Thank you to the great member from Brampton West for his advocacy towards small businesses in his riding.

The manufacturing industry is the cornerstone of our provincial economy, providing well-paying jobs and driving innovation across a wide range of sectors. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that the opposition Liberals and NDP have turned a blind eye to the devastating consequences their beloved carbon tax is inflicting on these small businesses; after all, they chased away companies and lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs.

With the soaring cost of powering their factories and operating machinery to the increased expenses of transporting finished goods, the carbon tax has placed an unbearable financial burden on small manufacturers. In the automotive sector, they’re telling me that if the carbon tax keeps increasing, fewer cars will be sold or repaired and they will ultimately cut staff.

While the opposition seems content to let these vital job creators fail, our government will continue to fiercely oppose the regressive tax that’s crippling—

Unlike Bonnie Crombie and the carbon tax caucus, we believe we owe it to the tens of thousands of Ontarians whose livelihoods depend on this sector to be their fiercest advocate in this House. I call on the Liberals and NDP to scrap—