I was at three Santa Claus parades this weekend, and a resounding theme came up from people who were talking to me. It was about affordability and the challenges that they’re having in the rural part of Ontario.

My question is for the Minister of Energy. As winter approaches, our government continues to take action on measures to make life more affordable for home heating. Our government continues to advocate on behalf of Ontarians to the federal government to walk back the disastrous carbon tax. It has played a key role in driving up inflation. We are looking to the other parties in this Legislature for their support by asking the federal government to scrap the carbon tax, or at least cut the federal HST from home heating.

Speaker, can the Minister of Energy please share his views on the urgency of financial relief for Ontarians when it comes to the carbon tax?

I want to thank the minister for his great answer, though. It’s clear from the minister’s response that support from the NDP is tentative at best and really kind of fails to offer actual help for Ontarians. While it appears the NDP are at least interested in supporting the installation of heat pumps to help reduce the cost of home heating and emissions, they kind of missed the mark on supporting the cost-saving energy programs that our government has implemented.

Can the minister please elaborate on how our government is supporting the people of Ontario with cost-saving energy initiatives?