It is a pleasure to rise to today to share with this House some important investments our government has made in my riding of Perth–Wellington.

Last week, I was joined by the Minister of Education to announce a brand new Catholic elementary school in Drayton, Ontario. This represents $17.3 million in investment by our government in our rural education system and will create 222 new student spaces and 64 new child care spaces.

This is a huge investment for Drayton and area because, for too long, local families did not have any affordable child care options locally. But our government is delivering for rural Ontario after years of inaction from the previous Liberal government.

Speaker, the good news doesn’t stop there. I also had the pleasure of announcing that our government is funding a major expansion of St. Mary’s Catholic School in Listowel. This investment of $5.8 million will help build an additional 150 student spaces and 98 child care spaces. These two projects are part of our larger $1.3-billion plan that more than doubles the funding to build new schools and expands child care spaces across Ontario.

Since 2018, our provincial government has invested over $34 million in communities across Perth–Wellington to build 250 new child care spaces and 470 new student spaces. While the previous Liberal government closed 600 rural schools, our government will continue to invest in rural Ontario.

It’s my pleasure to rise this afternoon to speak on my colleague from Oshawa’s motion before this House. I also obviously want to wish my colleague a happy birthday. I know we work well together on the procedure and house affairs committee and the important work we’re doing there.

I was listening to the debate intently this afternoon, colleagues, and hearing about the important investments our government is making in Ontario—increasing the power capacity, historic amounts of auto investments that Minister Fedeli and Premier Ford are attracting to this province. Our provincial government understands the opportunities this presents, and we’re going to unleash the next stage of the electrical vehicle revolution.

That’s why our government is implementing, as this House knows, our Powering Ontario’s Growth plan, with shovels in the ground today on new energy generation and storage that will power the switch of Ontario-made electric vehicles as well as new economic investment and new homes. That includes Canada’s first small modular nuclear reactor; the largest procurement of clean energy storage in the country’s history; and new transmissions that are going to connect every region of our province.

At the same time, we’re ensuring that our grid is ready for families and businesses to decide to make the switch. We also know this revolution brings with it unparalleled opportunities for our province’s economy.

Over the last four years, Ontario has attracted over $43 billion in transformative auto investments by global automakers and suppliers of EV batteries and battery materials.

Interjections.

Interjection.

My apologies, Speaker.

Ontario’s auto supply chain is comprised of over 70 parts firms, over 50 tool-and-die and mould makers and over 40 companies working on connected, autonomous, electric and mobile technologies. It employs approximately 120,000 people in the province of Ontario—as well as hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs, many in my own riding of Perth–Wellington. These are historic investments for our province.

It’s disappointing though, colleagues, that the members opposite, most recently in the investments we’re making in our budget around auto investment, giving our municipalities the tools to attract this investment—they voted against that, colleagues. And they voted against my motion, in particular, around our clean, green nuclear fleet. They voted against those good union jobs at Bruce Power, Darlington, and those historic investments we’re making to refurbish those facilities to continue to produce the electricity we will need to power those made-in-Ontario electric vehicles. It is disappointing that they voted against those investments.

But it’s thanks to our government’s actions that we are now a global leader when it comes to the manufacturing of electric vehicles. We know that in order to take full advantage of this coming change, we need to be ready. That’s why we’re increasing the number of public EV chargers, especially in underserved areas, including exploring reduced electricity rates for those chargers. As we heard, the member from Kitchener Centre appreciates our government’s action on lowering the overnight rate to charge her electric vehicle.

We’re building thousands of new EV chargers through the EV charge Ontario program, a $91-million investment to support public EV charger installations outside of Ontario’s large urban centres, including at community hubs, Ontario’s highway rest areas, the ONroutes, carpool lots, parking lots, Ontario parks, an arena down the road from my house in my riding. We are installing new EV fast chargers across all of Ontario’s ONroute stations along the 400- and 401-series highways with local utilities. They’re some of the biggest supporters of these programs—like Hydro One and OPG’s Ivy Charging Network.

When it comes to ensuring our homes are ready, last year the Ontario Energy Board issued new guidance to all local utility providers that makes clear that utilities should be providing all new residential customers with the capacity to accommodate 208-amp service, enough to power an EV vehicle that is currently available on the market.

Let’s talk about new homes. It’s no secret, colleagues, that Ontario is in a housing supply crisis. Recently, as members of the standing committee on infrastructure, cultural policy and heritage, we heard from a former Liberal cabinet minister, Steven Del Duca, now the mayor of Vaughan—we know the leading cause of this crisis was the inaction of the previous Liberal government, who for years failed to act to take any steps to address the lack of affordable housing in Ontario. While our government has taken historic steps to undo this damage—today we voted on Bill 185, another important step forward in that goal of building more homes across Ontario—one of the main obstacles facing home builders across the province of Ontario is the cost of housing. As we heard recently at committee from stakeholders, high interest rates—it was great to see the Bank of Canada finally begin to cut interest rates, as our Premier has been calling them, and many Premiers in Canada have been calling on that. High interest rates, high inflationary rates, high tax policies of the federal government—yes, including the federal Liberal carbon tax—are driving the costs up for our home builders across Ontario. These are the higher costs that are ultimately passed on to those potential homebuyers. Those new Ontarians, those new Canadians, those young people, and those seniors looking to downsize are the ones footing that bill.

Unfortunately, the proposal from my colleague, as presented today, would be another additional cost that would make it more unaffordable for families to purchase a new home. The NDP wants every homeowner to have to pay up front, whether they would use the service or not. Those of us on this side of the House believe in a free market approach. And they laugh, colleagues, but I will fight every election in my entire life on the free market, because I’m a believer in the free market and I will stand for that.

Any homeowner can make this choice, and I have friends who have made the choice to purchase an EV and install that, as well. I have friends who have purchased a home that may have it, as well. It’s their choice. We’ll continue to stand with the people of Ontario to allow them to make those choices, as well.

That is why our government is recommending that we do not support the opposition motion.

My question is for the member from Humber River–Black Creek. I know we heard often at committee from a variety of stakeholders, and we heard from the Ontario home builders and the greater Ottawa home builders. They said the number one concern they had was increasing costs, was the high interest rates of the federal Liberal government and also the high cost of the carbon tax increasing the cost of building materials and homes.

I know the member has said he has voted against it in this place, and I appreciate he is willing to vote against the carbon tax. But will he call his federal NDP colleagues, who are supporting Justin Trudeau, and ask him to scrap this tax?

Thank you to the member from Waterloo for her remarks this afternoon. She mentioned six painful years, Speaker. Well, if I had their poll numbers, it would be six painful years, colleagues.

As we heard at committee, the Ontario home builders came to committee and presented, and so did OREA and other builders in the province of Ontario. I asked around, obviously, increasing costs of interest rates, costs of labour, construction materials, but obviously also as well, Speaker, the carbon tax. So I asked the home builders if the federal Liberal carbon tax and its increasing year over year is increasing the cost of housing in Ontario. And, Speaker, they said yes. They confirmed that it is causing costs—costs of building materials and labour—to go up.

Does the member from Waterloo agree that the federal Liberal carbon tax is increasing the cost of housing? And will the member from Waterloo call her federal member and ask her to scrap this tax?

My answer to my colleague across the way is, we continue to consult with our home builders to get homes built across Ontario.

It’s telling, colleagues, that my colleague across the way does not trust our municipal colleagues to make sound planning decisions.

Thank you to my colleague from Markham–Thornhill for this very important question. One of those ways—as we mentioned, I believe, in all of our remarks today—was student housing. We’re exempting that from the Planning Act for our universities.

I think of the University of Guelph, who have lots of students. It’s a great university in Guelph there, but they need student housing. But as the minister mentioned, those students now are in the community, taking rentals out of that stock from the local community. If we build student housing, they can then move into student housing and there is more rental stock for many workers—and because of the investments we’re attracting through our auto manufacturing, I know there are many in Guelph.

Thank you, colleagues.

This is a generational investment in rural Ontario, and it’s because of this Minister of Education and our Premier that we’re making these investments. What I was really pleased to hear and learn from our local school board, working—again, partnerships across our provincial, municipal and with our school boards in relation to getting schools built. This school is slated to be opened in September 2026. I know the municipality will work hard to open it even sooner, but it’s working with our municipal partners to streamline these builds, ensure that we have complete communities, whether it’s a hospital, long-term-care facility or a school. We’re going to continue to listen with our municipal partners to look at more ways to speed up the municipal approvals process so that growing communities can benefit from the high quality of life that Ontario is known for.

Speaker, there are other ways we are responding to municipal feedback regarding stalled development. Our proposed changes eliminate the mandatory five-year phase-in of development charge rates. This would apply to development charge bylaws passed on or after January 1, 2022. The development charges are fees that municipalities can apply on a new development or redevelopment to help pay for the capital costs of infrastructure, such as water and waste water plants, and to support new homes and other development in their communities. And for municipalities that have to amend their development charge bylaws to remove the phase-in, we are proposing that they would be able to do so using a streamlined approach.

What’s more, I am pleased to share with the Legislative Assembly that we brought into force the discounts and exemptions on municipal development-related charges for affordable residential units on June 1, so just last week. To support this implementation, we have published a website with the data that sets out the market-based and income-based thresholds for affordable ownership and residential units listed by local municipality. We believe this will incentivize the construction of new affordable housing across this province.

Throughout my remarks today I’ve shown how our government has listened to our municipal and other partners and responded to their needs through the proposed bill. I also wanted to talk about how we plan to keep the conversation with our partners going by improving consultation tools and the way we communicate with the housing sector.

As part of this package, we consulted on land use planning approvals through an update to the proposed provincial planning statement, or PPS. At the close of consultations, on May 12 of this year, we received over 175 submissions outlining feedback to our proposals. While municipalities are the decision-makers through the planning approvals process and are best able to speak about how their communities are developed when it comes to housing and services, evolving from A Place to Grow and the provincial policy statement, the proposed provincial planning statement would set the overall rules for land use planning in Ontario. It would be the guide for protecting our environment and our public health and safety. It would lay out the policies for using and managing our province’s natural resources and it would set out our government policies for managing growth.

We held consultations last year and received stakeholder feedback on our previous proposals for the PPS. After receiving this feedback, one of our key proposals is to make a change to the proposed provincial planning statement that includes increased housing intensification in existing urban areas that are near transit.

Our proposed changes also include promoting a range of housing options, including student housing and, importantly, seniors’ housing; making it faster and easier to make land available for residential development; and supporting better coordination between municipalities and school boards.

Another key change we are proposing would support the redevelopment of shopping malls in underused plazas.

We are currently going through the feedback we received on these proposals right now in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Speaker, through these measures and proposals I’ve spoken to today, our government wants to ensure that our municipal and housing sectors have the tools they need to support more housing in communities across the province. By extension, we believe our proposed Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act would give Ontarians more access to homes that meet their needs and budgets.

I know our government continues to work with our municipal partners to get more homes built across Ontario, as I mentioned, not just in downtown Toronto but in northern Ontario and rural Ontario. We’ll continue to put forward targeted measures, working with our municipal partners, to get homes built and to get shovels in the ground because we all know we want to ensure that Ontario remains a great place to live, work, play and raise a family.

It’s an honour today to rise in the House to speak to the contents of Bill 185 and share some of the work that our government is doing to cut red tape and build more homes faster across the province.

As I go through some of the targeted measures—as the minister mentioned in his remarks, we’re taking targeted measures—in the proposed Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, you’ll notice that promoting a culture of partnership rather than a culture of delays is a thread woven throughout this piece of legislation. We’re working to ensure that our municipal and other housing sector partners have the tools that they need to get shovels in the ground to build more housing across the province.

To begin, I would like to highlight the aspects of this bill that address our goal of improving consultation and providing municipalities and builders with greater certainty to get homes built faster. Our government is proposing a change through Bill 185 that would, in some cases, reduce project delays by up to 18 months. Our proposed changes to the Planning Act would streamline certain third-party appeals to the Ontario Land Tribunal. This is a change that could help the housing projects in communities receive planning approvals quicker. As the minister mentioned, we would maintain the rights to appeal for groups such as First Nations, aeronautic governing bodies—airports, in the common tongue—and public bodies.

All too often, we’re seeing housing proposals get tied up in lengthy approvals processes. Of course, this is frustrating for all types of projects, but it’s especially frustrating when the proposal could have a positive impact in a growing neighbourhood—a neighbourhood with existing amenities like grocery stores or hospitals or one that is close to transit.

Speaker, approximately 67,000 housing units were subject to third-party appeals of official plans and rezoning between 2021 and 2023. Our proposed change could mean getting shovels in the ground a full year and a half earlier, which could then allow more families to move into new housing faster.

We have another proposal that we believe is needed in order to change with the times. We’re proposing a regulatory change to enhance public engagement on new planning applications and other Planning Act and development charge matters. We would do this by modernizing the public notice requirements to enable municipalities to give notice on their website if there is no local newspaper available. As we all know, the media landscape in Canada, and especially in our rural communities, is changing. Many now do not have weekly newspapers, unfortunately, and many are now virtual or websites online. This change will allow those consultations that are required to continue in the 21st century. It’s part of broader changes the government is making to improve accountability and transparency and part of the changes we’re making to ensure municipalities have the tools they need to grow their communities.

We would also work with our municipal partners to develop best practices for modernized public engagement and consultation. This could include expanding our reach to include notices in multiple languages to support culturally diverse communities so that more people can have their say when notices go up that affect where they live.

As the minister mentioned, we’ve also made changes around parking requirements. These changes could speed up getting shovels in the ground on housing faster. Through Bill 185, we’re proposing to lower the cost to build by removing the requirements to have a minimum number of parking spaces for developments in certain areas near most major transit stations. This proposed change to the Planning Act would apply to the lands, buildings or structures that are located within certain areas near transit called protected major transit station areas. It would also apply to other areas where municipalities plan to accommodate more housing and jobs around subways, rail and bus rapid transit stations.

Instead of mandating minimum parking requirements, our proposal would let homebuyers and home builders decide the number of parking spaces for new residential development near transit based on market needs. This is something we heard often from our municipal partners. I’m thinking of the mayor of Guelph, who has advocated strongly for the reduction in parking minimums. We’ve also heard it from our builders as well, which will help reduce their costs.

This form of decision-making exists in Toronto already. Our proposal would allow homebuyers and home builders across the province to weigh in, ensuring that these parking minimums do not hinder the development of new housing. If this Legislative Assembly chooses to pass this bill, this proposal could remove construction costs for a building between $2,000 to $100,000 per parking space per project, helping to make more projects viable in these challenging economic times. Under existing requirements in some municipalities, this could reduce costs by up to $50 million for a 500-unit development, making it cheaper to build and purchase new homes near transit. It will also make transit more accessible to more people across Ontario.

While we aim to cut red tape, in the process, our proposals aim to make building homes less expensive. We’re proposing changes to the Planning Act that, if passed, would enable future regulations that could help eliminate municipal barriers to building additional residential units. As those in this place know, we did make three as of right across the province under past legislation, and this legislation builds upon those important steps—buildings like garden suites, laneway homes and basement apartments, which are becoming very common across Ontario, whether it’s our urban centres or our rural communities.

By providing the government with the regulation-making authority related to additional residential units, we would be able to reduce the barriers created by the maximum lot coverage or rules around setbacks to preserve angular planes—in other words, the distance between buildings to allow light to pass through—and the rules around limits on the number of bedrooms allowed per lot, in turn supporting the number of additional residential units that can be built.

I’ll add that our policies are already delivering historic results in our beautiful province. Last year, Ontario achieved 99% of its province-wide housing target of 110,000 units. This number incudes the number of additional residential units, which are an important type of housing that helps increase the density in existing neighbourhoods.

I know I’ve had an opportunity to tour a couple of these new residential units in my own riding in the city of Stratford and in the town of St. Marys, seeing even our rural communities jump on this opportunity. It is through our legislation that we have passed that they are able to do this, streamlined in a quicker manner, and to offer those rental apartments to young people or seniors who are looking to downsize in our communities.

The Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act also includes proposed measures that prioritize infrastructure for ready-to-go housing projects, with new use-it-or-lose-it tools. We’ve heard from our municipal partners that one barrier to meeting the provincial housing targets can be unused service capacity such as water and sewer servicing. A large factor in this is stalled developments. In fact, we heard from seven municipalities that 70,000 housing units with planning approval had remained inactive for at least two years.

The new use-it-or-lose-it tools aim to prioritize infrastructure for housing projects that are ready to go. The tools will help address those stalled developments and support the allocation of housing-enabling infrastructure such as water and sewer servicing in a more efficient fashion.

If passed, our proposed changes to the Planning Act, the Municipal Act of 2001 and the City of Toronto Act would explicitly enable municipalities to adopt policies setting out how sewage and waste water servicing capacity can be allocated or reallocated to developments that are ready to proceed. The result would be fewer barriers in delays prior to construction.

I know we heard about the use-it-or-lose-it policy often at the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy in our consultations that we have had earlier this year and continue to have around regional governance and other hearings we’ve had. I know our municipal partners have asked for this, and we are happy to work with them again, Speaker—the partnerships that we are forming with our municipal partners to get more homes built.

We’re not only prioritizing building infrastructure for housing; we’re also prioritizing building more types of homes for more people. To get there, we need to look at what is working and what isn’t. As we know, a new development may require many municipal planning approvals before construction begins. Under the Planning Act, municipalities can make decisions through their planning approval processes that determine the future of their communities. Municipalities make decisions around official plans, zoning bylaw changes and site plan control. This is one of the major reasons why we have listened to the needs and concerns of our municipal partners.

While navigating through the planning approvals process, some of Ontario’s priority projects—projects that are essential to building communities—have encountered delays. To solve this, we’ll be consulting on a new expedited approval process for community service facilities. We’ll be starting with kindergarten-to-grade-12 public schools and potentially extending the consultation in phases to long-term-care facilities and hospitals.

I know I had the pleasure of hosting Minister Lecce this Friday in my riding of Perth–Wellington to announce over $17 million for a brand new school in Mapleton township.

Interjections.

Thank you to the minister for his response. The carbon tax is failing on all fronts, except driving up the cost of basic necessities. The federal Liberals can reduce the cost of food today for children, for seniors and for everyone who is going hungry by eliminating this punitive tax. But unfortunately, it seems they’re all willing to let Ontario suffer under this carbon tax.

The Liberal and NDP members sitting in this House are content to see the carbon tax triple—triple—by 2030. This is unacceptable, and this Premier and our government will continue to fight this punitive tax.

Minister, can you tell this House why the members opposite must come to their senses and join our government in fighting this carbon tax?

Interjection.

I think everyone is just excited for my question this morning. I’d really like to ask a question to the Premier, but unfortunately, my question is to the Minister of Energy.

The Liberal carbon tax is driving up the cost of food and everyday essentials. It continues to force individuals and families across our province to choose between cooling and eating. Just last week we learned that grocery prices in Ontario have increased by an additional 1.4% compared to last year. At the same time, food bank usage in our province has increased by 38%.

Speaker, the Liberals, under the carbon tax queen, Bonnie Crombie, along with the opposition NDP, persistently ignore the effects this tax has on our food supply chain. They should meet with the grain farmers who are here today and hear about how much this tax costs our farmers.

As the opposition champions the carbon tax, our government will keep costs down for the people of Ontario, and we will not stop until this regressive tax is scrapped. Minister, can you please explain—

It is a pleasure to rise today to recognize the amazing accomplishments of one of my constituents in Perth–Wellington. Earlier this month, Corbyn Smith from Monkton, Ontario, along with his teammates on Canada’s para hockey team, took home the gold medal in the World Para Hockey Championship in Calgary. Team Canada had an amazing performance, going 5 and 0 in the tournament, and would wind up beating the United States 2-1 in the finals.

Corbyn had a great showing at the tournament, finishing with two goals and six points.

This year’s gold medal win is Team Canada’s first world title since 2017, in South Korea.

Speaker, Corbyn was on that Team Canada para hockey team as well, making this the second gold medal he has won for this great country.

What makes his accomplishment even more impressive, colleagues, is that during the 2021-22 season, Corbyn was let go because of concussion issues. Despite these challenges, he focused on his health and was able to return to the game he loves so much and, in his words, “makes moments like these that much more special.”

What also made this tournament extra special was that over 19 family members and friends were able to join him on the trip to Calgary to cheer him on and Team Canada.

Congratulations, Corbyn and Team Canada. Monkton and Ontario are proud of what you have accomplished again on the ice.

Thank you to the member opposite for his remarks. He talked at length about the importance of having women in our workforce, which we all agree is very important here and important to prevent gender-based violence.

On page 108 of the budget we are investing an additional $13.5 million “to enhance initiatives that support women, children, youth and others”—racialized communities—“who are at increased risk of violence or exploitation....”

Can the member opposite please tell this House and those watching why they voted against the budget a few short hours ago?

Thank you to the minister for his response.

As a young member in this place, I know the carbon tax has done nothing for the environment but instead has driven up the cost of basic necessities and made it difficult for food banks and other non-profits to serve our most vulnerable citizens.

Food banks across the province are now paying more for gas and diesel to transport the food, more for natural gas to heat their buildings, and more for the food on their shelves. Speaker, 69% of food banks are concerned that they don’t have enough food to meet the demand, and the carbon tax is forcing them to stretch their already limited budgets even further. What’s worse is that this tax burden is only going to rise every single year.

Speaker, can the minister please explain what our government is doing to protect our food banks and other non-profits from this disastrous carbon tax?

My question is for the Minister of Energy.

Speaker, last year’s Feed Ontario report saw a 38% increase in food bank usage in Ontario, with over 800,000 Ontarians having to access a food bank. This is the single largest increase ever recorded. Sadly, Ontarians are being forced to visit food banks because the regressive and harmful carbon tax is driving up the cost of food.

Interjections.

Interjections.

The independent Liberal members in this place and the federal Liberal government need to understand that if you tax our farm families who grow the food and the truckers who ship the food, you end up taxing the Ontario families who buy the food.

This regressive tax is a disgrace, and it must be scrapped.

Can the minister please explain how the Liberal carbon tax is making life harder and more expensive for hard-working Ontarians?

It’s my pleasure to introduce Doreen Armstrong-Ross, CEO of Dryden Regional Health Care Centre, and Andrew Williams, CEO of Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance, also from the great riding of Perth–Wellington.

Ma question est pour le ministre du Développement du Nord et le ministre des Affaires autochtones.

The Prime Minister has a new flashy video, but he’s not fooling anyone. Ontarians are paying more for food, gas and home heating. And at a time when we are facing a 40-year-high inflation rate the Prime Minster and the federal Liberals decided to hike the carbon tax by an additional 23%. You can hear the groans already from the independent Liberals. It’s clear that the Liberals in this place do not care about affordability and addressing that. Under their leader, carbon tax queen Bonnie Crombie, they are content with seeing the tax continue to rise and eventually triple by 2030. This is unfair to Ontarians that are paying for the expense of failed Liberal policies. The Liberal carbon tax must come to an end.

Speaker, with the summer quickly approaching, can the minister please explain how the carbon tax continues to burden every Ontarian?

While the members opposite have no regard for fiscal discipline, as the people in Ontario truly understand after 15 years under the previous Liberal government, our government will continue to put Ontarians first, protect their hard-earned paycheques and savings.

Can the minister please share with our House today how our government remains steadfast in investing in the priorities that resonate with the people of Ontario while the NDP and Liberals across the aisle continue to support the carbon tax?

Thank you to my colleague for the question.

I would argue that the federal Liberal carbon tax is a very real concern for the people of rural Ontario. They pay it every time they fill up their vehicle. They pay it on the food they buy. They pay it on the clothes they purchase. They pay it on everything—literally everything. It is something I hear constantly. I hear it from the agricultural sector, as well, and from our home builders.

I had a meeting with a local trucking company which transports the vast majority of bricks in the province. Their federal carbon tax on April 1—just the increase was $60K. They’re already paying the carbon tax, and that’s going to be the increase with the most recent 23% increase.

When will the provincial Liberals and the provincial NDP call their federal cousins and demand they scrap this tax?

Obviously, that is across Ontario, northern and southern Ontario—the needs for more infrastructure for our transportation networks. Whether that’s the expansion of Highway 7 in the region of Waterloo and Guelph area; whether that’s down in Essex with the expansion of Highway 3; whether that’s the expansion of essentially the entire 401 now, it’s ensuring that we get more people and goods moving to international markets, domestic markets, ensuring that people can spend more time at home with their families—enjoy those aspects of their lives.

We’ll continue to make those investments, including, which I didn’t mention in my remarks—but also doubling the Ontario community infrastructure program. We doubled that amount and maintained that amount, providing sustainable funding to our municipalities so they can build infrastructure.

Our government has been taking a lot of action on retaining and training health care workers. The Learn and Stay grant, for example; the investments I mentioned in the primary care expansion—which, again, the members opposite voted against, which I think is shameful.

The Liberals—again, I refer to the fact that they had 15 years to expand primary care teams, and they did not do that. It took our government to expand it and continue to expand it, which our primary care nurse practitioners are very appreciative of.

We expanded the scope of nurse practitioners, as well, as mentioned earlier—also, midwives—ensuring that we have that there.

We reduced red tape for foreign-trained health care professionals to allow them to enter the health care profession more quickly, and I know some are practising in my area, which is very great to see. If you have the education, you should be able to practise in Ontario.

I know community safety is important to all of our communities, whether it’s in the GTA, but also in rural Ontario. Many people probably won’t realize, but a brand new Ford F-150 truck is over $100,000 and they are also in the port of Montreal. So I know the investments we’re making here to prevent auto crime—in rural Ontario, as well; it’s not just a GTA problem, unfortunately—will have a big impact in ensuring that we catch those criminals and stop this auto theft, for example, and ensuring that we make those investments in our front-line workers.

I know that our government will always stand with our police forces.

I know in this budget in particular, we’re investing $27 billion over 10 years in infrastructure to connect communities, fight gridlock and keep goods and people moving. In 2024-25 alone, we’re investing almost $4 billion towards projects that will expand and rebuild eight provincial highways and bridges. I know, in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, we work often with our colleagues across Ontario.

My message to the people of Ontario and the Minister of Finance, and really our entire government and cabinet, is, keep doing what we’re doing. Continue to make those investments in health care. Continue to make those historic investments in education, doubling the capital allocation for education and getting schools built. The former Liberal government closed 600 schools, many in rural Ontario. It decimated rural communities. We’re building schools in rural Ontario now.

I know we’ll continue to attract those investments. I don’t have a Volkswagen or a NextStar Honda, but I know many of the auto manufacturers in my riding supply parts for those facilities and employ good workers in those facilities, as well.

It is my pleasure to rise this afternoon to talk about our budget bill, third reading. I want to thank, before I begin, obviously, the Minister of Finance for his tireless work for the people of Ontario and his work in this budget. I also want to thank the member from Oakville as well for his work and the member from Mississauga–Malton for his work on this budget as well, and obviously thank the previous parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Finance, the member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound, for his work on this very important document.

It’s a pleasure to share how our government is taking every step and every action to build a better future for residents in Perth–Wellington and right across Ontario.

Just under two years ago, the people of Ontario sent a message to Queen’s Park. They told us to get on with the work of building Ontario, and they sent a message that our Progressive Conservative Party, under the leadership of Premier Ford, is the only party that will get it done for Ontarians in every part of our beautiful province.

Speaker, with this budget, our government is showing up for Ontarians. We’re investing in critical infrastructure, and we’re building homes, hospitals and highways, to name a few things.

Our government knows how important it is to address the housing supply crisis Ontarians are currently facing. We understand the pressure and anxiety our younger generations feel when anticipating their prospects for home ownership.

At the same time, we recognize the financial pressures faced by home builders in this province—in part, as we talk about often in the government and in the majority middle on the other side of this House, is the carbon tax, which is supported by the federal Liberals, obviously, and the NDP in Ottawa that continues to prop them up. The current leader of the federal NDP, obviously, Speaker, as you know, is from this place, and their provincial colleagues do nothing to call on the federal Liberal government to scrap this tax. But I digress.

That’s why our government has stood up and taken steps to help Ontarians overcome these unnecessary burdens. We’re working directly with our municipal partners to ensure that the next generation of Ontarians is not left behind, but is instead lifted up and supported in their dreams of home ownership across this province.

Last year, we announced the Building Faster Fund, a $1.2-billion investment in the next generation of Ontarians. This investment rewards municipalities for progress towards their housing targets, ensuring that as mayors and councils across Ontario make commitments to building in their communities, our government is there to support their growth.

Over the past several months, I’ve had the distinct pleasure to travel throughout southern Ontario to congratulate some of these mayors and their respective councils on their progress. Thanks to our collective success, I was proud to announce millions of dollars in provincial funding through the Building Faster Fund in Welland, Peterborough, Innisfil, Kawartha Lakes and Georgina. I know Premier Ford, Minister Calandra and Associate Minister Flack were also pleased to be able to make these important announcements across Ontario, highlighting the important work our municipal partners are doing to get homes built across this province.

I will mention Frank, the mayor of Welland, is obviously, after this debate this evening, at a reception downstairs, or up here, I believe, on this floor, in the Legislative Assembly—a reception for Niagara Week and the great work our member from Niagara West does to highlight those needs in this place and advocate for those communities.

Speaker, our government champions the Team Ontario approach, and we know that when we all come together in unison to take action on the housing supply crisis left by the former Liberal government, a better and brighter future is possible for the next generation.

In the same vein, we know more work needs to be done. With more than 2,000 people coming to Ontario each day last year, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to ensure infrastructure is being built to support the new homes, highways and hospitals Ontarians need.

That’s why in this year’s budget, our government announced an additional $1 billion in the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program, along with $825 million for the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund.

I meet with plenty of municipalities across Ontario, whether it’s in northern or southern Ontario, and the number one concern we continue to hear in municipal affairs and housing is getting pipes in the ground and ensuring that those pipes lead to homes. I always tell my municipal colleagues that I’m happy to come and open any new pipe or any new sewer main across Ontario, because I know at the end of the day, that will lead to more homes being built—because you cannot give a building permit unless you have a toilet in that apartment, in that condo, in that townhome or single detached house—ensuring that we have those infrastructure needs met, to ensure we get more homes built across Ontario.

In my own community and in countless others across Ontario, our municipalities, councils and residents alike all support our efforts in increasing the housing supply, and they want to be part of that effort. However, in many rural cities and towns in particular, they’ve reached or are very close to reaching their current water and waste water supply capacity, posing a significant barrier to the construction of new homes and welcoming new residents. Our rural municipalities want to welcome these new Ontarians and new Canadians who are coming to our shores, but they need support to build the vital infrastructure that they need then to build the homes at the end of the day.

Our government will be there to support them in that effort. With our government’s investments in budget 2024 and our continued efforts to move forward with a Team Ontario approach, municipalities throughout Ontario will have the tools they need to get shovels in the ground

We have also embraced a multi-faceted approach in Ontario’s economic development and transportation: historic investments in our auto sector, such as NextStar in Windsor, Volkswagen in St. Thomas and, more recently, Honda in Alliston, just to name a few, and I know the Minister of Economic Development and the Premier continue to work day and night to attract more manufacturing and more business development and investment to Ontario after the very dark period of 15 years under the Liberal and NDP government, Speaker. It offers a glimpse into the productive and forward-looking prospects for innovation and employment in Ontario. We’re also taking steps that are necessary to build out our energy capacity and our world-class transportation networks, to ensure that these investments are supported as they scale beyond local arrangements into regional drivers of growth and development.

We know these investments would not have taken place under the previous Liberal government, which drove Ontario’s auto industry into the ground while the NDP sat idly by. I know, as recently came out—I believe today—in the news, that Ontario now has the most people working in auto manufacturing and manufacturing in Ontario since December 2008, Speaker. We have come a long way from those dark periods under the former Liberal government, but the job is not done.

I mentioned energy. We talk about energy often in this chamber. I know the Minster of Energy is up day after day talking about energy in this place and the hurtful impacts of the carbon tax. We talked about the previous time in the previous Liberal government; the dark clouds rolled over the part of the independent benches where the Liberals sit. We all know too well the mismanagement and fiscal strain that party imposed on taxpayers, and that’s why our government has taken a different approach. We’re building out a clean, green nuclear fleet, and we’re protecting the interests of Ontarians today and for years to come. We’re ensuring the province has the energy capacity not only to support the rapidly increasing number of households in this province, but also to ensure we remain an attractive investment destination.

Our government is building the first grid-scale small modular reactors in Canada, while also supporting the refurbishments of the Bruce, Darlington and Pickering Nuclear Generating Stations. I know our government will continue to take these actions, despite the provincial NDP not supporting our nuclear industry, which is honestly very shameful. All those good union jobs, as well—many live in my riding of Perth–Wellington and work at Bruce Nuclear. These investments represent our government’s responsible outlook on energy security and affordability, standing in stark contrast to what the past Liberals and NDP have demonstrated when they were in power.

Since 2018, our government has taken every measure to keep costs down, and budget 2024 is no different. While Liberals and New Democrats continue to drive up the cost of living with a punitive carbon tax, our government is extending the gas and fuel tax cuts until the end of this year, saving Ontario households on average $320 since it was first introduced in July 2022. I say “on average” because, as many will know in this place, if you live in northern or rural Ontario, you have to drive to go to the grocery store, to take your kids to hockey or soccer, to go to school or work. So I know that is saving my constituents even more over the course of this tax break.

While the federal Liberals, supported by the NDP federally and supported by their provincial colleagues and Bonnie Crombie—as we hear often, the queen of the carbon tax—continue to increase the cost of fuel, we’ll continue to ensure that we keep costs down so that those people can go to work and take their kids to school and extracurricular activities.

We’re also assisting Ontario’s colleges and universities with a historic investment of $1.3 billion in new funding, and we’re extending the tuition freeze for at least three more years, ensuring that our young people are supported as they embark on the next chapters of their lives.

At the same time, we’re reinforcing our efforts to alleviate pressures on our health care system while also attracting and retaining future doctors, registered and practical nurses and nurse practitioners.

In this year’s budget, our government announced the creation of a new medical school at York University—the first of its kind in Canada—which will be primarily focused on training family physician doctors. I know this is very needed in my community and communities across Ontario, and it was wonderful to hear this announcement.

But it just builds on our most recent budgets in 2023 and 2022, where we are expanding every single medical school in Ontario—those seats, Speaker—the first time we are doing that. We are not going to take lessons from the former Liberal government, where they cut medical school seats when they saw the same needs occurring for Ontarians—that people need a family physician. We’ll continue to invest in our education system to ensure that we’re training the next generation of doctors, ensuring that they have the skills and education they need to support a growing population in Ontario.

We also recognize that, within Ontario’s health care system, patients receive care differently depending on their needs and their communities. In Perth–Wellington, many of my constituents rely on primary care teams to ensure that they get the care that they need.

This past February, I had the distinct honour and pleasure to announce more than $822,000 in funding for the Listowel-Wingham and Area Family Health Team to expand primary care access to 2,000 residents across Huron and Perth counties, as well as more than $560,000 to the Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team to expand primary care to 1,600 residents.

As those who were here this morning in question period will know, we’ve already hired a nurse practitioner in the Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team, and they are taking new patients on, taking those patients out of the hospital system. They don’t have to go to the ER anymore to ensure that they receive their primary care. They can receive it in the community where they live. It’s these important investments that our government is making through this budget.

Speaker, I always want to highlight the fact that family health care teams have existed in the province of Ontario since 2005, but it took our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford and our Minister of Health, to expand these primary care teams. The previous Liberal government had 15 years to expand them. They did not. They did not expand primary care teams in Ontario anywhere. I really want to acknowledge that. They did not expand them. They let them languish.

Our government is doubling down on that effort. We’re investing over $540 million to expand primary care teams across Ontario. I was pleased to see when the minister made this announcement earlier this year that she is committed to ensuring that everyone who wants primary care will receive that access in the coming years, which is vitally important. These historic investments mean that family health teams in my riding and across rural Ontario will be able to hire additional staff and expand their capacity to serve their communities, and I take incredible pride in that fact.

In budget 2023, we accelerated the commitment of $1 billion over three years to stabilize the home and community care workforce while supporting an expansion of home care services. In this budget, we’re investing an additional $2 billion over three years to boost increased compensation for personal support workers, nurses and other front-line care providers, as well as to stabilize these expanded services. These investments our government is making are crucial to allowing Ontarians to age in place in the comfort of their homes and the communities that they helped build.

It’s particularly important in rural Ontario, where residents are sometimes faced with travelling a long distance to access care. Our government understands the unique ways of rural Ontario. That’s why we’ve taken steps to ensure those who don’t live in the big cities and towns still have access to high-quality services and benefit from economic development opportunity.

Just this past January, our government announced the beginning of consultations to help inform the development of a new rural economic development strategy. Part of that is rooted in the expansion of, obviously, high-speed Internet services that allow rural Ontarians to fully access the opportunities of the Internet age, as well as playing a role in technological innovation in our agri-food sector. We have invested $63 million to the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology, or SWIFT, projects, and we’re delivering high-speed Internet access to more than 64,000 additional homes, businesses and farms across the region. Our government understands the value that both the economic and cultural aspects of Ontario’s agriculture sector brings to the table.

This past February, I was honoured to announce over $360,000 in funding for local meat producers to support the expansion of their processing capacity. These investments further our efforts to ensure food security and sustainability for Ontarians while also supporting the reshoring of value-added agricultural production and processing to Ontario.

In March, I announced a further $781,000 in funding for local agricultural producers through the Food Security and Supply Chain Fund. Speaker, VDB Grains in my riding received $70,000 which will allow them to move from diesel fuel to solar photocell technology to reduce their energy needs and operating costs, and, obviously, reduce their carbon footprint. So we’re supporting also reducing emissions in our agri-food sector without, again, a punitive Liberal federal carbon tax.

These investments further reflect our government’s commitment to supporting the agri-food sector in Perth–Wellington and across rural Ontario. And as agri-businesses and farm operations invest in new innovative technologies, they reduce costs while also embracing more sustainable practices.

In this government, we know how important the agricultural sector is to keeping families fed. We know that we must take the necessary steps to ensure food safety and security well into the future. In that spirit, we are also continuing to protect and restore the Great Lakes through the annual investments of $6.4 million to support innovative projects. This is in addition to more than $24 million we are investing in the Lake Simcoe Phosphorous Reduction Strategy to ensure the Holland River and Lake Simcoe can continue to support some of the most productive agricultural land in Canada.

Speaker, whether it’s our historic efforts to build millions of homes for the next generation of Ontarians; our investments in energy, health care or infrastructure; or the actions we have taken to restore rural Ontario, this budget is clear: It demonstrates a clear understanding of the needs of Ontarians. At a local level, I am proud to deliver these investments and support my constituents who have advocated tirelessly and worked with us to ensure the people of Perth–Wellington are well served.

I also know that the Liberals and NDP continue to miss out on important opportunities to demonstrate their interests in delivering for Ontarians. We have taken every measure to ensure Ontarians in all parts of the province are supported and that they are appreciated.

Earlier this month, we heard loud and clear just how much they appreciate our government. Speaker, residents in Lambton–Kent–Middlesex gave our government their full confidence, as did the residents in Milton, sending two Progressive Conservative representatives to Queen’s Park.

Speaker, all the pundits said Bonnie Crombie’s Liberal carbon-tax lovers were going to win Milton; they didn’t. The good people of Milton sent great advocates here in MPP-elect Hamid and MPP-elect Pinsonneault as well. I look forward to working alongside my two new colleagues and their local championships, who will continue to work for their communities while the Liberals and NDP make every effort to deny Ontarians the support they need.

Speaker, the people of Perth–Wellington support this budget. The people of Ontario support this budget. I urge my colleagues in the opposition and those in the independent benches to do the right thing and support this budget as well.

Thank you to my colleague for his speech this afternoon.

I know my colleague was talking about the cost of groceries. But it’s kind of ironic that the federal NDP props up the current federal Liberal government that has the highest carbon tax in North America. They prop them up. And he could really help the province and the people and the constituents he serves by talking to his federal NDP colleagues, Speaker.

I know the member also mentioned mental health supports and the availability of these very important supports at their institutions. I know at committee, members of the opposition called the requirement for institutions to have accessible mental health policies in this bill “unnecessary red tape.” Student mental health policies which are accessible and transparent are essential for students seeking help.

Will the member opposite stand in this House today and support Bill 166, or do they also believe that less paperwork for institutions is more of a priority than the well-being of students?

It is my pleasure to introduce MPP-elect Steve Pinsonneault and MPP-elect Zee Hamid after their historic election victory last week.