It’s an honour today to rise in support of accountability, transparency and fairness—principles that this government seems to have forgotten since they formed government. Rather than holding virtues and values that they loudly claimed prior to 2018, they have lost their way.

Today, the official opposition is giving the government the chance to stand up for their values again, to remember who they were. It’s not too late.

It’s clear that the government has gone astray, twisting themselves in knots trying to pat themselves on the back. But today, Conservatives can get back on track by supporting their own legislation. It’s never too late to do the right thing.

The official opposition will always fight for more for people, while the Conservatives want Ontarians to settle for less, to settle for a bait-and-switch, where they’re pretending to spend money on things that people care about when, in actual point of fact, they’re not doing the right thing.

The media has had some really interesting lines about what this government has done. David Moscrop said that it has been “inept and dodgy....

“In essence, the Ford government devoted millions of dollars promoting itself while emergency rooms closed, homeless residents froze in the streets,” ODSP “recipients struggled to make rent and feed themselves, and the province’s infrastructure crumbled.”

He also stated that the campaign pushed “the boundaries of the human capacity for cynicism.”

Robert Benzie from the Toronto Star said, when he mentioned—the Toronto Star headline on the print edition: “Our Money, More Lies,” also blasting the ads as “spectacularly misleading.”

“Doug Ford’s Feel-Bad Movie of the Summer....

“It’s misdirection worthy of a Las Vegas illusionist....

“An unapologetic partisan ad” that “erases the line between party and government,” was the Globe editorial’s line.

Now is the government’s chance to stand up for itself, to support its own legislation.

Prove that you have not lost your way. Prove that these values mean something to you. Make good on your promise. It’s never too late to do the right thing.

I’d like to thank the member from Elgin–Middlesex–London for his comments. I have a great deal of respect for the member and absolutely agree with many of the member’s comments.

Here on the side of the official opposition, we want to see more projects which result in good-paying union jobs with benefits and pensions. The official opposition is also very respectful of the principles of free, prior and informed and consent of all affected First Nations, as well as environmental sustainability.

My concern, however, with this legislation, Bill 71, is section 7(1)—applications with closure plans that don’t meet the requirements.

So my question for the member is, what is the point of having standards, what is the point of having rules, what is the point of having requirements if the minister can ignore them and undermine them altogether?