The ayes are 74; the nays are 31.

Bill 39, An Act to amend the City of Toronto Act, 2006 and the Municipal Act, 2001 and to enact the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Repeal Act, 2022 / Projet de loi 39, Loi visant à modifier la Loi de 2006 sur la cité de Toronto et la Loi de 2001 sur les municipalités et à édicter la Loi de 2022 abrogeant la Loi sur la Réserve agricole de Duffins-Rouge.

A quick question related to what is not in this bill: that is, a clear path to support nurses and front-line health care workers who are feeling burned out, a clear path to support hospitals that want to retain this important staff.

Earlier today my questions were ignored when I asked about supporting nurses, front-line staff and patients. The fact is that the FAO, the Financial Accountability Officer of the government of Ontario, reports that you are imposing a giant inflationary cut on our health care services.

So my question is, failed policies like these are making the crisis worse. Do you believe that Bill 124 has made hiring and retaining nurses harder for hospitals in Niagara, and will you amend this or any legislation to repeal it?

I certainly enjoyed the member from Niagara West’s comments because I think our ridings share—and Perth—

Interjection: Wellington.

So my question to the member is simply, what priorities in this legislation tackle the cost of government while investing in infrastructure, roads, hospitals, education etc. to make this province a better place?

Thank you very much to the members for their presentation. I think we can all agree that homelessness has reached a humanitarian disaster, especially in the province of Ontario. We’re seeing encampments grow in big cities as well as small communities and communities of in-between sizes.

And yet we know that the housing crisis that the government has spoken about is going to be addressed through some of their measures, but I believe that the housing crisis that largely remains unaddressed is the affordable housing crisis, so therefore, those who can afford less than the $2,000 average rent that we’re seeing in some areas. I’m curious to know, why is the government cutting $85 million from the homelessness program compared to what they spent last year?

Thank you to my honourable colleague for that great question, and to rise and talk about some of the initiatives. Just so the House is aware, my riding, the catchment area, has the lowest unemployment rate in Ontario—2.6%, I believe, was the last statistic. So if you know anyone who needs a job, please tell them to come to my riding. If you can walk and talk and show up on time, they will give you a job and they will train you. It can be a variety of jobs.

Our government, obviously, is hearing this from businesses across Ontario, and so the investments in the Skills Development Fund, the $40 million extra in that, I think demonstrates our government’s commitment to going above and beyond to meet that demand and continue to build Ontario and working with our federal colleagues, as has been alluded to earlier today in this House, to get more new Canadians to come to Ontario and have a bigger say over the provincial nomination program.

The learn and stay grant, which we announced earlier this year, is making a significant impact in our rural hospitals. It’s attracting nurses and health care workers to our hospitals. In rural Ontario, prior to the COVID pandemic—it’s hard to think of way back then, prior to 2020, in March. But in my area where I’m from, and I’m sure similar to Niagara West, I’m assuming, there was already a shortage of health care workers because it was hard to attract and retain health care workers.

Our government is doing our best to address that issue through the learn and stay grant, encouraging people and providing money for them to pay for their tuition, to relocate to those communities and to work in our rural hospitals.

Thank you to my colleague for his wonderful presentation. Speaker, in their remarks, they have mentioned that the government continues to have grown the economy by getting shovels in the ground to build key infrastructure projects, such as subways, hospitals, GO trains, roads and bridges etc. and investing in skills training for Ontario’s workers and newcomers. We know that Ontario is facing labour shortage challenges now. Could the member from Niagara West or Perth–Wellington tell us about how this legislation will support the government’s efforts to address the labour shortage in Ontario?

Thank you to the member opposite for bringing forward the feedback you’re hearing from constituents and their questions. I would say to your constituent, and as I’ve spoken with my constituents about these issues, it’s the importance of cumulative changes and ensuring that our government is taking actions in a number of different areas to make life more affordable. That gas tax cut has an impact on the cost of food, on the cost of transportation and also on the ability of your constituent and my constituent to be able to get from A to B in a reasonable time frame. So whether it’s the gas tax cut, whether it’s also fighting the increases that we saw under the ideological Fair Hydro Plan, as it was called—but really the unfair hydro plan—of the former government and the changes that we’ve made to stabilize hydro rates to ensure that someone like your constituent is able to see a reasonable hydro bill as opposed to a very high hydro bill—and also taking action to build more housing, to ensure that rent rates are stabilized in order to ensure that there are more savings that are put in the pocket of your constituent.

We know that we need 1.5 million homes in the province of Ontario. We know that the status quo wasn’t making that happen. And when our government took action to make the changes, to make it happen, she voted against it. My question to her would be, how can you vote against legislation that would have solved the housing crisis?

That’s where I think the big contrast between what we saw under the former Liberal government—again, propped up by the NDP for many, many years—was where they spent billions and billions and billions of dollars, and at the end of it, what did we have to show for it? As the Minister of Finance has said, we had a health care system that was in crisis. We didn’t have long-term-care homes built in the province of Ontario. We didn’t have new hospitals. We didn’t have new roads.

And that’s, I think, a fundamental difference under this government. Our government is ensuring that each and every dollar that’s being spent for the taxpayers of this province is going into ensuring we have good infrastructure that is focused on economic recovery and jobs for today and tomorrow.

I really enjoyed the comments the member from Niagara West offered this evening. He’s quite articulate. I always enjoy being in the House listening to him, and I’m glad that he touched on the ODSP rates.

My question to him is—as the member from Algoma–Manitoulin, I always try to bring to the floor the questions of people across my riding, and today’s question that I’d like to put to you is on behalf of Donna Behnke. She’s in Elliot Lake and she actually texted me a question this morning. She says, “Listen, Mike, I’m on ODSP. I do not have kids so I have not been benefitting from any of the surpluses that have been provided to individuals and families on ODSP.” And she’s quite happy that they were successful in that. She says, “I cannot work, just like many people on ODSP who cannot work. How is it that this fall economic statement is going to be benefitting me, because I can’t go out and work to supplement my income to what the government has done to $1,000?”

What can we tell this constituent of mine as far as, what is this government going to do to help her?

Questions?

Report continues in volume B.

I listened with great intent to the member for Perth–Wellington as he laid out some of the incredible investments that Premier Ford and this government are making in communities across Ontario. Frankly, I know communities like his, in parts of rural Ontario, for many years, were neglected by the previous Liberal government, propped up by the NDP.

In my riding of Niagara West, we had a bit of a similar experience. I know that prior to this government coming to office in 2018, we saw the abandonment of rural communities, such as Wainfleet, Grimsby, Fenwick, West Lincoln and Lincoln, that for so long had consisted of people who worked hard and got up every morning to contribute and raise their families, to be able to build stronger communities, and who just wanted a government that worked for them and heard what their needs were and responded to those needs. Unfortunately, they hadn’t seen that for many years. That changed in 2018, when our government came to office, building investments in our communities, from rural broadband access to natural gas expansions to the new hospitals in every corner of the region to expansions in mental health, and, of course, jobs—making sure that manufacturing that had been leaving Niagara once again returned because of the billions of dollars in savings through tax cuts, through reducing the cost of skyrocketing hydro rates which we’d seen under the former government and, of course, red tape measures which are so important to ensure that businesses are able to move forward without duplication and unnecessary regulation.

Earlier this year, in the lead-up to the June election, when I went out and spoke with people in my constituency about the investments they saw, the people in my riding were thrilled. They were excited to see that a government was listening to them. There was a government in Toronto that understood—with great respect to my colleagues from the rest of the GTA—that the world didn’t end at the Burlington Skyway, that the world was beyond the GTA stretch of this province. Rural communities, for the first time in many years, were being heard, were being listened to, and were being invested in.

I think as a result of those types of actions, we saw a strong mandate return to this House, with my colleagues from every corner of Ontario—they were able to return and continue the work we started.

Today’s legislation that we’re debating, the Progress on the Plan to Build Act, builds on, really, the commitments and the themes that I heard front and centre from my constituents over the course of the spring conversations. I had a wonderful opportunity to speak with people from every background when I was out door-knocking. It’s one of the best parts, I believe, of our work as elected representatives: to go out, to pound the pavement, to hear from the people, the everyday folks who are working hard to raise their families and build up our communities, about what their concerns were.

I heard some really key themes come through. I heard about the need to ensure that we were rebuilding our economy after the challenges of COVID. I heard about the need to have a government that worked for workers—that recognized the increased cost of living and was working to ensure that everyone had the skills they needed to succeed and thrive today and tomorrow, with the jobs that not just currently exist but those that are coming, with investments in things like the electric vehicle manufacturing space and in so many other areas.

I heard the theme that came through constantly about the need to address the cost of living, and people were very pleased to see that our government had taken action to cut the licence plate sticker fees and, of course, to cut the gas tax.

Interjections.

We also heard about that need to build highways, to ensure that key infrastructure in every part of this growing province was reflecting that growth and that those investments were going to be made.

We saw also this spring a clear message from Ontarians that they wanted to see Ontario kept open, and I think that on June 2, we saw an overwhelming endorsement of our response to the themes that people brought to us. I really believe that that’s what led to our success in the spring and it’s the work that we are now continuing in this fall economic statement.

The budget is a really, really important document. It’s one that lays out the priorities that the government has, and it’s one that ensures that the people of Ontario understand how their government is being responsible and good fiscal managers, ensuring that they’re not passing on the costs of today’s services to future generations, but are acting in a responsible manner. And I believe that that’s a budget that we passed earlier this year that demonstrated those commitments.

But in between budgets, which come around once a year, we have the opportunity to table an update, to provide a progress report to our constituents, who, of course, are interested in knowing what we’re doing here, working on their behalf. And one of the really, really important ways that we can do so is through this document, through the Plan to Build and the Progress on the Plan to Build Act. At that time, we also have the opportunity, as we’ve done in this legislation, to build on the commitments that are made in the budget.

So I think some of the measures in this document that are so important are really ones that continue on those themes that I spoke about, that we heard from our constituents, themes around ensuring that we have a strong economy. And so, taking place in this legislation are measures such as providing Ontario’s small businesses with $185 million in income tax relief over the next three years, benefiting over 5,500 small businesses through the extension of the phaseout of the small business tax rate, building on previous work that had been done in this way; and automatically matching property tax reductions for small businesses within all municipalities which adopt the small business property subclass, an important way for small businesses to save money and to reinvest in their businesses to hire more people and to grow our economy.

But also, Speaker, one of the things I heard from my community was the need to ensure that governments are compassionate. And that’s why I’m so proud to see that our government is making a change to ensure that those who are on ODSP not only get a 5% increase across the board, but also will have that support program that really helps some of the most vulnerable in our society, with a program that’s indexed to inflation, recognizing the changing needs of an uncertain economy.

But something that I believe is also really important and something that I heard from constituents time and time again was the change to allowable earnings and to be able to see that go from $200—not to $500, not to $600, not to $700, but to $1,000 a month before any clawbacks begin. I believe it’s something that the Minister of Finance and the Premier have demonstrated exceptional leadership in, and I want to thank them on behalf of the people of my community.

Interjections.

Speaker, we’ve also seen, unfortunately, that for many years, the previous government ignored the needs of skilled trades workers. But that, under this government, is changing. That’s something we sent a clear signal to in some of the very first actions that we took when we came to office, recognizing that people, no matter what their work is, are doing valuable work, are doing work that adds to their dignity and that is worthy of recognition. An area that, unfortunately, had been overlooked for many years was the area of skilled trades. So this legislation builds on the important work that the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development had done in this space, and it invests an additional $40 million in the upcoming fiscal year, for a total of $145 million, through the Skills Development Fund, helping to train tens of thousands of people across this province in those crucial skills, which is also helping to build the capacity to make these investments in infrastructure that we are making.

I think again of my riding of Niagara and the three new hospitals that are being built, the dozens of new roads and new bridges that are being redone, the incredible investments in broadband and in natural gas that are happening. It takes a lot of people to make this work happen. Unfortunately, we didn’t see, under the previous Liberal government propped up by the NDP, investments into the types of skilled training that would make sure we had the workforce to make these investments. You would hear big plans, perhaps, sometimes from the opposition or the Liberals. They wanted to strike another committee, issue another report about their plans, but they didn’t do the real work that needed to happen to make the investments that we are now making.

I want to thank the Minister of Finance for including this important point in our fall economic statement.

I spoke about the importance that the people of my riding brought to cost savings when it comes to the gas pump. When we came to office, we fought the federal government, and have continued to fight all the way to the Supreme Court, on the carbon tax. But the Minister of Finance built on that work by announcing that our gas tax cut that we put in place earlier this year is being extended for a whole other year, saving people in the province of Ontario hundreds of dollars when they gas up at the pump.

Speaker, as I wrap up, I want to thank my colleagues for the work they’re doing in this House to ensure that the voices of their constituents are being reflected in the legislation that comes forward. At the end of the day, it’s important that each and every one of us takes those ideas and ensures that they’re reflected in the government’s priorities, and I believe that the fall economic statement does that. It builds on the work that we announced in our budget, and we’ll continue to do that work to ensure each and every one of our communities is supported.

The member from Niagara West.

Thank you, Speaker. I will also be sharing my time with the great member from Niagara West, who gave me a resounding round of applause there, as well.

It’s my honour to rise today to speak to some of the critical investments our government is making under our fall economic statement. Whether it’s our plan to build, expanding our investments in the skilled trades, or being there for our most vulnerable, our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, is taking historic steps to ensure Ontario is kept on the right path.

Speaker, let’s not forget it was just over four years ago that Ontario was holding on by a thread. Thousands of manufacturing jobs were being lost, hydro rates were skyrocketing, and Ontarians were losing hope. Since then, our government has pushed forward with the real priorities of Ontarians, standing strong throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and now taking the necessary steps to recover and grow.

Our progress report on our budget measures highlights our resolve and determination to get things done for Ontarians on all fronts.

Ontario is not the only jurisdiction facing labour shortages, a housing crisis and cost-of-living strains, but our government is making every effort to ensure that we’re among the first to overcome these challenges through a variety of tax relief initiatives, infrastructure investments and digital innovations.

First and foremost, our government understands and values and respects the needs of our taxpayers. We are managing the provincial debt in a responsible and respectful manner. Just this past September, our government announced the deficit for the 2021-22 fiscal year had been eliminated, and while it may not always be the case going forward with each passing year, our government will always remain steadfast as we look to ensure that taxpayers’ dollars are spent wisely.

Our plan to build hinges on the connectivity of people, communities and businesses across Ontario. Our government’s plan highlights $25 billion over the next decade to support planning and construction of highways and rehabilitation projects like Highway 413, the Bradford Bypass, the QEW Garden City Skyway and many others—including in my own riding of Perth–Wellington, $1.4 million for Highway 89 in Mount Forest and $1.3 million on Ontario Street in Stratford. And I want to apologize to my constituents—there’s a joke that there are two seasons in Ontario, construction season and winter, and it really felt this way in my riding this summer. But it’s great to see the provincial government making these investments, as outlined in the fall economic statement.

Beyond this, our government is allocating $61 billion over the next 10 years towards public transit, connecting people across a variety of different communities and allowing them to engage in broader local, regional and provincial economies. More specifically, this will support even larger-scale transit projects such as the Ontario Line to the Ontario Science Centre, connecting over 40 transit hubs including GO train lines, TTC lines and the Eglinton Crosstown light-rail transit line, and including, through the Community Transportation Grant Program system under Minister Mulroney, transportation in my riding of Perth–Wellington. We are including transportation in rural Ontario, which is something that unfortunately has been lost in previous governments in this place. These transit funds will also support GO train expansion outside of the GTA—nothing against my great GTA colleagues, but we do need to expand the GO train beyond the greater Golden Horseshoe, to communities such as Stratford and St. Marys. These investments will reduce emissions, cut commuting times, and allow families to spend more time together.

Speaker, the opposition never wastes an opportunity to call for more transit investments, which is why I’m calling on all opposition MPPs here today to join our government in advancing this important shared priority, and to show that they’re really fighting for their constituents and not just counting political points.

However, with or without our opposition colleagues, our government is fully aware of what Ontarians are looking for from us. We heard it loud and clear this past June, when people right across the province gave this government a mandate to build more infrastructure, invest in our health care and schools, and keep costs down for families and businesses.

Our government has committed more than $40 billion over the next 10 years in hospital infrastructure, supporting more than 50 additional major hospital projects—a historic investment—and community health care centres, adding 3,000 new beds over that time period.

And in light of the financial pressures on families and businesses across the province that they have been facing over the last few years, our government is making sure that we take every step to ensure families can live comfortably and businesses can thrive.

In spring 2022, recognizing the effects of inflation and geopolitical circumstances, our government cut the provincial gas tax by 5.7 cents per litre. Statistics Canada has shown that this cut has contributed significantly to the decline in gas prices across Ontario and has helped lower the consumer price index. We’re proposing, under the fall economic statement, to extend that to the end of 2023.

Furthermore, our government has continued to take leadership in streamlining business operations and reducing costs for complying with regulations, saving businesses, not-for-profits, municipalities, universities, colleges, hospitals and school boards $576 million per year. The integrated impacts of these cost-saving measures are reflected by an increase in total real business investment in Ontario by $9.7 billion between the second quarter of 2018 to the second quarter of 2022. More than just that, our government has overseen a 5.2% increase over the same time period in investments by Ontario businesses in real intellectual property rights, ranking the highest in the nation for the portion of small and medium enterprises reporting ownership of IP.

Speaker, when we look back at where we were as a province just four and a half years ago, it’s amazing to see how well this government has been able to turn around our economy, while steering us through such unprecedented times. All of these indicators reflect the important strategic advantages our government is putting in place for businesses across the province, across a variety of sectors, to succeed not only on a regional and national level, but on an international level. Our government has full faith that we as a government are willing and able to create the right business environment, with a balance of market freedoms and regulations, and Ontario businesses will thrive. That is precisely what this progress report indicates.

Expanding on this, our government’s plan to build will naturally support the expansion of skilled trades throughout this province, further promoting lucrative and fulfilling job opportunities for young Ontarians. We have lifted the minimum wage, invested in dual-credit programs and expanded the Skills Development Fund. Our government has made significant strides in addressing our labour shortage, ensuring that Ontarians can play an important role in the growth and development of our great province.

As outlined in the fall economic statement, we are investing an additional $40 million in 2022-23 for a total of $145 million for the latest round of the Skills Development Fund. I know many organizations in my riding take advantage of this. The Technical Training Group, for example, does amazing work to encourage young people and people who have also gone on to post-secondary but want to get into the trades, which is very key. There are thousands and thousands of jobs in the skilled trades, and we need people to join us in building Ontario, and this investment will do just that.

We’re also investing—which I am personally very excited about—an additional $4.8 million in the Dual Credit Program. We have heard over and over that we need more ECEs in our province, and this investment will help us expand that over the next two years and will help us realize a $10-a-day child care agreement which we signed with the federal government earlier this year.

Speaker, we’re constantly looking to improve and expand opportunities for all Ontarians, and we’re also ensuring no one gets left behind. Whether it’s low-income workers and families, individuals with disabilities, or seniors who have given so much to our communities, our government has made it clear that we will continue to support these groups as we grow Ontario for everyone. And in doing so, our government is making significant investments and changes to allow persons with disabilities on the ODSP program to keep more of their money, further increasing the monthly exemptions from $200 per month to $1,000 per month. These proposed changes will allow approximately 25,000 individuals currently in the workforce to keep more of their earnings and encourage as many as 25,000 more individuals to participate in the workforce, which is vitally needed. Since proposing these changes, we’ve heard from numerous partners in the non-profit sector applauding these changes and the positive outcomes this will create for Ontarians. I think it shows our government’s compassionate leadership in being willing to grow our economy but to also support those who are most vulnerable in society.

With that, Speaker, I want to pass it over to my great colleague from Niagara West.

I’m the former minister of universities and colleges and trades. Our previous government opened the Northern Ontario School of Medicine because we wanted to have more doctors in the north. When I was in government—supporting the expansion of the medical school into Scarborough was something that I noticed as a gap. I helped to support a proposal which later came into fruition under your government. I think that’s a good example of what works—that you start something and it carries on and it’s sustained. So I’m very, very proud of the work in my local community and of the work that we did when I was the minister responsible.

Working for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada for a number of years was really one of the impetuses to run—and I’m curious, heralding the vision that you’d had, why wasn’t that put into action when the previous government cut residency positions? I’m very glad that you’re supporting this, but I think we have to be open and honest with ourselves. When we had 15 years to do it—cut residency positions in Ontario. This government is expanding it. Do you support it?

Further questions?

Interjection.

I’d like to thank the member from Scarborough–Guildwood for her comments, and especially for pointing out all of the billions sitting in contingency funds.

My question, though, is, what comparisons could the member make between the Conservatives’ Bill 124 and the Liberals’ infamous Bill 115?

Madam Speaker, through you, a quick question to the member for Scarborough–Guildwood related to what is not in this bill: It seems that this is a bill that has nothing to do with stopping gouging with the cost of food and groceries and grocery stores that are owned by billionaires. This impacts every member in our community, including seniors and people on fixed incomes. My question to you is, why do you think none of these important issues for the province of Ontario are being tackled with this piece of legislation?

They voted for him.

Madam Speaker, unlike the member from the government side here, who I actually—you know, Brampton North is where my family lives.

My nephew who lives in that same community is going to be two years old on Saturday, and I want to wish him a happy birthday. Jordan, as you celebrate your second birthday—I want to make sure that there’s a future that’s vibrant and a healthy planet for Jordan and for all future generations for years to come.

Bill 124 has been an oppressive wage-constraining bill. When you think about who is in the public service, it’s really a lot of female-dominated professions that have been suffering under this. We see the nurses have risen up to say they oppose this bill.

Bill 115, which was put in place to have teachers come back after a situation where they were on strike, has already been litigated in the courts. There has already been a settlement to acknowledge that that was something that should not have happened.

The jury is still out when it comes to Bill 124. The FAO has estimated it could cost Ontario $8.4 billion, for this wage-suppressing legislation.

Supporting the expansion of the Scarborough Health Network is something that our former government did—$1.1 billion was put into treasury when I was part of that cabinet, because we knew that Scarborough needed a new hospital. The fact that this government has sat on it—it has now grown to $1.5 billion. We need to get shovels in the ground on that project as quickly as possible, because the money has been sitting there for definitely the four and a half years that you guys have been in government.

In terms of the medical school, that was an idea I helped to conceive of. I’m really, really thrilled that we will have the Scarborough medical academy opening in 2025, with medical students who will be living and learning in Scarborough.

I’m newer in the House, but when I came to the Legislature, I used to think with regard to the Liberal Party that there wasn’t a regulation they didn’t want to duplicate, a program spend they didn’t want to double or a tax they didn’t want to increase. Since my time in the Legislature, I’m willing to revise my opinion. We hear members of the Liberal Party speak more about cost-of-living issues, more about inflation, about putting money back into people’s pockets.

One of the great things that this bill does is extend that gas tax cut, which not only makes life more affordable for commuters like myself who drive into work but also helps with food prices and other things. Knowing the economic times that we’re in, is the member willing to adjust her approach, support our gas tax and join us in calling on the federal government to scrap the ineffective carbon tax?

This question is more about the good people of Scarborough.

We’ve seen, time and time again, over 15 years, that the people of Scarborough were neglected by previous governments.

One of the key things that I know the member for Scarborough–Agincourt, the member for Scarborough–Rouge Park and the member for Scarborough North have really pushed for is to increase provincial investments locally.

This document, our fall economic statement, gives a progress update on investments like the Scarborough medical school with U of T, the expansion of the Scarborough hospital, and the Scarborough subway stops. When the member had a chance to review the document and saw the progress, did the member regret voting against all of those investments?

Could the member expand a little bit more on why she voted against the medical school in Scarborough?