Back to the Premier: Global News has just reported on the chaos and confusion that surrounded the Premier’s reckless decision to restructure and dissolve Peel region and then his—of course, we’ll all remember this—partial reversal, another giant flip-flop just months later. Billions of dollars in taxpayer costs were at stake, and the Premier either didn’t care or had no clue.

It seems like neither the transition board nor anyone in the ministry had any idea where the Premier was going with his plans for Peel. So when it comes to the restructuring of Peel, does this government have any idea what they’re doing?

Is the government solving problems for the people of Peel, or just insiders and land-hungry developers?

Interjections.

I’m going to go to the Premier with this one. It now clear that government officials in the Premier’s office and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs knew specific details about the greenbelt removal plans much earlier than the Premier and the minister have claimed.

There is also evidence that certain landowners were tipped off about the greenbelt plans long before the general public learned about them. The NDP and journalists have filed more freedom-of-information requests for documents that might shine more of a light on who knew what about the greenbelt plans and when they knew it. We know these documents exist but the Premier and the minister are keeping them secret.

Why are these documents being kept from the public, and will the Premier release them now?

This next question is to the Premier. The dissolution of Peel is an unprecedented change that will affect the daily lives of millions of people. It’s going to be complicated and it could get very messy. If this is going to work, then the people of Peel need to be at the centre of the process. They need to be consulted. They need to be heard. So why won’t the Premier consult the public and conduct committee hearings to ensure that Bill 112 will deliver the best possible outcome for Peel residents?

People in Mississauga, in Brampton and in Caledon have a lot of questions about what’s going to happen to them, what’s going to happen to their municipal services, what’s going to happen to their tax bills or their utility bills. These questions are to be answered, apparently, by a transition board, whose mandate—and also who’s on it—remain completely unknown right now, with no guarantee that this process will be any more transparent than the last regional governance review, the findings of which, I’ll remind everyone, remain a complete government secret, right?

Who will serve on the transition board, and will their findings be released to the public well in advance before the government makes a decision about Peel?

Mr. Speaker, through you to the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity, who is also the member for Brampton Centre: Why did she move the motion that blocked her Brampton constituents from being heard on Bill 112?

My question is to the Premier.

Any dissolution of Peel region will require serious thought and care from this government. There are a lot of moving parts and billions of dollars at stake for taxpayers in Brampton, in Mississauga and in Caledon. But as we’ve seen, whether it’s with Bill 23 or the cancellation of Peel chair elections or the ending of regional planning responsibilities, this Premier has a record of imposing sudden, massive changes on municipalities without consultation or careful review, leaving municipalities and taxpayers to deal with the resulting chaos. How can the people of Peel trust the Premier to get this right?

But the minister seems to forget all about his promise to make municipalities whole. The Premier even compared Peel municipalities to beggars seeking a handout.

How can Peel residents have any confidence in this restructuring process when the Premier and the minister have shown them such disrespect?

In 2019, the government announced a regional government review—three months of consultations, and the review received over 8,500 written submissions. But then the government suddenly dropped the whole idea, and the report and the recommendations have been kept secret ever since.

Just so Peel residents and other Ontarians have access to all the relevant information, will the Premier order the release of the 2019 report?

Interjections.

On September 15, 2022, a company controlled by Michael Rice of the Rice Group bought 687 acres of protected farmland in King township. Less than two months later, the government announced that this property would be removed from the greenbelt. But now we have learned that Mr. Rice discussed the development of this land with King township and Southlake health officials in June, before he bought the land, and perhaps even as early as January of last year.

It makes no sense for Mr. Rice to propose the development of protected greenbelt land he did not even own yet, unless—and my question is to the Premier: Did someone in the government tip him off about the greenbelt plan?