My question is for the Premier.

We’re working on a new downtown community safety plan in Ottawa to respond to a request from this government that we use funds to enhance people’s safety downtown and on our transit system. We now have 120 days to respond to the government. We’re meeting actively with local officials to help us come up with the best plan.

My question, which is a straightforward one, which is part of our preparations, is, is the government prepared to fund, in our community safety plan, an unarmed crisis response unit that could help our neighbours who are suffering with mental health issues and addictions?

My question is to the Premier.

Speaker, I’m sure all of us in this House enjoy the opportunities we get to take a vacation.

Unfortunately, last week, over 500 staff at GO Transit learned that they were not allowed to have vacation for the rest of this year, and why? Because, sadly, the government has not invested in staff appropriately to pay, to finance and to work with the 15% schedule increase they proposed for the GO train that will go through Milton—coincidentally, the place I’m sure this Premier wants to win a by-election.

Metrolinx has a million-dollar CEO. Meanwhile, they have 82 vice-presidents at Metrolinx, and they have a marketing department of over 400 staff. But we aren’t hiring enough workers for GO trains, to make sure people can take vacations.

Can the Premier explain to this House if this makes any sense?

Meanwhile, while this government is building the paycheques of 82 Metrolinx vice-presidents, 400 marketing staff, this government has nothing to say—not a word—about the fact that people can’t take a vacation for the rest of this year.

So I want to ask my friend opposite, seriously: Can he commit to this House that he personally will look into this matter? Will he flow the funds necessary from the treasury to make sure GO Transit workers can take the vacation they earned—and Metrolinx executives can finally be called to heel on their incredible greed and compensation at the taxpayers’ expense?

Interjections.

My question is to the Premier.

Anne-Marie and Jasmine Ready were killed in their family home almost two years ago by a young man with a history of assault and sexual harassment. Their father, Raphael Ready, has now devoted his life to ending violence against women, and he wants this House to act on recommendations 32 and 33 of the Renfrew county inquest report so we can reach perpetrators of violence against women and people who are likely perpetrators of violence against women.

Is the government committed to implementing those recommendations today?

Entertaining discussion, as always, this morning. I was intrigued, my friend from Spadina–Fort York, how often you’re interrupted because I’m starting to realize that the government really doesn’t like criticism. Really—they don’t like it internally. We’ve have had five people other there jump ship. There’s probably going to be more. We have a Premier under criminal investigation by the RCMP, and you keep getting interrupted.

My question is this, my friend from Spadina–Fort York: Why does this government have such a hard time hearing criticism? Do you think that might be why they want to hand-pick judges, they want to hand-pick people that mirror their values?

And on transit, I have to just say for the record, the member for Etobicoke–Lakeshore, right now, her crowning achievement is a hole in the ground at Mimico station. It’s not much to brag about.

My question this morning is for the Premier.

Phil Verster, the million-dollar CEO of Metrolinx, missed yet another deadline last week with the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. In September, Mr. Verster told us we needed to give him some space, and he would get back to us with an update in two months on this failing project. What was that update, Speaker? That we would find out 60 days before the Eglinton Crosstown might open.

A simple question, Premier: Were you satisfied with that answer?

Why does Mr. Verster still have his job? Why does he still have 78 executives serving him, soaking up the sunshine list? Answer the question this morning. Lean into the microphone. Are you happy with the answer Mr. Verster gave us or are you going to fire him like a competent government would?

Interjections.

My question is for the Premier. It’s nice to see him here this morning. Unfortunately, I hasten to inform the members of this House—

Interjections.

I hastily and sadly inform the members of the House, in a question to the Premier, that Metrolinx has missed another deadline. We were supposed to hear two months ago, according to their failed CEO, Mr. Verster, that we’d get an update on the Eglinton Crosstown project. But two months have passed and the only thing that has happened is that Mr. Verster has apparently earned another $160,000 thanks to the Ontario taxpayer, and his army of 59 vice-presidents and 19 C-suite executives are probably doing very well.

So my question to the Premier, through you, Speaker: Can we expect an actual update from Mr. Verster on the status of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT?

This government seems to be confused, Speaker, rather like the federal government. They have great ideas about aspirational transit—transit that might come one day, transit that is $1 billion over budget in this particular project and three years late.

So my question to the Premier: Why are you continuing to tolerate an executive who apparently earns $1 million a year thanks to the Ontario taxpayer, who presides over failing transit projects, who has spent at least $500 million in court fighting the company building this project? And why are you not respecting the women and men all across Ontario that operate our transit system and paying them the salaries they deserve and giving the municipalities the money they deserve? Operational transit: That’s what we want here.

Interjections.

This question is to the Premier.

Yesterday was the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. I was honoured to attend the Toronto ceremony led by Jessica Spieker, who joins us in the members’ gallery today, from Friends and Families for Safe Streets, who walked us through an Etobicoke neighbourhood, documenting hundreds of collisions that have caused serious injury or death to pedestrians and cyclists by reckless drivers. We can and we must act for change.

After question period, we can vote for Bill 40, the Moving Ontarians Safely Act. This legislation has been debated in this House for 10 years by different caucuses. It is not a partisan issue. Can the Premier confirm to the House today that the government will be supporting Bill 40 at second reading?

My question is to the Premier. For weeks on this side of the House, we have demanded that the government fire Mr. Phil Verster, CEO of Metrolinx, because of the many failures under his watch, but this gentleman earns $1 million a year and he’s just had his contract renewed for three years.

But yesterday, we learned that the government has removed Janet Ecker, a former Tory cabinet minister, from the Metrolinx board in the middle of her term. Reports suggest that it was due to a column she wrote that criticized the “chaotic decision-making process” that led to the greenbelt fiasco.

Speaker, to the Premier: What message is he trying to send? Is it that the Premier can excuse gross incompetence with Mr. Verster, but criticism will not be tolerated?

Will this government get serious about the transit system we have—not the systems they want to exist some day; the buses and trains and streetcars we have—and make sure that they get the $500 million that they need, they fire Mr. Verster right now and insist we get our transit system back on track?

Interjections.

My question is for the Premier. Good morning, colleagues.

Speaker, I just had occasion to ride my bicycle from Ottawa to Toronto, as a measure to try to find out at a community level what people are talking about with road safety. What I heard concerned me, in places like Ottawa, Kingston, Brighton, Oshawa, Scarborough and right here in the great city of Toronto.

I talked to a paramedic who, while he was responding to a call, had his paramedic bus hit and one of his colleagues injured as they were trying to save someone’s life. I talked to the family of a young girl, Serene Summers in Ottawa, whose life will be forever changed due to a brain injury from someone who hit her and left the scene. And what I’m hearing from road workers, from seniors like Peggy Hawthorn from the United Senior Citizens of Ontario, is that you can alter someone’s life—you can even take someone’s life—but there are no meaningful consequences in the province of Ontario.

People on all sides of this House have worked on this for 10 years, and we still don’t have justice for people and families. So my question to the Minister of Transportation and to the Premier is: Is this a priority for your government, and are you prepared to work with me on it?

What we’re proposing in Bill 40 is an immediate one-year licence suspension, an immediate focus not on vilifying the person who causes an accident, but helping people be better drivers, helping people be better cyclists, helping people be better operators of whatever device they use in our communities—restorative justice, Speaker.

We’ve been working on it for 10 years. It’s an opportunity for us to do something unique in this place: work together. My question to the minister: Are you prepared to have this dialogue with us? Look into Bill 40. Let’s get this thing passed. Let’s work on it together.

My question is for the Premier.

It’s Halloween and Ontarians are accustomed to seeing and hearing about spooky things today, but nothing prepared me for a video I saw this weekend. I saw a video of Tyler Russell, an organizer with the hate group Canada First, receiving a call from what sounds like this Premier on February 11, 2022. After our exchange, Speaker, I’ll be posting this video to my Twitter account. This happened on February 11, in the middle of the convoy. If it is in fact the Premier taking this call from Mr. Russell, promising Mr. Russell, as you will see, that it was about ending vaccine mandates and COVID restrictions—that was his priority.

Can the Premier confirm if this in fact was him and why this conversation was even happening when my city was under siege?

The people of Ottawa need you, Premier—Speaker, through you, we need him to come clean on whether this in fact was a conversation he had in one of our worst moments of the convoy occupation crisis. I want to know if there were other members—did the Premier talk to Pat King? Did the Premier talk to Tamara Lich? Did the Premier talk to some of the people who were organized at a high level, infiltrating our city, blocking our city, harassing residents? It is a matter of public interest.

The Premier has been silent beyond talking about policing and jurisdiction. Other members of Parliament, other political office-holders who are not members of federal jurisdiction have had the courage to come testify in Ottawa.

Again, is this the Premier in this video? Will he come to Ottawa to testify?