Just over a week ago, I joined the Minister of Transportation at the intersection of two critical transportation corridors in Niagara, the QEW and the Welland Canal, to announce that we have issued a request for proposals to twin the Garden City Skyway. It marks another key milestone in our plan to reduce gridlock, connect more people to jobs, and provides a crucial link between Ontario’s international border crossings and the greater Golden Horseshoe.

Now, some in Niagara might ask, why twin the Garden City Skyway now? First, this is proactive infrastructure, which means, instead of falling behind, we’re getting ahead of the curve of growth for our region, because the reality is, Speaker, it’s impossible to widen the QEW in the future without first twinning the Garden City Skyway now.

Second, the original bridge cannot be rehabilitated by working on one or two lanes at a time. The entire width of the bridge deck must be rehabilitated simultaneously, meaning that without a second span, the entire bridge would need to be shut down.

With over 160,000 vehicles crossing the Garden City Skyway daily, we need to ensure that this critical link remains open. Drivers in Niagara know that under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is getting it done for drivers by building better roads to reduce gridlock and get people moving. By twinning the Garden City Skyway, we’re not only supporting our province’s supply chain, we’re strengthening our economy and building a better Ontario.

I have a few constituents here today. I have Kevin Vallier, CEO of Farm Fresh Ontario, and Melinda McArthur, the vice-chair of Farm Fresh Ontario. I also have John MacLellan, who is a councillor from the township of Wainfleet and is here today with the Ontario Sand, Stone and Gravel Association.

I appreciate the opportunity to stand in this chamber and speak to the legislation before the House, Bill 185, the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, the 12th iteration of our government’s commitment to reducing burdensome regulations on the people of Ontario and continuing our work, as we’ve done every year since I was serving in this government, to bring forward legislation to make it easier, to make it faster to build more homes in the province of Ontario.

I’m pleased to walk through some of the pieces of the legislation, and we’ve heard some excellent debate already this afternoon on particular components of it. But I feel there have been some parts of the legislation that haven’t been really addressed yet and some of the more nitty-gritty details. So I apologize those who are watching at home; this is going to be a bit more of a technical overview of some of the components of the legislation and not some of the higher-level pieces.

I did want to perhaps just provide some contextualization to this legislation, specifically on the importance of reducing red tape. I’ve spoken in previous participations around red tape reduction measures about the need to reduce and change the trajectory, the ship of state that’s heading in one direction with its ever-increasing amounts of red tape, like we saw under the previous Liberal government, and our decision to take an approach that reduces red tape. We’ve seen a 6.6% reduction overall in red tape across government through measures reducing a number of those red tape requirements and the regulation count across the board.

I’ve spoken before about a quote that Alexis de Tocqueville spoke about when he visited North America a couple of hundred years ago now, and when he spoke about the concerns that he had around the potential infringements on people’s liberty. I’ve spoken about this before, and I want to again raise in this chamber to those who haven’t had the opportunity to hear what I believe is a really pertinent warning to all of us who have the privilege of serving. He spoke about what kind of tyranny or soft despotism could come if a government failed to recognize its role and failed to ensure that the liberty and the rights of those who it served were protected. He spoke about a soft despotism, saying, “After having thus taken each individual one by one into its powerful hands, and having moulded him as it pleases, the sovereign power extends its arms over the entire society; it covers the surface of society with a network of small, complicated, minute, and uniform rules, which the most original minds and the most vigorous souls cannot break through to go beyond the crowd; it does not break wills, but it softens them, bends them and directs them; it rarely forces action, but it constantly opposes your acting; it does not destroy, it prevents birth; it does not tyrannize, it hinders, it represses, it enervates, it extinguishes, it stupefies, and finally it reduces each nation to being nothing more than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.

“I have always believed that this sort of servitude, regulated, mild and peaceful, of which I have just done the portrait, could be combined better than we imagine with some of the external forms of liberty, and that it would not be impossible for it to be established in the very shadow of the sovereignty of the people.”

The soft despotism that Alexis de Tocqueville wrote about is really just that series of tiny rules, one after the other, in ever-growing bureaucracy.

In previous debates, I’ve spoken about this concern that I think we should all be aware of, and members of the opposition have risen to share their concern.

I believe the member for Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas referenced Thomas Jefferson. I think ensuring that Thomas Jefferson’s perspective on this, as well, is considered is valuable, so to pay tribute and recognize the members of the opposition, I want to quote Thomas Jefferson. He said, “The ... pillars of our prosperity, are the most thriving when left most free to individual enterprise.”

He also said, “A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labour the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government....”

I believe it’s very important that all of us in this chamber recognize that our philosophical underpinnings as a government understand the importance of respecting and recognizing the common sense of common people, the hard-working men and women who make this province an incredible place to live, work, play and grow.

With that context, I’m going to speak to some of the specifics of the legislation that we have the opportunity to debate today, recognizing that it comes in the context of a continuous iterative approach to reducing red tape. We know that not any one bill is going to be a one-and-done bill. We know that it’s not just this bill alone that is going to get all of the homes built that we need in the province of Ontario, but it continues a legacy towards simultaneously reducing that burden on free enterprise and free people here in Ontario and also ensuring that those people who come to our province—people like Phil and Rose, immigrants I spoke with recently, who have moved to Smithville after having lived in a basement in Brampton for 10 years after they immigrated, and were able to purchase their first home, a brand new townhome in Smithville, and were ecstatic about what this represented for them and their families—that families like Phil and Rose’s are respected, and that more and more of those new Canadians and young Canadians, those who may have been born in communities like mine and yet saw that dream of home ownership slip out of their grasp because of the rising costs and the rising supply challenges that we had in Ontario. This is a testament to our commitment to helping them.

The Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act is part of a spring red tape reduction package that will help build a stronger economy. It will help keep costs down. It will save time and improve service delivery for businesses and Ontarians. And the proposed legislation that we’re debating today focuses on cutting red tape where it’s needed most: on building homes. Red tape is one of the biggest barriers to getting shovels in the ground. The initiatives that we are debating today will take significant action to streamline approvals and increase housing and infrastructure development across Ontario. It will also, through this legislation, include measures to remove unnecessary burdens and foster a strong business climate while ensuring appropriate regulatory oversights are still in place—those that protect the public, that protect workers and protect our cherished environment.

First, we have, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, an important amendment to the Line Fences Act. We know that this legislation is proposing to modernize legislation that provides a cost-effective tool to resolve fencing disputes between adjacent property owners. We know that the proposed Line Fences Act amendments will remove outdated aspects of the legislation and reduce burden for municipalities.

We are also amending the composition of the board in the Université de Hearst Act, 2021, which will reduce the size of the university’s board of governors, following a request by that institution. We know that this change will allow the university to have a board proportionate to the size of their institution, aligning with sector best practices.

We’re also making changes to An Act to Incorporate the Trinity College School of 1872. Specifically, we’re proposing to remove non-active members from the governing board of the school, such as the chancellor of Trinity College and the provost of Trinity College, to streamline governance and also reduce administrative burden. We know that these board members are not active in governance activities and it’s not feasible to have them participating in many future meetings.

We’re also proposing to amend Redeemer Reformed Christian College Act of 1998 to reduce the size and simplify the composition of Redeemer University’s board of governors, following a request by that institution. These changes would allow the board to operate efficiently and govern effectively, as well as aligning it with sector best practices.

We’re also taking a number of steps in the Ministry of Energy. Specifically, we’re modernizing leave-to-construct approvals for utility relocation projects. We’re proposing a change that would allow for regulations to broaden the Ontario Energy Board exemption from leave to construct for hydrocarbon pipeline relocations or reconstruction. This would include relocations with land requirements, if certain criteria are met, that currently are part of priority transit projects or projects by a road authority.

The legislation would also clarify that for pipeline relocations not needing new land, leave to construct is only required if pipe size increases. This proposal would help reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, delays and costs for pipeline projects to help build more roads faster.

Through the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, we are bringing forward a burden reduction strategy for Ontario’s producer responsibility framework. We are considering changes to the producer responsibility regulations, which will reduce burden, increase flexibility and also provide better ways to oversee the market.

Ontario will be consulting on a number of changes, including reducing administrative burden and duplication by ensuring that reporting requirements are not duplicative or onerous. We will be clarifying rules for activities that are not shared by producer responsibility organizations, or PROs, such as when they share collection sites. It will also allow more flexibility for how producers and PROs establish and operate collection networks, while ensuring consumers continue to have convenient access to recycling, and also review technical details in the regulations to make it easier for regulated parties to comply, while also maintaining recycling outcomes.

We know that the changes proposed under this legislation will aim to improve Ontario’s competitiveness, support stronger supply chains and make it easier for producers and businesses to work with the government.

In the Ministry of Health, we continue our commitment to ensuring that we are putting patients ahead of paperwork. We’re streamlining the registration for internationally educated health professionals. We will be working with health regulatory colleges, such as the College of Nurses of Ontario, to streamline the registration process for internationally educated health care professionals while ensuring that applicants can still provide high-quality and safe work.

This work will make it faster and easier for internationally educated health professionals to start working in Ontario. It will provide greater access to care, choices in care providers, and shorter wait times for patients and the public. This is in addition to Ontario’s as-of-right rules, which make it faster and easier for out-of-province physicians, nurses, medical lab techs and respiratory therapists registered in other provinces and territories to immediately start working in Ontario’s public hospitals and long-term-care homes without first having to register with one of Ontario’s health regulatory colleges.

There are also changes in this legislation, Speaker, to ensure that we are cutting red tape when it comes to assisting, getting more people into the skilled trades.

In this legislation, we are proposing amendments to the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021, which would allow Skilled Trades Ontario’s registrar to delegate their duties and powers to one or more Skilled Trades Ontario’s employees. This would help prevent delays in service and would support Skilled Trades Ontario in responding to the growing demand we see in so many corners of this province as the government continues to promote the skilled trades as a rewarding career path.

We are also proposing regulatory changes under the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021, to allow notices and documents to be served via email. The proposal would allow ministry inspectors to serve certain notices and documents via email, as well as offer email service as an option under this act in order to streamline processes and save time.

With the Northern Services Board Act modernization initiative, Speaker, we will undertaking consultation with local service boards and the public at large on potential legislative and regulatory framework changes to modernize the Northern Services Board Act to also reduce the burden, streamline processes, cut red tape and promote northern economic and community development.

Speaker, I’m very pleased to also speak about some of the work that the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery is doing that is part of this important spring red tape reduction package—again, the 12th red tape reduction package brought forward under this government.

We are committed to advancing reconciliation and making it easier and more affordable for Indigenous peoples to access records and services. We are now bringing in a one-window process to eliminate the need to request death searches from two offices, the Archives of Ontario and ServiceOntario’s Office of the Registrar General. As part of this process, fees are being permanently waived for death registration searches, death certificates and certified copies of death registrations. Fees are also being waived to register a delayed registration of death for children who attended Indian residential schools. These permanent fee waivers provide ongoing financial relief for impacted Indigenous communities and families.

The Ontario government is also introducing a regulation under the At Your Service Act, 2022, to require ministries to develop business service standards for permits and licence services delivered to businesses and to report publicly on the service standards. It’s a new regulation which will help businesses understand how long they can expect to wait for a decision about a permit or a licence so that they know they can plan for their work. In combination with Ontario’s single window for business initiative, this will make it easier for businesses to quickly find information about and track the progress of their permit and licence applications.

Speaker, we are also bringing in a change at the Archives of Ontario. Ontario will no longer be charging fees for third-party vendors to film at the archives. Previously, third-party vendors had to pay $6,300 a day to film at the Archives of Ontario, and this often inhibited new and emerging artists and creators from considering the Archives as a site for their work. This change will directly reduce financial burden for businesses, for artists, for creators, for organizations, and provide them with easier access to the historical information available at the Archives of Ontario.

Additionally, the Ontario government will change a regulation under the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund debtor repayment modernization plan to allow the government to accept credit and debit cards and other modern forms of payment from debtors who owe money to the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund. Currently, a debtor must repay the government in cash or by certified cheque, bank draft or money order.

Additionally, the transfer payment modernization launched under this suite of red tape reduction changes is the Ontario public service’s single digital enterprise-wide platform for administering transfer payments. It helps ensure a common approach to transfer payments. It simplifies program administration by streamlining access to funding and reducing the administrative burden for recipients. In addition, it helps the government make data-driven decisions while making it easier for citizens and organizations to interact with government.

Speaker, we are also proposing to amend the Coroners Act to require the Ministry of the Attorney General to provide additional information, including phone numbers, email addresses and language preferences, from the jury roll to help reduce the time and effort by the coroner when selecting prospective jurors. This change will improve communications with potential jurors and will ensure that the Office of the Chief Coroner is able to conduct inquests efficiently and effectively.

We are also repealing the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Corporation Act, 2023, by way of an order in council to eliminate a law that is no longer required, as this law was always intended to be transitional in nature.

Speaker, in my ministry—a ministry I am very excited to be working at, tourism, culture and sport, with Minister Neil Lumsden—we are seeking to make changes which would help the Ontario Arts Council, Destination Ontario and Ontario Creates support brand awareness and remove needless complications by matching the legal names with their common publicly recognized names. So the Province of Ontario Council for the Arts will be changed to the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corp. will be changed to Destination Ontario, and the Ontario Media Development Corp. will be changed to Ontario Creates.

Additionally, we’re proposing amendments to the Niagara Parks Act which will remove the requirement for an annual appointment resolution for municipal representatives to the Niagara Parks Board of Commissioners. This change would not affect municipal representation on the board, but it would align the Niagara Parks Act with other similar agency acts that include municipal representation on their respective boards. And to put it very clearly, Speaker, these changes will ensure that instead of having to pass a motion, a municipal motion, every single year for the municipal representatives, they can pass one motion at the beginning of the term of council to ensure that that representative is serving on that board for that period of time.

Under the Ministry of Transportation, in the spring 2022 red tape reduction package, we eliminated licence plate renewal fees for passenger vehicles, light-duty trucks, motorcycles and mopeds, saving vehicle owners hundreds of dollars a year in southern Ontario and $60 a year in northern Ontario. Now, the Ontario government is proposing changes to the Highway Traffic Act which would allow for the transition to automated renewal of licence plates for drivers in good standing.

Additionally, we’re increasing Ontario’s collision reporting threshold. Given the rise in the CPI, we are increasing the dollar amount of damages required to report a motor vehicle collision to police. Where the collision involves damage to property only, the requirement is shifting from $2,000 to $5,000. Collisions involving personal injuries, property damage exceeding $5,000, or the door of a motor vehicle coming into contact with a cyclist or a moving vehicle will still need to be reported to the police, but raising the amount for damages for reporting collisions where no one is injured to the police will help reduce the administrative burden on drivers, commercial vehicle operators and police services alike.

Speaker, I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it through a substantial portion of the bill, which is all of the housing components of the legislation, but I think it was important to also shed some light on the number of changes that are coming forward through this piece of legislation that builds on, again, an iterative approach that has been taken by this government when it comes to reducing the regulatory burden on the hard-working people of this province. So I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been able to speak to Bill 185 this afternoon. I look forward to having more debate with my colleagues across the way and in every corner of this Legislature, and I look forward to seeing this bill become law.

I think de Tocqueville would be very, very pleased to see that the government of Ontario, with a majority that has been granted by the voters of Ontario, is bringing forward policies to ensure that those who were being left behind under 15 years of Liberal and NDP waste and mismanagement here in the province of Ontario finally have an opportunity to achieve the dream of home ownership, have the opportunity to ensure that their lives are getting better, that they have the opportunity to obtain good jobs, that they have careers available in those jobs, that they’re able to not have to worry about hundreds of dollars going out the door every year towards licence plate stickers, that they don’t have to worry about the incredible increase of red tape upon them and their families as they go about their business.

I’m sure de Tocqueville, when he would look at the measures that are brought forward not just in this legislation but that have been brought forward by every one of this government’s bills, that represent what I believe is the founding philosophy of not just de Tocqueville but I know our Premier and our entire party, and it is that ensuring that everything that we do in this chamber, everything we do as a government, is for the best interests of the people—all the people.

Yes, one word, and it’s infrastructure. We had the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing visit my riding recently, coming to St. Catharines and speaking with the mayor of St. Catharines through the Building Faster Fund, and also had the opportunity to meet with officials from the town of Lincoln, who have a remarkable project just shy of 100 acres where there will be 15,000 people able to live on just shy of 100 acres—a really remarkable mixed-use community of density, mixed-use and then also single-family homes. And they spoke about the need to get water infrastructure, waste water infrastructure and how so many of their housing targets have been held back by the need to make sure that those investments happen.

They spoke glowingly about the investments that this government is making in infrastructure, that we’re not just listening to our partners across the way in the NDP but really listening to municipal partners, who are actually working day in and day out to get those homes built, working with the partners in the building industry. They said that the game-changing investments that this government is making in our budget are going to supplement many of the actions we’ve taken and ensure that homes get built.

This is the legislation we have in front of the House, and this is legislation that is going to be bringing forward one of the pieces that I’ve heard about from my municipality partners, as well, which is the use-it-or-lose-it component. They want to be able to have some tools to push and prod some of those builders who maybe need a little bit of pushing and prodding in order to get going.

I think, in my riding of Niagara West, when I look at some of the projects that are under way in Smithville, where they’re going to be doubling their population over the next 10 to 15 years; in Grimsby on the Lake, where they are expanding a massive number of new projects, intensification around a major urban transit area, I see that these partners speak about the tools that are in this legislation, and I’ve had a lot of messages, texts and emails from elected officials and those who work with them saying, “This legislation is going to help get that job done and we thank you for it.”

Interjections.

He’s going to have to talk to his grandkids, he’s going to have to talk to his great grandkids about how their opportunities were throttled by that government when they were in office, and how it’s only under the PCs and Doug Ford that we’re able to ensure that opportunities, again, exist for this generation, here in the province of Ontario.