We take highway truck training and safety on our highways very seriously. That is why we continue to rank, in Ontario, as some of the safest roads in all of North America.

Mr. Speaker, Ontario leads North America in our truck training, and we will continue to work with the industry to do whatever we can to strengthen that and have no room for any of those who abuse the system or who act outside of the rules and regulations.

We will continue to ensure that safety is the topmost priority on our streets and on our highways. There’s nothing more important than that. We will come down hard on anyone who contravenes any of those rules or regulations. We will continue to speak with the industry, speak with those on the roads and ensure we do everything we can to continue improving those measures.

We have worked with the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development to ensure that truckers continue to be trained. In fact, the minister has done various measures to help improve safety and training, along with truck drivers across the province.

Truck drivers are some of the most important people in our economy. They move goods across this province. Their safety is of utmost priority to this government and to all members of this House, and we will do whatever we can. That is why we have always constantly supported measures for the trucking industry, whether it’s building new highways, whether it’s building the infrastructure that they need, to continue to support the safety of their transportation industry. We will continue to do so and continue to work with the industry to ensure that all measures are taken into consideration.

The member is absolutely right. When we look at the north, the challenges are even more significant when it comes to the carbon tax. But it’s no surprise that the Liberals and the NDP are not listening to the people. They’re out of touch. Just a couple of weeks ago, it was a federal Liberal environment minister, who is now trying to impose this 23% increase of carbon taxes on the people of the north and across Canada and especially in Ontario—he was the one who said, “No more roads,” and that Canada doesn’t need any more roads. How out of touch can you be?

But on top of that, now they want to increase the carbon tax by 23%. That’s a tax on food. It’s a tax on groceries. It’s a tax on fuel, on energy, on heating your home. People cannot afford it. I hope that the provincial Liberals and the NDP step up right to the federal government and tell them to scrap the tax.

This is going to hurt not only truckers, who are out $15,000 to $20,000—they could use that money to support their families, put their kids through school, put their kids in extracurricular activities—but think of the people in the north, how much their food is going to increase, because that food travels on trucks. A 23% increase being proposed by the federal government, it’s unbelievable.

What’s more shameful, Mr. Speaker, is the provincial Liberals and the NDP are doing nothing to advocate to stop the carbon tax from going up 23%. Under the leadership—

The member for Kitchener–Conestoga is absolutely right: It’s a shame that the NDP and Liberals are supporting the federal carbon tax, which is about to go up by 23%. I was proud to stand with the member from Kitchener–Conestoga when we announced the expansion and getting shovels in the ground on Highway 7. It’s unfortunate, though, that not only do the federal Liberals want to spike the carbon tax by 23%, they said that they don’t believe in building roads and bridges across this country, in one of the fastest-growing regions like Kitchener-Waterloo.

We will always put drivers first and put more money in their pockets. Whether it’s fighting the carbon tax or building more roads and highways, this government is committed to getting it done for the people of Ontario. We thank that member for his advocacy and making sure we fight the carbon tax and the 23% increase on April 1.

It’s also about making sure that we put more money in their pockets, like saving $125 per car or truck on licence plate renewal fees. That is something this government committed to, to put that money back into the pockets of hard-working families across this province. But that’s not it. Through the Get It Done Act, any future government that would want to impose a carbon tax will have to take it to the people through a referendum. Our government will do anything and everything we can to ensure money stays with families.

Thank you to the member for Ajax for that question. We know that the federal environment minister is completely out of touch with the realities of Canadians and especially Ontarians. We have called on him—I have personally called on him—to come drive on the 427, the 401, the 410 to see for himself the challenges our truckers and drivers are having across this province. But Minister Guilbeault spends more time flying around the world in airplanes, trying to meet with elites across the world, rather than meeting with truckers that are driving every single day on our roads across this province to put food on the shelves, to put groceries on shelves across this province.

They shouldn’t have to worry about the rise in the cost of gas as they do their job. I’ve stated in the House before that $15,000 to $20,000 are the current costs on a long-haul trucker in this province with the current carbon tax today. That’s about to go up by 23% on April 1, and I hope the members opposite join us in calling on the federal government to stop the carbon tax.

As this government has committed to putting more money back into the pockets of families across this province, the federal carbon tax will increase by 23%. That is unacceptable. We’re always looking at ways to make sure we put more money back in your pockets, whether it’s by reducing the gas tax by 10 cents, whether it’s making sure we eliminate the val tag, a $120 savings for a car or truck for families across this province.

We’re going to continue to urge both the Liberals and NDP to call on their federal counterparts and stop the carbon tax on April 1.

Now, there’s a member that gets it, Mr. Speaker. There’s a member that listens to his community, that drives on the roads that those families are driving on every single day trying to get to and from work in the gridlock that has been created because the previous Liberal government refused to invest in roads and bridges and highways.

I’m equally shocked at the comments from the federal environment minister saying that he won’t build or invest in more bridges and highways. We’re seeing explosive growth in Ontario, a million people over the next two years, and the federal government doesn’t want to invest in infrastructure. That’s crazy. But thankfully, we’ve got good members, like the member for Brampton North, fighting for their residents, fighting for the people of this province.

We’re going to invest $28 billion over the next 10 years in building highways and roads, and we will take no lesson from the previous Liberal government that—

Mr. Speaker, we have increased enforcement all across the province, especially focusing on the north. Safety is a top priority for this government, and I thank those hard-working officers, the MTO officials that are on the roads and making sure that our roads are safe. We have some of the safest roads in all of North America.

We will continue to do whatever we can to have the highest standards of training, highest standards of road safety—as we have done—whether that be investing in critical infrastructure, expanding highways, investing in keeping those highways safe, like Highway 17. I’m very proud of the work that those officers have done to keep those streets safe and continue to have that compliance and enforcement across our highways, especially in the north, Mr. Speaker.

Safety is a top priority and we will do whatever we can to keep the people of this province safe, especially on our roads and especially our truck drivers and those who travel on those roads.

Mr. Speaker, every measure that we have taken, whether it’s been adding more lights, expanding lanes, the 2+1 pilot that we are running in the north for increased safety—those members right there have voted against it every single time. When it comes to safety, when it comes to increasing enforcement, Mr. Speaker, when it comes to increasing the number of officers that we have on the road, the NDP and Liberals have voted against those safety measures every step of the way. That’s unacceptable, Mr. Speaker.

This government will continue to invest in our enforcement officers, will continue to invest in making our roads safer and the necessary improvements that are needed to support that—

I will reiterate that Ontario does have the safest roads in North America, and our government intends to keep it that way, Mr. Speaker. In fact, any time we have brought any measures in this House—through the budget, through the fall economic statement—to invest in road safety, to invest in highways like Highway 11, Highway 17, expanding highways, that member has voted against those measures every single time. We are opening up new rest areas on these highways, and that member voted against increasing safety and building more rest areas across the north.

We will continue to work with law enforcement and advocates in road safety to ensure that we continue to have the safest roads in North America.

We will continue to work with law enforcement and police officers across this province, as we have been, as we continue to have the safest roads in North America, and we will continue to invest in road safety.

I ask the member opposite, when we are making these investments in Highway 11 and Highway 17, when we increase investments for road safety in this province, that he support this government in those measures every single time.

When we are investing in the north, when we are investing in making those highways safer, increasing capacity on those highways, the NDP and the Liberals have voted no to each and every one of those investments.

We are going to continue to keep Ontario’s roads and highways safe.

As the member knows, it is our utmost priority to ensure we have safe and efficient highways across this province, and that includes Highway 11. We have some of the safest roads in all of North America. We have the trans-Ontario standard that is met by this province and this province only—across the country and across North America.

And we will continue to work—we had the Good Roads Association that was at Queen’s Park just this past week, listening about further measures that can be taken.

We commit to always ensuring that we have the safest roads, and working towards safety across this province, especially on the roads. We do have some of the safest roads, but we’ll continue to make sure that we do whatever we can, making the necessary investments on Highways 11 and 17 in the north, to do—and ensure that our roads remain safe.

I want to welcome the Good Roads Association to Queen’s Park today. I want to thank their president, John Parsons; Scott Butler, executive director and manager of government relations; and Thomas Barakat, for the great work they do. I also invite members to join their reception this evening.

Safety in the transport industry and across all of our roads is the utmost priority for this government. That is why, when it comes to commercial licensing, we have some of the most robust processes and licensing and training in the entire country and, in fact, across North America. It includes a minimum of 103 hours of instruction and covers a variety of issues, from entry-level knowledge skills to those practical skills needed to operate large trucks on Ontario’s roads.

Our MTO enforcement officers run across this province ensuring that our roads remain safe, and I appreciate all the work that they do, day in and day out, supporting the safety of our highway and transportation networks across this province.

We will continue to ensure that we work together with all members of this House to improve safety on our roads.

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.