It’s always a great day when Percy Hatfield is in our presence, so welcome.

Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, or as I dub him, the minister for green automotive production, Windsor-Essex.

The carbon tax is hurting businesses and families back home and right across the province. As the Premier has repeatedly said, it is truly the worst tax. It is an inflationary tax that penalizes the hard-working men and women who are the backbone of our economy.

Ontario is home to a wealth of skilled workers in key sectors that will be vital to the province’s economic success and prosperity in the years to come. The last thing a government should be doing is hiking taxes on workers and chasing them away.

Speaker, can the minister please explain what he is hearing from companies and workers about the carbon tax?

They had a clear choice in the by-elections in Milton and Lambton–Kent–Middlesex. Certainly, knocking on those doors, I received that message loud and clear. They could vote for our government, who will always have their backs and fight to keep costs down, or they could vote for the Liberals and NDP, who endorse the carbon tax and will never stand up to their federal cousins in Ottawa. It’s no shock that they chose to elect two excellent, new PC MPPs, who are already important members of our government, as we fight against unnecessary Liberal tax hikes.

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on why Liberals need to scrap their carbon tax?