I want to say clearly that, under the leadership of Premier Ford, public safety matters all over Ontario, including in Ottawa.

I want to give a special mention to a great chief in the Ottawa Police Service, Chief Eric Stubbs. I speak with Chief Stubbs on a regular basis, and he’s excited with the government’s announcement of helping to work with the city of Ottawa and put in extra resources that will help him combat the crime in the ByWard Market district, where acts of criminality are deterring tourism.

That’s why, throughout Ontario and in Ottawa, our government will work with police services, with municipalities, to make public safety not only a focus but a priority.

There’s no government in the history of Ontario that has taken public safety more seriously than this government led by Premier Ford, and he leads it everyday by saying that it is absolutely crazy that our doors are getting kicked in at 5 in the morning and people are demanded to hand over their keys.

But do you know what, Mr. Speaker? Our government is acting. That’s why we came forward with two asks for the federal government in Ottawa: (1) have minimum sentencing on those people who think it’s okay to steal our cars and (2) step it up at the Port of Montreal and at the rail ports and then the intermodals, where we are not inspecting the containers going outbound the same as they are inspecting them coming inbound. It’s so simple.

The federal government has an opportunity. And do you know what? The NDP across the way can call their friends in Ottawa and say, “We stand for public safety. This is unacceptable.”

The member is right. People have a right to be concerned about their safety, and public safety for this government is a top priority.

Let me say this, Mr. Speaker: Just recently, when police service budgets had to get approved in Toronto, Hamilton and in London, proxies for the Liberal Party and the NDP voted no. They do not stand as we do, having the backs, every day, of our police services.

We are not going to live and accept the fact that people can commit violent crimes on our streets and be back the next day. This is unacceptable.

That’s why, Mr. Speaker, we will continue to advocate to the federal government to move past C-48, which was a good first step. Do more so that we can keep our province safe.

But Mr. Speaker, I want to go back again: When a person is confronted with their doors being knocked in, and when they are demanded to turn over the keys, when people don’t feel safe, when our seniors don’t feel safe, something is wrong. That’s why our government will always prioritize public safety, fighting auto theft with over $51 million, fighting to keep these violent and repeat offenders off our streets with an investment of over $112 million, and putting more boots on the ground so that we, all over Ontario, can feel safe.

I want to thank my colleague for the question. Ontarians have told us very clearly: Public safety means everything to them. And do you know what, Mr. Speaker? It’s a top priority for our government, led by Premier Ford.

The carbon tax has significantly increased the cost of public safety, and in a few weeks, as we know, the federal government will do it again and raise the carbon tax by 23%. It’s affecting our firefighters and our police officers, our special constables and our first responders—people who are there to fight crime. Every day, thousands of vehicles are on the road that help keep our province safe, and the police budgets have to cover the carbon tax on these cars that get fuelled up.

My message is simple: The Liberals across the way can call their friends in Ottawa and say, “This is not fair. Scrap the tax.”

I want to thank my colleague opposite for the question. There has never been a government more concerned about public safety than our government, led by Premier Ford, and we have acted. The member is correct. Last week, we announced the first sums of money that will be going as part of our $51-million investment to fight auto theft throughout our province. Mr. Speaker, it’s serious, because every few minutes, somewhere in Ontario, a car is getting stolen. It’s completely unacceptable.

That’s why I continue to call on our federal counterpart to meet me at the border, to meet me at the port of Montreal, to open the containers that are being loaded onto the ships and see for themself. That’s where our cars are going. It’s completely unacceptable. We will do everything we can to continue to keep Ontario safe.