My question is for the Premier. Speaker, the budget dropped, and once again, it’s Groundhog Day for Ontario drivers, who still pay the highest auto insurance premiums in the country. Every year, the government promises action, and like clockwork, the rates go up higher than inflation. They even went up during the pandemic when cars were parked and accidents were way down.

Now, the minister’s newest gimmick is to get drivers to slash their own coverage to save a penny, but in the media, he couldn’t even promise this would actually reduce premiums. Man, the insurance companies are smiling. They’re so proud of him. And if he pulls this off, he’ll make it to the auto insurance company hall of fame. Good luck, Minister.

So will the minister finally come clean and admit that the insurance companies themselves are writing his own policies on auto insurance?

Interjections.

Let’s talk about postal code discrimination in auto insurance. Right after the last election, the Premier himself said he’d fix it. But here we are, two years later, and they just can’t get it done. In this budget—get this—they’re going to buy more time and study it for another two years. You just can’t make this stuff up. It’s like they’re driving in reverse.

Will the minister tell the drivers in Brampton, Scarborough, Vaughan and my community why they just can’t get it done for them on auto insurance?

Interjections.

Earlier today, I asked a question of the Minister of Finance—actually, the Premier, but it was answered by the Minister of Finance—around auto insurance and the fact that rates in Brampton had gone up by 37% in the last two years. When I was looking at that report, I had noticed that, actually, number three in all of Ontario, the third city in terms of the highest rate of increase, at almost 20%, was Mississauga.

So my question is for my friend the member of Mississauga–Lakeshore. I know he cares deeply about his constituents. How does he feel about the fact that auto insurance companies have jacked up their rate almost 20% in his area, and do you believe that the government could be doing more to bring this under control?

My question is for the Premier.

Auto insurance rates continue to climb in Ontario.

In Brampton, it has been reported that auto insurance premiums are up by 37% since 2021, meaning Bramptonians pay the highest auto insurance rates in all of North America.

This government keeps giving auto insurance companies the green light to put their hands deep into the pockets of drivers.

Premier, please tell the people of Brampton why they deserve to pay the highest auto insurance rates in North America.

I’m going to be splitting my time with the MPP from University–Rosedale.

Last Thursday, the government dropped the budget. I was there. The delivery of this finance minister was powerful. It was incredible salesmanship. I’ve heard him speak like that. When I’ve heard him speak like that, it was usually about auto insurance companies and the PR he does for them. Because usually, when I ask questions about it, he still had that level of love and salesmanship when he sold that budget.

I was so inspired that on Friday of last week, I flew all the way up to Thunder Bay, and I thought I would take a trip of my Ontario, our Ontario, and experience that Ontario myself.

I visited my good friend in Thunder Bay, and the first thing that I saw—and this is not something that I can speak happily or brag about, but I saw a 60% increase in food bank usage. And it was very difficult.

From there, I went and visited my friend in Mushkegowuk–James Bay. I took Highway 11. I had to wait; there was a 48-hour road closure. I wanted an EV car, actually. I forgot to mention that, because the first thing I did when I arrived was try to purchase an EV car. But I couldn’t, because you know the credit the government got rid of was for EV vehicles some years back. I couldn’t afford it. There was no talk about increased charging stations. I’m not sure how I would have got there in the first place. But I went along. It was dangerous. I was white-knuckling as I drove two-lane highways.

And then, I went to visit my good friend in Sudbury, where the first-ever tent city is happening since the establishment and the founding of Sudbury itself. That’s what happened.

From there, I got on the 400, eventually made my way through Toronto and went all the way out to Hamilton, where services for people facing mental health challenges—multiple service providers were cut, doors closed because they didn’t have the funding that they needed.

From Hamilton, I came all the way back to downtown Toronto. I visited people living in a condominium where this new family had just got the keys for their brand new condominium unit. As the critic for consumer protection, this is something of big interest to myself and all of us here on the NDP side. After making that first purchase of a home and a condominium, they faced a 50% increase in condominium fees. In this time and age, they’re struggling.

Meanwhile, their neighbour, a friend in another building actually, is fighting down their condominium board over an issue, and they can’t afford it. The court costs are through the roof. They’re hoping that this government will actually expand the Condominium Authority Tribunal, so that they can get fair and quick justice, but they’re still waiting.

In fact, the Auditor General has a series of recommendations going back from a bill tabled in 2015 that could fix condominiums here in this province and what some of the condominium owners are facing. We’re still waiting for those to be proclaimed.

From downtown Toronto, we came up to my community, Humber River–Black Creek. I spoke to an ODSP recipient—and at this point I do want to pause and I want to recognize and congratulate the new minister for children and social services. I know that he speaks powerfully and I know that he has got a very tough role to fill. But I want to tell the minister and I want to tell everybody here about an ODSP recipient in my community. Imagine he’s listening to the budget. He wasn’t inspired like I was, because he heard he was getting maybe a 5% increase—5% in this difficult time; imagine that.

As I mentioned earlier, and this is very terrible to hear, there are people facing disabilities and challenges who are considering medically assisted suicide. That is how difficult it is. That is how terrible it is right now, and so it is a tough file, and I hope that he will be able to talk to the Premier and to all the people on his side about the fact that 5% doesn’t go far enough. It really doesn’t go far enough. We need to double those rates, so I’m hoping that he will be able to work through and make that happen.

From my community, I decide I’m going to go visit my good friend over there in Brampton. To get there, I would consider taking the 407, but I can’t afford it—the 407, maybe not just the most expensive highway in Ontario, maybe not just the most expensive highway in Canada, maybe not even in North America or the world, but in the entire visible universe. That’s what we’re dealing with. And it’s a highway, may I remind this government, that last year owed this government a billion dollars, and the government said, “Do you know what, 407?”—because it was part of the contract, and we should respect those contracts—“We don’t need your money. We don’t need that money. Keep the money. A billion dollars? Don’t worry about it.” Did they actually say, “Hey, do you know what? We won’t ask for that billion—maybe let’s go revisit and modify some of those contracts, because drivers are getting gouged”? They didn’t do that. They said, “Keep the money.” I get it; it’s their friends.

And so, where did I end up? I came to visit my dear friend in Brampton, where, under this government we are seeing in this province of Ontario, with some of the safest drivers in all of Canada—literally, when you look at the drivers, they are the safest; our roads, relative to all of Canada, some of the safest—that we are paying the highest rates. And so I go to visit my friend in Brampton, under this government, that is absolutely refusing to stand up to these auto insurance companies that, during the end of the pandemic, made 27% in profits.

And yet, imagine: It’s always the same story when they reach out to the government. They sit around, probably in boardrooms, and they work backwards: “What are we going to charge people? Come up with ideas. What are we going to say?” It’s happening. It’s literally happening: 27%. And then, when they go to their shareholders, they say, “Invest with us. We’re making so much money, hand over fist.” But when they talk to FSRA and they talk to the government, they say, “Oh, no, do you know what? We can’t afford this. It is really tough for us.” It is the same story.

In the little bit of time that I have left: This budget, delivered with the gusto that this finance minister delivered it with, seems to be completely out of touch. It is not understanding a moment in time where each and every one of us—on a serious note, the members of our community, everyday regular families—are struggling under this affordability crisis. And what we saw in that budget, whether by design or perhaps simply forgotten, was that the people in our communities—

Speaker, it’s only 10:30 a.m., and it seems the minister is already out to lunch on this issue, so I’m going to help him.

The answer is, yes, Ontario drivers are being gouged on their auto insurance. We pay the highest auto insurance rates in Canada despite having some of the lowest per capita accidents. In fact, accidents have been down since the start of the pandemic, and yet insurance rates are climbing at double the rate of inflation. While Ontarians are struggling, insurer profits hit 27%, and drivers are overpaying in the hundreds of millions.

Will this government do the right thing and bring auto insurance premiums down to the level they should be? Yes or no?

Speaker, the proof is in the premiums; I’ve said it before. The Auditor General has confirmed what New Democrats have been saying here for years: Auto insurance postal code discrimination is real, and it has to stop. Drivers with clean driving records in Brampton, Scarborough, northwest Toronto and many other GTA neighbourhoods are paying double the rates of others.

Two months ago, I tabled a bill to end auto insurance postal code discrimination in the GTA. The government supported this very same bill before the election; the Premier said it was a priority. So will they pass this bill into law immediately? Yes or no?

My question is for the Premier.

Speaker, the Auditor General tabled a report yesterday and painted a very clear picture of the state of auto insurance here in Ontario.

My question is very simple: Does the Premier agree that Ontario drivers are being gouged on their auto insurance? Yes or no?

My question is for the Premier. Auto accidents were down by 40% last year compared to 2019, yet premiums keep going up and insurance company profits hit 27.6%. The cost of living in Ontario is unbearable, and drivers continue to be gouged. Auto insurance companies are regulated by this government, so will they do the right thing and return these excess profits back into the pockets of drivers?

Speaker, drivers in GTA communities like mine continue to be ripped off simply because of where they live, compared to other drivers with similar records in different parts of the city. I tabled the bill to end this unfair treatment. Will the government pass it into law immediately?

My question is for the Premier. GTA drivers in my community and many others are still being gouged on their auto insurance—drivers like Yavuz Selim who cannot afford auto insurance, impacting job opportunities and his quality of life; drivers like Deepak who pays $9,000 a year for two cars despite a 20-year clean driving record.

Just before the election, I co-sponsored an NDP bill to end postal code discrimination in the GTA and it received unanimous support, but this government did not pass it into law. I will be tabling the bill again this afternoon. Will the Premier pass it into law so we can finally end auto insurance postal code discrimination in the GTA?

Amendments require the chief executive officer of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario to refuse to approve a risk classification system used in determining the rates for each coverage and category of automobile insurance if the system considers the geographic region as a determinant and fails to consider the greater Toronto area as a single geographic area. The amendment also prohibits insurers from entering into contracts of insurance that provide for insurance rates that were determined based on such a risk classification system.

M. Mantha propose la première lecture du projet de loi suivant :

Bill 13, An Act to enact the Northern Health Travel Grant Advisory Committee Act, 2022 / Projet de loi 13, Loi édictant la Loi de 2022 sur le Comité consultatif des subventions aux résidents du Nord de l’Ontario pour frais de transport à des fins médicales.