It’s great to join in here. Thank you, PA Rae, Minister Calandra and Associate Minister Flack. I also want to say a shout-out to Minister Calandra for having me as his parliamentary assistant. This has been an amazing opportunity, and I’ve only just begun, so thank you for that.

I also want to mention that Etobicoke–Lakeshore families are also getting a new public school. I appreciate that investment from Minister Lecce. It’s 825 new student spaces in the public school system, which also includes 88 child care spaces. Let’s get shovels in the ground, let’s hope those permits from the city get moving so we can have another new school in our growing community of Etobicoke–Lakeshore.

On this bill, I’d like to elaborate on some of the non-housing items in our spring red tape package and how these will make a real impact on the lives of people and businesses across Ontario.

First, I’d like to start with a quick reminder of why this work is so important. We know for a fact that red tape causes frustration, expenses, needless delays and complications for everyone, from individuals and businesses to not-for-profit organizations and, obviously, the broader public sector. These regulatory burdens are a barrier to the province’s productivity, innovation, economic competitiveness and development. The costs are just high, too high for everybody. We want more businesses to grow here in Ontario.

That’s why, for six years, it has been our government’s mission to make life better for everyone by eliminating red tape to save them time, to save them money and to improve government services. We know that more common-sense changes are needed and that they are needed now. That’s why we’re focusing on reducing red tape and creating the conditions to help people and businesses in Ontario thrive. We’re doing this while maintaining and strengthening the important rules and regulations that are keeping people safe and healthy and are also protecting our environment.

When we formed government in 2018, Ontario had long been known as the most heavily regulated province in this country. That’s a shame. Businesses were closing or leaving the province because of 15 years of Liberal waste, mismanagement and overregulation. While this has had an impact on everyone, this has had a disproportionate impact on small businesses, which make up the backbone of Ontario’s economy.

In my riding of Etobicoke–Lakeshore, we have amazing small businesses. To hear how happy they are about some of the initiatives our ministers have brought in—that’s why they’re staying here in our province. We need to continue to attract more business to our communities.

According to a survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, nearly 40% of small business owners may not have gone into business if they knew about the burden of government regulation. Businesses felt like they were being attacked rather than supported. As a result, we lost good-paying jobs in communities right across this province. We knew that that had to change, and we’re getting it done.

To date, this government has taken more than 500 actions to reduce unnecessary rules and regulations while protecting health and safety and the environment. These actions have reduced the number of regulatory compliance requirements affecting businesses and other regulated entities by approximately 6%, and they’ve eliminated more than 14,600 individual regulatory compliance requirements.

We’ve also pledged to introduce two high-impact red tape reduction packages every year, one each spring and the other in the fall, and we have delivered on that commitment. Since 2018, we have passed 11 high-impact pieces of red tape reduction legislation. Today, we’re here debating the 12th.

Our work has not gone unnoticed. At the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, we heard first-hand that our efforts are making a difference. Julie Kwiecinski, director of Ontario provincial affairs for the CFIB, said:

“The government has come a long way on red tape reduction since 2018, starting with the much-needed recount of the regulatory burden in legislation, regulations, policies and forms across government” to measure progress. This “and other measures, like bringing in two red tape reduction packages every year, publishing an annual burden reduction report and offsetting 125% of direct compliance costs within 24 months, have elevated Ontario’s Red Tape Report Card grade to the current A-, one of the country’s top scores.” I just want to say that that is one of the country’s top scores, so congratulations to the ministers and those who were before me who had this role.

It is clear that our government is getting things done. We are making remarkable progress in cutting bureaucratic red tape to save people and businesses money and time. With our latest red tape reduction package, we are taking action to ease regulatory burden and make life more affordable. This comprehensive bill aims to slash compliance costs to create more affordable homes, ensuring that the hard-working people of this province have more money in their pockets and a greater opportunity for a prosperous future. What else can you ask for?

Our red tape reduction measures have now saved them more than $1.2 billion and 1.5 million hours in compliance costs every year. That’s really important to a small business owner. Time is money, so saving that time is really impressive. That time and money can go back into their families, it can go back into their business, and it can go back to volunteering in their communities, where it should be.

This bill we’re debating today, the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024, should save the businesses and the people of Ontario even more time and money once fully implemented and focuses on red tape cutting where it is needed most: building our homes.

Speaker, we’ve come a long way, and we’re proud of the work we’ve accomplished so far. We are grateful for the ideas shared by stakeholders, people across the province and our ministry partners who have worked diligently to streamline processes and modernized outdated practices across government.

In fact, my colleagues and I wouldn’t be standing here today with this bill in our hands without the assistance of our partner ministries who work closely with us to put reducing red tape at the centre of everything we do. To everyone who has played an important part in making the latest red tape reduction package possible, thank you.

Our latest package, which includes the proposed Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024, has proposals for initiatives that improve all aspects of life and business. And I know that you’ve heard some today already this morning, but I’m going to share a little bit more.

We’re providing Ontarians with better access to health care by making it faster and easier for internationally educated health professionals to start working in Ontario. This is great news. We’re automatically validating vehicle permits for owners in good standing to save them time and money, and they should be spending that time with their families. We’re reducing delays and costs for utility relocation projects to build roads and faster transit. We’re reducing delays and costs for utility relocation projects, and we are attracting municipal investments by streamlining incentives to enable future investments by large-scale investors and create jobs. And we’re setting service standards for permits and licence services delivery to businesses while creating a single window for businesses and entrepreneurs to track the status of their applications. Think how much time that will save each individual.

Today, businesses can track the status of sign permits, encroachment permits, entrance permits, and building and land use permits online at their convenience, with just a permit number and an access code. Many more permits will be added to the tracker soon so that businesses can focus on running their business rather than sitting on hold with a government official, which, we all know, is really annoying sometimes, when you’re passed along from one to another to another when you just want to get your business done.

Speaker, when I talk about burden reduction, know that our government acknowledges the importance of having robust rules and regulations in place. They help protect public health, safety and the environment. They keep our children safe when they’re at school. They protect workers so they can come home to their families every day. And they ensure our environmental protections remain strong—one of the best, strongest in the world.

Our goal with the burden reduction initiatives we’re putting forward today is to ensure that we no longer rely on the rules and regulations that are burdensome, inefficient or outdated and that the ones we do rely on are current, enforced properly, predictable and consistent.

Speaker, we will never stop working to improve government services and reduce unnecessary burdens on people and businesses. That is why every time the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction considers a new idea for a red tape reduction package, we draw on the seven guiding principles that consistently direct our efforts to reduce red tape as enshrined in the Modernizing Ontario for People and Businesses Act.

The first principle is aligning with national or international standards when possible because it reduces time and cost required to adhere to certain regulations.

The second principle is that small businesses would have less onerous compliance requirements when compared to larger businesses.

The third principle is that any entity subject to regulations should be provided accessible digital service wherever possible.

The fourth principle is that regulated entities, like businesses, services and the broader public sector organizations, that demonstrate excellent compliance should be recognized.

The fifth principle is that unnecessary reporting should be reduced and steps should be taken to avoid requiring regulated entities to provide the same information to government repeatedly.

The sixth principle is that instruments should focus on the user by using clear communication, setting reasonable response times and establishing a single point of contact.

And finally, the seventh principle, Speaker: This is that the instrument should specifically design results that regulated entities must meet rather than specific methods used to obtain the result.

Speaker, what I have spoken about today are just a few examples of the initiatives in the proposed Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024, and in our broader spring 2024 red tape reduction package. These proposed changes would help open doors to economic opportunities and reduce unnecessary burdens for individuals and small businesses.

I want to again thank everyone who has contributed to this latest red tape reduction package. To develop a package like this, we have to work collaboratively across government and with our ministry partners, and we also need to consult with a range of stakeholders and people across the province to build an inventory of ideas. And I thank them.

The best ideas to reduce red tape come from those who experience it each and every day. We are grateful for their feedback, and we want to continue the engagement, which helps guide our work to create a modernized regulatory enforcement that works for everyone. The bill and package before us today are proof that feedback we receive from our stakeholders and general public is helping to streamline processes and modernize outdated practices across multiple areas of government.

In addition to the direct engagement we do with people, businesses, not-for-profits and the broader public sector across Ontario, we also have a dedicated online portal at ontario.ca/redtape. I’ll just repeat that in case somebody wants to jot that down: It’s a portal. It’s at ontario.ca/redtape. So you can go online if you have some ideas on how we can cut red tape and make businesses and life more affordable and efficient for you and your family. We’ve so far received hundreds of submissions through that portal, and we look forward to hearing and seeing hundreds more.

Building on the previous red tape reduction bills and packages, the impact of these proposed measures would streamline processes and modernize outdated practices across multiple areas of government and multiple sectors of Ontario’s economy.

Madam Speaker, I look forward to hearing further debate on this bill, and I urge the members opposite to vote in favour of these important changes, as we heard at committee over the last couple of weeks.

I also look forward to continuing our province’s effort to reduce burden through further action around red tape reduction packages.

On this, I just want to say, it has been an absolute pleasure sitting at committee, listening to people. And if anybody, again, has any ideas they want to share with us, we’re open all summer to hear your feedback—because life is short, so let’s make it easier for us to run a business and have the opportunity to participate in our communities with our local members. If anybody wants to have a round table, please invite me to come along. I’m happy to listen to the concerns of our small business owners.

And on that note, I just want to thank the Speaker and everyone for their time this morning.

Thank you to the member for the question. Actually, there was a member from across the way, from Timiskaming–Cochrane, that gave a list of all the new responsibilities that vet techs will be able to take on. This is really important that we’re not just relying on the veterinarian—it’s two professionals in each office or more. So we’re getting more work out of the people who are already there and who already have gone to school. They care for these animals; they love the profession. You’re not going to get into veterinary care if you don’t love those animals. That’s just part of what you do, maybe kind of like us. We wouldn’t be in this job if we didn’t love what we do, so there’s that.

But we’re also opening up 20 new seats in northern Ontario, where we’re bringing—just like when Mike Harris brought in the medical school in northern Ontario, we brought that school in so doctors would stay. We’re bringing a veterinarian school there so those vets will stay in that community—so more seats and more work for those who are already in the field.

It’s my pleasure to rise in the House today to join the debate on Bill 171 and the importance of enhancing professional care for animals.

Speaker, our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, is committed towards developing a modern and robust animal welfare ecosystem with laws that keep our animals safe and their owners reassured. The proposed Enhancing Professional Care for Animals Act is part of a series of steps we’ve taken and will continue to take in this direction.

Just last month, I had the pleasure to join the debate on Bill 159, Preventing Unethical Puppy Sales Act, which was brought forward to stop harmful dog-breeding practices and impose stringent penalties on violators. The PUPS Act addressed an important policy issue spotlighted in my very first private member’s bill here in the House, called Protecting Our Pets Act.

And today, this House is taking decisive action towards updating the legislative framework that governs veterinary services in this province. The changes we are debating are much-needed to increase access to veterinary care in Ontario, but most importantly, they answer the requests that veterinary professionals and animal owners have been bringing forward for years. We have arrived here after a long journey involving multiple and meticulous discussions with stakeholders across the province. I’m proud that our government has put our shoulders to the wheel in this process.

Exactly a year ago, in May 2023, I was happy to host a round table with vets in Etobicoke–Lakeshore, with my colleague Rob Flack, who is now the Associate Minister of Housing. Then, he was the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. He was there to help lead the consultations, along with my colleague from Eglinton–Lawrence. The discussions we held on modernizing the Veterinarians Act have allowed us to stand here with a better understanding of how to strengthen the tools needed by veterinary professionals to do a better job.

Before I move further, I just want to take this opportunity to recognize those stakeholders and partners from my community of Etobicoke–Lakeshore who joined me that day in May 2023. I want to thank them for their work in providing care for our animal companions. I want to acknowledge the tireless animal welfare advocates, such as the Etobicoke Humane Society, Toronto Kitten Rescue, TinyPurring.

And I’ll give a shout-out to Dr. Spence and Dr. Hume from the Islington animal clinic, who see myself and my pets far too often. But that’s the nature of being a pet owner. We are there, and they’re always there to help—just having those conversations with them.

There is always more we can do, and I think this bill is the right step in the right direction.

Speaker, it’s 2024, and we cannot bank on a law first introduced in 1989 to protect the best interests of our pets and pet owners in this province. The Veterinarians Act needed a 2024 reboot. And that’s exactly what we’re doing here. We proposed a law that aims to strengthen governance, transparency and oversight of veterinary care in Ontario.

The Veterinarians Act does not formally recognize the role of veterinary technicians—and a shout-out to all those great vet techs out there. You do an amazing job. You calm the animals down when we bring them in. Sometimes you get to give them a treat. You weigh them. You do a lot of hard work, and I just want to say thank you for all the hard work you do. I know we’re going to give you some more work to do in the future. So congratulations for the work you do right now.

This year, the Toronto Humane Society published a study on accessing veterinary care—it’s over a 13-year period—that speaks out about the relative shortages of vets across Canada. So it’s not just an Ontario problem. Our government is aware of the shortage of vets in parts of the province, particularly in rural Ontario.

Our response, through this bill, is to recognize that vet techs are ready to step up and share the burden. It’s time, as Minister Thompson put it, to switch to a “one team, two professionals” approach to deliver animal care that is relevant to the times that we live in.

Speaker, everyone has heard me mention my two pets at home, Bruce and Edward. I have, as I mentioned, an amazing veterinarian. Actually, I have a team of veterinarians, because Bruce has a ton of problems. Sometimes, it takes a village, I say, to raise these problem animals. He has allergies; he’s allergic to absolutely everything. He was a rescue dog, so we tried to figure out what was wrong with him. Special food, special diet—this works, this doesn’t work. Vet bills go up, vet bills go up, but my goodness, do we love that little boy to death, I’ll tell you.

Though this morning, he bit me because I was trying to cut his hair, and it didn’t quite work. He won that battle this morning. So, I took some gel and I slicked it back, because that was the battle I was going to take on.

We talk about faith-based hate crimes, and they are on the rise. We hear about that everyday on the news. I was actually knocking on doors on Friday in my riding and was disappointed to hear somebody who said some things I thought were awfully cruel—not about me, but about others who I care about.

The Victims’ Bill of Rights already allows victims of hate-based crimes to seek civil damages for emotional distress and related bodily harm. One thing in this bill is changes to the regulations. They’ve added terrorism offences, which are often hate-motivated; hate crimes which are targeting clergy; and disruption of worship. As we hear about that more and more, I believe those changes are important, and now these victims can charge or sue for emotional distress.

Does the member support that, which is in this bill, and will you be supporting this bill—

Well, it has nothing to do with this bill, but I’m happy to respond about the Mimico GO Station because it’s very important to my community. It’s a 10-minute walk from my house, and I take it all the time.

The Mimico GO Station—we are working with the Ministry of Transportation. What I’d like to see is—the company is no longer utilizing the location. So we need to find somebody else to build that GO station. There is a GO station; you can use it. What I’d like to see is us opening up some of the parking so more people can have some parking at this moment. But right now, what we do need is someone to take over the property. Metrolinx is dealing with it. I’m on top of it. My team is on top of it.

I appreciate the question, because I’m able to get that out to the constituents in my area, because it is extremely important that we’re able to take transit when we can and where we need it. But my goal is to get some more parking over there. So thank you for the question.

Once again, you have to look at the judicial system as it is. They are impartial. Every judge is impartial. That’s why they take their job.

This bill is actually extremely important because we have seen more trends of hate-related crimes, human trafficking and car theft. Car theft is rampant. Most recently, police services, including the Toronto Police Service, have reported an increase in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, hate crimes driven by, obviously, the conflict in Israel and Hamas—against Israel and Hamas.

We’re proposing changes to the Victims’ Bill of Rights that has made changes in regulation to allow more victims to sue convicted offenders for emotional distress and related bodily harm for more crimes, including terrorism, motor vehicle theft, hate crimes, religious officials who have been targeted or people who are disrupting religious worship, as well as far more sexual offences and human trafficking than in the past—

It is my pleasure to rise in the House today to once again speak on behalf of the beautiful community of Etobicoke–Lakeshore. Recently, I joined the Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre in my riding to celebrate Losar, the Year of the Wood Dragon. The Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre has played a key role in nourishing the community’s rich heritage through initiatives promoting Tibetan language and performing arts. It brought great joy to spotlight their contribution during Losar celebrations and reaffirmed my commitment to supporting efforts to improve the lives of over 5,000 Tibetan Canadians who call Ontario home, many within the riding of Etobicoke–Lakeshore.

During not-for-profit appreciation week it was an honour to recognize the work of Franklin Horner Community Centre, WoodGreen and the Jean Tweed Centre, and I cannot thank them, the workers and the volunteers enough for what they do every day to make our community stronger.

I recently also had the opportunity to tour Holy Angels Catholic School with Minister Lecce, and I’m so happy to report the new school, which will accommodate 600 students, with 88 child care spaces, is near completion, with an anticipated opening of September of this year. Congratulations.

I have also some more great news, that, finally, the Queensway urgent care centre is open. I know many of my residents have been asking for this. This expanded and renewed facility is open for service, providing expert care and comfort to many in the riding.

It’s a great time to live in south Etobicoke and the province of Ontario.

It is an honour to rise and pay tribute to the former MPP for Lakeshore, Albert “Al” Kolyn, who served his constituents from 1981 to 1985 in the Bill Davis and Frank Miller governments. I also want to give a warm welcome to his daughters, Linda Helen Kolyn and Dr. Donna Marie Kolyn, as well as some of his friends who he served with and Speaker David Warner. Thank you all for being here today.

I must admit, while preparing this tribute, I had to dive into Mr. Kolyn’s accomplishments and history. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity and privilege to meet Al, although I always hear good things about him when walking around the riding.

Al had unconditional love for his family. He liked fixing things, including classic cars. He was an avid reader and enjoyed playing hockey, bowling and golf. He loved politics. He was a force in the Ukrainian community, and he volunteered his time with the Ukrainian National Federation. And he was a respected Freemason.

I was charmed to discover that Al and I are from the same community in northern Ontario. Al was born and raised in Fort William, Ontario. For those of you who do not know, Fort William later amalgamated into the city of Thunder Bay, my hometown. In addition to Al and I both being from the same area and having had the privilege to represent Etobicoke–Lakeshore, our current federal member, James Maloney, is also from Thunder Bay, which I think is a very interesting coincidence.

Interjection.

While learning about Al Kolyn’s character, one quality stood out for me, and that quality is perseverance. Al was an extremely hard worker. His work ethic was reflected both inside and outside of his time in politics. When he was only 17, he moved to the GTA to make an income to support his father’s medical bills. He was a businessman in the hotel and bar industry. In fact, he owned and managed the Beverley Tavern situated at 240 Queen Street West. The Beverley, like Al, was a unique Toronto icon.

Al’s perseverance was reflected in his bid for political office. He ran for the federal Conservative Party twice in the late 1970s before he ran provincially under the Bill Davis and Frank Miller governments, where he finally secured his seat in Lakeshore. Al’s time as a member was brief but accomplished. He worked closely with the former Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations Gord Walker, as his parliamentary assistant. He was a deputy whip and was on various standing committees including administration of justice, public accounts and company law, among others.

When Al ran for his former seat again in 1987, due to his steadfast social beliefs, one paper described him as “the feisty former conservative MPP from Etobicoke–Lakeshore.” In my opinion, I think that’s an accomplishment.

It has been inspiring to learn about this former member’s boldness. That’s what Mr. Kolyn was: bold in his beliefs. Al valued the quality of life we have in Ontario and strived to improve it, which I believe comes from being a Conservative, a Christian and a northerner. He spoke in the Legislature particularly about the importance of propane as an alternate fuel source, and he spoke about Ontario’s world-class safety standards for nuclear energy.

I’d like to quote a stanza from Good Timber, a poem written by Douglas Malloch. Coincidentally, the stanza was also a favourite of the founder of Marriott Hotels, J. Willard Marriott, who I believe is quite fitting for Al Kolyn, considering his time in the hotel industry:

Good timber does not grow with ease:

The stronger wind, the stronger trees;

The further sky, the greater length;

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow.

Al embodied the good timber that is only grown with resilience in the face of a challenge. On behalf of the PC caucus and the constituents of Etobicoke–Lakeshore, I’d like to give tribute to Mr. Kolyn and, of course, to his family for his service to his community. May God’s eternal light shine upon him.

Thank you to the member for that question. I know in Sudbury they have a great group of workers. Louise, who is a nurse at the hospital in Sudbury—I say hello to you and thank you for your work.

I will give you an example of how that is not accurate. I had a breast screening. My doctor said I needed a breast screening. It was five weeks I waited. I went in—it was 8:30 in the morning.

I also want to thank the Minister of Health for the infrastructure investments in St. Joseph’s hospital. They’ve opened up their new breast-screening rooms, which are on the third floor. It was seamless. It was easy to park. I had my test and I went home. I was in and out within an hour—I only had to pay $5 for parking. That’s why I know.

So we are investing in our hospitals. Hospitals are getting the money. They’re getting the funding to open up these sessions. If you want to look at the one at St. Joseph’s hospital, please do. It’s a beautiful site, and I—

This is for everybody, these highways. So I just want to congratulate the government on this bill.

It is my honour to introduce some fine ladies who work at Women’s Habitat in Etobicoke: Carla Neto, executive director; Lina Almanzan, who is director of philanthropy; Alicia Whyte, who is manager of programs and client services; and Sheila Baroro, who is manager of finance. Thank you, ladies, for the work you do in our community every day.

I’m very excited to introduce Allison and Craig Koenig, who are the very proud parents of page Margo from Etobicoke–Lakeshore.

Welcome to your House.

I am extremely proud that it was our government that implemented what is now recognized as the most comprehensive animal welfare legislation anywhere across Canada. If you see an animal in distress, you call the number 1-833-9-ANIMAL. We have inspectors; the minister saw some of the inspectors—37 of them—being trained. We’re very proud of our inspectors and the work they do.

Once again, if you see an animal in distress, please call 1-833-9-ANIMAL.

One of the important things in this bill is that we talk about the increased fines for those, if you are abusing an animal—and also make sure that we know who is going to pay for what.

One thing I’m extremely proud of is that we have one of the strongest penalties in animal welfare legislation of any Canadian province. Bill 102 will go even further by improving the existing legislation to help enhance the inspection powers.

As I mentioned earlier, the minister saw some of these inspectors getting trained. We want to continue to make sure we have the best robust force and make sure that they understand what animals they are looking for—because it may not just be a dog or a cat; it could be a cow or it could be a pig. There are lots of animals out there, and we want to make sure that they are trained for all.

Thank you very much to the minister and the parliamentary assistant for the speeches today.

It doesn’t matter where you live; we need more housing. We need to continue to act quickly on Ontario’s housing supply crisis by empowering our municipal partners. I know that both you and the minister have spoken with all the mayors of the various places.

As part of this proposed change, I see that it talks about a transition board.

I’m wondering if you could expand on the role that the transition board would take and what its priorities would be.

The month of May has been eventful as I made my way around Etobicoke–Lakeshore. I was honoured to attend and be a judge and hand out awards at the Fusion of Arts and Hearts Competition, hosted by our Catholic district school board trustee, Teresa Lubinski. The event was a celebration of artistic expression from students in over 18 schools in the community.

I also joined constituents at the Franklin Horner Community Centre for the Ridley’s Mother’s Day high tea, where many seniors got all dressed up to enjoy a day together.

I was proud to bring greetings to the Rotary Club of Toronto Tibetan for their new District 7070 club charter celebration.

With the parliamentary assistant of agriculture, food and rural affairs, we held a local consultation on upgrading the Veterinarians Act.

Last week, I participated in a town hall on affordable housing at LAMP community centre, an issue for many in our community. I want to thank the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for removing development fees for not-for-profit and affordable housing. This will make did difference.

Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, I was at the Dorothy Ley Hospice with my colleague MPP Cuzzetto for their annual charity event hike. I want to thank them for their support, and I want to thank them extremely for their support during my mother’s illness over the last couple of months.

Next week I’ll be debating Clare’s Law. Behind it is a story of tragedy but also of hope, and I’ll speak on that in more detail on that day. I hope all members will be present and lend their support.

As we know, later on today we’ll be debating something similar about missing and vulnerable people, who are extremely important to this government. We believe all people deserve to be safe in their homes and in their communities. We do have vulnerable people out there, seniors and young people.

Right now, we have an Amber Alert program for missing young people. Certain criteria are sent into the police and an alarm goes off. We’ve all received the Amber Alert.

We are certainly looking at your bill, Bill 74, and that’s something that we’re going to bring to committee to discuss. But I also look forward to the MPP from Sarnia–Lambton’s debate this evening.

But the other piece is removal of animals. We heard this from numerous stakeholders out there. Lynn, if you’re watching, we’ve heard you, and Donna as well. We hear all the time that there was a loophole that didn’t allow people to take animals away in dangerous situations. We want to make sure that our animals feel safe and are safe. If you see an animal in distress, the first thing you should do is call the PAWS hotline, making sure that an inspector goes out to deal with the situation immediately.

I just want to thank the member from Durham for his speech. It was short but to the point. The member in front of me, he gets it. We all ran to get things done for Ontario, and this legislation is just another step in fulfilling our promise to Ontarians about good government, good fiscal responsibility and a plan to build.

As I mentioned earlier to the member for Sudbury, we talked about fiscal responsibility and fiscal responsibility as we’re building key infrastructure like schools, hospitals, transit, renovating Ontario Place—which is so exciting, to see that Ontario Place is going to be rebuilt. I drive by it every day, and I see the rust on all the buildings, so that’s something that’s very important to our community and all of Ontario as a whole.

My question for our member here in front of me is, can you tell me a little about how this legislation will help cut red tape and make things more efficient for government?

I was listening to this speech, but I wasn’t sure if it touched on actual Bill 69. We have been building infrastructure all across Ontario: schools, hospitals, transit. We are getting things done. But we also want to make sure that we do it in a way that we’re cutting red tape so we can get things done more efficiently.

One thing that worries me about the opposition, through you, Madam Speaker, is that we need to be fiscally responsible. The opposition doesn’t realize that we should be fiscally responsible. I think it is our responsibility to make sure that we’re not wasting our taxpayers’ dollars. So my question to the member opposite is, why does the opposition want to waste taxpayers’ dollars?

I want to thank the minister for that response.

Under the leadership of this government, Ontario clearly has a vision and a plan for Ontario Place that’s going to make it, once again, the world-class destination that it once was.

I remember, as a young girl, coming here in the late 1970s with my dad to visit Ontario Place, but it has changed so much. Now we go see concerts and we see places that are closed, and it’s derelict, and it needs paint, and it needs upgrades. There’s so much more that we can do to make that place so much better. Despite these years of neglect and deterioration—it’s really sad that previous governments did not see this jewel in our community and fix it up and take that time.

I once again want to thank the minister for her leadership. And can she please expand on some of the new features and plans that will rebuild and revitalize Ontario Place for generations to come?

Good morning, everyone. The hard-working people of Etobicoke–Lakeshore are always optimistic. Now, with the warmer weather, the tulips are popping up—allergy season is in full bloom—and the upbeat spirit I have encountered over the past several months has absolutely been phenomenal.

In March, it was national Pharmacy Appreciation Month, and I had the opportunity to visit numerous pharmacists in our community to express my appreciation.

At the end of March, I also met with the Earth Rangers, who were visiting Norseman middle school, a group of young individuals dedicated to preserving area species and habitats.

That same day, I was able to drop by our 15th annual Seniors’ Health and Wellness Fair at the amazing Franklin Horner Community Centre. This year’s theme was “Boosting Brain Health and Memory.”

During this past week, my colleague the Minister of Education stopped by St. Josaphat Cathedral Catholic School to meet with staff and students and welcome over 250 Ukrainian students who have enrolled since June 2022, and I am pleased to welcome them to Etobicoke.

I also had the opportunity this week to visit a Women’s Habitat outreach centre with my friend the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity. The Habitat does such wonderful work to serve and protect vulnerable women in our community.

On April 13, I was honoured to attend the Haven on the Queensway ribbon cutting, to cut the ribbon for the new walk-in freezer to better serve those in need. I just want to thank everybody in our community for the work they do every day. Thank you.

My question is for the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity.

Over the past few years, women have experienced hardship as a result of economic insecurity, a greater burden of caregiving responsibilities and, sadly, a rise in incidents of domestic violence. Combined together, these social and economic barriers are significant challenges for many women as they find their economic independence.

Women need to be able to connect to supports to develop their skills, knowledge and experiences in order to find a job or start a small business.

It’s essential that our government takes action to address the unique and disproportionate barriers that women face when entering the job market.

Can the associate minister please explain how our government is supporting women, not just to gain employment, but to increase their financial security?

I also want to thank you for coming to my riding on numerous occasions to meet with young women who are interested in the skilled trades—and what the barriers were to get them to stay in that job. They were such wonderful women. And you just were magnificent at those meetings, so thank you. All women should have access to the services they need, no matter where they live. Particularly in rural and remote communities, long distances and travel are barriers for many women to connect to the supports they need. That was one thing that was brought up in our conversations.

It’s essential that there is access to services and supports for women facing economic and social barriers, including those experiencing gender-based violence and social isolation.

Mr. Speaker, our government must make investments that focus on empowering women to achieve the success they deserve through good-paying jobs.

Can the associate minister please elaborate on how this program encourages overall well-being, safety and economic independence for women?

I find it interesting hearing the Liberals. But I guess when the Liberals were in power, they didn’t have to worry about health care because they were just driving 300,000 families and businesses out of the province. They didn’t think we had people, because there really wasn’t any jobs for them, so they just assumed there would not be any people so we wouldn’t have to fix health care. But health care does need to be fixed. This government is the government that is fixing health care by looking outside the box and making sure this happens.

My question to the members opposite is: We launched the largest health care recruiting initiative in Ontario’s history; will the member opposite support the future of our publicly funded health care system by supporting this bill?