I think the Premier said it so incredibly well—but let’s go back in time a little bit, when they were in power for 15 years and they increased the debt by $200 billion. It’s kind of incredible to think that all those hospitals they built and all those highways they built and all those subways they built and all those—

Interjections.

I have to correct the record: They built nothing. In fact, they saw the tail lights on those cars—those manufacturing jobs leaving Ontario to go to the United States.

Do you know what you’re seeing now? Those headlights of the people coming to Ontario, 700,000 headlights coming back to Ontario—good-paying jobs in St. Thomas, in Alliston, and now in Port Colborne.

There’s something happening in Ontario. The member opposite should take note of that.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I’m sure the member opposite has read and will consider voting for the budget, Building a Better Ontario. And had she actually read the budget—she seems to be referring to the additional 100,000 low-income seniors who will now qualify for the Guaranteed Annual Income System.

While we’re at it, Mr. Speaker, let’s think a little bit about the area she represents, Scarborough: I hope she’s going to support building the subway to Scarborough for the first time in 50 years or the extension for the Sheppard East line, or perhaps health care and the hospital that we’re building in Scarborough.

I feel like Columbo today, because I almost forgot one thing: the medical school right in Scarborough, the first one in a hundred years.

While they talked about things for 15 years, we are getting things done right now.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to thank the member opposite for that question. I’m sure, as we go to vote for the budget, the member opposite will dutifully consider supporting what’s in the budget, which includes the Guaranteed Annual Income System, which is indexed to inflation for the first time ever for low-income seniors.

And I’m sure the learned member opposite will also take a look at how we cut the gas tax for many people who have to move around this province, Mr. Speaker, and my colleague over here, with One Fare, for those taking transit, saving daily riders $1,600 a year. This is real money for the people of Ontario, and I’ll have more to say in the supplementary.

Oh, I love these questions, Mr. Speaker. You know what? We got into power in 2018. Who gave us an infrastructure deficit? Was it this side? No. It was that side. It was that member’s party. Mr. Speaker, we hadn’t built subways, no hospitals, no roads, no bridges, no long-term care.

And when we lowered the gas tax, did that member vote yes or no?

I’m happy to address the question from the Leader of the Opposition. When I think about why I got into government: For 15 years, we saw a record amount of spending, supported for three years by the NDP, I submit—from 2011 to 2014—as I have mentioned many times, in the history of Confederation up to 2003, $130 billion of debt; the next 15 years, almost $200 billion in debt.

Did those spending dollars go into health care? Did they go into building highways so people could move goods and people to market? Did the spending go into building more subways to connect the hundreds of thousands of people that move to Ontario every single year? Where are those people going to live? Where are they going to live? They have to live in housing. That’s what this government is accelerating to make sure we get it done.

That being said, let me also think about almost a year ago, when we tabled our budget for the people of Ontario and we took that budget to the people of Ontario. It included gas tax relief, because the cost of gas and the cost of everything was going up. It included a doubling of the low-income individuals and families tax credit so that the lowest-income workers in this province got a break. It helped seniors with the seniors’ home affordability tax credit.

But did we stop there? No. In the fall economic statement, what did we do? We increased ODSP funding by 5%. We indexed it to inflation for the first time ever. And we didn’t stop there. We increased the earnings exemption. We provided the GAINS, the doubling of support for seniors and the guaranteed annual income. Also, we continued the gas tax relief for another year.