Colleagues, Tuesday morning I had the pleasure, along with Ministers Todd Smith and Lisa Thompson, of attending a great event at the Toronto board of trade, at which Bruce Power presented its 2023 annual review and energy report. It was an excellent presentation that outlined all the terrific things the company is doing.

Let me give you a few highlights. Operations at Bruce Power are going very well. Bruce Power is the largest operating nuclear power plant in the world—amazing. To keep these great operations going, the company is actively under way with its historic life extension program, Ontario’s largest private sector clean energy infrastructure project, which will extend the life of the existing units to 2064. Under this program, unit 6, which powers more than 900,000 homes in Ontario, was returned to service last fall on budget and ahead of schedule.

Of course, there’s Bruce Power’s exciting work with medical isotopes. For cancer patients, medical isotope technologies and treatments allow for fewer hospital visits, shorter treatment durations and hospital stays, and fewer side effects. They have the potential to revolutionize cancer care—truly amazing.

To CEO Mike Rencheck and the thousands of hard-working staff at Bruce Power, thank you for all you’re doing to produce clean energy that will power Ontario now and into the future and for your exciting work to beat cancer. This is legacy work and is truly appreciated by us all.

My question is for the Minister of Energy. People in my riding of Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound are concerned about the harmful impact of the federal carbon tax. So far, the federal government has increased the carbon tax not once, but five times.

To make things even worse, they plan on increasing it another seven times by 2030. This is ridiculous. Since the implementation of this tax, Ontarians have been paying more and more every single day for food, for services and for transportation. These dire effects are felt by our trucking industry, which serves a crucial role in transporting the goods we need in our daily lives.

Can the minister please further explain the impact of the federal carbon tax on Ontario’s trucking industry?

Thank you to the minister for that response.

Speaker, it’s not just truckers who are being adversely impacted by the carbon tax; it’s all commuters. The rising cost of fuel is affecting individuals and families in every corner of our province. They should not have to be burdened with additional costs when it comes to driving to work or driving their kids to school.

We know the people of Ontario deserve better. That’s why our government will continue to keep costs down for Ontarians so they can keep more money in their own pockets where it belongs.

Can the minister explain what our government is doing to counteract the federal carbon tax and make life more affordable for Ontario commuters?

I certainly thank the member for her comments on this bill and her direct involvement in it. I really like the variety of things that we’re doing here to support post-secondary institutions with the sustainability fund, and also the efficiencies and operations we’ll be working with them on, and the tuition freeze, of course.

But I’m curious, member: You have had direct experience on the mental health front—and just your reflections on how this bill will help that community in our post-secondary institutions. I would appreciate your additional thoughts on that.

I thank the speaker very much for your remarks on this bill; it’s an important one.

There are a number of elements to this bill that I think are so supportive for post-secondary institutions: the sustainability fund, which provides underlying support for the sector, working with universities and post-secondary institutions—to work with them on their operations to make them work toward long-term sustainability; the tuition freeze, such a benefit for students; and, of course, the work on the mental health element for student support.

My question to the member is, isn’t this a wide range of measures that you could see supporting through this bill?

I thank the member for his remarks on this. I was listening to your comments about the challenges that students are facing and certainly understand those challenges. I’ve got three boys. They’re post-school now, but when they were going through it it was a big burden. Frankly, it’s even more challenging these days, arguably, with the housing that you mentioned.

Looking at this bill and seeing that it’s freezing tuition fees for several more years after the benefits that have been there already, including a 10% reduction—I look at those benefits and say that those are very important benefits for students. My question is, really, don’t those benefits allow you to look at this bill and say, “Yes, I’d like to support it and support students as well”?