My question is for the Associate Minister of Transportation. Since the federal government imposed the carbon tax, people in our province and across this great country have been paying more for everything. Whether it’s at the grocery store to buy food or at the gas pumps, they are finding it challenging to keep up with the rising costs.

To add insult to injury, the Liberal-NDP coalition is now hiking the carbon tax yet again on April 1. Speaker, that’s unfair to the hard-working people and families of Ontario who are already struggling to buy the necessities for daily living. We know the opposition doesn’t care to intervene so that’s why our government must continue to fight this tax and make life more affordable for Ontarians.

Speaker, can the associate minister tell the House what steps our government is taking to fight the carbon tax?

Speaker, the federal government has increased the carbon tax on gasoline five times so far, and they are planning another seven increases by 2030. Grocery prices are already unaffordable for far too many people, as are the costs for other products and services. This tax is only adding further strain to Ontarians’ household budgets.

While the opposition NDP and independent Liberals continue to ignore their constituents, our government is advocating for Ontarians and are calling for the end of this tax. Can the associate minister tell the House how our government is combatting the Liberal-NDP tax hikes?

Tomorrow is a big day: It’s the day we find out whether or not this government will comply with one of its own laws.

Speaker, the Conservatives campaigned saying they wouldn’t pave over the greenbelt and they would reduce Ontario’s debt. We know they failed on the greenbelt, and so they’re being criminally investigated by the RCMP. What people may not know is they have also failed on the second. This government has added $93 billion in new debt since taking office in 2018. That is despite creating their own law. In 2019, the government amended the Fiscal Sustainability, Transparency and Accountability Act to require that the government provide a debt reduction strategy each year with the budget, but they have yet to do so.

My question to the Premier: Will he take responsibility for the ballooning debt under his government and uphold his law of the land by providing a debt management strategy in tomorrow’s budget?

The people of Ontario are getting used to this Premier and his government playing the blame game, breaking promises, helping their insider friends and changing the rules of the game when they don’t like them. But, Speaker, the government has only itself to blame for not adhering to its own law. They have been called out by the Auditor General every year for the last four years for failing to meet the requirements set out by their own law.

The government is being investigated by the RCMP for their $8.3-billion greenbelt scandal, and given what they’re doing at Ontario Place and the science centre, they seem well on their way to more investigations.

So, once again to the Premier: Will he commit today to following his own law and put forward a debt management strategy in tomorrow’s budget?

Again, Mr. Speaker, there is no law that forbids municipalities from having this type of development. But what we have said quite clearly is that we will continue to work with our municipal partners to ensure that we meet the goals that we’ve set with respect to housing, but overwhelmingly, Speaker, what we have heard from our stakeholders, from municipal partners and from those people who actually build homes, is that the real problem is the infrastructure deficit that was left behind by the previous Liberal government.

We have looked at that and we have said that although we have been asking—every single provincial Premier across this country has been asking the federal government to redirect funds into infrastructure. Because they have refused, we are going to go it alone, Mr. Speaker, because we’re not interested in building hundreds of homes, we’re interested in building millions of homes for the people of the province of Ontario, and the only way you will do that is if you put infrastructure on the ground to unleash the building of millions of homes in every part of the province, and that’s what we’re doing.

On Friday, the Premier said that fourplexes are “off the table” because he is concerned about nearby neighbours shouting and screaming about traffic and shade. The Conservatives have spent the last six years accusing everyone in this room of being NIMBYs when the real NIMBY is sitting right there in that chair. The Premier is sending a very clear message—a very clear message—that first-time homebuyers don’t deserve to live in certain neighbourhoods.

So my question is to the Premier: Can this government reverse course and allow fourplexes, as-of-right, in their upcoming housing bill?

Thanks to the member for Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock, who, incidentally, will be hosting all of us later this fall in Lindsay when she hosts the International Plowing Match.

I challenge the Liberal members of this House to show up at the IPM and, when farmers are looking them straight in the eye, tell them that they support the federal government’s increase—the colossal increase—to the carbon tax. It’s going to be a 23% increase one week from today. What is that going to mean for the farmers across Ontario? It’s going to mean increased costs for fertilizers. It’s going to mean increased costs for their tractors that are working in the fields to produce the crops. It’s going to increase the price for those that are transporting those crops to the terminals and to the grocery stores. It’s going to drive up the cost of everything, Mr. Speaker.

But yet this Liberal caucus under the leadership of the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, continues to support the federal carbon tax. As a matter of fact, members of this caucus say that people in Ontario are better off with it than without it. It’s hard to believe—

Interjections.

The people in Ottawa are finally feeling the pinch; the people here should be realizing it too. Stand—

My question is for the Minister of Energy. At a time of high interest rates and increasing cost of living, it’s incredibly important to find ways to make life more affordable for people in Ontario. But, Speaker, the federal carbon tax is only making life more expensive for the folks who work hard to make a living. Families and farmers in rural areas like mine in Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock are concerned about how much more money they need to pay for gas and heating because of this tax. They’re looking to our government for help in keeping costs down so their hard-earned income can stay in their pockets where it belongs. That’s why we need to keep pushing the federal Liberals to eliminate the carbon tax and provide Ontarians with much more financial relief.

Speaker, can the Minister of Energy please explain how the carbon tax is creating hardship for Ontarians in rural communities?

But, once again, the federal Liberal government and their NDP allies are going to raise the carbon tax next month. While everyone has been speaking out against this tax hike, the new Liberal leader and her caucus have been silent.

Speaker, we know that life is already expensive for the hard-working people of our province. They need a plan to improve affordability and the cost of living, not a 23% tax hike. The federal government needs to listen to Ontarians and get rid of the regressive tax now.

Unlike the NDP and the Liberal members in this Legislature, our government will not stop fighting until the carbon tax is eliminated once and for all.

Mr. Speaker, can the minister please explain what our government is doing to protect the people of this province and in my riding?

Tomorrow is a very exciting day for this province. I want to add to the brilliant answer that the Premier just gave on what this government is doing for the economy here in Ontario. On all fronts, whether it’s $185 billion in infrastructure, in transit, in highways, in health care, in education or the 700,000 jobs that have been created under this government—as noted by the Premier, more than anywhere in the entire North American segment—we’re doing that here in Ontario. We will keep doing it for the benefit of Ontarians, the benefit of our economy, the benefit of Ontario families.

The supplementary question?

Supplementary question?

The next question.

Again, I can’t believe what I’m hearing. That’s the party that bankrupted this province, that chased 300,000 jobs out of the province, that raised taxes more than any other government in the history of Ontario, making sure they had the largest sub-sovereign debt in the entire world, highest energy costs.

Do you know what we did? Do you know what we’re proud of? As they chased 300,000 jobs out of this province, we created the environment and the conditions for 700,000 more people working today than there was five and a half years ago. My good friend Minister Vic Fedeli just told me the new numbers in trade with the US went from, when you were in office, $390 billion up to $494 billion in two-way trade, almost a half a trillion dollars, because everyone in the world knows Ontario is open for business.

We’re booming. We’re going to continue being the economic leader around the world.

This government cut $9 billion in infrastructure funding because of Bill 23, and that’s on you.

My question is back to the Premier. Mississauga, under former Mayor Crombie, was denied funding by this government because they failed to meet their housing targets. Now, we’ve learned that the federal government is looking at denying the Conservative government funding because they failed to meet their affordable housing targets. We are on track to lose $357 million in federal funding because the Conservatives couldn’t get their act together to build enough affordable housing.

My question is simple: Can this government present a credible plan to build enough affordable housing to address our affordable housing crisis?

Supplementary question?

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Start the clock. The next question.

Supplementary question?

My question this morning is for the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development. Unlike other parts of our province, the north faces unique barriers regarding fuel costs. Northern residents rely more heavily on their vehicles to go to work, to visit family and friends and to run their daily errands. The carbon tax is negatively impacting these communities as they’re hit hardest at the gas pumps.

It’s disgraceful that the federal government is forcing this burdensome tax on the people who need financial relief the most. And it’s also disgraceful that the Liberals and the NDP in this Legislature continue to downplay the impact of the carbon tax on individuals and families in northern Ontario.

Speaker, can the minister please tell this House why northern and Indigenous communities in Ontario cannot afford the federal carbon tax?

While our government continues to take leadership in addressing Ontarians’ affordability concerns, we need all parties in this Legislature to do the same. Speaker, can the minister please explain the detrimental effects that the carbon tax is having on the people, communities and businesses in northern Ontario?

I want to thank the member for the question. No doubt, we live in big country out there in northern Ontario, and it costs a lot to get around.

Just this weekend, I read a post from the member from Kiiwetinoong. He pointed out that a fruit salad costs $30.35. We learned that butter is $8 a pound, flour more than $25 for 10 kilograms. These are all double the cost that we would pay here in southern Ontario, and those prices are already high.

Now, I don’t want to refute the member’s notion that the grocery stores up there, including the Northern Store, have a peculiar pricing model, but there is no dispute about the fact that it’s the cost of transporting those goods and the carbon tax that’s embedded in it that is driving those costs up. When communities are asking for upgrades to roads, to build bridges and infrastructure, they’re facing a 25% cost increase, and that’s unacceptable.

My question is for the Premier. People are sick and tired of this government’s failure to address the housing crisis, which is the primary driver of the affordability crisis. Rents are sky-high and young people are wondering if they’ll ever be able to afford to own a home. And now the Premier says no to legalizing missing middle homes, no to the fastest way of increasing housing supply where infrastructure already exists, no to homes that ordinary people can afford in the communities they love.

So I say to the Premier: Build homes people can afford. Legalize missing middle homes province-wide. The Premier has a choice. He can either choose to be Premier NIMBY, or he can choose to say yes to removing the barriers to housing. Which one will he choose today?

But here’s the bottom line: This government took $5.1 billion for infrastructure away from municipalities. They’ve given half back. That will not get the job done, especially when the Premier says no to building homes where the infrastructure already exists.

We know that the cheapest and fastest way to increase housing supply is to build missing middle homes where we already have infrastructure. As a matter of fact, if only 18% of single-family homes became a fourplex, that would be two million homes where we already have infrastructure. So the government needs to say yes to more homes that people can afford, yes to more choices, yes to vibrant communities.

So the question is, will they say yes to removing the barriers to missing middle homes province-wide?

Surely the member knows that affordable housing in the province of Ontario is done by our municipal partners through service managers. In fact, the province of Ontario—through its partnership with municipalities, which is the law of the province—has constructed over 11,000 units of affordable housing, which the federal minister has rejected and said, “No, it doesn’t count.” The federal minister has said, “No, long-term-care homes that are subsidized don’t count. No, student housing doesn’t count.”

At every turn, the people of the province of Ontario had been making investments and the federal government has unilaterally decided to cut funding to the province of Ontario. They are treating Ontario differently than any other province, and that is a hallmark of this federal government—they pit one region against another.

So, I say to the member this: If you want the $350 million, if you want the $400 million, then get off your backside and have those members do something: call their partners in Ottawa and—

Interjections.

In fact, the mayor of Guelph, who I met with just last week, said the number one obstacle to building homes in his community is the lack of sewer and water in that community. In Niagara region, the lack of sewer and water is holding up the development of thousands of homes across the spectrum, Mr. Speaker.

When I go to every community across this province, they say, “You can choose to build hundreds of homes, or you can choose to build millions of homes.” Millions of homes come with sewer and water, and that is why we are doubling down on the things that actually get homes built.

I will let them talk about pie-in-the-sky discussions on how you get things done. We’ll get it done because we’ll put the investments in place to get it—

Let’s be very clear what the opposition is talking about: They are talking about building four-storey buildings in communities that were not built to handle that, in communities that don’t have schools, in communities that don’t have parking. What we’re saying is that we trust our municipal partners to understand where it is best to meet the housing challenges and targets that we have set.

In Guelph, in his own community, they said the number one obstacle is sewer and water capacity. So when the members opposite talk, what they’re really saying is that they don’t actually want to meet the targets. They’re the ones who want to stop homes from being built. They are terrorized by the fact we’re going to put billions of dollars of infrastructure in the ground that will help us build 1.5 million homes across the province. We’ll get it done, and we won’t allow—

Interjections.

I appreciate the question from the member from Hastings–Lennox and Addington because he does really get it, because he’s working and listening with farmers every day, which I wish the federal Liberals and provincial Liberals would do as well. If they did, they would actually be hearing first-hand how the carbon tax is causing everything to go up with regard to production.

Just on Thursday, I was at the Christian Farmers annual AGM and the chair actually asked me to thank the Premier for listening. To give you an example, grain farmers have estimated that by the year 2030, the grain farmers across the province of Ontario will be paying $2.7 billion in carbon—

Just on Saturday, I was at the Grey County Federation of Agriculture meeting. The apple farmers from the Georgian Bay fruit growers specifically asked that the federal government pass C-234 immediately, because it too is raising the cost of cooling their buildings so that they can keep apples year-round for Ontario consumption.

Moreover, though, Speaker, you need to know the greenhouse growers have been charged an additional $16 million in 2023, but by 2030, when the carbon tax triples, they’re going to be paying almost $90,000 an acre.

Again, do the honourable thing once and for all and tell those—

My question today is for my good friend the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Many farmers need to use massive fans to dry down their crops, so that they can store them over time. If not properly dried, that grain or corn will grow mould. A lot of those fans are powered by natural gas, which, of course, is subject to a carbon tax. As a result, many farmers in this province, like my friend Max Kaiser in Greater Napanee, are having to pay an additional cost of $2,000 to $3,000 per year just in tax.

The hard-working farmers in Ontario are vital to our growth and our economic prosperity. They should not be punished by this horrific, regressive and harmful tax. Our government must continue to stand with them and oppose this disastrous tax. Can the minister please explain how the federal carbon tax is negatively affecting all of Ontario’s farmers?

Ontario farmers need to be able to produce food at a competitive rate or the industry’s export opportunities will be hindered and our own cost of groceries will continue to climb.

Can the minister please explain why our food producers are being punished by this carbon tax?

It is ironic to get a question from New Democrats or Liberals on the teacher supply issue when they opposed a common-sense provision supported by every trustee and principals’ association to allow and leverage retired educators in the front of class.

It isn’t surprising, in a way, because this is part of a track record of opposition to common sense. They opposed 3,000 more front-line teachers and 7,500 more education workers in our schools today. They opposed a provision that cut certification timelines by 50% in Bill 98, the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act. Of course they opposed the removal of regulation 274, the punitive, regressive regulation on seniority hiring, because they conceived it.

It is our Premier who is standing up to ensure we have qualified educators to go back to basics in Ontario schools. We’ll take no lessons from the members opposite, who have opposed every step of progress on the way, instead of standing up for quality education in this province.

We are making a difference. We know there is more to do, but the most important that we can do, as parliamentarians, is to stand up to ensure children remain in school without disruption. And that is exactly what our Premier, exactly what our government is doing: ensuring stability, hope and opportunity for the next generation of students in this province.

Under this government, a quarter of elementary schools and a third of high schools are facing daily teacher shortages. Nearly half have daily EA shortages. Instead of fixing the problem, the government invested millions of dollars to try and convince parents that everything is okay in our schools, with ads that the Auditor General said are too partisan and not supported by any evidence. Why does the Minister of Education think it’s okay to spend on partisan ads but not invest in our kids?

Will the Minister of Education support the NDP motion today to ban partisan advertising, like his party promised in 2018?

When the Minister of Energy and I sat down with a community leader from way up north, the first thing he wanted to express was his concern about further increases to diesel fuel, which is the source of energy for that community.

I was in Ottawa last week, speaking to some of my federal counterparts. Tone deaf is the feeling I left with—perplexing. How is it that the province of Ontario, perhaps advancing the single biggest environmental policy as a sub-sovereign government, from earth to electric vehicles and mines to motors—this amazing, incredible opportunity for a fully integrated supply chain that will reduce GHG emissions, yet a carbon tax is going to be slapped on every single aspect of the production of those critical minerals to make this world a greener place to live. It’s unacceptable on every level, and it’s time to just scrap the tax.