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?

The difference between our government’s approach and the Liberal approach could not be more clear. We cut the gas tax to save families at the pump; they raise the carbon tax to add 23 cents a litre at the pump, to make it more expensive.

We allow businesses to accelerate in-year equipment write-offs, saving them a billion dollars; the Liberals’ plan to get rid of their in-year equipment write-off allowance is costing businesses more money.

Now, I spoke with an Ontario manufacturer who said to me—last night, as a matter of fact—“Every dollar I spend on the carbon tax is a dollar I can’t invest to reduce my carbon footprint.” The Liberal carbon tax does not work. We need them to follow our lead: Scrap the carbon tax today.

I’m pleased to have the chance to talk about the LAT, because it was one of the first tribunals that we brought back into the balance, hitting all of their marks in terms of filing the hearing dates. The LAT was a tremendous success—and under the leadership of Sara Mintz, who did a phenomenal job getting the LAT back on track so that it was so effective that sometimes the lawyers were saying, “You’re moving too fast.” But, in fact, we have moved fast. We have come back to balance, and I’m quite proud of the work that the LAT is doing.

There’s continuous training. There’s training when the adjudicators are onboarded. There’s rigorous review of those that are appointed to the tribunal. So I can commit to continued training and excellence and that there is continuous review, but they are an independent unit. So I don’t plan to meddle in the independence of the tribunals, but I do look forward to their continued improvement.

Hope Air provides free flights and services for patients living in underserved and remote communities in northern Ontario, and without it, a lot of northerners wouldn’t be able to access essential medical care. Darlene Sargent from my riding said, “When I needed help getting to medical appointments, Hope Air arranged everything, free of charge. What would I have done without them?

Speaker, tomorrow is Hope Air Day in Sudbury. My question is, instead of funding for-profit clinics, will the Premier provide sustainable funding to Hope Air?

When will the Conservative government finally fix the Northern Health Travel Grant?

Through you, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the excellent member for Oxford for that timely question. Indeed it is true that the Liberal carbon tax increases the cost of goods and services that have the most direct impact on the day-to-day lives of Ontarians. Whether at the gas pump, the grocery store or shopping for everyday essentials, the Liberal carbon tax affects each and every one of us negatively.

Under the leadership of Premier Ford, this government will never stop looking for ways to save money for the hard-working people of Ontario.

Our government understands that Ontarians should not face financial burden when interacting with government. That is why we have delivered ways for Ontarians to save time and money when engaging with ServiceOntario in person or online—more options, more service, more convenience, and of course, we include with that the removal of licence plate sticker fees and renewals.

So while the Liberals work to make life less affordable, we have the backs of Ontarians, making life more—

In the first four months of this year, more than 80,000 good-paying jobs have been created in Ontario. Last month alone, we added 25,000 jobs, including 5,800 in manufacturing. By lowering costs across the board, our government has created the conditions for job growth across the province. We have cut 500 pieces of red tape that the Liberals imposed to stifle economic growth, and we’ve reduced the cost of doing business by $8 billion in the province every single year.

Now, we cannot let the Liberal carbon tax lose Ontario’s momentum. We have shown the Liberals the way: Lower taxes create jobs; lower taxes create wealth in Ontario. We ask the Liberals to scrap the carbon tax today.

The minister is right: The difference between our approach and the Liberals’ approach could not be clearer. We’re the party of lower taxes while the Liberals will always be the party of higher taxes. Just look at their leader, Bonnie Crombie, who has supported every single Liberal tax hike over the last 20 years. She watched as her friends in the previous Liberal government sought to crush our manufacturing sector with their higher taxes, and now she won’t even stand up to the Prime Minister, to tell him to scrap that terrible tax.

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on how the Liberals need to follow our lead and scrap the tax today?

Supplementary question.

I am very familiar with Hope Air and completely appreciate and understand the very valuable service they provide, offering free-of-charge flights for families and young people who need to have access. But we as a government have made a commitment to enhance the northern Ontario travel grant, and those enhancements are going to greatly assist when individuals need to travel further than 100 kilometres. They are going to get additional service through a number of pathways and the mileage, of course, starting at kilometre 1 instead of 100 and expansion of the program, including simplifying some of the forms that have to be filled out as part of the program.

We’re going to invest, but we’re also going to invest in community services so that people don’t have to travel as far.

We will continue to make enhancements, but the fact that this NDP party continues to speak against enhancements for local community diagnostic and surgical centres speaks to their interest in keeping the status quo while we do the improvements that are necessary and needed.

Many Ontarians have lost trust in the ability of the Licence Appeal Tribunal to fairly adjudicate homeowner warranty disputes with Tarion. Homeowners’ success rate at the LAT is very low, with Canadians for Properly Built Homes reporting that homeowners have lost around 84% of appeals since 2006. In recent years, the number of appeals made by homeowners has dropped dramatically, with 208 issues appealed in 2006 and only four in 2023.

Mr. Speaker, these numbers suggest that homeowners no longer trust the LAT to fairly adjudicate their appeals of Tarion warranty decisions, and I need to ask the Attorney General, will he commit to reviewing the effectiveness of the LAT in handling homeowner appeals of Tarion warranty decisions?

With only four appeals by homeowners to the LAT in 2023, homeowners are clearly choosing not to go to the tribunal anymore, and something is obviously wrong.

Will the Attorney General commit to implementing a third-party review of Tarion’s construction performance guidelines and to ensuring that the adjudicators hearing these appeals have the training and expertise required to make informed decisions?

This government, under the leadership of this Premier, is taking swift action when it comes to climate change resiliency and adaptation. Just look at the results, Speaker. If you just look at what we’ve done to build resiliency, whether it’s Ontario’s Forest Sector Strategy, our community wildfire protection plans, our climate risk and resilience assessments—92%, we’ve increased wildfire funding.

Wetland conservation partnerships—we’ve dedicated $30 million in funding. We’ve protected thousands of hectares of wetlands.

Speaker, every step of the way, when this government tries to build up Ontario, create great jobs, create green jobs, invest in our manufacturing sector, while creating EVs, fighting climate change every step of the way, unfortunately, we have no support from the opposition, because their only plan is a carbon tax and a tax plan.

On this side of the House, we know that a carbon tax is a tax plan, not an environment plan.

In addition to this, we have introduced penalties per violation: $100,000 per violation will now apply to this company. This regulation is part of a larger coordinated response that is under way to include regular site visits, multiple provincial orders, suspension of the company’s environmental compliance approvals and enhanced, 24/7 benzene monitoring. These are actions that will ensure the facility, currently shut down for maintenance, will fully address the causes and sources of the emissions before resuming operations.

We take the health and safety of the residents of Sarnia and the entire community very seriously and we’ll continue to use every tool necessary to get to the bottom of this.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, I again thank the member for Oxford for that question. Our government believes that reducing the time and money it takes to interact with government is essential. At ServiceOntario, we’ve simplified online renewals for drivers’ licences and health cards, we’ve permanently waived fees for delayed death registration for Indigenous peoples, and we’ve made registering newborns faster and more affordable.

I must add that just yesterday, we saw a tremendous act of bipartisanship as this House came together to unanimously pass Bill 200, the protecting homeowners act. It passed unanimously at third reading so that, upon royal assent, all those who have been victims of the insidious NOSI scams can breathe a sigh of relief. Help, indeed, has arrived. I would like to thank all of the honourable members of this House who supported that bill and who chose to send a clear message. They support legislation that reduces burdens for Ontarian, especially as the federal Liberals continue to fail this—

As that member well knows—and I hope all members know—in today’s digital landscape, it’s essential for our government to address cyber crimes and protect our digital infrastructure. We have implemented a comprehensive, Ontario public-service-wide cyber security program to safeguard public data. This strategy was refreshed in 2023 to enhance cyber protection across the Ontario public sector and strengthen broader public sector resilience. We’ve worked closely with our BPS partners to bolster the province’s cyber resilience and the security of public services. Our focus includes enhancing cyber threat prevention, monitoring and intelligence capabilities.

Our government is committed to implementing secure protocols to protect against large-scale cyber attacks and personal information theft, especially in our hospitals and our schools. This is why our government is leading unprecedented—

I thank the minister for the response.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer has been very clear that the majority of us will pay more in carbon taxes than we will get back in rebates. Ontarians will not be fooled. They know the carbon tax is just another Liberal tax grab.

Speaker, families across the province are looking to our government for support. We must continue to find ways to reduce costs across the board and ensure that people are not facing any additional burdens.

Can the minister please tell the House how our government is delivering real affordability to Ontarians by keeping costs down for essential services?

Thank you.

The supplementary question.

The next question.

And the supplementary question.

Speaker, my question is for the Premier. We cannot take clean air for granted, especially as the climate emergency fuels more and more wildfires in our province. We just need to look back to last summer’s unprecedented wildfire season. In our communities, we all saw the smoky skies, felt it burn our lungs. We even smelled it right in this chamber.

Wildfire smoke is toxic. It contains ultra-fine particulate that penetrates deep into our body. Ontario has an Air Quality Health Index, but this ministry does not track that ultra-fine particulate, which is completely negligent; almost all other provinces do so, but Ontario hasn’t acted.

My question: When will you update the Air Quality Health Index so people have the information that they need to keep themselves and their families safe?

This government is also failing the people of Aamjiwnaang First Nation. Aamjiwnaang First Nation declared a state of emergency last month because of its high level of benzene pollution in the air. This government continues to ignore Aamjiwnaang’s air quality recommendations and failed to consult—

Interjection.

To the Premier or to the environment minister: Please explain why, in a First Nations community, you are allowing benzene to be emitted at concentrations that, hourly, would trigger a shutdown in California and are 10 times the annual amount that is allowed by any other emitter in the province? Please try and explain that.

My question is to the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery. Ontarians have observed a growing number of media reports about cyber security breaches occurring worldwide. As our information technology systems progress, cyber criminals are also becoming increasingly sophisticated. Governments must be prepared to combat cyber crime in all its forms. It is our responsibility to find ways to protect the integrity and security of our digital infrastructure while safeguarding citizens’ privacy and rights.

This objective extends beyond the Ontario government. Collaboration with our partners across the broader public sector is crucial to ensuring everyone’s safety. Could the minister please explain how Bill 194, if passed, will enhance cyber security and promote collaboration with the Ontario government’s partners?

Speaker, in recent months, hospitals, schools and municipalities have fallen victim to cyber crimes by bad actors. The personal information of citizens has been compromised and could be exploited for further criminal activities. Protecting private information is paramount, especially when it concerns children and society’s most vulnerable.

Could the minister please elaborate on the specific efforts undertaken to protect hospitals, schools and municipalities from these criminal activities and the steps that will be implemented under Bill 194, if passed?

Good morning, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This week, we’re celebrating Local Food Week in Ontario. It’s an opportunity to promote farmers while also recognizing the important role of food processors, restaurants, retail and others across the local food supply chain.

Ontario has a robust food industry that contributes over $48 billion to our province’s GDP and economy, representing more than 860,000 jobs. This vital sector must continue to grow and produce more food for Ontario’s growing population and our export market. Unfortunately, the carbon tax not only places a heavy economic burden on our farmers, it also impacts the global standing of the whole agricultural sector.

Speaker, can the minister please explain to the House why the Liberals must roll back this punitive tax?

Speaker, let me be clear, the program will continue as Canada does water surveillance, and Canada will continue to do that. Ontario is simply getting rid of a duplication. The federal government conducts waste water surveillance across Canada and is actually moving to expand the sampling processes with additional sites here in Ontario. So moving forward, what we’re doing is, the Ministry of Health will be working with the Public Health Agency of Canada on data-sharing agreements to ensure that the province can continue to analyze Ontario’s specific waste water data.

Speaker, we’ll also work with the federal government to propose sampling sites that provide quality data for public health across the province. The program will continue to collect and analyze samples and will collaborate with Public Health Ontario.

“I don’t see any reason why it should be provincially managed, as opposed to federally managed,” said Dr. Razak. He goes on to say, “It is not unreasonable for the federal government to take over a centralized approach to testing. I would say from a public health and a scientific perspective—and I think what the public should want—is the availability of the information still remains timely and comprehensive.”

Speaker, this information will still be timely and comprehensive. The only difference is we’re removing a duplication because the federal government is expanding the surveillance program to continue expansion here in Ontario.