It is an honour to rise in the House this afternoon, in my role as parliamentary assistant to the President of the Treasury Board and as a member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, to speak in support of Bill 174, the Supply Act for the 2023-24 fiscal year, introduced by my friend the government House leader.

Speaker, this is the fifth year that I have had the privilege to rise in the House to speak in support of the annual Supply Act. As you know, this discussion and the vote that will follow are critical steps towards the final approval for all spending for the fiscal year, which ends in less than two weeks, on March 31, 2024.

It is important for me to note that the government is not proposing any new spending today. Those debates and those votes have already taken place. This House is required to pass the Supply Act in every fiscal year to approve all spending by the government of Ontario and the offices of the Legislature that has already happened through the year which was outlined in the estimates. Members will recall that this House gave its concurrence to the 2023-24 estimates two weeks ago, on March 6. This allows us to move on the Supply Act, where we are today. This is a very important part of the fiscal process because it gives the government an opportunity to outline the provincial fiscal position for the record and because, if passed, it represents the final agreement of the House with the estimates proposed by the government, including the supplementary estimates tabled last month.

Speaker, as I said here two weeks ago, this process will not be the subject of water-cooler discussion tomorrow; it won’t trend on Twitter, and it won’t be covered on the nightly news. But as we approach the end point of the fiscal cycle, I believe it is important for the general public and, especially, for all members in this House to understand how this Legislature approves all government spending.

As I’ve said before, the previous Liberal government and the previous Liberal Minister of Finance did not follow public sector accounting rules. Some members will remember the Auditor General saying that the previous Liberal Minister of Finance and the previous member for Mississauga South was making up his own rules, treating billions of dollars of losses as assets to avoid recording it as a deficit.

This government was elected to restore fiscal accountability and transparency to the provincial government.

I know this has been said many times, but I want to reiterate that every dollar spent by the province comes out of the pockets of hard-working Ontario taxpayers. This is the lens through which we should look at all government spending here at Queen’s Park and, for that matter, every level of government.

Speaker, Ontario families and small businesses are dealing with high inflation, high interest rates and global geopolitical uncertainty. The federal tax increase on April 1 is also adding to their challenges—including a 23% increase in the federal carbon tax.

I want to take a moment to thank the members for their support for my motion 81, calling on the federal government to stop its alcohol tax increase on April 1. With many of our local breweries and restaurants still struggling to recover from the pandemic, now is not the time for another tax increase.

But there are economic pressures right across the province, in almost every sector. These challenges have touched all areas of our lives. So it has never been more important to remind everyone who is paying the bills and to review how the government handles the public purse with even greater scrutiny.

At the same time, as we look to the future, the most important factor is the resilience of Ontario’s workers, businesses and families. The people of Ontario are our best asset. That is why the government must account for every dollar that we spend. That is what the people of Ontario expect from their elected representatives, and that’s what they deserve. The fiscal decisions that we make today will affect generations of Ontarians to come. This is a heavy responsibility, but I’m confident that we are on the right track.

At this point, I would like to provide a quick overview of our government’s fiscal cycle. I know that some members have been through this process many times—for them, this will be a review—but some members may be going through this process for the very first time.

The former President of the Treasury Board tabled volume 1 of the 2023-24 estimates on April 20, 2023. This volume of the estimates provided a detailed public record of government ministry and office budgets, based on the spending plans outlined in the 2023 Ontario budget.

Of course, the government may also table supplementary estimates to ensure that the government has the resources it needs throughout the fiscal year. And in 2023-24, supplementary estimates were tabled twice: first, on November 29, 2023, and again just last month, on February 29, 2024. Combined, they provide additional funding for the contingency fund, to add flexibility to the fiscal plan, and for new education and transportation initiatives.

The President of the Treasury Board also tabled volume 2 of the 2023-24 estimates on November 29, 2023. This second volume of the estimates outlines the spending plans of the independent legislative offices, including the Office of the Assembly, the Office of the Auditor General, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, and the Ontario Ombudsman.

Together, the estimates provide details of the operating and capital spending needs of ministries and the legislative offices for the 2023-24 fiscal year. They represent the government’s formal request to the Legislature to approve its spending requirements. Every Ontario government must complete this annual process to provide each ministry with the legal authority to spend their capital and operating budgets. Basically, this allows us to proceed with the essential business of the government. It’s how we fund the programs and services that Ontarians rely on every day.

And for anyone curious about the estimates or the public accounts, they are all available to the public. I urge everyone to visit ontario.ca/estimates. This is an excellent resource, because the estimates are available going back more than 20 years. The public accounts are available online going back 30 years, to 1994.

Once the estimates are introduced, they are referred to the standing committees for review. These committees then select ministries to appear, to answer questions about the estimates. The committees review specific allocations, referred to as “votes” because the committee votes on each allocation. It is also important to note that almost all the ministries have their estimates reviewed by all-party standing committees, so the spending we are being asked to approve today has already been discussed over the last several months.

I want to reiterate that the government is not proposing any new spending today. The government is only asking us to approve the spending outlined in the 2023-24 estimates, based on the 2023 budget and the fall economic statement, for the current fiscal year.

Combined with the public accounts process, the Supply Act can be seen as crossing the finish line for the fiscal year. If any member should vote against this bill, they would be voting against the programs and services that the people of Ontario depend on.

Speaker, again, I appreciate the opportunity to address this House this afternoon to outline the important process in the provincial fiscal cycle.

At this point, I would like to outline some of the top-line numbers to provide an update on the overall picture of Ontario’s economic and fiscal outlook. These are the most up-to-date numbers reported by the Ministry of Finance in the third-quarter finances just over a month ago, and I believe they give us a clear picture of exactly where the province is right now.

The provincial deficit is a key measure of Ontario’s financial health—because it is not fair to the next generation to leave them with an unsustainable debt.

With that being said, the 2023-24 third-quarter finances project the province’s deficit to be at $4.5 billion this year. There is no denying that this is a significant amount of money, but it is also important to note that this is an improvement of $1.1 billion compared to the outlook in the 2023 fall economic statement. This is a significant improvement, and it deserves to be recognized here because it is a great sign that the province is moving in the right direction. The reduction in the deficit was mainly due to increased revenue and lower interest on the provincial debt. This is great news for all Ontarians.

Of course, to see the overall fiscal picture, we need to look at the provincial revenue. Government revenues in 2023-24 are projected to be $202.7 billion. That’s $942 billion more than the forecast in the 2023 fall economic statement. It is reasonable to ask why revenues were almost $1 billion higher than what was predicted, and the answer is actually quite simple. There were stronger and expected tax revenues and slightly higher tax revenues as a result of new information received from the federal government since the fall economic statement.

In 2023-24, overall program expenses are now projected to be $193.4 billion. That is $424 million higher than the previous forecast in the 2023 fall economic statement, and it is also $2.8 billion higher than the 2023 budget plan. Again, the question that seems obvious is “Why?” Well, there are a few reasons for this increase.

Firstly, there was an additional $1.7-billion investment in health care, mainly for compensation costs, cancer treatment services and other health initiatives. There was also a new $704-million investment through the New Deal for Toronto, including $504 million for transit and transportation funding and $200 million in operating supports for shelters. And lastly, there was a $583-million increase in the college sector, offset by third-party revenue. These three examples where program expenses have increased represent three of the top priorities for the government: health, education and infrastructure.

Speaker, in a perfect world, our initial projections would be 100% correct 100% of the time. But one of the strengths of this government is fiscal flexibility and making adjustments to meet the changing needs of the province. That’s the reason for our quarterly spending updates.

The bottom line is that Ontario’s economy is expected to see continued growth in 2024. In the context of the global economic situation, this is a win. In large part, this is because of the resilience of the people of the province of Ontario, but also the targeted investments and the prudent fiscal management of this government, under this Premier and this Minister of Finance.

Speaker, as I said, the Supply Act supports the spending plans outlined in the 2023 Ontario budget, Building a Strong Ontario.

As a member of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs last year, I also had the opportunity to travel across the province for pre-budget consultations, in Kenora, Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie in the north; in Ottawa and Kingston in the east; in Windsor and Essex in the southwest; and of course, right here in Toronto. As I’ve said before, the 2023 budget reflects the priorities of the people we heard from right across Ontario during this process. It was a long-term, prudent and realistic path forward for Ontario, designed to make life easier and more affordable for families, workers and businesses across the province.

As the parliamentary assistant at the Treasury Board, I had the opportunity to work with the Minister of Finance and with our colleagues on some important measures for small businesses and manufacturers in the 2023 Ontario budget. And I’d like to give just a few examples.

Firstly, we are expanding access to the small business corporate income tax rate by increasing the phase-out range. This provides Ontario’s small businesses with income tax relief of $265 million from 2022-23 to 2025-26.

Secondly, the new Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit provides a 10% refundable corporate tax credit to help local manufacturers lower their costs, invest in their workers and become more competitive. Manufacturers will receive a tax credit of up to $2 million each year, because we recognize that it is critical that we rebuild our manufacturing sector in this province.

As the Minister of Economic Development said earlier this month, before we were elected in 2018, companies were leaving Ontario. Ontario had lost over 300,000 manufacturing jobs, including many in the auto sector. Sergio Marchionne at Fiat Chrysler told former Premier Wynne that she had made Ontario the most expensive place to do business in North America. And at the Ford assembly plant in Oakville, where I worked for 31 years, we watched as Ontario lost auto sector jobs, while the former Liberal Minister of Finance from Mississauga South, at the time, told us that assembly line manufacturing was a thing of the past. Well, he was incorrect, because today we’ve been able to attract $28 billion of automotive investment in this province, under this Premier.

Speaker, our government has a very different approach. The Premier, the Minister of Finance and our team have made Ontario open for business again. This government is focused on driving growth by lowering costs, cutting taxes, red tape and energy costs, and attracting more jobs and more investment to Ontario. These policies have produced an economic recovery that leads the country.

Since 2018, Ontario has added over 715,000 new jobs. In fact, in 2023, Ontario created more manufacturing jobs than all 50 US states combined. Can we just imagine that? All 50 US states—we are creating more jobs here in the province of Ontario.

There is no better example than the auto sector, where we have attracted over $28 billion in new investment from global auto manufacturers in the last three years alone. They see the enormous potential in Ontario’s Critical Minerals Strategy. They’re excited about all the work we’re doing to build new, made-in-Ontario supply chains, connecting critical minerals from the north, including the Ring of Fire, to manufacturing in the south.

Instead of worrying about their jobs, my friends at the Ford assembly complex in Oakville are now working to transform the facility into a global hub for manufacturing electric vehicles.

Again, I want to thank the Minister of Economic Development and the Minister of Mines for all the work they’re doing on this. I was proud to join them both at the PDAC convention this month. My son Joey, a student at the Queen’s University department of mining, attended as well. I know that he is excited about the province’s $3-million investment through the Ontario Junior Exploration Program. This is a program designed to help companies search for mineral deposits and attract even more investment in this growing sector.

Growth has given us the revenue we need to invest in our hospitals, schools, transit, highways, and other key infrastructure. I would like to speak about some of these investments now in greater detail.

The 2023 budget includes over $81 billion for the health care sector this year; that is up by 40%, from $59 billion in 2017-18.

I would like to give the members an example of what this means for us in Missisauga. Provincial funding for Trillium Health Partners has increased by over $356 million over the last five years, from $281 million in 2018 to $1.2 billion now. That is an increase of almost 50% for Trillium Health Partners over the last five years. As I mentioned earlier, the estimates and the public accounts are available online, going back over 20 years. That means we can also look at the five-year period before 2018, and I would really encourage all members to do this. Under the previous Liberal government, provincial funding for Trillium Health Partners increased from $768 million in 2013 to $821 million in 2018. That is an increase of under 7% over five years, or only about 1% each year.

As former Liberal Deputy Premier and Minister of Health George Smitherman said, “Ontario Liberals really starved health care for five years, and that is not spoken enough.” I want to reiterate that: Minister of Health George Smitherman said, “Ontario Liberals really starved health care for five years, and that is not spoken enough.” And I agree.

They left us with overcrowded hospitals and badly outdated facilities that simply were not up to the challenges we faced during the pandemic.

As well, we know that the new leader, Bonnie Crombie, told TVO that she would have spent even less on health care. Can you imagine that? She would have spent even less on health care.

Under the leadership of this Premier, in the 2023 budget, the government committed over $54 billion over 10 years in the largest hospital and long-term-care building programs in Canadian history. Speaker, $32 billion in capital grants are getting shovels in the ground to build the health care infrastructure Ontario needs, including over 50 hospital projects, with 3,000 new beds.

In Missisauga–Lakeshore, this includes a historic multi-billion dollar investment to build the largest and most advanced hospital in Canadian history, with 22 storeys, three million square feet and almost 1,000 beds. This will include a 200,000-square-foot women’s and children’s hospital, which will be the first of its kind in Canada. In total, it will be triple the size of the current hospital, which first opened in 1958. I was born at that hospital, and both of my sons were born there—and not only that; my mother worked in the kitchen, as a first-generation immigrant, and my niece was a candy striper at that same hospital.

The truth is, we needed a new hospital 20 years ago, and the former Liberal government kept saying no. Now the RFP process for the new hospital has closed, and construction is expected to begin next year, in 2025.

To the east, by Etobicoke Creek—for my friend from Etobicoke–Lakeshore—we’re expanding the Queensway Health Centre, with a new nine-storey patient tower, with 600,000 square feet, and over 350 new hospital beds in a modern centre for complex care.

To the north, in Brampton, we are working with the William Osler Health System to transform the Peel Memorial hospital into a 24/7 patient hospital.

And I could go on with examples from every corner of this province that will provide better health care for patients and their families.

Of course, any new facility that is being built is going to require staff—more trained doctors, nurses, PSWs and other health care professionals. That’s why we are building a stronger health care workforce. Ontario has added over 10,000 new doctors and over 80,000 new nurses to the health care system over the last five years.

And as the Deputy Premier announced last month, the government is investing $110 million to connect up to 328,000 people to primary care teams. Combined with historic investments to expand medical education and the work that we are doing to allow internationally trained doctors to care for patients, the Ministry of Health expects that up to 98% of Ontarians will be connected to a regular health care provider within the next few years.

In the 2023 budget, the province announced significant investments to reduce hospital wait times by offering more surgeries at community surgical and diagnostic centres. This allows hospitals to turn their attention towards more complex and high-risk surgeries, reduce surgery wait times, and ease emergency department pressures. I’m pleased to be able to say that we have already seen the results of this approach. As of June 2023, the wait-list for surgeries has been reduced by more than 25,000 people from the peak in March 2022. I know that we are all committed to learn from this and to reduce wait times even further, by expanding funding to existing community surgical and diagnostic centres, and funding new centres for MRIs and CT imaging, and other surgeries and procedures.

Of course, reducing hospital wait times is just one part of our vision for the health care system in this great province of Ontario.

We’re also making great progress on our plan to build modern, safe and comfortable long-term-care homes for seniors and residents. The 2023 budget included a historic investment of $6.4 billion to build over 30,000 new beds and to upgrade 28,000 long-term-care beds across the province by 2028. In my community of Mississauga–Lakeshore, this includes the largest long-term-care home in Ontario, which we just opened in November.

Speaker, it is important for me to pause here to note that from 2011 to 2018 the former Liberal government was only able to build 611 beds across the entire province. Speaker, can you imagine that? From 2011 to 2018, they only built 611 beds across the province. In one location in my riding of Mississauga–Lakeshore, we have 632 beds—more than what the previous Liberal government built throughout the whole province.

As the number of Ontarians over 75 grew by 75%, the number of long-term-care beds increased by less than 1%. There were over 4,500 people on the wait-list for long-term care in Mississauga alone, when I was elected five years ago. We had 20% fewer long-term-care beds than the provincial average—and, again, many were badly out of date.

That’s why, during the pandemic, I joined the Premier to announce the Accelerated Build Program, in Mississauga–Lakeshore, to build modern, comfortable and safe new homes that follow the latest standards for design and safety. As I said, 632 new residents have just moved into Wellbrook Place, the largest long-term-care home in Ontario—even larger than the Credit Valley Hospital when it first opened 38 years ago. Mr. Speaker, can you imagine that a long-term-care facility that has 632 beds is larger than the Credit Valley Hospital when it first opened 38 years ago? This is an incredible achievement from our Minister of Long-Term Care and our Premier, who committed to build long-term care throughout the province of Ontario.

It is part of a new campus of care for seniors, including a new health services building and the first residential hospice in the city of Mississauga.

Another thing: You can’t imagine that in Mississauga, being a city as large as it is, we do not have a hospice there yet, but we will under this Premier.

Again, I want to thank Karli Farrow at Trillium Health Partners and Tess Romain at Partners Community Health and their teams for all their great work.

It is important to note that there are projects like this under way right across the province of Ontario.

And since the 2023 budget, a number of new long-term-care homes have been completed and opened to new residents, including the Humber Meadows Long-Term Care Home with 320 beds, which opened last June in North York.

We all recognize that Ontario’s population is growing rapidly. In fact, Ontario grew by over half a million people last year alone, and we’re on track for at least another half a million people this year. That’s more growth than any US state, including the fastest-growing states, like Florida and Texas—our population is growing faster than all the US states combined. This represents a tremendous opportunity, but it also demands action.

It’s one of the reasons this government has the most ambitious capital plan in Ontario’s history. Ontario’s plan to build includes investments of $185 billion in infrastructure over the next 10 years, including $20.4 billion this year alone and almost $26 billion next year, in 2024-25. That is the largest capital plan in the 156-year history of Ontario. I’m going to repeat that, Mr. Speaker: It’s the largest capital plan in the 156-year history of this province.

I want to thank the Premier, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Infrastructure for building Ontario, which was neglected for so many years.

It includes $71 billion for transit infrastructure, including $7.5 billion this year—the largest investment in transit in Ontario’s history. This will continue to transform the GO Transit rail network into a modern and reliable rapid transit system.

It also includes the largest subway expansion in Canadian history, including the Ontario Line, the Scarborough subway extension, the Yonge North subway extension and the Eglinton Crosstown West extension. These are game-changing new projects, like the Ontario Line here in Toronto, which will connect to over 40 other transit routes including GO Transit lines, TTC subway and streetcar lines, and the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line. In my community of Mississauga–Lakeshore, it includes the new 18-kilometre Hazel McCallion LRT line on Hurontario, connecting with a new BRT on Lakeshore, which will connect the Lakeview development that is going to have over 16,000 new residents over the next 30 years.

The government’s plan also includes $28 billion over 10 years to support highway expansion, maintenance and repair projects right across the province, to improve our highway network, because we know that highways and roads are critical to the economic well-being of Ontario. This includes Highway 413, a new 400-series highway and transport corridor, which will connect Peel, Halton and York regions to support the movement of people and goods across the western GTA. Hundreds of thousands of new residents are moving to the area every year. We don’t have the highway capacity we need to support this growth. All of our major highways in the western GTA will be over capacity within the next 10 years. Highway 413 will finally bring relief to an area that needs it the most, saving drivers up to 30 minutes each way.

The Bradford Bypass, a new, four-lane, 16-kilometre freeway connecting Highway 400 in Simcoe county and Highway 404 in York region, will save commuters even more time, up to 35 minutes per trip.

Highway 7, a new, four-lane, 18-kilometre highway between Kitchener and Guelph, would save commuters more time.

Again, I could go on with many more examples.

In my own community, the first phase of the QEW/Dixie interchange improvements is now complete in Mississauga–Lakeshore. And the $314-million QEW/Credit River Improvement project is well under way, with traffic now open on the new twin bridge over the Credit River. We’re rehabilitating the existing heritage bridge. So we will have two bridges going back and forth to move commuters back and forth.

Speaker, I also want to take a few moments to speak about some of the measures in the 2023 budget that were designed to keep costs down for individuals and families across the province.

Firstly, we have extended the province’s gas tax and fuel tax rate cuts until the end of June 2024. This simple move means savings for the people of Ontario every time they go to the gas pumps. It means putting money back in your pocket to help put food on the table or to help buy other essentials to support your family. As Jay Goldberg, Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said, “This will ensure that critical tax relief continues into 2024.”

At the same time, we continue to call on the federal government to stop their 23% carbon tax increase, which would add 17.6 cents per litre to the price of gas on April 1.

My first job was at the Pioneer gas station in Port Credit. At the time, a litre of gas was 33 cents. By 2030, the carbon tax will be 37 cents more than a litre of gas was when I first started my job there.

I also want to take a moment to highlight the One Fare initiative, which eliminates double or triple fares for most local transit services across the GTA, when commuters also take GO Transit, saving an average of $1,600 each year. Soon, commuters will be able to travel on the GO Transit Lakeshore West line, the new Hazel McCallion Hurontario LRT, the new Lakeshore BRT corridor, the TTC, and on other municipal transit systems right across the GTA on only one single fare. I want to congratulate my friends the Minister of Transportation and the Associate Minister of Transportation on this excellent initiative.

The 2023 budget also provided support to more seniors with an expansion of the Guaranteed Annual Income System. Starting this July, it will allow for 100,000 more seniors to be eligible for this program, including payments of up to $166 per month for single seniors or $332 per month for senior couples. It is important for me to note that this benefit is now adjusted each year based on inflation.

Our government is also committed to support the province’s most vulnerable people, with an additional $202 million each year for the Homelessness Prevention Program and the Indigenous Supportive Housing Program—a 40% increase over 2022-23. Both of these programs were designed to help those who need it most. As I’ve said before, in my community of Mississauga–Lakeshore, this investment is helping to double the capacity of Armagh House, the only transitional housing facility in the region of Peel for victims of domestic violence. Again, I want to thank the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for all his great work on this program.

These are just a few examples of the actions that this government is taking to keep costs down for some of this province’s families, businesses and people right across Ontario.

In every budget, the government has to make some difficult choices. It’s always a balancing act, but I’m happy that our targeted tax cuts and assistance programs have been able to help those who need it most.

I would also take some time today to highlight some important initiatives from my ministry, the Treasury Board Secretariat. I think members will agree that these are great examples of the approach this government is taking with the public purse.

Firstly, I’m very proud to remind the House that a new regulation under the Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act, or BOBI, was approved and will come into effect in just a few weeks, on April 1. This will help to level the playing field for Ontario businesses, providing greater access to procurement opportunities across the entire public sector, including ministries and agencies, hospitals and schools. This will promote economic growth and help Ontario businesses to sell more goods and services and create more jobs right across Ontario. We expect that by 2026, contracts worth at least $3 billion will go to Ontario businesses every year. That’s $3 billion back into our own economy.

And when you think about it, it’s obvious that Ontario businesses should benefit from the spending of their own government. We will do this by changing the way we evaluate bids and by taking into account all the extra costs Ontario companies pay to comply with our high standards to protect worker health and safety and the environment.

I am so pleased with all the hard work that went into preparing this new regulation. It demonstrates the kind of common-sense approach that our government is taking with the public purse. And I know we will continue to look for new ways to protect and promote our small businesses.

To take another example, the government is now using innovative procurement strategies and a variety of delivery models to make it easier to work with builders on project requirements, design and pricing. This is helping to ensure that Ontario gets strong and competitive bids on our infrastructure projects. We are now separating large, complex projects like the Ontario Line into smaller contracts to generate more market interest, to build more transit, highways and other infrastructure better and faster.

The government is also using modular builds and promoting design standardization, and working with municipalities to get shovels in the ground faster and approvals faster. These initiatives are helping us to get shovels in the ground, creating new jobs, and helping to build much-needed new infrastructure. That is why we introduced the Building Transit Faster Act to streamline progress on priority transit projects. As well, the Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act and the Getting Ontario Connected Act have made it easier for Internet service providers to deploy infrastructure, to provide faster access to reliable, high-speed Internet.

Speaker, it is absolutely essential that the government addresses these infrastructure needs. Ontario’s taxpayers cannot fund the infrastructure that the province needs alone.

That is why we set up the Ontario Infrastructure Bank, a new, arm’s-length, board-governed agency. As the government moves forward with our plan to build, we are always searching for new ways to attract trusted investors, like Canadian public sector pension plans, to help build the essential infrastructure that we all need. Many of these plans already make investments in infrastructure around the world. For example, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has over $200 billion in investments around the world. Can you imagine that, Mr. Speaker? The Ontario Infrastructure Bank will give pension funds like this new options to put their members’ investments to work right here in Ontario, to help the government deliver large-scale infrastructure projects right across Ontario. The province did not reinvent the wheel here. We are following in the steps of our own federal government, the UK government, and many US states, including California and Connecticut. We’re working to deliver more infrastructure faster, with new capital from investors, and the new Ontario Infrastructure Bank will help the government deliver it.

Speaker, thank you again for the time to speak on the Supply Act this afternoon. I would like to close my remarks by thanking all the members who are here today listening to this Supply Act debate, as I have outlined some of the key spending initiatives of the government’s 2023-24 budget. I think I’ve touched on several critical areas where each dollar spent supports the families, workers and businesses of this province.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to reiterate some of the things just in my riding of Mississauga–Lakeshore alone.

We are building the largest hospital in Canadian history. This hospital will be 22 storeys tall—24 surgical rooms, almost a thousand beds. Mr. Speaker, when I say 22 storeys, that’s 22 storeys—not home storeys. That’s a building, so that works out to 35 storeys. Can you imagine seeing a hospital that is 35 storeys tall and having more surgical rooms than any other hospital in Canadian history?

As well, 632 long-term-care beds in Mississauga–Lakeshore—more than the previous Liberal government built from 2011 to 2018, in one location.

I can continue with the new Credit River bridge—$314 million to build a new bridge over the Credit River to get our commuters back and forth from Toronto to Burlington to Hamilton to Niagara Falls, to get our products to market much quicker; with $28 billion of investment coming into this province in automotive investment. We need the highways so that we can transport our parts into plants much quicker due to the fact that the plants nowadays work on a just-in-time system. If the part is not there on time, the line goes down in production. We need these plants so we can compete with the world.

And we’re attracting automotive investments, from the Minister of Economic Development—the largest VW plant in history. It will be the fourth-largest building—1.6 kilometres long and one kilometre wide. Can you imagine a building of this magnitude being built right here in Ontario?

Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate that every dollar spent by the government comes out of the pockets of the hard-working Ontario taxpayers. I also said earlier, it is a heavy responsibility to be trusted with the hard-earned tax dollars of the people of this province, and it’s not to be taken lightly. The government made a promise to be responsible and transparent with the economic and fiscal situation of this province, and I believe that during this fiscal cycle, this is exactly what we have done.

Finally, I want to reiterate that the government is not requesting approval for any new spending here today. All of these important investments have already been made.

I’m looking forward to voting for the Supply Act, and I hope that all members will join me here today to support the spending here from the 2023-24 fiscal year.

I just want to thank all members here for listening to me. Like I said, this will not be talk at the water cooler tomorrow, and it won’t be on the news this evening. The Supply Act is what we have already spent this year in our province of Ontario—and these are historic investments that we have made in Ontario.

I always look at the 2017-18 budget, and I look at the previous Minister of Finance, and the previous government spent $152 billion.

Today, under this Premier, this Minister of Finance and this government, we’re spending $202.7 billion without raising a tax for the regular families here in Ontario. And I think that’s the most important thing—that we are not raising taxes, and we’re giving money back to our people here in Ontario.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for giving me this opportunity today to speak on this.