My question is for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. The Liberal carbon tax is driving up the cost of everyday essentials and making life unaffordable for Ontarians. With summer fast approaching, many families are looking forward to taking some time off and exploring our province with their loved ones, but the carbon tax continues to wreak havoc on our economy, including our cherished and world-class tourism sector.

Just last week, Bonnie Crombie’s federal cousins suggested that the cost of a family road trip is akin to letting the planet burn. It is shocking to hear how out of touch the Liberals are with Ontario families.

Speaker, could the minister please tell the House how the federal Liberal carbon tax is impacting summer plans for Ontarians?

Speaker, it’s perplexing how the Liberals and NDP can ignore the heavy burden the carbon tax puts on families. Every day, we hear more about how people are struggling with the increasing cost of basic necessities. Parents taking their kids to hockey practice or on a road trip are now paying more at the gas pump. That’s not right. Ontarians deserve to enjoy the summer season with their loved ones and explore our province without worrying about extra costs.

Speaker, could the parliamentary assistant please explain to the House what our government is doing to get people on the road and support summer tourism?

My question is for the Associate Minister of Housing. All Ontarians deserve to find a home that best meets their needs and budget. The previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, failed to plan ahead for the future needs of Ontarians, and now the provincial Liberals are supporting a tax that is only pushing Ontario families further away from their dream of home ownership. This is simply unacceptable. Our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, remains laser-focused on getting more homes built faster and helping more Ontarians find affordable housing, and we are doing it as we continue to fight against the costly carbon tax.

Can the associate minister tell the House how our government is working to build the homes that Ontario families need, despite the federal carbon tax?

It’s a pleasure to join the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery today to speak about the Homeowner Protection Act, 2024. As the minister illustrated previously, this important new consumer protection legislation demonstrates once again our government’s dedication to advance the interests of Ontario consumers. I’m extremely excited to see this piece of legislation come to fruition, as well as the steps we are taking with this proposed bill to promote fairness and transparency for Ontarians and safeguard their interests, including seniors, new Canadians and other vulnerable consumers. We are protecting Ontarians’ interests as buyers of new homes and as homeowners, and we are strengthening their confidence in their abilities in our marketplace. And we’re making Ontario a better place to live, work and grow.

Let me provide a brief recap for the House of the measures included in the Homeowner Protection Act, 2024. First, if passed, this bill will ban the registration of consumer notices of security interest—or NOSIs, as they are called—on the land registry. All consumer NOSIs currently registered on title will be deemed expired, which means that they can be removed from the record of title at any time the consumer chooses.

Speaker, the Homeowner Protection Act, 2024, will help Ontarians feel confident that this government has their backs when it comes to their home and housing. It also supports our government’s ambitious plan to build the infrastructure that Ontario communities and municipalities need to grow and prosper.

To that end, Bill 200 includes changes to the Planning Act from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Ministry of Infrastructure to provide zoning for our partners in advancing transit-oriented communities.

The Homeowner Protection Act, 2024, is a far-reaching legislative package that advances rights and protections for homeowners and buyers of new freehold homes, and supports strong growth in Ontario.

If this bill has one headline, it would be the banning of consumer notices of security interest—and there is good reason for that. If these notices of security interests, or NOSIs, have been in the media a lot recently, which they have been, that is because of the dramatic effect their misuse has on so many people who live in Ontario.

To reiterate, we are proposing an outright ban on the registration of consumer NOSIs, and we would deem any consumer NOSIs already on title to be expired. This legislation means Ontarians would also not have to take on the fight themselves against the misuse of these NOSIs.

This issue is very important to me, personally. I have heard of many people in my riding and many people in Ontario speak of this—including my riding of Cambridge, like I spoke earlier about—who have been victimized by the misuse of NOSIs. I’ve spoken about this problem in the House previously, and at the Standing Committee on Justice Policy, and have stressed the need to tackle these scams that target vulnerable homeowners.

Today, I’m going to take a good portion of my time to talk about how vital it is that we deal with NOSIs and their damaging effects. We know that banning consumer NOSIs on title altogether is a bold move. It is one that our government is considering very carefully before taking action, but we must.

As the minister stated, NOSIs do serve a real purpose. There are a number of reasons for a homeowner to enter into a rental or service contract with a business when they’re considering a large piece of equipment like a furnace or a water heater, and that business should outline the payment plan clearly in the contract. In certain cases, these businesses may have the right to register a NOSI on the land registry system based on that contract.

Registering a NOSI on the title of that property serves as a notice to third parties of the company’s security interest and may protect that interest, for example, if the customer sells the property to a third party. This allows a business to protect itself and its interests, and to be able to repossess its equipment in certain circumstances. It’s not an uncommon practice, especially not here in Ontario, where there has been a long history of renting home equipment like furnaces and water heaters.

So there is a reason for NOSIs and the system to exist in the first place, but over the decades, the use of NOSIs by bad actors who have taken advantage of consumers by leveraging exorbitant payouts for them has become more and more common. As the minister mentioned, the number of NOSIs registered on the Ontario land registry per year has skyrocketed from approximately 400 registrations annually in the early 2000s to more than 58,000 in 2023 alone. And right along with the increasing use of NOSIs has come a proliferation of abuses of this legal tool, often with homeowners unaware that the consumer NOSI has been registered on title, nor the value registered.

As the minister and others in this House have pointed out, NOSIs have been used too often over the years to exploit too many unsuspecting vulnerable seniors, new Canadians and overall Ontario residents, with some unscrupulous actors misusing NOSIs to demand high payments from consumers to discharge them.

Last year, it was my privilege to join the minister and my colleagues for the House debates on our new Consumer Protection Act legislation, the Better for Consumers, Better for Businesses Act, 2023. The great achievements in consumer protections in our province have jumped over something that we haven’t done for 20 years in this province, so I’m really glad to be a part of it. It’s a real landmark piece of legislation, designed to strengthen consumer rights and confidence, to make it easier for businesses to comply with consumer protection rules, and to promote a fair and competitive economy.

The new Consumer Protection Act, 2023, includes stronger, clearer protections against unfair business practices; provides a fairer exit option for consumers and their families entering into certain long-term leases; and limits when businesses can make unilateral contract amendments, renewals and extensions without express consumer consent. We took up the issue of NOSIs as part of that bill. During debates, I talked about my experience with NOSIs in my riding.

There is a lot of good in this bill, and I think what made me very passionate about it was working with a Waterloo regional police detective, Adam Stover, and David Mullock, who is the liaison officer for the force, and just watching the transcripts of the phone messages that these bad actors had portrayed to these vulnerable sector people. It’s the elderly who are being abused—people with dementia—people with a lack of understanding of what they’re really signing. This really sickened me, watching the same perpetrators come back to the same people they had first basically ripped off and trying to rip them off again.

I want to take time for a moment to mention the good work of Detective Adam Stover and David Mullock and the Waterloo Regional Police Service’s organized financial crime team. Detective Stover, David Mullock and the Waterloo Regional Police Service’s representative joined us when we first announced our intention to introduce this important piece of legislation.

The measures in this new consumer protection act, once in force, are intended to be the first step to address and reduce the harmful and inappropriate use of NOSIs. The measures include provisions to clarify a business’ obligation to discharge a NOSI under specific circumstances and to allow some consumers to receive assistance from the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery in enforcing a business’ obligation to discharge a NOSI if a contract was cancelled or rescinded. However, since then, the government has heard loud and clear that further and quicker action has to be done to help to protect consumers from bad actors and NOSIs related to them.

I want to take a moment to thank all individuals and organizations who have drawn attention to this issue over the years, and all those who participated in consultations last year specifically addressing the issue of NOSIs. I want to thank members on both sides of the House who have contributed to debates on this issue in the House and in committee.

The measures we are tabling with this proposed legislation are informed by the concerns expressed by the people of Ontario. This is how we came up with this bill—by talking to these people. This is a complex issue that requires urgent attention, and our approach is pragmatic, but it is a direct response.

In summary, the Homeowner Protection Act, 2024, if passed, will advance protections for Ontario homeowners. It would protect homeowners from abusive practices by banning the registration of consumer notices of security interest and deeming current registered consumer NOSIs expired. These changes would come into force upon royal assent.

The Homeowner Protection Act, 2024, is an ambitious plan with strong protections for Ontario homeowners, especially for seniors and vulnerable residents. The legislation, if passed, will enhance consumer protections for buyers of new freehold homes and provide local communities with the certainty they need to protect significant heritage properties and to build for the future.

I urge all members in this House to support this proposed comprehensive legislation and help create a better province for all of us.