My question is for the Minister of Mines. In my riding of Brantford–Brant and across the province, families are feeling significant financial pressures due to the federal carbon tax. It is clear that the Liberal and NDP members in this House do not care how this costly tax impacts everyone in Ontario, especially in the north. They are shamefully choosing to ignore the concerns of people in their own ridings.

In contrast, our government is leaving no stone unturned to make life more affordable and to help keep costs down. But, Speaker, we cannot do it alone. The federal Liberals need to step up and do the right thing: abolish the tax.

Can the minister please tell this House why all members of the Legislature must push back against the federal carbon tax?

Life is already expensive for the hard-working individuals and families across our entire province. The very last thing they need to worry about is paying an ever-increasing Liberal carbon tax. Our government will continue to call for an end to this regressive vanity tax, attract more investments for our businesses and keep costs down for Ontarians, because we know that a better future is not created by hiking taxes.

Since the opposition is unable to understand this simple concept, can the minister please explain why the carbon tax hinders Ontario’s ability to grow? Thank you.

Back to the minister: I appreciate the agreement in this House on women in the trades, but we need a little less money to end bad contracts for beer and we need a little bit more money in the college system to make sure that a program as successful as this one continues.

This program, the hairstyling and aesthetics program, is so popular that in the last two weeks, when the program found out abruptly that their program would be suspended, they have a petition of over 5,000 signatures. There are students in this program, in businesses affiliated to this program, that literally—I tell this House sincerely—cut the Prime Minister of Canada’s hair; cut the federal Leader of the Opposition’s hair; that are active in our community. This is a success story. If we forward more money from Queen’s Park, we can save this program.

Again, plaintive appeal to the minister, because I know she cares about skilled trades and women in the trades: Can we commit today to Algonquin College that money will flow to save this program, yes or no?

Thank you to the member for that question. I want to remind the member that post-secondary institutions are autonomous institutions and make the decisions on programs for their own schools themselves. But I think what the member and I do both agree on is the importance of women in trades. Whether you are in hairstyling or you’re a construction worker, you’re a valued member of skilled trades.

I want to say I was recently in Indiana with the minister of small business and the Minister of Agriculture. I had the opportunity to be part of a round table on workforce development where I spoke about the importance of women in trades and some of the great programs that are happening here at Ontario’s colleges. Thank you to Conestoga College for creating the Jill of All Trades program, which works directly with high school and elementary students to ensure that we’re getting more women into the trades. So we’ll continue to work with the students. But I think I agree we value the importance of skilled trade workers. I will be continuing to work with the school.

But, as I spoke about the importance of trades and filling the gaps across this province in all areas of trades, I want to thank the Minister of Education for his work. Starting this fall, every student coming to grade 9 will complete two mandatory tech ed programs.

This will ensure that young women are having the opportunity to the use their hands in school to look at the trades, and the work is continuing to be done through my ministry, and the Ministry of Labour as well. We want to ensure that there are more opportunities for young women to enter the trades because, we can admit, we need trades workers in every area of this province, in all different areas.

We will continue to work with our amazing Colleges Ontario to ensure that we have the skilled trade workers for the future.

My question is for the Premier. Speaker, the provincial debt is higher than it has ever been, almost $100 billion in five years. We have historic deficits. Government spending? By all accounts, it’s out of control. Even the Premier’s office budget has more than doubled in five years. That gravy train? Well, it just keeps on rolling.

Meanwhile, the services that Ontario families depend on? Well, they’re failing, yet it’s this Premier’s newest priority to spend $1 billion to get beer and wine in corner stores a little more than a year earlier than planned.

I’m not exactly sure what planet the Premier thinks that this would all be okay on, so maybe the Premier could explain to us—Speaker, through you—who exactly benefits from his billion-dollar boozedoggle.

Meanwhile, 2.3 million Ontarians don’t have a family doctor and that number keeps going up. Emergency rooms are closing. Rural hospitals are closing down. Seniors are waiting and not getting the care they need to live in their own home. And every day—every day, Speaker—more and more Ontario families are having to use their credit card instead of their OHIP card to access basic care that they need.

Interjections.

Well, Mr. Speaker, let’s put this into context. When we came down here, we walked into a bankrupt company—that’s what I call it. Three hundred thousand jobs were lost. Taxes went up through the roof. They increased the debt by $100 billion alone.

What we’ve done is something that no other government has ever done that I could ever remember—federally, provincially, municipally. We increased revenues by $64 billion, but we’ve never raised a tax. We’ve never raised a tax on the backs of people. We’ve reduced the burden of tax on the backs of people.

We reduced the cost of doing business by $8 billion each and every single year. We’ve created the environment for 700,000 new people to be employed. We’ve seen $43 billion of investment in the EV sector, $20 billion in the tech sector and $3 billion in the life science sector. We created more jobs than all 50 US states combined last year. That’s what we’ve done.

But you’re okay with raising taxes. They’re okay with raising taxes. They don’t mind that. I’ve never seen a Liberal government, ever since I’ve been alive, that doesn’t believe in one thing: Tax the people to death. Tax businesses to death until they leave the province.

We don’t believe in taxation. We believe in growth through new revenues, new opportunities and more jobs. That’s what we believe in. We will never raise a tax on the backs of the people, unlike you.

My question is for the Minister of Energy. At a time when affordability is already top of mind for many Ontarians, the Liberal carbon tax is continuing to drive costs up and up and up. And it’s not just energy costs, Speaker. The cost of food, housing and much more are all being pushed up higher by this terrible tax. That’s why it should be a given that all members in this Legislature oppose this tax. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Rather than joining our government in calling for an end to the carbon tax, the NDP and the Liberals want to see this tax tripled by 2030.

Speaker, could the minister please explain what steps our government is taking to support our clean energy future without resorting to a carbon tax?

Thank you. Next question? The member for Ottawa West–Nepean.

Speaker, thank you again to the member for the question. The mining industry is driving a major economic shift to EVs, the likes of which we have not seen since the oil boom at the turn of the last century.

BNN reported that the world is going to need to mine five times more copper than we have ever mined in history in the next 30 years, and 20 times more nickel. This will be a monumental effort, but it is also a generational opportunity to reshape our economy and create thousands of new jobs for the next generation.

Yet, the Liberals and NDP seem to be actively chasing away companies and major investments with the terrible taxes and tone-deaf statements like, “We don’t need more roads.” Well, Speaker, I’ve got news for them: Continue down this road and you will destroy not only the jobs and opportunities today, but also the hopes and dreams of the next generation.

It’s long past for the NDP and Liberals in this House to stand with us and tell their buddies in Ottawa to stop taxing the people into poverty and chasing away life-changing business opportunities—

Thank you to the minister for that response.

We hear it time and time again: The Liberal carbon tax only hurts Ontario families. As people in our province continue to struggle with high interest rates and rising cost of living, all governments should be putting forward measures that provide financial relief for individuals and families. Instead, the federal Liberals, supported by their provincial counterparts, are choosing to drive up the prices of day-to-day essentials like gas in the tank and groceries.

Speaker, Ontarians have had enough. They want to see this tax scrapped. Could the minister please explain to the House why this federal government must end the carbon tax today?

The supplementary question.

Supplementary?

The Eglinton Crosstown was supposed to be completed by 2021. It’s now 2024. This project has no end date in sight and is costing Ontario taxpayers billions of dollars in cost overruns.

Will the government tell us when the Eglinton Crosstown will finally be open for service, or just admit that they have no idea when and how much more we have to pay?

It’s impossible to get real answers on the Eglinton Crosstown. That’s because this government and its transit agency are actually spending thousands and thousands of dollars on lawyers to hide information from the public. Will the government finally come clean and tell us just what they are hiding and how much the costs have ballooned under their mismanagement?

Thank you very much to the member for that question. We’re embarking upon the largest expansion in public transit in all of North America, and we’ll continue to do so. The Eglinton Crosstown project—we’re all frustrated by it, but we know that construction is complete on it and we are now in testing mode.

If it was up to the NDP, they wouldn’t want any of these projects to be built. They actually voted against the Eglinton Crosstown West extension. They voted against the Ontario Line. They don’t support our investments in public transit, where we’ve brought forward measures on affordability—$1,600 saved by transit users each year in the GTA and across.

We’re going to continue to invest in public transit. We’re going to continue to build and get shovels in the ground, like the Ontario Line and the Scarborough subway extension.

Let’s talk about those opportunities that the NDP have had to support important projects, like the Eglinton Crosstown West extension that’s going to put over 26,000 people within walking distance of public transit; the Ontario Line—40,000 people every single day. And these members, the NDP, are voting against that, not supporting that. The Liberals as well: For 15 years, they did absolutely nothing to build transit in this province. They voted against every one of our measures as we support public transit in this province.

Under the leadership of Premier Ford, we’re embarking upon the largest expansion of public transit in all of North America.

Supplementary.

Thanks to the member from Markham–Unionville for the question this morning.

There’s no question about it; the carbon tax is impacting the cost of anything that gets delivered. Anything that comes from our farmers is going up in price. Groceries; household goods; the price at the pumps, obviously; home heating—it’s all going up. It’s all making life more expensive. So it’s unreal to hear this phony outrage that comes from the opposition parties, or phony concern, when it comes to the cost-of-living crisis, when they support this punitive carbon tax that’s coming from Justin Trudeau and the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie.

Madam Speaker, we have a plan called Powering Ontario’s Growth. It’s a plan that’s ensuring we continue to grow the economy, like the Premier was just talking about. Multi-billion-dollar investments from Windsor all the way to Ottawa and north into Sault Ste. Marie and far beyond, as we develop the Ring of Fire—there’s so much happening in Ontario.

We don’t need this punitive carbon tax.

That’s why we’ve taken a different route, bringing in One Fare so transit riders can save up to $1,600 a year, cutting the price at the pumps by 10.7 cents a litre on the Ontario gas tax, making sure we’re eliminating the licence plate sticker fees, and so much more.

We also have this plan called Powering Ontario’s Growth, which is ensuring that we’re getting competitive investment in new generation in our province, unlike what the Liberals did previously with the very costly, punitive Green Energy Act. It drove up the price of energy in our province, making 300,000 manufacturing jobs leave for other jurisdictions. We’re not doing that. We’re lowering taxes. As a result, we’ve seen jobs roar back into Ontario—700,000 new jobs.

Let’s scrap this tax today.

My question is for the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development. The Liberal carbon tax is exacerbating the financial pressures many people in Ontario are currently facing, and I hear it every day in my riding of Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry.

During a time of a rising cost of living and high interest rates, the federal Liberals decided to hike the carbon tax by another 23%. This punitive tax is making everything more expensive for everyone in Ontario, especially in the north, in cities like Thunder Bay.

While carbon tax queen Bonnie Crombie and her minivan caucus continue to work against us, we will not let that deter us from getting it done for the people of Ontario. It is time to scrap the carbon tax now.

Speaker, can the minister please explain why the people of Ontario cannot afford this Liberal tax grab?

Speaker, ignoring the detrimental effects the carbon tax has on northern Ontario is disrespectful to every person living in the north. The NDP and Liberals need to do better. They should join our government in calling on the federal government to eliminate this tax and put more money back in the people’s pockets.

Speaker, can the minister tell the House what the people of Ontario have to say about this regressive and unnecessary tax?

I want to thank the member for Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry. He’s an outstanding member of provincial Parliament. He’s doing a great job as the parliamentary assistant to the health, and it’s his birthday today.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, I don’t have the present that he’s looking for, and that’s a pause on the carbon tax. The official opposition in Ottawa have finally caught on to the concept, since that’s what we’ve been doing now for a year or two: giving people relief at the pumps, giving northerners relief as we ship expensive cargo into isolated and remote communities.

I was in Sault Ste. Marie up to Wawa last week, and all I heard were people talking about how much more expensive it is to live. As people try to build new buildings in various communities along that beautiful stretch of highway, it was one thing: It was the cost and the impact the tax is having on it. The message—

As time has worn on, it seems like there might be a different way to do it. Now we’re seeing a complete ablution from all of the folks that used to support the carbon tax—so the Mark Carneys, the Jagmeet Singhs: gone. They’ve washed their hands of this expensive tax because they know consumers are paying more. They can’t afford it, and neither can northerners. They’re no exception, Mr. Speaker. They have one message: Scrap the tax.

My question is to the Premier. When a doctor tells you that you have to have surgery, you expect to have surgery, heal and not worry about the bill. That’s the health care that Ontarians deserve and expect, but that’s not what happened for Teresa in Oshawa. She went to her doctor, got a referral and had necessary surgery a few days ago at a cost of $3,600.

This surgery should have been covered with her OHIP card, but she paid with her credit card. Minister, what is happening in Ontario that seniors are being asked to pay for doctor-ordered necessary surgery?

Members will please take their seats.

The Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.

I recognize the member for Mississauga Centre and the parliamentary—

Interjection.

The next question.

There is absolutely no doubt that we rely on and we include caregivers in all of our decisions when we are enhancing and improving the health care system here in Ontario.

I think of my own family, where we had people who were prepared to be part of a health care solution, working with clinicians, working with primary care physicians, working with PSWs to make sure that the care was being provided in community. It is exactly, frankly, why we have enhanced PSW and community care in our last provincial government, because we know how important it is to ensure the people who are able to stay in their own homes have that surrounding care that is so important, whether it comes from professionals like PSWs or, indeed, family and community members. We’ll continue to do that job.