Thank you to the great member from Simcoe–Grey for raising a very important issue. I have had the opportunity to hold numerous industry-specific round tables with entrepreneurs across the province, and do you know what, Mr. Speaker? The message has been loud and clear: This carbon tax is crippling small businesses and hurting the people of Ontario. They shared how it’s driving up the costs of everyday necessities, from the cost of supplies from convenience stores and farmers’ markets, to the gas needed to fuel delivery services and heavy machinery, to the high energy costs of cooling and warehousing, and logistics.

Speaker, this is putting immense pressure on their businesses and making it increasingly difficult for them to keep their doors open and serve their customers. That’s why this Premier and this government have strongly opposed the carbon tax while the opposition NDP and independent Liberals have been siding with their Liberal allies.

Today, in the strongest possible—

From day one, our Premier has been laser-focused on making life more affordable for the people of Ontario. Whether it’s measures providing tax relief for families, lowering gas taxes, reducing beer and wine taxes, cancelling cap-and-trade and ensuring industrial electricity rates remain nationally competitive, our government is squarely on the side of Ontario workers, families and job creators.

We will continue fighting the federal carbon tax every step of the way. Enough is enough. Scrap the tax.

Again to the great member: Our government has been listening to the concerns of small business owners and entrepreneurs about the devastating effects of the federal carbon tax increase. Unlike the opposition, we understand that overly burdensome taxes and costs make it harder for these job creators to survive, let alone invest in growth. It’s simple economics, Speaker.

CFIB estimates each business is owed approximately $2,637 in rebates, and yet the Liberals and NDP have been completely silent. Well, our government has had the backs of Ontario’s two million hard-working small business employees and owners from day one. That’s why we will continue to send another letter to my federal counterparts demanding Ottawa finally return the $2.5 billion it has withheld in promised carbon tax rebates to small businesses since 2019. We will keep pushing the federal government relentlessly—

Thank you to the member from Newmarket–Aurora for raising such a critically important issue facing small businesses across our province. I have been hearing directly from entrepreneurs and job creators about the severe negative impacts the federal government’s punitive carbon tax is having on their operations and their bottom line.

The message is loud and clear: The carbon tax is an unbearable cost that is crippling small businesses and making it harder for them to survive. Many small businesses are already stressed by high inflation and supply chain disruptions.

And let’s not forget, Speaker, that Ontario’s small businesses employ well over two million people, so when they suffer, it’s the hard-working people of Ontario who pay the price through job losses and fewer local services.

Speaker, will the opposition Liberals and NDP join us in calling on Ottawa to scrap the tax, or will they continue to ignore the small businesses in their ridings and across our province?

I really do appreciate the question from the great member from Eglinton–Lawrence. Last week, I had the pleasure to talk to several chambers of commerce from across the province. However, I’ve heard the overwhelming frustration their members are feeling from last week’s changes to the federal carbon tax rebate still owed to our small businesses.

Small businesses from all of our ridings contribute significantly to carbon tax revenues but receive very small portions of it in rebates. Cutting the amount we return to businesses, as the federal government is now doing, will make the burden worse, especially given that they’re still owed billions of dollars from previous years of collections.

Speaker, whether it’s a rural bakery struggling with higher natural gas bills or an urban manufacturing shop dealing with diesel price hikes, business owners all agree this tax is unfair. Businesses need affordable energy so they can focus on retaining and creating local jobs. We’ll continue to stand up for the prosperity of small businesses across Ontario. It’s time the opposition did the same.

Thank you to the member for her question and her unwavering support for Burlington’s job creators. It is indeed disheartening to hear some members suggest that the carbon tax is improving the lives of Ontarians when the reality on the ground tells a very different story. Speaker, think of Ontario’s 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean and wheat farmers, most of which are small family-owned businesses. It’s estimated that up to $2.7 billion of carbon tax will be paid by Ontario’s grains and oil seed farmers on a tax that cannot be passed on to their customers. That’s billions of dollars that could be reinvested into small towns to help grow the rural economy of Ontario.

The opposition likes to claim they’re for rural Ontario businesses, but so far, all they’ve done is sat on their hands while their federal cousins steamroll over Ontario’s businesses. This government will not rest until every—

I want to thank the great member from Carleton for her great work in the riding and for the question. Speaker, just yesterday, I met with Restaurants Canada to discuss the continued economic recovery of the food service industry. They made it unequivocally clear that owners are facing hardship over the federal carbon tax. For years, the NDP and the Liberals failed to stand up in this House and recognize what their constituents had been saying all along: That from the farm to the table, the carbon tax was a disaster for small businesses in our province.

Restaurants and small business owners cannot simply pass these unnecessary costs on to consumers, forcing them to cut staff instead. Meanwhile, the federal government turns a blind eye to their struggles. Speaker, this tax is the difference between doors open and doors closed. We demand better than empty words from those who champion this joint Liberal-NDP tax grab.

Interjections.

Interjections.