My question is for the Minister of Northern Development and Indigenous Affairs.

It’s no secret: The carbon tax is making everything more expensive for everyone, especially for the people who live in the communities throughout northern Ontario. These communities are already feeling the pressure at the gas pumps, where fuel costs are significantly higher, in comparison, than they are anywhere else in the entire province.

But the opposition NDP members and the independent Liberals continue to support the carbon tax. They continue to support carbon tax hikes. They actually agree with the federal Liberals’ plan to increase the carbon tax on gasoline seven more times before 2030.

The people of the north deserve better.

Can the minister please explain how the carbon tax negatively impacts individuals and families in northern Ontario, as well as Indigenous communities?

Speaker, it is absolutely shocking that the federal government continues to force this terrible tax on northern communities that are already paying more for fuel. It’s even more shocking that the members opposite who represent these northern communities continue to support the carbon tax.

Northern Ontario faces unique barriers when it comes to fuel costs, and these have to be considered before we impose these further taxes on them.

Clearly, the federal Liberals don’t care about the adverse effects of carbon tax on northern communities. They clearly don’t care about the northern communities at all.

I’m wondering if the minister could please elaborate a little bit more for us on how the carbon tax is negatively impacting not only the residents in all of the communities, but the businesses as well, throughout the region, in northern Ontario.

My question is for the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development. The carbon tax is essentially a tax on everything, Speaker. It’s on your groceries, your gasoline, your home heating and every other day-to-day essential.

For over a year now, the Chiefs of Ontario have been calling on the federal government to consult with them on the impact that this harmful tax is having on all of their communities. Due to the federal government’s failure to address the First Nations’ concerns, the Chiefs of Ontario filed for judicial review into the application of the carbon tax in Indigenous communities. They have called this tax anti-reconciliatory and discriminatory.

Can the minister please tell the House how this carbon tax is disproportionately impacting northern Ontario communities?

Instead of helping northern Ontario foster economic growth and to reach our full potential, the federal government is bringing one tax hike after another after another after another. It is clear that neither the Liberals nor the NDP understand, respect or care about the financial hardship that many individuals and families are going through.

Northern and Indigenous communities should not be paying the price of this harmful and regressive tax. Speaker, can the minister please explain further why the carbon tax has such detrimental effects on northern Ontario and especially First Nation communities?

Thank you to the member for Kenora–Rainy River and Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development for that speech, and thank you, Amanda, for helping prepare that.

I want to thank everybody who spoke to this motion. This is such a difficult subject to speak about, and while we, as elected officials here in Ontario, speak what feels like worlds away from where these terrible atrocities are occurring, we have to really be thankful how privileged we all really are to various degrees.

I think about my upbringing and the challenges that I saw day-to-day in my life. So many of us experience challenges, but the types of challenges that we’ve faced can’t compare to what Jewish people around the world are going through, especially those in the Middle East right now.

Every time I rise in this House to speak to a matter, any matter, I’ve often asked myself, what is it that I’m going to be speaking to? I try to think of a few questions: Who am I speaking for? Why am I speaking to this? And what is it that I hope to achieve?

I’ve listened over the course of the day, and what we know has been occurring in the Middle East is unimaginable. When I think of the challenges that I grew up facing and the challenges that I currently face and I think of the darkest days I’ve experienced, the biggest, most mind-numbing problems that I wanted to solve, I can’t imagine what some of these families—mothers, fathers, children, grandparents—must be thinking about. It’s hard to imagine a hatred that can run so deep. I have a hard time even saying the words, personally, even standing here to utter the words that other people out there are uttering towards an entire nation of people, towards a group of people, all because of where they’re from or their religion. I have a really hard time even repeating the words. And it makes me realize how privileged I really am and how privileged we all really are.

But I ask myself those questions again, Madam Speaker: Why am I doing this? Why am I standing up to speak to this? Why are we as a government speaking to this? Why are some people not speaking to it?

Ultimately, Madam Speaker, we are only in this chamber—I stand before you here today as the member for Sault Ste. Marie. It was my community that elected me to be here, and my community expects me to carry their voice. And I know that my community, notwithstanding that we have a very, very small population of Jewish people, in the tens of people, still expects me to stand here and condemn this behaviour, these atrocities, because it’s the right thing for us to do as elected officials. Not because of politics—because we carry a voice and it’s our job to carry a voice.

Well, why? I ask myself why. Why does it matter that I stand here and I talk about what’s happening a million miles away being bad? Because we all know it’s bad. So why is it important for me to stand here as the member for Sault Ste. Marie to say it’s bad? Why is it important for all of the members—the member for Kenora–Rainy River and the members all throughout here—to be able to say the words that they stood up here today and spoke?

I’m reminded of a very important day that we’ve come to honour in this country, just past: September 30. I’m reminded on September 30 of the speech that the member for Kiiwetinoong gave. It was a very moving speech. We speak about truth and reconciliation and the atrocities that happened in this country to Indigenous people because we want to make sure that it’s known and that it never happens again. So why do we stand up and speak to something happening far away? Because we want to make sure it doesn’t happen. We want to make sure that everybody here is aware and knows what’s happening. The more we speak about it, then hopefully we can prevent it ever happening here.

Almost 100 years ago now our country was called into a war. Many sons were lost. Not long thereafter, we saw atrocities happening to Jews. We saw terrible, despicable acts occurring, and ultimately it did spill over to us, didn’t it? We have to speak about these things.

As elected officials, perhaps the most important thing that we do is be the voice of our community, be the voice of the people we represent. Sometimes it’s for advocacy purposes, but the majority of the time, it’s just to be that voice of what the people in our community are thinking, are feeling. It’s not an easy task to consider what the majority would say. But in my community, I know that my community would want me to stand here and speak of the disgust, the awfulness of what is happening and to stand together in this Legislature as colleagues, all of us. You would think that if there was ever a time that we could stand together united, this would be it, because nobody wants this to happen to their children. Nobody wants this to happen to their families. Nobody wants this to spill onto our soil. Nobody here does. I know every member in this House feels that way. I know it; we all know it. But this is our opportunity to stand on behalf of our communities and say that this cannot happen here and this cannot happen anywhere, because if it can happen anywhere, it can happen here.

I’ve really struggled with what I’ve read, seen in the news and heard. I’m personally afraid, not for myself, but I’m scared for what could be. There is far too much hatred going on in this world. There’s far too much violence going on in this world, and we are not invincible. That shouldn’t be a good enough thing to say. Simply not wanting it in our own homes or in our own households or on our own soil, that shouldn’t be enough. I don’t want to repeat things that have been said, but it’s worth repeating: The most amount of Jews were murdered on October 7, 2023, than any time since the Holocaust. As I’ve heard people say, I’ve been—unfortunately it’s like we’ve become desensitized to these types of terrible terrorist attacks that have been occurring in the world for far too long, especially in the Middle East.

I really am afraid. I’m afraid for my kids. I’m afraid for everybody in this House’s kids. But I’m afraid for everyone. I’m afraid for humankind, quite frankly. That might sound a little bit broad, but there have been way too many acts of hatred that are going on in the world today, and I come back to my question: Why am I doing this? Who am I doing it for? What do I hope to achieve?

Well, there is not a lot I can do other than to stand up and have a voice, and as an elected official, I think it’s my duty to do that. I believe in my heart that if we all do stand up and speak, we are speaking in this House on behalf of almost 15 million people, and if we all rally and speak, maybe they will hear us all over the world; maybe they’ll hear us. I believe that they will, and if they hear us, maybe that little six-year-old who’s being brought up to hate will hear us too; maybe he’ll think a little bit differently. Maybe a lot of people will hear us and maybe we’ll prevent some atrocities from happening. That’s what we hope to achieve, isn’t it?

We don’t stand up in here and speak on a matter like this just because we want to say, “Hey, this is bad.” We know it’s bad. It’s worse than that. I don’t think there’s a word to describe it, quite frankly. I can’t think of an adjective that properly encapsulates what is going on right now, but I do believe that the most powerful weapon we have here is our voice, and if we don’t use it, what are we telling our families? What are we telling our communities? What are we telling everyone?

So I suppose I’m proud of the opportunity to stand up and speak to this, not for the reasons that I usually am when I stand up in this House, but I’m proud that we are all being proud enough to stand up and speak, to wield the only sword we have, to carry our voice and the voices of our communities that hatred towards any people is wrong; the terrible, unimaginable atrocities that are happening to people simply because they are Israeli, because they are Jews, is wrong; that no person should live in fear of persecution—and this extends in so many broad ways. If we don’t condemn this, if we don’t condemn these atrocities, how do we stand up and condemn any others? How do we stand up and say that it is wrong to persecute a person because of the colour of their skin, their age, their sex or their religion?

We, in this country, have dealt with some atrocities, and we recognize the importance as a group collectively to stand up and speak to them, to speak of those atrocities, to tell the stories so that we can prevent these things from ever occurring again. That is why we use our voice, and it’s making a difference in our communities. I’m seeing it make a difference here. I’m seeing how we are changing our perspectives. I’m seeing how it lends itself to me being more privileged, to all of us being more privileged than so many people around the world.

So, why am I doing this? Because it’s making a difference. Who am I doing this for? I’m hoping—I’m really hopeful, Madam Speaker, that it can prevent some pain and atrocity. And we’ll never know if it did, but I’m hopeful that it will and I have some confidence. What do I hope to achieve? Well, I really hope, as naive as it may sound, that all this violence will stop, but it is naive.

And one voice is just one voice but, collectively, our voices matter. Collectively, our voices can carry a lot of swords. Collectively, our voices may be able to prevent some of this persecution. Collectively, our voices may prevent further violence. Collectively, our voices may prevent any of these atrocities from happening here in our beloved province. Collectively, our voices can make a difference.

My question is for the Minister of Northern Development and Indigenous Affairs. In my riding of Sault Ste. Marie and in communities across the north, people are eager to take advantage of opportunities that will help to create jobs and support their economic growth and prosperity. Under the previous Liberal government, rural, remote and northern communities were overlooked. The strengths, the assets and the abilities found in so many of our communities were ignored. As a result, their full potential was never realized.

Our government respects the people of northern Ontario and we respect that we must remain committed to investing in programs and projects that will keep northern Ontario competitive and current. Can the minister please explain how our government is supporting prosperity and opportunities in the north?

My question is for the Minister of Northern Development and Indigenous Affairs.

Under the previous Liberal government, so many opportunities for fostering economic growth across northern Ontario were missed. They were ignored—quite frankly, they were squandered.

Unlike the previous Liberal government, our government must recognize the value and the potential that is present in rural, remote and Indigenous communities. The people of my riding and all the other communities across the north are counting on our government to deliver on the commitments that we made to invest in meaningful priorities that strengthen our local economies.

Can the minister please explain how our government is building a stronger and a more inclusive Ontario?

It is evident that under our leadership—the leadership of our Premier and this minister—investments made by our government through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. are resulting in positive, tangible outcomes for the people of the north.

Our government’s respect for the people of the north and our well-thought-out plans are a sharp contrast to the pattern of neglect that was evident under the previous Liberal government.

Speaker, I’ve knocked on thousands of doors throughout Sault Ste. Marie and other northern communities, and when you just speak to the average person in northern Ontario, the message is always the same: They felt ignored by the former Liberal government. They felt like they didn’t matter. And now, they’re seeing a government that’s putting them first and putting a lot of attention on the north.

In order to remain current and competitive, our government must continue to focus on addressing the needs and the opportunities that will advance prosperity.

Can the minister please elaborate on how this funding will contribute to economic prosperity for communities in the north?

Research from the Canadian Mental Health Association reveals that residents of northern Ontario have higher self-reported rates of poor mental health compared to the provincial average.

Under the previous Liberal government, people living in the north had limited access to essential mental health services. Speaker, this is not right nor is it fair.

Access to care in our province should not be dictated by where a person lives. Every Ontarian deserves accessible mental health and addiction services. That is why our government must support the mental health needs of individuals in rural, remote, northern and Indigenous communities.

Speaker, can the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions please share with this House how our government ensures improved access to mental health and addiction services province-wide?

Building more beds and training additional staff are integral to expanding our mental health care system; however, we know that there is no one-size-fits-all approach in supporting individuals with mental health and addiction services. Recognizing the uniqueness of service needs is paramount in northern Ontario and with our Indigenous communities. Unique barriers confront Indigenous communities in accessing mental health care services. That is why our government must support and enhance Indigenous community-based programs that are culturally focused.

Speaker, can the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions please explain what our government is doing to ensure that Indigenous communities receive the care that they deserve?

My question is for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Recently in my community and surrounding area of Sault Ste. Marie, also known as Baawaating, several events were held to commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The weekend for truth and reconciliation in Baawaating was a two-day showcase of Indigenous arts, culture and heritage that were held in partnership between Indigenous Tourism Ontario and the Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig, which is an Indigenous institute in my riding.

This event’s overall success and benefits cannot be understated in recognizing truth and healing in creating a path forward. One of these events showcased a special drone show that was used to illustrate a creation story about truth and reconciliation that was told by a local elder and former Ojibway teacher of mine, Barbara Nolan, which she narrated in both Nishnaabemwin and English.

Based on the success of the first-time event in my riding, can we count on our government to continue to provide these significant investments for Indigenous events throughout Ontario?

Interjections.

Some of the things you could have enjoyed over the weekend were shopping in an Indigenous vendor marketplace. You could have had some Indigenous food. You could have learned about Indigenous tourism experiences in Ontario and enjoyed some local Indigenous music. Since 2018, our government’s focus on supporting Indigenous tourism has contributed to Indigenous cultural expression and preservation.

To the minister: Can you please detail what further investment our government is making towards creating jobs for Indigenous people and expanding tourism offerings across the great province of Ontario?

Under the previous Liberal government, we saw how the north was treated and how our region felt shut out of discussions at Queen’s Park. After years of Liberal scandal, waste and mismanagement within the energy sector and the harmful impact of the carbon tax—the impacts were tremendous for the northern Ontario’s economy. Worst of all, a previous Liberal government member actually referred to the north as a “no man’s land.”

Last month, the Northern Policy Institute and Lakehead University released a report on the impact that COVID had on the state of northern Ontario’s economy, which confirms what many of my constituents have been feeling first-hand, and that is, economic recovery is slower and taking longer than what is experienced in southern Ontario.

No longer should the north be treated differently and only be considered as an afterthought when it comes to economic growth.

Can the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development please tell this House what this government is doing to make northern Ontario an economic superpower once again?

We have heard loud and clear as well now from our Indigenous leadership across the north that they want to see the same opportunities provided to their youth as the youth are receiving in southern Ontario.

Indigenous youth will be a major part of our Ontario economic success now and into the future, and we know that Indigenous people are one of our fastest population growth sectors across the entire country of Canada. We know that economic prosperity for our Indigenous people is a key component of reconciliation.

Speaker, can the minister please let us know what our government is doing to create opportunities for Indigenous people across the north? And what are the exact policies that will support and foster innovation for our Indigenous youth who will be the future leaders of our province?