When the derecho hit Ottawa and devastated communities right across the city, when it knocked out hydro to tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people across our city, the community was devastated. And then, a couple of days later, the Premier came—

Interruption.

When the Premier came to Orléans after the derecho to visit the fire station, there was great hope that there would be investment from the province to help farmers recover, to help Hydro Ottawa pay for the tens of millions of dollars they spent cleaning up from the storm. Unfortunately, while there was a lot of talk and there were a lot of photos to try to help their Conservative candidate win in the Orléans riding, none of those promises were backed up in real life. There is not a single dollar to help the city of Ottawa or Hydro Ottawa from the derecho as part of this budget.

In fact, the biggest critic of the current industrial policy to help the automotive industry here in Ontario, Madam Speaker, is the leader of the Conservative Party; he’s the biggest critic of the plan to invest in Ontario’s auto sector—

It’s a great pleasure to rise and speak to the budget measures act for fiscal year 2023-24 this afternoon.

Although the province faces skyrocketing costs of living, unaffordable housing and a health care system in crisis, budget 2023 offers no relief as more and more Ontarians struggle each and every day just to get by. It’s a budget that tells Ontarians that they’re on their own.

I want to start by discussing how the residents of Ottawa are once again being forgotten by this Conservative government. In the 2023 budget, there was announced $202 million per year in new funding for supportive housing and homelessness projects, but the city of Ottawa’s allocation is disproportionately small. Ottawa is, of course, the second-largest city in Ontario, only after Toronto. Although the city of Toronto has a population three times the size of Ottawa, it’s receiving 60 times more funding than the nation’s capital. It’s absolutely unacceptable that Toronto has received over $40 million for the same program, while Ottawa is set to receive a comparatively measly $845,100. The Premier ignored Ottawa during the occupation, he abandoned farmers after the derecho storm left them in crisis, and he is now, once again, abandoning the city as we have people who need affordable housing options and are living on the street. This insufficient funding could force the city of Ottawa to cancel 54 supportive housing units that were expected to become operational over the next 18 months, and it will severely compromise Ottawa’s 10-year housing and homelessness plan to build between 570 and 850 new affordable housing options. According to Ottawa’s mayor, based on Toronto’s allocation, Ottawa should be getting in the range of at least $16 million, but they’re only receiving $845,000. Ontario’s second-largest city should be treated fairly and should be provided with sufficient funding to meet the needs of its residents.

The 2023 budget also does not include any funding for the victims of the 2022 derecho storm in Ottawa—one of the most notorious storms in Canadian history. In fact, the storm was ranked as the sixth-costliest natural disaster in Canadian history, amounting to over $875 million in damage. The storm caused widespread damage to residential and commercial property, farms and public utilities, killing 11 people and leaving 1.1 million without power. To put it in context for some of the members from the GTA, the derecho surpassed the damages incurred during the devastating 2005 flooding here in Toronto. Buildings in these Ottawa-area communities like Navan and Carlsbad Springs still have holes in the walls or are without roofs because of the lack of disaster relief from this government. We’ve heard a lot from this government about how they support small, rural communities, but when it comes to rural communities in Ottawa, that support is non-existent. And let’s not forget: In addition to denying homeowners and farmers the opportunity to apply for provincial disaster relief funding, the Premier has yet to fulfill his promise to the city of Ottawa or to Hydro Ottawa to help with the costs of cleanup. The city and hydro have spent upwards of, if not more than, $50 million to recover from the storm, without any provincial support. Despite the Premier stopping in to station 53 in Orléans during the election to thank firefighters for their cleanup efforts, he still hasn’t put a single provincial dollar behind it. So what’s the message being sent to first responders? “I’ll come for the photo op, but I won’t deliver the goods.”

The cold shoulder being shown to Ottawa doesn’t stop there. It’s even bigger. Ontario is facing—and Ottawa is facing—a massive shortage of family doctors and a high demand for primary care.

Just to list a few challenges that family doctors are facing across the province and in the nation’s capital: human resource challenges; shortages of nurses and administrative staff; a rise in the severity of illnesses due to deferred procedures or delays in seeking treatment throughout the pandemic; and ongoing financial pressures as commercial rents go up and up and up.

These problems, in addition to many other factors, are affecting the quality of care for patients and contributing to emergency backlogs in our hospitals, and the government continues to do absolutely nothing to support primary care in Ottawa.

Instead of addressing the lack of family doctors, the government has announced their plan to increase private, for-profit medicine. And while the long-term impacts of this are not yet clear, what is evident is that it will not help address the shortage of family doctors or the decision many of them are making to close their practices. There is nothing in the budget to help family doctors continue to do what they do and what they love to do, and that’s help us stay healthy.

Un autre échec important dans le budget de 2023, c’est le manque de financement pour le MIFO, le plus grand centre culturel francophone de l’Ontario. Le MIFO offre des programmes artistiques et éducatifs à la communauté francophone, et le bâtiment actuel est extrêmement obsolète, madame la Présidente, et ne répond pas aux besoins de la communauté. Le MIFO a un projet d’expansion audacieux qui lui permettrait de fournir des services plus efficaces à un plus grand nombre de personnes dans l’est de la ville et, vraiment, tout partout dans l’Ontario. Ce projet est essentiel à la croissance de leur organisation et au succès de la communauté francophone d’Ottawa. Le MIFO a fait de nombreuses demandes au gouvernement pour les fonds nécessaires pour cette expansion, mais jusqu’à date il n’y a aucune réponse positive de ce gouvernement.

The government is also failing Ontario’s municipalities by leaving them high and dry with Bill 23. Last fall, when the government introduced Bill 23, experts and planners warned the government that there would be consequences with removing development charges without compensation for municipalities. Development charges are what municipalities use to build complete communities. They help pay for new roads and new sidewalks and new parks and new rec centres and new fire stations and police stations. It’s what helps cities build complete communities.

And once again, the government didn’t listen. The government, in November, said that they would be conducting audits in municipalities and, based on those results, may step up and help support them financially for their loss. But six months later, the only audits announced are those in—guess what?—Toronto and Peel region. Once again, Ottawa is ignored, and there’s no indication whether or not municipalities, including the city of Ottawa, will get their audit in order to evaluate the loss of revenue as a result of provincial policy.

So as you can see, Madam Speaker, budget 2023 will not make life more affordable for anyone. Ontarians are in desperate need for support during these challenging times of runaway inflation and the affordability crisis that we’re all facing, but this government is turning a blind eye. With the cost of groceries going up, with the cost of hydro going up, with the cost of gas going up, with the cost of everything Ontarians buy each and every day going up, the government has done nothing. They’re saying you’re on your own, and that’s what getting it done looks like, Madam Speaker.

There are lots of problems in Ontario that can still be blamed on Mike Harris. That’s how bad his reign here in Ontario was, Madam Speaker. But for the debater and my colleague, the government is planning a half-billion-dollar expenditure on a parking lot to service their plans for Ontario Place. I’m wondering if she could tell us and the people of Ontario how $500 million could better be spent.