My question is for the Minister of Energy.

The carbon tax isn’t just increasing our energy and gas bills; it’s also driving up the costs of food, housing, and more. That’s unacceptable to Ontarians who are already struggling to make ends meet.

Speaker, we know that the NDP and Liberals in this House will not stand up for their constituents. Instead, they are choosing to do nothing and watch this terrible tax triple by 2030.

Their inaction is exactly why our government will not stop advocating for Ontario workers and families. We will continue to call on the federal Liberals to put a stop to this disastrous carbon tax.

Could the minister please explain what steps our government is taking to keep costs down for Ontario families—

Speaker, it’s perplexing how the Liberals and the NDP in this House, after hearing the widespread frustration towards this tax grab, can sit here and still support the federal carbon tax.

Unlike the opposition, our government will always support the people of Ontario. We will persist in urging the federal government to abolish this regressive measure.

Could the minister please explain to the House why it’s imperative for the federal government to terminate this costly tax?

The response, the member for Burlington and parliamentary assistant.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Restart the clock. Member for Beaches–East York.

The Minister of Energy can reply.

It seems the Minister of Education wants kids in this province to use their imagination when it comes to improvements and funding for their own schools.

The TDSB has been left far behind in this government’s recent budget. The largest school board in Canada is facing a deficit of $26.5 million for the upcoming year, and this government has no interest in helping them with capital funding.

Sensational Secord Elementary School in East York is in desperate need of the new build promised ages ago.

Parents are coming to me, wondering how their Premier is doubling the salaries of his staff and ballooning his office budget while their public schools are crumbling under the pressures of overstuffed classrooms, dilapidated infrastructure, and a complete lack of priorities by this government.

My question is, why is the TDSB getting shortchanged, and when can the Secord community expect their long-promised new school?

There are 7,200 residential units—

Currently, Secord is 200 students beyond capacity.

Speaker, when will this government put their money where their mouth is and actually get the shovels in the ground and build Secord’s new school?

Our government continues to make record investments to support the next generation of Ontario students, including those with special needs. We’ve announced a three-year program backed by $6.2 million and targeted supports for students with disabilities to pursue co-operative education opportunities. It’s a pilot program designed to connect students with special needs to good-paying jobs.

We’ve also increased funding for the behaviour expertise amount to $39 million for the 2023-24 school year.

And we are providing $10 million in investment for the summer of 2024, to provide transition programs and additional staffing for students with special education needs over the summer months.

Our government is providing historic investments into education to ensure that students get back to basics; learn the foundations of reading, writing, math; and prepare for the jobs of tomorrow.

Our government has increased base funding by $700 million just this school year alone, investing over $26.7 billion—the largest ever in Ontario’s education history.

TDSB student enrolment decreased by about 4% from 2019 to 2020 while, at the same time, their per pupil funding has increased by 8.7%. After running a series of deficits over the last 20 years and increasing school board staffing on the sunshine list, the TDSB should focus on prioritizing students and stop subsidizing services for non-public-school students.

Under our plan, schools are being built. They’re being built faster, efficiently and effectively so that students have increased access to a place to learn and prepare for the jobs of tomorrow.

Thank you to the great member from Chatham-Kent–Leamington for that great question.

As the members know, our government is taking an all-hands approach, ensuring that we’re getting shovels in the ground and increasing our housing supply. But the federal Liberal carbon tax is hurting these efforts.

Speaker, let me paint a picture for everyone in this place today. When our men and women in our forestry industry go into the forests in the north to cut down that tree for a two-by-four, they use gas and fuel in their chainsaws, carbon tax. When the forest equipment takes that log out of the forest, carbon tax. When the trucker takes that log to the mill to be processed, carbon tax. When the mill processes that log into two-by-fours, carbon tax. There is a theme here. When that truck takes that two-by-four to the Home Hardware or the Home Depot, carbon tax. And when the contractors come to pick up that two-by-four carbon tax. That is seven times, just right there.

When will the—

I thank the member for Mississauga East–Cooksville for the appropriate and timely question.

On Wednesday, May 1, two new regulations will come into effect under the Building Infrastructure Safely Act, and they will enable One Call to better locate underground infrastructure and streamline delivery processes to cut down on the number of locates needed on a job site.

Large excavation projects will now be able to request a locate 10 business days prior to their intended dig, and this helps with timelines and streamlining projects.

Ontario One Call will also be given the power to impose administrative penalties, but they will do so with this new enforcement tool only when necessary.

These changes will help keep construction costs down. And they are just one example of how our government is delivering on vital infrastructure like transit, building homes, and building roads and infrastructure, ensuring public—

Our goal has always been to better protect Ontarians. We heard that in our first mandate and embarked on a 15-year review of consumer protection—that was neglected for 15 years, rather. We embarked quickly on it, and in this term, introduced in this House, unanimously passed, the Better for Consumers, Better for Businesses Act.

We are now in the regulatory phase. We are listening and consulting. We will address further issues around door-to-door sales, direct contracts, and we will engage to ensure that our modern marketplace aligns with new consumer behaviours and the digital world.

From the beginning, a Progressive Conservative government introduced legislation on consumer protection—the first in the country, in 1966. A Progressive Conservative government did it again in 2002. And a Progressive Conservative government is doing it again in 2024, on behalf of all the people of Ontario.

The francophone community remains an integral part of Ontario’s socio-economic fabric.

Our government is taking action to tackle a decade-long French teacher shortage inherited from the previous Liberal government, propped up by the NDP. We’re working with French-language education partners to implement our four-year, $12.5-million French teacher recruitment and retention strategy. We’re funding an additional 110 language teacher education spaces for the 2023-24 year.

Our government remains unwavering in its commitment to support the francophone community while continuing to invest in our plan to further recruit and retain highly qualified French-language educators in Ontario.

Over 10 years, our government is investing $15 billion in capital grants, which will support new schools for students in high-growth areas, improve the conditions of existing schools, and implement our new plan for child care in schools. This includes approximately $1.4 billion for the 2023-24 school year to support the repair and renewal of schools.

Our government remains committed to the francophone community to ensure that they continue to prosper in Ontario.

Dans le système scolaire francophone, ce n’est pas mieux : 6% des professeurs ne sont pas qualifiés. Le nombre d’inscriptions continue d’augmenter. Nous avons besoin d’au moins 1 000 nouveaux enseignantes ou enseignants de langue française chaque année pour les cinq prochaines années, mais ce gouvernement n’en finance que 500 par année.

Pourquoi est-ce que le gouvernement n’est pas intéressé dans le succès des jeunes francophones?

The member for Burlington and parliamentary assistant.

The supplementary question.

Across Ontario, too many students are not getting high-quality, effective French immersion because of our teacher shortage. There are French immersion classes being filled by teachers who speak no French; others are experiencing turnover of four or five teachers in a single year.

Learning French is important for employment opportunities, for cultural appreciation and mutual understanding between anglophones and francophones. But you can’t learn French if your teacher doesn’t speak French.

When will we actually see serious, long-term solutions, so that every child in Ontario who wants to learn French has the opportunity?

My question is for the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery.

In March, Bill 153, the Building Infrastructure Safely Act, 2024, received royal assent. The importance of this legislation cannot be overstated. Ontario One Call’s identification of underground infrastructure is a necessary safety measure in construction, and this industry greatly contributes to the growth of this province.

To meet the demands of our modern economy, the government must ensure that services effectively and safely reach the people and businesses of Ontario.

Speaker, I understand that on May 1, some regulations from this new legislation will come into force. Can the minister please explain to the people of Ontario what is on the way and how these regulations will help Ontario grow safely?

Speaker, many of my constituents in the riding of Mississauga East–Cooksville have come to me expressing concerns over issues relating to door-to-door sales.

We must remain committed to protecting consumers from unfair practices, aggressive sales tactics and misleading claims.

This new legislation, the Better for Consumers, Better for Businesses Act, 2023, is providing Consumer Protection Ontario with new powers to enforce consumer protection law. Can the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery elaborate on when Ontario consumers can expect to see changes come into effect?

Thank you to my friend from Chatham-Kent–Leamington for that supplementary question.

As the member mentioned, the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, may think a 23% increase on April 1 was an April Fool’s joke, but Ontario families are not laughing.

Speaker, as I mentioned in my earlier response, the carbon tax is on everything in your house: on the two-by-four, on the drywall, on the barbecue in your backyard, and on that food you put on the barbecue in the backyard.

Not only did Bonnie Crombie have an abysmal housing start record, but in the last month that she was mayor, she supported increasing the cost of building materials for our homes, increasing the cost on the gas of our construction workers building those homes, and increasing everything that goes into a home.

When will the independent Liberals get in their minivan, go to Ottawa and demand that the federal Liberal government scrap this—

Interjections.

I have a couple of introductions today. Steve Doherty, who is the executive director of Youth Without Shelter, does absolutely phenomenal work, supporting youth in Toronto and beyond. I also have, today, about 51 seniors from the Mississauga Seniors Cultural Association. They’re making their way in.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I’m asking for unanimous consent to ask the government to bring forward a substantive motion on allowing the kaffiyeh in the Legislative Assembly.

I rise on a point of order to welcome a former colleague of mine and yours: Cam Jackson, who served in this Parliament under a number of different leaders—I think, 22 leaders?

Interjection: Years.

He served, obviously, as a minister of the crown—a Minister of Tourism, as most remember him by—but he also served in opposition with me.

He also became the mayor of Burlington for a brief period of time.

We thank you for your service, and we’re so glad that you’re here.

I rise on a point of order to introduce, from the township of Hastings Highlands, Mayor Tony Fitzgerald and Deputy Mayor Tammy Davis.

Welcome to your House today, folks.

Speaker, I’d like to correct my record in Hansard for yesterday’s question on the developmental services sector. In fact, we are investing approximately $3.4 billion this year, which is over a billion dollars more than 2017-18. Of that investment, it’s $2.2 billion of funding towards supportive living, services and support, which is an increase of—

I would like to wish my office roommate and the member for Etobicoke–Lakeshore a very happy birthday today.

I want to thank my friend from Thornhill for that question.

I want to thank Chief Jim MacSween and the amazing people at the York Regional Police service who keep York region safe every day.

It’s undeniable; as much as this government is doing everything we can to graduate more people at the Ontario Police College to fight auto theft—because we’re in a crisis with people stealing our cars—to get those violent and repeat offenders off our streets, we have a carbon tax that’s affecting public safety.

Chief Jim MacSween will say that to fill up every car at YRP costs a lot of money. That money could put more boots on the ground—and Bonnie Crombie knows this, the Liberal Party knows this. It’s time they do the right thing, call their friends in Ottawa and say, “It’s affecting the public safety of Ontario. Scrap the tax.”

It’s one thing that the proxies for the Liberals and the NDP try to sink the police service budget in Toronto, in Ottawa, in Hamilton and in London—it’s unbelievable. They knew that in addition to trying to sink the budget, they were affecting public safety.

What makes matters worse is that Bonnie Crombie served on the board of the Peel police service. She knew the budget. She knew it’s undeniable that the carbon tax is affecting every fill-up of a vehicle to keep Peel safe. Do you know what, Mr. Speaker? In spite of that, she will not come clean with Ontarians and say, “I know this. It’s affecting public safety. I will do something about it, and I’ll tell the people I’m against it.” She’s in favour of it, and everyone knows it.

We will do everything we can to fight auto theft, Mr. Speaker, and I’ll tell you why: because we have a right to live safe in our own homes and communities and not be subject to people who think they can knock down our doors and demand our keys. It’s completely unacceptable, and we’re not going to stand for it.

Deferred vote on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 184, An Act to amend the Metrolinx Act, 2006, the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act and the Shortline Railways Act, 1995 with respect to transportation / Projet de loi 184, Loi visant à modifier la Loi de 2006 sur Metrolinx, la Loi sur l’aménagement des voies publiques et des transports en commun et la Loi de 1995 sur les chemins de fer d’intérêt local en ce qui concerne les transports.