My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

The excitement from Honda’s historic announcement on April 25 continues to grow. Throughout the Alliston area and throughout Ontario’s automotive sector, from Windsor to Loyalist township, enthusiasm is building. Honda’s workers are proud, their suppliers are confident, and our entire EV ecosystem is supercharged for success.

Ontario’s auto and manufacturing sectors are winning again and thriving again under this government.

What a contrast from the industrial graveyard the Liberals left behind after 15 years of lost opportunity. Speaker, 300,000 manufacturing jobs were lost under their watch.

Can the minister please update the House on how Honda’s investment will position Ontario’s economy for the long term?

I was at the announcement on April 25, and you could feel the electricity in the air, and that was fitting because they’re going to build electric vehicles and electric batteries.

Honda’s investment proves that our government’s targeted and responsible economic plan is working.

Under the previous government, 300,000 manufacturing jobs fled the province as hydro rates soared, red tape grew, and taxes rose—Speaker, countless headlines over the last 15 years told of companies packing their bags and leaving Ontario.

But now we are reading headlines repeatedly and daily, almost weekly, about companies investing billions to move their operations to our province.

Can the minister tell us about the state of Ontario’s automotive sector today in comparison to where it was just six short years ago?

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

Honda’s historic investment in Ontario is being talked about across the world, across this province, and certainly across my riding. Global automakers and competing jurisdictions know now: Ontario’s auto sector is back and stronger than ever. Demand for electric vehicles will continue to ramp up in the coming years, and we are making sure the supply of made-in-Ontario vehicles is here. This is a massive economic opportunity in front of our province, and one that this government intends to seize. There is not one US state that has secured more auto and EV investments than Ontario in the last four years.

Can the minister explain how, with so many competing jurisdictions vying for this investment, Ontario was successful?

Tens of thousands of good-paying jobs are being created right across our province, and investments in our auto sector will strengthen our economy for decades to come. Under the previous Liberal government, that sector was hollowed out and signalled to companies that they should make things abroad rather than in Ontario. No one could have imagined at that time how we have bounced back.

Can the minister explain to this House what our government has done to position Ontario as a jurisdiction where automakers need to be?