Thank you, Speaker, and good morning. Thank you to the associate minister and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for their remarks on Bill 134. I particularly like the associate minister’s terminology of raising the roof. I think we need to do that more across Ontario in getting homes built.

It’s an honour to share the government’s time today as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and speak to the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act. This is an important piece of legislation. If passed, it would complement other measures our government has put in place to help increase housing supply across the province—four housing supply bills already and I know we’re moving forward with the next one as well in our ministry.

Today’s proposed changes are meant to support building more affordable homes in Ontario, helping to make it easier for communities to build the housing that Ontario desperately needs, as the minister alluded to in his remarks, and the associate minister as well.

The proposed changes are also meant to support municipalities as they attract and create jobs. As my colleagues Minister Calandra and Associate Minister Flack have already spoken about this morning, the proposed measures demonstrate our government’s strong commitment to working closely with our municipal partners. We’re committed to making life better for everyone in Ontario, no matter where they live, whether it’s in downtown Toronto, in downtown Listowel or up in Thunder Bay. We are supporting our municipalities with the tools they need to build at least 1.5 million homes by 2031—at least. I know our government has set that goal and I know all opposition parties in the last election agreed to meeting that goal of 1.5 million, but it’s a minimum, in my view, that we need to meet. I know our government will strive to do more.

I’m proud be part of this government that is taking historic action to tackle the housing supply crisis and build more homes Ontarians need. Our government understands the difficulties Ontarians are facing when it comes to housing, and our housing supply action plans have made great progress. As the minister alluded to in his remarks, we’re seeing historic highs with new homes built but also with purpose-built rentals—historic highs in 30 years, I believe.

Our government understands the difficulties Ontarians are facing when it comes to housing and our housing supply plans have made great progress in addressing these challenges. But obviously there is more that can be done. The challenges and measures proposed through the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act are forward-looking. They would help communities meet their housing needs today and well into the future.

Our government recognizes the growth demands being placed on large and fast-growing municipalities in Ontario. For example, the greater Toronto area alone is expected to grow by 2.9 million people by 2046. That is not all that far away in the grand scheme of things. This means that within the next 23 years, we’ll need homes to accommodate an additional 2.9 million people just in the greater Toronto area, let alone any other growth down in Windsor or up in Ottawa. So there is a massive need, as demonstrated by the record number of people coming to our province. As the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing alluded to, it is great to see so many people across Canada and from around the world coming to Ontario because of our government’s work in attracting good-paying jobs and retaining those jobs in Ontario.

Interjections.

It’s more than just a housing issue; it’s an economic problem that can affect the entire province and even the entire country, Speaker. Ontario is the economic engine, and because of our government, it’s becoming an even stronger economic engine of Canada. To meet this growing demand and ensure we attract these companies and retain these companies, we need workers. Ontario requires workers. I hear this in my riding all the time. A company wants to come to Perth–Wellington, either expand or set up a new facility, and usually, their second question is, “Do you have workers?”

These workers obviously require a place to live. Our government is supporting our municipalities and helps make it easier to attract and create more jobs all across the province. However, we need to ensure that our communities have the housing they need to support the workforce of tomorrow.

Speaker, our government is a top-tier destination for investment and strategic business growth, and our government is committed to supporting and growing the province’s workforce. Ontario is ready to help with the creation of good-paying jobs in our communities and help rebuild our economy, and we’re taking concrete action to attract jobs and investment. The proposed changes in the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act are meant to further support municipalities as they work to attract and create good jobs.

A critical factor in securing new investment opportunities is having suitable industrial sites ready for companies to build on. In November 2019, Ontario launched the Job Site Challenge to create an inventory of investment-ready mega sites. It was designed to attract large-scale, advanced manufacturing investments that have the potential to create hundreds of new jobs across the province, Speaker. It’s great to see a government that’s finally focused on retaining and attracting these advanced manufacturing jobs in Ontario.

Unfortunately, under the former Liberal government, supported by the NDP, we lost 3,000 advanced manufacturing jobs, some from my own riding. So it’s great to hear when we have attracted 70,000 new jobs since 2018, 40,000 of those jobs in the manufacturing sector alone. I know our Minister of Economic Development continues to work with our Premier to attract even more of those jobs to our province.

As part of this initiative, municipalities, economic development agencies and industry property owners have put forward large tracts of land, between 500 to 1,500 acres, that would support large-scale manufacturing operations. A site in St. Thomas and Central Elgin was identified early on—approximately 1,500 acres—as one of the most investment-ready mega sites in Ontario and, I would argue, Canada, at the time. However, with the land divided between two municipalities with different permitting requirements, we recognized that potential investors could face red tape and delays from unnecessary disruption. This is why our government took immediate action and decisive action and introduced legislation to adjust the municipal boundaries so the sites identified fully resided in the city of St. Thomas. This change was meant to help speed up the construction timelines and ensure the site was truly shovel-ready for potential investment. Speaker, this was a collaborative approach across government with our municipal partners to cut red tape and ensure the benefits of economic growth are enjoyed across the province. It was the right thing to do. Soon after we made this change, the Volkswagen Group, Europe’s largest automaker, announced its subsidiary PowerCo SE would establish an electric vehicle battery cell manufacturing facility in St. Thomas, Ontario.

Selecting St. Thomas as the location to build the company’s first overseas battery cell plant was a major vote of confidence in Canada and Ontario. I know we outbid a lot of American states, and they’re still scratching their heads on how Ontario was able to attract and retain this investment, Speaker. It speaks—

Interjection: Fedeli factor.

It is our shared work with our federal colleagues and the province to ensure that we’re a global leader in the electric vehicle supply chain. It’s a testament to Ontario’s competitive business environment, which our government has helped create, as alluded to by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, when we’re cutting red tape, and we continue to cut red tape under the great leadership of our Premier and our Minister of Red Tape Reduction.

This investment was welcomed by many local business leaders for the dramatic and positive impact it will have on the community. As the associate minister alluded to, it will not only just benefit Elgin county and St. Thomas and London; it will actually benefit all of Ontario. I know, in particular, when this site was announced—the weekend after, I remember, I was at a couple of community events in my riding, and I heard auto dealers saying, “This is great news, because we’ll sell those cars at our auto dealerships.” So it’s great to see the entire supply chain, as the Associate Minister of Housing alluded to, will benefit from this investment, not just in St. Thomas but across Ontario.

Volkswagen Group and PowerCo SE’s historic investment to build an electric vehicle battery cell manufacturing facility in St. Thomas will create thousands of jobs. This manufacturing facility will be the largest of its kind in Canada, and it has the potential to become one of the largest electric vehicle battery plants in the world. The plant will have six production lines and make enough batteries for one million cars every year. What’s more, Volkswagen Group has plans to make 25 new electric vehicle models in the coming decades, and most of those batteries will come from St. Thomas.

The plant is expected, as the associate minister alluded to, to employ up to 3,000 people and create thousands of spin-off jobs across Ontario. It is estimated that it could be worth as much as $200 billion to the Canadian economy over the coming decade—$200 billion, Speaker. This investment represents the largest auto investment in our province’s history, and it’s a big win for the people of Ontario, the people of St. Thomas and all the surrounding communities.

Volkswagen Group’s historic investment will strengthen Ontario’s end-to-end electric vehicle supply chain and create more good-paying jobs for workers in St. Thomas and across the province. This is an example—one of many—of how our government continues to work to create the right conditions for businesses and workers to succeed now and into the future. We’re revitalizing Ontario’s auto sector and making Ontario a powerhouse in North America. The cars of the future will be made in Ontario from start to finish, from the minerals in northern Ontario to the battery cells in St. Thomas, and the auto dealers in my riding of Perth–Wellington will sell them.

Speaker, our government wants to help St. Thomas move forward with this investment which will significantly strengthen the local economy and Ontario’s economy. Through the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act, Ontario is proposing changes to help support this investment. The agreement was negotiated in partnership with the city of St. Thomas and provides for the city to grant assistance as part of the PowerCo SE project. However, the current rules against municipalities providing financial assistance to any industrial or commercial enterprise limit the city of St. Thomas from providing some assistance outlined in the agreement.

The changes we’re proposing through the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act would give the city of St. Thomas the authority to provide PowerCo SE municipal-based incentives that were negotiated in partnership with the municipality. This new authority would be restricted to St. Thomas only. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing would provide the regulation-making authority to impose restrictions, limits and other conditions as needed on the new authority. In addition, the province will be consulting on the proposed changes through a public posting on the Regulatory Registry of Ontario for a 30-day period.

Creating and supporting more shovel-ready mega sites like St. Thomas will help Ontario remain competitive as the province competes for major global investments. I know our Minister of Economic Development continues to travel the world, selling the great story we have in Ontario and attract more investments to Ontario, and I know we will have more good news in the months and years ahead.

These proposed changes represent our government’s efforts to attract new investments and create more good-paying jobs and strengthen the economy. To complement the legislative proposals in the Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act, our government will also be consulting on other changes that can be made to help get more affordable housing built in Ontario and increase municipal efficiencies.

We’re committed to working closely with our municipal partners to ensure that they have the right tools and processes in place so they can build at least 1.5 million new homes by 2031. Our government will be consulting on proposed regulatory changes as part of the ongoing strategy to streamline hearings and speed up decisions at the Ontario Land Tribunal.

The Ontario Land Tribunal may seem like some mysterious committee that is set up that most people wouldn’t really understand the impact of. I have a great example from my riding in Perth–Wellington on the delays and inefficiencies—which we are consulting on how we can streamline and decrease—and how this prevented homes from being built. There was a proposed development in my community—the town I actually live in, in the riding, in Mitchell—for, as the associate minister mentioned, seniors looking to move out of their current homes into a smaller unit, usually two-bedroom, retirement-type living. One of the proposed developments was rather modest for Mitchell: four storeys tall—I know. Very small for Toronto standards, but very big for Mitchell standards. But someone took them to the Ontario Land Tribunal—NIMBYs. We’ll just say what it is: It’s NIMBYs. They took them to the Ontario Land Tribunal and they delayed the project for years.

The community builder now says this delay added an extra million dollars to the project, and the project hasn’t broken ground. So those individuals want to stay in their community because their children and grandchildren live in the community, but they can’t because they don’t have anywhere they want to downsize to. They’re over-housed, as it’s sometimes referred to.

These delays prevented this apartment building from being built, which I live down the street from. I’ve been at many public events and tell people I’m 100% in favour of this, even though I know it will increase traffic a little, that there will be more people. But that’s great to see: more homes being built in our rural communities. And these individuals, then, would leave their houses, and those houses would be available for families.

But that hasn’t happened, Speaker, because of these delays at the Ontario Land Tribunal, so this government is taking action to streamline the processes and reduce those delays. Helping resolve land use planning difficulties and disputes faster will help municipalities build priority projects quicker, including housing, as I mentioned. Supply Ontario, as well, will also be engaging and working with municipalities to look at ways to increase procurement collaboration with municipalities to allow cost savings and efficiencies by both levels of government.

To support building more homes, our government will be asking for feedback on proposed regulatory changes aimed at streamlining hearings and expediting the OLT, the Ontario Land Tribunal, as I alluded to. It is an independent adjudicative tribunal and an important piece of the municipal planning and housing framework here in Ontario. However, when people are unable to resolve their differences on land use planning issues or have disputes with their municipal councils that can’t be settled, the OLT provides a forum to resolve those disputes.

We need to improve the process, though, Speaker, which will help resolve land use disputes faster, will help minimize delays and will help get more homes built in communities across Ontario. Too many people in Ontario are struggling to find an affordable home and this proposal supports our government’s efforts to provide more certainty for municipalities and make it cheaper and easier to build affordable homes across the province.

To further streamline hearings and speed up decisions at the OLT, Ontario is consulting on and developing proposed regulations to set service standards and to prioritize resolution of certain cases, including cases that would create more housing. Consultations, for those who are watching at home, will begin this fall. This contributes to the broader goal of supporting strong, healthy communities with the public interest at heart. It also expands the important work that is already under way to improve our processes.

Ontario has made investments to help the OLT to streamline processes, improve customer service and resolve land use planning disputes more quickly. Some of these investments were made to address key recommendations in the Housing Affordability Task Force report to increase resources to the OLT so homes can be built faster. We know that principled and timely resolutions play an important role in the province’s housing supply. We will not let red tape, NIMBYs or long wait times delay critical projects in our communities, including much-needed housing.

We’ll also be engaging and working with municipalities to ensure they can benefit from provincial supply chain programs and strategies, led by Supply Ontario. A classic example I’ve actually heard from my municipality, Speaker, is the province purchases so much paper in a year: Can we get on that to reduce the cost to municipalities? Bulk purchasing, whether it’s paper, whether it’s office supplies, whether it’s—also construction material, potentially, as well.

We’re going to consult on a variety of things that Supply Ontario oversees and how we can leverage that to support procurement across the Ontario public service and the broader public sector. It works to bring cohesion to the public sector supply chain by embracing innovation and leveraging diverse partnerships and relationships with suppliers. This can help harness Ontario’s buying power to enable economic development, province-wide resiliency and the value for Ontarians.

There is only one taxpayer at the end of the day, and I know our municipal partners always appreciate our provincial government is willing to work with them, seeing how we can help reduce costs and create more efficiencies within the way we do business at a provincial and municipal level. I know we will be consulting with them very heavily. And I know it really speaks to the theme that our government really focuses on a lot: local empowerment, as the Associate Minister of Housing mentioned.

Unfortunately, under the former Liberal government—supported by the NDP, again—they didn’t believe in local empowerment. They believed in imposing, for example, wind turbines on communities that didn’t want them; they believed in not considering municipal feedback. This government, I’m proud to say, listens to our municipal partners, supports our municipal partners and will continue to do so as we aim for our goal of building 1.5 million new homes by 2031.

Speaker, as you can see, our proposed measure will help supporting more affordable homes in Ontario, while also supporting our municipalities as they work to attract and create good jobs all throughout Ontario. The proposed changes and measures my colleagues and I described this morning would also support earlier measures made through the government’s housing supply action plans.

Speaker, I’m one of the younger members of this place currently. I know I hear often from my colleagues that they want to own a home. They want to be able to call a place their own. This government will continue to stand with those new Canadians, those young Canadians and those seniors looking to downsize, to ensure we get homes built in communities across Ontario.