We told the people that we were going to invest in more transit.

And does this budget invest more in transit?

And does this budget invest in more houses being built?

And we have done that, Mr. Speaker.

In fact, we’ve taken action after action that together are saving the hard-working people of Ontario thousands of dollars each and every year.

Under the leadership of Premier Ford, this government scrapped the tolls on Highways 412 and 418 in Durham region, a move that will save drivers $68 million by 2027.

Now, I’m told that some parties in this House supported those road tolls and voted against removing them.

Well, Mr. Speaker, as someone who represents a Durham constituency myself, I have yet to find a driver in the community who shares the Liberal Party’s enthusiasm for a more expensive commute.

To that end, here’s what the Get It Done Act does.

We are also proposing to enshrine into law the freeze on Ontario driver’s licence and photo card fees.

And we are finishing the job when it comes to scrapping the licence plate sticker fee by automating the licence plate renewal process.

These measures will save the people of Ontario an additional $66 million over the next five years and hours of paperwork.

And, Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not point out one more thing the Get It Done Act would do.

We will be enshrining into law ... a new, clear rule ...

That will require all future provincial governments to seek the consent of the people before being allowed to burden people with the high cost of any kind of new provincial carbon tax.

Now, Mr. Speaker, we are in a pivotal moment in which leaders from all levels of government, all parties, all across Canada need to stand up against the federal carbon tax and the suffering it has caused.

And when asked about the carbon tax: Premier Ford has always been very clear.

He opposes it. Full stop.

It’s a simple answer to a simple question.

Everyone in this House should also aspire to answer that question just as clearly.

Now, Mr. Speaker, it’s time to return to the astonishing news about the federal carbon tax.

In a few short days, on April 1 in fact, the federal government is set to increase the carbon tax by 23%. With so many people already hanging on by a thread. It’s astonishing, Mr. Speaker.

The Bank of Canada has said this carbon tax is increasing inflation, and when factoring in both fiscal and economic impacts, the Parliamentary Budget Officer has said most Canadians will pay more in carbon taxes than they will see in rebates.

Mr. Speaker, while we need the federal government to pause or cancel its carbon tax increase, we will continue to do what we can to help the people of Ontario manage the impact.

This is why I am proud to announce that our government is proposing to extend our gas and fuel tax cuts until the end of 2024.

Ontario drivers will continue to save over five cents per litre every time they fill their cars for another six months.

This would save Ontario households an average of $320 over the two and a half years since the cuts were first implemented in July 2022. That’s real money back in people’s pockets.

We are also eliminating the 6.1% on-site wine tax and maintaining the beer tax indexation freeze for an additional two years.

As well as a freeze on college and university tuitions for at least three more years.

We are moving forward with auto insurance reforms that would provide more choice and flexibility to drivers in order to keep their premiums more affordable.

And we are also stepping up supports for some of our most vulnerable by expanding the annual income eligibility threshold for the Ontario Guaranteed Annual Income System program for low-income seniors—and ensuring that the benefit is indexed to the rate of inflation. This one move will result in about 100,000 more Ontario seniors receiving support, while at the same time increasing the support that eligible seniors get.

And, of course, we have given transit users the break they dearly needed by working with municipal partners to implement One Fare.

Now, you only need to pay once when connecting from GO Transit, TTC, Brampton Transit, Durham Region Transit, MiWay in Mississauga and York Region Transit.

Mr. Speaker, I have a pop quiz for you and the other members here ...

Do you know how much the average, daily rider will save each year as a result of One Fare?

Interjection: It’s $1,600.

Because this government believes that every commuter deserves a break. Whether you’re driving your car or taking transit, our government is putting more money back into people’s pockets.

Mr. Speaker, making it cheaper to drive or take transit is just one part of the equation. We also need to make it more convenient.

So, we are also ready to build the roads, bridges, highways, transit and other transportation infrastructure that our growing province badly needs.

Today in Ontario, we are building new roads, bridges and highways across the province while investing in the largest expansion of public transit to be found anywhere in North America.

It’s time now, Mr. Speaker, to take you on a tour, so I invite you to break out an Ontario road map and maybe stick some pins in the projects we’re getting built.

—In Windsor, shovels are already in the ground to expand Highway 3, with planning well under way to build a new interchange connecting the 401 to the Lauzon Parkway.

—We are now supporting a new interchange at Banwell Road and the E.C. Row Expressway to support the NextStar Energy EV battery plant.

—In Ottawa, we are designing a new interchange at Highway 416 and Barnsdale Road to support south Ottawa’s growing population and jobs.

—Here in the GTA, we are advancing Highway 413 which will finally provide much relief to the GTA, saving drivers 30 minutes on their commute and supporting 3,500 jobs each year.

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Transportation can tell you, we all know how many people across Peel, and particularly in Brampton, need the 413.

Families and businesses and community leaders are calling for this overdue relief, in face of opposition from a handful of politicians and activists who live outside the region.

Mr. Speaker, we won’t let them stop Highway 413 from getting built—we will be there for the people of Brampton and Peel region. Let’s get the 413 built.

Mr. Speaker, we could say the same thing about York region—where we’re going to build the Bradford Bypass to give local drivers some badly needed relief.

And let’s move a little closer to the great city of Pickering where we are planning to expand Highway 7 from two lanes to four lanes from west of Reesor Road in Markham, east to Brock Road to support the Pickering Innovation Corridor.

And we are taking the next step in finally getting the Highway 7 project widened between Kitchener and Guelph by advancing construction on the Frederick Street Bridge.

Keep that road map open because we have a few more pins to stick in that old map.

Here’s a sampling of the work under way:

—We’re also adding high occupancy vehicle lanes to Highway 404 from the 407 to Major Mackenzie.

—In the Niagara region, we’re moving forward with the QEW Garden City Skyway bridge twinning project.

—We’re replacing the Little Current Swing Bridge in Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands.

—And we’re rehabilitating the section of Highway 403 in Oxford and Brant counties.

—We’re fixing the bridges and culverts on Highway 28 in Renfrew.

Interjection.

Mr. Speaker, I had the pleasure and opportunity to table the fall economic statement here yesterday, and our opposition said, “Where’s all the new money for health care?” If they were here in August when I tabled the budget, which was voted on yes by this side and no on that side, they would recognize that there was $5.6 billion of new investments for health care.

It was this government that recognizes that we’re investing in the surgical backlog, we’re investing in home care, we’re investing in community care—in acute care, more beds. We have a plan to stay open. We came back in the Legislature in August to get the job done for the people of Ontario, and we will not rest until the investments that were neglected by the previous government—

Interjections.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You look a little different, but congratulations.

Thank you to the member opposite for that question.

I don’t think the parents of the two million students in this province consider catching up their children’s education as a gimmick.

Let me set the record straight for the people of Ontario.

I’m sure the member opposite has looked at the amount of spending in the last full year of the previous Liberal government versus the amount of spending that we’re putting—investments into education. It’s a massive increase. Why? Because we are investing in our children’s future and we’re investing today.

Let’s take a look at the budget, the 241 pages: a $3-billion increased investment in our children’s education; investments in child care; investments in COVID containment and HEPA filters for our schools; investment in the curriculum; investments in mental health and investments in tutorials—most parents would see that as an important investment in their children’s future.

We have 2.6 million people now in the province of Ontario over the age of 65, and over the next 20 years another two million people will join them. Then we’ll have 4.6 million people over the age of 65. What’s so important is that they have choice as to where they can age. Part of that choice is aging at home.

So what are we doing today to invest in our seniors for tomorrow?

The member mentioned the home safety tax credit, so they can have their homes retrofitted, who need it—guardrails and so on.

The member mentioned the care at home tax credit so that attentive care can come to the home.

I would add also that through the home and vehicle program, which is administered by the March of Dimes, we increased funding so that lower-income people—people who couldn’t even afford to get the tax credit because they didn’t have money—could afford to put infrastructure in their homes.

That’s what we’re doing.

We have so much more to do as a society to support all people in Ontario, including our Indigenous populations. I take the question with great interest and seriousness, because it is so important that we build Ontario for everyone.

That is why we have put more funding in place for economic development, in consultation with First Nations, so that, for example, they can share in the prosperity in the Plan to Build Ontario. That’s why, with regard to the Ring of Fire and opening up the prosperity for the north, it is inclusive, that it is in consultation with the people of the north and our First Nations.

This is the way we’re going to move Ontario forward together. We’re going to do it with everybody, including our Indigenous populations, so that we can have an Ontario that benefits everyone.

Thank you to the members.

Our plan also is a plan that includes working for workers. To begin, we are putting more money into workers’ pockets by raising the minimum wage to $15.50 per hour, starting on October 1, 2022. Our plan includes attracting and recruiting more workers into skilled trades, with an additional $114 million over three years in our skilled trades strategy. We have relaunched our very successful Second Career program into Better Jobs Ontario. We’re expanding college degree-granting programs to build a pipeline of job-ready graduates in applied fields, helping students get into the workforce faster.

And we are investing $67 million over three years to fund the Ontario bridge training program to help eligible immigrants bridge their international training and experience with in-demand jobs in their communities. Our economy needs these skilled workers, and our workers need our support. That is why our government is working for workers.

The final chapter of our budget is our plan to stay open. The people and businesses of Ontario have been tested by the pandemic, and those tests continue. Our plan includes investments and actions to help keep our economy open and to invest in our health and long-term-care system.

One such investment is included in the Plan to Build Act, and that is our proposed new Ontario Seniors Care at Home Tax Credit. This new tax credit would help low- to moderate-income senior families with eligible medical expenses, including certified attendant care, assistive breathing devices, and hearing and walking aids. In 2022, this new personal income tax credit would provide an estimated $110 million in support to about 200,000 low-income to moderate-income senior families, or about $550 on average. Senior families would first claim this credit when they file their 2022 tax returns. This proposed measure would help seniors age in their homes, surrounded by their loved ones and their memories.

Our plan to stay open also includes a 10-year, $40-billion hospital capital plan, which represents the most ambitious plan for hospital expansion in Ontario’s history, supporting more than 50 major hospital projects and adding 3,000 new beds over the next 10 years.

The plan also includes investing now in long-term care. Ontario now has over 31,000 new and over 28,000 upgraded beds in the development pipeline to get long-term-care beds built, to get seniors and other individuals the care they need and deserve.

Our government is planning to invest up to an additional $1 billion over the next three years to expand home care. Our plan to stay open takes immediate action to support the hard-working health care workers who have done so much to keep us safe—a credible recovery plan that will eliminate the provincial deficit two years earlier than projected in the 2021 budget.

While we’re doing this, we are providing nurses with a retention bonus of up to $5,000. We’re making the wage enhancement for more than 158,000 personal support workers and direct support workers permanent.

That is Ontario’s Plan to Build. It’s a plan to invest and invest responsibly, with spending increasing by an annual average of over 5%, with investments in health care, in education and other critical infrastructure. These are the types of investments that will help lead a credible recovery plan and, as I just mentioned, that will help eliminate the provincial deficit two years earlier than projected in the 2021 budget.

The Plan to Build Act is an important piece of legislation that will enable us to put this plan into action. I urge all members—all members—to vote for this plan to build, this plan to get the work done for the Ontario families.

La Loi pour favoriser le développement est un texte législatif qui nous permettra de mettre en oeuvre ce plan. Je demande donc aux députés d’adopter ce plan pour bâtir, ce plan pour favoriser le développement, ce plan qui nous permettra de travailler pour les familles ontariennes.

This is a plan to build Ontario together. This is a plan for all Ontarians. Join us in this plan and do it for all Ontarians.