Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Transportation. Once again, the Conservatives are only showing up when it’s convenient for them. Many of us on this side of the House have been advocating all-day, two-way Milton GO service for years, and the federal government offered to provide funding for this project three years ago. The minister’s predecessor declined that offer.

But it’s obvious that this government is only reversing course on that because of the upcoming by-election in Milton. It appears that the only way to get this government to invest in a riding is to have the PC MPP jump ship from their caucus—and don’t get me started on how much time the Premier has spent in Mississauga since December 3.

Speaker, can the minister explain to the people of Milton and Mississauga why they have had to wait this long for the government to move forward with all-day service on the Milton line?

And the supplementary question?

The supplementary question?

In this tumultuous world, our message to India was clear. The fundamentals in Ontario have not changed; our value proposition has not changed. In Mumbai, we met with Piramal pharmaceuticals, who produce ingredients for cancer, eye and kidney disease treatments in the member’s riding. They invested $4.7 million to modernize their plant in Newmarket–Aurora. We joined CSM Technologies to announce their brand new Toronto office—150 brand new tech workers. This comes on the heels of other announcements from XLScout and BSIT, both who are opening tech facilities in Toronto, creating hundreds of new jobs.

Speaker, companies from across the globe are choosing Ontario to invest and expand.

Unlike the Liberals’ high-tax, high-cost regime, we will continue to create the conditions to attract more companies and bring even more good-paying jobs to our families.

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. When the Liberals were in office, Ontario was known for its high-tax, overly regulated and uncompetitive business environment. Companies that were here left in droves and companies abroad would not even consider Ontario as a place to expand their businesses. Thankfully, when we got in office, we immediately reversed course. We are tearing down the unnecessary red tape that the Liberals put up. As a result, we’ve seen investments flood in from across the globe.

I understand that the minister just came back from a trade and investment mission to India where he spoke with companies who are intrigued by what Ontario has to offer. Can the minister provide an update on how Ontario’s mission to India went?

Can the minister elaborate on why companies in India and abroad are choosing Ontario to invest and expand in?

In 15 years of the previous Liberal government, absolutely nothing got built in this province. This government undertook the largest investment in public transit under the leadership of this Premier, and guess what, Mr. Speaker? That Liberal member voted against every single one of those transit investments, every single time, whether that’s the Milton GO or whether that’s the Scarborough subway extension in her own riding, in her own area. She voted against that multiple times.

When the Associate Minister of Transportation introduced One Fare, those members over there voted against it. Mr. Speaker, every time we put more money into public transit, there’s one common theme: The Liberals do not vote in support of it and don’t support our investments that we’re making across the province. We’re seeing record population growth. Our government is getting it done, and we’re getting shovels in the ground, and we will take no lessons from the previous Liberal government that did nothing—

Interjections.

Thank you very much, Speaker—

Interjection.

Interjections.

Two weeks ago, we were able to announce 78 new expanded primary care practitioner teams in the province of Ontario. As part of that announcement, Speaker, we actually also set aside an investment of $20 million for existing primary care multidisciplinary teams in the province of Ontario.

Speaker, would I, would Premier Ford, like to do more? Absolutely. The challenge is that we had a previous Liberal government that actually cut medical seats in the province of Ontario, so we are now dealing with a shortage courtesy of the previous Liberal government. If they had not cut those 50 medical seats, we would have 200, almost 300—

Now, the member opposite is talking about the need for extended and added services in our primary health care space. I absolutely agree. Ontario actually leads Canada in terms of individuals who are matched with a primary care practitioner, but I know that we can do more, which is exactly why we have expanded 78 new expansions of primary care practitioners. It is something that we have not seen in the province of Ontario since multidisciplinary teams were started.

And, yes, there are primary care expansions in Toronto. There are primary care expansions in Sault Ste. Marie. There are primary care expansions in London, in Woodstock, in Innisfil and on and on. We know that we want to make sure that everyone who wants a primary care practitioner can get attached to one in their community.

My question is to the Premier. Today, I’m joined by former patients of a family doctor at Taddle Creek Family Health Team. They, along with 1,600 other patients, were left scrambling when their family doctor moved to an executive health private medical clinic called MD Direct. MD Direct charges patients an annual fee of up to $4,995 a year to see a doctor.

The Canada Health Act is very clear. Canadian health care providers are prohibited from extra-billing and user charges for medically necessary services, like primary care.

My question is to the Premier: Does the minister think it is legal that patients are being required to pay $4,995 a year to see their family doctor?

My question, back to the Premier and the Minister of Health: I am worried about the Conservatives’ push for a two-tier health care system. It is distressing and dangerous for people to be without a family doctor, yet there are 2.2 million people in Ontario who do not have one. Ontarians should not have to go to busy emergency rooms to get access to basic care, and they should not have to pay $4,995 a year to access their family doctor.

My question, again, to the minister: Does the minister think it’s acceptable for patients to be required to pay $4,995 a year to see their family doctor?

Mr. Speaker, I will say again, there’s an RCMP investigation on its way.

This government likes to boast about their investment in public transportation, meanwhile Ontarians don’t see any results. My constituents in Scarborough know that all too well. What they mention less is how many of those projects have been in place for years and have only been delayed under the Conservatives: GO train electrification—delayed indefinitely under the Conservatives; Hamilton LRT—cancelled by the Conservatives in 2019 before they did what they are best at and reversed course a year later; Eglinton Crosstown—they wouldn’t even give the people of Ontario an update on that one. There’s still no word on all-day, two-way GO to Kitchener from the government, and the Milton service is only happening because one of their MPPs wanted to escape from the Premier.

Mr. Speaker, will the minister clarify when they will actually deliver these projects that were started years ago?

Interjections.

It’s so nice to be back here with everyone, and thank you to the member for that important question.

Speaker, I think, yesterday, on Family Day, many people likely spent a lot of time with Ontario’s fantastic restaurant and hospitality workers. I’d like to thank Kelly, Tracy and the incredible team at Restaurants Canada for the work that they do. In fact, it’s 400,000 diligent workers in Ontario’s service sector who get up each and every day, working hard, and that’s why we’ve tackled to implement significant measures to support them.

In our latest Working for Workers bill, we’ve introduced measures that, if passed, will disclose salary ranges in job postings, ban unpaid trial shifts and prohibit wage deductions in instances like dine-and-dash. These are important measures we’re taking to ensure that we stand with these great workers who help make our precious time with friends and family worth it. I want to thank them for the great work that they do. This government will always have their backs.

Thank you, Speaker, for the question.

I want to touch on two other measures we’re taking. One, we’re ensuring the disclosure of policies related to sharing of pooled tips in restaurants—that’s another important measure we’ve heard from workers is important—and empowering those workers to take home more of their tip pay. We’ve seen in many restaurants they use apps on your phone now to access your tips, and that’s taking deductions off of the hard-working pay of these workers. That’s why we’re empowering them to select where and how those tips get deposited into the bank accounts of these hard-working workers.

But I will just close saying, for these workers to work, you actually need to create the conditions for jobs. That’s why our government has worked so hard. You’ve heard from the Minister of Economic Development the incredible conditions we’ve put in place to attract these high-paying jobs in Ontario that support our hospitality and service workers—

Let’s take a look at the record of this government: shovels in the ground on projects like the Ontario Line; shovels on the Scarborough subway extension; the largest rail infrastructure investment in this entire world—that’s the leadership of this Premier. That’s the record of this government. We will stand on it every single day.

We’ve seen rapid population growth in this province—15 years of absolute neglect by the previous Liberal government has left us in this position of gridlock all over this province. But we’re building Ontario. We’ve introduced legislation to make sure we can speed up the process of building subways and transit.

Mr. Speaker, just look at Scarborough. That member, that government had 15 years to act for the people of Scarborough. They did absolutely nothing. It was this Premier and the members from Scarborough that committed to investing in Scarborough and building transit there. When we look at the Milton GO, when we look at GO rail, the previous Liberal government made no investments to make sure that we could have better transit for the people of Milton and Mississauga. Our government is delivering, and we will keep building—

Interjections.

Ma question est pour le premier ministre.

Le contenu du rapport « PEQAB » que la ministre des Collèges et Universités a tenté de cacher et qu’on dit avoir influencé le refus du financement de l’Université de Sudbury est clair : l’université répond et même dépasse les critères pour recevoir du financement.

Monsieur le Premier Ministre, expliquez aux Franco-Ontariens pourquoi vous persistez à refuser de financer cette institution. Êtes-vous simplement complètement indifférent aux besoins de la communauté francophone?

Le Droit a révélé que la ministre avait déjà dit oui à l’Université de Sudbury pour du financement. Ma question pour le premier ministre : qui est passé par-dessus les pouvoirs de la ministre pour retirer le financement qu’elle avait octroyé à l’Université de Sudbury?

My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. The restaurant and hospitality industry is essential to our province’s economy and labour market. People employed in this industry work day and night to provide high-quality service and experience for Ontarians and tourists alike. Unfortunately, unpaid trial shifts and punitive deductions are still commonplace for workers in the sector. This is unacceptable. Our government must ensure that workers in the service industry are well supported and their earnings are safeguarded.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government is delivering better protections and bigger paycheques for Ontario’s workers?

Speaker, can the minister please share how our government is ensuring all workers have every opportunity to earn a good living and provide for their families?

Stop the clock. Members will please take their seats.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Start the clock. Supplementary?

The Minister of Transportation can reply.

The next question.

Thank you to the member for that question, but let me be clear: This government has done more for francophone post-secondary education in Ontario than any previous government. We stood up not only one but two francophone universities.

Let me be clear: The Ontario government was never directly providing funding to the University of Sudbury as it was never a stand-alone institution. But when the proposals were submitted to make the University of Sudbury a stand-alone institution, our government did a thorough assessment and concluded that it did not reflect the current demand, the enrolment trends or the existing capacity of institutions offering French-language programs in the Greater Sudbury area.

Look, over the past five years, domestic enrolment in francophone-language-education universities has declined by 30% in Ontario. So at this point, it would be irresponsible to stand up a third institution.

We have done more for francophone education in this province. We respect francophone education and giving students the opportunity. We stood up not only the Université de l’Ontario français but also the University of Hearst, so two stand-alone universities. We are giving students the opportunity to study in francophone education in this province. That’s why we are supporting sectors like health human resources by ensuring that Collège Boréal has the opportunity for stand-alone nursing not only in Sudbury, but also in Toronto. I also had the opportunity, with the Minister of Education, to announce more French-language teacher positions right here at the Université de l’Ontario français. So we are doing more for French-language university in this province than any other government has in the past, and we will continue to be responsible with the taxpayers’ dollars.

I appreciate the opportunity to address the member’s question. The member knows—I’ve said it on numerous occasions, and given his proximity to previous Liberal members and the previous government, he will know—that we inherited a housing crisis, ostensibly because of the obstacles that were put in the way of building homes across the province of Ontario.

Part of our housing supply action plan since we came into government back in 2018 has been to remove those obstacles, and we are starting to see, month after month, progress on that. Housing starts have continuously increased. I’m very confident that we will have met our target for last year, and we have seen some strong results in January despite the fact that a federal Liberal government with high inflation, high interest rate policies has obviously caused some challenges. We will overcome those challenges, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to build a strong foundation for building more homes across the province of Ontario and more homes across all categories. That’s why we’ve been so excited by what we’re seeing on the purpose-built rental side, Mr. Speaker. We’re going to double down and we’re going to continue to make progress, because all Ontarians need us to do that.

In fact, a very good friend of mine, a young gentleman who is just starting off his career, Nicholas Quadrini, was talking to me just the other day about the importance of giving him the opportunity to be able to buy a home. It is a dream that his parents have had. It’s a dream that Ontarians have come to this province for, Mr. Speaker.

But this is a member who talks about the costs associated with buying a home. This is a member who supports a carbon tax. This is a member who votes in favour of every single obstacle and tax that is in the way of people buying homes. The result—high inflation, high interest rates—is what is forcing people out of the market, Mr. Speaker.

We are going to do our best to make it more affordable. But more importantly, we’re going to remove the obstacles that have gotten in the way of building homes. We have been doing that, and we’re seeing the results of that.

Thank you for the question. The AODA is driving change in Ontario every day. The feedback provided by the fourth legislative review is a great example of how Ontario is continuously working to identify barriers, to listen to feedback and make Ontario accessible.

Mr. Speaker, I’m happy to report that we are doing what was asked. Thanks to the feedback from the fourth legislative review, our government is taking action on new initiatives that will provide direct experience on AODA issues from people with those disabilities. This is exactly what the AODA meant for us to do.

Once again, I’ll remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.

To reply, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

The Minister of Energy.

The next question.

My question is for the Minister of Energy. We all know that the federal carbon tax is making life more expensive for everyone in the province of Ontario. Families and businesses across the province already feel the carbon tax’s impact on their energy bills every single month. With another increase shortly approaching, people are angry that the federal government continues to ignore their concerns. They think it’s unfair that the pause on the carbon tax doesn’t apply to over 70% of Ontarians that use more environmentally friendly forms of energy like propane and natural gas for home heating.

The people of Ontario deserve to be treated fairly. Speaker, can the minister please explain the impact that the next carbon tax hike will have on Ontario?

Speaker, can the minister please explain why Ontario families cannot afford the tax hikes that the Liberals and the NDP are planning?

Interjections.

I want to welcome everyone back, especially my new colleague from Kitchener Centre.

My question is for the Premier. Your government is not getting it done when it comes to the housing crisis. Instead of building homes ordinary people can afford, you’ve wasted time and money on backroom deals for speculators.

I’ve put forward a common-sense bill to quickly build more homes and lower costs without expensive sprawl onto farms, forests and wetlands. Speaker, will the Premier say yes to legalizing housing by ending exclusionary zoning, so we can build as-of-right fourplexes and four-storey homes that people can afford in the communities they know and love?

Speaker, will the Premier say no to speculators by saying yes to homes people can afford, by legalizing fourplexes and four-storeys as of right in neighbourhoods across this province in the communities people love?

According to the final report on the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, your government is failing on every measure to make Ontario barrier-free by 2025. Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, that your government hid this report for six months. Frankly, it’s unacceptable that you aren’t going to reach this target, and it’s unacceptable that you have been hiding the truth. You owe people with disabilities an apology and you owe them action.

Will the government finally agree to work with the AODA Alliance and make Ontario barrier-free for the nearly three million Ontarians with disabilities?