and electricity, which results in savings for the majority of Saskatchewan families left out of the federal government’s three-year pause of carbon tax on home heating oil. So the petition is asking the Legislative Assembly to follow Saskatchewan’s lead and remove the carbon tax from natural gas, propane and electric heat for the next three years.

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature to it and send it to the table with page Grace.