We learned recently that this government is once again hiding information from the people of Ontario. This time, it’s about how many health care workers they will be short because of their damaging, unconstitutional Bill 124.

But, Speaker, this behaviour is not a surprise from this government. They are experts at pulling down the blinds on the press’s right to light and transparency. Whether it’s ministerial mandate letters, the details of the shameful 95-year lease with a foreign-owned spa, the real reason they’re closing the Ontario Science Centre and building a parking lot for their spa friends, the criminal investigation into the greenbelt scandal or how they’ve doubled the number of staff riding the gravy train in the Premier’s office, this government has no qualms about hiding their flaws.

My question to the Premier: Why does he like hiding information from the people of Ontario?

Speaker, this government forgets that the privilege of governing comes with the responsibility of transparency, so their disdain for transparency is at odds with their endless crowing about their record. If their crowing is justified, then there should be nothing to hide. But the press had to go to court again to get the information about the shortage of health care workers. The documents pried out of the government’s hands by the Canadian Press show the information was hidden because—wait for it—the government thinks that it would help nurses to get fair wages.

To the Premier: If the state of our health care system is not a concern, why did the government try to hide this information?

Interjections.

Tomorrow is a big day: It’s the day we find out whether or not this government will comply with one of its own laws.

Speaker, the Conservatives campaigned saying they wouldn’t pave over the greenbelt and they would reduce Ontario’s debt. We know they failed on the greenbelt, and so they’re being criminally investigated by the RCMP. What people may not know is they have also failed on the second. This government has added $93 billion in new debt since taking office in 2018. That is despite creating their own law. In 2019, the government amended the Fiscal Sustainability, Transparency and Accountability Act to require that the government provide a debt reduction strategy each year with the budget, but they have yet to do so.

My question to the Premier: Will he take responsibility for the ballooning debt under his government and uphold his law of the land by providing a debt management strategy in tomorrow’s budget?

The people of Ontario are getting used to this Premier and his government playing the blame game, breaking promises, helping their insider friends and changing the rules of the game when they don’t like them. But, Speaker, the government has only itself to blame for not adhering to its own law. They have been called out by the Auditor General every year for the last four years for failing to meet the requirements set out by their own law.

The government is being investigated by the RCMP for their $8.3-billion greenbelt scandal, and given what they’re doing at Ontario Place and the science centre, they seem well on their way to more investigations.

So, once again to the Premier: Will he commit today to following his own law and put forward a debt management strategy in tomorrow’s budget?

I rise today to share my constituents’ concerns regarding broken promises to the people of Thorncliffe Park. One of the first issues I raised as MPP for Don Valley West involved the location of the Ontario Line maintenance and storage facility. There was no consultation in advance, causing deep strife amongst the community, local businesses and organizations. To add insult to injury, the government promised a community benefits agreement to deliver economic benefits for local residents, many of whom are new immigrants with skills that Ontario needs. So far, this government has not gotten that done—another broken promise by this Premier.

Now, we face a repeat of this debacle for Thorncliffe Park residents. The government did not consult in advance about their decision to build a transit-oriented community there. They simply announced the plan and then had the gall to have Infrastructure Ontario say, “Community input is a key component of IO’s TOC program.” This government has already released 800 pages of planning documents related to this project and spent who knows how much money without any consultations being done. My constituents are once again being sidelined by this government.

I’m asking that the Minister of Infrastructure sign a community benefits agreement now. Without that, future consultations will be nothing more than a PR exercise.

This government has a habit of admitting mistakes only when they get caught red-handed. The $8.3 billion greenbelt giveaway, well-documented by the Auditor General, the Integrity Commissioner and now under criminal investigation by the RCMP, is only their latest scandal.

They also have a habit of blaming problems in our province, which they govern, on every level of government except their own. We have an affordability crisis, and yet what does this government do in their fall economic statement? They create a new bank with $3 billion of taxpayer money.

Speaker, 2,023 days ago, on May 10, 2018, the government made a promise, one that remains broken to this day: They promised to lower taxes for lower- and middle-income households. That would put up to $1,691 back into those households’ bank accounts.

My question to the Premier: When will the government stop playing the blame game and finally keep their promise to lower taxes and help Ontario families?

Speaker, families earning between $46,000 to $92,000 could save up to $1,691 if this government were to simply keep its promise. That’s money that could help those families deal now with high rents and the cost of living. This government, and this government alone, has the power to keep its promise, but instead of doing so, it’s going to spend $3 billion to set up an infrastructure bank that will only attract the money the government says it will if the government privatizes our public services.

Once again to the Premier: Will the Premier keep his promise and make life more affordable for Ontario families by lowering taxes now?

The RCMP recently launched a criminal probe into the government’s backtracked $8.3-billion greenbelt land swap. According to Michael Kempa, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa, “The main concern ... on this file, is in the area of breach of trust ... where elected officials abuse their position either by giving out patronage appointments or favourable contracts or insider information that could prove profitable to their friends and donors....” Speaker, we know that’s exactly what happened with the $8.3-billion greenbelt land swap, and this government has lost the trust of the people of Ontario.

My question to the Premier: Will the government press pause on the decisions they have made on the Ontario Place spa, the science centre and Highway 413 to prove to the people of Ontario that those processes are not flawed too?

In my riding of Don Valley West, constituents are asking if flawed processes were used to cut corners to allow dense high-rise developments when the city says that children in those developments won’t attend nearby schools because they’re full.

Speaker, this government has a history of fast-tracking decisions under the guise of getting housing built when we know from the AG report that the main result was to benefit their friends.

My question to the Premier: Will the Premier press pause on MZOs until the Auditor General completes its full review of the province’s process for using them?

Last December, I asked the Premier if the people who told him to pave over the greenbelt were the same people who stood to benefit. I didn’t get an answer then, but we know now, thanks to the Auditor General, that that is exactly what happened.

This government’s decision to finally accept the Auditor General’s most important recommendation—to reverse the greenbelt land swap—is a welcome decision. However, it’s not that simple. There are still lots of questions that need answers. What will happen now? Developers and companies that bought greenbelt land were expecting an $8.3-billion payday from their close relationship with this government.

My question to the Premier: Will he assure this House and the people of Ontario that not one red cent of taxpayer money will be spent to make good on their $8.3-billion payday deal with developers?

Speaker, usually “sorry” means “I will do better,” and yet the Premier’s apology has not extended to other major files that the people of Ontario are concerned about. We have Ontario Place, where this government made a 95-year deal with an Austrian mega-spa, and the names of the people who own it are not known. We have the surprise decision to move the science centre, another flawed process with no public consultation.

Speaker, my question to the Premier: Is he sorry enough about the greenbelt’s flawed process that he will open the books on Ontario Place and the science centre and assure the people of Ontario know that he has put an end to brown-envelope backroom deals?

Since the Auditor General’s report on the greenbelt, several media articles have suggested that this government’s handling of the greenbelt is not unique regarding political interference in provincial land use processes, whether it’s the 95-year lease for a mega spa at Ontario Place, the government’s plan to move the beloved Ontario Science Centre built by legendary architect Raymond Moriyama, or in my riding of Don Valley West, the 194 changes the previous Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing made to the Yonge–Eglinton Secondary Plan. In approving this plan, the minister deleted mid-rise height restrictions on Bayview Avenue and Eglinton Avenue that would have met the province’s density targets. Now we’re seeing applications for buildings as high as 46 storeys, right alongside signs from the city of Toronto that tell potential residents that schools in the area are full.

Speaker, the Auditor General’s report revealed how this government operates—with developers handing over brown envelopes, with the expectation of making $8.3 billion in profits.

Ontarians want to know why they should believe that this government acted any differently when it comes to sky-high developments in Don Valley West, Ontario Place or the Ontario Science Centre. To really earn back the trust of Ontarians, this government needs to open the books and show the people of Ontario that “open for business” does not mean they’re open to backroom deals.

The Minister of Finance frequently talks about transparency, about how his crystal ball is a bit foggy and how “certainty is not part of the future. It is always uncertain.” But now his government is saying they can predict the next 95 years with their new lease for Ontario Place.

In 95 years, we’ll be gone, and a new generation of Ontarians will have to deal with the generational decisions of this government.

The province and the city of Toronto had a similar lease for the Ontario Science Centre, and now, halfway through, the province is insisting that it be destroyed because it’s too old.

The minister knows a 95-year business case is not a sound one; maybe that’s why they won’t release it.

Can the Premier please tell us how his government now has the “crystal ball” confidence to approve his government signing a 95-year lease with a company that only set up shop in Canada two years ago?

The science centre is an important cultural and educational hub in North York, serving thousands of local students with programming and employing many people in my riding of Don Valley West and neighbouring Don Valley East. Moving it to Ontario Place means moving jobs and programming out of our community. Our community will be lessened culturally and economically with the loss of the Ontario Science Centre. This decision, made in secret, shows the lack of regard this government has for the people of Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park.

Can the Premier please explain how our community will benefit from this move and how much benefit will go to the developers who advised him to do this?