Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s nice to see you in the chair today.

I’m happy to join in this debate. And it is an honour for me to take on the role of parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Red Tape Reduction.

I want to thank both the minister and the associate minister for their remarks this morning.

Red tape is extremely important to all of us—business owners, corporations, individuals. We want to make sure we create the best environment so people will create jobs here in Ontario and make Ontario the best place around the world to live, raise a family and create a business.

It’s my pleasure to share some of the non-housing items in our spring red tape reduction package and how they’re going to make a real impact on the lives of people across Ontario. But first, I’d like to start off with a quick reminder of why this work is so important.

Speaker, we know that red tape causes frustration, expenses, needless delays and complications for everyone—people, businesses, not-for-profits, municipalities, and the broader public sector. Regulatory burdens are a barrier to the province’s productivity, innovation, economic competitiveness, and development, and the costs of failing to act are high.

That is why, since 2018, it has been our government’s mission to make life better for the people and businesses of Ontario by putting forward burden-reduction initiatives to save them time and money and to improve government services. We know that more common-sense changes are needed, and they’re needed now. That’s why we’re focusing on reducing red tape and creating the conditions to help people and businesses thrive. We’re doing this while maintaining and strengthening the important rules and regulations that keep people safe and healthy and protect the environment, and we’re doing this all while modernizing or getting rid of the rules and regulations that no longer serve their purpose, are unnecessarily costly, or are simply out of date.

Speaker, when we formed government in 2018, we inherited the most heavily regulated province in the country. Businesses were packing up and leaving, and they were taking with them the innovation and talent that this province needs to thrive. We knew that things had to change, and they needed to change right away, and we set out to make this happen.

We have taken over 500 actions to cut red tape for the people and businesses across all ministries. We have reduced the number of regulatory compliance requirements affecting businesses and other regulated entities by approximately 6%. And we’ve passed 11 high-impact pieces of red tape reduction legislation, so far, introducing packages once each spring and once each fall; today, we are debating our 12th.

Our efforts have not gone unnoticed. Along with the measures we’re proposing today, we’re saving people, businesses, and the broader public sector over $1.2 billion and 1.5 million hours every single year. That’s time and money that can go back into families, businesses and communities, where it should be.

We are grateful for the ideas shared by stakeholders, people across this province, and our ministry partners who have worked tirelessly to streamline processes and modernize outdated practices across government. In fact, my colleagues and I wouldn’t be standing here today with this bill in our hands without the assistance of my colleagues and their staff who put red tape reduction at the centre of everything they do.

To everyone who has played a part in making this latest red tape reduction package possible, I want to say thank you.

Our latest package, which includes the proposed Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024, also includes proposals for initiatives that improve all aspects of life and business, such as:

—providing Ontarians with better access to health care, by making it faster and easier for internationally educated health professionals to start working in Ontario;

—automatically validating vehicle permits for owners in good standing, to save them time and money;

—reducing delays and costs for utility relocation projects to build roads and transit faster;

—attracting municipal investment by streamlining incentives to enable future investments by large-scale investors and create jobs; and

—setting service standards for permits and licence services delivered to businesses, while creating a single window for businesses and entrepreneurs to track the status of their applications.

Madam Speaker, when I talk about reducing red tape, know that our government acknowledges the importance of having robust rules and regulations in place. They help protect public health, safety and the environment. They keep our children safe when they’re at school. They protect workers so they can come home to their families each and every day. And they ensure our environmental protections remain among the best and the strongest in the world.

Our goal with the burden reduction initiatives we’re putting forward today is to ensure that we no longer rely on rules and regulations that are burdensome, inefficient or outdated, and that the ones we do rely on are current and enforced properly, predictably and consistently.

That’s why every time the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction considers a new idea for a red tape reduction package, we draw on the seven guiding principles that consistently direct our efforts to reduce red tape, as enshrined in the Modernizing Ontario for People and Businesses Act.

The first principle is aligning standards, when possible, because it reduces the time and cost required to adhere to certain regulations. A good example of this is the proposed amendments to the Line Fences Act from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, which would align it with the Municipal Act, 2001, and the City of Toronto Act, 2006. The Line Fences Act—and as we’re government, we always have to have an acronym; it’s called the LFA—is one of the oldest pieces of Ontario legislation and has legislative and operational parameters that are outdated and that could be modernized. Aligning this act with the Municipal Act and enabling the digitization of certain processes will save municipalities that use the LFA time and money.

The second principle is that small businesses should have less onerous compliance requirements when compared to larger businesses. The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks will be consulting with stakeholders on updates to Ontario’s producer responsibility framework, which makes producers responsible for collecting and recycling their products and packaging at end of life. The ministry is considering changes to the regulations to reduce red tape for producers and allow them and their service providers to comply with regulatory requirements more easily. These changes would reduce burden, increase flexibility, and provide better ways to oversee the market.

The third principle is that any entity subject to regulations should be provided accessible digital service whenever possible. In 2024, we shouldn’t be asking people or businesses to fax things or fill out long paper forms—and I just ran into that when I was trying to change the name of my home with the city of Toronto. You had to mail it or you had to fax it, and I couldn’t find a fax machine. Some updated rules really do save some time. The Ministry of the Solicitor General’s proposal to amend the Coroners Act to enable efficient, effective and representative jury selection is a perfect example of this streamlining. The changes would require the Ministry of the Attorney General to provide additional information—including phone numbers, email addresses and language preference—from the jury roll to help reduce the time and effort by the coroner when selecting prospective jurors. This change would not only improve communications with prospective jurors, but it would also ensure that the Office of the Chief Coroner is able to conduct inquests efficiently and effectively.

The fourth principle is that regulated entities—like businesses, services, and broader public sector organizations—that demonstrate excellence and compliance should be recognized. For example, the Ministry of Transportation’s proposal for automated vehicle permit validation is a great example of this. In the spring 2022 red tape reduction package, the government eliminated licence plate renewal fees for passenger vehicles, light-duty trucks, motorcycles and mopeds, saving vehicle owners $120 per vehicle per year in southern Ontario and $60 a year in northern Ontario. This is money in people’s pockets. Building off this initiative, we are proposing changes to the Highway Traffic Act that would allow for a transition to automated renewal of licence plates for drivers in good standing. This saves people time.

The fifth principle is that unnecessary reporting should be reduced and steps should be taken to avoid requiring regulated entities to provide the same information to government repeatedly. Nothing—and I’m sure we all hear this—is more frustrating than filling out the same form over and over again and having to repeat the same story multiple times to multiple ministries at different levels of government. We need to do better, and we are. Consider the Ministry of Energy’s proposed amendments to the Ontario Energy Board Act. For construction projects that require the relocation or reconstruction of a hydrocarbon pipeline, we’re proposing that if the pipeline is the same size or smaller and does not require new land, then the government would provide an exemption from leave to construct. This means that the number of projects required to undergo a leave-to-construct proceeding at the Ontario Energy Board will be reduced, saving people time and money.

The sixth principle is that instruments should focus on the user by using clear communication, setting reasonable response times, and establishing a single point of contact. That just makes common sense. This is straightforward. People and businesses should be able to understand the requirements imposed on them by government. That’s why the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery is proposing a regulation to develop service standards for permits and licence services delivered to businesses. And we’re creating a single-window approach for businesses and entrepreneurs to access information about required permits, as well as track the status of their applications. Again, this just makes sense.

The seventh principle is that a regulatory instrument should specify the desired result that regulated entities must meet, rather than the specific methods used to attain the result. Good outcomes are what we are concerned about, and we recognize that there are many ways to get the same outcome. A great example of this is through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s proposal to amend the Municipal Act, 2001, and the City of Toronto Act, 2006, that would allow the province to more quickly enable municipal incentives so that our communities can attract new investments and create new jobs.

Speaker, these are just a few examples of the initiatives in the proposed Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024, and in our broader spring 2024 red tape reduction package.

As I’ve said before, we are incredibly grateful for the ideas that we have received from stakeholders and people across the province, and from our ministry partners. Their efforts are helping to streamline processes and modernize outdated practices across multiple areas of government. We encourage people and businesses to continue to reach out, to share their comments and their best ideas to reduce red tape through Ontario’s dedicated red tape reduction portal on ontario.ca.

I look forward to working with this ministry as we continue to do the great work.

I’m now going to pass it off to the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Housing to conclude our remarks today.