Thank you—through you, Mr. Speaker—to the member opposite for that question. We’ve been acknowledging and we understand that many have been hurting in this province for some time. That’s why we moved early to reduce the gas tax back in the spring of 2022. Now we just are debating the fall economic statement, which extends that gas tax—so the member opposite has an opportunity to make life more affordable for the people of Kitchener and Waterloo. Not only did we do that, but we rebated the HST on purpose-built rental buildings to encourage more rental, which will help many people in this province. And of course, we didn’t stop there to encourage more housing—the water systems infrastructure fund, $200 million, so that we could build more affordable housing in this great province.

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite has an opportunity to support Bill 146 and make life more affordable for her constituents.

We also announced a historic deal with the city of Toronto which will benefit not only just Torontonians, but people in the GTA and, frankly, the whole province of Ontario. Included in that deal, of course, is to help transit, to help housing, and yes, to help homelessness and shelters for those people the member opposite is talking about.

In fact, in the budget that she didn’t vote for and her party voted against—the budget from last year—we increased the Homelessness Prevention Program by 40% for all Ontarians. Mr. Speaker, the facts are in: This is the party that supports the people of Ontario. The facts are in: That’s the party that votes against it.

Thank you to the terrific member from Brantford–Brant for that question.

Mr. Speaker, the people of Ontario re-elected our government with a plan to get it done, to keep costs down, and to support the people of Ontario while getting the roads, hospitals, schools and infrastructure built that Ontario needs.

We have a responsible plan to ensure that the province remains on a strong and steady economic path forward. In fact, I was very pleased to see that Moody’s, a credit rating agency, has recently changed Ontario’s credit outlook from “stable” to “positive.” This reflects our government’s commitment to prudent, responsible fiscal management and a strong economy. We have laid a strong foundation on which we will continue to build Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, we are making transit more affordable by eliminating double fares for most local transit services in the greater Golden Horseshoe area when commuters are also using GO Transit services.

For low-income seniors in Ontario, these uncertain times are even more challenging. That is why we are temporarily doubling the Guaranteed Annual Income System—also known as GAINS—payments until December 2023. And we are proposing to expand that GAINS program, starting in 2024, to 100,000 additional seniors eligible for the program, for a 50% increase in recipients, and to adjust this benefit so that it increases with inflation.

This all builds on our previous measures, including cutting the gas and fuel tax until December 2023 and eliminating licence plate—

Thank you to the member opposite for that very important question.

With the cost of everything going up, our children are paramount in this country and this province. That’s why we have to be very focused on the issue of affordability.

While many are feeling the pinch, and while we’ve done many things, I would just point to one aspect of food inputs, which is, frankly, the federal government and their carbon tax. They just increased the carbon tax again by three cents. Not only is that a challenge for many at the pump, many who take their children to school or drive to work, but it’s also a major input in the cost of groceries and the cost of food.

When you keep increasing taxes, that’s hurting people—as opposed to this government, which reduced the gas tax to help people.

Mr. Speaker, I come back to what I just said: We are taking action on a lot of fronts, including supports for low-income seniors, including lower taxes through credit rebates for low-income workers. But the federal government could do their part and lower the carbon tax. We did that—we dropped the gas tax. We’re doing it for the whole year. That’s how we’re helping people.

Thank you to the hard-working member from Oxford for that question. In fact, wasn’t there a good announcement yesterday in Ingersoll, in the member’s riding, creating good jobs and bigger paycheques in his riding? So congratulations to your hard work, not to mention the Minister of Economic Development and the Premier as well.

Look, it’s a very important question for over 200,000 seniors on fixed incomes. It’s really important that we provide support in this environment where inflation—we haven’t seen inflation like this in 40 years, not since I was a wee kid. What we did to help those 200,000 people out was to double the Guaranteed Annual Income Supplement—

Interjection.

We’ve increased it from $166 to $1,992 per year this year. This is providing necessary and important relief to the many seniors who helped build this province.

Mr. Speaker, I was at the seniors’ Poinsettia Tea event at the Pickering recreation centre on Sunday, actually—

Interjection.

It was great to have people out again, great to see the many seniors in our community get together. That’s why we’re helping many of the seniors and many people, not just in Durham but right across the province.

We took off the tolls on the 412 and the 418. We expanded the Low-income Workers Tax Credit so there would be more money in their pockets in this environment. We’re proposing, as I mentioned earlier, in the fall economic statement, to extend the gas and fuel tax cut for next year, and one I’m extremely proud of is that we increased the earning exemption for people on the Ontario Disability Support Program from $200 to $1,000 for those who can and want to work so that they can have more money in their pockets.

Thank you to the member opposite for that question. Mr. Speaker, there’s no question that many are hurting in this province and in this country with a higher price of groceries, among many other things. That’s why our colleagues in Ottawa across all party lines have struck a parliamentary committee to look at food prices right across the province, and that work is happening now.

But now that we’re talking about the federal government, you know what they could do to help with the cost of everything across Canada? They could lower the carbon tax. This Premier and this government took action back in March to lower gas prices at the pump by reducing the gas tax for fuel and for gas, and then extended it for another year, starting January 1, to provide relief to the many people in Ontario who are struggling with day-to-day costs.

That’s why we’ve taken action. That’s why we started taking action this spring. That’s why we moved to reduce gas taxes. That’s why we removed the tolls on the 412 and 418. That’s why we rebated the licence plate stickers.

But we didn’t stop there, Speaker. We increased the minimum wage. We lowered the tax rebate, so Ontarians pay some of the lowest income taxes for low-income workers across the country. But we didn’t stop there, Mr. Speaker, with the Guaranteed Annual Income Supplement for 200,000 seniors. But we didn’t stop there; we helped people on Ontario disability by increasing it by 5% and indexing it to inflation. Why did you vote no every single time for every single measure?

Thank you to the member from Windsor–Tecumseh for that very important question. This government understands the people of Ontario are under pressure. Costs are going up, and we are facing an uncertain global economic environment.

That is why we have a plan to keep costs down and put more money back in the pockets of hard-working Ontarians. In the spring, we cut the gas tax by 5.7 cents per litre and the fuel tax by 5.3 cents per litre for six months. Our 2022 fall economic statement, if passed, would extend this real relief for millions of Ontarians until December 31, 2023.

We have a plan to keep costs down, and this is just one part of how we are getting the job done for the people of Ontario.

Whatever economic uncertainty may bring, our government has a plan.

Mr. Speaker, the member is right, and this government knows the impact of rising prices is being felt all over Ontario, especially amongst the most vulnerable. That’s why we are putting money back into the pockets of those who need it most.

We are increasing—as was just discussed—the monthly amount of the Ontario Disability Support Program and adjusting future increases to rates based on inflation.

We’re increasing the minimum wage, giving over 760,000 Ontario workers an increase.

And in our 2022 budget, Ontario’s Plan to Build, we expanded the low-income family and individual tax rebate credit, which will impact people making up to $50,000. That means, for about 1.1 million people, an extra $300 in their pockets through a tax break every year.

This government is going to keep costs down for workers, families and seniors, for the people of Ontario, and they can rest assured that this Premier and this government will have their backs.