My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Under the leadership of the previous Liberal government, we saw Ontario garner a reputation as an extremely high-cost jurisdiction. Companies that had set up shop left in droves and international businesses overlooked Ontario as a potential jurisdiction in which to expand and grow and add jobs.

But since taking office, our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, has recognized the importance of building a resilient manufacturing sector and we’ve made sure that these jobs are being created in every corner of this province.

Speaker, could the minister provide an update to the House on some of the manufacturing investments we welcomed in Niagara since the beginning of the year?

Thank you to the minister for the answer and also the work he is doing to attract good-paying jobs to Niagara and to every corner of this province. It’s great to hear that new, good-paying manufacturing jobs are being created in our province following years of news about manufacturing jobs—some 300,000 of them—fleeing Ontario under the Liberal government.

In fact, manufacturing employment in Ontario is now at one of the highest levels it has been since 2008. It is a testament to the measures our government has taken to cut red tape, slash taxes and get our economy back on track while rebuilding the manufacturing sector.

Speaker, could the minister share more about how these manufacturing investments are coming to Ontario?

I’m glad that the minister, in his speech, which I thought was very impressive and spoke to a lot of the issues at stake with this legislation—he mentioned farmers. And I think in my community of Niagara West, where I have a massive greenhouse sector, I have a massive amount of traditional agricultural and dozens and dozens of commodity groups—they need access to natural gas to ensure that they’re drying their corn, that they’re able to heat their greenhouses in the winter, that they’re able to provide the food that all of us rely upon. So I’m wondering if he could talk a little bit more about that.

I have already heard about concerns around the cost of connecting to natural gas and the infrastructure costs in some of my communities. If this legislation hadn’t been brought forward, how much more in costs would have been passed along to those who want to buy groceries?

I listened intently to the member from Davenport, the opposition critic. I have to say, I’m not sure what kind of dream world the members opposite are living in, but to try to say that in rural communities like mine in Niagara West, it’s going to cost $300 to pay upfront for the cost of bearing the natural gas infrastructure, and to say they can simply all get heat pumps—again, we’ve gone through this. We’ve heard from the Minister of Energy about those days when he’s at a lower temperature, he needs his natural gas to kick in, he needs to see the assistance from other areas. And I know in my riding, that’s the exact same thing.

So the member opposite, does he genuinely not understand the meaning of cost avoidance? He kept going on about this $300 and how little it’s going to cost the people of Ontario to do this. So we understand he’s in favour of forcing this on the hard-working, first-time homebuyers of Ontario. How much is it going to cost communities in my riding if the NDP had their way and they forced this down their throats?

Last election, I recall the Ontario Federation of Agriculture laid out their priorities for farmers in the province of Ontario. One of the priorities that I’ve heard about from members of the agricultural community and farmers in Niagara West had been the expansion of access to natural gas infrastructure.

This afternoon, it has seemed as though there’s a real antagonism from the opposition benches towards natural gas. I had thought there was a bit of a consensus around the support for the agricultural community’s request in that regard, but now I’m not so sure. I’m wondering if the member opposite can clarify: Is the Liberal Party of Ontario opposed to investing in the expansion of our natural gas network in Ontario?

Point of order, Speaker.