Earlier this week, we welcomed the Ontario Greenhouse Alliance to this House.

Greenhouse-grown flowers generated more than $900 million in farm gate sales in 2021—and continue to innovate to grow this target.

The partnership between the Ontario chapter of Flowers Canada and the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, represented by TOGA—yes, it’s true, we had a TOGA event—is a formidable economic powerhouse with the ability to truly strengthen Ontario’s economy. TOGA’s members are protecting crops and flowers from environmental extremes, preserving and recirculating water and nutrients, and growing year-round to ensure that we have a safe, local, fresh food supply throughout the year.

Can the minister elaborate on how this government is supporting the desire to increase exports of our fresh products?

Thank you to the member from Whitby for that question.

We know right now that electric vehicles are something that we’re transitioning to. The federal government has said that by 2030, all new vehicles need to be electric. Ontario has an opportunity with our manufacturing might in the south and our raw materials in northern Ontario to put the two together, to have the full life cycle here in Ontario, so that you mine the materials in an ethical, green manner, you process it in Ontario in an ethical, green manner, you build it in Ontario in an ethical, green environment, and what you end up with is a global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Ontario is the only jurisdiction in the entire world that has everything together in its borders to make sure that we lead the world in that green revolution.