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Decentralized Democracy

Hon. Michael Parsa

  • MPP
  • Member of Provincial Parliament
  • Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill
  • Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
  • Ontario
  • Suite 201 13085 Yonge St. Richmond Hill, ON L4E 3S8 Michael.Parsaco@pc.ola.org
  • tel: 905-773-6250
  • fax: 905-773-8158
  • Michael.Parsaco@pc.ola.org

  • Government Page
  • Apr/27/23 10:40:00 a.m.

I thank my honourable colleague for the question. The member is right: What we did is we made sure that, during a very difficult time, every single Ontarian here has a chance to succeed. That’s why we made the largest increase to ODSP rates in decades. Not only that, it was tied to inflation. The food bank, I’ll remind my honourable colleague, referred to it as a laudable move by this government.

That’s not where we ended. She’s absolutely right. We also made sure that the income threshold is raised from $200 to $1,000 a month. Why? So that people can have more money in their pockets, so that more people who are able to work and want to get out there and work to fill some of the great jobs that are available here in this province can do so and earn more and keep more of their hard earned money.

The people of this province were being let down, not under the leadership of this Premier, not under our government. When we say, “We’re not going to leave anyone behind,” that means every single person in this province, Madam Speaker.

That’s not it, Madam Speaker. We initiated the LIFT tax credit and the CARE tax credit so that some of the lowest earners don’t have to pay the Ontario tax for it. Why? Because we wanted to make sure they keep more money in their pockets.

She referenced housing, Madam Speaker. This is why the Associate Minister of Housing is working hard to make sure that housing becomes more affordable across our province.

But Madam Speaker, it’s my honourable colleague and his party that had the balance of power here in this Legislature. They could have made sure that those supports are provided to Ontarians. They didn’t. It’s this Premier who increased the ODSP rate that hadn’t been done in decades. The largest increase in decades, Madam Speaker.

We went further to make sure that no one is left behind. We tied the rate to inflation for future—again, under this government, under the leadership of this Premier, no one will be left behind.

We’ll make sure that not only do they have the support, those who need it, we’ll make sure that the 400,000 jobs that are going unfilled, thanks to the great work of the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, and this Premier—

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  • Mar/22/23 11:30:00 a.m.

Thank you very much for the question.

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear once again: There has not been a government in this province for the past 70 years that has provided more protections for tenants than this government has. We protected tenants through Bill 184; we put in various measures to protect tenants. Unfortunately, the opposition voted against every single one of those measures. The rent increase guideline that’s currently set at 2.5%—we maxed it at 2.5%, well below inflation; it would have been over 5% if we hadn’t taken action. Last year, we capped it at 2.1%.

We have continuously said that we are in a housing supply crisis in this province and it affects everyone. The opposition doesn’t seem to understand that. We need to increase supply so that everyone in Ontario has a home that meets their needs and their budgets. They may not care for it. We will, and we will—

Mr. Speaker, last year, in 2022, we had a record number of purpose-built rentals in this province; the year before that, once again, a record number of housing starts—not only just overall, but also for purpose-built rentals.

When it comes to protection for tenants, let me be clear once again: Bill 184—that member was here when we introduced it. It was this member here that put in protection for tenants across the board in this province. What did the opposition do? Vote against it. That’s the same thing for opposition—they’ll continue to talk about one thing, but when it comes to voting, they will vote against it. They’re for housing until we introduce it, and they will vote against it. They’re for protection—they will talk about it—but when it comes to actually putting their name behind it, they will vote against it. That’s not on this side of the House—

Interjections.

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