Mr. Speaker, Metrolinx and their team are undertaking the largest public transit infrastructure investment in the history of not only Canada but all of North America.

And do you know what? Those members, including the Liberals, who for 15 years did absolutely nothing to build transit in this province, voted against every single one of those transit projects: the Ontario Line—388,000 daily boardings projected; 28,000 fewer cars on the road once that line is built. And do you know what, Mr. Speaker? That member has voted against those public transit investments every single time. Let’s look at the Yonge North subway extension, another project this government is delivering on: 4,800 tonnes of GHG emission reduction when that project is built. And guess what? That member has voted against it every single time.

We’ll continue to build public transit across this province, and we’ll be ambitious and continue to do what the previous Liberal government refused to do, which is build for future generations.

We want to get shovels in the ground, and guess what, Mr. Speaker? We do have shovels in the ground, on the Ontario Line, on the Eglinton West extension, on the Yonge North subway extension. We’ve put the RFQ to market. The Scarborough subway extension: Shovels are in the ground. This is historic. And if the NDP and if the Liberals did what we experienced for the last 15 years, we’d have no shovels in the ground, and we’d have no public transit for this province.

So I ask the members of the Liberals and the NDP to support public transit in this province, to support investments that we are making so we can move the people—

Interjections.

The Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy.

Let’s take a look at the record of this government: shovels in the ground on projects like the Ontario Line; shovels on the Scarborough subway extension; the largest rail infrastructure investment in this entire world—that’s the leadership of this Premier. That’s the record of this government. We will stand on it every single day.

We’ve seen rapid population growth in this province—15 years of absolute neglect by the previous Liberal government has left us in this position of gridlock all over this province. But we’re building Ontario. We’ve introduced legislation to make sure we can speed up the process of building subways and transit.

Mr. Speaker, just look at Scarborough. That member, that government had 15 years to act for the people of Scarborough. They did absolutely nothing. It was this Premier and the members from Scarborough that committed to investing in Scarborough and building transit there. When we look at the Milton GO, when we look at GO rail, the previous Liberal government made no investments to make sure that we could have better transit for the people of Milton and Mississauga. Our government is delivering, and we will keep building—

Interjections.

The member from Thornhill is absolutely right: After 15 years of previous governments neglecting their duty to build infrastructure, transit and highways across this province, our government is getting it done. Our population is growing rapidly—over a million people in the next two years—and we need to build that infrastructure now. That’s why, in 2019, our government made it a priority to introduce the Building Transit Faster Act to ensure that we can better connect the people in the GTHA, and faster.

Speaker, we know that more transit is needed today, and it couldn’t come soon enough. Whether it’s highways or transit, our government is committed to building Ontario, which is why later today our government will introduce legislation that tackles unnecessary delays and makes it easier and faster to build. We are the only party working to save Ontarians money while fighting for fast and reliable infrastructure.

We’re also giving commuters more certainty by permanently banning tolls on provincial highways. We know we are the only party standing up for Ontarians. We are the only party focused on making life easier for people and building our future. That is why we have removed vehicle val tags. That is why we have reduced taxes by over 10 cents per litre at the gas pumps and that is why we will also continue to fight for the people of Ontario and keep costs down.

We have launched one of the largest investments into public infrastructure and transit in the history of North America. In fact, that member and the leader of the official opposition have voted against every single one of those measures, including the Kitchener line. The NDP has just lost one of their safest seats in Kitchener, Mr. Speaker, and that’s because they have voted against the Kitchener line and the upgrades and the investments that we have made into the Kitchener line every step of the way.

It’s about time that the NDP support public transit and the investments that we are making—$70 billion, whether it’s the Crosstown, whether it’s the Ontario Line, whether it’s all-way, two-way GO, Mr. Speaker. It’s time for the NDP to shift focus and support this government as we build public transit across this province.

Thank you to the member from Mississauga–Erin Mills for his tireless advocacy for the people of Mississauga. After decades of inaction, under the leadership of Premier Ford we’re finally building the infrastructure that we need for our future. We’re building new highways, roads, bridges across the entire province, including the great city of Mississauga. In our 2023 budget, we announced that our government is committing to $27.9 billion over the next 10 years to connect communities, fight gridlock and keep goods moving.

I am pleased to share that our government has completed construction on the widening of Highway 401 between Mississauga and Milton. This provides an additional 18 kilometres of new lanes. Drivers will spend less time in traffic and more time with family. Speaker, we’re building Ontario for generations to come.