Thank you to the member for the very good question. The answer is no, Speaker. In fact, I provided some suggestions to this government about things that would do exactly that—for example, Digital Main Street, and extending that program beyond the current fiscal year. That would help Ontario small businesses grow and expand. Instead of spending money on highways and long-term-care homes through their $3-billion bank that they’re now calling a fund, they could have taken that money, as I suggested, as my caucus suggested, to spend it on things that do help us transition to the green economy; things that will advance our work in innovation in health care, in genomes and in lots of areas where we have the opportunity to create new jobs in the new industries of the future and drive productivity growth for our province.

When I talk to people in the business world, they talk about the concerns that people have in our province, the concerns that capital owners have for our province, when they say people don’t have a place to live, and how can we hire skilled workers here and retain our workers when they don’t have an affordable place to live?

Those are the kinds of things that do not drive economic growth. We need to make sure our institutions are well-funded, that our post-secondary institutions get the money they need to provide the education they need to advance our productivity growth into the future.

Well, certainly building affordable housing is something I think we all agree needs to be a priority. I think that certainly in the recent debate going on amongst the Liberal leadership candidates, there have been lots of ideas put forward about positive ideas around housing, including having a fund that could actually build social housing.

So I think that is something that is certainly being discussed at length right now amongst our caucus and our leadership candidates, and I think that we’ve got a view in this government where we need to help them see that investing in affordable housing is actually positive. In my riding recently, I was surprised to learn about a transit-oriented community that will be built with Metrolinx, and I hope they might consider things like co-op housing there.

A billion dollars is absolutely sufficient for a contingency fund, especially in this time when we know that we’ve got programs that are underfunded, so—

Thank you to my colleague from Don Valley East for his great work and support.

Speaker, I’m here today to talk about this motion 11, about Ontario’s budget—not the federal budget, which the Conservative government seems to find more interesting today, maybe because they’re coming to the same conclusion I am: that this budget is more of the same. It’s uninspiring. It’s uninspiring in terms of addressing our homelessness crisis, in terms of driving economic productivity across all sectors and in terms of making sufficient investments in post-secondary education which help drive our economy.

Actions speak louder than words, and while this government talks and talks and talks about record investments, the people of Ontario want more than the Conservative government’s catchphrase when it comes to action. Let’s talk about how this budget leaves people behind. While I welcome the talk of a $202-million increase in funding for supportive housing and homelessness programs, this government now has to put its money where its mouth is.

This government seems unwilling to say how many chronically homeless people there are in our province, and we know that when it comes to addressing homelessness, in at least one case they’ve done quite the opposite. The people of Toronto remember when the Associate Minister of Transportation lobbied against a supportive housing facility in his riding of Willowdale. They remember how then Mayor Tory and the city councillor pleaded with the associate minister to ensure the project proceeded, because it would save lives; that the modular housing units were ready to deploy and just needed provincial go-ahead. And they remember how the associate minister and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing refused to work with the city of Toronto, accusing the city of not sufficiently consulting the community, at the same time they were, ironically, passing legislation that guts the consultation process.

This is a government led by a Premier who broke his word when he said he would not build in the greenbelt. So while this government breaks its word and now says yes to building in the greenbelt, they have a history of saying no to helping the homeless when it’s in their backyard.

We were just in Kenora in January as part of SCOFEA and heard about their homelessness problem, like many other northern and rural towns. According to the Kenora District Services Board, there are 400 homeless people there, a town of only 15,000. The most vulnerable people on our streets have been left behind by this government. While we hear estimates of a $400-million parking lot that’s being built to replace Ontario Place, our housing and homelessness funding gets an increase of only $202 million. Here, again, their actions speak for themselves.

Now let’s talk about productivity. Investing in manufacturing jobs is good—we need good jobs in this sector—but we also need to make meaningful investments in other sectors to see Ontario’s economy be the hub of productivity. In their pre-budget submission, the Council of Canadian Innovators called on this government for increased investment to support innovation, digitization and technology in Ontario, to develop a semiconductor strategy, to future-proof our economy so that Ontario tech companies can also be roaring engines for economic growth.

Post-secondary education is also a key driver of our economy and productivity, and that leads to better quality of life. A couple of years ago, it came to light that Laurentian University was mismanaged financially. Regretfully, the provincial government abdicated their responsibility to ensure a sustained quality education in the north, and this government presided over massive cuts there that have greatly impacted northern students with program cuts.

We heard in the pre-budget consultations from l’Université de Sudbury. They implored the province to fund the university, because northern students deserve a French education in the north. They spoke about how when young people leave the north for post-secondary schooling, they often do not return. That has real consequences. Those bright kids are a lost asset to the north. What does this government say to them? “You’re on your own.”

This government strives for a path to balance, but people and families are not feeling the balance. The people of Ontario have been feeling the pinch of inflation in housing costs, grocery stores, rising property taxes because of Bill 23, at our hospitals and in service cuts to transit. The people of Ontario want the government to take some of that $25 billion spent on highways and spend a bit more of it on affordable and attainable housing; to spend less on luxury spas, which will not be accessible to all Ontarians, and more on health care and mental health.

We were just at the Canadian Cancer Society reception and heard from Rebecca, who suffered through high costs and administrative burden to get the home cancer drugs she needed. In 2022, all parties committed to tackling inequities faced by cancer patients by bringing together an advisory table; in their 2022 budget, this government said it would do just that. Speaker, as of today, the government has yet to take action.

As a member of the opposition, which I know many members opposite will remember from their years on this side of the House, it is my job to give the government constructive feedback on what they could be doing to make legislation better, how to do better for the people of this province.

While this budget is uninspiring for us here in opposition, what the government needs to know is that this mediocrity translates to real life consequences for people in this province, who just need a little bit more and not more of the same.

Thank you for the question.

I think the member has nailed it on the head here when he says that people are on their own.

Again, that money is basically being stored away for a rainy day and potential risks that the government talks about. Well, again, those risks are here. As you’ve mentioned, children are suffering from the pandemic. Their mental health is suffering, and they’re being told, “Here’s a couple of hundred dollars to go get some tutoring help.” That will not advance their learning. Seniors are being told, “Wait for your eye care appointments.” People are being told to keep waiting for their surgeries.

That money could be invested in our economy, invested in our health care system, invested in helping the homeless, whom we know are struggling, and that’s affecting all of us more broadly in our economy.

The member is quite accurate in saying that that money could be better spent under many different programs, instead of squirrelling it away for a rainy day.

Certainly, investing in new immigrants to Ontario and to Canada is important.

I know the government likes to point out that if we vote against the budget, we’re voting against the whole thing. I certainly don’t think that’s the case.

I think the focus really needs to be on keeping the workers we do have. The government is focused on finding new workers. That’s because they’re driving away workers. They’ve driven away workers in the health care sector. They’ve driven away education workers. And they’re driving away daycare workers, so that’s actually preventing us from achieving the full potential we can around the federal government’s program for daycare.

While I support supporting new immigrants to Ontario, we need to also make sure that we’re fighting for the workers we have today.

It was really heartbreaking to hear the interview with the mother of the 16-year-old boy who died. She was very brave and spoke up about the need not only for investment in our transit systems but for investments in the people who are vulnerable—the homeless man who allegedly killed her son.

So I think that, on two fronts, this budget lets us down. It is not investing in our transit systems. There are broken promises related to new lines that the previous budgets have laid out that are not here.

We know that the TTC is having to cut service, and that only leads to more unsafe conditions on our transit systems, because with fewer people around and longer wait times, we know that that can lead to more issues.

Absolutely, the member is correct that we should be investing in public transit and the surrounding supports to make sure the homeless are supported.

We need to be making sure that if we build transit, we actually can run it. We can’t run it without sufficient operating budgets. We know that the TTC is one of the most underfunded transit systems in North America, and I expect that’s probably the case for others, like in Ottawa.

Again, having government support for that transit system will provide safety, but we also need to talk about how many people are homeless, what kind of supports they need, what kind of housing they need. Let’s look at things like small homes that can be affordable, that can be done quickly, to put a roof over their heads so that they can then get the help that they need.

This Conservative government talks frequently about how it’s working for the people of Ontario, yet in the last three quarters, the expenditure monitor report from the FAO indicates that the government is underspending on the people of Ontario: on their health by $1.25 billion, on their education by $844 million, on children’s and social services by $458 million and on post-secondary education by $175 million.

Speaker, the government is asking us to vote for its supply bill even after they have failed to spend what they said they would. And with a record-level contingency fund that they’ve made a cabinet secret, as I sit here today in opposition, it’s hard to think about voting for any of the good things that may be in this act. The government is refusing to adequately fund critical services that the people of Ontario rely on by refusing to pay nurses and other health care workers what they are worth. Refusing to spend to keep the people of Ontario healthy isn’t financial prudence; in fact, it’s the exact opposite.

While the government talks of record investments, they also have record contingency funds. And we may have record levels of taxpayer money being spent by this government to defend their losing battles around their unconstitutional laws in court. As the President of the Treasury Board accurately pointed out just this afternoon, every dollar they spend comes from the taxpayers of Ontario. But we don’t know if this spending is at record levels because this government has not been transparent about how much taxpayer money they have been spending to fight in court. We do know that they budgeted $30 million to fight the federal government on their carbon tax, only for the Supreme Court to uphold the federal climate policy. They made private businesses put up their political notices, and the court found that unconstitutional. Now they refuse to disclose how much they’re spending on two further appeals: hiding their ministry mandate letters, and on the continued, ill-conceived and damaging Bill 124.

Fighting to hide their mandate letters has been going on since 2018—five years of wasting Ontarians’ hard-earned tax dollars. I’ve spoken about Bill 124 many times and its damaging effects on our health care and education systems. But to add insult to injury, the government continues to waste taxpayer money—money they could be paying those health care workers—to keep fighting what the courts have called unconstitutional; to keep fighting market-interfering, wage-capping legislation that’s driven away health care workers, nurses and other public sector workers.

And while the government decides to limit health care workers and nurses’ wages to a 1% increase and decides to spend taxpayer money to fight that illegal law in court, it speaks to the priorities of the government that they decide to create a record number of parliamentary assistants, effectively giving many of their MPPs a 14% raise.

Let’s talk about transit, Speaker. This government talks about getting it done. Well, the Eglinton LRT, which goes through my riding of Don Valley West and was started under the previous Liberal government, under this government is over budget by millions of dollars. The tab is still being run up, and the government will not tell the people of Ontario when it will be completed or how much their errors have cost.

The previous Liberal government started to get the work done on the Hamilton LRT. This government spent money to cancel it, only to decide the previous Liberal government was on the right track and then decided to bring it back. Had they not cancelled the project, it would have been completed earlier and for less money.

Similarly, the Liberal government started the work on GO expansion, which would include electrifying trains, making them more energy efficient and faster. Unfortunately, this government delayed that project when they came into power, and now they boast about bringing it back. While building these transit projects is critically important, the government will not accomplish what these projects are intended to when the government does not spend the money needed to help cities operate their transit systems.

Because the member for Mississauga–Lakeshore raised it, let’s talk a little more about Highway 413, the Conservative government’s unnecessary project that they claim will save commuters 30 minutes. Data from the Ministry of Transportation, their own ministry, as reported by the Toronto Star, refutes this, and says that by using the existing 400, 401 and 407 highways, commuters could cross the GTA 16 minutes faster than they could using the proposed Highway 413 alone. Perhaps the government should tell the taxpayers of Ontario if it might be more prudent to buy back the 407 that a previous Conservative government sold off, rather than to build a new highway that does what the 407 is supposed to do.

We need a government that’s willing to provide the services that people need, that’s willing to invest in children’s education and to build an economy that works for all. The government announces long-term investments while at the same crippling our health care system in the here and now by not funding it, and this is hurting the people of Ontario and our economy.

A recent article from CBC said 50,000 young people are leaving Ontario because they see better opportunity elsewhere. Building new subdivisions in the greenbelt is not going to address the housing crisis. Paving over agricultural land will not help food affordability. Underpaying our educators and health care workers until they quit is not going to give those same 50,000 young people the education system they need so their children can have a brighter future.

Health care, education, transit, protecting the environment and helping build opportunity for a brighter future are indeed the business of government. Ontario needs a fiscally responsible government that is fully transparent about what it asks its ministries, that treats its health care workers with respect so they can do the work needed for the people of Ontario, a government that manages all parts of our economy, including implementing an affordable daycare system that works for families in Ontario. Ontario needs a government that is fully transparent about our finances instead of artificially inflating projected expenses by squirrelling away billions in contingency funds. That is why, sadly, I will be voting against this supply measure.

Yesterday, the FAO provided their analysis on the government’s health sector spending plan, and the numbers are clear and scathing. Their five-year plan is $21.3 billion short. The FAO said, “The province has not allocated sufficient funds to support existing health sector programs and announced commitments.”

The Conservative government promised five years ago to end hallway medicine. Under this government, a record number of people are waiting in the halls—1,300 people per day. Under this government, there have been 145 emergency room closures, and wait times for admission have passed 20 hours, on average.

Talking about investments does not equal providing care.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. Will the minister spend the money the government said they would or will their word once again come up short?

While the government boasts about record investments, Ontarians see record ER closures, record numbers of nurses leaving the profession, and a record shortage of family doctors.

The government has shortchanged our health care funding by $21.3 billion, and while the federal Liberal government has pledged to cover half of that, this Conservative government appears to have no plan to pay their share.

My question to the Minister of Finance: Will he commit to putting the necessary money in the budget to address this shortfall or will he leave the people of Ontario short?

I want to thank the official opposition for bringing forward this motion.

I want to also acknowledge the members from Nepean and Hamilton Mountain. It takes courage to share your personal experiences.

I want to acknowledge the government’s work on the Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence, but the experts, the front-line workers, are asking now for funding. The government needs to spend some of the money they’ve been squirrelling away on more services that the people of Ontario need. We know that that money is there, and we know that the need is there.

I hope this government acknowledges that we are in an opioid and mental health crisis. Walk down any downtown in a large city or small town across our province, and you’ll see the evidence. I hope the government will listen to great organizations like the CMHA and help them retain the incredible workers who are passionate about the work they do and the people whom they help. The government needs to think about what they can do now, not just in the budget, to help those workers stay in the jobs they love, instead of driving them to better-paying jobs, which is what we heard is happening throughout our pre-budget consultations. The CMHA talked about, I think it was, 250 open positions they have—positions for people who would be helping those who are in need on the streets and across our province to get the help that they need.

During those pre-budget consultations, we heard from numerous experts who stressed the need to expand mental health services and innovate our current approach to ensure that Ontarians get the support they need in a timely manner. For example, we heard from a psychiatrist at the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences who is doing incredible work in finding innovative pathways in the mental health space—to assess, treat and provide a plan for patients immediately, within 24 hours, after they need to access emergency mental health services.

We heard from people about the need to expand mental health services for youth, in small communities in particular, and make it simple and accessible for them to access the services they need wherever they live.

We heard about the impact on businesses and community members who want to see those who are suffering get the help they need and not have to resort to living, and seeking unsafe drugs, on the streets.

Innovations and solutions are out there. We’ve heard from the experts in the mental health space on what they need not only to ensure better and timely care for those who seek their services, but also to ensure they can attract and retain the workers who deliver those services to those in need.

We heard during those pre-budget consultations about the effects of Bill 124 on workers, including those in the mental health sector—that it has been devastating and humiliating for them. We’ve heard that those health care workers do not feel supported by this government, and this bill was an example of that.

I’ve spoken to CMHA Toronto, and I know the great work they do and how committed they and their employees are to providing services to residents in my riding of Don Valley West and across Toronto, but they can’t do it without the money to pay their workers who provide those services.

According to CMHA, one in four people in Ontario access mental health services, and 43% are finding it difficult to access the services they need.

CMHA has asked for a base funding increase of 8%. This is a small amount of the government’s $6.4 billion of money that they said they would spend in this fiscal year. This small increase would help to increase care across the province of Ontario; reduce wait times, especially for those accessing and needing emergency mental health services; and allow for early interventions, where needed, to prevent the loss of life that we heard talked about today by the members.

We know that there’s money available—money that should and can still be spent on the people of Ontario. Increasing funding to CMHA to help increase their support and services, to help fill the gaps they’ve been experiencing in providing for the record level of demand that they see for their services—that will help individuals, that will help families, that will help alleviate this crisis. They need those workers to save people’s lives, and they need money to retain those workers.

The request by the CMHA is well thought out. It is modest. It is reasonable. And it would directly help the people who need their support.

I add my voice to those calling for this government to listen to the experts at CMHA and provide them with the resources they need now.

A month ago, I visited the Holland Bloorview children’s rehab hospital in my riding of Don Valley West. This world-class organization develops treatments and supports and provides specialized care for children with disabilities due to illness or trauma. I asked what they needed from the Ontario government. They said that they have a surgical backlog and need more support to clear it. Now, with children’s hospitals overflowing across the province and surgeries being cancelled, bigger backlogs are building.

The economic outlook says the government is holding on to contingency funds in case of unforeseen risk. While this risk of increased hospitalizations was indeed foreseen and called out by many outside this government, will the Minister of Finance acknowledge that they did not foresee this risk and that now is indeed the time to allocate funds from the contingency, to help get sick kids the procedures that they need?

In the economic and fiscal outlook, the minister states that his government “has always been open and transparent.” I just came from the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, which, it appears, will now not be reviewing the estimates of the ministry. When presented with an opportunity to reschedule, his colleagues refused to find the time to ensure that the residents of Ontario, and even their own constituents, would get answers about government expenditures.

Does the Minister of Finance agree with his colleagues’ decision to block the review of his ministry’s estimates? And, if not, when would he be willing to meet with the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs to be open and transparent with members of provincial Parliament?

I rise today to comment on Ontario’s economic outlook and fiscal review. While this occasion was a chance to meaningfully enhance the programs that Ontarians rely on, like health care and education, once again this government is showing their reluctance to spend and leaving our public health care system in crisis, and they are at risk of doing the same to public education.

On a positive note, the fall economic statement does have some increased funding in GAINS to help low-income seniors—which the Liberal caucus called for—about $40 million. And it does provide the opportunity for those on ODSP who can work to earn more before ODSP is clawed back. Those are measures that will help some Ontarians.

What we do not see here is a meaningful effort to fix the health care crisis and reverse decisions like Bill 124, which contributed to nurses leaving the profession at the highest rate ever.

What we do not see reflected here is the decision to not pay our public sector workers what they are worth, creating instability in the education sector and instability for families.

What we do not see here is meaningful help for low-income families who are struggling to put food on the table.

What we do not see here is an effort to protect the land that we grow our food on instead of paving over it, so that Ontarians have actual food security instead of just a food security strategy.

Increasing the Ontario child tax benefit is one of our recommendations for how this government could have provided that relief. Instead, they have decided to do nothing to help those families.

Mr. Speaker, this government talks about attracting jobs to the province. That is a good thing, but in this era of climate crisis—which this government continues to ignore—the government overlooked a very important criteria that companies use to make their decisions about location: access to green energy. With their decision to cancel green energy contracts put in place by the previous Liberal government and their decision to add carbon-emitting gas plants to our energy grid, this government is jeopardizing Ontario’s ability to attract companies to Ontario.

The government’s history of underestimating its overall financial results and not being transparent with Ontarians about our financial situation continues. This updated economic outlook still reflects a $3.5-billion contingency fund for this year alone and provides no details at all about the amount of contingency funds in future years—what the FAO and the Auditor General note as historically high.

While prudence and fiscal responsibility are admirable features of a budget and outlook, underspending and underfunding on priorities like health care and protecting our kids, our seniors and our most vulnerable are not.

The government continues to forecast a deficit for 2022-23, when just a few months ago they reported a $2.1-billion surplus. The FAO forecast a $100-million surplus in 2022-23, while this government continues to forecast a deficit of $12.9 billion.

Just today, the FAO released a report that shows in this year alone the government is underfunding our public education system by $400 million. Mr. Speaker, that hurts kids, parents and our economy.

In difficult times like these, people look out for each other, and that makes all the difference. But some difficulties are too big for family, friends or neighbours to handle. That’s when the government needs to step up to make sure Ontarians have more than just the ability to survive—but to ensure they have the opportunity to thrive.