I have a petition from residents in my riding of Don Valley West who are concerned about government changes to the Ontario Heritage Act, which will strip heritage protections from 36,000 buildings across the province on January 1, 2025, unless new protections are legislated.

The undersigned are petitioning that this plan, which provides municipalities and interested stakeholders limited time to appeal, will cause lasting harm to Ontario’s architectural heritage.

The petitioners request that the Legislative Assembly amend the Ontario Heritage Act to grant municipalities an additional five years to renew protections for affected heritage buildings so that the serious consequences will not be forthcoming. I wholeheartedly endorse this petition, will affix my name to it and ask page Victoria to bring it to the table.

Every day, we hear from people who are struggling to find a home. When this government isn’t busy blaming this province’s challenges on other levels of government, we hear them talk and talk about a promise to build housing. But, Speaker, just like they broke their promise to protect the greenbelt, leading to the $8.3-billion greenbelt scandal for which they’re now under RCMP criminal investigation; just like they broke their promise to lower income taxes for middle income families, they’re breaking their promise to get housing built. They promised to build 1.5 million homes by 2031, but the current forecast is they will get just 870,000 houses built by then. And to date, cities have received more support from the federal government than through this government’s Building Faster Fund.

My question to the Premier: When will he admit to the people of Ontario that, once again, he has broken their promise to them and that his housing plan is failing?

Ontario Liberals are incredibly proud of our new leader. A big city mayor and former MP, Bonnie Crombie has a great deal of experience working to improve the lives of Ontarians, not like this government working to help their insider friends. She’s getting new developments approved. Mississauga, once considered a suburb, has been transformed under her leadership into a full-fledged metropolis. In fact, last year, the city of Mississauga issued a record number of building permits, and the city currently ranks fourth in the continent for the number of construction cranes. To imply that housing construction is in decline because of mayors like Bonnie Crombie is not only disingenuous but deeply disappointing—

Building 1.5 million new homes requires something akin to a wartime effort. It requires co-operation with civil society and other levels of government. We cannot, and should not, be kneecapping them.

Speaker, once again to the Premier: When will he admit his housing plan is not working and start working with, not against, our municipal partners to get the housing crisis solved?

Well, certainly building affordable housing is something I think we all agree needs to be a priority. I think that certainly in the recent debate going on amongst the Liberal leadership candidates, there have been lots of ideas put forward about positive ideas around housing, including having a fund that could actually build social housing.

So I think that is something that is certainly being discussed at length right now amongst our caucus and our leadership candidates, and I think that we’ve got a view in this government where we need to help them see that investing in affordable housing is actually positive. In my riding recently, I was surprised to learn about a transit-oriented community that will be built with Metrolinx, and I hope they might consider things like co-op housing there.

A billion dollars is absolutely sufficient for a contingency fund, especially in this time when we know that we’ve got programs that are underfunded, so—

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.

Thank you to my colleague for the question.

Yes, the latest budget showed that this government’s plan to build 1.5 million new homes is not working. They’re only at half the target. Their plan seems to be, as I say, all about tall or sprawl.

In my riding of Don Valley West, we continue to see applications for 35-storey condo buildings get approved at the OLT, despite the objections of the city, because the infrastructure isn’t there.

There are lots of opportunities to build that missing middle, to build those six-storey buildings, to build walk-ups and other options for people who don’t want to live in tall condos.

So I think there are lots of other opportunities this government could be taking to increase density in our cities and our towns without going into the greenbelt and causing further environmental harm.