Mr. Speaker, once again, we know what this is all about: It’s about their campaign to stop Highway 413, and we will not listen to them. The people of this province elected us to build Highway 413. In fact, they lost three members for being on the wrong side of that.

Everything that this government has done under the leadership of Premier Ford has put more money back into hard-working families of this province, whether it’s 10 cents a litre on the gas tax; whether it’s removing tolls on the 412 or 418, which that member voted against when this Premier put that forward; or whether it’s removing $125 val-tag fees from each car or truck that an individual owns in this province.

And on top of that, we are fighting against the 23% increase of the carbon tax that’s coming on April 1. I hope that member also raises her voice to the federal members that she knows and her counterparts to make sure that we keep more money in the pockets of hard-working families in Ontario.

My message to both the Liberals and the NDP is: Get out of the bubble. Come to cities like Brampton. Come to cities like Mississauga. Travel the streets and roads all across this province, whether they’re in northern Ontario, southern Ontario, and listen to the drivers. We need to build more infrastructure. We need to build the Bradford Bypass. We need to build Highway 413, and as we do that, we’re going to continue to fight against punishing policies like the carbon tax, which is about to go up by 23% on April 1.

We will continue to fight for hard-working families in this province and put more money back into their pockets.

Mr. Speaker, once again, this is just another opportunity for the NDP to try to oppose Highway 413.

Every step of the way, this government has put forward measures, especially in that member’s riding, as well, removing tolls on the 412 and 418.

What did that member do when they had the opportunity to vote in support of removing tolls on the 412 and 418? She voted against that measure.

Everything this government has done has been focused around putting more money back into the pockets of drivers, whether that’s reducing the fuel tax by 10 cents; removing tolls on the 412 and 418; fighting the carbon tax, which is about to go up 23%—that will not only impact truckers; it’s going to impact every single family in this province.

That is why, under the leadership of Premier Ford, we will continue to make historic investments in infrastructure, build Highway 413, and put more money in your pockets.

And absolutely not—we are going to get shovels in the ground. We’re seeing historic population growth in this province, especially in areas like Peel, especially in areas like Halton and York. We received one of the largest mandates, under this Premier, to build Highway 413, and that is exactly what we will do.

We’re not going to listen to the federal environment minister, who says he’s not going to invest or build any more roads or highways or bridges in this country.

Get out of the Queen’s Park bubble. Hit the roads of Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan and see for yourself the gridlock people—

Interjections.

Look, this isn’t about truckers. This isn’t about the 407. This is the NDP’s continued opposition to Highway 413. They continue to listen to the protest groups. The people of this province sent a very loud and clear message to that member and the previous Liberal leader and the current Liberal leader, who has actually continued on this campaign to cancel the 413.

Come to Brampton, come to Mississauga and listen to the challenges people are facing on the streets every single day and the gridlock that they are facing. Our government is committed to building $30 billion worth of infrastructure—roads, highways—all across this province and that is exactly what we will do. We’ll continue on our path forward to build Highway 413.

Let’s talk about the changes that we’ve made, whether it was getting rid of the val tags, $125 per car or truck, or the reduction of the gas tax by close to 10 cents a litre. That member has never once supported any of those measures that we have put forward for drivers across this province. Will that member stand up and call her federal counterpart and the Prime Minister and say a 23% increase in the carbon tax is unacceptable and they will not stand for it, and stand with truckers as we oppose that increase in the carbon tax?

We know that building Highway 413 is the right thing to do for families, for the economy and for our future.

Under the leadership of this Premier, we’ve attracted over $25 billion in new investments into this province.

Gridlock has cost this province over $11 billion per year, and it will only get worse if we don’t build these critical highways.

Highway 413 will keep the economy moving. During the construction of Highway 413, we will support an estimated 3,500 jobs; we’ll add approximately $350 million to the GDP each year. Once construction is complete, we will reduce gridlock and keep our goods moving.

Highway 413 will also have a dedicated transitway to connect people to our major employment centres and attract more businesses to the area.

It is very critical that we build Highway 413. The independent Liberals—

The people of this province sent a very clear message: Build Highway 413.

Mr. Speaker, just like my colleagues, I hear the same thing every single day: Gridlock in the GTA is taking away from things that matter most, like spending time with your family. That’s why, in Peel region, one of the fastest-growing regions, with an expectation of over a million more people, it’s even more important for us to build these critical highway infrastructures across the province.

Unfortunately, the previous Liberal government, supported by the official opposition, refused to support the building of this highway. They expect the status quo.

We’re going to continue to invest $27 billion in expanding highway infrastructure across this province.

The opposition and the Liberals are completely out of touch with the challenges that Ontarians are facing. That’s why we’re going to build—