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April 22, 2024

43rd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2024-Apr-22 vol. A (PDF)

L149A - Mon 22 Apr 2024 / Lun 22 avr 2024

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Monday 22 April 2024 Lundi 22 avril 2024

Members’ Statements

Wheatley Arboretum and Learning Trail

Education funding

Tom Thomson Art Gallery

Community Table

Gasoline prices

Township of Norwich Chamber of Commerce annual awards

Langton Six Pack Tournament

Housing

Volunteers

Introduction of Visitors

Question Period

Police oversight

Land use planning

Post-secondary education

Taxation

Municipal restructuring

Taxation

Cancer screening

Office of the Premier

Taxation

Energy policies

Taxation

Employment supports

Taxation

Water quality

Taxation

Notice of dissatisfaction

Deferred Votes

Fewer Backlogs and Less Partisan Tribunals Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur la réduction des retards et de la partisanerie dans les tribunaux

Estimates

Introduction of Visitors

Introduction of Bills

1828469 Ontario Inc. Act, 2024

Petitions

Herbicides

Labour legislation

Ontario Science Centre

Student safety

Social assistance

Emergency services

Laboratory services

Health care

Tuition

Anti-vaping initiatives for youth

Orders of the Day

Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 visant à soutenir l’avenir des enfants

The House met at 1015.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Good morning. Let us pray.

Prayers.

Members’ Statements

Wheatley Arboretum and Learning Trail

Mr. Trevor Jones: On Saturday, April 20, I was so proud to join well over 100 volunteers, community members and sponsors to officially mark the opening of the Wheatley Arboretum and Learning Trail. The Wheatley Horticultural Society, led by my friends Donna Matier and Sophie Jefferson, in partnership with Chatham Kent Trails and supported by dozens of local sponsors, succeeded in crafting this vision. It includes a beautiful 1.3-kilometre trail and outdoor recreation and learning space.

Located strategically near our baseball fields and our local public school, the grounds feature hundreds of newly planted trees and plants native to the Carolinian forest, including the Kentucky coffee tree, hackberry, pawpaw, tulip tree and American sycamore. These precious tree species are complemented by manicured grounds and locally crafted metal park benches to relax and reflect, as well as outdoor, four-season fitness equipment for all ages to enjoy.

This project is another fine demonstration of a community’s resolve and resilience. Wheatley continues to work together to overcome adversity and care for one another. This beautiful outdoor activity and educational space symbolizes both healthy living and fellowship by reconnecting the community to one another and to nature.

Congratulations, and thank you to everyone involved for their hard work and dedication to bring this project from idea to reality. Thank you for being Wheatley strong.

Education funding

Ms. Jessica Bell: School boards in Toronto are facing a funding shortfall because of this government’s failure to properly fund education in Ontario. The Toronto District School Board is short $27 million. Parents often contact me about how this underfunding is affecting their kids’ education.

I think of Adhi. His son is in a developmentally delayed class at Clinton school. His son has been attacked twice by another child. He has been scarred physically. The school knows they need another skilled educator in the room to keep kids safe, but they don’t have the staffing allocation.

I think of Janice and Christine at Kensington. They’ve just learned they will have a grade 4/5/6 class for this coming year. That means a teacher will have to explain three different classes all day, every day. That’s a very difficult task. It means that older kids will sit there in the class and be bored, and it means younger kids will sit in the class and feel completely overwhelmed.

Stories like this come into my office every single week. Every school is having to do more with less, year in and year out.

The TDSB has asked the ministry to fund schools properly and to account for the extra costs they must shoulder because of provincial and federal directives, because of COVID, because of inflation. How does this ministry respond? How does the minister respond? They look the other way.

I want schools to be properly funded. I want our kids to have an excellent public school education. The TDSB is asking for a new funding deal, and I support these requests, and I hope the ministry and the government support these requests as well.

Tom Thomson Art Gallery

Mr. Rick Byers: Colleagues, last Sunday, I had the pleasure of attending the arts, culture and volunteer awards which took place at the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound. It was a wonderful event that recognized many talented artists and community volunteers in our wonderful Grey-Bruce community. I was inspired by the amazing talents and energy of all who were nominated.

While Tom Thomson was born in Claremont, Ontario, he was raised in Leith, a lovely community just east of Owen Sound. He developed his distinctive craft after working with the artists who would eventually form the Group of Seven and also after visiting Algonquin Park. He spent much time at the park, and his outstanding work consists almost entirely of landscapes, including trees, skies, lakes and rivers. Some of his notable works include Northern River, Spring Ice, The West Wind and of course The Jack Pine.

Tom Thomson passed away at the early age of 39 on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park. While he died before the formal establishment of the Group of Seven, he is often considered an unofficial member. His beautiful resting place is at the Leith United Church Cemetery.

Thank you, Tom Thomson, for your amazing talent and for your link to our great Grey-Bruce community. And thank you to the great team at the Tom Thomson Art Gallery—the excellent staff, board and volunteers for making the gallery an inspiring place that honours an inspiring icon, Tom Thomson.

M. Guy Bourgouin: J’ai écrit une lettre ouverte publiée la semaine dernière que j’aimerais partager aujourd’hui. Je vous en lis un extrait : « Près de 2,3 millions d’Ontariens sont sans médecins de famille. On estime qu’en 2026, c’est le quart des Ontariens qui n’en n’auront pas. »

Entre en jeu le premier fardeau : habiter dans le nord de la province. Je pense à la ville de Hearst, une ville du secteur forestier où habitent un peu plus de 5 000 habitants, dont 4 000 habitants sont sans médecins de famille.

Community Table

Ms. Goldie Ghamari: Mr. Speaker, when people step up to help those who are struggling in the community, their passion to make a difference is often contagious. In the suburb of Riverside South, in the Carleton riding, a group of people has stepped up to create the Community Table, a new volunteer-run food bank. Statistics Canada reports that more than 600 households in that affluent community live below the poverty line.

Members of the Gathering, a Christian church in Riverside South, realized that families in Riverside South were using the food banks in the adjacent suburb of Barrhaven and in other communities. They launched an organic project and created the Community Table, which will open its doors on Monday, May 6.

Jeff Brierley, owner of the Your Independent Grocer store in Riverside South, where I often get my groceries, has generously provided a space inside his store until a permanent location for the Community Table can be found. He’s also assisting with the collection of food donations.

As the MPP for Carleton, I could not be more proud of the volunteers in Riverside South who have turned a need in the community into a reality.

More often that not, we are oblivious to the poverty and hunger that’s all around us. Our lives are measured by the impact we have on others. The Community Table will have an immediate impact on hundreds of people in our community, and before long, I know it will impact thousands.

Gasoline prices

M me France Gélinas: We all know that gas prices jumped an average of 14 cents per litre across the GTA last week. Premier Ford immediately raised the concern of disgusting price gouging by Ontario gas stations. I applaud the Premier’s statement and rise to offer him a solution.

Residents of Nickel Belt in northern Ontario have been dealing with price gouging at the pump for years. Fuel companies set the price per litre according to what the market can bear. Apparently, in the north, we can bear a lot.

Thousands of people have signed my petition to regulate the price of gas. We regulate the price of energy when it comes to natural gas, when it comes to electricity; what is stopping us from regulating the price of a litre of gas? Five provinces and many US states already have gas price regulation, and it works.

I ask that the Premier finally consider regulating the cost of gasoline here in Ontario so that none of us have to be gouged when we go and fill up. This is a moment when this Premier can actually get it done. You have recognized that Ontarians are being gouged by fuel retailers across the province. Let’s end price gouging at the pump now. We can do this.

Township of Norwich Chamber of Commerce annual awards

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: The Norwich Chamber of Commerce recently handed out its annual awards of excellence. These awards honour outstanding local businesses and residents who contribute to the growth and success of the community. I’d like to congratulate this year’s winners:

—Brandwood Farms and the Duizer family, winners of the farm family of the year award, north township;

—the Wikkerink family, winners of the farm family of the year, south township;

—Speedy Electric, recipient of the small business of the year award—congratulations on 50 years in business;

—Joe’s Carpentry, named the large business of the year—thanks for the work you did on my house;

—Paige, winner of the agricultural bursary essay contest and a cheque for her future education;

—Jared, winner of the high school scholarship essay contest and a cheque to be used for his post-secondary education;

—Everett McInnis, a member of the Norwich Upper Deck team and recipient of the youth citizen of the year;

—Lynne DePlancke, winner of the citizen of the year award for her community-minded involvement and volunteer work;

—Jacqueline Body, recipient of the Judy Cayley memorial award for her extensive volunteer service to the people of Norwich;

—and finally, Tom Hamulecki, who was presented the special achievement award for his significant fundraising and auctioneering contributions.

Mr. Speaker, these winners and their hard work, innovation and dedicated service are invaluable to the community of Oxford. Congratulations to all the winners.

Langton Six Pack Tournament

Ms. Bobbi Ann Brady: Last weekend, over 260 hockey players converged on the Langton Arena, a beautiful building spanning five decades of rich culture and tradition. Those players were there for a tournament also rich in tradition, the Langton Oldtimers Six Pack.

This is a tournament that has been attracting and boasting hockey talent for over 28 years. It’s called the Six Pack because you have five players and a goalie—no subs. Competition is stiff in the carded division as junior and a handful of OHL players face off. The 35, 45 and 55 games showcase many of those who at one time could really light things up.

For the second time in the tournament’s history, a women’s division hit the ice. One of the five teams was the Underhill Brady Barnburners. Underhill’s Farm Supply and yours truly teamed up to sponsor both my son’s carded team as well as our ladies’ team. My teammates, who included goalie Ciera Bartik, Briar Barker, Brooke Cope, Courtney Dennis, Meg Sebok and Rachel Van Es, skated to the championship game but came up short against some talented girls from the Stratford area.

In the timekeeper’s box for many of the games was arena fixture Roger Demeester, who recorded his 8,660th game during the tournament—absolutely incredible.

The tournament has the little town of Langton buzzing from Wednesday to Sunday, with games running every half-hour. The Langton Oldtimers have this event down to a science, and they are the ones responsible for the great hockey, camaraderie and for bringing the community together.

Thank you to all who had a hand in another successful year. See you at the rink in 2025.

Housing

Mr. Mike Harris: I’m happy to say that Kitchener is getting it done when it comes to building housing. Premier Ford recently joined me at Kitchener city hall to congratulate them on a job well done. For meeting their housing goals, Kitchener received $14 million from our government as part of the Building Faster Fund. The fund is a three-year, $1.2-billion program that encourages municipalities to address the housing supply crisis here in the province. The plan allows municipalities to receive funding for making significant progress against their targets by providing money for infrastructure to build more homes.

Kitchener broke ground on a total of 3,579 new housing units in 2023. That’s 139% of their targeted goal. They knocked it out of the park. Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic and the rest of his council have done a phenomenal job. Berry knows that addressing the housing crisis is a team effort.

The mayor went on to say, “Tackling this challenge will take an all-of-community approach with all orders of government and the private and not-for-profit sectors working together to ensure every Ontario resident has both a roof over their head, and any supports they may need, in order to live a great life.” I can wholeheartedly support that sentiment.

Thank you very much to Kitchener for getting it done.

Volunteers

Ms. Christine Hogarth: Last week was volunteer appreciation week, and it’s my absolute privilege to rise in the House today to celebrate the remarkable volunteers from Etobicoke–Lakeshore who have received this year’s volunteer service award. My colleague Minister Ford and the member from Eglinton–Lawrence and I were at the ROM last week to hands out these awards.

Volunteers are the backbone of our communities. Their work is indispensable, but it’s also sometimes invisible. On behalf of my constituents, I want to recognize these incredible community champions:

—Patricia Coyle for five years at Women’s College Hospital;

—Marlene DaCosta: five-year award for St. John Ambulance Toronto region dog therapy program;

—Simon Donato-Woodger: five-year award for Kensington Health;

—Joanne Van der Burgt for five years of volunteering at the St. John Ambulance Toronto region dog therapy program;

—Michiko Abe-Kozlowski for 10 years with the Japanese cultural centre—I have to go check that out;

—Sharon Kawabata for 10 years with the Harbourfront Centre;

—Giovanni for 10 years with the St. John Ambulance Toronto region dog therapy program;

—Susan Miller: 10 years with the St. John Ambulance dog therapy program;

—David and Hope Finnimore, both 15 years with the Toronto International Film Festival;

—Semra Salkok for 25 years with the Toronto International Film Festival; and

—Ken Fukushima: 30 years with the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre.

Each award recipient has a story of generosity, perseverance and kindness. Thank you to our volunteers.

Introduction of Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): We have with us in the west public gallery today seven teachers from across the province participating in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Teachers’ Forum. Please join me in warmly welcoming some of our province’s educators to the legislature today.

Mr. Mike Harris: It is an absolute pleasure to be able to introduce my mother, Janet Harris, and my brother, Jeff Harris, over in the gallery, here to see their grandson and nephew at work this morning.

Miss Monique Taylor: On behalf of myself as well as the member from Parkdale–High Park, who was the host of this morning’s press conference, and New Democrats of course, I would like to welcome a group who are here for the Basic Income Pilot program. We have Jessie Golem, who was a participant of universal basic income in Hamilton; Sheila Regehr, who is the founding member of the Basic Income Canada Network; Stephen Moreau, a partner at Cavalluzzo LLP and lead counsel for the 4,001 class action lawsuits for the early cancellation of basic income; Kaley Duff; Henry Goddard Rebstein; Christina Shiwsankar; Leandra Louis; Angela Waz; and Braman Thillainathan. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Todd J. McCarthy: I wish to welcome to the House today a new member of my constituency staff, visiting Queen’s Park in that regard for the first time: Lauren Azzopardi.

Mr. Joel Harden: I want to thank the Ontario Medical Students Association for a terrific meeting this morning, and I think they will be filtering into the House soon.

I also want to shout out Geordie MacLaren, who is here from the great town of Vankleek Hill, who I grew up with, from the beef farmers. Good to see you, Geordie. Welcome to the people’s House.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: I would like to introduce two of my guests who are here visiting from Simcoe North: Robert McGarrity and his daughter, Akira McGarrity. Welcome to Queen’s Park. I hope you enjoy your day here.

Ms.

Marit Stiles: I’m very proud to be able to announce and welcome to this chamber a bunch of leaders from First Nations communities across the province, including Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Deputy Grand Chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum from Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe of Anishinabek Nation, Chief Chris Moonias of Neskantaga First Nation and Chief Lefty Kamenawatamin from Bearskin Lake First Nation, as well as family members of a number of people who have lost their lives in the last few years: Vincent Ostberg, father of the late Jenna Ostberg; Vanessa Sakanee, mother of the late Mackenzie Moonias; Donna Belesky, sister of the late Corey Belesky; Colleen Belesky, mother of the late Corey Belesky; and Julian Falconer, who is working with First Nations.

I want to welcome them to the Legislature, welcome them here to the precinct and thank them very much for being here with us today.

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: Good morning, everyone. I would like to introduce you all to Mother Earth and wish you a happy Earth Day.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: I’d like to welcome to the House the Beef Farmers of Ontario, particularly Chair Craig McLaughlin. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t give two beef farmers from my riding a specific shout-out: Mike Jeffries from Belmore and Jairus Maus from Cargill. Thank you very much.

M me France Gélinas: It gives me great pleasure to introduce to this House the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Elders of the Robinson-Huron Treaty territory: Mrs. Jo Boyer, Mrs. Jodi Koberinski and Mrs. Caroline Recollet from Wahnapitae in my riding. Welcome to Queen’s Park, ladies.

Ms. Laurie Scott: I’m happy to introduce two constituents from the riding of Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock: Former mayor Ric McGee and his wife Caroline. They’re joining us today as they’re in the city celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary.

Mr. Wayne Gates: I want to welcome Afshin Keyvani. He’s a teacher at the Greater Fort Erie Secondary School. He’s a big fan of the Fort Erie Junior B Meteors, who are in the final. I want to say to him, welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Brian Riddell: I would like to introduce my legislative page, Brayden Vermet from St. Brigid Catholic School in Ayr. Joining us in the House today is his mom, Lisa; his dad, Brian; and sister Olivia. Welcome to your House.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Unless there’s an objection, I’d like to continue with the introduction of visitors.

M me France Gélinas: I also would like to introduce Mr. Patrick Porzuczek from Save the Minden ER. He is here with his family, that is, himself, Patrick, Laura, Jozef, Ewelina and Kinsley Porzuczek. Welcome to Queen’s Park. Welcome to your House.

Question Period

Police oversight

Ms. Marit Stiles: This question is for the Premier. Today, the Moonias, Belesky, and Ostberg families are with us. They’re here because they have been left without credible investigations into the deaths of their loved ones by the Thunder Bay Police Service.

Ontario and the Thunder Bay police administration have failed these families again and again and again. Despite studies and reviews, inquests, documentaries, panels, podcasts and far too many promises, people have not seen change. So my question to the Premier is, what does this government have to say to those families who are here today, looking for accountability in the deaths of their loved ones?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply for the government, the Solicitor General.

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: Any loss of a family member is a tragedy. The loss to a family is absolutely something that we can’t measure.

We take this very seriously. We’ve listened carefully to the survivors. We’ve listened to the Indigenous leaders. We’ve listened to community organizations, and the loved ones of the families themselves have participated in the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Any loss is one too many. We will always do everything we can to support them and to keep Ontario safe.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary? The member for Kiiwetinoong.

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Nothing has changed for First Nations people that live in Thunder Bay. There is an ongoing failure to investigate the deaths of First Nations people in Thunder Bay. The Ontario government has let Thunder Bay Police Service become a cold case factory for Indigenous deaths. There are now more than 20 cold cases due to incompetent death investigations. Why hasn’t Ontario put resources into making sure these investigations don’t become cold cases?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats.

The Solicitor General.

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: Again, any loss of a family member is a tragedy, and the loss to those families is completely immeasurable. We understand this.

But, Mr. Speaker, there’s a new chief and there’s a new police service board in Thunder Bay with good intentions to keep their community safe. We have to give the new police service board and command leadership an opportunity to work with all community stakeholders so that members of the community feel served and protected.

We will continue to take the concerns of Indigenous communities very seriously.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The final supplementary.

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Speaker, you cannot simply change the driver of the machine that is not working. The Moonias, Belesky and Ostberg families need support to get the investigations out of the hands of the Thunder Bay Police Service and into the hands of a service that can do a credible investigation. The families are calling for a complete reform of the Thunder Bay Police Service after multiple instances of corruption have rendered the existing force unfixable.

Today, I spent some time with the families and the leaders in the north. Families and leaders are asking again to disband the Thunder Bay Police Service. When will Ontario do this?

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: I thank the member for the question. Again I’ll repeat it: Our thoughts are always with the families who lost loved ones, on this immeasurable loss. But 140,000 people in Thunder Bay have a right—have an equal right, just as we do here in southern Ontario—to feel safe in their own communities.

I have seen the front-line officers that work hard, with passion and commitment. These are people that love their community.

I’ll repeat it again: There is a new police service board. There is a new chief with good intentions to serve their community and to make sure that everyone has that right of accountability in their communities to feel safe.

Mr. Speaker, I will continue to do whatever I can to make sure our message of public safety is upheld all across Ontario.

Land use planning

Ms. Marit Stiles: This question is for the Premier. This weekend, I was in Wilmot, speaking to farmers, and they are mad. Back in March, they were told that the region of Waterloo plans to purchase 770 acres of their land. If they refuse, they have been told their land will be expropriated without their consent. Farmers are given the choice of no choice.

They’ve asked me to come to the House and ask the government directly: Will the Premier provide some answers for the people of Wilmot today about why they are losing their land and not being given a choice about their livelihood?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: The members opposite have opposed economic development in our province at virtually every opportunity they get. We have tens of billions of prospects, new job-creating investments in our pipeline. In fact, we now have more prospects than we have land readily available. That is why the Premier put out a call. He put out a call to municipalities all across the province to get shovel-ready sites assembled so these companies can set up shop and create those good-paying jobs in their own communities.

Speaker, we are decades behind our biggest competitor, south of the border, when it comes to having shovel-ready sites. For that reason, we have now a dedicated team at our ministry and at Invest Ontario who are vetting lands sent by our municipal partners. Companies from across the globe know there is no better place to do business than right here in Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question.

Ms. Marit Stiles: I’ll tell you, Speaker, farmers are workers, and farms are businesses too. Actually, they’re an extraordinarily important part of our economy.

When I went to Wilmot on Friday, I’ve got to tell you, Speaker, we were expecting about 100 people to show up at the community town hall; over 400 people came to raise their voices. Here’s what I heard from them: I heard they’re feeling left behind. They feel like they’ve been taken for granted by this government, undervalued, sidelined. They know that something doesn’t smell right here, and it isn’t just the manure. Everyone is worried that it can happen to farmers in Wilmot and farmers on the greenbelt. If it can happen there, then it can happen to them too.

So my question to the Premier is, we’ve seen this government hide information from Ontarians with the greenbelt grab. What are they trying to hide from farmers this time?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Speaker, let’s look south of the 401 at what happened in St. Thomas: 1,500 acres of land was assembled with no expropriation. That allowed Volkswagen to announce their gigafactory—3,000 direct jobs, 30,000 indirect jobs. They’re already hiring today. To do so, to help facilitate that, we introduced Bill 63 to change the borders of Central Elgin and St. Thomas. That bill was supported by the members opposite to help assemble that land.

The last thing we’re going to do is to now listen to the NDP and Liberals, whose high-tax policy saw business and workers flee our province in droves—300,000 manufacturing and other workers left our province under the Liberals. We are creating the conditions for job growth in every industry and in every region.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Member for Hamilton Mountain and the member for Waterloo will please come to order.

Supplementary.

Ms. Marit Stiles: Speaker, I will remind the minister that the farming sector contributes $48 billion to our economy.

Earlier this month, the Premier confirmed it was him who gave the directive to expropriate Wilmot farmland, but he provided no further information about what’s going to happen to the property or the farmers. More than 30,000 people have signed the petition to stop the expropriation of Wilmot farmland. Let me tell you, they are sick of this government’s lack of transparency. The federation of agriculture agrees there must be more transparency, more fairness for these farmers.

Maybe the next answer to this question come could from the Premier, who is sitting right here, and they could actually mention farmers for a change. Is the Premier ignoring farmers so he can make another backroom deal with developers to carve up our farmland?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats. The member for Brampton North will come to order.

Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: In order for all of these communities in Ontario to get in on the pipeline of tens of billions of dollars, the Premier’s instructions to municipalities were, “Get your shovel-ready sites assembled.”

Look at what happened in St. Thomas: 1,500 acres, no expropriation. Let’s go down to Windsor and look at the NextStar plant. Here we have a community of Windsor that assembled their land: 2,500 direct jobs, tens of thousands of indirect jobs all happening in the Windsor area. We’ve already been back down in Windsor twice now to announce other companies who are part of that NextStar. DS, Bobaek: These are companies who are now hiring hundreds and thousands of people because they assembled their land in Windsor, because they assembled their lands at Volkswagen in St. Thomas, with no expropriation.

This is what’s happening. This is what’s happening all across Ontario. We have tens of billions of dollars of investment that want to come here to create jobs.

Post-secondary education

Ms. Peggy Sattler: My question is to the Premier. The committee reviewing Bill 166 has heard repeated concerns about the alarming overreach of the bill in empowering the minister to unilaterally dictate the contents of post-secondary policies on student mental health and racism and hate on campus. So it was quite a relief last week to hear the Premier say that he agreed Bill 166 went too far, because universities are legislated to govern themselves.

Unfortunately, the Premier issued a statement a few hours later announcing his support for the bill after all. Speaker, can the Premier tell us what happened to make him change his mind?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Minister of Colleges and Universities.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you to the member for that question, and I want to thank all members of this House for unanimously passing second reading of Bill 166.

I assume we all agree on ensuring that students are safe on campus, and we stand committed to ensuring that students are safe and supported on campuses across Ontario—free from intimidation, from discrimination.

Unfortunately, we have seen horrific instances of hate on campuses across Ontario, which is why our government is taking the necessary steps to support students and their education from the time they walk on a campus until the time they graduate, which means delivering a safe and supportive environment that is conducive to learning. It is my expectation that schools step up for students. And when it comes to the safety and well-being of students, providing anything but the best falls short.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: We’re going to try to fix the bill tomorrow, but I can tell the minister that it’s not lack of policy; it’s lack of resources that it is leaving post-secondary students without support.

Not only does Bill 166 permit unprecedented political interference in the autonomy of universities, putting the government in conflict with each of Ontario’s universities acts, but it could also conflict with the Ontario Human Rights Code. This government already lost in court once over its attempt to use ministerial directives to dictate university policies on student fees.

Instead of spending public dollars on a lost-cause court challenge, why won’t this government invest in the mental health and anti-racism support that post-secondary students need?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats.

Minister of Colleges and Universities.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: We are committed to fighting hate on campuses. We have many young people in our crowd here today. We are committed to ensuring that campuses in Ontario are safe and free from discrimination and intimidation. All students in this province deserve a right to a safe learning environment.

I’d like to read a quote from Michael Levitt, the president and CEO from Friends of Simon Wiesenthal: “Given the surge in hatred and discriminatory behaviour on campus in recent months, particularly against Jewish students and faculty, it’s essential all colleges in Ontario and universities have specific policies in place to combat all forms of bigotry. We welcome the Strengthening Accountability and Student Supports Act and applaud this timely action by the Ontario government.”

I want to thank all members for unanimously passing second reading and I would appreciate your support on third reading and ensuring that students in this province have a safe learning environment, which they have the right to.

Taxation

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: I have a question for the Minister of Energy. Families in Ontario and in Niagara West are struggling to keep up with the soaring cost for essentials like fuel, food and heating, directly linked to the 23% increase in the carbon tax that came into effect under the Liberal government from Ottawa.

We know that when I go door-knocking in Niagara West, I hear from these hard-working families and job creators in my riding about the increased cost directly linked to the carbon tax. I know that the Liberal and NDP members in this chamber, when they knock on doors in their communities, hear the exact same stories from people who are having to choose about the essentials because of the cost that is driven by the federal Liberal carbon tax.

To this date, though, we see that the other parties in this chamber refuse to join our government in condemning the Trudeau Liberal carbon tax increases, which is shameful when we look at the hard-working families of our province.

I’m wondering, could this minister tell this House why it’s so important that we scrap the carbon tax and put more money back into the pockets of hard-working Ontarians?

Hon. Todd Smith: Thanks to the great member from Niagara for the question this morning on the federal carbon tax, supported by Ontario’s Liberal leader, the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, which is driving up the price of everything.

We know very well, because we’ve been talking about it for months, Mr. Speaker—and we have a plan here in Ontario. Just last week, as part of our Powering Ontario’s Growth plan, I was down in Niagara Falls, the member’s own riding, at the Sir Adam Beck facility, where we announced the refurbishment of 1.7 gigawatts of hydroelectric power at the Niagara facilities. Just this morning, I was at a great conference down at the Sheraton, where they are having the First Nations Major Projects conference.

It was a huge conference where First Nations from right across the province are powering Ontario’s growth by partnering with us on our power projects like battery storage projects and other non-emitting generators.

Mr. Speaker, we’re proving that you don’t need a punitive carbon tax. It’s time to scrap that tax.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question.

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: My thanks to the minister for his response. Speaker, it’s undeniable that the Liberal carbon tax is having a negative impact on so many lives here in the province of Ontario, making life more and more unaffordable across this nation. In fact, we’ve heard both the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the governor of the Bank of Canada say that the carbon tax is inflationary. We know that the people of Ontario are struggling because of the Liberal tax increases from the federal government, and we know that no one should be forced to make gut-wrenching decisions about whether to put food on the table or heat their home.

I know that this government, under the leadership of our Premier Ford, will continue to hold the federal Liberals accountable when it comes to this terrible tax, but we are the only ones in this Legislature, it seems, who are willing to stand up for the hard-working folks in our ridings and demand accountability from the federal Liberals.

Speaker, could the minister please explain once again to this chamber what our government is doing to fight this job-killing tax and support the people of our province?

Hon. Todd Smith: Speaker, we continue to fight the federal carbon tax, which is driving up the price of everything in our province, fully supported by the Ontario Liberal leader, the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie.

Now we have the Powering Ontario’s Growth plan, which we released last summer, and the proof is in the pudding. Last week, I was at a great announcement in Cambridge at BWXT—I know Premier Ford was there, as well, later in the day—an $80-million expansion at the BWXT plant, creating over 200 jobs.

It’s all part of our clean, non-emitting nuclear investments that we’re making in the small modular reactors at Darlington and the refurbishment of the large reactors at Bruce and at Pickering and at Darlington, and don’t forget about the new 4.8 gigawatts that we’re investing in large nuclear at Bruce. That’s a huge announcement that is going to ensure we have clean, non-emitting, reliable and affordable energy for decades to come.

We don’t need this punitive carbon tax in Ontario—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The next question.

Municipal restructuring

Ms. Catherine Fife: This question is for the Premier. When the government takes one step forward and two steps back, it’s the rest of us who have to bear the consequences. This government has wasted hours in this House pushing through unfair and undemocratic legislation only to spend hours reversing those decisions because of public pressure. Now we’re learning, despite the reversal of the decision to break up Peel region, the provincially appointed board is costing taxpayers $1.5 million.

Why are Peel taxpayers stuck with a bill for $1.5 million over this government’s flip-flops?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Actually, just the opposite: What we’re doing, of course—the parliamentary assistant is leading a regional governance review across our fastest-growing regions. The goal of not only the Peel transition but the regional governance review is to ensure that we can build the infrastructure that is needed to get shovels in the ground. That is what we’re hearing from our partners across municipalities, not only in Peel and in the fastest-growing regions of the province but all over the province.

That is precisely why the Minister of Infrastructure, supported by this caucus and the Minister of Finance, brought forward a groundbreaking, frankly—no pun intended—$1.8 billion program to build infrastructure. The work of the transition committee is to help us unleash that even further not only in Peel but in other areas of the province.

I look forward to the work they’re doing, but, more importantly, we look forward to the opportunities to continue to build infrastructure so that we get more homes built across the province of Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question.

Ms. Catherine Fife: Municipal leaders are so fed up. The uncertainty is costing taxpayers millions of dollars, and the region is no better off than they were months ago. All this government has done is create instability and line the pockets of the transition board hand-picked by this Premier.

The board charged taxpayers $858,000 for six months’ work between July and December of last year, and then they charged $635,000 for work for three months between January and March 5. This is good work, I guess, if you can get it. It is unclear who is getting paid, for what, and how much.

Can the Premier clarify what the people are paying $1.5 million for?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Well, Mr. Speaker, I don’t know what municipal leaders she’s talking to, because the ones that I’ve been talking to—I know that the Premier was just at the Ontario’s Big City Mayors conference on the weekend, and he was resoundingly congratulated for the work to get more shovels in the ground, for the $1.8 billion worth of infrastructure investments that we’re making.

We’ve heard that everywhere that we have gone. We have heard the exact same message: that this government is finally listening. After 15 long, dark years under the previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, this government understands that the best way to support our municipalities is to let them do the jobs that they were elected to do.

What they have said to us overwhelmingly, and I’m sure the Premier understood this message, as did the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Infrastructure: Get more shovels in the ground by building sewer and water capacity; build communities by bringing them schools, transit and transportation. That is what we are doing across the province of Ontario.

That is why there are more Conservatives representing more municipalities across the province of Ontario than at any other time in the province’s history and why that party continues to shrink to irrelevance.

Taxation

Ms. Patrice Barnes: My question is for the Minister of Finance. The federal carbon tax is creating financial pressure for Ontario families, who are being forced to pay more for everyday essentials. Small and medium-sized businesses in Ajax tell me that they are concerned about rising energy bills and fuel costs. Business owners are seeing soaring expenses affect their bottom line, threatening their livelihood and that of their employees. This really must come to an end.

While the carbon tax queen, Bonnie Crombie, stands with her federal buddies, our government will always support hard-working people of this province.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government is helping Ontarians cope with rising costs driven by the carbon tax?

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: Thank you to the member from Ajax for that question. We know things are hard for the people of Ontario right now. High interest rates and high inflation are driving up the cost of food, driving up the cost of gas. Even the Bank of Canada has said the carbon tax drives up inflation, yet somehow, the Liberals continue to support it. The government should be working together to drive down the costs for Ontario families. That’s why our government is keeping costs down by extending our gas tax cut until the end of year and helping Ontario families save hundreds of dollars.

But we need the federal government to do their part. I’ll renew another call I made before, the Premier has made before, all of us have made before to the federal government: Join us in driving down the cost of living in ending the carbon tax once and for all.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question.

Ms. Patrice Barnes: Thank you to the minister for the response. The federal Liberals are fuelling the affordability crisis with their tax hikes, and to make matters worse, rather than standing up for their constituents, their provincial counterparts are supporting this price gouging federal carbon tax. This is unacceptable. Our government must continue to keep costs down for families and businesses while calling for an end to this costly tax.

Just a few weeks ago, the minister delivered a budget that is continuing our plan to build a better Ontario while ensuring people keep money in their pockets.

Speaker, back to the minister: If the Ontario Liberals won’t help and the federal Liberals won’t listen, what is our government doing to build a better future for Ontarians and our province’s economy?

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: Thank you again to the member from Ajax—my neighbour—for the great job you do for the constituents of Ajax.

It’s very simple, Mr. Speaker: You cannot tax your way to prosperity. There are two types of governments. There are the ones that raise taxes and add tolls and increase the cost of living, and there are the ones that cut costs, ban tolls and put money back in the hard-working pockets of the people of Ontario. And, under this Premier, I am more than proud to be part of the second group. In our budget, we delivered historic new cost-saving measures and are providing billions in savings across the province. But politics is a team sport. We are seeing the price of gas spike across the province, and we all know why.

So, to the federal Liberals, to the queen of the carbon tax, to that party over there: Join us in making life more affordable for Ontarians and finally scrap the carbon tax.

Cancer screening

MPP Jill Andrew: Bishop Brigante, a local hip-hop artist and actor, is fighting stage 4 colorectal cancer. He’s 45 years old and was diagnosed last fall. Bishop had symptoms earlier, yet they were dismissed. He has started a petition with 30,000 signatures from people who, like him, are demanding this government lower the current colonoscopy colorectal screening age criteria of 50.

The Minister of Health has indicated that their ColonCancerCheck program is “actively monitoring” colorectal cancer and will evaluate program recommendations—such as screening age criteria—based on new and emerging data.

My question is to the Premier. Can the government explain to Bishop and other late-stage metastasized colon cancer patients in their twenties, thirties and forties what new and emerging data this government is waiting for?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: We will continue to rely on clinical advice, clinical feedback to ensure we have the best cancer screening in the province of Ontario.

And I have to say that while it is very disturbing when we hear examples of individuals who are dealing with a colon cancer treatment and diagnosis early in their stages, we have some of the most exceptional clinicians in the province of Ontario.

Yes, we will continue to monitor, using the experts at Colon Cancer Ontario and Cancer Care Ontario, to ensure that, as emerging evidence comes forward, it is the most appropriate pathway for diagnosis and treatment. We will be there, as we were when we announced last year a decrease in when access for breast cancer was announced and will start in September of this year.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): And the supplementary question.

MPP Jill Andrew: The experts at Colorectal Cancer Canada, Canadian Cancer Society and Sunnybrook Health Science Centre’s Young Adult Colorectal Clinic have noted the rise in people under 50 with colorectal cancer.

Colorectal Cancer Canada says that diagnoses “rapidly climbed in recent years,” and referred to it in a recent news story as an “alarming reality.” And many would add that this rise is especially acute for racialized, Indigenous, Black, people of colour, but this government does not collect race-based data. We’ve asked for this for many, many, many years.

My question is back to the Premier: Can this government share with all Ontarians, including BIPOC Ontarians in their twenties, thirties and forties fighting colorectal cancer, if they are prepared to lower the age criteria for a colonoscopy, and if not, what is their provincial plan for early detection to help save lives like Bishop and countless others?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats.

The Minister of Health.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: I’m not sure if the member opposite is suggesting that the $2 billion that we fund Cancer Care Ontario to allow hospitals across Ontario to provide exceptional cancer treatment is not what she thinks is appropriate. I believe that we must continue to rely on clinicians, to rely on expert data to drive our decisions.

I will not put the risk of people of Ontario into suggesting that these are political decisions. They must be made by experts, by our specialists, by our clinicians working in the field. I will continue to rely on their expertise because, frankly, our numbers show that we are doing an excellent job in Ontario, including, of course, making changes that increase access to cancer treatment in Ontario.

Office of the Premier

Mr. John Fraser: Last week, I sent the Premier a can of gravy to symbolize the runaway gravy train that is his office, more that than doubling his budget to $6.9 million, going from 20 to 48 people on the sunshine list.

The average salary of the Premier’s sunshine staff is twice that of the median family income in Ontario—not individual; family income. For those families, life is more expensive than under any other Premier in Ontario’s history. So Speaker, how is the Premier’s runaway gravy train helping Ontario families at all?

Hon. Doug Ford: It’s very hard to take the member seriously. This is the person that invented the gravy train. His government ran the gravy train right into the ground, losing 300,000 jobs from this province. Talk to the 300,000 people that don’t have a paycheque because of his government, supported by the NDP.

Talk about what we’re doing today: Over 700,000 more people are bringing home a paycheque because of our policies. We’re building new hospitals in the province. We’re building new long-term care. We are building the largest subway expansion in North America. We’re building roads and highway and bridges.

Our economy right now is one of the strongest in North America, one of the strongest in the world. We have become an economic powerhouse—no matter if it’s the EV batteries or being the number one in the world when it comes to having six of the largest auto manufacturers right here. That’s what—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. The supplementary question.

Mr. John Fraser: Thank you to the Premier for that answer. But I hear there are rumours of a shuffle, because apparently some cabinet ministers are applying for jobs in the Premier’s office. It pays better. The bonus is, they get to tell other ministers what to say and what to do every day.

The truth is, the Premier’s gravy train is leaving Ontario families behind. Every day, more and more families are forced to use their credit card instead of their OHIP card. Rent is skyrocketing because there’s no real rent control. Small landlords are being bankrupted by delays at the Landlord and Tenant Board, and now we hear that the Premier wants to start charging people for testing their well water.

So, Speaker, when will the Premier and his office stop the gravy train and stop leaving Ontario families behind?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

The Premier.

Hon. Doug Ford: Well, Mr. Speaker, there’s been no government that’s taken more money out of people’s pockets than the government you are under. There’s no leader in this province that wants to charge people more on the carbon tax than the queen of carbon tax. The one who came up with the carbon tax wants to make sure we keep it, wants to come back with a cap-and-trade, increase gas prices by 19.5 cents per litre.

You know, Mr. Speaker, the gravy train was going full steam under this government. We’re the only government—think of this—that has never raised a tax. We reduced taxes. We got rid of the licence registration. We cut tolls on the 412 and 418. We reduced the gas price by 10.7 cents a litre.

We’re going to continue putting money back into people’s pockets, unlike the Liberals and NDP. They know one thing: tax and spend.

Taxation

Ms. Laura Smith: My question is for the Minister of Energy. At a time when families across Ontario struggle to cover their basic living expenses, the federal carbon tax is an additional burden to their already stretched budgets. Despite the hardship people in Ontario are going through, the Liberals, led by the carbon tax queen, Bonnie Crombie, and the opposition NDP, want to triple this tax by 2030.

Speaker, Ontarians need urgent relief from the negative impacts of this devastating tax. And despite the Liberals’ persistent advocacy for higher taxes, our government understands the need to alleviate financial pressure and deliver real affordability for the people of this province.

Speaker, can the minister please tell the House what actions our government is taking to combat the carbon tax?

Hon. Todd Smith: Thanks to the member from Thornhill. As a matter of fact, we’ve done a lot: We’ve reduced the gas tax until the end of the year, we brought in One Fare. The great minister of One Fare with great hair, he introduced that earlier this year, saving those who take transit $1,600 a year. We have never raised a tax, as the Premier just said, or a fee.

Now, you’ve got the Liberals over here, led by the queen of the carbon tax, who are in full support of the federal carbon tax that—you know, this is like déjà vu all over again, Mr. Speaker. I remember standing in this House as an opposition member when those Liberals brought in the Green Energy Act, and all we saw were tail lights headed for the US, as 300,000 jobs left for the southern part of the United States.

Now, they’re doing it again at the federal level with the carbon tax. They’re doing their best to stop the work that’s happening in here, those 700,000 new jobs that have come to Ontario since Premier Ford and our government have taken office. We’re on the right tack—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question.

Ms. Laura Smith: Thank you to the minister for his response and his dedicated work within his portfolio.

On April 1, the federal Liberals, alongside their NDP allies, enacted a staggering 23% carbon tax. That’s crazy. This is unacceptable, Speaker.

This tax hike inflicts further harm on families across Ontario, forcing an additional 17.6 cents per litre to their gas bills. It’s not surprising that Ontarians across this province oppose this unjust measure. But it’s unfortunate that the Liberal and the NDP members in this House care more about playing politics than advocating on behalf of the people they represent.

Speaker, Ontarians need relief. The federal government needs to abolish the carbon tax now. Could the minister please elaborate on how this recent tax hike imposed by the Liberals is adversely affecting Ontarians?

Hon. Todd Smith: Well, Speaker, just like the Green Energy Act did with the Liberals previous, the federal carbon tax is driving people into energy poverty. We just heard the Minister of Finance talking about the impact that it’s having. And the Bank of Canada affirms everything and the environmental commissioner in Ottawa has also said that the federal Liberals’ plan, supported by the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, isn’t working. That’s why we’ve released a different plan. It’s called Powering Ontario’s Growth, and we’re seeing the results. We’re reducing emissions from our energy sector.

I mentioned last week I was down in Niagara Falls for that massive refurbishment announcement. We have massive refurbishments going on at our Candu nuclear facilities at Darlington and also at Bruce, and about to get under way at Pickering. That’s going to ensure affordable, safe, reliable energy for the next 30 to 40 years.

As a result of those investments, including the small modular reactors we’re building at Darlington—last Friday, I was with MPPs Riddell and Dixon in Cambridge, and we saw an $80-million expansion at BWXT: 250 new jobs. That’s on top of all of the jobs that these refurbishments are creating.

We have a plan for Ontario. It’s working, and it—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much.

The next question.

Energy policies

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Speaker, to the Premier: Today is Earth Day. The Premier’s Bill 165 will increase people’s Enbridge bills and force them to finance expansion of the gas system. That will mean people will be poorer and the world’s climate will get hotter.

This Earth Day, will the Premier abandon Bill 165 in order to protect people’s pocketbooks and avoid climate disasters?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Energy.

Hon. Todd Smith: Mr. Speaker, I just answered a question about all of the things that our government is doing to ensure that we have clean, reliable, safe, affordable energy for our province going forward. That includes multi-billion-dollar refurbishments that are happening at Bruce and OPG’s Darlington station and multi-billion-dollar investments at Pickering, something that that member is opposed to. He’s opposed to the 76,000 jobs in our nuclear sector and the baseload power that comes from those facilities, providing up to 60% of our power every day.

We rely on natural gas in our province, Mr. Speaker. Over 70% of homes—do you know what they’re heated by? Natural gas, something that member would pull out of people’s homes tomorrow if he had the chance. We’re going to ensure, through Bill 165, that we keep energy costs affordable, and we’re going to keep all of the new homes that we’re building in Ontario affordable as well, something that the NDP is opposed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Again to the Premier: Your actions to increase gas-burning in homes and in the electricity system will mean higher bills for everyone. Your actions make it impossible to meet even your inadequate plans for reducing carbon pollution. We all know that rising costs and rising temperatures will make life much harder for people.

Again, this Earth Day, will the Premier abandon Bill 165 and protect people’s pocketbooks and futures instead of Enbridge’s profits?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will take their seats.

Minister of Energy.

Hon. Todd Smith: Mr. Speaker, it’s absolutely ludicrous to have the NDP standing up and talking about affordable energy. Nobody in this country believes it. The NDP are supporting Prime Minister Trudeau on the federal carbon tax. They’re going to do it again when they reinforce or vote in favour of the budget in a couple of weeks’ time on Parliament Hill. That’s driving people into energy poverty.

They supported the Green Energy Act that the previous provincial Liberals brought forward, and we know how the current Liberal leader, the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, feels about the federal carbon tax. It’s driving people into energy poverty as well.

Our Powering Ontario’s Growth plan will ensure that we have non-emitting baseload power going forward that our province can count on, to see the type of investments that we have been seeing under the leadership of Premier Ford and our Minister of Economic Development, Minister Fedeli, out there beating the bushes and bringing back billions of dollars of investments into our EV, EV battery and manufacturing jobs, back to this province.

Taxation

Mr. Kevin Holland: My question is for the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The Liberal carbon tax hurts Ontario farmers and limits their potential to grow our agricultural and food industry. Since the implementation of this punitive tax in 2019, our farmers have seen production costs increase exponentially.

People in my riding of Thunder Bay–Atikokan and all across the province rely on Ontario farmers to grow high-quality, healthy food for their families. It’s not fair that the federal Liberals are continuing to punish farmers who already use environmentally responsible practices with a tax that does absolutely nothing to reduce emissions. They need to scrap the tax now.

Speaker, can the minister please share what she has heard directly from Ontario farmers about the impact of the carbon tax on their businesses?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: I’m pleased to rise in the House today and first and foremost acknowledge the great member from Thunder Bay–Atikokan, who’s doing a beautiful job advocating for his riding as well as all of northern Ontario.

We’re meeting with farmers every day, and just a couple of weeks ago, Drew Spoelstra, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, joined the Premier and myself and the President of the Treasury Board at a rally in Holland Marsh. Drew spoke to people and shared that he dried 2,200 tons of grain last fall and it cost him $4,500 in carbon tax alone—and that was before the 23% increase that we realized as of April 1.

Drew explained that the carbon tax makes Ontario farmers less competitive against imports and it also makes Ontario products less competitive around the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, Beef Farmers of Ontario are in the House today and the chair of the BFO shared earlier this morning that 40% of all beef produced in Ontario is exported. So, for goodness’ sake, we need to be doing everything we can to make sure that Ontario farmers are competitive, not only in Ontario and North America but around the world.

The queen of the carbon tax needs to jam on the brakes of that minivan and—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Supplementary.

Mr. Kevin Holland: Thank you to the minister for that response. I know my constituents will be pleased to hear that, unlike the federal Liberals and their provincial buddies, our government is actually listening to farmers in Ontario.

The carbon tax harms hard-working individuals, business and farmers, but, Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps saying that farmers are exempted from the carbon tax. As we just heard from the minister, that is not the case. Ontarians won’t be fooled by the Liberals’ money-grabbing schemes and their carbon tax.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how the federal carbon tax is negatively impacting Ontario’s farmers?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: We need to get something straight here in the House today. There’s been a lot of rhetoric that farmers are exempted, but the fact of the matter is, the only thing exempted on an Ontario farm today is the diesel used in tractors—coloured fuel. And the fact of the matter is, we need propane, we need natural gas on our farms to heat our barns and to also dry down our crops in the fall.

Greenhouses are really getting hit hard. Drew, the president of OFA, also explained that one greenhouse relied on natural gas and their total energy bill of $13,614 included nearly $4,000 in carbon tax alone—and, again, that was before the April 1 increase.

Ladies and gentlemen, there’s one way that we can stand by farmers in Ontario, and it’s by joining together and telling the queen of the carbon tax to get to Ottawa and tell those federal Liberals once and for all to scrap the tax.

Employment supports

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: My question is to the Premier. Employment service providers help job seekers find meaningful long-term careers, helping people break the cycle of poverty and homelessness.

Employment services funding has been stagnant for well over a decade. Why?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

Hon. David Piccini: Speaker, that’s just categorically not true. We increased employment services’ funding when we led employment service transformation across Ontario.

But, Speaker, to look at that in isolation would be doing a disservice—a disservice to the hundreds of thousands of—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m going to ask the minister to withdraw the unparliamentary comment.

Hon. David Piccini: Withdrawn.

It would be doing a disservice to the hundreds of thousands of men and women trained through the Skills Development Fund for better jobs with a bigger paycheque. We’ve been helping racialized, marginalized, socio-economically disadvantaged groups all across Ontario have access to a meaningful job, Speaker.

And I visited the justice-affected individuals at Oaks Revitalization centre. I’m meeting with them—I think it’s this week or next, Speaker—to talk first-hand with men and women literally who have had run-ins with justice, but today, thanks to this Premier, this government, they are taxpaying members of society working on the front lines of skilled trades.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: Perhaps the minister should talk to the providers and read the notes that they prepared, not the notes that the government prepares for him.

The numbers speak for themselves. When people have help finding good, stable jobs, it represents savings for the province and happy, productive lives. Yet ESPs are now being forced to take over Ontario Works responsibilities on top of their core mandate to help people find work.

Why do Conservatives always expect hard-working people on the front line to do more with less?

Hon. David Piccini: Again, the only people in this House who want these men and women to do more with less is the NDP, because they voted, every time, against budget measures that have put more funding into programs like the Skills Development Fund.

I would encourage that member to join me in the union training halls in his own riding, look them in the face and explain to those business reps why he voted against SDF funding that’s helping people who are out of work get access to a job. It’s because he doesn’t want to build the hospitals. He doesn’t want to build the schools. He wants misery. He wants government handouts. He doesn’t want to give these people a leg-up.

That’s what we’re doing with this government. We’re giving people dignity and purpose, and I’m proud of it.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. The next question.

Taxation

Mr. Rick Byers: My question is for the Solicitor General. It’s no secret that Ontarians are fed up with the Liberal carbon tax. It’s driving up the cost of living and forcing Ontarians to pay more at the gas pumps.

But, Speaker, people in my riding are concerned about the impact of this regressive tax on our public safety system. They know that the Liberal carbon tax is draining resources that should be better spent on protecting their communities. Our first responders deserve support and resources to keep people safe instead of paying for additional fuel costs because of the carbon tax.

Speaker, can the Solicitor General explain the effects that the carbon tax is having on law enforcement in Ontario?

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: I want to thank my friend for that serious question.

I’ve said this before. The unnecessary carbon tax has an impact on public safety. When police services, when animal welfare departments, when other departments within governments and across Ontario have to spend money for the carbon tax, it means that they are diverting resources that they could use to keep our communities safe.

Mr. Speaker, let me be specific about our great firefighters. These are amazing people. All we ask of them is that they come home safe at the end of the day to their families. The 21 cents a litre for diesel is affecting every fill-up. It means that $60 of a fill-up on a fire truck, on average, is just for the carbon tax—on average, $8,000 a year. Do the math all across Ontario.

Bonnie Crombie was the mayor of Mississauga. She knew the fire department budget in Mississauga. She should do the right thing and be honest with Ontarians.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question.

Mr. Rick Byers: Thank you to the minister for his response. It’s disheartening to hear how the carbon tax puts a strain on our public safety system. Ever since the carbon tax came into effect in 2019, it has increased the cost of the very institutions that help keep Ontarians safe.

Speaker, our government has promised to protect what matters most, and few things matter more than the security of our communities. We want our police, firefighters, paramedics, corrections officers and our front-line responders to be able to continue providing the potentially life-saving services we rely on. That’s why we will continue to fight the federal carbon tax.

Speaker, can the Solicitor General please explain what our government is doing to fight increased costs to community safety services caused by the imposition of a burdensome federal carbon tax?

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: Our goal has been clear, to keep Ontario safe. But, Mr. Speaker, it means that the resources need to be provided—to the police services, as an example—across Ontario. It means that $4 million-plus of the OPP budget is being used to pay the carbon tax. It is so simple to understand.

I said this last week: Bonnie Crombie sat on the Peel Police Service Board. She knew the numbers. It’s a fact that Peel police have to pay the carbon tax on their vehicles, just like everywhere in Ontario. Let her come clean and say she knows this, and that she’ll call her friends Justin and Jagmeet and say, “This is punitive to public safety. Cancel that tax.”

Water quality

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: My question is to the Minister of Health. Despite recent assurances that there have been no changes to water testing, communities like Niagara depend heavily on Public Health Ontario’s free drinking water testing. They need to know the minister is committed to keeping those labs open.

Last Friday, the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority urged a reconsideration of the plan to close those labs and essential services. They pointed to Niagara’s high instances of bacterial contamination—a revelation only made available because of PHO’s free water testing program.

Can the minister explain why the discontinuation is still under consideration when so many experts are telling you it’s a big mistake?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Speaker, this is going to be the third time: To be clear, there are no changes, where the people of Ontario can get their well water tested for free in the province of Ontario.

I grew up on well water; I know how important it is. There are many people in this chamber who understand the value and importance of why and when we test public well water in the province of Ontario.

I want to remind the member opposite that this was actually a report that came out from an independent officer of the assembly, the Auditor General. And the last time I checked, the Auditor General does not impose and set policy on the people of Ontario; we do that.

As a government, we have been very clear that there are no changes anticipated in well water testing.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question.

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: The Niagara Peninsula SPC expressed significant concern that discontinuing PHO’s free drinking water testing program will negatively impact Ontario residents. In fact, their request to keep the labs open and maintain government responsibility for essential services is more than advice from the experts; it’s a recommendation that was made by the Walkerton inquiry.

Given your previous assurances that no changes have been made to the water testing program, can you clarify why the government is not completely committed to keeping these labs open, ensuring the health and water quality for our families and children across Ontario remain safe?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Speaker, I’m going to try to draw a picture here. The Auditor General makes a recommendation. That recommendation is assessed, reviewed, and Public Health Ontario looks at it. Public Health Ontario perhaps, perhaps not, makes a recommendation to the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health makes a recommendation, makes an assessment and decides to proceed or not proceed.

There has been no recommendation from Public Health Ontario to the Ministry of Health. I don’t know how much clearer I can be. When we do not have a review ongoing—I am not going to tell the member opposite that we are going to do or not do.

We will continue to test the well water in the province of Ontario. We’ve had it for decades. I grew up with it. It is a system that many of us understand the value and importance of in rural Ontario because we lived it every single day. We’re going to continue that process.

Taxation

Ms. Donna Skelly: My question is for the Associate Minister of Small Business. Ontario’s vibrant tourism and hospitality sector is one of the cornerstones of my local community and our economy, contributing billions of dollars in revenue and sustaining countless jobs right across Ontario. However, the prosperity of this critical industry is being threatened by the Liberal carbon tax. From skyrocketing fuel costs for transportation to soaring energy bills for hotels and restaurants, this dreaded tax is imposing severe financial strain on small businesses right across our province. That’s not fair.

Our government will continue to support Ontario’s small businesses and ensure their concerns are heard.

Speaker, through you, can the minister tell the House the devastating consequences that this regressive tax is having on Ontario’s tourism and hospitality operators?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The parliamentary assistant.

Mr. Stéphane Sarrazin: Thank you to my colleague for the excellent question. Our government recognizes the profound importance of Ontario’s tourism and hospitality sector, which showcases the best of our province to visitors from around the world. In 2022, Ontario welcomed over half of all international visits to Canada, generating $38 billion of tourism revenue.

Unfortunately, the opposition seems content to sit idly by while their tax-friendly allies in Ottawa strangle small businesses in this industry with the suffocating carbon tax. From picturesque bed and breakfasts in rural communities to iconic restaurants in our urban centres, these small businesses are being under crushed under the weight of exorbitant costs, especially with summer around the corner—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much.

That concludes our question period for this morning.

Notice of dissatisfaction

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Pursuant to standing order 36(a), the member for Ottawa South has given notice of dissatisfaction with the answer to their question given by the Premier regarding the Premier’s office budget. This matter will be debated tomorrow following private members’ public business.

Deferred Votes

Fewer Backlogs and Less Partisan Tribunals Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur la réduction des retards et de la partisanerie dans les tribunaux

Deferred vote on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 179,

An Act to establish the Adjudicative Tribunal Justice Council and to improve the transparency, independence and capacities of administrative tribunals / Projet de loi 179, Loi visant à créer le Conseil de justice régissant les tribunaux décisionnels et à améliorer la transparence, l’indépendance et les capacités des tribunaux décisionnels.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Call in the members. This will be a five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1141 to 1146.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats.

On April 18, 2024, Mr. Hsu moved second reading of Bill 179,

An Act to establish the Adjudicative Tribunal Justice Council and to improve the transparency, independence and capacities of administrative tribunals.

All those in favour, please rise and remain standing until recognized by the Clerk.

Ayes

Andrew, Jill

Armstrong, Teresa J.

Bell, Jessica

Blais, Stephen

Bourgouin, Guy

Brady, Bobbi Ann

Clancy, Aislinn

Fife, Catherine

Fraser, John

Gates, Wayne

Gélinas, France

Gretzky, Lisa

Harden, Joel

Hazell, Andrea

Hsu, Ted

Karpoche, Bhutila

Kernaghan, Terence

Mamakwa, Sol

Mantha, Michael

McCrimmon, Karen

McMahon, Mary-Margaret

Pasma, Chandra

Rakocevic, Tom

Sattler, Peggy

Schreiner, Mike

Shamji, Adil

Stevens, Jennifer (Jennie)

Stiles, Marit

Tabuns, Peter

Taylor, Monique

Vanthof, John

Vaugeois, Lise

West, Jamie

Wong-Tam, Kristyn

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): All those opposed will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Nays

Anand, Deepak

Babikian, Aris

Barnes, Patrice

Bethlenfalvy, Peter

Bresee, Ric

Byers, Rick

Calandra, Paul

Cho, Raymond Sung Joon

Clark, Steve

Coe, Lorne

Crawford, Stephen

Cuzzetto, Rudy

Dixon, Jess

Dowie, Andrew

Dunlop, Jill

Fedeli, Victor

Ford, Michael D.

Gallagher Murphy, Dawn

Ghamari, Goldie

Grewal, Hardeep Singh

Hardeman, Ernie

Harris, Mike

Hogarth, Christine

Holland, Kevin

Jones, Sylvia

Jones, Trevor

Jordan, John

Kanapathi, Logan

Ke, Vincent

Kerzner, Michael S.

Khanjin, Andrea

Leardi, Anthony

Lecce, Stephen

Lumsden, Neil

MacLeod, Lisa

Martin, Robin

McCarthy, Todd J.

McGregor, Graham

Mulroney, Caroline

Oosterhoff, Sam

Pang, Billy

Parsa, Michael

Piccini, David

Pierre, Natalie

Pirie, George

Quinn, Nolan

Rae, Matthew

Rasheed, Kaleed

Riddell, Brian

Sabawy, Sheref

Sandhu, Amarjot

Sarrazin, Stéphane

Saunderson, Brian

Scott, Laurie

Skelly, Donna

Smith, Dave

Smith, David

Smith, Graydon

Smith, Laura

Smith, Todd

Surma, Kinga

Thanigasalam, Vijay

Thompson, Lisa M.

Triantafilopoulos, Effie J.

Wai, Daisy

Williams, Charmaine A.

Yakabuski, John

The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Trevor Day): The ayes are 34; the nays are 67.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I declare the motion lost.

Second reading negatived.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): There being no further business this morning, this House stands in recess until 1 p.m.

The House recessed from 1150 to 1300.

Estimates

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I recognize the President of the Treasury Board on a point of order.

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: Mr. Speaker, I have a message from the Honourable Edith Dumont, the Lieutenant Governor, signed by her own hand.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Lieutenant Governor transmits estimates of certain sums required for the services of the province for the year ending March 31, 2025, and recommends them to the Legislative Assembly.

Members may now take their seats.

Introduction of Visitors

M me France Gélinas: I have some visitors all the way from Foleyet. Joel Theriault is here with Stop the Spray Ontario. I also have a group of Traditional Ecological Knowledge Elders from the Robinson-Huron Treaty territory who are here for the petition: Jodi Koberinski, Caroline Recollet, and Jo Boyer. And we have the coalition of elders, environmentalists, hunters and anglers who say, “Stop the spray,” who will also be joining us momentarily.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Introduction of Bills

1828469 Ontario Inc. Act, 2024

Ms. Ghamari moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr45,

An Act to revive 1828469 Ontario Inc.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Is it the pleasure of the house that the motion carry? Carried.

First reading agreed to.

Petitions

Herbicides

M me France Gélinas: I have with me the signature of 300,000 Ontarians who support this petition. I would like to recognize the work of Elder Caroline Recollet and Jo Boyer from the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Elders in the Robertson-Huron Treaty territory of 1850, as well as—supporting the elders is Jodi Koberinski, who is a PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo. From my riding of Nickel Belt, and more specifically, Foleyet, is Mr. Joel Theriault from Stop the Spray.

“Stop the Spray.”

They want the government of Ontario to realize that there is a wide variety of non-chemical alternatives to what is currently being used to effectively meet vegetation management needs.

Quebec has banned the use of chemical herbicides by their forestry industry since 2001.

We had a report done by the Senate, of the committee at the federal Legislature, that looked at the boreal forest, and they published a report entitled Competing Realities: The Boreal Forest at Risk. The committee recommended that all herbicides and chemical pesticides used in the boreal forest should be phased out as soon as possible. They did that in 1999, 25 years ago, yet here we are in Ontario in 2024 and we still use those chemical herbicides. Don’t get me wrong; they are not being used in southern Ontario. Toronto has banned it. Many areas of the province do not allow chemical herbicides to be used.

But on crown land in northern Ontario, on First Nations territory in northern Ontario, they are used all the time. They are a threat to our environment. They are a threat to the health of the population. Many, many cancers are directly linked to the use of those sprayed herbicides. It doesn’t have to be that way. We have other ways to do this. So they hope for the government to listen.

Ban the use of non-essential chemical herbicides throughout Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I thank the member, but I must remind all members of standing order 42(b): “A member may present a petition in the House during the afternoon routine ‘Petitions.’ The member may make a brief statement summarizing the contents of the petition and indicating the number of signatures attached thereto but shall not read the text of the petition.”

The member did not read the text of the petition; I’m not suggesting that she did. But I would ask the members to keep the presentation of their petitions brief.

Petitions. The member for Sudbury.

Labour legislation

MPP Jamie West: This is a petition about passing anti-scab labour legislation. Basically, the idea is to protect the rights of workers to withdraw their labour. When you’re not able to withdraw your labour effectively, when they’re using replacement scab workers, that means that that work continues and the employer doesn’t feel the pressure to come back to the negotiating table. It creates more conflict on picket lines, as well.

For example, I’m sure, at picket lines, they’re going to want to have this sort of thing in place. The AGO, for example, is using replacement workers; I’m sure those workers would prefer to have it.

There are signatures from Sault Ste. Marie, Brampton, Georgetown, London, so it has strong support across the province.

I support this petition.

They also urge people to support bills such as the one that I tabled, Bill 90, the Anti-Scab Labour Act.

So we could pass this into legislation—very similar that was done at the federal level because of the NDP there.

Ontario Science Centre

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: I have a petition with over [ inaudible ] signatures from residents in my riding of Don Valley West who are against the government’s plan to undermine, downsize and relocate the Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place. The petitioners indicate that this plan, which the government initiated without public consultation, environmental assessment or a sound business rationale, will cause irreparable harm to their community.

The petitioners request that the Legislative Assembly reconsider the decision to relocate the science centre and prioritize renewing the Ontario Science Centre at its current site in Don Mills and ensure thorough public and environmental evaluations of any future proposed changes.

I wholeheartedly endorse this petition and will affix my name to it and ask page Erwin to bring it to the Clerk.

Student safety

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I have a petition that is signed by many parents and residents in London—in particular, from my riding of London West—who are very concerned about the safety of students and staff in our schools. They are calling on increased investment by this Legislative Assembly to take action to address violence in our classrooms.

They want to see an investment in more mental health resources for students, and that’s something we heard from the Ontario Medical Students Association, who are meeting with MPPs today.

Most of all, they want our schools to be properly funded so that class sizes can remain small, so that kids can get the individualized attention that they need—and more support staff in our schools.

I am pleased to affix my signature and will send this petition to the table with page Simon.

Social assistance

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: I have a petition to raise social assistance rates, and we know that—actually, with the goal of doubling OW and ODSP.

We know when we had the CERB program, which was providing a basic income of $2,000 per month, that was very helpful to Ontarians.

People have asked for this for a long time, far and wide, and it has been in many election platforms, and a goal of some parties. There are signatures from all over Ontario asking for this. We know that people are living below the poverty line, and we’re here to help all Ontarians and provide a decent quality of life.

So I will sign my signature to this powerful petition, and I’ll send it with page marvelous Mariam.

Emergency services

M me France Gélinas: I would like to thank Sylvie Courchesne from Garson in my riding for these petitions. The petitions are called “911 Everywhere in Ontario.”

As you know, Speaker, when something goes wrong, when somebody is sick, we know to dial 911. We teach our kids—I’m sure you could ask the pages; they all know, if you’re sick, call 911.

Unfortunately, in many parts of my riding and in many parts of the north, 911 doesn’t work. The service is there—there are ambulance services, there are police officers to come and help you—but you have to remember a 1-800 number that nobody knows, and that 1-800 number changed three times just through my riding.

Ontario is the only province that does not have 911 everywhere. Every other province has made arrangements with Bell Canada so that 911 is available throughout. In Ontario, only municipalities have signed those arrangements. As soon as you’re outside of municipal boundaries, 911 doesn’t work, and most people discover that in a time of need.

So what those people are asking for by signing the petition is, do what every other province in Canada has done. Bring 911 everywhere in Ontario, so that when you visit beautiful northern Ontario, where I live—I don’t wish harm upon you—if something happens and your family dials 911 for you, the ambulance will be there to help you.

Laboratory services

MPP Jamie West: The petition is titled “Keep Our Community PHO Labs Open.” This is, unbelievably, more than 9,000 signatures for these petitions—only some of them are here—in a very short amount of time.

Basically, what they’re concerned about is, there was a recommendation or suggestion that maybe six of the 11 Public Health Ontario labs would be closed. These are the people who do the medical testing, and most people know them from the water testing. The worst crisis was Walkerton, but people have water testing done all the time, especially in rural areas where they have manure that can affect it as runoffs. It’s very important that these are kept open. It would create inequities in rural areas and northern areas.

As well, in pandemics—I know that we always think of COVID-19, but H1N1, for example. Any time there’s an uptake in medical testing of that nature, these smaller public health labs do the runoff of large organizations like Ottawa and Toronto when they can’t keep up to it, which keeps all of us safer.

Like I said before, there are 9,000-plus signatures on this. It’s a very important issue. I’m very happy to hear the Minister of Health say that there is no conversation about closing it—she says “at this time.” So I just want to ensure that she knows how important this is to people right across the province.

I support this petition. I’ll give it to page Lyra for the table.

Health care

M me France Gélinas: I would like to thank Sandra and Bryan Smith from Woodstock, as well as Danielle Brosseau from Hanmer, for these petitions. It’s called “Health Care: Not for Sale.”

As you know, Speaker, medicare is a program that defines us as Canadian, as Ontarians, where the care you need is based on your needs, not on your ability to pay. Unfortunately, more and more of our publicly funded care is delivered by private companies. The private companies exist for one reason: to make money for their shareholders. They do not exist to make sure that you get the care you need. We have seen—the report from Kingston, the reports from different parts of Ontario, show that those companies that deliver care—

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Point of order, Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Point of order: the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Speaker, as per your direction just a moment ago, the synopsis of a petition is supposed to be brief, and not a statement. Thank you for your consideration.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I appreciate the intervention of the minister and again would remind members to keep the

summary of their petition as brief as possible.

The member for Nickel Belt.

M me France Gélinas: As I was saying, medicare is a program that defines us. Care is based on needs, not on ability to pay. When care is delivered by corporate entities, they want to make a profit, so they will sell you add-ons that you don’t know if you need or not, and they will charge you for services that you may need or not. That presents a lot of barriers to care for a lot of people. So they have signed this petition to make sure that our health care services continue to be delivered by not-for-profit agencies.

I fully support them. I will affix my name to it and ask my good page Simon to bring it to the Clerk.

Tuition

MPP Jamie West: These petitions are entitled “Fight the Fees.” There’s a substantial number of students and parents who have signed these.

Basically, what they’re talking about is the high level of tuition in Ontario—the increases of over 200% for undergrads and almost 250% for grad students. The median debt for grads is around $17,000. It’s costing a lot of money to go to school.

As well, there were changes made to OSAP which resulted in about a billion-dollar cut to assistance to students to be able to afford to go to school.

What they want out of this is ultimately to have accessible and free tuition, going to school. They want an increase in grants instead of loans.

And they want to, as well, legislate students’ right to organize. That was a bill that was challenged and lost in court, when they had removed the right for students to organize, but they don’t want to have to challenge this in court on a regular basis—and have it legislated.

I do support this petition. I think it’s very important that our students have accessible access to post-secondary school so they can be successful in the future.

I’ll affix my signature and provide it to page Shylah for the table.

Anti-vaping initiatives for youth

M me France Gélinas: I would like to thank Peter Churan, who is from Blezard Valley in my riding, for signing these petitions. It’s called “Protect Kids from Vaping.”

As you know, Speaker, there are a huge number of underage kids who vape. It is so bad that the Minister of Education is actually spending $3 million to put detectors in the bathrooms of our schools to detect kids vaping at school. It would be a whole lot better to prevent those kids from picking up vaping, and this is what the bill that I have tabled is entitled to do and this is what the petition wants to do.

One of the biggest tools we have to make sure that kids don’t get addicted to nicotine through vaping—because once they’re addicted to nicotine, they will keep buying the products. How do we keep them out of the hands of kids? You ban flavours, and then kids are not attracted to vaping as much as they are now.

I fully support this petition. I will affix my name to it and ask my good page Ryder to bring it to the Clerk.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): That concludes the time we have available for petitions this afternoon.

Orders of the Day

Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 visant à soutenir l’avenir des enfants

Mr. Parsa moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 188,

An Act to amend the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 and various other Acts / Projet de loi 188, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2017 sur les services à l’enfance, à la jeunesse et à la famille et diverses autres lois.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Would the minister care to lead off the debate?

Hon. Michael Parsa: I would. Thank you very much, Speaker.

Good afternoon, colleagues. Today, I’m going to walk you through some exciting changes that will support the futures of some of the most vulnerable children in our province.

Before I begin, I would like to note that I will be sharing my speaking time today with my colleagues and parliamentary assistants, the member for Markham–Thornhill and the member for Thornhill. They will speak to the important foundational work that we have done in recent years.

The new proposals in Bill 188, the Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024, build upon the work that the government has undertaken over the past several years.

Specifically, I’d like to commend the member for Sarnia–Lambton for his years of advocacy on this file. While he’s unable to join us in today’s debate, he has twice been the author of private members’ bills on the subject. His years of hard work have enabled the changes that are currently being proposed, so I want to thank my good friend the member for Sarnia–Lambton, Bob Bailey, for all his great work.

Indeed, this work was only possible with the collaboration and valued input of children, youth and families with lived experiences in our child and youth protection sector, children’s aid societies and service providers in every part of the province. Through many engagements that the ministry held, our partners have taken time to share their insights and their lived experiences.

I do want to thank everyone once again who took the time to share the details with us.

I’d also like to acknowledge the incredible work that the overwhelming majority of our partners do. Their tireless work has a profound and life-long impact on the outcomes of vulnerable children and youth as they transition into adulthood.

I want to acknowledge that many of our child welfare service providers devote their time to delivering high-quality care for children and youth. However, we must also address those who should not have become operators in the first place and those who are not operating in good faith.

Speaker, we are here today because our government will not leave anyone behind. And it is especially important that no child or youth is ever left behind, and that they have every chance to thrive and succeed regardless of their circumstances.

We have heard from our sector partners and communities about the need to implement measures that will better protect the rights of children and youth, that better enhance the quality of services and improve the accountability of service providers. That’s why we have introduced these legislative proposals along with other regulatory and policy changes.

This bill builds on the many initiatives already taken and is another step forward. We will continue to hear from experts, from advocates, from communities to continuously improve services so that all children and youth have a chance to succeed and thrive in every corner of this province. We’re working towards a province where all children, youth and families, including those getting support through Ontario’s children and youth services sector, are empowered with the necessary resources and supports.

Our government’s proposals would, if passed, modernize and standardize important safeguards throughout the children and youth services sector, including stronger licensing enforcement tools to hold bad-faith operators accountable to the high standards and safeguards that are in place to help keep children and youth safe and healthy.

It would also create a framework that would enhance privacy protections of those currently or who were formerly in the child welfare system by further restricting access to protection of records comprised of their personal childhood histories, once regulations are developed.

Likewise, it will enable individuals to speak freely about their lived experience and give them more control over what they want to share publicly about their child protection experiences, in circumstances to be outlined following further consultations with the sector.

And it will provide authority for regulations that would expand the type of information individuals working with vulnerable children and youth can be required to provide beyond formal police record checks, such as an offence declaration.

We’re also ensuring that children’s aid societies and out-of-home care licensees provide children and youth with information about the Ombudsman and how to contact their office.

We are proposing to clarify that early childhood educators can be subject to an offence for failing to report child protection concerns to a children’s aid society, similar to other professionals such as teachers and social workers.

The children and youth services sector supports a wide range of individuals with diverse needs as well as their families and caregivers in every corner of our province. For example, we support children and youth in need of protection who may have experienced trauma or have been or are at risk of being abused or neglected. Additionally, I’m also talking about youth who are involved in the youth justice system and how we can help support them to choose another path forward.

Ensuring timely support, care and intervention can mean supporting the family who is experiencing or going through some challenging times. It can mean protecting a child from an abusive caregiver. It can mean empowering a child to overcome barriers to their future goals. And it can mean helping a youth involved with the justice system find their way so they can engage with their friends, their family and their community in a positive way.

The proposals in this bill stem from a broad range of feedback. For this, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the individuals with lived experience, advocates, service providers, children’s aid societies, as well as First Nations, Inuit, Métis and urban Indigenous communities. Their input is vital to help ensure the success of the government’s vision of leaving no child or youth behind.

I’d like to share some of their public feedback since Bill 188 was introduced last week.

From John E. Fleming, council chair, and Denitha Breau, registrar and CEO: “We at the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers—overseeing the largest group of mental health providers in the province—value its ongoing work with the ministry, and we are pleased with this step towards the strongest possible protection for the public, including the province’s most vulnerable, children and youth.”

From Julie Despaties, executive director and founder of Adopt4Life: “We’re encouraged to see this recognition of the need for improved safeguards for vulnerable children and youth in the care of our province. These children and youth deserve our highest commitments, collectively, to supporting their safety and well-being, their healthy development and long-term successful outcomes, including the protection of their privacy and personal information after they have left the child welfare system.”

Likewise, “The Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies and its member children’s aid societies and Indigenous child and family well-being agencies welcome efforts to build a child and family services system that supports all children and youth to succeed and thrive through the consistent delivery of high-quality, trauma-informed and culturally relevant care. We will continue to engage our members to analyze the impact of Bill 188, Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024, on the child welfare sector.

We look forward to collaborating with the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services to ensure the bill centres equity and supports improved outcomes for the children, youth, and families supported by child welfare agencies across the province.”

Building on that, Valerie McMurtry, president and CEO of the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada, had this to say: “We commend the Ontario government for their work to increase clarity regarding the care of young people placed in out-of-home settings through the Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024. Our collective priority should be to ensure that young people remain in the care of their families and communities.

However, when this isn’t feasible, it’s critical that young people have access to the high-quality supports they need, including understanding their rights and assistance available to them through Ontario’s Ombudsman. We value the government’s commitment to making sure young people receive this information and ensuring their voices stay central in shaping this act and next steps with respect to child welfare redesign.”

Lastly from Susan Somogyi Wells, CEO of Family Service Ontario: “The Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024, enhances the safety, privacy and rights of children and youth. Family Service Ontario strongly supports this legislation for its commitment to safeguarding the well-being of our children and youth, mitigating the risks of developmental trauma.”

Madam Speaker, while the proposed legislative and non-legislative changes are a step in the right direction, we continue to consult and learn from these stakeholders and many others as we continuously seek to improve safety, supports and access to resources for children and youth who are served by our child protection system.

We also acknowledge that the needs of First Nations, Inuit, Métis and urban Indigenous communities are unique, and we need to ensure flexibility and space to consult and support the needs of these communities when implementing changes in child protection systems, as we all work through the ongoing transition process to self-governance of these communities in the child welfare space.

Just last Friday, April 19, the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation made history by becoming the third Indigenous governing body in Ontario and 11th in Canada to have its own child and family services law take effect with the force of federal law, in accordance with

An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families. The law, Nigig Nibi Ki-win, provides a foundation for a service delivery system that has been specifically designed to meet the needs of children, youth and families of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation.

Speaker, the changes that we are currently proposing in Bill 188, coupled with our ongoing work, may be categorized into three themes: strengthening oversight, enforcement, licensing; establishing clear and consistent practices; and supporting stable transitions.

I’d now like to spend some time outlining the specific actions we are proposing to take under each theme and how they will support better outcomes for children and youth counting on all of us to ensure they are safe and supported.

By strengthening the oversight, enforcement and licensing of out-of-home care, we are working to enhance the safety of children and youth. It’s important to note that we have many hard-working and selfless people working in out-of-home care, such as foster and group homes, who are dedicated to the lives of the children and youth they serve. Many give so much of themselves and make personal sacrifices to provide the best possible support to those who are experiencing some of life’s most difficult circumstances. This is hard work, and it takes very special people to care for our most vulnerable children. They have my deepest thanks for the love and the care that they share with the children.

On the other hand, we have also seen stories in the news; not all service providers are created equal, and some do not operate in good faith. The changes that we’re proposing in this part of the legislation would have little to no impact on good operators—to those homes that are striving to provide high-quality support to vulnerable children and youth. The proposed changes seek to enhance both licensing processes up front and enforcement tools in cases where operators are acting in bad faith. This is based on the principle that all children and youth in care deserve safety, security and high-quality services that are culturally appropriate and that meet their unique needs.

The proposed legislative changes would modernize and standardize important safeguards in the licensed out-of-home care sector. The amendments would strengthen the ministry’s oversight of foster care and group homes; support the quality of care for children and youth; and introduce additional or strengthened enforcement tools to support better compliance with licensing requirements. These proposals are aimed at enhancing compliance with licensing requirements designed to ensure children and youth receive high-quality care that supports their health and safety and empowers them to reach their full potential.

Speaker, I’ll now turn to the second theme that I mentioned earlier, which is clear and consistent practices. By establishing practices that are clear and consistent across the children and youth services sector, we aim to improve the safety and quality of services delivered by all service providers. We are proposing six actions under this theme.

First, to improve the safety of children and youth, we propose to clarify that service providers, such as children’s aid societies, can share personal information with the College of Early Childhood Educators and the Ontario College of Teachers. Information shared could be used to support proceedings, such as investigations, hearings and new registrations to support the safety of children and youth.

Currently, service providers are only authorized to share personal information with colleges of regulated health professions and social work colleges, and we’re proposing that they be allowed to share information with the Ontario College of Teachers and the College of Early Childhood Educators. This would reduce potential delays, for example, when either college requires information from a society about a verified allegation against an early childhood educator or teacher.

Currently, if the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers believes that a member poses a risk to others, the college would be prohibited by the Social Work and Social Service Work Act to share their concerns with anyone without the member’s consent, or until after the college investigated and the results of the investigation were made public.

A practical example of this was when a social worker had their membership revoked by the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers in February 2023 for professional misconduct involving sexual abuse and sexual misconduct with a student. The college opened their investigation in August 2019 but would have been unable to share their concerns about the social worker with new employers or out-of-province social worker colleges during that nearly four-year span. Everyone would agree that what happened is completely unacceptable and it put children and youth at risk.

And we are ensuring that that scenario never happens again.

Second, we propose to enable the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers to share information with governing bodies and others, including children’s aid societies, in particular circumstances. Several professional colleges already have this authority, including the College of Early Childhood Educators, the Ontario College of Teachers and other regulated health professionals. To improve the safety and well-being of children and youth, we want to make this consistent for the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.

This would help enable timely information-sharing about a member during an investigation to support an action. The amendments, if passed, would add exceptions to the confidentiality provisions of the social service worker act to allow the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers to:

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a) share information with a body that governs a profession inside or outside of Ontario;

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b) confirm whether the college is investigating a member and if there is a compelling public interest reason to make such a confirmation;

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c) share information if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the disclosure is necessary for the purposes of eliminating or reducing a significant risk of serious harm to a person or group of people;

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d) share information as otherwise required by law.

Third, to support the long-term success of adoptions and to help keep children safe, we intend to bring forward future regulations that would require children’s aid societies to conduct safety assessments, create safety plans as needed, and create plans of care for children in adoption-placement settings. The proposal for these regulatory amendments has been posted on the regulatory registry. Children’s aid societies are already required to take these steps for children in care when they are in other types of placement settings. Our goal here is to make these requirements for safety and service planning consistent for adoption-placement settings.

The fourth action we’re taking is to help children and youth know and exercise their rights. For example, additional clarity is proposed in the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, when children and youth must be informed about the office of the Ombudsman. Some of these requirements are already included in the Ombudsman Act. This change will help clarify the requirements for children’s aid societies and licensed out-of-home care providers to notify children and youth that they have the right to be informed about the Ombudsman and their role. Vulnerable youth and children deserve to have private and frank conversations about the care that they’re receiving.

Fifth, we propose to clarify that early childhood educators can be subject to an offence for failing to report a child protection concern to a children’s aid society. This proposal would clarify that ECEs, early childhood educators, can be subject to the same offence as other persons who perform professional or official duties with children—such as teachers, social workers—in the event that they fail to report a child protection concern.

And sixth, to further improve the safety of children and youth who are in care or receiving services, we are proposing to provide the Lieutenant Governor in Council the authority to make regulations that would allow information other than a formal police record check, such as an offence declaration, to be required of an individual. Above and beyond this, the government intends to bring forward future regulations to standardize police record check requirements for the child and youth services sector.

Those are the six actions we propose taking to establish clear and consistent practices.

Speaker, now I will turn to the third theme that I mentioned a bit earlier, and that’s supporting stable transitions. Under this theme, we’re proposing two actions which aim to support children transitioning into adulthood. All children deserve a fresh start, especially those who have experienced great turmoil, trauma and challenges in their early years.

First, we propose to enhance privacy protections for individuals with previous involvement in the child welfare services sector. We have heard concerns from former children and youth about their personal information being held in perpetuity in society databases, where any employee could easily search and access very private childhood histories of those who were raised in care. There are many examples when this information has been used negatively to impact their future.

For example, former youth in care have shared that their personal childhood stories were counted against them when seeking board positions or employment at a children’s aid society or in custody proceedings. To clarify, these are not criminal records. Foster children have many details recorded about themselves during the course of service, much in the same way any parent observes their own children’s childhood experiences.

However, Speaker, being the parent that you are, you would know that parents do not record this information nor do they use it to limit their children’s future, and children raised in care deserve the same respect and equal treatment under the law. By restricting access to or disclosure of these records, we will create a framework that would protect the private details of their childhood experiences and reinforce their control over their own personal information.

Second, we are proposing to make changes that would further reinforce control of personal information by enabling individuals who have had a history of child protection involvement to publicly identify themselves and speak about their own lived experiences in child protection if they choose to do so. For example, currently in Ontario, it’s illegal for someone raised in care to identify themselves as a “former foster child.” This is in contravention of

article 2, freedom of expression, under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and it will be remedied by our proposed changes. We all have the right to freedom of expression. This will also be true for children and youth in care. The circumstances in which individuals would be able to do this would be prescribed in regulations at a later date, following consultations. This would help clarify the rules for publishing this information and give individuals more control and ownership over their own stories, over their own experiences.

Speaker, the proposed legislative changes, as well as the regulatory and policy changes that I have just outlined, are another important step towards achieving our government’s vision where no child or youth will ever be left behind in the province of Ontario. We are building a province where all children, youth and families have the resources and the supports they need to succeed and thrive. These new proposals build on the work that the government has undertaken over the past several years. But we must always move forward. And we are committed to doing that work with our sector partners.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to share their insights and their experiences with us. As we continue to take steps forward together, we’ll continue to strengthen families and communities across Ontario.

I would now like to turn it over to my good friend and colleague the outstanding parliamentary assistant and the member for Markham–Thornhill. And prior to doing that, I want to thank my good friend former parliamentary assistant Nolan Quinn, who did an absolutely amazing job and who is a champion for the sector and his community.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche): I recognize the member from Markham–Thornhill.

Mr. Logan Kanapathi: I’m happy to rise today and join my colleague the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services to speak on behalf of Bill 188, Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024.

I would like to greatly thank the minister for his passion, dedication and hard work—as well as the dedicated work of my fellow parliamentary assistant, the member from Thornhill, and my colleague the member from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry.

Madam Speaker, this bill is about children and youth in the great province of Ontario. Under the leadership of the Premier, our government is ensuring no children will slip through the cracks in the system. We are here today because our government will never leave anyone behind. And it is especially important that no child or youth is left behind, and that they have every chance to thrive and succeed regardless of their circumstances.

Our government wants the best for every child and young person approaching adulthood. And we are working together to deliver better outcomes for young people, their families and their caregivers who are receiving support from the child and youth services sector.

This bill is an important element of the government’s ongoing redesign of the child welfare system.

I would like to speak to the connection with the proposed work and the child welfare redesign for a moment. It is key to understanding the context in which Bill 188’s reforms are being proposed.

Every child and youth deserves a safe, loving and stable home regardless of their circumstances. That is why members of the House will know that in July 2020, the ministry announced the Child Welfare Redesign Strategy, because our government wants youth in care to feel supported and to be set up for success in their life. Through that comprehensive redesign, our government is introducing new initiatives to improve the quality of care in out-of-home care.

To echo the minister, we commend the many services providers who are devoting their lives to support vulnerable children and youth. However, sometimes there are gaps, and our proposed changes seek to close these gaps. Some of these changes have included:

—developing a new framework for what out-of-home care looks like;

—increasing and enhancing oversight and accountability for out-of-home care services; and

—supporting that oversight by adding 20 new positions across the province to support the management, inspection and oversight of out-of-home care for children and youth.

—launching the Ready, Set, Go program, which provides youth in the care of children’s aid societies with the life skills they need starting at 13 and financial support when they leave care up to the age of 23 so that they can focus on post-secondary, including the skilled trades, or pursuing employment.

Every child and youth deserves a fair starting position in life, and our government is delivering that. We hit the ground running by:

—consulting widely in the community and with service providers to better serve children and youth;

—increasing the number of responsive inspections;

—bolstering customary care arrangements to focus on family-based options, like kinship and foster care, to ensure children, youth and families have a strong voice in decisions about their care;

—improving the quality of the child welfare data to establish a baseline of common measures across children’s aid societies that can be reported publicly, as well as developing an outcomes-based performance measurement framework;

—releasing the children and young persons’ rights resource to help children and youth understand their rights and use their voices; and

—connecting youth leaving care with more supports to succeed.

Speaker, we have backed this important work with significant investments of over $1.5 billion in the child welfare system to support Ontario’s 50 independent children’s aid societies and 13 Indigenous children’s aid societies. This is a historic amount.

Here are some of the initiatives we support:

We have invested $800,000 annually in funding to support One Vision One Voice, a community-led project focusing on anti-Black racism that supports the delivery of culturally appropriate services and addresses systemic racism.

We have also invested an additional $1.5 million annually in the Education Liaison Program to help children and youth in care across the province get the support they need to focus on their studies.

We have invested more than $2.9 million to help support kinship service and customary caregiv