I love afternoon debate, because you’re all so lively. Hopefully, we can get to some really interesting questions.

But I’m really happy to be able to say a few words about Bill 162, which could be named as well the getting it undone act. Here’s the interesting thing: The most interesting thing I find in this bill is schedule 5, followed by schedule 6.

I’ll go to schedule 5 first. Now, schedule 5 says “Protecting Against Carbon Taxes Act, 2024.” So there would have to be a referendum if there’s going to be a carbon tax, but the Premier of the Conservative government—well, you’ve got your own carbon tax, the industrial carbon tax: $2 billion going up by 23%, I think, next January. You’ve got your own carbon tax. You’re saying to people, “We’re going to prevent it,” but you have one. I don’t really understand how that makes any sense. So are you legislating against yourself? Are you legislating against maybe your future desire to do that again? You’ve already done it.

We hear about the carbon tax all day long in question period, but we don’t hear about the Conservative carbon tax. Next January, it’s going up 23%, the industrial carbon tax. While consumers may not be able to see that on their bills, on their invoices, on their grocery bills, it’s still there. It’s still there. And you guys put it in. You’re trying to pretend that you’re against it, but you’ve done it. How could anybody support a bill that did that?

But here’s really the one that sticks out. The members from up just past Oshawa, up towards that part of the 407 that the province owns? You’re going to do a referendum on tolls—you’re going to ban tolls—but you’re not going to do anything about the road that we own. The tolls—

I understand the other piece of that road, the 407, was something that your government—not your government, but your party sold off some 25 years ago. You sold it off 25 years ago.

Interjections.

Interjection.

Not only did you sell the road for a song—like a song, literally a song. Guess what? They owed us $1 billion, and you said, “That’s okay. Don’t worry about it, folks. Keep it. Keep the $1 billion.” That’s what I call the 407 gravy train. It’s not one that people know well. It’s that gravy train where they said, “Here’s $1 billion for you folks. You know what? You can have it. Don’t worry about what you owe us. And you know what? We’re not going to try to lower tolls on that road.”

If you were so against tolls, like you’re saying in this bill, why would you not do that? I thought you were about the people, saving people money. No. Come on, guys. Speaker, we’re going to ban tolls, but they keep the tolls, and they keep the tolls on the road that they own. Then they forgive $1 billion. Come on. Who are you kidding?

You did freeze licence fees, which is good. And you did finally get around to figuring out the licence plate stuff, which was causing some people some grief, because their Premier made an announcement that you didn’t have to pay anymore, but nobody told anybody that you had to keep registering, until you figured it out some three months later. I have a number of constituents who had received fines because it wasn’t clear. It was communicated once and then not very well at all after that. The government did not spend any time reminding people, “You’ve still got to do it.” You’ve still got to do it today because this bill hasn’t passed. That’s totally unfair to people.

It’s nice to get a good story. I love it when the Premier says, “We’re going to stop doing this, Speaker, because it’s good, and I’m for the people.” But you don’t tell them that they’ve got to keep doing it for three months, and it costs them 500, 600 bucks—if you’re out of province, $1,000. That’s not saving people any money.

The Official Plan Adjustments Act: I don’t know at what stage of doing or undoing this schedule comes in, but it’s certainly part of the doing/undoing that has been the whole scandal around—well, let’s put it this way: the whole scandal around urban boundaries changing for no discernible reason, other than maybe somebody made a donation or somebody knew somebody. Because it does seem like the well-connected insiders do well when it comes to anything that has got to do with land or property—see the 413; see the greenbelt. I think that that’s a fair assessment of that schedule that seems to be undoing a thing that you did that got undone.

I do want to add that it’s really not right that you’re saying you’re going to protect the people from carbon taxes when you have one, or that you’re going to ban tolls when you keep the tolls on the road that you own, and when you forgive $1 billion of the road that you sold for a song. It makes it impossible to support this bill.

I’m trying to run the clock here so I can make sure that I get 10 minutes’ worth of questions, because I know you’re all going to want to have fun. So I might divert a little bit into something different.

I did talk about the 407 gravy train. There’s a greenbelt gravy train. Now there’s a carbon tax gravy train in there. So there’s a lot of gravy going around.

I think, if we wanted to save the taxpayer money, it would have been better for the Premier not to have increased the staff in his office making over $100,000 a year—the Premier’s sunshine staff list—from 16 to 48. It’s now 49 because we’ve added somebody in Ottawa, a new regional minister, a new office in Ottawa. He’s got a six-figure salary too. I don’t know whether we could have addressed something like that in this bill—which is, the Premier’s office should be more modest instead of so bloated; lots of gravy going there.

Here’s the other thing: Now they’re going to spend—so the Conservative candidate that lost in Nepean-Carleton, that candidate just got a six-figure job because he lost. And guess what? They’re going to spend $1.7 million every year to keep him in a job there in Ottawa. Why are they really doing that? Because they want him to run again in Kanata. That’s a lot of taxpayer money.

So, when we talk about protecting the taxpayer, who is going to protect the taxpayer from that? I mean, that’s kind of gross. I think most people would say, “Why would you do that?” Why did the Premier’s office budget for staff—just sunshine staff—go from $3 million to almost $7 million? That’s $4 million. Now, you throw the other $1.7 million on that, you’re getting close to, what, $6 million? And God knows what else.

Really, folks, I’m trying to get to, like, four minutes, because I want the 10 minutes of questions. So, I’ve got all this stuff. If you have any other topics that you want me to discuss, I’ll throw it in. It’s just—anyhow.

I could go back on the toll thing, because the toll thing is hilarious. It’s like, “We’re going to ban tolls, but we’re keeping ours. We’re keeping the tolls on the road that we own. We’re going to keep—but we’re banning them. And by the way, the highway that we sold? Guess what? We’re going to forgive them a billion dollars.” If that’s not a gravy train—I mean, that’s a billion-dollar gravy train: “Here, guys. Forget it. I know you owe us the money. It’s okay. Nobody’s watching.”

Come on. It’s like, you’re not really against tolls; you have them. You’re not really against the carbon tax; you have one. So why are you putting this in the legislation? Are you trying to fool somebody—as I say, pull the wool over their eyes? I don’t know.

Guys, I’m getting down there. I’ve only got 12 seconds left. I’m just going to stand here in silence for 10 seconds.