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—

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?

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—