I would like to start by saying that I will be sharing my time with the Associate Minister of Transportation; the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks; and also the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery.

Mr. Speaker, our government has the most ambitious infrastructure plan in the province’s history. In fact, it’s the most ambitious plan in North America. We are making historic investments, including $100 billion over the next decade to build the roads, highways, public transit our growing province desperately needs. This includes $28 billion to renew, build and expand our highway infrastructure in every corner of this province.

We need to act quickly to get these projects built. But as we all know too well, that is often easier said than done. For us to meet the needs of the families and businesses of tomorrow, we need to act today. That means accelerating the construction of the transit and housing infrastructure needed to support future generations, and it means making life more affordable for families and businesses now and for years to come.

Fortunately, our government has a plan. The Get It Done Act, if passed, will make it easier to get the infrastructure Ontario needs to support growing communities while helping families keep costs lower, more of their hard-earned money in their pockets right where it belongs. Since our government has taken office, we have made it a priority to get things done for the people of Ontario. This act will allow us to plan, approve and build projects faster than ever before. We can’t let red tape stand in the way of getting shovels in the ground on roads, highways and public transit that our province so desperately needs or from getting work under way on critical mining projects in northern Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, Ontario is one of the fastest-growing areas in the entire country—in fact, in North America actually. It will grow by over five million people in the next 10 years. The greater Golden Horseshoe itself is expected to grow by a million people every five years, reaching almost 15 million people by the year 2031. We have a responsibility to build Ontario for the next generation of families, young people and businesses.

Unfortunately, the current gridlock that commuters face each and every day on our roads, on our highways costs us more than $11 billion a year in lost productivity. Gridlock not only increases the cost of the things we buy but also reduces the access to good jobs and forces too many Ontarians to sacrifice time doing things they love just to get to and from work. I experience this almost every single day when I drive to Queen’s Park.

That is why our government needs to build highways like Highway 413, like the Bradford Bypass, because we know they will save families 30 minutes each way. It’s that single mother who can get home to their family that much quicker, to instead spend time with their children making memories rather than being stuck behind the wheel. Because the previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, failed to make these necessary investments.

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to building transportation infrastructure we need to keep up with our growing population—time is of the essence. Under previous governments, building new infrastructure in Ontario has been a slow and overly complicated process, resulting in unnecessary delays and increased costs for taxpayers. That is why we are building generational projects like the Bradford Bypass and Highway 413, both which will be toll-free and bring much-needed relief to some of the most congested traffic corridors in North America. As I said before, these will shorten travel times by over 30 minutes each way.

I understand these frustrations of gridlock first-hand, whether it be commuting into Queen’s Park, whether it be going to events in my own riding in my community. Each minute spent in the car, bus or train means another minute not spent with family, friends and loved ones doing the things that we need to do. That’s why I’m focused on investing in highways and transit that will take time off your commute and improve the quality of life.

The Bradford Bypass will make that dream a reality for so many people, providing better connections to housing and jobs, and making York region more attractive for businesses and residents alike. This project will not only ease gridlock for the people of York region, but connect more men and women to life-changing careers in road building and the skilled trades.

The fact is, the previous government refused to invest in new highway infrastructure and failed to plan for our population growth. As gridlock gets worse, the opposition wants us to stick to the status quo. I believe Ontarians want and deserve solutions.

Despite what some parties want people to believe, you cannot simply fight gridlock without building new highways. Highway 401 is already one of the most congested highways in North America, and with other major highways quickly reaching the breaking point, doing nothing is just simply not an option. That’s why we have widened an 18-kilometre stretch of the 401 west of Toronto, among the slowest sections of the 400 series highways in the province. This stretch now has new lanes running in each direction, from the Credit River in Mississauga to Regional Road 25 in Milton. This expansion will help more than 250,000 drivers spend less time in gridlock and more time with their families each night.

We’ve also made improvements to the 401 in western Ontario, in Cambridge. We added 8 kilometres of new lanes, including HOV lanes, to Highway 401 from Highway 8 to Townline Road. In eastern Ontario, we have plans in motion to improve the 401 by adding new lanes and repairing and replacing existing bridges. Whether you’re travelling through western, central or eastern Ontario, taking the 401 is becoming easier than ever.

Madam Speaker, just two weeks ago I had the opportunity to stand with two of my great colleagues, MPP Harris and MPP Dixon, to announce we’re one-step closer to making the new Highway 7 a reality for the millions of people travelling through the greater Golden Horseshoe. The tri-city region of Waterloo is Canada’s third-fastest growing community. As any driver knows, more people means more traffic, and Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph is among already the busiest two-lane highways in Ontario, with 26,000 vehicles travelling on it every day.

After promising to build Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph in 2007, the previous Liberal government shelved this project for over a decade, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars in the process. The people of Kitchener and Waterloo have waited too long for Highway 7, which will be a game-changer to reduce gridlock in the community.

That’s why, starting today, we’re inviting contractors to submit proposals for the replacement of the Frederick Street Bridge in Kitchener, to accommodate the future widening of the new Highway 7. The bridge will need to be lengthened to ensure that traffic can flow in both directions, with sidewalks and bicycle lanes accessible for pedestrians and cyclists.

Once complete, the future Highway 7 will include seven interchanges between Kitchener and Guelph. It will have a multi-level connection to Highway 85, a new crossing over the Grand River and local road improvements to keep communities in the region connected. The new Highway 7 is another step to fight gridlock, keeping goods and people moving across the fastest-growing regions of Kitchener, Waterloo and Guelph.

Unlike governments of the past, we’re not just talking about transforming our transportation network; we are getting it done. The case for building Ontario has never been stronger, Madam Speaker. I hope the members opposite, especially those who represent areas like Kitchener-Waterloo and the tri-city region, support this piece of legislation, because the people—

Interjection.