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October 23, 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-Oct-23 vol. A (PDF)

L171A - Wed 23 Oct 2024 / Mer 23 oct 2024

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 23 October 2024 Mercredi 23 octobre 2024

Orders of the Day

Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur le désengorgement du réseau routier et le gain de temps

Members’ Statements

Health care

Government’s record

Windsor International Film Festival

Indigenous affairs

School field trip

Consumer protection

Thanksgiving

Government’s record

Norbec manufacturing plant

Government investments

Introduction of Visitors

Member’s birthday

Question Period

Government accountability

Public transit

Government accountability

Life sciences sector

Services for persons with disabilities

Electricity supply

Pharmaceutical industry

Health care

Agri-food industry

Climate change

Transportation infrastructure

Women’s employment

Violence in schools

Tourism

Correction of record

Visitors

Deferred Votes

Commercial to Residential Conversion Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur la conversion d’un usage commercial à un usage résidentiel

Introduction of Visitors

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs

Introduction of Government Bills

Affordable Energy Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur l’énergie abordable

Statements by the Ministry and Responses

Small business

Petitions

Hospital services

Hospital services

Addiction services

Highway safety

Homelessness

Hospital services

Hospital services

Hospital services

Ontario Science Centre

Hospital services

Orders of the Day

Strengthening Cyber Security and Building Trust in the Public Sector Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 visant à renforcer la cybersécurité et la confiance dans le secteur public

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur le désengorgement du réseau routier et le gain de temps

Mr. Sarkaria moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 212,

An Act to enact two Acts and amend various Acts with respect to highways, broadband-related expropriation and other transportation-related matters / Projet de loi 212, Loi visant à édicter deux lois et à modifier diverses lois en ce qui concerne les voies publiques, les expropriations liées aux projets d’Internet à haut débit et d’autres questions relatives au transport.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Would the Minister of Transportation like to lead off the debate?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to note that I’m sharing my time with the member for Hastings–Lennox and Addington and the member for Mississauga–Erin Mills.

This legislation is about a common-sense approach. We have seen that over the past many years, Toronto has become one of the most congested cities in the world. We rank, in fact, the worst in the world according to a recent study from TomTom. This bill will help address many of those challenges.

We are not anti-bike-lane; this is about a reasonable approach. Less than 2% of the population commutes by bike to work. It does not make sense for us to rip up our busiest roads in the city, make it harder for people to get around and introduce bike lanes in those positions. This is about an approach that will ensure people get to and from work easier, quicker, faster, be with their families, and also appreciate the congestion that is happening across this province. The status quo just will not work any longer.

As you know, I’m here to discuss plans to make life more convenient and affordable for drivers who have spent years—a lot of their time—in gridlock. Ever since our government took office, we’ve made it a priority to build highways, transit and other critical infrastructure, because the fact is, Ontario’s population is growing at a historic rate. In fact, right here in the greater Golden Horseshoe, we are expected to have a population of 15 million by the year 2051.

If we don’t act now for that growth, the gridlock that is already costing our economy $11 billion a year in lost productivity and robbing hard-working Ontarians of the time they deserve with their families will only get worse. Our government won’t stand for that. That’s why we’re tabling bold and decisive action to build a better Ontario.

Earlier this year, our government tabled the Get It Done Act. That bill received royal assent in May, bringing in a new suite of measures specifically designed to accelerate the construction of key infrastructure projects and save Ontarians money. And Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Get It Done Act, we’re cutting red tape to get shovels in the ground sooner on priority projects like Highway 413. This is critical. Highway 413 could save drivers 30 minutes each way during rush hour.

That’s why we’re continuing to get it done for the people of this province by proposing new legislation. The Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, if passed, would build on the success of the Get It Done Act. It would help us build highways faster and make it easier for people and goods to get where they’re going. It would bring oversight to new bike lanes in Ontario to ensure we aren’t slowing down traffic on our major roads. Because, Mr. Speaker, there are millions of drivers in Ontario, and it is our job to stand up for them.

If passed, the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act would create a new Building Highways Faster Act, or BHFA for short. This act would allow us to designate priority highway projects, similar to how the Building Transit Faster Act allows us to designate priority transit projects. This would help us accelerate the construction of Highway 413, the Bradford Bypass and the Garden City Skyway bridge, and support our quick delivery on projects that will keep Ontarians moving for generations to come. These projects would benefit from streamlined requirements for relocating utilities.

Ontarians would have the authority to request access to information on infrastructure owners’ assets so work moves forward without unnecessary delays.

Crucially, the Building Highways Faster Act would also let us facilitate 24/7 construction around the clock for priority highway projects. This is a game changer. We’ve seen this specifically on the Gardiner Expressway: 24/7 construction has helped us move it even quicker, will save us a year, and we’re already four and a half months ahead of schedule. We’ll continue to have more good news on the Gardiner Expressway in the days and weeks to come.

This act would also streamline property expropriation and create new penalties for anyone who is obstructing field investigations and taking possession of crown-owned land, because we need to ensure we’re using every tool in our tool box to speed up construction so we can get Ontario families and businesses out of gridlock.

Mr. Speaker, we can all agree that the needless delays on Ontario’s roads and highways are costing taxpayers their valuable time and their hard-earned money. We need to build highways faster. One of the ways that we can do that is by relocating utilities and updating infrastructure owners’ asset information quickly. Another is by working as long as it takes—around the clock, if needed—to build the highways we need to support our growing population. We can introduce stiff penalties for those who would obstruct a field investigation or attempt to interfere with work on land the crown owns and leave no stone unturned in our plan to build the transportation infrastructure that we need.

Far too many commuters in the GTA know the pain of being stuck in traffic. Unlike the opposition, our government will not just sit there wishing that gridlock will magically disappear. We have a plan—a plan to build. We need to make sure that construction on Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass begins as soon as possible.

Highway 413 has been studied and debated for over 20 years. I’ve read the reports—the assessments from 2007, 2024 and every year in between—and there will be more reports coming. And after two decades, what’s changed?

The only thing different is our worsening traffic. The NDP and Liberals continue to object to our plan to build.

Just imagine being a worker living in Whitby, Pickering or Scarborough and seeing the time it takes to get to work increase year after year. Imagine living in Mississauga, Brampton, York, where the time it takes to get to Toronto has skyrocketed. We can do better. We have a responsibility to do better for the next generation.

That is why the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act would exempt Highway 413 from the Environmental Assessment Act on early works and create a new accelerated environmental assessment process for the project. We are working hard so that the early works for the 413 could proceed even before that is completed. As we move forward to build Highway 413, we will continue to apply strict environmental oversight. As part of the accelerated environmental assessment for Highway 413, my ministry will prepare an environmental impact assessment.

This report will summarize baseline studies of the project in order to identify Highway 413’s potential environmental impacts and what measures we can take to mitigate them.

We will continue to consult with municipalities, the public and Indigenous communities to take all measures to mitigate them. We will continue to consult with Indigenous communities and carefully consider their feedback. The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks will review our work to confirm we have assessed Highway 413’s potential environmental effects and move forward accordingly. The solution represents the best of both worlds.

Once complete, Highway 413 will connect the regions of York, Peel and Halton, running all the way from Highway 400 in the east to the Highway 401/407 interchange in the west. This highway will save drivers as much as 30 minutes per trip. That’s five additional hours each week for friends and family, doing the things you love, rather than being stuck in gridlock. I truly believe all Ontario families, workers, students deserve that. This act will help make that a reality.

Highway 413 will also support the economy and the job market. During construction, Highway 413 will create up to 3,000 jobs: heavy equipment operators, drilling and coring contractors, concrete and steel workers, utility contractors, environmental specialists, laboratory technologists, safety inspectors and more. These are good jobs that allow young men and women to gain skills that will serve them for life, where they can buy a home, raise a family. These jobs help to build a better community and a better Ontario for all of us. It’s not just those working on the project; the construction is expected to contribute $400 million to Ontario’s GDP each year.

It’s time we make sure this game-changing project can proceed without any unnecessary delays.

The Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act has multiple solutions to keep people moving. It would not only streamline the process for Highway 413, but it would also allow us to accelerate construction of other designated priority highway projects—projects like the Bradford Bypass. This four-lane freeway will save drivers in York region up to 35 minutes per trip. The Bradford Bypass will connect Highway 404 in the east to Highway 400 in the west, contributing $274 million to our GDP each year of construction and supporting almost 2,200 jobs during this project. Once complete, it will help bring more relief to the most congested highway corridors in North America.

In April, I was proud to award the detail design contract for the west

section of the Bradford Bypass. In July, we got shovels in the ground on a lane of Highway 400 that will connect to the Bradford Bypass. In the coming months, we’ll have even more progress to share on this critical project.

If the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act passes, we will be one step closer to getting construction of the Bradford Bypass under way and improving the lives of people who call York region and Simcoe county home.

The legislation would allow us to accelerate our plans to twin the Garden City Skyway bridge, because more than 100,000 vehicles cross the Garden City Skyway bridge each and every day. As part of this project, we’re building an entirely Toronto-bound bridge across the Welland Canal. Once construction is complete, we will then rehabilitate the existing bridge. This will allow us to strengthen a critical link between Ontario’s international border crossings and the greater Golden Horseshoe.

In April, we issued a request for proposals to twin the Garden City Skyway bridge. Passing the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act would help us make progress even faster.

Our government understands that fighting gridlock is about more than building new highways. It’s about thinking outside the box. That means making sure that our existing roads in the province are doing what they are supposed to do, which is to keep traffic moving. We need to look at the factors involved in traffic, including usage, construction and, yes, of course, bicycles.

Although Toronto consistently ranks among the world’s most livable cities, that is changing. People in the greater Toronto area are losing 98 hours a year because of traffic—hours they could be spending with their families. The city has the third-longest travel times in the entire world. When you try to figure out what has changed, it’s not hard to look down University Avenue or across Bloor and Yonge and find the pretty obvious culprit: bike lanes that are just not used, removing traffic on some of our heaviest corridors.

I hear from my colleagues, not only in Toronto but those with the same issues from Mississauga to Kitchener, London, as far as Ottawa and, as well, in my community of Brampton. That’s unacceptable, and we need to do something about that.

Our government has nothing against cyclists. In fact, we support bike lanes where they make sense. But when congestion has skyrocketed and our roads are out of control, it makes no sense to remove traffic lanes and replace them with empty bike lanes.

To those who say bike lanes don’t impact traffic: Why do so many of those studies only factor in use on days of perfect temperature, when it’s not too hot, not too cold and certainly not raining or snowing?

That is why, if passed, the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act would require municipalities to obtain provincial approval before installing new bike lanes that would remove a lane of traffic. Municipalities will need to provide us data on a set of criteria, including impacts to road capacity, road safety, traffic volume, construction-related delays, emergency response times. We would create a thorough process for receiving and reviewing these submissions because new bike lanes must have a consistent, common-sense approach.

Our government believes bike lanes and cars can share the road in the right circumstances, but as we are seeing across our province, that is not what is happening. So we are bringing forward informed decision-making and oversight on bike lanes.

Our government also takes highway safety and consumer protection very seriously. If you’re involved in a collision or your vehicle breaks down on a highway, we believe that drivers should have confidence in who will come to help them and safely tow their vehicle, and confidence knowing you won’t be gouged for those same services.

We’ve heard the horror stories. Well, Madam Speaker, thanks to our government’s first-in-Canada tow-zone pilot program across Ontario, GTA drivers have had peace of mind over the past few years if they need to call on the services of a tow. Our tow-zone pilot was established in 2021, creating restricted towing zones on our four sections of provincial highway and the GTA.

Madam Speaker, Ontario’s provincial highway network has some of the busiest roads in the world. With the pilot, on these sections of highways, only authorized towing companies are allowed to move vehicles. This has made clearing vehicles off the highway faster and safer, strengthening consumer protection and ensuring bad actors in the towing industry can’t take advantage of innocent drivers who need the help.

Data shows that the pilot met vehicle clearance standards more than 95% of the time. In fact, of drivers who received a tow through the program, less than 1% had a complaint. Numbers speak for themselves, and that’s why we need to keep this program.

The Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act would make the tow-zone pilot permanent by moving it under the Towing and Storage Safety and Enforcement Act, or TSSEA for short. This came into effect on January 1, 2024, and improves the provincial oversight of the towing and vehicle storage industry. It establishes a certification system that requires tow operators, tow truck drivers and vehicle storage operators to be certified by the province to be tow operators, tow truck drivers and vehicle storage operators.

It establishes standards for consumer and customer protections, and roadside behaviours, including penalties for non-compliance. It shows the bad actors in the industry that we won’t tolerate these actions.

Madam Speaker, there’s more this government is doing. We’re taking action to keep costs down for drivers, to help municipalities prevent and repair potholes, and we’re moving forward to raise speed limits on 400-series highways. We’ll continue to discuss more of those measures and our plan for this province as we move forward, through this piece of legislation and through some of my other colleagues, who will also be speaking to this.

But in conclusion, Madam Speaker, on my remarks, I want to speak about one of the most important parts of this legislation, which I have already touched upon: It’s about a reasonable approach to bike lanes. It’s about making sure people can get to and from—whether it be work or back to their families—in a reasonable time. It doesn’t make sense to rip up some of our busiest arterial roads, not only here in Toronto, across the province and install bike lanes. We’ve seen congestion at an all-time high. This is about a reasonable approach, not ideology. We need to work together to develop a system that works for everyone, and we will continue to do so.

With that, Madam Speaker, I want to wish you a very happy birthday and then also pass it off to my colleague.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Thank you. Yes, I am 29.

I recognize the member for Hastings–Lennox and Addington.

Mr. Ric Bresee: Thank you, Speaker, and happy birthday to you as well.

Speaker, I’m very pleased today to rise on behalf of residents of my riding, Hastings–Lennox and Addington, to speak in support of the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act. I will be sharing my time, as has been mentioned, with the member from Mississauga–Erin Mills. And many thanks to the minister for his comments already.

Under Premier Ford and Minister Sarkaria’s leadership, we are building a stronger transportation network across the province. For years, the previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, of course, refused to invest in the infrastructure that our communities need. They sat by as our population grew and they built nothing. But our government knows that you need to build a strong transportation network to ensure that our province remains the best place to raise a family and build a career.

That’s why our government is focused on building new roads, new bridges and new highways. This is so you can spend less time in traffic and more time at home with your family. That’s why we have a plan to tackle gridlock and keep our province moving. And, Speaker, part of that plan is to bring back some common sense to our roads.

The minister highlighted the many ways the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act will benefit drivers across this province. Building new highways in the GTA and bringing common sense to new bike lanes will give drivers in the big cities more, better time to spend with their families each day. That is a priority for this government, and it always will be.

We also want to make life better—driving better—for drivers who live in the smaller municipalities, and we do have a plan to get that done as well. Most people who have driven a vehicle have had the misfortune of, at some point, driving over a pothole. At the best of times, potholes make congestion worse by causing drivers to slow down to avoid hazards on the roadway so that they don’t damage their vehicle, break an axle. At the worst of times, it’s a serious safety issue, causing damage to vehicles and sometimes leaving drivers stranded on maybe a desolate stretch of highway in the middle of the night.

As a former mayor of a small municipality, I know that not all municipalities have the same resources and the financial capacity to deal with and to prevent or to repair potholes. Smaller municipalities sometimes struggle to address road maintenance issues, and our government intends to lend those municipalities a helpful hand. That’s why we’re moving forward to develop a pothole prevention and repair program for small municipalities. Unlike the previous Liberal government, who ignored our smaller municipalities, we’re listening and we’re stepping up to help the small communities repair the roads that all of us use.

Whether I’m visiting a community, on the phone, or at the AMO or ROMA conferences, one of the things that mayors ask for the most is to help fix our roads. I know personally, because it’s one of the things that I advocated for when I was a mayor. This program could include provincial funding to assist municipalities with preventing and repairing potholes, providing technical support to municipalities and establishing common standards and specifications to quality roadwork.

Unlike the NDP and the Liberals, who say no to just about every solution, on this side of the aisle, we’re doing everything we can to keep traffic moving and keep our roads in good repair in every part of the province. We’re serious about putting drivers first, no matter where they live and no matter where they are going.

A pothole prevention and repair program for small municipalities will come with many benefits—for starters, a smoother ride for drivers. Municipalities would have the support they need for routine maintenance to prevent potholes, such as pavement inspection, routing and sealing. Developing ministry-approved standards and specifications for such roadwork would help to ensure drivers in smaller rural municipalities enjoy a smooth and stress-free ride. Traffic will flow freely, municipal roads will be safer and the chances of drivers damaging their vehicles will be greatly diminished.

No driver in Ontario should have to swerve out of the way at the last second to avoid a pothole. Drivers know the impact that potholes have on their vehicles. The first thought that most drivers have when they hit a bad pothole is, “I hope my car is all right.” I know that’s the exact question I’ve asked myself after hitting potholes, unfortunately. The pothole prevention program will help save drivers money, reducing unnecessary wear and tear caused by these damaging potholes. Once we get this program up and running, life will be better for drivers all across the province.

Developing a pothole prevention and repair program will build on the work we’re doing across the province to make life easier for drivers in many ways. Our government is spending close to $28 billion over the next 10 years to expand and repair the highways, the roads and the bridges that connect Ontarians to housing, jobs and all sorts of opportunities. The Ontario highways program features an online interactive map—it’s quite neat to explore—providing the latest information on 635 different highway projects all across this province.

This includes 593 rehabilitation projects and 42 expansion projects that will help keep people moving across the province of Ontario. This year alone, we’re committing $3.9 billion to repair and expansion projects so that drivers can reach their destinations quickly and safely.

This summer, our government got shovels in the ground to replace the Wilson Road overpass in Oshawa, laying the groundwork to continue widening the 401 in the Durham region. We’re also replacing the Simcoe Street and Albert Street underpasses in Oshawa and rehabilitating two overwater bridges between Bowmanville and Clarington, in addition to rehabilitating the overpass at the Highway 35/115 interchange west of Bowmanville and the Westney Road overpass on the 401 in Ajax.

The eastern corridor of the 401 accommodates approximately 120,000 vehicles and 10,000 transport trucks carrying over $380 million worth of goods every single day. By getting construction under way on these much-needed upgrades, we’re standing up for drivers and shortening commute times for thousands of Ontarians.

Just last month, we got under way to resurface sections of the eastbound and westbound lanes of Highway 401 near Kingston, from Westbrook Road to Highway 15. We’re resurfacing all four ramps at the Sir John A. Macdonald interchange in Kingston and replacing the concrete on two bridges between Sydenham Road and Highway 15.

In August, we announced that we completed major improvements to the Bay of Quinte Skyway Bridge, which serves as an important link and a connection to the 401 for the communities of Prince Edward county. This project helped create good-paying jobs in that area and will keep the drivers of the Bay of Quinte moving. And I know, just like the former minister, Todd Smith, the new member for the Bay of Quinte, MPP Allsopp, will be a strong voice for the members in that region.

As a member who myself represents a riding in eastern Ontario, I know first-hand the critical link that Highway 401 is for our communities across this province. That eastern portion of the 401 is an essential part of the province’s highway network that connects Ontario, Quebec and the US for travel, international trade and economic development. We will continue to move forward with vision and purpose to improve and expand our highway infrastructure all across the province.

Speaker, unlike the previous government, the Liberals and the NDP, who didn’t invest in northern Ontario, our government’s highway projects will help to create jobs and improve safety on our northern roads and highways. We are well on our way to achieving our goal of widening more than 100 kilometres of the Trans-Canada Highway from Thunder Bay to Nipigon. We have now completed seven sections of that project. Last summer, we widened 8.6 kilometres of the Trans-Canada Highway between Ouimet and the Dorion East Loop from two lanes to four lanes. This project will save lives and make it easier to drive along the north shore of Lake Superior.

We’re also moving forward to widen Highway 17 between Kenora and the Manitoba border. Highway 17 is a very important strategic link in the Trans-Canada Highway system as there are no alternative routes in the event of a collision or road closure. For years, the previous Liberal government talked about twinning the highway to the Manitoba border, but failed—failed to get shovels in the ground. It is this government under the leadership of Premier Ford and the strong voice from the local MPP there, Minister Rickford—we are finally twinning the highway from Kenora to the Manitoba border.

By widening this vital corridor, we are reducing travel times, protecting critical trade links and promoting economic development and safety throughout northern Ontario.

When you’re driving long distances, having a safe place to stop and rest is essential, whether you’re in a commercial vehicle or travelling in your personal vehicle. That’s why we’re carrying out the largest expansion of rest areas in the province’s history. In 2021, our government introduced a five-year plan to expand the province’s rest area network by building 10 new rest areas, rehabilitating 14 others, and adding 165 new truck parking spaces to four ONroute locations.

Modern, heated washrooms, more lighting and truck parking spaces—we are committed to giving the hard-working women and men in the trucking industry and drivers across Ontario a safe place to stop and rest, and we’re making great progress to expand that rest area network. To date, we’ve finished construction on three new rest areas and completed major improvements at seven other locations across the province.

These are the upgrades that Ontarians have been asking for for years. The Liberals refused to improve our northern highways and our rest areas. But unlike the previous government, our government is getting it done.

This summer, we started an expansion project at the Batchawana Bay rest area on Highway 17 north of Sault Ste. Marie. We’re adding newly constructed entrance and exit lanes, giving drivers year-round access to heated washrooms, and building a separate parking area with nine spaces for commercial vehicles. Drivers will benefit from free WiFi and personal device charging stations, a modern touch, and we’re adding underground infrastructure that will allow for electric vehicle charging stations in the future.

Our government is embracing innovation to improve traffic flow and road safety in northern Ontario. We’re currently working to increase passing opportunities on the highways in northeastern Ontario, and this includes some innovative designs, such as a 2+1 highway. The 2+1 model is a three-lane highway featuring a centre passing lane with a median barrier that changes directions every two to five kilometres, helping vehicles pass safely.

These highways have been used successfully in other countries around the world—Sweden, Ireland and Australia—and I know several municipalities in northern Ontario have passed resolutions in support of this design. So, in many ways, thanks to the strong local voice from Minister Fedeli, the new 2+1 highway will make it safer to travel in Nipissing. No other jurisdiction in North America has built a true 2+1 highway, and our preliminary work will help determine the suitability of the 2+1 model in other parts of the province.

This will be a first for Ontario, and we’ll continue to look at our counterparts from around the world as we seek out innovative ways to enhance our transportation infrastructure in the years ahead.

Our government is committed to reducing travel times while ensuring that our provincial highways remain among the safest in North America. We’re taking a bold step forward to get people moving quickly without compromising road safety in any way.

Since 2022, our government has used an evidence-based approach to raise the speed limit on sections of provincial highways across the province where it is safe to do so. That year, we raised the posted speed limit to 110 kilometres per hour on six stretches of highways in southern Ontario and two pilot sections in northern Ontario. This summer, we raised the speed limit on 10 additional sections of highway, saving drivers valuable time and helping to move goods quickly. And we’re about to take that effort to the next level. We will now expedite work to raise the speed limit to 110 kilometres per hour on additional sections of the provincial highways, again, where it is safe to do so.

Our responsible, measured approach over the past few years has shown us that raising the speed limits in sections where it is safe to do so does not compromise the safety of Ontarians, and it allows everyone to get where they’re going faster. Prior to the 1970s, speed limits on select provincial highways were higher than 110 kilometres per hour. Our data analysis from the past two years reveals that highways that are designed or upgraded to accommodate higher speed limits remain just as safe.

Ontario has some of the safest roads in North America. For more than 20 years, we have ranked in the top five jurisdictions with the lowest fatality rates per 10,000 licensed drivers, and we take pride in that track record. We will continually work to make our roads even safer. So that’s why we tabled the Safer Roads and Communities Act earlier this year. We know that raising speed limits where it’s appropriate is the right thing to do for drivers.

Putting drivers first isn’t just about building highways, reducing congestion and keeping roads in a good state of repair. It’s also about protecting drivers’ pocketbooks. We want to make life easier for drivers across the province, and that means keeping costs down. Since 2020, our government has temporarily frozen fees for driver knowledge tests and road tests. This has already saved drivers $35 million to date, and we’re going to keep those savings going.

Current regulations require the province to increase driver testing fees every year after 2026, based on the consumer price index. But if the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act passes, it would enshrine the current fee freeze into legislation, helping to ensure that Ontarians’ money stays where it belongs: in their wallet. Any future fee increases would actually require a legislative amendment. Maintaining the current fee freeze will help Ontarians save another $72 million this decade. We’re putting money back in Ontarians’ pockets and making sure that it stays there for years to come.

We all know that people across the province are struggling with the cost of living. Now is not the time to increase driver testing fees—not when hard-working Ontarians are fighting to make ends meet every day to feed their families. By tabling legislation to freeze the fees, we’re standing up for families that have been stretched to the breaking point. We’re not going to increase fees at a time like this, especially not when driving is such a necessity for so many, especially in the rural areas. People rely on driving for their livelihoods. They need to drive to work or operate a vehicle as part of their job.

They need vehicles to get to appointments, to visit family members and to lead an independent life. And they shouldn’t have to pay more just to take a knowledge or road test. If the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act passes, driver testing fees will remain affordable and predictable, because that’s what Ontarians deserve.

Freezing driver testing fees would build on the success of the Get It Done Act, which froze fees for driver’s licences and Ontario photo cards. With this new legislation, we’re fighting harder than ever for drivers across the province. We’re proposing to keep costs low so Ontarians can get behind the wheel and lead a productive life, contribute to our economy and enjoy all that this province has to offer. That’s what everyone in this province deserves.

Speaker, the previous government raised fees on drivers every chance they got. They raised fees on licence plate stickers, so instead, we scrapped the sticker. They raised fees on Drive Clean, so instead, we scrapped the fees on Drive Clean. They raised the gas tax, and we cut the gas tax and have kept it low. They brought in a provincial carbon tax, and what did we do? We scrapped the provincial carbon tax.

It’s very clear: We are the only party that is focused on keeping costs down for Ontarians.

Ever since our government was elected, we’ve fought to make life better for the hard-working Ontarians who have made this province such a great place to live, work and raise a family. And part of that is putting drivers first. The Get It Done Act demonstrated the intent to keep traffic flowing and build the infrastructure needed to support Ontario’s growing population. The Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act would, if passed, provide additional tools to construct highways quickly, keep costs down and make life more affordable for every driver in the province.

By developing a pothole prevention and repair program, we’re showing smaller municipalities that the government of Ontario has their backs, and we’re here to help you keep traffic moving. By taking a responsible approach to raising speed limits on provincial highways, we’re ensuring Ontario’s roads remain the safest in North America while we continue to stand up for drivers, Speaker. And by freezing fees for driver testing, we’re making it easier than ever for Ontarians to get behind the wheel and keep costs low and predictable for years to come.

Speaker, the NDP and the Liberals want to make it harder for people to drive. They vote against common-sense solutions to tackle gridlock. They say no to investing in highways. They say no to finding solutions to get drivers home faster. They couldn’t be more out of touch. Unlike the Liberals and the NDP, we are focused on common sense and building new highways across this province.

I hope my Liberal and NDP colleagues will finally say yes to tackling gridlock. I hope the Liberals and the NDP will vote to support repairing potholes in smaller communities. Instead of saying no, support the common-sense solutions that Ontario drivers need.

The Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act includes other measures aimed at accelerating the construction of key infrastructure and, as the Minister of Transportation said earlier, measures to ensure new bike lanes contribute to increased road capacity and do not impact the flow of car traffic. We’ve seen an explosion of new bike lanes in big cities since before the pandemic started. Back when there were far fewer cars on the roads due to lockdowns, it was unclear how they would impact traffic. Those cars are back now, and the bike lanes are slowing down traffic when congestion is already out of control in Toronto and other large cities across the province.

At this time, Speaker, I’d like to hand it over to my friend and colleague the member from Mississauga–Erin Mills to further discuss bike lane proposals in the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Further debate?

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: I am really delighted to stand to speak about this bill, because it is helping the people of Ontario. When we talk about highways and driving and traffic, I would like to make sure that I put it on the record: Traffic is annoying. Spending an hour and a half one way—meaning three hours a day—on the road to reach work, or back from work, is wasting energy, wasting money, adding to the pollution and taking time which we can spend with family or doing other things more beneficial than on the road.

When we talk about traffic, there are very limited solutions to get traffic going: adding capacity to roads; highering the speed to get more traffic flowing per hour, the number of cars; getting reliable transportation where people can use public transportation if their circumstances allow and save themselves from driving; and the fourth is innovative solutions, which is that we have to think out of the box to get something un-ordinary to get things working. There is no rocket science here; there are only a few parameters which we can add or tackle to help the issue, and this government is doing the four of them, doing all of them.

We are building a new road, 413, which is promising to take lots of the heavy traffic, the truck traffic, outside the 401, outside Toronto, and allowing the 401 to be more fluent, moving cars faster, smaller cars, adding capacity to the north, where we can actually expand housing. People can move and live in the northern areas of Toronto, and they can still reach their job place in a reasonable time. So adding a highway is actually not only easing the traffic on the 401; it’s actually opening new opportunities for people to move outside the congested area around the 401 and the exits of the 401.

Talking about adding more cars per hour, highering the speeds on the 400 series of highways has been a very good idea to do, given the fact that even the technology of cars has improved. The amount of distance and the time you need to brake is getting better. So with all those technology controls, you can actually prevent a lot of accidents with a higher speed.

Car technology—which, 29 years ago when I came, when I, for the first time, drove on the 401—is not the same technology cars have today. I’m not talking about EVs; I’m talking about even regular cars with cameras and sensors and better technology and brakes. They actually can brake faster; they can have a faster response time to prevent or change the speed or brake. So highering the rate, the speed, the limit on the highways will allow us to move cars faster so the amount of flow of cars per hour will be more. It’s indirectly adding capacity to the highway, moving more cars.

Now, talking about the transportation, the transit: I think this government has been doing a great job in adding infrastructure. We know infrastructure projects take years to establish, so even if we have the problem today, if we start it today, we are not going to see the results of that for a few years, when the highway gets finished or the transportation line gets built. So it’s not only thinking about today; it’s thinking about the future, thinking about how we envision the status of traffic and the status of Ontario 10 years from today.

With the rate of increasing immigrants and even people moving from different areas to Ontario, to the GTA, to the Golden Horseshoe area—it’s anticipated in 2051 to reach 15 million only in the Golden Horseshoe. This means maybe time and a half to two times of what we have today. So we can imagine, if we, today, complain about traffic, what would be the case in 10 years from today or six years from today if we don’t do something to change that, to change the destiny of this and how it’s going to happen and how it’s going to look at that time with all those cars and people on the streets.

We are talking about adding manufacturing jobs. We are talking about building more factories. We are talking about having more trade with our southern neighbour, the US. How are we going to do that? How are we going to attract new businesses if it is deadlocked traffic? We can’t move goods fast. We can’t move raw materials fast. How will the investors find it lucrative to build a new factory in that? We need to change this. It’s the future of the province, not only for transportation, but for industry, for trade, for everything—for day-to-day work, for day-to-day traffic travel for employees and people living here and there.

Also, with the prices of houses in the Toronto area, people start moving out, trying to find reasonable pricing outside the area of Toronto, which adds more travel time to go to work if they happen to work in the downtown or someplace closer in the mid-GTA. That is adding more load on the transportation, adding more load on the highways.

If we talk about Mississauga, which is my area—and lots of people say Mississauga is not as bad as Toronto. I agree. But we actually become so congested and things are getting—we need to look into that. We don’t want to reach the same level of congestion like Toronto.

The Hazel McCallion LRT is a good example. We are investing in infrastructure. We are investing in public transportation to make sure that we have the different options. It’s different options; there’s no one-size-fits-all.

Some people will be able to take the public transportation. I commuted on the Milton line for about five and a half years daily from Mississauga to Toronto because my work was on York Street. It was amazing, because the proximity of my work and the proximity of my home aligned with the Milton line, so I could use that. For some people, their job is in different areas, so they might have to take two or three transportation methods if they want to use public transportation, which adds time.

But we actually even tackled that. The One Fare we did for transportation allows people to take the GO train and then take the TTC with the same fare, saving $1,600 a year for commuters who commute from and out to Toronto.

So it’s a 360-degree vision; it’s not one item. But this bill in itself actually carries a lot of that vision.

We need to add capacity to the highways. We are talking about the 413 and accelerating that. We don’t want this highway 10 years from today. We actually needed this highway yesterday. We need that, like, now. So accelerating or helping to accelerate this process is a very good thing. We need it as fast as we can.

Changing the inspection and environmental requirements process doesn’t mean that we are compromising. We are just trying to make it faster. Allowing construction work to go 24/7 on the highways has been a no-brainer. When you drive in the morning, coming to Toronto, and the highway is reduced to one lane, that’s a nightmare. With this amount of traffic, trying to reduce that to one lane is impossible.

I, last week, had to drive to Kitchener for an event. It’s a weekend, 3 o’clock in the afternoon, so it makes sense that traffic should be reasonable and not lots of cars on the road. It took me two and a half hours from Mississauga to Kitchener—two and a half hours to reach Kitchener—because of construction. I can just try to visualize: What if that was 8 o’clock in the morning, trying to go to work? What would be the case? Not only the fact we have maybe five times the number of cars on the road at the time.

I’m talking about people rushing to get to work and who have an appointment to meet, like a time to arrive to work. What would be the case at that time? Action is really needed, and this government is taking that action.

Talking about transportation infrastructure, not only are we adding the LRT to Mississauga; we are now getting the Milton line to be two way, all day. I had been commuting on than line for five and a half years, as I mentioned, and we had, at the time, only five trains. The first one started at 7:30, then 7:50, 8:10, 8:30, 8:40—five trains and that’s it. So if you missed the last train, you got stuck in traffic trying to drive. We need a GO train because that will link Mississauga to the GTA, to Toronto.

We also talked about investments. I don’t think there is any provincial government that added as much investment as this government did: $28 billion for highways and roads; $70 billion for public transit. I didn’t hear about any government that did that.

The Ontario Line is a brand-new line, an underground line, a subway line. Many projects are coming. We are talking about the Dundas DRT; it’s, again, like an artery for Mississauga to allow Mississauga to grow, especially when we know that we are having lots of high-rises coming in Mississauga. There are 39 cranes now in Mississauga building high-rises. This means thousands of people will be moving into those apartments. How will those people get in and out every day to work, to live, to move around the city? We need those investments. The Milton line and MiWay is one of the biggest, and it will help a lot of people, to encourage lots of people to use public transportation.

Comparing 35 minutes, for example, in my commute, coming from Mississauga to the GTA, to Union Station—a 35-minute GO train ride versus an hour and a half or an hour and 15 minutes in traffic. It makes sense. It’s much easier. You ride. You don’t have to drive. You don’t stress. You read something. You review your emails. It’s very nice, if it is convenient. That’s what we are trying to say. If we can build public transportation which can be reliable and convenient and my set-up allows that—I have a specific time to arrive, 9 to 5—then it might work. It will encourage me to leave my car, hop on the GO train and go to work.

Also, one of the bill items here is bike lanes. Bike lanes are a very good idea to help protect bikers and encourage people to use bikes—and we know that’s in a specific period of the year, not the whole year, not every day. It’s there; it can work. But at the same time, if I take a two-lane road and remove one lane, I actually took 50% of the capacity of the road; mathematically, 50% of the capacity of that road is gone.

It’s not only that it’s lost, because if I have one lane, that means any car that slows or stops to turn right or left will impede the whole line of cars until it finishes that turn, and that will add more time. So it’s not only taking 50%; it’s actually taking maybe 70% of the capacity of the road. So we need to be reasonable in choosing the roads which we add bikes to.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for—

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): It’s now time for questions.

Mr. Joel Harden: I’m not surprised that the government has got a bill before the House about gridlock, because this is the government of gridlock. I’m wondering if they’re prepared to apologize to the road users of Ontario for the transit mess they’ve created in this province.

I just heard my friend say over there that they’re investing in transit. Do you know what they’re investing in, Speaker? They’re investing in the 82 executive vice-presidents who work for Phil Verster. They’re investing in failing LRT projects in the Hurontario, failing LRT projects in the Eglinton Crosstown, failing projects with the Ontario Line, not to mention my city in Ottawa, and it causes gridlock, and they need someone to blame. And who’s that going to be? Wheelchair users, scooters, people who walk, people who use their bike.

You’re looking for someone to blame. Point a thumb; don’t point a finger.

Are you prepared to fix your transit mess now so we can get traffic moving in the province of Ontario?

Mr. Ric Bresee: I thank the member opposite for the question.

This government and this province will continue to invest in that infrastructure, in our transit systems. I know the member has a personal bias against that particular organization. But ultimately, continuing to invest, when the previous governments failed to, is the way forward for our residents.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Etobicoke–Lakeshore.

Ms. Christine Hogarth: Well, thank you very much, and happy birthday to you, Madam Speaker.

Do you know what? This announcement is a victory for common sense. I’ll tell you, in my riding of Etobicoke–Lakeshore, I put out a poll on Friday. Over 600 people responded to that poll, saying to get rid of the bike lanes on Bloor Street immediately. Now, we did have under a hundred people who were in favour, and I’ve responded to all those, because we want them in the right places. Over time, the city of Toronto has put those bike lanes in the wrong locations, which has hurt our small businesses and has just put traffic at a standstill.

To the minister: Minister, tell me, what are you going to do about these bike lanes? And maybe you can comment on Bloor Street for me.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: I want to really thank the member for all of her advocacy on this topic. We met with not one, two, almost 50-plus business owners. I’ve never seen that much excitement around an announcement. They came to that establishment, that community, and they spoke about how they weren’t heard when these policies were put forward. Thank you to my colleague for raising that issue, for bringing it forward.

As my friend from Mississauga said, it has made it almost impossible to get around that city at some of the busiest times. Across Bloor Street West, for example, we stood there for about 10 minutes, I think, outside and not a single bike went by. It’s about a reasonable approach. We’re not anti-bike-lane, but it has got to make sense. It has got to be in a way that doesn’t impact the 90-plus per cent of people who are using that road to get to and from work. We can’t make it worse than it already is. That’s why this policy—

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Further questions?

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: Good morning, everyone. It’s always a pleasure to be in here, especially on your birthday, Madam Speaker.

We need to get away from the rhetoric of cyclist versus driver versus pedestrian. It’s people: People who drive, people who bike, people who walk. Many of us do all of those things. Stop with the divisive rhetoric, is what I would encourage you to do.

My question is, in April, the Premier said, “I believe in letting municipalities determine what is good for their communities and what is not good for their communities” in reference to building fourplexes—which is a logical solution for housing, by the way, but we won’t go there. Why has this changed now? Why is the government overstepping into municipal planning, wasting money, ripping up existing infrastructure, causing more traffic and risking the safety of the 22,000 Ontarians who cycle daily? That is a fact from the Share the Road coalition.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: What I will say is, once again, this is about a reasonable approach, looking at who uses the road. Stats Canada itself says that there is about 1% of people who commute to work by bike. We can’t be ripping up 50% of our biggest, largest, most used roads. This is about a reasonable approach. Not to mention the weather: We’ve got snow, we’ve got cold weather, we have rain. We have to take that into consideration as we move forward on these policies.

Toronto has seen some of the worst gridlock ever and it’s only getting worse. There are two reasons for that. A lot of it has to do with the bike lanes that have been put forward in an unreasonable manner. The second is that the member’s own party refused, when they were in government for 15 years, to invest in public transit. It’s this government that is getting shovels in the ground on the Ontario Line, the LRTs across this province. It’s the inaction of previous governments that—

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Further questions?

Mr. Wayne Gates: While this government talks about fast-tracking the Garden City Skyway project, we all know in Niagara that this bridge isn’t plagued by traffic. If we are serious about addressing congestion, why not prioritize an all-day, two-way GO train all the way to Niagara Falls? The QEW 2013 environmental assessment clearly states that the Skyway deck replacement needs to be done by 2025 as it had reached its end of life, which becomes a safety issue.

I ask, why has the government delayed necessary maintenance, pushing the end-of-life repair to its brink? If you are serious about reducing traffic in Niagara and on our highways, if you care about our environment, why aren’t we fast-tracking GO service right now all the way to Niagara Falls?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: I can’t believe the member from Niagara Falls. He’s voted against the work that has needed to go forward to make the Garden City Skyway bridge.

Let me educate that member: 100,000 vehicles cross that bridge each and every single day. Do you know how important it is, how many border crossings we have, how important it is to our economy?

That member, on the increased expansion of GO Transit for the Niagara line, actually voted against that increase to service. But that’s not a surprise. The Liberals and NDP will set up roadblocks to try to stop us for every one of the investments we have made, whether it be on public transit or whether it be on highways. They want the status quo. They don’t want anything to change. We won’t accept that. It’s because of their policies in the past that we’re in this position anyway. They don’t want to build highways. They don’t want to build public transit—

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Further questions?

Mr. Billy Pang: I come from Hong Kong, with a population of over seven million people who highly rely on public transit and subways. At basically every single subway station, there is a transit-oriented community accommodating more than thousands of homes.

To the minister: How will our transit-oriented communities help reduce the gridlock?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: That member is absolutely right: We’re building housing where it makes sense, and we’re building across this province. We’re building these historic transit projects that, unfortunately, I can’t believe the NDP and Liberals won’t support. They sat on their hands and did absolutely nothing when they had the balance of power for almost 15 years. They didn’t build transit, they didn’t build highways and they didn’t invest in the future—the Ontario Line; the Yonge North subway that I know the member opposite is a big proponent of.

It’s going to bring almost 37,000 people within walking distance of the Yonge North subway once that is completed and once that is built. I know that member has advocated for more transit and has advocated for more subways to be built.

It’s a shame, though, that when we know that we can take almost 28,000 cars off the road with the Ontario Line, the members opposite, the Liberals and NDP, would oppose that. It just baffles me.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): We have time for one last question.

Ms. Jennifer K. French: I’m glad to ask a question of the minister. As we’re starting to discuss a bill about reducing gridlock, I wonder why this minister has decided that ripping out existing infrastructure in municipalities would make things better.

Also, I wonder if this minister will finally consider removing the 407 tolls for trucks to move them off the 401, to get GO trains actually going, or to finish the Eglinton Crosstown; if any of those real ways of reducing gridlock are on his agenda.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Back to the minister for a final response.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: The NDP and the Liberals have had all summer to go and speak to constituents, listen to them and ask them what they’re feeling on the roads, the gridlock that they are facing. And look at them: They’re still back in the session—they’re opposing Highway 413. They’re opposing the Bradford Bypass. And let’s look at their record: They voted against expanding GO Transit services across this province. We just increased it by over 300 trips a week, and we’ll continue to do that.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Unfortunately, we’ve run out of time.

Interjections: Aw.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): I know.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

Members’ Statements

Health care

Mr. Lorne Coe: Lakeridge Health has teamed up with Ontario Tech University in the region of Durham to drive health care innovation and address Durham region’s evolving health care needs using artificial intelligence. The Partnership for Advanced Technology in Health Care seeks to enhance patient care and improve health outcomes for the region of Durham through the sharing of cutting-edge research with practical applications.

This new partnership further reinforces Lakeridge Health’s dedication to integrating technology that benefits both patients and health care providers. Importantly, the university’s new collaboration with Lakeridge Health provides a unique learning opportunity for Ontario Tech students—a new generation of leaders in health care and technology—as they work to uncover AI solutions that will improve health care services across the region.

Collaborations with exceptional academic institutions like Ontario Tech are key to building a health care system that not only serves today’s needs but anticipates the health care challenges of tomorrow.

Government’s record

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: This government is struggling to deliver on the basics, like affordable housing, health care and education. Instead of fixing what they’ve broken, they’re peddling distractions: first, the fantasy $1-billion tunnel under the 401, and now bulldozing over municipalities by announcing new legislation to destroy bike lanes. It reminds me of one of the first culture wars from this government—ripping out EV charging stations.

This government doesn’t care about financial or ecological costs.

Why would you spend money destroying existing infrastructure? You’re making taxpayers foot the bill for your destructive agenda.

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario said, “Requiring provincial approval [for bike lanes] would be a significant overreach into municipal jurisdiction.” Municipal planners work hard, the community has been engaged, but once again this government is making decisions without the proper process—just like closing the Ontario Science Centre overnight due to supposedly unsafe roof panels when one in 12 schools in Ontario have these same roof panels.

This government refuses to fix their mistakes, like selling off the 407 in the first place, but also handing over a billion dollars to the 407’s owners during the pandemic.

Conservatives pretend bikes are the problem. Wasteful Conservative ideology is the problem.

Premier, stay in your own lane and quit acting out your petty grudges from your time on Toronto city council.

Windsor International Film Festival

Mr. Andrew Dowie: I rise today as it is once again time to roll out the red carpet for a beloved part of the Windsor-Essex community fabric, the Windsor International Film Festival. WIFF is celebrating 20 years strong this year, and starting tomorrow night—I’m looking forward to being there as soon as the Legislature is done—it will be delivering its biggest lineup of feature films yet.

By the numbers: 213 feature films, 42 countries represented, 23 local films, 58 francophone feature films, 46 films selected from the Toronto International Film Festival, 141 films from world-leading film festivals, and 75 feature documentaries.

I’ve already got my tickets for the longest film of the festival—celebrating The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal, clocking in at 261 minutes.

The heart and soul of the Windsor International Film Festival is Vincent Georgie, the executive director of the festival. Vincent began as a volunteer for the festival in 2009 and has served as executive director and chief programmer since 2013, so 11 years now.

Year after year, Vincent and the WIFF team deliver an incredible event that not only brings visitors to our community, but a veritable experience like no other that comes right here, close to home, back in Windsor-Essex.

Thank you to Vincent, the entire WIFF board and the team for your incredible work delivering the festival once again and for making Windsor-Essex incredibly proud.

Indigenous affairs

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Meegwetch, Speaker.

Remarks in Anishininiimowin.

Speaker, 130 members of Red Rock Indian Band and their supporters brought traffic to a halt between eastern and western Canada at the Nipigon bridge for an hour on Monday. This peaceful highway shutdown followed the discovery of human remains at a construction site for a new visitors’ centre in Nipigon. One of the four ancestors whose remains were uncovered in May was from pre-contact, and they were found in their original burial place. But the remains are incomplete.

Red Rock Chief Allan Odawa Jr. stated that Parks Canada failed to follow its own protocols by not having an archaeologist on-site, and both the federal and the provincial governments were hindering the search for the remains. Instead of treating the remains with respect, around 150 loads of earth were relocated, and some of those remains are in those 150 loads of earth.

The Red Rock Indian Band continues to call on the federal, provincial and private actors to stop being an obstacle in their search for the ancestors and to prevent this from happening in the future. They are asking for policy change so that this does not happen again.

Meegwetch to the Red Rock Indian Band and supporters for your advocacy and solidarity.

School field trip

Mrs. Robin Martin: I rise today to address the disturbing Toronto District School Board 15-school field trip turned protest featuring anti-Israel chants and “Zionism Kills” stickers that occurred on September 18 of this year.

Students were instructed to dress as settlers in blue shirts and to chant, “From Turtle Island to Palestine, occupation is a crime.” As Brian Lilley at the Sun wrote, “That chant, pushed on students as young as grade 3, not only drags the war Hamas started into a rally that was supposed to be about clean water, it pushes a” Marxist “ideology onto students.”

Education is not a tool for indoctrination. It should not be used to further political agendas or to impose one-sided views. Our educators have a responsibility to nurture the minds of future generations and encourage them to think for themselves. As this government has made clear, students deserve an education that focuses on the fundamentals like reading, writing and math, not one that diverts precious time away from classroom learning in favour of political activism.

Mr. Speaker, our government takes this matter very seriously because we know that parents send their children to school to learn and not to be used as crowd extras or fillers by activists posing as teachers. The Premier noted that teachers should stick to teaching, and the minister has now ordered an investigation into how this happened. I look forward to the findings of that investigation and will always stand for a back-to-basics education that focuses on nurturing each individual student’s success.

Consumer protection

Mr. Tom Rakocevic: Speaker, things built in the past were made to last, but not anymore. Nowadays, manufacturers want the things you buy from them to break down a day after the warranty ends. Hey, but no problem, right? They’ll just sell you their latest model that comes in a new flashy colour—wow. You still want to keep it, though? No problem. They’ll fix it for you at double the cost of buying another one. So hey, why don’t you just buy another one and throw yours in the garbage and add it to the growing pile?

Okay, so you’re having none of it. You want to repair it yourself or maybe go to the local repair shop and get Fred to fix it at a cheap cost. Well, that’s when the company mascot goes from the cute little puppy to the angry wolf. That’s the last place they want you to go, and they have many strategies to stop you.

Speaker, in our smart world of glued-on batteries, digital locks and products designed for the dump, it’s time to take a stand. We deserve the right to repair our own stuff that we paid for at a fair cost, and my Bill 187 will make it happen. I urge the government to support it.

The right-to-repair movement is strong and growing. To learn more about it, come out to the first-ever Canadian Repair Convention this Friday, October 25, in London, Ontario, at the Ivey Spencer Leadership Centre or join online at canrepair.ca.

Thanksgiving

Mr. Billy Pang: Last week, I had the pleasure of hosting a Thanksgiving celebration at the Angus Glen Community Centre in Markham–Unionville. It was a heartwarming event, with vibrant performances from 12 seniors clubs and a full house of local residents, all coming together in the spirit of community.

We were also honoured to have Premier Ford and Minister Lecce join us, making the occasion even more special. The celebration truly reflects the spirit of Thanksgiving, bringing people from all walks of life together to celebrate community, diversity and gratitude. It reminds us of the importance of staying connected, supporting one another, and fostering a sense of belonging in our ever-growing and diverse community.

Our community thrives because of the dedication and co-operation of the residents, who continuously work to build a welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the performers, volunteers and attendees for their contributions in making this event such a resounding success. Together, we created moments of togetherness, abundant joy and lasting memories for everyone.

Ontario is stronger and more united when we value community and celebrate our shared traditions through events like this. From the bottom of my heart, a big thank you to my neighbours and friends.

Government’s record

Mr. Michael Mantha: Over the summer recess, I had the opportunity to travel back and forth across my riding, meeting with people in every corner of Algoma–Manitoulin. I tried to use the extra six weeks we were away to get in as many events, meetings and constituency clinics as possible.

The government also tried to make the most of the extended recess, outlining their agenda while avoiding scrutiny here at the Legislature. However, the priorities that they broadcast into the headlines were very different from what I was hearing from people in Algoma–Manitoulin.

The Premier’s priority was spending $225 million to put alcohol into convenience stores, while hospitals in my riding were looking at how it was going to avoid million-dollar deficits under this government’s budget.

The government prioritized billion-dollar mega highways in the GTA, while in the north, we’ve been waiting over a decade for the government to finish four-laning in Highway 69 to Sudbury.

The Premier announced that he wanted to spend billions to tunnel under the 401 and add more lanes, while on Manitoulin Island, people were stuck waiting for hours at a broken-down swing bridge that the government hasn’t put a timeline on to replace.

Close to $7 billion in pay back for the government’s unconstitutional Bill 124; meanwhile, children with autism are left on the wait-list for services which continue to grow longer each year.

I can safely say that what this government chose to spend this summer focusing on does not match the priorities of the people I spoke with in Algoma–Manitoulin.

Norbec manufacturing plant

Mr. Steve Pinsonneault: I rise today to share an exciting achievement in my riding of Lambton–Kent–Middlesex. Recently, we celebrated the grand opening of Norbec’s state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Strathroy, marking a significant step forward for our community and for Ontario. This $45 million investment is not just a privilege for our local economy but a strong testament to our government’s work in strengthening Ontario’s manufacturing structure.

This new facility, Norbec’s first in Ontario, third in Canada, will create 70 high-skilled jobs, full-time jobs providing opportunities for engineers, production operators and many others.

We are proud to have the support of our government, which contributed $1.5 million through the Regional Development Program. This facility will not only help Norbec better service customers here in Ontario, but also tap into the growing Midwest US markets.

This is more than just a new factory. It is a symbol of growth, innovation and the opportunities that lie ahead for our region. I look forward to seeing the great impact this facility will have, and as we look ahead, it is clear that this investment will boost both our local economy, and Ontario’s position as a manufacturing leader.

Here’s to a bright future for Strathroy, Norbec and all of Ontario.

Government investments

Mr. Matthew Rae: I had a very busy summer and early fall in my beautiful riding of Perth–Wellington. I attended over 260 events and meetings, and it was great to be able to meet with the hard-working people across my riding, the ones who are helping us build, feed and create a prosperous Ontario.

I had the opportunity to make many announcements as our government continues to build a better, stronger and safer Ontario, whether it was the $14.2 million to the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund which provides money to our municipal partners to build roads, bridges, sewers that we rely on; or the $1.3 million to train the next generation of municipal equipment officers through the Skills Development Fund; or the $307,000 for the rural economic development projects across Perth–Wellington; or the $8.3 million and $14 million for the Land Ambulance and the Dedicated Offload Nurses Programs in Perth and Wellington county, respectively; or the $34 million for broadband and high-speed Internet expansion across southwestern Ontario.

And there’s more, Speaker: the $1.39 million through the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund for Sommers generators in Stratford to help them build hydrogen generators in Ontario, creating good-paying jobs locally.

These are only some of the investments our Progressive Conservative government is making in communities across Perth–Wellington. I look forward to working with all my colleagues in this place to continue to invest in health care, infrastructure and economic development, and keep taxes low for the people of Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much. That concludes our members’ statements for this morning.

Introduction of Visitors

M me France Gélinas: It gives me great pleasure to introduce Laura, Jozef, Ewelina, Kinsley and Patrick Porzuczek. He is the spokesperson for Re-Open the Minden ER and Minden Matters, and they would very much like to meet with the Premier of Ontario.

Premier Ford, if you have a few minutes, please meet this family—a very nice family. You will like them, I guarantee you.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Graham McGregor: I want to introduce a very good friend of mine, a good friend to the region of Peel. Dave Wakely just recently clocked in 14 years as the union president for Peel paramedics. Let’s give him a big, warm welcome. Welcome, Dave.

Mr. Chris Glover: I’d also like to echo the huge welcome to the Porzuczek family from Save the Minden ER. I also want to welcome Janice Jim from Waterloo. She’s here for the bike rally this afternoon.

Hon. Sam Oosterhoff: I have quite a wonderful list of people to recognize today from the ministry team. We have my chief of staff, Crystal Mason; we have my legislative assistant, Michael Zwiep; we have my director of policy and stakeholders, Brittany Greenland; we have Patil Imasdounian, the senior communications adviser; Chris Mills, the senior policy adviser; Adam Sa-Di Meo, intern; as well as Ali Shahsamand, my senior communications adviser. Thank you for all the work you’re doing across the province. I appreciate you very much.

Mr. Joel Harden: I also want to thank my friend Janice Jim for being here and just salute the friends who are filing into the building, as I understand it: Alison Stewart from Cycle Toronto and David Laing from BikeBrampton.

Just a quick note to what my friend said earlier: It’s not a bike rally at 5 o’clock today, Speaker, it’s a citizens’ place. If you walk, if you use a wheelchair, if you scoot, we all care about safe communities and the impact of our policies. So come and join us.

Ms. Patrice Barnes: Today I’d like to welcome Julianna Wong and Ethan Wong, who will be competing for Team Canada in jiu-jitsu in Greece next week. I think they’re in the House. If we could just stand and give them a round of applause and a send-off as they leave this Friday.

Ms. Chandra Pasma: I’d like to welcome the labour leaders from the education sector who will be joining us shortly in the gallery from RÉFO, ETFO, OSSTF, OSBCU and COPE, and in particular the education workers Shauna Heath, Alison Slack, Amie Boyak and Jennifer Bibby, who gave us a demonstration this morning of the protective gear that they wear to our schools every single day. Welcome.

Mr. Adil Shamji: Good morning, Mr. Speaker. I would like to welcome the Porzuczek family to the Legislature today. Specifically, I’d like to welcome Patrick; his wife, Laura; and his children, Kinsley, Jozef and Ewelina. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Graydon Smith: I’d like to welcome the Invasive Species Centre here for their Queen’s Park day today, specifically Sarah Rang and Colin Cassin. I know others from ISC that are here.

There are many partner organizations, too: Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Forests Ontario, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Association. We’re looking forward to seeing all of the members here at the reception this evening in rooms 228 and 230. Thank you very much and welcome.

Miss Monique Taylor: I would like to welcome some guests from the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies, who I’ll be meeting with later today: Anita Chiu, Kaitlyn Forbes and Bryan Shone, who is the executive director for the Hamilton Child and Family Supports. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: I’d like to introduce a very good and longtime friend of mine, Ishmael Van Der Rassel. Now, Ishmael lost his mum recently, and that’s why she’s not here to visit with him today.

Mr. Ross Romano: I’ve got a few introductions this morning with members from the riding, so I definitely want to recognize a few individuals.

First, I’d like to briefly recognize the value of exercise to good and overall health. We have the members of the Ontario Kinesiology Association with us here today in the gallery. Kinesiologists are the experts in the science of human mobility and exercise, and Ontario is the leader in that field. I’d like to recognize the secretary-treasurer, Jory Kettles, from my own riding in Sault Ste. Marie.

Our Minister of Forestry has already indicated that the Invasive Species Centre from Sault Ste. Marie is here today. I also want to welcome the group. I don’t want to repeat all of that. Please join us for the reception at the end of the day today for the Invasive Species Centre.

Member’s birthday

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Peterborough–Kawartha has informed me that he has a point of order that he wishes to raise.

Mr. Dave Smith: I’d like to wish a happy birthday to my good friend from Flamborough–Glanbrook, who looks 10 years younger than me.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Happy birthday.

Question Period

Government accountability

Ms. Marit Stiles: Good morning, Speaker. You may recall that the rural municipality of Brighton, which is located in the riding of the Minister of Labour, felt that the only way to get this government to pay attention to them was to hire one of the Premier’s friends, Amin Massoudi, to lobby for them. Now, we know this Mr. Massoudi was in Las Vegas getting massages with a greenbelt developer and a Conservative MPP and was a guest at the Premier’s daughter’s wedding. Now that the government is, however, under RCMP criminal investigation, can the Premier tell us when he last spoke to Mr. Massoudi?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the parliamentary assistant and member for Brantford–Brant.

Mr. Will Bouma: I will repeat, and as we have said many, many times to the Leader of the Opposition, the Integrity Commissioner has issued a report; the Auditor General has issued a report. Our government has reversed course on a policy that was not supported by the people of the province of Ontario. We have accepted all of the recommendations that have come from that report, but what we are doing and what we have been doing since day one is focusing on rebuilding the province of Ontario that was left a mess by the Liberal-NDP government previously.

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: First of all, I’ve got to say, I don’t think that when the good people of Brantford–Brant elected that member opposite, they elected him to do that—I mean, really.

But look, here’s what we’ve noticed: There are people who matter to this Premier and there are people who don’t, people he will protect and people he won’t. We know who doesn’t matter to this Premier: two and a half million people with no doctor, the one in five Ontarians who can’t make the rent, the one million Ontarians relying on a home-care system that is in crisis. Who does matter to this Premier?

Developers looking to get rich when his government removes their land from the greenbelt or political staffers turned lobbyists like Nico Fidani-Diker or Amin Massoudi who buy a ticket to an event in the Premier’s own—to the Premier’s family’s event, and then they get a ministerial zoning order or other benefits for their clients.

Why won’t this Premier put regular people first for once, instead of his friends and donors?

Interjections.

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

The Premier.

Hon. Doug Ford: Mr. Speaker, I just ignore the rubbish that comes over from the opposition. But I’ll tell you who we worry about. We worry about the 16 million people that live in this province. We worried about the 300,000 people that lost their jobs under the NDP, under the Liberals. That’s who we worry about. We care about the 860,000 people who are working who weren’t working under your government. We worry about the people who need to go to the hospital, who had rundown hospitals because you never built hospitals; we’re building 50 new sites or additions—and $50 billion.

We’re worrying about the investments that you chased out of this province never to come back again; we’ve seen close to $70 billion of investment and $45 billion in the EV sector that’s going to employ thousands and thousands of people. We’re worried about people stuck in traffic day in and day out; you’re against building the 413 and the Bradford Bypass. We worry about people getting their doors kicked in, putting a gun to their head that you’re okay with letting these criminals out on bail early—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke will come to order.

I’m going to remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.

Start the clock. The final supplementary.

Ms. Marit Stiles: Now that we have the Premier’s attention, apparently, maybe he’ll actually answer the first question I asked, which was whether or not he has spoken to Mr. Massoudi or when the last time was that he spoke to Mr. Massoudi.

Ontarians should be able to trust that when their government decides to spend their money, that decision is based on evidence and public interest. But this Premier proudly says he doesn’t care about evidence or even what the people think as long as it apparently works for his friends, for party insiders. This is at the very heart of why his government is under criminal investigation by the RCMP.

I want to know from this Premier: Who’s lobbying for the people of Ontario, and do they all have to hire an insider lobbyist?

Hon. Doug Ford: I think the people of Ontario had an opportunity to speak in the by-elections. We won all three ridings; I think you came a distant third. By the way, in the next election we look forward to taking care of that row, that row and that row over there, which is going to happen, because people know life is better in Ontario than it was six years ago.

They have certainty now, they have jobs now, they’re bringing home a paycheque that they never had before under your left-wing regime of “don’t build anything, let’s kill businesses, let’s all go around and hop on our bicycle and go down the crowded streets that are just absolutely insanity right now on Bloor, on Yonge, on University.” No.

People want reasonable judgment, and that’s what we’re giving the people of Ontario. We’re putting money back into their pockets instead of your greedy little pockets.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock.

One more time, I’m going to remind the members to make their comments through the Chair, and I’m going to add that personal insults add nothing to the debate.

Start the clock. The next question.

Public transit

Ms. Marit Stiles: Speaker, I’ll tell you how people in Ontario are feeling right now after six years of this government: They’re feeling stuck. They’re struggling. They’re stuck on wait-lists. They’re stuck—

Interjections.

Ms. Marit Stiles: Yes, in traffic. They’re stuck with a government that isn’t interested in fixing their problems.

One of the best examples of this is this government’s failure to deliver on public transit. There are currently at least three major transit projects right here with no opening date in sight: Eglinton LRT, Finch West LRT, Hurontario LRT—all promised to the people of Ontario, but there is no sign of when they will be open.

Can the Premier tell the people of Ontario the date of when they will be able to start using the public transit that they already paid for?

Hon. Doug Ford: Mr. Speaker, I thought this morning, “Be nice when you get in the Legislature,” and I’m doing my best. But when you talk and you say—I’ve got to watch my words here—they’re stuck in traffic, but the same person is voting against the 413, the Bradford Bypass, Highway 3, Highway 11/17, the expansion on 401 east and voting against getting rid of those nasty, terrible bike lanes that are on main arterial roads, we have a different thought process: Put them on the secondary roads.

Again, Mr. Speaker, we’re spending $70 billion on the largest transit project in North America to get people out of their cars, to make sure they have an equitable and reasonable plan to get to work.

We also did the One Fare, that you voted against—you’d rather charge more people more money—so when you come in from the GO train and you stop at Union Station, you don’t have to pay another fare—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Premier will take his seat.

Once again, I remind the members to make their comments through the Chair, not directly across the floor of the House.

Leader of the Opposition, supplementary?

Ms. Marit Stiles: Speaker, that was a lot, but I didn’t hear a date. I did not hear a date—no dates, once again.

Speaker, millions of Ontarians are working harder than ever to get through the month. They’re waiting for a raise that never seems to come. Meanwhile, their Premier gives a 300% raise to his million-dollar man, his buddy, the CEO of Metrolinx, who—I just want to point out again—hasn’t completed a single project on time or on budget.

Can the Premier explain to Ontarians who use transit and who work 12-hour days why they get nothing while the Premier’s buddy over at Metrolinx gets a 300% raise?

Hon. Doug Ford: Mr. Speaker, let’s talk about that we have the highest minimum wage in the entire country, because we worry about those people, and how we’ve created the opportunity to have a bigger paycheque and a better job, because we created the environment and the conditions for companies to invest here. There were over 137 companies worldwide that invested $11 billion that are employing 12,200 people that didn’t have a job.

Last year, we created more jobs here in manufacturing than all 50 US states combined. That’s what economic development’s about, making sure you give the people a lift up.

And speaking of lift up: the LIFT tax credit, going to the most vulnerable people out there; making sure that we have people on ODSP who are getting the rate of inflation of 5%, putting more money into their pockets, giving them the opportunity, and yes, the people on—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. The Premier will take his seat.

The final supplementary.

Ms. Marit Stiles: That’s a disappointing response, Speaker. Whenever the Premier finds himself in a corner, he likes to punch down—always—on the most vulnerable Ontarians. It’s very unfortunate and, frankly, irresponsible of this Premier.

But look, another thing that really galls Ontarians—Ontarians who are struggling—and I’m going to tell you, it really drives people crazy, and this is hard to believe, but follow along here: There are not five, not 10, not even 15, but 82 Metrolinx vice-presidents—82 VPs—and zero opening dates. And they just keep getting these 300% raises while the Premier takes teachers and nurses and health care workers to court to freeze their wages.

Why, oh why, does the Premier keep rewarding Metrolinx for failing to deliver for the people of Ontario?

Interjections.

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

Hon. Doug Ford: Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition is so concerned about this, why did she vote against the largest transit project in North America? Why did she vote against reducing the cost of fuel that we know—God forbid, which will never happen, by the way—that if you’re ever in government, you’ll jack up taxes like you did before and take money out of peoples’ pockets? That’s what you believe.

You believe that government can spend the money better than the people. We don’t. We believe in putting money back into peoples’ pockets until they can go out for dinner, buy a pair of sneakers, maybe get their kids new clothes.

When you and the Liberals were in power, they were in stress. You bankrupted this province. Companies were leaving because the environment wasn’t there—high taxes, some of the highest in North America, the highest energy costs in North America, red tape and regulations. Well, my friend, we’ve changed all that. That’s why we have become an economic powerhouse around the world. People are coming here from all around the world to invest and to live and to raise a family. We had a record amount of people—

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

One more time, I’ll remind the members to make their comments through the Chair. Remember, you’re addressing the Speaker.

The next question.

Government accountability

Mr. Chris Glover: My question is to the Premier. When a government awards contracts with taxpayer dollars, it’s a violation of the Members’ Integrity Act to give preferential treatment to one bidder. But in awarding the Ontario Place contract to Therme, there was no fairness monitor. The Therme lease requires taxpayers to pay a billion dollars for a parking garage and to bulldoze the west island. The bid submission deadline was extended, and one of the late bidders was Therme. A Therme lobbyist contacted the bid evaluation team during the evaluation period. A government drawing showed a Therme-like attraction on the site six months before Therme was officially awarded the contract.

My question is, did this government give Therme preferential treatment?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Minister of Infrastructure.

Hon. Kinga Surma: As I said on Monday, on the first day in the House, the NDP have filed a complaint. The Integrity Commissioner is reviewing that complaint, and the Integrity Commissioner was very clear with me that he did not want me to comment on this matter.

What I will comment on is the fact that we are investing $970 million for water infrastructure projects across the province of Ontario so that people like us, their children, our neighbours, our friends, have the ability to purchase a home and live in a home in the province of Ontario. I will continue to focus my efforts to make sure that housing is affordable in the province of Ontario.

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

Mr. Chris Glover: I don’t know how you pivoted from Ontario Place to housing, but the only housing this government has built are the tent encampments that are now in every community across this province.

When this government is spending tax dollars or giving away publicly owned property, Ontarians deserve answers. The Therme lease requires taxpayers to pay $450 million for a parking garage, even though the government told prospective bidders that the government would not consider proposals requiring taxpayer-funded parking.

Yes or no, did Therme’s proposal require a publicly funded parking garage?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I suppose I will recognize the Premier.

Interjections.

Hon. Doug Ford: I’ll wait until the chirping stops there. Okay, good. Thank you.

You know, I wouldn’t trust the NDP running a lemonade stand because they’ll end up going bankrupt. That parking that we’re working on right now will be the number one income generator, and by the way, no one gets it, but the people of Ontario get that income. That’s the difference between how they operate and how we operate. We operate this province like a business. It will be the most profitable area of that whole complex of Ontario Place. It will be the number one tourist attraction in all of Canada. When we get it completed, five to six million people will be going there every single year.

Therme invested $700 million. It was a clean, transparent bid overseen by many authorities to make sure it was clean and transparent, but they would rather leave it as a weed patch and be going in there and watching weed come up through the grounds, and people probably smoking weed there too, the whole place. That’s the difference—

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

The next question.

Life sciences sector

MPP Zee Hamid: My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. It feels like almost every day, we hear about companies expanding their operations in Ontario. Compare that to when Liberals were in charge and we would hear about companies shutting down their operations and moving out of Ontario on a near-daily basis. But by reversing the destructive anti-growth policies and lowering the costs across the board, we’re seeing businesses create good-paying jobs for hard-working Ontarians throughout Ontario, including in my riding of Milton.

Our life sciences sector is one example that has seen important growth in recent years. Last week, our government launched a plan to ensure the sector continues to grow in the years ahead.

Speaker, can the minister please share with the Legislature how the recently announced phase 2 of Ontario’s Life Sciences Strategy will benefit the people of Ontario?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: After the success in landing $45 billion in new auto investments, we told the life sciences sector that we are making a hard pivot now and making life sciences our focus. We launched phase 2 of our life sciences strategy where we’re investing $146 million to solidify the province’s position as a global leader in biomanufacturing and health sciences. So far, Speaker, we’ve landed $5 billion in new life science investments. Since we introduced our strategy, nearly 5,000 new life sciences jobs have been created. We have an ambitious goal to hit 85,000 workers by 2030, a 25% increase.

Speaker, with our life sciences strategy we are ensuring that we will continue to build on the momentum you just heard—

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

Supplementary question?

MPP Zee Hamid: The life sciences sector is an immensely important industry for Ontario’s economy now and in the years ahead. We want more life-saving medical breakthroughs to happen right here in our province and, with our life sciences strategy, our government is ensuring that this sector continues to grow in the years ahead. Global companies now know that this is not the same Ontario as when Liberals were in charge. Our government has created a thriving business environment, putting Ontario in a position to attract investments in every single sector from auto to life sciences.

Speaker, can the minister share further information about the important investments that Ontario’s life sciences sector has made?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: As I mentioned a minute ago, over $5 billion in new life sciences investments have already taken place. Last week, the Premier, Minister Jones and MPP Skelly, we opened North America’s cell and gene therapy manufacturing and AI centre of excellence in Hamilton at OmniaBio. It is an $850-million investment, 250 jobs, but they told us there, it’s going to 500 new jobs.

Sanofi, we there for the opening of their $800-million investment. Shortly, we’ll be at the opening of their $925-million investment where they’ll make the seniors’ flu vaccine—1,225 new jobs. Roche, a $500-million investment to open their Global Pharma Technical Operations in Mississauga—500 new jobs.

I can go on and on, Speaker, because with our life sciences strategy, we are ensuring that there are going to be more game-changing investments.

Services for persons with disabilities

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: It’s been two decades since Ontario said it would stop institutionalizing Ontarians with developmental disabilities, yet in 2020, this Conservative government gave $2.67 million to a Toronto organization, Jake’s House, to reinstitutionalize 30 adults with developmental disabilities inside a long-term-care home in Lucan. When it opened, the Conservative MPP said, “This is a model that I think will work in every community, every region across the province.”

My question is to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services: Does this Conservative government now believe in reinstitutionalizing Ontarians with developmental disabilities?

Hon. Michael Parsa: I thank my honourable colleague for the question. When we announced our vision for the sector with our partners through Journey to Belonging, we made that very clear. That is what’s driving all the efforts and our collaboration with all the family members, those with lived experience, all our partners on the ground, towards that vision of Journey to Belonging: Choice and Inclusion. The member is aware of that.

That’s why we’re investing over $3.5 billion in the sector: so that every single person in this province can live independently as much as possible, whatever they want, and to make sure they also have the support in their communities. That’s why we’re working with all our partner to make sure that has happened.

Journey to Belonging is a long-term vision of us and the sector, and we’re not going to at all deviate from our plan to make sure that everyone has the supports in their communities. Every single person should have the chance to succeed and thrive in our community.

When it comes to our government, we’ll do everything we can and work with our partners to make sure that happens.

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

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: Ontarians with disabilities deserve better than a new institutionalization model, but this government rubber-stamped it. That is not the journey to belonging.

On October 3, 2024, MCCSS terminated funding for Jake’s House, but there are lingering questions: Did MCCSS ever consult families and other providers? Where are the RFPs to select the most skilled and capable organizations? Did any other organizations submit a proposal? Was the location even inspected before people lived there?

My question is back to the minister: Can you commit that this government will stop, and forever stop, the institutionalization of Ontarians with disabilities?

Hon. Michael Parsa: To the member, I’ll repeat again, that is the vision of Journey to Belonging. That is our vision, along with our partners on the ground: that everyone in this province can live the lives they choose. We’re supporting them with all the supports they need—again, along with our partners on the ground, with our vision, Journey to Belonging.

That’s why we’re investing record-breaking numbers. Investment for the developmental services sector under this government has increased by $1.2 billion since we formed government. More important, supportive living so that people can live as independently as they want has increased by over $700 million since we formed government.

All of those are clear examples that we are working with all our partners to make sure they have the supports and the resources they need to succeed and thrive in their communities, and they will always have the support and the commitment of this government.

Electricity supply

Mr. Lorne Coe: My question is for the Minister of Energy and Electrification. Ontario is entering a period of rapid growth and transformation. We’re building new homes and major infrastructure projects at a record pace. We’re attracting job-creating investments from global companies and leading the charge in the electrification of industries in Ontario.

As a result of these investments, our electricity demand is set to surge dramatically in the coming decades. Our government has promised a comprehensive energy strategy to meet this challenge. Ontario families need assurances that our energy system will have the power to keep our electricity system running, unlike the disruptions they faced under the previous Liberal government.

Can the minister please elaborate on how our government plans to meet the rising demand for power while ensuring that energy remains affordable and reliable for all Ontarians?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I want to thank the member for Whitby for his leadership in this House as we work together to ensure this province has the power we need to fuel our growth. We need 75% more power. That is equivalent to adding four-and-a-half cities of Toronto to the grid by year 2050.

Our Premier has a vision to build a clean, affordable, reliable energy future for the people of Ontario as we lean into non-emitting nuclear power to drive that growth—affordable energy that we’re building on time and on budget, a rarity in the space, but it is our value proposition to the world as we lead in building the first-in-the-G7 small modular reactors. We lead the largest continental nuclear expansion in our history.

Our focus is affordability. The Affordable Energy Act will guide the way as we lead with the largest energy expansion with a focus on affordable energy, a sharp contrast to the former Liberals that increased rates by 300%.

We’re keeping rates on, power on and, more importantly, we’re keeping it affordable for the people of Ontario.

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

Mr. Lorne Coe: My supplementary is to the Associate Minister of Energy-Intensive Industries.

As Ontario grows, businesses—especially those in energy-intensive industries—rely on stable, affordable and clean power to thrive. Our province’s push towards electrification, along with a significant rise in housing and industrial development, means that the demand for energy will only increase. In Whitby, businesses are concerned about having consistent and affordable energy to carry out their day-to-day operations. Reliable and clean energy is crucial to ensuring that companies choose to invest in Ontario rather than look elsewhere.

Speaker, through you to the associate minister, how will our government balance the need for economic growth with ensuring that Ontario’s energy supply remains reliable and affordable for all?

Hon. Sam Oosterhoff: I want to acknowledge the leadership of the member for Whitby for his advocacy on behalf of those job creators and industries from his riding. He’s been a strong voice, and I want him to take back to his riding a message of confidence when he speaks with job creators and industry to know that this is a government and a Premier that will have their back every step of the way.

When you look at the track record of reducing the gas tax by 10 cents a litre; when you look at the comprehensive electricity pricing plan to ensure that industry and small businesses have supports that they need to have reliable, affordable energy; and, yesterday, an announcement to ensure that we have an integrated energy vision for this province; as well as, on Monday, news that Minister Lecce, Minister Calandra and myself announced to ensure that we’re making it faster and cheaper and easier to connect new businesses to the grid; you can see very clearly that this is a track record of a Premier and a government that want to continue having the back of those businesses in his riding.

So when the member goes back and speaks with industry, when he speaks with job creators, they can know we have a strong plan, a confident plan to ensure that we have accessible, affordable, reliable power for many, many years to come that will, of course, be affordable and supported in every community—not just in Whitby, not just in Niagara, not just in Toronto, but in every single corner of this province.

Pharmaceutical industry

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: In my riding, St. Catharines, we have Biolyse Pharma, an oncology pharmaceutical manufacturing company that is being pushed out of Canada entirely. Why, you ask? Because they are losing RFP bids to overseas international manufacturers, some of whom are offering their pharmaceuticals at a higher price point.

Ontarians deserve made-in-Ontario solutions. Speaker, my question is to the Premier: Will you commit, right here, today, to working with Biolyse Pharma immediately, preventing the closures of their Ontario-based operations, and protect Canadian-made products right here in Ontario?

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

Hon. Sylvia Jones: The member opposite raises an important point, and that is, as we expand the pharmaceutical, the medical supplies, the medical equipment manufacturers in the province Ontario, how do we ensure that we have a pathway so that they can make sure that those new drugs, that those emerging technologies are actually being offered to Ontario residents?

That’s why I’m so pleased that Premier Ford has taken this on in his new leadership as head of the COF and ensured that we have a process in Ontario and in Canada specifically to make sure that, as these emerging technologies come forward, we have a pathway for them to provide those products in Canada, in Ontario.

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

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: I hope that means that you’ll be sitting down immediately and speaking to an Ontario-based pharmaceutical right now in Biolyse Pharma.

The Premier needs to take responsibility for provincial procurement rules and oversight here. It’s clear that this Ford government is passing the buck once again, despite constantly talking about creating real solutions right here in Ontario.

Again, my question is to the Premier: Will you step up and protect good-paying jobs that are already here, much-needed jobs that Biolyse provides in this sector?

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

Hon. Victor Fedeli: That’s an interesting question, considering you voted against the very answer to that. We have BOBI, Building Ontario Business Initiative, that legislates that more than 10% of what we buy in the province of Ontario must be made in Ontario. That’s about $3 billion a year that’s being bought. Now, sadly, you voted against that—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: We would not have expected anything other than that from you.

But we can also tell you that during the pandemic, when we found that zero of our PPE was being made here—domestically, we are now at 74%, and when our nitrile glove plant opens, we will be at 94%, Speaker, of all PPE being made domestically and a lot—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for St. Catharines, come to order.

The next question.

Health care

Mr. Ted Hsu: Doctors came here Monday, imploring the government to stop the crisis. They’ve left 2.5 million people in Ontario without a family doctor.

In Kingston, the entrepreneurial CDK clinic moved ahead on its own, in February, hiring staff and rostering new patients, but the result—a scramble to get in, daylong lineups—was called “the Hunger Games of health care.”

Besides all the people without family doctors, the problem is it’s hard to pull them off the Health Care Connect waiting list, even eight months later. Getting data should be management 101. My local Ontario health team, which is setting up the system to connect people to family doctors and health homes, would be helped a lot if they could know all their local people on the wait-list. No private health information has to be released.

When it comes to the family doctor waiting list, why can’t this government help local leaders innovate and get it done, instead of keeping central government control?

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

Hon. Sylvia Jones: You know, on Monday, when I sat down with the OMA, we had a good conversation about how, in fact, Ontario is leading Canada with 90% of residents matched with a primary care provider. We know we can do more, which is why, on Monday, I was so pleased to be able to ask and task Dr. Jane Philpott to make sure that we continue on our path.

In February, when we announced 78 new primary care multidisciplinary teams, it was an exciting time for communities across Ontario, in Kingston, in Minto-Mapleton, to ensure they’ve already hired and started to take on patients who have been looking for primary care providers—78 across Ontario.

By bringing Dr. Philpott on, we’re actually going to be able to continue to work and increase that 90% number so that within five years, we will have 100% of the Ontario residents who want a family physician having access to it.

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

Mr. Ted Hsu: The city of Kingston, hearing the people’s cries and not waiting for this government to get it done, spent $1 million to recruit health care staff, including $100,000 for the Greenwood clinic to hire RPNs and support staff and free up family doctor time.

Some 2.5 million Ontarians don’t have family doctors and this government is only starting to ask around for help.

So here’s some advice: Build on local leaders in Kingston who’ve had success on their own. Thanks to local initiatives, Greenwood clinic cleared the Health Care Connect wait-list in their geographic health home on October 8.

Why hasn’t this government provided family health organizations, like Greenwood, funding to build up staff or add allied health professionals and connect more people to family doctors? Why should the city of Kingston have to get it done on its own?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: And why do the independent Liberals continue to vote against our investments in primary care?

In addition to the 78 new and expanded primary care multidisciplinary teams, we also invested $20 million, funding to boost existing teams, because we know that we have exceptional, world-class clinicians in the province of Ontario who want to provide care in their communities. And they have a government who is going to get it done, whether it is expanding primary care, whether it is new medical schools in Brampton and in Scarborough and in York region—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Independents, come to order.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: —whether it is every single medical school in the province of Ontario having additional access and medical seats and residency seats.

Northern Ontario School of Medicine has an almost 50% increase in their medical seats. Why do we do that? We do that because we know when we train Ontario students in Ontario, they stay, they practise, and we become the beneficiary.

Agri-food industry

Mr. Ric Bresee: Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness. We know the European Union represents one of the world’s largest and most developed markets, with 27 countries and a population of over 447 million people. Given the increasing global demand for reliable, safe and high-quality agri-food products, Ontario must remain a key player in these markets.

Minister, your recent visit to the EU comes at a critical time, as the European Union is looking for dependable trade partners. Strengthening these relationships is critical to ensuring that Ontario farmers, like those in my riding, and agribusinesses across the province continue to grow their exports.

Speaker, will the minister please share with us the specific outcomes from this trip and the connections he made that will help our agriculture sector?

Hon. Rob Flack: Thank you to the member from Hastings–Lennox and Addington. We were there this summer, along with the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke, for a great beef barbecue for the Hastings beef farmers. So, well done.

First of all, I thank the Grain Farmers of Ontario. They were on this mission. They did a great job. In particular, I want to thank Jeff Harrison, the chair of the GFO, and Crosby Devitt, the CEO. They represent 28,000 grain and oilseed producers in the province, with six million acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, barley and oats. They did a great job.

Actually, Speaker, when you combine the EU with the UK, we’re looking at a market of 520 million people—a great opportunity for agri-food producers in this province, because they are importers of ag commodities and food.

In an uncertain world, yes, reliable, stable and high-valued commodities and food are asked for by this market. We’re going to reinforce, we’re going to engage and we’re going to explore these markets on behalf of all of our farmers. We’re getting it done.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary.

Mr. Ric Bresee: Thank you to the minister.

It is an increasingly competitive global market and it’s clear that collaboration with our international partners and policy-makers is absolutely crucial. The European Union is seeking to secure reliable, long-term food supply-chain relationships, and Ontario’s agricultural sector is ready to meet that demand. Ontario has a unique opportunity to leverage our strengths and expand our reach across Europe, building on the momentum of your recent trip. Supporting Ontario’s agribusiness champions at events like the SIAL agriculture show in Paris is essential for gaining visibility and establishing these new partnerships.

Speaker, would the minister please explain how his meetings in Brussels and in Paris will help to strengthen Ontario’s agri-food sector over the long term?

Hon. Rob Flack: The big take-away in the EU is motivation to both protect and strengthen their food supply. When you think of Ontario, Speaker, in 2023 we exported $26.2 billion out of this province, up 65% since 2019.

While in Europe, we met with Ambassador Ailish Campbell, the ambassador to the EU; special envoy to the EU and ambassador to France, the Honourable Stéphane Dion; and their trade representatives. I can’t say enough about them, how they helped us access stakeholders, helped us meet with new and emerging markets and customers. They opened doors and did a really, really good job.

We attended SIAL, the largest food show in the world and met with some potential investors. I look forward to working with the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade to ensure that we capture these markets for this province.

Most importantly, we met with customers who are already doing business in the EU, like Hensall District Co-op and Beretta Farms. We’re creating the environment for our people to succeed. We’re getting the job done.

Climate change

Mr. Peter Tabuns: My question is to the Premier. Last week in a landmark case the Ontario Court of Appeal found that global heating is risking the lives and well-being of the people of Ontario. Young people, led by Sophia Mathur from Sudbury, brought this case to press this government to protect us all.

Will the Premier finally put in place a plan and a target to help protect people from the climate crisis?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Acting Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

Hon. Todd J. McCarthy: I am proud to be the alternate Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks while Minister Khanjin is on parental leave.

We are taking action on climate change. We are proud to lead the way in Ontario for Canada’s progress. Ontario’s leadership under this Premier is responsible for 86% of our progress toward tackling climate change.

We’re proud of our record. We are getting it done in the fight against climate change.

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

Mr. Peter Tabuns: In fact, Speaker, this government should be embarrassed by its targets and by its efforts to date.

The climate crisis is driving up the price of food and insurance. People see it in their grocery bills; they see it in their insurance bills.

As we’ve seen in the past month with hurricanes in the United States, global heating is deadly and can cause destruction in the billions of dollars. We’ve already seen the impact of forest fires on northern and First Nations communities, disrupting their lives and destroying homes.

How bad does it have to get before this government will take the effective action that we need now?

Hon. Todd J. McCarthy: Premier Ford has said, and I agree, we can be both strong stewards of the environment while building the Ontario of tomorrow. That’s what this government stands for. We can tackle climate change while building the Ontario of tomorrow and creating the conditions for economic success and prosperity for all. That’s why we’ve welcomed more than 800,000 new jobs to Ontario under our time in government thus far, since 2018.

I can tell you what’s driving up the price of everything, including groceries. It’s the regressive Liberal carbon tax, supported by the NDP in Ottawa. Call your cousins in Ottawa and tell them to bring down that corrupt Liberal government in Ottawa.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Once again, I’ll remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.

The next question.

Transportation infrastructure

Ms. Bobbi Ann Brady: My question is for the Minister of Transportation. This summer, the minister arrived in Norfolk county unannounced for a photo-op. I’m curious if the minister actually drove through Haldimand county and across the Argyle Street bridge in Caledonia. Had he, I’m certain reconstruction would have begun the very next day. Rather, this government continues to dither and delay.

Last Tuesday at 5 p.m., I received notice that at 9 the next morning, the bridge would be closed for three days for inspection. Oh, my stars, everyone knows this 100-year-old bridge is in a critical state. It needs reconstruction, not inspection.

This government is inspecting the bridge continually to ensure that it is still safe to traverse. That is frightening. This is now my fifth time standing in this House, asking the same question, and yet, this government is playing Russian roulette with the lives of the people crossing that bridge.

Speaker, through you, to the minister, what is the date of reconstruction?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: As the member knows, the detail and design of the bridge replacement is complete and our government is in the process of obtaining final approvals to proceed to construction.

But, Mr. Speaker, we’re in this situation because for 15 years, the members of the opposition who were in power, the Liberals, did absolutely nothing to build this province. They didn’t build roads. They didn’t build highways. They don’t believe in building highways. They don’t believe in building roads and bridges.

Our government is committed to doing that, and that project is a part of our plan to build Ontario and a part of our plan to build and support Norfolk county. We will continue to do that. I’ll work with the member and the members of the community to ensure that we get that done.

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

Ms. Bobbi Ann Brady: No disrespect, but nobody cares whose fault it is. You are the government of the day. Get the job done.

If the minister isn’t willing to commit to a reconstruction date, then let’s go down the road from the Argyle Street bridge to Haldibrook Road and Highway 6. Ministry staff recently met with Haldimand county to discuss this very deadly intersection, and the minister has in his inbox a letter dated October 18 from the county, emphasizing the urgency of inst