Remarks in Anishininiimowin. This week, the Chiefs of Ontario released their Ontario-specific Closing the Infrastructure Gap report. The report stated that it will cost $59 million to ensure infrastructure in First Nations is on par with the rest of the province by 2030. The gap is one of the widest in Canada. If these gaps aren’t closed, First Nations health and well-being will continue to fall behind.

Is Ontario going to continue to grow its wealth at the expense of First Nations who continue to go without? Yes or no?

The Nishnawbe Aski Nation covers 49 First Nations. They need more than 7,500 homes built now to ensure people are housed.

I urge Ontario, as a treaty partner, to improve its approach to housing by listening to what is needed and to quit using jurisdiction as an excuse to do nothing. Will this government act? Yes or no?

The final supplementary.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Government House leader.

In 2020, the Ontario Auditor General reported that funding for off-reserve Indigenous housing is cost-shared between Canada and Ontario.

What this government has spent on programs for Indigenous off-reserve housing is grossly inadequate, and there is nothing in yesterday’s housing bill that addresses this.

What progress has Ontario made in building the 22,000 affordable units needed to meet the housing needs for Indigenous people living off-reserve?

It’s unfortunate that the federal government has not lived up to its infrastructure opportunities in those communities. This isn’t about jurisdiction; this is about a commitment from the province of Ontario to build the kinds of roads that can create an opportunity to build state-of-the-art infrastructure in those communities. That’s what this is always about.

Every time we’ve tried to have those kinds of discussions with the member opposite, the answer has been, “I’m not sure if we can support that.”

They’re in the budget.

We’ve had conversations with Indigenous leadership about building roads. Our winter roads have been compromised—this winter, in particular. It’s very clear that First Nations leadership understands that in order to have state-of-the-art waste water infrastructure and other essential infrastructure in their communities, they need road access. We’re prepared to move on that. The Premier has said that explicitly to Indigenous leadership in the north.

Will the member opposite support those initiatives?

We have some very capable partners across northern Ontario, in particular—including here in the city of Toronto—who have done a fantastic job of creating off-reserve housing and working in full partnership so that we can accommodate for what is a serious trend, and that is First Nations people moving off reserves into towns and cities across this province, across northern Ontario and here into Toronto.

Again, these are pieces that have been in our budget, and every single time that we advance that, that member opposite and the NDP have voted against it.

Do they stand for off-reserve housing or not?

My question is to the Premier. Yesterday, the government introduced a housing bill that is both unambitious and underwhelming. The government has chosen to ignore the top recommendations from its own Housing Affordability Task Force, including legalizing fourplexes in towns and cities.

What is stopping this government from showing leadership and doing more to build homes in neighbourhoods people want to live in?

When I read this bill, I’ve got to say, I think this government is a sucker for punishment, because the Conservatives are once again looking at making it easier to build sprawl on farmland. The last time the government did this—they launched a criminal RCMP investigation into your own activities.

My question is this: Why do you keep trying to find new ways to pave over farmland?

The worst thing about yesterday’s bill is what is not in it. There is nothing in this bill for renters. There is nothing to lower rent. There is nothing to stop illegal evictions. There is nothing to fix the Landlord and Tenant Board.

My question is to the Premier. Why does this government keep leaving renters behind?

The number one issue facing communities across the province of Ontario is sewer and water capacity. That is why we have been talking about this for months. That is why, of course, the Minister of Infrastructure has come forward with a $1.8-billion fund to unilaterally, without the support of the federal government, put those services in the ground, so that we can unleash not hundreds of homes, not thousands of homes, but millions of homes across the province of Ontario.

That is what the bill from yesterday does, as well. It targets action so that we can get shovels in the ground faster. It targets those communities that have shovel-ready projects good to go. That is what we do.

I suspect that the opposition will support us in this measure, and I encourage them to read the bill and support what we have brought forward, because it is the best way to get more shovels in the ground and more people into homes.

The other obstacle, of course, is the lack of transit and transportation, which we inherited from the previous Liberal government.

The other problem that we have is the carbon tax, which is making it very difficult for those people who actually build the homes to build homes.

The other issue that we’re having is the high inflation and high interest rate policies of the federal government, which are making it more expensive to get a shovel in the ground, and which were pricing out thousands of first-time homebuyers from the market.

That is why we are constantly doing everything that we can to target the investments that we’re making, make housing more affordable, remove obstacles, get shovels in the ground. And we are doubling down on the biggest investment in infrastructure in the province’s history. We’re doing it in the absence of a federal government commitment. We’ll continue to do that.

I hope that they’ll support this bill.

Moreover, we’re going a step further, because we’re also saying that because of unilateral cuts made by the federal government, we’re going to do even more to ensure that students have affordable housing, as well. That is why we are making as-of-right student housing available to our universities. Do you know what that does, Mr. Speaker? It puts thousands of rental units back on the market for our communities.

We’re removing the development charges on affordable housing. We are coming forward with an attainable housing program.

I hope that the opposition will support us in these measures, which make housing more affordable, which get shovels in the ground quicker, which deal with the infrastructure gap left behind by the previous Liberal government.

We’re getting the job done for the people of the province of Ontario.

I encourage the members opposite to consider participating in this committee, which will look at all aspects of how we deal with intimate partner violence. We have committed to a whole-of-government approach that builds on the incredible work done by Minister Parsa and Minister Williams on this. If the opposition wants to absent themselves from that work, that is a decision they can make, because I know Progressive Conservatives stand ready to do whatever it takes to ensure that the services that we provide victims—and the services are available to the providers so that they can provide those victims and their families with the best possible options. It includes the minister of addictions and mental health; it will include the Solicitor General; it will include the Attorney General. And we will leave no stone unturned to ensure that we have the best possible response. I encourage them to participate; if they don’t want to, that’s a decision they make.

My question is to the Premier. Yesterday, this government supported my Bill 173 at second reading to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic in Ontario. But I want to be very clear. The very first recommendation of the Renfrew inquest was one simple sentence—and so was Bill 173: “The government of Ontario shall recognize that intimate partner violence is an epidemic in Ontario.”

The declaration does not need another study at committee—data proves too many lives lost and impacted. The work has been done. The Renfrew inquest recommendations are there. This government has had two years to implement them, and yet they’ve refused. There is absolutely no need for the government to delay declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic.

So my question to the Premier is this: Will the government do the right thing, implement the first recommendation of the Renfrew inquest, and declare intimate partner violence an epidemic today?

Interjections.

Supplementary question. The member for Toronto–St. Paul’s.

The government House leader.

I’m going to ask the member for Ottawa South and the Minister of Energy, who are engaged in, I’m sure, a very interesting conversation across the floor of the House, which makes it harder for the Speaker to hear the member who actually, rightfully, has the floor and wants to ask a question—as well, there have been a number of members on this side of the House who have been heckling quite loudly. I would ask them to stop doing that.

Start the clock. The Minister of Energy can reply. He has the floor.

Speaker, yesterday this Conservative government said they will support Bill 173, which calls for this government to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic across Ontario. Of course, once an epidemic is declared, we would expect resources to flow.

Naming IPV an epidemic is an excellent first step and validates the lived experiences—the trauma—of countless survivors, their families, and the service providers, frankly, who have been working understaffed and underpaid, under this government, for years to support survivors. It will help honour those who are no longer here. I want to know when the government plans to do this.

My question is to the Premier.

Survivors can’t wait any longer for your committees, your public hearings, your consultations. They have been consulted. The experts have been heard. They shouldn’t have to recount the worst moments of their life.

It’s one word: “epidemic.”

Will this government declare and push through, fast-track, Bill 173 for survivors and declare intimate partner violence an epidemic today?

Interjections.

In fact, it’s not just this government; it was this Parliament that supported that motion yesterday.

I’ve received many messages from victims, survivors, who have suggested that they want to participate, that they have suggestions on how we can make services better for them. I’ve heard from service agencies over the last 24 hours that say that they have more that they can contribute. I’ve heard from First Nations partners who have said, “We have specific recommendations for our communities. When can we participate?” I’ve heard from the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. I’ve heard from the Solicitor General, the Attorney General. I have heard from Minister Williams and Minister Parsa—children and community services, and women’s issues. All of them have said, “We are doing a lot, but we can do more.” The only ones who think that more can’t be done now seems to be the NDP.

We have supported it as a Parliament, but what we will do is the next phase: the work that is needed to properly support victims. It’s not about virtue signalling. It’s about getting the work done properly for them—

We were having a very interesting discussion. I’m still baffled at the member for Ottawa South’s support for the federal carbon tax. Of course, the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, his leader, supports that carbon tax, as well, which is driving up the cost of everything in our province.

We hear from fruit and vegetable growers and grain farmers; we hear from construction workers who are making their way from the suburbs into downtown Toronto, where we’re building brand new subway lines like the Ontario Line, building new roads and highways; and those parents who are taking their kids to school and driving them to their hockey playoff games and off to baseball and soccer, which are starting this year—it’s making the cost of living more expensive for all of those people.

This morning, I was at a really great press conference with the mayor of Toronto, Olivia Chow—it was a great clean energy announcement down at the Portlands Energy Centre. She was asked, “Why is Toronto one of the most expensive cities in North America?” And part of the answer was the carbon tax, which is driving up the cost of everything, not just for the people of Toronto, not just for the people of Ontario, but the people right across—

Interjections.

The queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, is clearly supportive of making life more expensive. As a matter of fact, her first edict upon becoming the leader of the Liberal Party was to have her party raise a million dollars to help pay her salary.

We don’t need the queen of the carbon tax running our province. It would be just too expensive for the people of Ontario.

My question is for the Minister of Energy. Our government continues to call on the federal government to walk back their disastrous carbon tax measures. This is a tax to which farmers, small business owners and Ontario families have repeatedly said no.

While we are steadfast in making life more affordable for individuals and families in our province, Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals and the opposition NDP keep working against us. That’s not what their constituents elected them to do. But rest assured, Speaker, our government will continue to have the back of Ontarians, even if the opposition won’t.

The federal Liberals need to scrap this tax so that hard-working Ontarians can keep money in their pockets, where it belongs.

Can the minister please explain to the House how the Liberal carbon tax burdens families and businesses across Ontario?

Interjections.

There are better ways to reach climate targets without jeopardizing affordability for hard-working families and individuals. Unfortunately, the federal government is unwilling to listen to what provincial leaders and, more importantly, what Canadians have to say.

When Bonnie Crombie was a federal Liberal, she was one of the earliest supporters of the carbon tax. And now, as leader of the Ontario Liberals, one of her first orders of business is to call for higher taxes, which is the usual Liberal pattern.

We know that the last thing that people need right now is another expense on their bills.

Ontarians cannot afford the federal Liberals and the carbon tax queen, Bonnie Crombie.

Can the minister please explain how Liberal policies like the carbon tax are costing Ontarians?

To the Premier: Earl Grey Senior Public School in my riding is supposed to offer extended French, but because of cutbacks and disrespect for teachers, we have a severe teacher shortage. That has meant that students in extended French have gone without teachers for months at a time. This is increasingly a problem in many of our schools.

Why won’t the Premier provide the funding to Toronto schools to actually have teachers in class?

It is an ironic question from the members opposite, who have voted against 3,000 additional teachers in Ontario classrooms today. In TDSB, a board that has 10,000 fewer students relative to 2018, they have $120 million more. We’ve hired additional education staff, and we passed a bill to do it quicker.

I would have hoped that the members opposite would have worked with government, like other parties did, to support acceleration of certification, as we cut the timelines by half. That was our commitment. We did it alone, without support of members opposite.

And we launched a recruitment action plan specific for French educators in Ontario that has yielded over 400 new French-language graduates last year—1,000 additional French-language candidates registered relative to the year prior.

We know there’s more work to do. But let’s work together to ensure all children have access to a certified teacher, an issue that is of contrast where the members opposite do not want retired educators in the front of class.

Three hundred and twenty million—that’s how much more the TDSB would have this year if funding had just kept pace with inflation. The Minister of Education likes to use the word “historic” a lot, but what is actually historic is the largest cut to education funding in the history of our province: $2.7 billion less this year alone. So instead of hiring EAs and child and youth workers and lunch supervisors and social workers and French teachers, school boards are being forced to cut them.

Why does the Premier think our children do not deserve these essential supports?

My question is to the Associate Minister of Transportation. Hard-working families and business owners in Whitby tell me that the federal government is choosing to ignore the challenges Ontario residents are facing. At a time when our cost of living continues to rise, the federal Liberals doubled down and hiked the carbon tax yet again, by 23%.

Increases in fuel costs make life more expensive for everyone in our province, including the hard-working men and women in the trucking industry. Ontario’s truckers play a critical role in transporting the goods we all need in our daily lives. They should not be burdened with additional costs. Speaker, can the associate minister please tell the House why the carbon tax is hurting Ontario’s truckers?

Unlike the out-of-touch NDP and Liberals, who continuously fail to support Ontarians, our government is taking every necessary step to make life easier and more affordable. Can the associate minister please tell the House how our government is standing up once again for truckers in Ontario?

It is not going to be surprising to Ontarians to hear members opposite defend the bureaucratic incompetence that takes place in many school boards in this province. But members opposite seem to believe it is acceptable for a board that is the largest real estate holder in the province of Ontario, responsible for $20 billion of assets, that sits on $300 million of unspent maintenance funding, that has $150 million of proceeds of dispositions sitting in cash—they’ve tripled the amount of sunshine list workers.

It’s about time school boards get a simple message to work to advance the interests of children instead of the interests of administration. Our message is clear: Balance your budgets and do what every school board in this province will do.

The supplementary question.

Thank you to the member from Whitby for that question. I am proud to represent hundreds of hard-working truckers who live in my riding. Every day, they ensure we have the goods that they deliver, and they tell me all the time that the carbon tax adds unnecessary costs to each delivery that they make. This only makes the cost of everything more expensive. The truckers are not asking for a free ride; they are asking for a fair one. Their commitment to our economy is not phased with a penalty.

According to the Ontario Trucking Association, the carbon tax of 17.4 cents per litre increases the cost for a long-haul truck between $15,000 to $20,000 per truck per year. It is clear the carbon tax is hurting the economy and making life more expensive. The federal government and Minister Guilbeault are out of touch. We call on the federal government to axe the tax.

The carbon tax is only a tax on hard-working people who fill up their cars, heat their homes and rely on truckers who deliver their goods. I invite Minister Guilbeault to come to Scarborough to meet the hard-working men and women who deliver our goods. They will tell him that the carbon tax is making it harder for a family to put food on the table and to heat up their homes, Speaker, and adding to the inflation.

Only this government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, and with this transportation minister, we will fight for businesses and families. The Progressive Conservative government will stand up against the carbon tax.

Thank you to the member opposite for that very important question. For years, we’ve watched as the Liberals, propped up by the NDP, drove away hundreds of thousands of jobs—manufacturing jobs, well-paying jobs—south of the border. But all that changed when we got elected.

In the last three years, we’ve seen $28 billion in new auto and EV investments, resulting in the creation of thousands of good-paying jobs. Last year alone, more than 180,000 good-paying jobs were created in Ontario. And just last month, Ontario was leading the nation in job creation with 26,100 new jobs added to the province’s economy.

Ontario is the number two auto producer in North America, building over 1.2 million vehicles annually. We have heard from Ford Canada that they are working closely with Unifor to ensure employees at the Ford Oakville site are taken care of.