Look at this again: The Leader of the Opposition, that’s all she can talk about. But what I want to talk about is the fact that the Ontario Science Centre business case is being made public today. What I want to talk about is the new deal, the historic deal that the Premier and the mayor of the city of Toronto had struck, providing the city with more operational funding, with more support for TTC trains and streetcars, for the homeless, for one-fare service integration, improving the quality of life for the people, the hard-working people of the city of Toronto. And Mr. Speaker I want to talk about the vision for Ontario Place which includes far more than what she obsesses over.

Mr. Speaker, we are bringing Ontario Place back to life because we want it to be a place that families can enjoy and the city of Toronto is supportive of bringing the science centre, building a brand new facility with 10,000 more square feet of exhibition space.

Mr. Speaker, what the Premier did over the last couple of days is make sure that the city of Toronto, the largest city in Canada, is now financially secure and has financial sustainability for years to come.

And the new deal did include the city’s support for a brand new science centre facility. The old science centre is 54 years old. We want to make sure there’s a new science centre for generations of children to enjoy.

I’m more than happy to discuss the historic deal that was created by the Premier and the mayor of the city of Toronto, an extraordinary deal that will make sure that we are protecting our highways in the city of Toronto, that we’re supporting the TTC and keeping riders safe, that we’re providing more operational funding for new transit lines that we are building and also—contingent on federal government funding—additional funding for homelessness. The deal that was struck yesterday is an extraordinary deal for the people of the city and for the province.

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you what the Premier is doing, and that is building the subway system, expanding the subway system by 50% in the city of Toronto and York region. He’s also building public transit in other communities—like Mississauga and the Hurontario line.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Perhaps the member opposite didn’t have time to read the bill in full, because actually the whole purpose of this bill is to help build new stations predominantly outside of Toronto. We’ve done this in consultation with municipalities.

I would like to thank the region of Durham, for example, which was very pleased with our latest government announcement, led by Minister Mulroney and Minister Cho, for the Lakeshore East extension—eager to build four new stations along that GO rail line, which could quite possibly bring to fruition approximately 35,000 housing units within that area.

I would just kindly say that perhaps the member opposite should take a look at the bill one more time.

Thank you to the member for the question. First the member says the parking is for Therme; then the member says the parking is for the science centre. Do you know who the parking is for? It is for everyone. It is for all Ontarians—for the moms who have three kids from Scarborough and Brampton, for the people of northern Ontario who visit Toronto and want a wonderful place to go. That is who the parking is for.

The new location at Ontario Place will also be connected by the Ontario Line, which is a brand new subway line that our government is building to provide greater public access to Ontario Place and to make sure that it’s accessible to the public.

Mr. Speaker, we are building a brand new science centre, an innovative place with new and additional exhibition space. We are bringing Ontario Place back to life. We anticipate four to six million visitors a year, and we are all excited for the site-servicing work to start. We will continue working in a collaborative way with the city of Toronto.

Thank you very much to the member for the question. We made a commitment. We’ve been fully transparent with the public that we will be building a brand new science centre with additional, more exhibition space at Ontario Place. The former science centre lands are an opportunity for the province to continue discussions with the city of Toronto. There are opportunities for community amenities and for housing and we will have those discussions with the city of Toronto. But, Mr. Speaker, we are bringing Ontario Place back to life with a brand new science centre with more exhibition space.

Thank you very much to the member. The government is currently making an unprecedented amount of investment in long-term-care facilities across the province. Last Thursday, I joined the Premier and the Minister of Long-Term Care to open the doors of a new long-term-care home in Toronto. Humber Meadows will bring 320 new beds to the residents of Toronto and has opened next to Humber River Hospital. The location of the home itself is so critically important because this long-term-care home now will be integrated into the broader health care system in the province of Ontario, and it will allow the long-term-care home to have additional services within the home, such as dialysis, to make sure that the seniors are taken care of and have the best service possible.

Mr. Speaker, only the NDP would be offended by a measure that’s intended to keep people safe. That fence was installed to protect emergency vehicles. Our government has been very clear that we have awarded a contract for the site servicing work. It is anticipated to start in the next very short while, and so it is our obligation to protect the pedestrians who do go to Ontario Place.

But, Mr. Speaker, we are bringing it back to life. Ontario Place will become a place where it’s not just 50 people who enjoy the site, but four million to six million people on an annual basis, 365 days of the year.

But that being said, Mr. Speaker, we have three wonderful tenants that are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to bring the site back to life so that four million to six million people come there to enjoy it with their families. Some 2,500 permanent jobs will be created, and with greater coordination with Exhibition Place and the city of Toronto, this will be a hot spot for people to go.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that the members opposite are literally raising this issue today.

Interjections.

Our government is saving the science centre. We are giving it a new home at the Ontario Place redevelopment. It will be a new tenant there. It will be an attraction for families, for tourists, for everyone to enjoy.

The Premier was very clear this morning, when he was questioned by the media, that we will continue to work with the city of Toronto on both the Ontario Place redevelopment as well as the lands where the science centre sits, and we will do that.

I would like to ask the member opposite, who sat on city council for many years, why the city didn’t lead the way in building a TOC program. It was this government that led the way in terms of tying housing to transit development opportunities across the city of Toronto and Yonge North.

Mr. Speaker, we are making great progress. We are building more housing, including attainable and affordable housing opportunities along our subway line, but we’re not stopping there. We are doing a very thorough analysis of all of our GO stations within the greater Toronto and Hamilton area to see where other opportunities exist.

We announced East Harbour, for example, as well as Mimico. Mimico, actually, was a station that the former previous government spoke about but never got done.

Mr. Speaker, this was a government in action, and we will build housing and community benefits that come along with it.

Thank you to the member for the question. I appreciate the member’s question very much, because it was this government that led the way in terms of tying housing with transit construction. We are expanding the subway system by 50% in the city of Toronto and York region. We want to bring housing opportunities with it, which led to the creation of the Transit-Oriented Communities Program, which we are now very much focusing on the transit stations on the Ontario Line, on Yonge North. We will be providing housing opportunities but also affordable and attainable housing models as well, and we are working with local communities to learn from them what other community needs exist within that particular area.

We are working very well with the city of Toronto. We are progressing on all of our stations and we will continue to work in partnership with Metrolinx.

Thank you to the member of the official opposition. Mr. Speaker, I’d love to share what I hear from constituents across this great province, including constituents in Etobicoke, Scarborough and in Toronto. What they tell me is that they do not like the fact that this site is sitting there empty and not enjoyed by families like it was back in the 1970s and 1980s. They want to bring their families there. They want to bring people who are visiting the city there. They want it to be a place of economic development, a wonderful place for families.

Mr. Speaker, beyond the 43 acres of free public realm space, we are also making sure that we have a modern marina for people to enjoy. We are making sure that there are boardwalks, food and beverage, piers and beaches. This site now, with the plans that we showed last week, will have something for everyone to enjoy.

I was correct. But what our government is doing is saving the science centre. We are going to get a brand new, modern home with new exhibits—a new home at Ontario Place, which will be redeveloped so that families can enjoy it.

I wonder what the member opposite was doing for years when they let Ontario Place and the science centre deteriorate—a lack of investment.

Mr. Speaker, we will invest in the science centre, and we will continue to invest in Ontario Place.

Mr. Speaker, those members over there have let Ontario Place deteriorate. It is flooded. It is eroding. It is not safe.

It is this government that is investing in the science centre and investing in Ontario Place to make it a wonderful place for families to enjoy for generations to come.

Interjections.

We made a commitment to build public transit in the city of Toronto—expanding the subway system by 50%. That is exactly what we are doing. We are bringing the transit system up to Thorncliffe Park, which I know will truly benefit the community, as it will others, as well.

We have a wonderful opportunity before us. We have a wonderful asset at the waterfront that is not being utilized, that is not enjoyed by the public. They closed the doors in 2012. We will open the doors and welcome families to come to Ontario Place.

We are following all of the processes before us. We are following everything that’s required of us by the Minister of the Environment through legislation that has been in the House, and we are following the city process with the development application of Ontario Place.

While I love the fact that the members opposite are talking about transit, we are the government that led the way in transit expansion. We will be connecting Ontario Place with public transit, with the subway line, so that people can have greater access to the site because, once again, we are bringing Ontario Place back to life so that everyone can enjoy this wonderful landmark at our waterfront.

Thank you to the leader of the official opposition. We have been fully transparent with the public in terms of what our intentions are for the site since 2019. We are leasing the lands. We have a tenant in place. We have a development application with the city of Toronto. We are proceeding with environmental assessment work that is underway. We have made tremendous progress on the site.

But what’s most important is the sentiment of the public. People drive by the site and think, “What a waste that we let the site deteriorate to the point of it no longer being safe for people and pedestrians to be able to go there.” We are bringing the site back to life. We will make sure it is there for everyone in Ontario to enjoy.

Our government is making the financial investments necessary to preserve these two treasures, to bring them back to life, to make them a place that everyone can go and enjoy with their families. I 100% think the public is behind us on this one.

I will repeat the member’s words: “well used.”

I have been the minister now for a little bit of time, and every single time I have visited the site, it is not enjoyed by Torontonians or Ontarians.

Mr. Speaker, we are leasing the lands to a tenant, and we are preserving the pods and the Cinesphere as part of the heritage pieces of Ontario Place.

We are going to bring Ontario Place back to life, back to what it was many years ago, when millions of people would come to the site and enjoy it with their families.

Thank you very much for the question.

Our government has been completely transparent with the public in terms of our intentions for Ontario Place. In 2019, we told the public that we wanted to redevelop Ontario Place. We have two choices before us. We could just leave the site as is, let it continue to be in a bad state of repair, let it continue to be flooded, let it continue to not be enjoyed by the public; or we could work with the city of Toronto and bring Ontario Place back to life. I think the answer is very clear.

Thank you to the Mississauga member for the question. Our government’s plan to build Ontario is one of the most ambitious in the province’s history, with planned investments of $159 billion over 10 years and $20 billion in 2022-23 alone.

Last week in Mississauga, Infrastructure Ontario and Trillium Health Partners selected their builder to build the Mississauga hospital, now named the Peter Gilgan hospital. Together, the three parties will work in a co-operative and collaborative manner over the next 12 to 18 months to determine the schedule, design, price and risk. This will be the largest hospital in Canada with the largest emergency room in Ontario, 950 beds and nine new operating rooms to address the growing community.

In the west end of Toronto and Peel region, our government is investing and expanding the Queensway Health Centre. We’re building two new long-term-care homes through our rapid delivery program, which will bring and activate 600 beds. We are investing in the cancer care centre in Brampton, and we’re building a brand new hospital in Brampton with 250 patient beds and a 24-hour emergency care centre.

But we’re not just investing in growing areas. We are investing in health care facilities right across the province.

Thank you very much to the member for the question.

Certainly, we’re grateful to the commission, but it’s because of the P3 projects we have that we are able to build subways in the city of Toronto and in York region. It’s the reason we’re building highways—like Highway 3, the Highway 427 extension, the Highway 401 widening, and the Garden City Skyway. It’s the reason why we’ve made such great progress on building hospitals in the province of Ontario—like Niagara, Cortellucci Vaughan, West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, Niagara south, Trillium, Ottawa.

I’ve always said—I’ve been very transparent—we will use the right model for the right project and we will proceed in that way.

Our P3 history in the province of Ontario is a wonderful one. We have brought to life 74 projects since the inception of Infrastructure Ontario. Since our government was elected, we’ve brought 24 projects to market, 15 of which are currently in construction.

We were elected on a strong mandate to build this province, and that’s what we will do.

Again, we were elected on a very strong mandate to invest in infrastructure, which is why we are investing $159 billion over the next 10 years. Last week, we announced our updated P3 project pipeline, which included 39 projects.

During COVID-19, under Premier Ford’s leadership, we developed the rapid build program to build long-term-care homes as quickly as possible, which resulted in 320 additional beds at Lakeridge in a construction period of 13 months. We are taking those learnings through the rapid delivery program, and we’ve announced our first rapid delivery program to build schools in the province of Ontario. This includes five new schools, creating 15,700 student spaces and 1,500 child care spaces.