I just got a note from a good friend of ours who is watching the last proceedings of this session, Barbara Stevens. Hello. It’s good to see you in TV land today.

That is real money. You’re right; that is real money, absolutely.

And this is somebody that doesn’t have that $150,000 to go ahead and pay that back. He would be forced to sell his home that he’s lived in for years to be able to make these payments.

Time is running down here, Madam Speaker. Again, I did want to thank all members of the House here today. I’m looking forward to hearing some comments from members of the opposition. I think we share the same sentiment that NOSIs need to stop and that, going forward, we can’t have these types of loopholes in Ontario law where you’re, quite frankly, able to scam people out of very, very hard-earned money.

So, thank you to the minister, thank you to his team, thank you to my colleagues. And with that, I will cede my time.

It is great to be here and take part in what is truly a historic bill and debate on that today.

First, I want to thank the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and his team. Many of them are here listening right now and certainly watching on TV. Thank you for taking this very seriously and moving forward expeditiously, and putting together a bill that really is going to be transformative for many people in Ontario—not just, obviously, the seniors and typically elderly people who are affected by these scams, but also their families. I’m going to touch a little bit on some of that in my time here; I don’t have a lot, only seven minutes, but I did just want to touch on a few points.

Obviously, we’ve heard about what this bill is looking to accomplish: the 10-day cooling-off period for buyers of new freehold homes and, obviously, enhancing protections for condo owners, but I want to talk primarily about notices of security interest today. I think that’s made up the bulk of the speech and it certainly makes up the bulk of the bill.

It’s something that was brought to my attention a little over a year ago—about a year and a half—by David Mullock from Waterloo Regional Police Service. We’ve heard about him being the liaison officer who works with government on a regular basis. I know he’s actually watching right now. He was texting a few of our colleagues. So, thank you, David, for giving me a call last May and inviting me down to police headquarters to hear about the challenges that not only people in Waterloo region were having, but people across the province of Ontario.

It was a very sobering conversation. We had an opportunity to sit down with Detective Adam Stover, whom you’ve also heard talked about here this afternoon, and we walked through this notices-of-security-interest scam that had been going on in the region. We talked a little bit about what it meant, what it has done. You’ve heard that here today so I won’t dive too deep on it, but it was very interesting when you looked at the numbers. I want to provide a few of the numbers today.

When you look at the early 2000s, there were roughly 2,000 registrations per year of NOSIs on properties here in Ontario. That number has ballooned last year to 58,000 notices of security interest. You can really see how the scam has taken hold, how people have seen that it is profitable and that there were enough loopholes in legislation that you were able to go out and perpetrate these on individuals. Like we’ve heard, it’s typically on folks that have maybe some cognitive impairment; folks who are a little bit challenged from a health standpoint; elderly people who, quite frankly, are taken advantage of and always want to believe that people are there to do the right thing, are there to help them, but at the end of the day it’s not always the case.

Right now—and this is sort of the telling piece—there are roughly 350,000 consumer and commercial NOSIs registered against property, against title, in Ontario—350,000. When you total that all up, it translates to roughly $1 billion, which is staggering. You can understand how often organized crime, unscrupulous realtors, lawyers, folks who want to take advantage of Ontarians are out there doing that, because there is so much money in this.

When you look at what this bill accomplishes, obviously banning notices of security interest, or NOSIs, going forward is fantastic, but the real key piece—and I want to thank the minister again and his team for the fulsome consultation that they did with stakeholders through the fall of 2023. It is really the retroactive banning of these practices which is going to make the key difference. It’s great that you stop it going forward, but it’s to be able to go back and say, “No, we are not going to allow these lucrative, unscrupulous contracts to stand, and we are not going to allow you to fleece people out of their homes.”

I did just want to read a couple of articles that I think are quite important. This one in particular comes from—I will just paraphrase from a CTV article. This is about a gentleman—I believe actually he was from Bowmanville; he’s since passed away. The minister had talked a little bit about him earlier. I’m going to quote, and this is Melissa Irons. Her father-in-law was, as I said, Karl Hoffman. I’m just going to read through this:

“Melissa Irons says her elderly father-in-law, Karl Hoffman, would have loved to live long enough to see the government eliminate notices of security interest (NOSIs) after they were used 11 times against him and his Bowmanville, Ont., home.”

Thank you, Melissa, for telling your story. I think it’s very important that we’re able to hear those stories first-hand. I know that Detective Stover has been travelling around the province, working with other municipal police forces and hearing those stories first-hand, investigating and seeing what the impact is to not only the homeowners, the people on title, but also their families. Often, these folks who have been taken advantage of don’t want to tell their family members because they’re embarrassed or they’re afraid of what might happen. It can cause real challenges—real challenges—divide families and, ultimately, see some people lose their homes, their nest eggs, their livelihood, their retirement.

I also did want to talk a little bit about Kitchener resident Ian Craig. He has seven notices of security interest on his property totalling more than $150,000, which, if this bill is passed—I’m hopeful, and I know that all of our colleagues here in the House believe that this is a good bill and that it should be passed—this will eliminate $150,000 of potential payments that he has to make.

Interjection.

Let’s talk a little about why history matters, and let’s talk about how there’s only been one NDP government ever in the history of Ontario because people remember what happened under the Rae government. Let’s talk about respect for voters.

The member for Waterloo wants to say that the carbon tax doesn’t matter. It is the number one issue in my riding when I talk to people, and quite frankly, the federal Liberal government is going to lose the next election because of the carbon tax. And I don’t understand why this member will stand up in her place and she will say that it’s irrelevant to the cost of a home when we know for a fact—and we’ve heard it from home builders, we’ve heard it from OREA and we’ve heard it from other organizations—that it adds thousands of dollars to the cost of home sales that, ultimately, get passed along to the people who are buying those homes.

So I want to hear it from the member directly: Will you stand up against the carbon tax and help make life more affordable for Ontarians?

My question is for the Associate Minister of Housing. Last month, the federal government increased the carbon tax by a staggering 23%. It is the cruellest April Fool’s joke the province has ever seen.

Speaker, the federal Liberals, with the full support of their provincial counterparts, want to triple this tax by 2030. It’s not right, Speaker. This disastrous carbon tax is burdening Ontarians and adding more obstacles in housing construction, leaving more young families waiting to achieve their dream of home ownership.

The people of this province cannot afford the carbon tax and that’s why we are calling for its complete removal. Speaker, can the associate minister explain how the carbon tax is driving up the cost of building new homes?

The carbon tax is impacting each and every Ontarian who is looking to buy a home. It not only drives up the cost for home builders, but it is making it more expensive to build the critical infrastructure that each community needs to meet its growing housing demands. If we want to be able to build more homes and make housing more affordable for Ontario families, we need the federal government to remove the carbon tax.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how the carbon tax is also raising the costs of building housing-enabling infrastructure?

In this particular bill, it is outside the scope of this bill, but I think we’re always open to learning more about other formulas, other options, other ways to do business. But I do want to say that allowing more veterinarians to practise removes some of that red tape, and it will allow more practices to open. It will hopefully allow for some of those rates to come down, seeing more of a competitive nature, making sure that we’re seeing more specialists in certain areas and looking at expanding vet techs and making sure that they’re able to perform their duties in their clinics and alleviate some of that burden that is placed on those veterinarians who are, as we see it right now, often overworked. We want to make sure that there are enough appointments available and that we can get all animals looked after and seen here in the province.

So let’s focus on this bill. I think that this bill proves that if you do have an open, wide consultation like you said—and I think we’re all in agreement that there are good things that have come out of the consultation that the minister has led on this bill. I look forward to hearing some more opinions from opposition members over the course of debate this afternoon and focusing on this bill that we have before us today and making sure that we get this bill right.

Compromise. It was a good compromise.

So we’re very blessed to have a thriving poultry industry in Waterloo region, in Kitchener–Conestoga and, of course, adjacent ridings. We had a lot of opportunity to work with the Chicken Farmers of Ontario, had been out to some farms, seeing first-hand the good work that they do right from the hatcheries to raising those chicks and then into processing. We have Maple Leaf Foods in our riding as well and a lot of other smaller suppliers that then feed our families, whether that be at a retailer at a grocery store, maybe the St. Jacobs Market, or even one of the great things that we have—and a lot of other members, including yourself, will have—is a lot of great farm stands where you can pull right up to the farm and get fresh poultry.

So chicken farming is alive and well in Kitchener–Conestoga, and I’m happy to see it thriving and continuing to. This legislation will aid in that by allowing essentially more veterinarians to get out on farm and practise.

I would like to advise you I will be sharing my time with the lovely member from Etobicoke–Lakeshore, my seatmate.

It has been a good chunk of debate—not bad for a Monday afternoon. I always appreciate when we have excellent discourse here in the Ontario Legislature. I’m going to just read some prepared remarks here for a second, but then I want to talk about some family members because I think it’s always important to bring a little bit more context to how a lot of the bills and legislation and things we do hit home a little bit more.

I did just want to say that the agricultural industry in Waterloo region is alive and well. According to the 2021 census, Kitchener–Conestoga is home to 107,134 people. But did you also know, Madam Speaker, that it’s also home to 111,242 pigs? My constituents are also outnumbered by chickens. Would anyone like to guess how many chickens we have in Kitchener–Conestoga?

Ontario cares about protecting the health and well-being of animals and understands the important roles animals play in our families and the important role that agriculture plays in our economy. Our government is working to increase access to veterinary care services for pets and their owners as well as farmers. Based on extensive consultations—and I want to thank the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. We heard today from members of the opposition as well that there was a great consultation on the ways to modernize the laws governing the veterinary profession and improve access to care in Ontario.

Thusly, we’re here today talking about the proposed Enhancing Professional Care for Animals Act. If enacted, this would enable the creation of a formal scope of practice for veterinary technicians that would allow them to practise to their full potential and their training and expertise. It would also lead to the creation of requirements for continuing education similar to other regulated professions. It would streamline the complaints resolution process to allow disputes to be addressed more quickly. It would increase penalties to better reflect the seriousness of actions that could harm animals and also ensure greater public representation on the council of the regulatory college overseeing veterinary professionals.

I wanted to—again, like I said—bring in some of that more local and, in this case, this interesting familial content to debate here today. I’m actually very lucky to have two family members—my Uncle Chuck, who was a large-animal veterinarian in northern Ontario who was a large part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and worked with the government of Canada; and also my wife’s aunt, Pauline van Veen, who was a small-animal vet who worked in many different parts of the province. I actually, a while back when we had started discussions about what was going to happen with veterinary services in Ontario and looking at some of the different acts that the minister has put forward over the last little while in regard to animal welfare—we talked a lot about the PAWS Act. I brought them into the conversation, because I thought it was important.

One of the things that came up was talking about training and barriers to training. I want to commend our government and all of those who have been part of this process, because there’s a new incentive program in place that provides a maximum of $50,000 for up to 100 recently licensed veterinarians to practise large-animal medicine in underserviced areas. That is crucial to getting new folks interested in this profession—this trade, if you will—because finances are always a barrier when you’re starting new. And especially in medical professions—these are medical professions that we’re talking about—you don’t just go to school for a year, complete the program and then go and practise. There’s a lot that has to go into this. It was actually neat, because my Uncle Chuck had suggested something along these lines. How do we remove some of these financial barriers? How do we make it easier for folks to get into this profession? And we actually did it, which was great to see. Again, this is because of the fulsome consultation that the minister has put forward—and her team, of course: her parliamentary assistants and staff within the ministry. It’s great to see some of these things come forward.

I also want to talk a little bit about the 2023 budget. The government announced $14.7 million over two years, starting this year in 2024-25, to allow an increase in enrolment in veterinary schools—and we’ve heard this talked about a little bit today—to 20 new seats, which is fantastic. Seeing these new partnerships with Lakehead University and the University of Guelph—I actually had the opportunity to attend that announcement with some colleagues and the minister at the University of Guelph, and it was so well received by the veterinary community, the agriculture community, because farmers in northern Ontario and other underserved areas are now going to be able to rest easy, rest assured that, when they wake up in the middle of the night and they’re birthing calves and who knows what the night is going to entail, if they need to make a phone call and they need to talk to that vet or that vet has got to come over and assist with the process, there’s actually going to be someone on the other end of the line that’s going to be able to assist, that’s going to be able to really take a load off their shoulders.

Any of us that have agriculture in our communities and get out and talk to our farmers know that life can be pretty stressful. It’s not easy being a farmer. It’s not easy having the weight of your community on your shoulders, being out there really trying to feed your loved ones, to feed the community around you and really put your best foot forward. We’ve seen a lot of great initiatives around mental health. We’ve seen a lot more of a community spirit and a rallying around to say to your neighbours, “If you’re having trouble, it’s okay. Let’s talk. Let’s talk farmer to farmer. We don’t need to necessarily be out there airing your dirty laundry, if you will, but I’m here for you. Let’s have those discussions.”

When you take all of the sum of all the parts and put them together, we’ve really started to knit a fantastic fabric. When it comes to agriculture and especially this ministry, there have been so many great things that have been done. This is another piece of that puzzle, Madam Speaker. I think that we’re really on the right track when it comes to making sure that we’re able to put food on the table, making sure that our farm animals are happy and healthy, but also that our farmers are happy and healthy. It’s something that I am very happy to get behind.

I’m now going to pass my time over to my colleague.

I can’t believe we just talked about poop for the last 10 minutes in the Ontario Legislature, but here we are on Monday afternoon.

I wanted to give you a little bit more time to elaborate on the partnership with University of Guelph and Lakehead University, because we both agree it’s really, really great to be able to see that partnership, fostering more seats in the north and having those people stay in the north. I’m going to talk a little bit later in my remarks about my uncle, who was a large-animal veterinarian in the north. I just want to give you the opportunity to expand a little bit on that.

It’s a little disheartening to hear the rather flippant comments that are coming from the other side—the opposition—here today, almost as if we haven’t taken the time or the thought to consult with many different stakeholders on this bill, including women.

I just wanted to get your take, to the member from Burlington, as a woman. I think it’s very important that we recognize we have a very diverse caucus made up of folks from all across the province, all different creeds, races and a very large representation of women who have input into these bills as well. As a woman, I just wanted to get your comments on how you think that we’re able to move forward and we’re pushing the envelope. No matter what the NDP say, we are going to do what is right and what is best, and I want to get your take on that.

It is my pleasure today to rise to congratulate Home Hardware as they mark 60 years of serving communities across Canada. In fact, the Premier recently joined me to visit their headquarters in St. Jacob’s—after we picked up apple fritters from the farmers’ market, of course.

So how did that single store in St. Jacob’s grow to become a national symbol? Well, here’s how. They kept their commitment to help build their communities with helpful advice, quality products and great customer service.

“This milestone is a testament to over six decades of dedication and hard work by our dealers and team members across the country,” said Kevin Macnab, president and CEO of Home Hardware Stores Ltd.

Since opening in St. Jacob’s, they now have more than 1,000 stores providing good jobs across the country. It’s hard to picture small towns in Ontario without a Home Hardware. They have become a part of the fabric of our community and country. Home Hardware is consistently chosen as one of Canada’s top employers and received the honour from Forbes again in 2024.

Congratulations on 60 years and thank you for the positive contributions to our community, Ontario and Canada.

My question is for the Minister of Energy.

The federal Liberals continue to make life less affordable for Ontarians by hiking the carbon tax. Many families and businesses across Ontario cannot afford the skyrocketing prices for everyday essentials. Unfortunately, the opposition NDP and the independent Liberals in this House are refusing to fight this devastating tax.

While those members want higher and higher prices and higher taxes, our government is working for the people and supporting them during this difficult time.

With summer quickly approaching, can the minister please explain how the carbon tax will continue to drive up costs for Ontarians?

It’s good to hear that the minister is paying attention to what the people of Ontario are looking for.

It is truly unfair that the Liberals continue to punish Ontarians who are already struggling to pay their bills, make ends meet, and provide more for their families with the Liberals trying to hike taxes.

What’s even more disturbing is that the Liberal members in this House, knowing how much Ontarians are suffering, still refuse to rise up and do the right thing and tell their federal counterparts that this tax needs to go. It’s unacceptable. Our government will not stand for their silence and inaction. Our government will continue to fight and tell the federal government that this is a tax that Ontarians don’t want and don’t deserve.

Can the minister please tell this House why the people of this province cannot afford this disastrous carbon tax?

There’s 40 seconds, Madam Speaker—

I wanted to follow up to the member opposite with a similar question that I asked to the Minister of Colleges and Universities and that is, in this bill, it does prescribe and set out some regulations in regard to what costing looks like for fees for students.

And like I had mentioned, I’ve got my oldest son going off to college, and it’s been interesting to see how the fee breakdown works when it comes to textbooks, when it comes to tools that are required, tuition, residence fees, different things like that. So I know that this does hopefully help clarify some things for students, parents, caregivers.

I just wanted to get some of your thoughts on that.

It makes me feel a little bit old to stand up in the Legislature and say that my oldest child is actually going off to college next year. As we’ve been going through the deliberations—I know; I’m sorry. I’m almost 40. It’s starting to get to me a little bit. He’s going off to college. The bills have started to roll in.

I know one of the provisions in this legislation calls for more clarity, obviously, for students and parents, caregivers, guardians as they move forward with paying the universities for books, for educational courses, for residence and some of the different pieces like that. So I’m just wondering if the minister could elaborate a little bit more on how this will help clarify things for students as we move forward.

Speaker, and let’s talk about that carbon tax. My question is for the Minister of Energy. People in my riding of Kitchener–Conestoga continue to express concerns over the federal carbon tax and how it will make their lives more expensive. Since the introduction of this regressive tax, the costs of food, transportation and people’s everyday essentials have reached a new high.

Speaker, contrary to what the Liberal members in this House believe, the carbon tax is not—and I repeat, not—in the best interests of Ontarians. Its sole purpose is to take money out of people’s pockets. The punishment and the never-ending tax increases under the federal Liberals are propped up by the carbon tax queen herself, Bonnie Crombie, every step of the way. It’s shameful, Speaker.

Can the minister please tell this House why the federal government must immediately cancel this punitive tax?

It is disappointing to see the federal and provincial Liberals simultaneously turn a blind eye to experts’ warnings as we continue to see the hardships that people face here in the province.

Unlike the Liberals, our government is taking action to reduce the risks and impacts of carbon emissions through our clean energy advantage while prioritizing affordable and reliable energy for everyone.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government is securing clean, reliable and affordable energy for Ontarians without needing the carbon tax?

I’m happy to say that Kitchener is getting it done when it comes to building housing. Premier Ford recently joined me at Kitchener city hall to congratulate them on a job well done. For meeting their housing goals, Kitchener received $14 million from our government as part of the Building Faster Fund. The fund is a three-year, $1.2-billion program that encourages municipalities to address the housing supply crisis here in the province. The plan allows municipalities to receive funding for making significant progress against their targets by providing money for infrastructure to build more homes.

Kitchener broke ground on a total of 3,579 new housing units in 2023. That’s 139% of their targeted goal. They knocked it out of the park. Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic and the rest of his council have done a phenomenal job. Berry knows that addressing the housing crisis is a team effort.

The mayor went on to say, “Tackling this challenge will take an all-of-community approach with all orders of government and the private and not-for-profit sectors working together to ensure every Ontario resident has both a roof over their head, and any supports they may need, in order to live a great life.” I can wholeheartedly support that sentiment.

Thank you very much to Kitchener for getting it done.

Thank you to the parliamentary assistant for his response.

The parliamentary assistant is right; this tax is not working for the people. It is jacking up the price of everything and making life more difficult for hard-working Ontarians.

The same old Liberal story is happening all over again. Under the previous Liberal government, people in my riding of Kitchener–Conestoga saw their electricity prices skyrocket, increasing by more than—get this, colleagues—$1,000 a year. Now they are supporting their federal buddies’ tax grabs.

Unlike the Liberals, our government has worked hard to make energy more affordable so that Ontario families don’t have to choose between paying their electricity bill or putting food on the table.

Can the minister please tell this House how our government is delivering the support Ontarians need as we continue to fight this job-killing, regressive carbon tax?

My question is for the Minister of Energy.

The Liberal carbon tax is one of the worst taxes this country has ever seen. It punishes families and small businesses, and it hurts Ontario’s growth and economic progress. This regressive tax is unnecessarily increasing the cost of everything Ontarians need on a daily basis. We know that the people of Ontario deserve better.

That’s why our government continues to remain laser-focused on fighting the carbon tax and keeping costs down. But the Liberal members across the aisle and the carbon tax queen herself, Bonnie Crombie, are working against us. That is unacceptable.

Can the minister please explain how the carbon tax is driving up the cost for everyday Ontarians?

It’s a special day in our house. I’d like to wish my daughter Gemma a happy eighth birthday. I know she’s at school, but we’ll send her the clip a little later on today.