I know my parents are watching today. It is the last sessional day. I just want to wish my mother a happy 80th birthday on Saturday.

Ladies and gentlemen, as we eagerly approach the vibrant summer season, I am thrilled to highlight the array of exciting events taking place in our beloved riding. From cultural festivals to community gatherings, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Picture the roar of the engines at the Pain Court tractor pull, the savoury aroma of barbecue at Strathroy Ribfest, and the vintage cars at the Bothwell car show and the Wallaceburg WAMBO. There are plenty of Ontario-style events for every community across Lambton–Kent–Middlesex. From the Lucan Summerfest and the Thamesville Threshing Festival to the historic significance of Emancipation Day in Dresden, as well as the bustling night market, these events are not just about entertainment; they’re a celebration of our communities and traditions. Furthermore, these events serve as a testament to the resilience and vitality of our community.

By supporting local initiatives, we bolster our economy and foster a sense of pride in our shared identity. Let’s not just attend; let’s actively participate, volunteer and support these events.

As your representative, I am committed to promoting and enhancing the quality of life in our riding. Together, let’s make this summer one to remember, filled with joy, laughter and a deep appreciation for all that our community has to offer.

Thank you for your continued support. I look forward to seeing you at these upcoming events.

As I said yesterday, the FAO’s opinions don’t reflect actual government spending and investments.

And I’ll make it very clear, Mr. Speaker. Again, the opposition sometimes struggles with facts, so I’ll say it as slowly as I can: Investments in the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services increased by more than $630 million this year. Every single program under our ministry has seen an increase of investment.

The year before, the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services received an investment of more than $900 million, $1.2 billion the year before.

Now, what has the opposition done? Voted against every single measure to make life more affordable, make the services more accessible for Ontarians. So of course Ontarians are seeing it. That’s why they returned two members from two by-elections and the NDP were shut out once again in this province—

Interjections.

Thank you. Members may take their seats.

Government House leader.

Government House leader.

Supplementary question?

Mr. Speaker, look, when we came to office in 2018, we inherited a province of Ontario that was in deep trouble, a province that had out-of-control taxes, a province that had out-of-control red tape, a province that had lost 300,000 jobs. Our manufacturers were being hollowed out. We had communities fighting each other with respect to energy in the province of Ontario. People were having to make the choice between heating or eating.

What we have now is a province that has created over 700,000 jobs. Some $40 billion worth of economic activity is coming back. Our manufacturers are creating jobs like never before. Eight billion dollars of costs to those job creators has been removed. We have removed red tape from them, Mr. Speaker. We’ve lowered taxes for the people of the province of Ontario. We’re building hospitals and long-term-care homes. We’re rebuilding our education system.

The job isn’t done, Mr. Speaker, but we are going to continue on the path of rebuilding the province of Ontario.

The people of the province of Ontario understand that in 2018, when we came to office, we had a province that was bleeding jobs to other provinces and to the United States. Some 300,000 jobs were lost. The manufacturing sector in this province was hollowed out, Mr. Speaker. Our students were not achieving the results that they should be. Our hospitals were not at the height of what they could be for the people of the province of Ontario. The health care advantage that we’d had, we had lost.

Fast-forward to today, and I will admit that the job is not done. We have created the conditions for over 700,000 jobs; $40 billion worth of economic activity is coming back to the province of Ontario, and we’re doing that while removing costs for the people of the province of Ontario, lowering taxes, cutting red tape, building a bigger, better, stronger, safer Ontario.

What we have done since then is reinvest in the people of the province of Ontario. We’ve lowered taxes. We’ve brought back investments.

She talks about the friends of the government. The people I consider friends are the 700,000 Ontarians who have the dignity of a job, who have hope and opportunity and a bigger, better, stronger—

Interjections.

The member’s all over the map.

Good morning, Speaker. Looking back on the past few months, I am struck by the fact that, on so many issues, whether it’s health care or housing or making life more affordable, the government has let people down. They’ve shown that in their priorities. People are struggling to find a family doctor and rural emergency rooms are closing while this government subsidizes a private luxury spa in downtown Toronto. While the price of housing ballooned and housing starts dropped, this government spent the season reversing their own legislation and blocking new housing.

My question to the Premier is, will the Premier admit that he has lost touch with the people of Ontario?

People expect their Premier to be working hard every day to make their lives better. But what they’ve got instead is somebody who puts his interests and his friends first every single time. Instead of hiring more doctors or building more housing or strengthening our local schools, we’ve got backroom deals, RCMP criminal investigations and hundreds of millions of dollars wasted breaking contracts.

What does the Premier have to say to hard-working Ontarians who feel like they have taken a back seat to his pet projects?

Interjections.

When will this government start saying yes to real solutions for real people?

Interjections.

Yesterday, the Financial Accountability Office released its report into the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. For millions of Ontarians, it should be pretty clear today that they are not this government’s priority. Leaping from the page is the FAO’s projection that there’s going to be an overall shortfall of $3.7 billion. That’s the difference between what the government has allocated and what’s needed to maintain program funding levels.

Speaker, can the Premier explain this discrepancy?

Speaker, this week, the National Council of Canadian Muslims members attended Queen’s Park, and they met with all party members. Even the Premier met with Esa, a cousin of 15-year-old Yumnah who was killed on this day three years ago, alongside with her parents and grandmother.

The Afzaal family was a target of hate just because they were Muslim. Racism and hate against the Muslim community has been getting worse. The Muslim community has gone through so much, and the terrorist attack on the Afzaal family has left the Muslim community asking, when will the members of this Legislature put words into action and address rising hate and Islamophobia?

Constituents in my riding of Niagara West have come to me now for several years sharing their concerns about the pinch of the federal carbon tax. Each and every April, we’ve seen this job-killing, expensive carbon tax increase, putting more and more pressures and costs on the people of Ontario.

My question to the Minister of Energy: As our government looks at the increase in the carbon tax that is impacting families, and as we head into a summer season where we know families are hoping to get out on a road trip, visit places like Niagara region and experience some of the best that this province has to offer, what is our government doing to ensure that we are fighting this job-killing, expensive carbon tax and putting more money back into the pockets of the hard-working people in Niagara West?

From corner to corner of my riding, from lake to lake, people are telling me that it’s too expensive to pay the carbon tax and they want to see a government here in Ontario that is standing up for them. So my question to the Minister of Energy: How is this government defending the hard-working people of this province and fighting the job-killing carbon—

Speaker, families of kids with autism have been on a roller-coaster ride of changing programs and reversals and overhauls. They deserve a program that works. The FAO’s report shows very clearly that, again, social services are going to be underfunded by about $3.7 billion.

Those families deserve a program that works—one that can deliver for them not only the funding that they desperately need, but also the services to help their kids while they can still make a difference. So I want the Premier to explain to people and families in need why he is underfunding social services by $3.7 billion.

Here’s another number for the government: 70,000—70,000 children on the wait-list for autism services.

Interjection.

Spending on child and youth services, which includes the autism program, is only expected to grow by 0.2% over the next five years.

Can you imagine, Speaker, that this year, only one in seven of those kids on that wait-list are going to get the services they need—10,000 out of 70,000 kids in need.

I want to ask the Premier, on what planet does he think that that is acceptable to the people of the province of Ontario?

Interjections.

Thank you to the member for that important question.

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear: Islamophobia or any form of racism and hate are completely unacceptable—no place in Ontario; Mr. Speaker, only place in Ontario for love and harmony.

Our government has taken strong action and made considerable investments to build safer communities and protect the rights of all Ontarians to practise their faith safely and without any fear or fear of persecution. In August, the minister released the Building a Stronger and More Inclusive Ontario action plan. This comprehensive plan outlines over 49 initiatives from 40 partners and ministries and millions in investments from our government to combat racism and hate, dismantle barriers and empower communities.

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to work with the community partners and municipalities across the government to build a stronger, safer, more inclusive Ontario, where differences of faith, background and belief are—

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, last spring the ministry announced a $500,000 investment to support the city of London in launching a new public education campaign along with a digital library of anti-hate resources. In August, the minister and Premier Ford were joined by Muslim community leaders and the London Muslim Mosque for a round-table discussion on how we can work together to fight Islamophobia and make Ontario a safer place to live for all.

We know our work doesn’t end here. Our government will continue to take action and make the critical investments needed to defend the right of every Ontarian to practise their faith peacefully, with dignity and respect. Mr. Speaker, together we will continue to ensure the Afzaal family legacy inspires for a better, brighter and more inclusive Ontario for all.

The member for Nepean will come to order.

The final supplementary.

Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

Do I need to remind the members that the Speaker’s responsibility is to maintain order and decorum, and in order to do that, the Speaker has the ability to send people home a little early? Thank you.

Start the clock. The next question.

Start the clock. Supplementary? The member for London–Fanshawe.

My question is to the Premier. Speaker, today marks three years since the hate-motivated terror attack that took the lives of four members of London’s Afzaal family—Salman, Madiha, Talat and 15-year-old Yumnah, who would have been graduating this week from Oakridge Secondary School—leaving a child orphaned, a community grieving and deep wounds that will never fully heal. In this House, we have a duty to honour the Afzaal family with legislation that addresses the alarming rise in racism, hate and Islamophobia.

My question is, what immediate steps will this government take to make sure that we never see another family and another community devastated by Islamophobic hate?

Thank you very much.

The parliamentary assistant, the member for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke.

The next question.

The Minister of Finance can respond.

The supplementary question.

The Minister of Finance.

Thank you to the great member from Niagara. It’s just wonderful to hear his concern for the people in that area, and everybody across this province, with regard to the carbon tax.

The carbon tax increases the cost of everything, from the farmer’s field to the fork, everything between and everything that goes into it. And this summer, whether it’s the cost of a hotel or a campsite or the propane to cook on that barbecue, it’s going to cost more, and the fuel to get there is going to cost more.

We’re reducing the cost of living for people in Ontario by reducing the gas tax by over 10 cents a litre, removing the cost of licence plate stickers, removing the tolls on Highways 412 and 418, and, of course, the One Fare, which is going to save people $1,600 per year.

While the carbon tax caucus over there and their leader, the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, wants to raise the cost of living, we’re lowering it, making it better for families. We’re doing it without that punishing carbon tax.

We’ve got shovels in the ground on projects across the province: nuclear refurbishment going on at Darlington, at the Bruce, and soon to be at Pickering, to make sure on that energy; new build nuclear is going to be happening at Bruce; refurbishments at the Niagara Falls and in Cornwall for our great hydroelectric power—the basis, where it started; and, just recently, the largest procurement of battery storage in history, almost 1,800 megawatts. That’s enough to power 1.8 million homes.

Speaker, we’re making sure that the Ontario of the future has the power it needs to generate, to support those families, and we can do that without a job-killing carbon tax. The Crombie caucus over there has to stand with us, stand against the federal Liberals. This is the last day we’re going to be here. Call them. Tell them to—

Interjections.

My thanks to the member for his response. I can tell that this is a government that is focused on cutting costs for the people of Ontario and cutting costs for the people of Niagara West.

But when I’m in my constituency and I speak with local farmers, entrepreneurs and also tourism operators, they are flabbergasted that queen Crombie is committed to bringing forward yet another carbon tax. We saw the Liberals and the NDP work together in a coalition to bring in the cap-and-trade carbon tax, and it had a hugely detrimental impact to the people of this province. When our government came in and cut that tax, we put real money back into the hard-working pockets of the people of this province. The local farmers, the local entrepreneurs, the local drivers in my riding who are counting on this government to stand up to the job-killing carbon tax that the federal Liberals are pushing down the throats of the people of Ontario want to know that we’re on their side.

My question to the member and the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Energy is, how can we continue to take a strong step to make sure that the federal government realizes it’s time to kill the job-killing carbon tax?

My question is for the Premier. Spending an unnecessary $225 million to get out of the Beer Store agreement early, ending the waste water surveillance program: These are just some of the recent careless and irresponsible decisions of this Conservative government. Tell me how the party that prides itself on fiscal responsibility is running a $9.8-billion deficit. Let’s also not forget about the $6.9 million that it costs to staff the Premier’s office.

Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Why does the government insist on making reckless decisions and using taxpayers’ money to do so?

Interjections.

Speaker, my question to the Premier: When will this government take responsibility for their actions and reprioritize the needs of Ontarians, the very people that we’re elected to serve? Never in the history of this province has a government spent so much so irresponsibly and got so little for the people that we serve.

Interjections.

It’s an honour to rise in this House every single day, and it’s a privilege to have this role and to serve the people of Ontario.

I stand today because for the first time since 2006, the credit rating agency DBRS upgraded Ontario’s rating to AA. Ladies and gentlemen, that is what fiscal responsibility looks like.

We are proving that we can reverse the trends of the previous 15 years, where we saw jobs leaving the red tape capital of North America, no fiscal plan whatsoever, credit downgrades. But we’ve been able to reverse that trend in six short years. Now, jobs are flocking back to Ontario. The conditions for economic prosperity—

But do you know what this credit upgrade will allow us to do? It will help lower the province’s borrowing costs—what a concept. It will also protect taxpayers and support more investment in Ontario, creating more jobs and financing the province’s historic infrastructure plan. That’s what real government looks like. That’s what a plan in the bill for the people of Ontario—all 16 million people—looks like, and it’s this party that’s doing it for the people of Ontario.

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. We disagree with the Liberals about a lot of things, but one fundamental difference is when it comes to taxes. Liberals believe they know how to spend money better than the hard-working people who earn it. They think a dollar in their pocket is better than in the pocket of the worker who earned it.

We have seen that every time we act to lower costs, the federal government steps in place with a new tax hike and tries to offset it. That is why we’re so firm in our opposition to the carbon tax. We will never support an inflationary tax that makes it harder for people to fill up their tanks at the pump and put food on their table.

Can the minister please explain how our government’s approach is different from the Liberals’ approach?