It’s now time for questions. Questions? Questions? Further debate?

I’ll be sharing my time with the members from Waterloo and Parkdale–High Park.

Speaker, I stand before you today with vigorous and urgent support of the legislation that stands before us. In fact, it is so urgent, what you will see today demonstrates what is possible when all of us stand united on an issue, and the issue today is one that is definitely warranted. It is us standing united against fraud, against those who take advantage of the most vulnerable amongst us.

I commend the government, because many times I’ve risen in this House, criticizing them on who they get their advice from—not today. Today, they have listened to the many people out there affected: consumers, lawyers fighting for those consumers, the police, countless Ontarians. You heard the facts: over 300,000 liens placed against properties, over a billion dollars tied up, creating nightmares—nightmares for families, nightmares for individuals. That is why we in the opposition will do everything we can to move this through as fast as possible, because people don’t have a single day more.

What we are looking at as we face this summer, day after day, with these bad actors going to people’s homes, taking advantage of our elderly, taking advantage of our parents, of our grandparents—in fact, it has been so heinous that when they find people that they can take advantage of, some of these bad actors will call their friends and other friends and other friends.

I have seen videos shown to me where individuals were mocking—were in the homes of people facing cognitive decline and mocking them in their living rooms as they took advantage of them. Unbelievable. What we are doing today is taking the money out of their hands, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do with this legislation.

Speaker, I’m going to share with you some excerpts from consumers, law enforcement, lawyers, legal aid clinics and many of those who have been in the trenches, either suffering fighting this or fighting on behalf of those affected. I again applaud the government because this is something that the New Democrats have been fighting for for years: consumer protection, fighting against scams, fighting against abuse.

I will be speaking to the consumer protection aspects of the bill, and before I get into NOSIs—these types of liens which, by the sound of the word, seem innocuous, and I tell you, it is nothing but damaging to families.

The other part of the bill does deal with the cooling-off period with regard to freehold homes. Again, I agree with the government in moving forward, because this was an amendment to the CPA we brought forth last fall. They did say at the time that the amendments we put forward were worth consideration, and today, they are taking our advice on this and I appreciate that.

Furthermore, with regard to the NOSIs themselves, I want to commend the member from London North Centre, the member from Waterloo, the member from Parkdale–High Park. I was proud to be co-sponsor in a bill that was tabled in March of this year calling just for this, the ban of notices of security interest in Ontario, both for the future and retroactively. That’s what we are doing, all of us together today, with great urgency.

I will now read to you a number of excerpts from those affected. I would like to begin with London Police Service:

“A London man is facing charges in relation to a lengthy investigation that was reported in the summer of 2023.

“In August of 2023, members of the London Police Service Financial Crime Unit were made aware of an alleged fraud that had taken place between July and December of 2021.

“Investigators learned an elderly victim was approached by a door-to-door salesperson and signed contracts to have various products installed inside the victim’s residence in the west end of the city. The items, including attic insulation, a water filter and water softener were sold through a signed contract to which the victim agreed to pay monthly bills for a lengthy period.

“After the products were installed, liens or ‘notice of security interest’ (NOSIs) were secured against the victim’s property without the victim’s knowledge.

“In March of 2022, the suspect male attended the victim’s address and advised the victim that he could assist with dealing with the aforementioned contracts and debts that were owed. The suspect provided advice in relation to how the victim could acquire a private mortgage to pay for the previous home renovations. The suspect filled out a mortgage application, which was signed by the victim, resulting in the issuance of a high-interest private mortgage in the name of the victim.”

And this is what the minister, in fact, and others here have alluded to. This is what law enforcement have been warning us, that these NOSIs were a gateway into schemes that would rob people of their homes.

“After the mortgage was obtained, the suspect convinced the victim that he could assist with additional renovations to the home at significant cost to the victim. It is further believed that the total amounts paid exceeded the cost of the work completed.

“Shortly after the payment was made relating to the renovations, the suspect male convinced the victim to apply for a reverse mortgage to pay back the private loan originally obtained. The reverse mortgage salesperson became concerned and contacted the London Police Service to investigate.”

Thank you, London police. Thank you for your advocacy and for standing up for people in the province of Ontario.

The name Adam Stover was mentioned, and he deserves a lot of praise. He was one of many officers in this province fighting, bringing this issue here to this House, talking to the politicians. In fact, he sat in my very office months ago himself. Here’s what he said, in excerpt:

“NOSIs have evolved into a tool used by organized crime in conjunction with predatory private lending to steal victims’ life savings and even homes....

“The removal of NOSIs eliminates the predators and saves likely over a billion dollars that is currently sitting on victims’ home titles waiting to be cashed in by predators by way of liquidation through the sale of the home and/or refinancing”—again, remortgaging-the-home schemes.

“The introduction of this legislation is a significant step. I look forward to all-party support”—and he has that—“to have this bill moved swiftly through the process. The expediting of this bill is imperative as, until that time comes, Ontarians will continue to be vulnerable to the current power of NOSIs and their predatory use.

“On behalf of the victims and those who speak on their behalf, we are hopeful that the removal of commercial NOSIs will put an end to this devastating fraud.”

Thank you to Detective Adam Stover and the Waterloo Regional Police Service.

Now I’m going to talk to you about a couple of consumers, many of the thousands affected across this province. Linda Palmieri, who stood with us here in the press galleries to talk about what has happened to her very own family: “In 2015,” she said, “my in-laws were manipulated into a small appliance sale; that they assumed was with a reputable company and told, under ‘government recommendation.’

“The sale from that initial contract in which a NOSI clause was included in the very fine print of the contract, put them onto a fraud list in which their names and identities were trafficked, swapped and sold to other fraudulent companies who over the span of six years repeatedly came back to their home and manipulated them into more fraudulent contract sales.” Seniors—seniors.

“They’ve had no recourse to fight it or have anyone protect them. Until now. While my in-laws do appreciate that the official opposition is finally addressing this urgent issue ... these are innocent”—this was at the time when we had tabled our bill; we are all united today—“proud people and there are thousands and thousands of them in Ontario and they need the government’s immediate help.

“End NOSIs now, retrofit the contracts and quickly, so that these companies do not rush the liens of the homes they have access to whilst the government spends precious time on passing this law. Please, we are counting on you.”

That’s what we are doing here today: moving it through.

“Please protect my in-laws and other victims of this crime and pass the legislation to ban NOSIs in Ontario for good and amend the legislation to wipe them from the books completely—and please pass it fast. Time is of the essence.”

Celia Bowker—she bought a home from a builder who originally signed a contract with a company and left her with no idea of the terms of the rental agreement. When it came to resell her home, monies were held back at the time of the closing, and to date, these monies—totalling $32,000—again are being held back due to vexatious NOSIs.

She says, “Thank you so much for your work on behalf of those of us who have been held hostage by this crooked company. I must add that the land registry’s office ... failed to check that supporting paperwork for liens was present or valid and that they failed to notify people when a lien was placed on their home. I see the LRO’s role in this problem has allowed the company to exploit people.”

One of the problems is that when these liens are passed, they’re not passed—anyway, they are fraudulent as they stand before us, but they’re not even happening with the knowledge of the victims. Victims don’t know.

I had a town hall that I did a couple of months ago. We talked about auto theft and we talked about NOSIs, and when I told people about NOSIs, the vast majority of the over 100 people that were there did not even know what they were. When they found out what they were, they wanted it dealt with immediately, and that’s what we’re doing today.

Now I want to talk to you about some of the legal aid clinics and legal aid services. We already heard about ACE, the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly. What they are is a specialty legal clinic established to provide a range of legal services to low-income seniors in Ontario, and they have been dealing for years with this issue. They came out, stood with us at our presser here, calling for the ban on NOSIs. They came out to our town hall to talk to people about how they could have them discharged and how to fight them.

They said, “On average, ACE receives more than 4,000 client intake inquiries a year. Many of these calls are reports of complaints due to unfair practices contrary to the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 ... many including door-to-door salespeople taking advantage of particularly vulnerable homeowners who have issues with vision, hearing, cognition and/or literacy, and/or for whom English is not their primary language.

“The Advocacy Centre for the Elderly ... welcomes and supports the introduction of” the bill, “An Act to provide for the development and implementation of a plan to establish a consumer watchdog organization,” which is something that we had tabled as well, and they are calling for the immediate passage of Bill 200, the Homeowner Protection Act, 2024—what we are debating today.

“Older adult homeowners continue to be victimized by the unlawful and unscrupulous use of NOSIs. Unethical lenders and home service companies are aggressively pursuing older adult homeowners with lawsuits leveraged by the registration of grossly inflated NOSIs against titles to their homes. Day after day, ACE continues to hear from older adults harassed and threatened by these actions. In many cases, vulnerable older adult homeowners are not able to withstand the stress of harassment for these exaggerated and unlawful claims. Sometimes, they pay out the claims believing they have no other alternative. In other cases, they cannot pay out the claims and live in fear of the loss of their homes. The Homeowner Protection Act is urgently needed to protect the rights of vulnerable older adult homeowners. Vulnerable older adult homeowners immediately need the retroactive abolition of NOSIs that the Homeowner Protection Act would provide,” which is what we are doing today.

Jamie Hildebrand, executive director and staff lawyer at the Huron Perth Community Legal Clinic:

“The notice of security interest has been a tool deployed by predatory ‘lenders’ to wrongly exploit the vulnerable consumer.

“Our clients typically do not have the financial resources to fight these notices, as a lawsuit and a qualified lawyer are the only way to do so.

“These notices need to be abolished immediately, and in the interim anyone affected by such a notice should be informed by the province immediately at no cost.

“The cascade of unfortunate financial consequences of such a notice to a person of modest means is fast and furious, potentially rendering them homeless.”

We heard from the minister how, when this tool came into effect decades ago, there were 400 registered a year and now 58,000.

More, from other forms of legal aid, Pro Bono Ontario: “NOSIs are most often used as a method to extract unconscionable payments from vulnerable consumers in exchange for a discharge.

“Discovering a NOSI on title can generate significant stress.

“Consumers are left with either paying significant sums to obtain clear title or having to initiate court proceedings to enforce their rights under the Consumer Protection Act.”

We thank all of the legal aid clinics that have been fighting in the trenches to help those affected by these scams.

Here’s a name that people of this House know well, Tim Hudak—in fact, former Conservative leader, CEO of OREA at the time and, in fact, who was the minister that moved the old Consumer Protection Act. He came out swinging in saying we need a ban on NOSIs.

This is what OREA said and what he said: “Too many Ontarians, when selling their home, have been surprised by one or more NOSIs—fine print in contracts that include exorbitant buyout charges that must be paid out before the home can be sold. This only adds undue financial burden and stress to the largest transaction many Ontarians make in their lives”—and that is the purchase of a home.

“Banning NOSIs is just one more step in the right direction to protect consumers and deliver fairness in Ontario’s real estate landscape.”

As we said, most people don’t know they have these liens registered against their properties. When do they find out? When they’re remortgaging their home, when they’re selling their home, when they’re buying a home. That’s when it’s discovered, and that’s why OREA took a position on behalf of all realtors in Ontario who are fighting on behalf of their clients to ban NOSIs.

Now, I’m going to talk to you about a number of lawyers who have been fighting this, fighting for their clients.

Dave Deonarain, lawyer, had this to say when we tabled our bill at the time, Bill 169, which would do the very same, banning NOSIs retroactively and for the future: “Upon my review of Bill 169—I think the ban of NOSIs is essential to protect Ontarians and” this is the “only proper solution to address this total mess created by these HVAC companies. Nothing else will work to address the problem.

“I compliment the MPPs that have come up with such a strong strategy to finally deal with a situation that has caused so much financial damage to many Ontarians for far too long.

“Ultimately, to address the problem, an outright ban of future NOSIs and full removal of any NOSI from the title of any and all titles across Ontario will be exactly what is needed. There is no middle ground.”

Lawyer Mohsen Seddigh, a lawyer who has represented numerous consumers affected by NOSIs—and so he’s in fact advancing a class action in this respect and stated, “I applaud the political consensus that has emerged with respect to the scourge of NOSIs and their traumatic impact on the most vulnerable in our society, especially the elderly.”

Emma Michael, partner at Aion Law: “Between the exorbitant cost of buying the rental equipment out to remove a NOSI, which is almost always well above the value of the equipment, and the additional legal fees incurred on every real estate transaction involving a NOSI, property owners are taking the hit in favour of these companies.

“To address these issues for homeowners would be a step forward in protecting Canadians and their most treasured, largest and most treasured asset—their home.”

Matthew Langer, another lawyer, who has written blog articles on the subject of NOSIs, said: “More problematically than not knowing what HVAC stands for, thousands of Ontario consumers don’t know that they are renting HVAC equipment on lengthy agreements that have been found by Ontario courts in some instances to be unenforceable. These HVAC agreements can seem like small monthly payments, but there can be clauses ... that include a term ... of 10 years and allow for the HVAC companies and other affiliated financial companies to place liens on the” consumers’ homes.

“The amount of the lien can be variable as there is no clear formula in the HVAC rental agreement but it usually is equivalent to the full amount owing for the entire duration of HVAC agreement. If the Ontario consumer has more than one piece of HVAC equipment, they will have multiple liens on their property.”

And finally, I’m going to read from Greg Weedon. Here is a lawyer, here is a voice for a long time who has been fighting to end and ban NOSIs. I recognize him, and I thank him. He has sent multiple letters to both myself and to the members of provincial Parliament here at Queen’s Park. He has amassed 750 signatures from real estate lawyers and realtor registrants.

Here is an excerpt from their open letter submitted last month: “We are Ontario real estate agents, brokers and registrants writing on behalf of thousands of Ontario homeowners who are dealing with the very real threat of losing their homes....

“The registration of notices of security interest ... or lodgements against title ownership of vulnerable homeowners in Ontario, often in respect of unwanted and overpriced home services and equipment, has escalated to the point where it is openly and brazenly being abused.

“The victims of these predatory practices are elderly homeowners who are socially isolated with limited financial means, deliberately targeted due to their social and demographic profile. There is an enormous burden on homeowners since mortgage lenders and purchasers require NOSIs and lodgements to be removed from title before completing a transaction.

“The properties are effectively held hostage and the victims are forced or extorted to pay the amount the registrant claims to be owing, regardless of whether that sum is legitimate or not. This system is broken. There is no other adequate solution other than a complete prohibition of NOSIs for all residential ownership”—again, what we are doing here today together.

“We demand that this government not only prohibit NOSIs and lodgements going forward, but move to immediately delete, vacate and abolish NOSIs and lodgements from residential properties retroactively.”

Just yesterday, Mr. Weedon submitted another letter in support of taking swift action. He wrote:

“I write this letter to urge multi-party co-operation in passing Bill 200 prior to adjourning the Ontario Legislature in June. The consequences of announcing this bill and then waiting nearly five (5) months to enact same will be devastating. Lawyers are already witnessing these consequences at this given time. We understand that the parties are unified in efforts to protect homeowners and the elderly; we simply ask that these Ontarians are prioritized now.

“I write on behalf of fellow members of the Ontario real estate bar as experts in our field, and on behalf of hundreds of clients who continue to deal with a threat to their most important asset that they never saw coming. On behalf of these victims and the countless Ontarians set to benefit from this charge, a heartfelt thank you is in order.

“I have personally advocated for nearly 100 families impacted by these predatory schemes over the past 24 months. While we applaud the steps taken to resolve these issues, we cannot stress the urgency and importance of moving this bill through the legislative system without further delay. We have collectively witnessed thousands of distressed homeowners who have less than a week to clear thousands of dollars in NOSIs, failing which, these homeowners risk a failed refinancing or a lawsuit stemming from an aborted closing.

“The proposed legislation has caused uncertainty as to whether NOSIs need to be discharged and the degree of leverage these bad actors continue to maintain. These concerns are shared across the entire real estate legal bar. We personally have between 20 and 30 clients who are embroiled in expensive litigation proceedings pertaining to NOSIs; these homeowners have no practical means to refinance, sell or utilize the equity in their homes at this time.

“These homeowners remain a small sample size of those affected by the predatory scheme. These homeowners need urgent representation and demand timely action. We plead for the parties to work collaboratively and in unison to pass this bill and right the wrong that has plagued Ontarians for far too long.

“Thank you very much,

“Greg Weedon.”

So there you have it: the case put before us all by consumers, by the police, law enforcement agencies, lawyers, legal aid clinics. This matter is costing Ontarians over $1 billion of vexatious liens placed against properties, and they end today. They end today because we are working as one. I am proud to stand here as an MPP in this House today. I congratulate the minister. We have talked about this for some time now, and I know these liens bother him as much as they bother me, as much as they bother the official opposition, as much as they bother every member in this House.

Because of this, I am sharing my time and our lead with two members, and we will be putting forth no more speakers on this, in the urgency. But every member in the official opposition is standing united, standing with strength and is calling to an end and a ban on NOSIs today and forever.

Further debate?

Before I begin, I just want to acknowledge that we have so many students joining watching debate. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

It is always an honour to rise and speak on behalf of the residents of Parkdale–High Park, and today to speak to Bill 200, the Homeowner Protection Act. This bill puts an end to predatory scams through the use of notices of security interest, NOSIs, after installing and financing consumer goods like water heaters, furnaces, AC units and even home automation devices.

These scams have become all too common in our province and they have persisted for many, many years. These unethical companies have used NOSIs because the government of the day turned a blind eye.

What is particularly vile is that these scammers target and victimize some of the most vulnerable members of our community, such as seniors and newcomers. A constituent, an attorney from my riding, wrote to me saying that most people are “never aware of the regulations until the time comes to sell or finance the home, when they are suddenly on the hook for thousands of dollars. Some are seniors who have been ... criminally scammed.”

That’s the other aspect of this scam that is so vile: that it is done without the homeowner’s knowledge, and it becomes a lien against somebody’s property title. Then, the companies, these scammers, get to pocket a chunk of somebody’s property value for years and years. In fact, people become aware of these scams, these liens, only when it’s time for them to move or sell or refinance their home.

At a press conference that I was part of, we heard a story of a senior couple who were scammed into purchasing a furnace and air conditioner unit in 2015 and a NOSI clause was included in the fine print. They had 12 liens on their home, a home that they spent their lives paying for. Now, these scammers were trying to steal this couple’s home for themselves.

That was the press conference when we in the official opposition announced our bill, Bill 169, Removing Red Tape for Homeowners, to end the disgraceful practice by banning NOSIs and making it easier for existing ones to be removed.

The government responded quickly, announcing the very next day that they agreed with us, and they would move to ban NOSIs. Their swift action shows that this is necessary and urgent legislation, and there is agreement across party lines that it needs to be implemented immediately.

Governments promise action all the time, but often never follow through or drag their feet. But this time—to the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery’s credit—he did follow through on his commitment to bring in legislation before spring, and here we are. It’s an example of how we can work together. When we do, it’s Ontarians who benefit.

Speaker, I am pleased to support this legislation to ban predatory NOSIs and protect Ontarian homeowners.

Further debate?

I do appreciate these moments when we can share, all working together, with one goal in mind—and that goal is protecting the vulnerable in our community from fraud and bad actors who are there to steal, basically.

I want to thank my neighbour the MPP from Cambridge, who put forward a PMB a while back. I know my friend from Cambridge has moved the needle very much today, and I appreciate his trail-blazing work on this file. I want to thank the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery, as well, for making sure that we can get this work done as soon as possible so that people can start seeing relief now. I have stories from my riding where people’s lives are put on hold or the harm is happening day to day, moment to moment, and so I’m glad we could expedite this work.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also thank Detective Adam Stover. He’s a member of our Waterloo Regional Police Service. I had the good fortune of talking with him when our police service came to Toronto and came to Queen’s Park to describe what was happening in our community. He took an amazing lead. He has been an expert in the field. I’ve had the privilege of being able to refer constituents in my riding who have been facing this to him to get expert advice and help with their issues, and he has been at the forefront of making sure that this gets resolved as soon as possible. So I want to give a deep bow to our police service, and especially Detective Adam Stover for his great work and advocacy.

Notice of security interests—the fact that we are all learning what this means right now shows how vulnerable our population is. So many folks across our province have no idea what’s happening when they’re being scammed day to day through these complicated contracts—people coming to fix a bathroom or sell them a heater or an air conditioner—and getting charged triple, quadruple and amounts they’re not even aware of. There is a total lack of informed consent, and the way this has opened the floodgates to organized crime is astounding. So I really appreciate that this silent crisis is getting addressed quickly, especially given the circumstances of us facing an aging population.

Just last week, I spoke to a resident in my riding whose mother has had NOSIs put on her property. She’s living with Alzheimer’s. It was her dying wish to age in place, but because she lives with dementia, she is vulnerable to folks coming to her door. Her data was sold. So not only was the NOSI put on her property, but her data was sold, and the PSW told the constituent in my riding that a cab had been sent to her home four times to take her mother to the bank. The only reason she wasn’t swindled out of any money in her bank account was because she didn’t remember to bring her social insurance number. So I don’t think that we’re just saving folks from the harm caused by NOSIs; we’re saving this data from organized crime, being used in other malicious ways. I know that our constituent will breathe a sigh of relief. Her mother is in long-term care now, and she really wants to do the work of selling the house, but she needs this resolved in order to move on with the sale of her mother’s home and so that her mother can keep the money she has worked for her whole life.

I also appreciate the work done to delay—the heritage buildings being recognized. I know our heritage community and the architectural conservancy was very loud in their advocacy for asking about that. I want to acknowledge my constituent Kae Elgie for her work in this matter—and a lot of the other protections for people buying their homes that are afforded to those who have condos. I’m so grateful that we can include some of these items to make sure people have peace of mind when they buy their first home.

I’m grateful today that we can all come together and we can create protections for people, especially our most vulnerable, in terms of home ownership. I hope we can go that extra mile in the coming years to protect seniors from renoviction. I know in my riding and in many of our ridings, seniors are being renovicted at double the rate and they’re losing their rental homes. So I hope we can protect people’s home ownership and we’ll keep working towards protecting tenants from being illegally evicted by bad actors in that space, as well.

I am looking forward to voting in unanimity together for this wonderful bill.

I would like to say in the House, and this is probably the first time in almost six years, I am very happy that this government bill has been called to the House. I’m very grateful that the government has moved so quickly on addressing NOSIs. And I particularly would like to thank the government and Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery for taking action on this extremely important issue.

I’d also like to thank, of course, the member from London North Centre and the member from Parkdale–High Park and, of course, the very passionate member on this issue from Humber River–Black Creek. I was pleased to join them as co-sponsors on Bill 169 to address these predatory practices in Ontario.

Some background on this bill—because my parents just tuned in—we have been hearing a lot about notices of security interest, or NOSIs, that are placed on properties, resulting in many senior victims. It’s a relatively common interaction: Typically, an illegitimate company shows up at a homeowner’s door offering to sell or rent HVAC appliances, and there is a debt or a lien placed on the home that must be repaid upon the sale or refinancing. Some of these videos that have been published about this issue are truly, absolutely heartbreaking. Many seniors find themselves victims on this.

A simple unit which costs hundreds of dollars becomes tens of thousands of dollars in many of these cases. Worse yet, homeowners don’t even find out about the NOSIs until they refinance or sell. Homeowners, especially senior homeowners, deserve to be protected.

There has been a considerable uptick in NOSIs registered in Ontario over the past two years, with hundreds of thousands of dollars registered on title. Particularly vulnerable are low-income citizens and those who are socially isolated.

I must tell you that some of the saddest videos that were part of this investigation show seniors who are lonely and they are isolated. In one video that I watched, the lady wanted to get the door-to-door salesmen some coffee, to have him sit down and have some cake, because they were lonely. Essentially what was happening, though, is that these lonely and isolated seniors were literally inviting the wolf into their own home. The connection to organized crime as these NOSI scams evolved is truly frightening. It was certainly a learning experience for me as the finance critic.

I want to just tell you very quickly about one local resident—his name is Ian Craig—in Waterloo region. He has had seven notices of security interest on his property, totalling more than $150,000. All the NOSIs on Craig’s home were put there by scammers without his knowledge. “This is not right, for people who have invested in their homes, that somebody comes along and puts [NOSIs] on it for half of” the house. “The way they can take advantage of people is just disgusting,” he said. “This is why we need protection.” This is why we need Bill 200.

The ties to organized crime became very evident when we reached out to the Waterloo region police, who I definitely want to say thank you very much to for your leadership and your advocacy and for your education on these predatory practices.

Detective Stover of the Waterloo Regional Police Service has been investigating NOSIs since 2010 but the investigation intensified in 2020 when police identified that they were being used criminally. Sometimes this is data that is the personal and financial data of the individual in the home. That data is captured and then sold to various other organizations. It was astounding that this has been going on and accelerating in Ontario for the time being.

“It became a tool used by organized crime to target and revictimize people who had notices of security on title from the years previous,” said Stover. “They really identified an aging population in Ontario that have a lot of equity in their home.”

Last year in Ontario alone 38,000 NOSIs were registered. Imagine that this practice has been allowed to continue for so many years. When this came up under the former Liberal government, it was astounding. They were supposed to outlaw door-to-door sales, but there was no enforcement whatsoever. The lack of oversight—basically just going through the motions—is really a disservice to so many Ontarians, particularly the vulnerable and seniors. It is vital that we protect vulnerable citizens and especially seniors from such scams so that they are not being taken advantage of.

Thank you very much for introducing this important legislation. I hazard to say it, but let’s get it done today—

Interjections.

Questions? Questions?

Further debate?

Please lower the voices, the conversations. We cannot hear the speaker.

I apologize. You can continue.

Back to the member for Don Valley East.

I respectfully ask that the bill be referred to Committee of the Whole House.

I have no amendments to the bill, but I do have comments to schedule 4 as a whole.

Committee of the Whole House.

House in Committee of the Whole.

Consideration of the following bill:

Bill 200, An Act to amend various Acts with respect to homebuyers and homeowners, properties of cultural heritage value or interest and certain planning matters / Projet de loi 200, Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne les acquéreurs de logements et les propriétaires de logements, les biens ayant une valeur ou un caractère sur le plan du patrimoine culturel et d’autres questions liées à l’aménagement du territoire.

Questions? Questions?

Further debate? Further debate?

Mr. McCarthy has moved second reading of Bill 200, An Act to amend various Acts with respect to homebuyers and homeowners, properties of cultural heritage value or interest and certain planning matters.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

Second reading agreed to.

Orders of the day? I recognize the government House leader.

We are now considering Bill 200, An Act to amend various Acts with respect to homebuyers and homeowners, properties of cultural heritage value or interest and certain planning matters. Are there any comments, questions or amendments? And if so, to which sections of the bill?

Are there any other comments, questions or amendments to other sections of the bill?

I just wanted to make comments to everyone in the House today. I want to congratulate the minister on this bill before us. I want to thank the government for listening to the official opposition. The parts of the bill pertaining to the freehold home extension with regard to the cooling-off period is, in fact, an amendment that we introduced to the CPA, and we thank you for listening to us and for it appearing in the bill.

We also thank the government and the minister because the banning of NOSIs for the future, as well as the past, in fact, is the substance of Bill 169, tabled by members of the official opposition. Again, the government and the minister have heard us, and this is part of the substance of this bill with regard to consumer protection.

I’m proud, as we are all proud, to stand together united on this bill.

Thank you, Chair. This is a landmark piece of legislation, the first of its kind in Canada. If passed, it would protect consumers from fraud and bad actors. By banning, or proposing to ban, the registration of consumer notices of security of interest on land titles, we are putting an end to the exploitation that has targeted our elderly and the most vulnerable residents of our communities.

Moreover, we’re giving Ontarians the crucial information and the time they need to confidently make one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives. This would occur through our enhanced protections for new homebuyers, putting those new freehold homebuyers on the same plane as new condo purchasers.

The proposed legislation would further strengthen consumer protections for homeowners and buyers by establishing a 10-day cooling-off period for purchases or purchasers of new freehold homes. The Condominium Authority Tribunal’s jurisdiction to cover a broader range of disputes would be put into place. There would be a more accessible and efficient resolution of disputes and the burden taken away from the courts.

This proposed legislation has widespread support from advocacy groups for seniors, consumer advocates, law enforcement, legal professionals and businesses of all sizes.

I move that the Committee of the Whole rise and report and ask leave to sit again.

Are there any other members who wish to be recognized?

I will now bundle consecutive sections that have no amendments and to which there are no comments or questions.

The bill is comprised of three sections and five schedules. I suggest that we postpone the first three sections of the bill in order to dispose of the schedules first. This allows the committee to consider the contents of the schedules before dealing with the sections relating to the commencement and short title of the bill. We would return to the three sections after completing the consideration of the schedules.

Is there unanimous consent to postpone consideration of these three sections of the bill and deal with the schedules first? Agreed.

Schedule 1, sections 1 to 5: Carry? Schedule 1, sections 1 to 5, carried.

Schedule 1, sections 6 to 8: Shall they carry? Sections 6 to 8, carried.

Shall schedule 1 carry, as a whole? Carried.

Shall sections 1 to 3 of schedule 2 carry? Carried.

Shall schedule 2, as a whole, carry? Carried.

Shall sections 1 and 2 of schedule 3 carry? Sections 1 and 2 of schedule 3 are carried.

Shall schedule 3, as a whole, carry? Schedule 3, carried.

Shall sections 1 to 12 of schedule 4 carry? Sections 1 to 12 of schedule 4, carried.

I recognize the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery.

Shall schedule 4, as a whole, carry? Carried.

Shall schedule 5, sections 1 and 2, carry? Schedule 5, sections 1 and 2, are carried.

Shall schedule 5, as a whole, carry? Carried.

We will return to sections 1 through 3. Shall sections 1 through 3 carry? Carried.

Shall the preamble of the bill carry? Carried.

Shall the title of the bill carry? Carried.

Shall Bill 200 carry? Carried.

Shall I report the bill to the House? Carried.

Orders of the day? I recognize the government House leader.

The Committee of the Whole House begs to report one bill without amendment and asks for leave to sit again.

Committee of the Whole report adopted.

Orders of the day?

Mr. McCarthy moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill 200, An Act to amend various Acts with respect to homebuyers and homeowners, properties of cultural heritage value or interest and certain planning matters / Projet de loi 200, Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne les acquéreurs de logements et les propriétaires de logements, les biens ayant une valeur ou un caractère sur le plan du patrimoine culturel et d’autres questions liées à l’aménagement du territoire.

It’s an honour for me to rise here today to add some remarks on Bill 200. To my mind, this marks some of the best collaboration I have had the opportunity to witness within this chamber in my six years as a legislator.

We’ve all seen the horrific stories of seniors, people living with disabilities and new Canadians who have been targeted by these insidious HVAC scams. It’s been absolutely unconscionable to see that these companies will end up using ridiculously long contracts that actually are longer than the lifespan of the unit, and that the contracts will also have these appliances accrue interest year over year. What appliance gets more expensive the more you use it? It makes no sense. The fact that they will take a bite out of the value of a homeowner’s home is absolutely unacceptable.

The reason we are here is because the dithering Liberal government did not respond to this crisis properly. They banned door-to-door sales, but yet there was no enforcement to that. It was like they took care of a side issue. They looked at the method of this scam, but not actually the beating heart of this scam itself. The beating heart of this scam is the NOSI or the lien.

Despite the fact that door-to-door sales are banned, these companies have found other ways in, they have pivoted. They will contact people through email, they will set up phone calls, they will tell people that they have won prizes, thereby gaining entry.

I want to thank all of the investigative reporters, whether it’s W5 or CBC Marketplace, who have had hidden-camera investigations, which have really shone a light on what this scam actually is.

It’s been really unfortunate that Liberal inaction has allowed these companies to continue to get away with this for so many years. So here we are today, dealing with this issue in a collaborative, proactive way.

I’ve got to say, I was initially not all that impressed when the government first mentioned the study of NOSIs. I was a little bit worried. I thought it would be imbalanced, unfair and that people wouldn’t receive justice. I’ve been following this for a number of years. It’s something that I’ve cared very passionately about, and I’ve got to say that there’s been so much work done in this space, and as legislators, we cannot ignore what has happened in people’s lives.

After thinking about this for some time, I’ve tried different ways to develop legislation to combat it. There’s been many different approaches, but we have to cut the head off of the snake with this scam. We have to get rid of the beating hart of this scam which is the NOSI or the lien.

I want to thank Dennis Crawford, who has been incredible to work with. He’s done excellent work fighting for and informing people about this scam. And I also want to thank people who came forward and shared their stories with us.

There was Linda Palmieri, a constituent of the MPP from Humber River–Black Creek. We had staff litigation lawyers from the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, Sarah Tella and Bethanie Pascutto.

This fall, when discussing the consumer protection bill, Bill 168, I was asking this government time and again if retroactivity was going to included within any discussion of NOSIs and we weren’t really given much cause to support any upcoming legislation, because there was really no indication that retroactivity was going to be provided. I was really quite worried that this government wasn’t going to go far enough, so as a result, I tabled my bill, Bill 169, and I want to thank the member for Humber River–Black Creek, our consumer protection critic, I want to thank the member from Waterloo and I want to thank the member from Parkdale–High Park for also being my co-sponsors on this legislation.

I’ve got to say, I did prefer my title, but I decided not to go and change that during Committee of the Whole House. It was the Removing Red Tape for Homeowners (No More Pushy, High-Pressure HVAC Scams) Act, but with that legislation, it did both things: It looked forward and it also looked backward. It included that retroactivity which is central and is key and is something that we must do.

It’s not fair to go and say, “Now is year zero, and we’re going to start looking after people and make sure that they aren’t being scammed.” We need and we have a moral and ethical duty to make sure that people who have been victimized and exploited by this scam are also protected, and so I want to thank the government for including that within Bill 200.

I’ve got to say, on the day when I tabled this legislation along with my co-sponsors, I had the opportunity to ask, in question period—and there aren’t many times where I’m, quite frankly, speechless, but when I asked the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery about this, and the minister indicated that they would be following Bill 169 and including retroactivity, I was so glad. I’m so glad to see that we, together as legislators, are going to take care of an awful mess that has been left for years—to take care of this predatory, horrible industry which exploits people and takes money out of their pocket.

I want to thank also police services, advocacy organizations—all the people who have been trying to get change within this space for a number of years.

I also want to share some feedback that I have received, and it was written to me:

“Without the opposition pushing this issue forward, the government may not have acted until later, and their action may have been less comprehensive than what has been proposed in the announcement.

“Thank you, Terence, for your leadership on this important public issue!”

I want to also send a message from this Legislature to those predatory scam companies. I want to ask them a question: How on earth is it possible that you can live with yourself when every dollar in your pocket is based on human suffering? I want to ask: How could you look yourself in the mirror and pretend that you’re a decent person? This Legislature today has shown that we are on to your scams. You can try to pivot. You can try and slither away, but we will continue to respond with legislation to make sure that this does not happen to seniors, people living with disabilities and new Canadians. Stop scamming people and put your efforts into a real, decent job.

Thank you very much for the time, Speaker. Again, I commend the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery. I want to thank all members here for providing me with this opportunity to speak today.

I recognize the minister.

Further debate?

Speaker, this is a momentous day. Great work has been done by all members of this assembly to get us to this point. We consulted in the fall of 2023 across the spectrum: individual families and elderly citizens who have been victimized by this terrible fraud of misuse of NOSIs. The deception and organized criminal activity associated with it was unacceptable.

We heard the stories, as I said, of families and seniors. We consulted with law enforcement, legal professionals, businesses of all types, advocates for consumer groups and advocates for the elderly. We then put forward the proposal and we tabled the bill.

There are times when matters that require our urgent attention must be dealt with swiftly. This is one such time. I congratulate all members of this House for listening to the residents and citizens of their communities across 124 ridings in the province of Ontario. We are working together today swiftly to move this matter to the point where we can debate and ultimately vote on third reading of Bill 200. It is properly called the Homeowner Protection Act, but it’s also about protecting homebuyers. The Homeowner Protection Act, 2024, is the right thing to do and it is urgently needed.

When members of this House come together and put partisanship aside, we can serve the citizens we all serve together, rightly and fairly and properly, doing our duty as parliamentarians. I believe that we have done that today. With the support of all members of this House, we can move it forward so that immediate relief will be available to the seniors who are affected by this. It is not just a proposal to abolish the registration of notices of security interest in regard to consumer goods and services against people’s homes going forward. It is not just that; it is about retroactively abolishing—making ineffective—the 350,000 some-odd NOSIs that are currently registered on title against homes.

Before we vote, I ask you to consider this: To delay the passage of this legislation would be to enable further fraud, enable further victimization of our elderly and our vulnerable. That would be wrong. That would be a failure of our duty as parliamentarians. I urge you all to continue what you have started. Let us come together, vote together and pass this bill on third reading. Thank you very much.

On a point of order, Madam Speaker: Pursuant to standing order 7(e), I wish to inform the House that tonight’s evening meeting is cancelled.

And if you seek it, I’m sure you’ll find unanimous consent to see the clock at 6.