I thank all the speakers for their comments on the red tape reduction bill and the housing-related—it’s very, very exciting legislation, and I like the way the associate minister phrased the budget as the “infrastructure budget.”

My question, because I think this is such an important part of the program: The $1.8 billion that we propose, if the bill is passed, to have implemented—I was in the infrastructure world; I know how important it is to get these important assets financed. The great thing about water and waste water infrastructure is that there are revenue streams attached.

Municipalities have borrowing limits that are very restrictive. So I wonder if we could further hear from the associate minister on the impact this huge new program will have on getting those projects started that otherwise would not be started, and the impact it will have on the housing market.

Well, of course, the answer is no. We look forward to the opportunity to move forward on a number of key infrastructure projects, especially with respect to those isolated, remote First Nations communities.

This member knows that we have met in the past couple of weeks alone with key leadership in communities and on behalf of Indigenous organizations in NAN territory about road access—road access that would allow and provide for the province to develop other legacy infrastructure into the north: electrification, getting communities off diesel, building bridges so that we can have communities access places like Red Lake and come down to the southern part of northern Ontario for other programs and services and create better access into the north.

Those are the things that we’re interested in working on, and I’ve heard from Indigenous leadership in northern Ontario that this is the right way to go.

The question is, will the member support those initiatives?

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?

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?

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.