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.