I’d like to thank my colleagues for their presentations today on the budget bill.

My question is for the member from Thunder Bay–Superior North. I was very interested in your comments about front-line health care workers who have been recommending a health care human resources strategy that focuses on recruitment as well as retainment. Most importantly, one of the things that has been recommended is the need for wage parity across health care sectors. Specifically, actually, the finance committee’s own report on the pre-budget consultations mentions the need for wage parity. I’d like to ask the member: How important is this, and would you like to see this reflected in the government’s budget?

My question for the member for Parkdale–High Park: This government seems to have ignored the crisis that is going on, and I’d like to know: Would you like to see further investments in education and education being brought back to the cuts that they’ve made since 2018 to address what’s going on in schools?

I would like to thank my friend from Oshawa for an excellent presentation on Bill 180.

I did want to ask, and I know the member herself is an educator as well: Within Bill 180, “school violence” does not appear once. The government says that they care about this, yet we only see mentions of cameras in hallways and vape detectors. Would the member like to comment with her background and her expertise in education about the things that are lacking in the budget for education?

Thank you to my colleague from Nickel Belt for her presentation. I was particularly interested in the comments about community mental health resources.

With Bill 166, the title seems to suggest that this will provide greater supports for students.

But I think of my riding, where we have great institutions like Western University, King’s University College, Huron University College, Brescia University College—unfortunately, which will be eventually amalgamated. This represents a massive influx of individuals into the riding of London North Centre, and it puts a tremendous strain on the already meagre community mental health resources that are available.

Will Bill 166 adequately address the huge lack of community mental health resources for students?

I’d like to thank the member from Brantford–Brant for his presentation.

In particular, when we take a look at Bill 162, one thing that I am passionate about is our architectural heritage across this province. Some of the consequences of this government’s plowing ahead with changing different laws without considering their impacts is that, with Bill 23, it’s putting 36,000 heritage properties at risk. They will actually lose their very meagre protections on January 1, 2025.

I wonder if the member could speak about the heritage properties in his riding and how he’s trying to convince the government to give an additional five years so that these properties will continue to have protection.

I would like to thank the member from Nepean for her presentation.

One thing that we have noticed when we take a look at Bill 185 is that there seems to be a lack of mention of Ontario’s heritage assets. Architectural Conservancy Ontario has noted within all their meetings with government members, as well as opposition members, that 36,000 properties are currently at risk and that Ontario is the only province without a grant program to encourage the conservation of buildings of significant heritage value. They have called for the government to increase the existing Ontario heritage property tax relief program. It is useful, but it has limited impact on developers.

I wanted to know if the member from Nepean had any comments about heritage properties and what the government should be doing in order to make sure that we are preserving those wonderful properties that we have in the province of Ontario.

But I did want to specifically note with the member that there are 36,000 properties that are at risk because of this government’s actions, and that all of these 36,000 properties will currently lose the meagre protections they have on January 1, 2025, unless this government acts.

Does the member have any advice as to how they will be advocating to make sure that these properties will be protected in the province of Ontario?

I’d like to thank the member from Spadina–Fort York for his presentation today and for recognizing what happened to 294 Central Avenue in my riding of London North Centre and the seriousness of it.

I also think of what happened during the construction that is currently under way—it happened in 2022—of a railway underpass on Adelaide Street, actually, at Central Avenue as well, when construction crews accidentally hit a natural gas line that affected 1,800 businesses and consumers, who had to be evacuated from their homes. Thankfully, there were no injuries, but it was because of the collaboration of a number of different city services to make sure the people were safe.

Currently in Bill 153, it has removed the ability of the owners of underground infrastructure to charge for certain locate requests, but they’re also not going to be required to pay if they miss deadlines. Does the member have any sense from the government or from the legislation how these will be fulfilled in a timely way?

I would like to thank the member from Oshawa for her presentation and making it through.

It seems to me, as we look at Bill 153, this is the third time in fewer than two years that the government has made changes to the Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act. I believe there were also earlier changes made through Bill 23, as well as other pieces of legislation.

Did the government not consult properly on these earlier changes, and is that a reason that this is yet another example of sort of backpedalling to clean up?

I’d like to thank the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery for his presentation this morning.

Before I ask my question, as a preamble, I just wanted to let the minister know that—before the minister says this is something that falls within the purview of HCRA or Tarion, the Ministry of Consumer Services pursued an action against K-Tech Building Systems and Stanley Kondrotas, in the case of Bonnie Engel’s cottage.

My question, though, comes from Canadians for Properly Built Homes, who have asked the ever-changing minister this since 2019. I’d like to ask it again. Homeowners have purchased homes with used furnaces. Will this government take steps to have builders stop contravening the act and installing used furnaces in newly built homes, or will the minister, at the very least, require builders to disclose this in advance on the agreement to purchase?

I’d like to thank the member from Nickel Belt for her excellent presentation.

It’s deeply concerning to think that the government is sitting on assets that could be used and could be leveraged to help the people of Nickel Belt and help people who are working—and yet chooses not to.

In my discussions with the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario as well as the Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce, they’ve indicated that many small businesses are having to actually bus workers into their areas for service jobs—such as Tim Hortons and others—because they simply can’t afford housing within their areas.

I want to ask the member, how does the government’s neglect of providing truly affordable housing impact local economies in Nickel Belt?

I’d like to thank the member for her presentation. Recently, on the day to acknowledge missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited individuals, I had the opportunity to attend my alma mater, Althouse College, who had taken and repurposed their library into an Indigenous learning space as well as an outdoor area.

Specifically, we are sitting on quite a vast footprint here at Queen’s Park. My question to the member: How would you like to see the outdoor space reimagined to include Indigenous peoples? How can you foresee us making sure that this is a welcome and open space, building on those relationships?

I’d like to thank the member from Scarborough–Guildwood for her presentation.

My question is quite simple: What, in their mind, would be an acceptable increase in ODSP and OW?