I appreciate the question from the member opposite.

When it comes to acting to build a more sustainable environment, this government is acting. We’ve spent a record investment in public transit, taking millions of cars off the road. That member voted against it. When it comes to climate change impact assessment—the first of its kind—that member voted against it. When it comes to countless commitments—working on getting housing built for our next generation—he voted against it. What is his solution? His solution is to punish low-income and middle-class families with a carbon tax that is so punitive that we would drive jobs out and impoverish an entire generation of Ontarians.

When it comes to acting, we’re working with industries like Algoma and Dofasco—the largest industrial decarbonization in Ontario’s history. We’re going to continue doing that, ensuring green jobs for generations to come.

My grandfather came to this country and worked in the steel sector. He would be proud to know that this government is decarbonizing, working with industry, expanding jobs.

If that member spent a little less time crowing and harassing people outside health clinics and actually sitting down with job creators, with research institutions, he would know that when it comes to GHG reductions, Navius, an independent world leader, validated this province’s plan to reach our climate goals by 2030.

We’re going to continue working with industry and investing record amounts in public transit, which he voted against; record amounts in housing, which he voted against; record amounts to ensure that we can build a more sustainable future, taking meaningful action, working with industry. I just wish he would join us and bring meaningful solutions, instead of harassment—

Interjections.

Thank you to the member opposite. I listened to her speech with great interest.

On carbon capture, storage and utilization: I note that the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States commits over $369 billion, of which a portion goes to CCUS, and an international panel report on climate change showed that “the potential for CO₂ capture and storage is considerable,” and goes on to support this.

To industry that are already doing this and have asked the government to play a leadership role in establishing a framework here in Ontario, like Stelco—what would she say to that industry? Does she feel they have a role to play in capturing CO₂, and what would she say to the workers and union workers on the cutting edge, looking to do this for sustainable capture of CO₂?

Thank you to the phenomenal member from Windsor–Tecumseh for the question. It’s an excellent one.

The member is correct. I was honoured to take part in the international Candu fuel conference, which was hosted by Cameco. On a personal note, Cameco is one of the largest employers in my riding and employs hundreds of hard-working men and women in the clean energy sector across this province and across Canada.

Not surprisingly, there was a lot of discussion about SMRs and praise for our government for recognizing that investing in SMR technology is what we need to do to secure Ontario’s future. More importantly, it’s securing a cleaner future for Ontarians. In fact, one SMR can prevent up to two megatons of greenhouse gas emissions. What does that mean? Speaker, that’s the equivalent of taking over 600,000 cars off the road, and it can power up to 300,000 homes with clean, reliable baseload power.

This is just another example of tangible steps that our government is taking to promote a cleaner future, working with men and women in the trades and making sure that we can have reliable, clean power for generations to come.

Speaker, it’s not through punishing taxes on the backs of hard-working Ontarians when we’re dealing with an inflationary crisis that we will achieve a cleaner, greener, more sustainable future. It is working with industry that we’ve seen historic reductions in the steel sector. It’s working with industry that we’re making record investments in public transit. And it’s working with industry that Ontario will be a powerhouse in SMR clean green technology for the world.