role="main" class="main-container container js-quickedit-main-content" id="main-content">

March 30, 2026

44th Parliament, 1st Session

< Previous sitting day

Next sitting day >

Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2026-Mar-30 (PDF)

L056 - Mon 30 Mar 2026 / Lun 30 mar 2026

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Monday 30 March 2026 Lundi 30 mars 2026

Orders of the Day

Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2026 / Loi de 2026 sur le plan pour protéger l’Ontario (mesures budgétaires)

House sittings

Members’ Statements

Mighty Men of Zorra

Edward Pottinger

Riding of Nepean

Addison Hill

Juno Awards

Municipalities

Jack Crawford and Michaela Gosselin

Government accountability

Wiarton Willie

Introduction of Visitors

Question Period

Ontario budget

Nurse practitioners

Ontario budget

Ontario budget

Education funding

Government accountability

Health care

University and college funding

Cost of living

Indigenous economic development

Government accountability

Ontario budget

Energy policies

Introduction of Visitors

Introduction of Government Bills

Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act, 2026 / Loi de 2026 pour la construction de logements et l’amélioration de l’infrastructure de transport

Introduction of Bills

Fair and Free Elections Act, 2026 / Loi de 2026 pour des élections libres et honnêtes

Petitions

Student assistance

Ontario economy

Social assistance

Cancer screening

Education funding

Education funding

Student assistance

Ontario economy

Education funding

Social assistance

Social assistance

Education funding

Education funding

Education funding

Optometry services

Social assistance

Orders of the Day

Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2026 / Loi de 2026 sur le plan pour protéger l’Ontario (mesures budgétaires)

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Good morning, everyone.

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2026 / Loi de 2026 sur le plan pour protéger l’Ontario (mesures budgétaires)

Mr. Bethlenfalvy moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 97,

An Act to implement Budget measures, to enact, amend or repeal various statutes and to revoke various regulations / Projet de loi 97, Loi visant à mettre en oeuvre les mesures budgétaires, à édicter, à modifier ou à abroger diverses lois et à abroger divers règlements.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The Minister of Finance.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: I will be sharing my time with the great Solicitor General and the Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, who will, I’m sure, be here anon.

Madam Speaker, I point out that the world has changed. From global economic and trade tensions to supply chain disruptions and shifting markets, across Canada and the world, we are seeing the effects of economic uncertainty and its impact on the global economy.

Our fellow jurisdictions are announcing record deficits. Some of them are increasing taxes, and of course some are entertaining job cuts in the public sector.

But here in Ontario, we are choosing a different path—one where we not only don’t raise taxes, but we indeed cut them; one where we use our strong balance sheet to make life more affordable; one where we support job growth, not stifle it; and one where we continue to deliver record investments to efficiently and sustainably support programs and services that uplift people and uplift families. This is our plan. It is cautious where it must be and ambitious where it should be.

It is proven that Ontario workers, families, businesses and communities continue to be resilient in the face of all odds.

Last year alone, Ontario created 81,000 new jobs in the private sector, and our economy grew by 1.2%, higher than projected by that same private sector. And despite global headwinds, Ontario’s economy showed resilience in 2025 by outperforming many of the key target projections set in last year’s budget and fall economic statement. Not only did real GDP grow by 1.2%, higher than the 0.8% forecast in last year’s budget, but in fact, Ontario is one of the few reporting provinces with a path to balance and one of the lowest deficits in all of Canada relative to GDP.

For the first time in two decades, Ontario received two credit rating upgrades, maintaining AA ratings across all four major rating agencies. These are clear signs that we’ve been responsible with taxpayers’ money.

Thanks to our responsible fiscal management of our province’s finances, we are able to continue putting money back into people’s and businesses’ pockets in order to boost our economy and invest in the services that matter most.

Protecting Ontario means protecting the economic foundations that make our province strong and investing to generate sustainable returns that compound for future generations. And to do that, our government is going to be accelerating our investments in Canadian-owned and Ontario-owned companies, in the high-growth sectors of most importance to our economic prosperity—sectors like artificial intelligence, defence, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, energy, and of course, many others that boost our economy.

That is why our government is proposing to leverage the $4-billion Protect Ontario investment fund to further our economy even more. This fund would help identify and execute on a pipeline of new opportunities to advance Ontario’s long-term economic and strategic priorities and ultimately help us set the stage for Ontario’s continued economic success in a changing world.

The Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, one of our many fantastic regional partners, had this to say about our new investment fund: The creation of the “$4-billion Protect Ontario investment fund will help drive investment, support local employers, and position western Ontario for continued growth.” I’m sure the member from western Ontario would agree with that. And that’s according to Warden Marcus Ryan, chair of the WOWC, the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, this is a government that strives for continued growth that can be felt not just in western Ontario, but all of Ontario. That’s why we need to diversify and strengthen key sectors and reinforce our competitive advantages, and why we must continue attracting new investment, encourage businesses to choose Ontario by driving competitiveness.

Businesses right across Ontario have spoken, and we have heard them clearly. They need our help to boost competitiveness and reduce the cost of doing business, and we couldn’t agree more. That is why our government is providing $10 billion in cost-saving supports for businesses this year alone. And it’s why our government is proposing, through our 2026 budget, to lower the cost of capital investments for a broad range of assets, to provide over $3.5 billion of income tax relief over four years for Ontario businesses. This is an impactful measure that we know would deliver the strong environment that businesses need to compete and thrive in.

But you know as well as I do, Mr. Speaker, that our government is not stopping there.

That is why, through the 2026 budget, we are also proposing an historic tax cut for small businesses that would see their corporate income tax rate lowered by over 30%, from 3.2% to 2.2%.

Interjection.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: I was quite sure the minister of small business would applaud that move.

This would translate to an additional $1.1 billion in income tax relief for more than 375,000 small businesses right across Ontario for the next three years and help secure the environment for even greater job growth.

Mr. Speaker, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce was one of the many organizations that called for these impactful measures. After hearing the news of our government’s actions, this is what they had to say: “We welcome the government’s cut to small business taxes and its focus on incentivizing productivity through targeted tax measures, responding directly to the Ontario chamber’s call. With cost pressures and uncertainty weighing on business confidence, these measures give businesses” the room to build resilience, the room to reinvest and the room to grow.” This is from Daniel Tisch, president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

We are delivering economic prosperity, and our partners in the private sector see it too. Our government’s actions are fostering a more predictable, competitive business environment. We are doing so while not only leading the way to unlock free trade in Canada, but also by speeding up approvals for major projects through the “one project, one process” framework for advanced exploration and mine development and expansion, including the Ring of Fire. We are making it happen, and it all starts with productivity and innovation.

Ontario’s long-term prosperity depends on our ability to accelerate the development and adoption of new technologies, attract private investment and commercialize Ontario-made research. This is why we are investing in sectors like life sciences, advanced manufacturing and emerging defence technologies, and it is why we are focused on protecting and commercializing our intellectual property to support future generations of economic prosperity.

The Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization had this to say about our government’s recent action to deliver on these fronts through this budget and beyond: They are “grateful for the sustained investment in the critical technology initiatives, which is accelerating the commercialization of technologies that will empower the next generation of innovation, drive job growth and ensure Ontario companies remain globally competitive.” This is from Maura Campbell, president and CEO of the OBIO.

It has never been more important for us to invest in our homegrown talent and innovation, and that means helping companies stay competitive, scale up and grow. To support that growth, we need the right foundations in place.

Our government’s Building Ontario Fund, for example, allows companies to partner with Canadian institutional investors to build critical projects that might not otherwise move forward, from long-term care to student housing, affordable housing and even nuclear energy generation.

As power demand potentially increases up to 90% by 2050, our ability to position ourselves for the future will depend greatly on our ability to power our economy.

That is why we are taking direct action to support clean nuclear energy generation across this great province. From Wesleyville in Bruce county to Darlington and Bruce and, of course Pickering, Ontario’s clean nuclear energy generating capacity is set to create—get this—150,000 new job opportunities.

That’s job opportunities right across the province, including the north, in Timmins, and midwest Ontario and downtown Ontario and, of course, southwest Ontario and just west Ontario and up in Kenora and Thunder Bay and beyond, and—wait for it—eastern Ontario, including Kingston and Belleville and all the great jurisdictions in between. These are jobs that the people right across this great province can count on for long-term growth, with good salaries and strong security—the kind of jobs we want to continue building.

That’s why we are taking a comprehensive approach to building Ontario’s workforce, from the classroom to the job site and beyond. We’ve invested in required technology and skilled trade workshops in high school; invested $6.4 billion more in our colleges and universities, to train our students for in-demand jobs by funding 70,000 more seats in STEM, health care, skilled trades and education; and invested $1.6 billion in skills and employment training this year to support workers looking to retrain and re-skill.

This is the workforce our government wants to build today and for future generations to come, and we know it’s the workforce our good friends and partners in the skilled trades want too.

The Carpenters’ Regional Council has come out and said, “Budget 2026 demonstrates this government’s continued commitment to building the workforce Ontario needs for the future.” That’s from Tom Cardinal, president of the carpenters’ union. He went on to say that our investments to support the training of workers are a recognition of a vital role that unions play in recruiting new workers into the skilled trades, connecting them to good jobs, and providing the industry-driven training and supports to ensure their success.

Mr. Speaker, this is a government that invests in our workforce pipeline from end to end and that leverages every advantage in every sector we have, and as I’ve mentioned, including artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, cyber security, shipbuilding, aerospace, and many more. We will continue to strengthen these sectors by attracting investments in Ontario. And we will do so because when you invest in Ontario, you’re not just moving money; you’re building capability and delivering resilience for generations.

Building for generations is exactly what our $210-billion infrastructure plan is all about. It’s a plan that uses the strength of our credit rating and balance sheet to build the critical infrastructure to keep goods moving and people working—critical infrastructure that includes our growing highway network; the largest public transit expansion in North America; and, yes, dozens of new schools, including those in Whitby; hospitals and long-term-care beds right across the province.

We are building all of this and more, because that is how you stimulate economic growth while creating tens of thousands of good jobs, and help, at the same time, future generations by giving them the tools they need to live, to work and make a difference in the world. Simply put, it’s about building communities.

That is why our government is proposing, in partnership with the federal government, to remove the full 13% of HST for eligible buyers of new homes valued up to $1 million. This would provide up to $130,000 in relief, and this amount would be maintained for new homes valued up to $1.5 million, helping more Ontarians achieve the dream of home ownership, and building stronger communities across the province, including Halton Hills.

We would continue our government’s long track record of taking decisive measures to cut taxes and put more money back in people’s pockets—like removing highway tolls, launching the One Fare program, and, of course, cutting the gas tax.

Mr. Speaker, we are able to take these decisive actions to make life more affordable, thanks to the responsible management of the province’s finances. It’s the same reason why we are able to continue delivering record investments into public services that our communities depend on—investments that should always be, first and foremost, for the students, the patients and the most vulnerable who depend on them, as well as the teachers, the personal support workers, the health care workers and the social workers who deliver them.

Mr. Speaker, in speaking of our government’s proposed budget, the Ontario Hospital Association had this to say about our historic actions: “At a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty, the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA), alongside Ontario’s hospitals, thanks the government of Ontario for its continued investment in hospitals, including the 4% increase in funding for patient services announced in the 2026-27 Ontario budget.” This is from Anthony Dale, CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association.

We are strengthening the delivery of public services, managing the books responsibly, modernizing our programs, and reducing bureaucracy so resources can be focused where they matter most: delivering efficient, high-quality, front-line services to the people who need them. We will continue to be there for them.

And we will continue to build communities that they and everyone else can feel safe in; first, by continuing to invest in the continued training of our brave police officers—thank you to the Solicitor General for his leadership in this regard—and secondly, by investing more to keep criminals behind bars, by building more jails and hiring more correctional officers. Once again, thank you to the Solicitor General. We know that these two initiatives are strengthening policing and community safety, something that families right across Ontario deserve.

Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, our plan is working. As I said before, it is cautious where it needs to be and ambitious where it should be.

As we look to pass this proposed budget, I must ask the opposition—my colleagues from the NDP, the Liberals, the Greens, and the independents: Join us. Join us and support our government’s income tax cut to businesses that will save them billions and create more jobs.

Will you support our continued record investments in health care and the $64 billion to build more hospitals, care for more patients and better equip our caregivers?

Will you support our tax cuts to the HST that will make housing more affordable for families and youth looking to buy a home?

Mr. Speaker, will they support our new record investments in the Ontario Autism Program to help children and youth live a healthy life?

I look forward to seeing what our colleagues decide to do. Right now, they have a choice to make: They can support this government and this historic budget that cares for people today and builds a strong Ontario that will last for generations, or they can vote no and prove to Ontarians once again that they are not interested in being part of the solution; only that they are interested in playing politics and playing with the well-being of people, businesses and communities. Our government will not do that.

Our government is here to tell people, businesses, families and communities that we have a plan. It’s a plan that keeps Ontario united as a province.

And much like the rest of Ontario, I hope we see a united Legislature too, where all members from all parties work with our government to build prosperity, build resilience, grow the economy, cut taxes, invest in our growth, break down barriers and deliver better services.

Mr. Speaker, I am extremely proud of the work we have done so far, but I am even more proud of the hard work and resilience of Ontarians.

This proposed budget and the measures contained within it are our government’s reaffirmation of our commitment to protect Ontario in today’s changing world. We will continue to lead by example, and we will continue to build a better and brighter place for today and for tomorrow.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Brian Saunderson): I recognize the Solicitor General.

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: It’s a privilege to follow my colleague, our incredible Minister of Finance, and to speak in support of Bill 97, Plan to Protect Ontario Act.

This budget reflects the leadership of one particular person who has led by example since June 2018, and that’s our Premier, the Honourable Doug Ford.

Mr. Speaker, please let me share my own enthusiasm and love for our province, and let me share with those in the Legislature today some remarks I gave just a few weeks ago, when I had the privilege of watching almost 525 incredible individuals graduate their basic constable training at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer, Ontario. That day was a special day. I challenged the class to go back to the anthem that we proudly heard sung at the march past—which, by the way, is both commonplace and miraculous at the same time.

It’s commonplace—as the member from Chatham-Kent–Leamington knows, because he graduated there—to see the formality of the marches and the bands and the pipes. But it’s miraculous to witness something incredible: people coming forward to help protect Ontario. That day, I said to the class, “Go back to the anthem that many of us take for granted.” It was only a week ago, this one week back, when we heard the singer in this chamber sing O Canada—and it’s in its second stanza, those words, “true patriot love in all of us command.” I said to the class that day, “What are we asked to be commanded to do?

What is the command? I think the command is to love our province and our country that much more.”

Today, as we talk about Bill 97, an important bill that addresses that the times that we are in are not historically something that we are used to in my generation—and I know some of us were born the very same year: the member from Timiskaming–Cochrane, my friend from Haliburton, and a few others who might be more anonymous. We were part of the generation that grew up as young kids in 1967, and we remember the theme song that Premier John Robarts, the legendary Premier of Ontario, had written—Ontario is a place to stand, and it’s a place to grow. It invoked optimism. It invoked unleashing a spirit of pride.

I have to say that, through the years from 1967 perhaps almost to the present, our pride waxed and waned and we did not pay as much attention as we should to things that are important around us. I think, in part, where the times find us today and the dramatic implications of changes to our historic relationship with trading with our US partner—I call our US friends “kin,” which is another word for family. It means that we’ve taken for granted—not only through my generation, but through my parents’ and their parents’—that the US and Canada have always been the closest of friends. And do you know what?

We are today, as well.

But the trade implications of changing the ground rules and the tariffs that had been imposed on Canada have caused us to look back, inwards. It has caused us to imagine in Canada and in Ontario that we can be much more self-reliant on ourselves. It has asked us to be innovative. It has asked us to bring the best entrepreneurial spirit forward.

It has asked us to make critical investments in our province, in infrastructure never before imagined, on a scale that we are now seeing in hospitals, in roads, in bridges—making investments in our public safety, making investments in our health care and in our education, and at the same time staying true to what Premier Ford said: that this government, under his leadership, will never raise a tax, because we believe—

Interjections.

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: Thank you.

We believe that governments have a role to play, but it’s not taking your money every year, incrementally, over and over again; it’s understanding that when people work hard, whatever they do—as tradesmen, as doctors, as lawyers, as academics—the money that people make is their money, and they should see it to make sure that their kids and their grandkids are taken care of.

Mr. Speaker, this bill, for me, says a few things that I want to touch on. It talks about our resilience. It talks about that we’re never giving up or giving in. It talks about protecting Ontario, also, from a lens of public safety, something that I am passionate about; again, I’ll tell you why.

In the almost four years that I have had the highest honour of my life, to be in the position of Solicitor General, I have witnessed over 6,000 people graduate the Ontario Police College. I’ve witnessed thousands of people join fire services and seen them as they’ve received their helmets. I’ve seen our newest correctional officers, probation and parole officers come forward. I’ve seen people who want to be animal welfare inspectors.

I’ve seen people who have joined the coroner’s office and the Centre of Forensic Sciences, who have made a unilateral decision: “I want to protect Ontario.” And for that and many more reasons, I felt my role was to be the Premier’s ambassador, to travel as extensively as I have and to send a message of confidence that we appreciate people coming forward to keep us safe.

At the end of the day, the fundamental rights that we have, each universal, are to make sure that we can see our kids off to school in the morning safely, that we can go to work and shop, that we can play in the park, that we can worship, that we can go about our lives safely. This inherent right is something that is sacred to me and something that I uphold every single day, in supporting those people who keep us safe.

For me and the Premier, protecting Ontario, as I’ve said many times, doesn’t just mean anything—it actually means everything.

This budget that was tabled last week is a fiscal plan that also pays specific attention to our public safety. It’s a plan that makes sure that the generational investments that we are making will strengthen the network of our public safety.

It will say that Operation Deterrence, as an example—something that this government brought in in recognition that the federal government, unfortunately, when it comes to border safety, can’t do it alone. We have some of the most amazing OPP, First Nations and municipal police services that have helped strengthen our border safety, reduce the amount of fentanyl and other illegal and illicit drugs coming into our country. That’s something that has been very personal.

I said last week, as a matter of fact, in this chamber—I gave examples of how much fentanyl and other illicit drugs were taken off the street as a result of Operation Deterrence. This budget will build on the success of Operation Deterrence, with an additional $32.5 million. That’s why we call it Operation Deterrence 2.0. This includes a new border security grant for drones and marine units and new surveillance technology.

I had the privilege again, over the past year, to understand and see for myself just how large our border is with our American counterparts. You have to go from Cornwall all the way out to Fort Frances; it’s over 2,000 kilometres. While I didn’t stop at every stop point that existed, I did stop at many. I stopped in Cornwall and Kingston. I stopped in Niagara. I stopped in Windsor. I stopped out in the Soo. I stopped in Pigeon River, just outside beautiful Thunder Bay. Along the way, it dawned on me that we have taken for granted this large, unprotected border with the US.

The US has taken border safety incredibly seriously, and I want to acknowledge that. What we have to do, from a Canadian standpoint but from also an Ontario standpoint, is to mirror what they are doing, to make sure that our borders remain safe. This means stronger intelligence and better coordination and expanded policing capacity.

So by doubling down on Operation Deterrence, we’re sending a message that public safety matters.

I have to say, as I walk through my incredible community of York Centre, which is diverse and representative of many languages and representative of people who have settled here and are proud of our community, who champion our diversity, we look at the fact that public safety means everything.

That’s why our government, led by the Premier, has been incredibly unapologetic when it comes to standing up for a person’s right to defend themselves in their own home and to understand that our streets must be safe—and that means all across Ontario.

That’s why we led by example the conversation on bail reform. We want to always hold offenders to account. This means that the additional monies in this year’s budget of $8.3 million into the Bail Compliance and Warrant Apprehension Grant fund will send a further message: that wherever you are in Ontario, if you are compelled to commit a crime, if you are compelled not to join the virtual everyone who can live lawfully, firstly, we’re going to find you, and secondly, I’ve got a place for you in our jails.

That brings me to the next point: This budget specifically addresses a continuation of funding—more money in our correctional system.

I might add, it was actually quite surprising for me—I’m a person who is supported by an incredible ministerial office team. I want to thank them for the job they do every day. It’s a labour of love to work together. Also, on the constituency office side, I am led by what I call my chief of staff in my constituency, Marlene, who I call the enforcer there because she enforces my discipline and my diligence to help serve my constituents as hard as I do.

When we talk about the investments we need to keep our communities safe, we go back to the investments we have made in corrections. It’s not just the thousands of people who have become correctional officers, and it’s not just the half a billion dollars that we know are being spent, that we have intentionally decided to spend in our jails to make them more modern—it’s not that alone; it’s understanding what the Ontario Liberals did for 15 years. We are still confronting their story of neglect.

It’s the seven jails that they closed—by the way, I’m very close to announcing very soon that we will be reopening one in beautiful Brantford, Ontario, a jail that was not only closed by the Liberals, but they decided to renovate it right after they closed it. I’m going to make sure that jail is reopened. Under the leadership of Premier Ford, we will go down the line. The next one on our list is the Walkerton jail, in Minister Thompson’s riding. I’m going to work hard to see if that can happen.

The investments that we’re making should also be transparent. When I said to Ontarians exactly where I would open up new spaces and build new jails and I gave the timeline to which we would do it—we’ve never before had any precedent that the government would give exact details to the extent that we have.

Just a few weeks ago, before we returned, I was with our government House leader and the Premier in beautiful Brockville to make another announcement: that we are going to be re-expanding the jail in Brockville.

When you add the beds that we brought on in London at the RIC, which is the regional intermittent centre, and the TIC, the Toronto Intermittent Centre, which will be opening back up in a few weeks; when we go to the modular builds that were completed; when we go to the new jail in Thunder Bay that will be opened—just as we said we would, substantial completion later this year, beds to open to follow—we have been specific in every regard. And do you know what? Ontarians appreciate it. They appreciate honesty, they appreciate transparency, and they appreciate when Premier Ford will stand up to say, “We will, as a government, protect Ontario.”

The 700 new hires in the correctional system, over and above everything else, which represents a tremendous investment in this budget, is another example of how we are leaving no stone unturned.

At the end of the day, I do believe that virtually everyone in Ontario wants to live lawfully. They want to respect their neighbours. They want to understand that Canada and the province of Ontario is a special place. And they have to always understand there is somebody there who will have their backs.

I believe if we want to have the backs of everyone who keeps us safe, we have to make sure that the places that they are trained in are state-of-the-art.

The billion-dollar commitment to reimagine the Ontario Police College—the member from Chatham-Kent–Leamington was there many years ago. It has to be reimagined for a future generation.

And our incredible people who are trained at the Ontario Provincial Police Academy in beautiful Orillia, Ontario, have to also envision a fully modern, renovated, innovative, imaginative place to be trained. We’re excited about that.

At the end of the day, I want to circle back to where I started. All of us, on all sides of this House, have a common thread. It doesn’t matter what party we’re from. It doesn’t matter who in our family may have served in this chamber before, because the stories I still hear—yourself, who’s sitting in the chair—it’s a remarkable love for our province.

If not now, with the greatest of urgency, please tell me: When would be a better time to stand up for the love we have for our province? Sometimes I look at our flags and I say we can’t just look at the flag as being a flag. This is our flag.

Monsieur le Président, tous nos drapeaux—le canadien, l’ontarien et le franco-ontarien—ont de la signification. Ils représentent la fierté, la valeur de notre diversité et tout ce qu’il y a de bien en nous. Notre province, monsieur le Président, et notre pays ont déjà fait face à de graves défis. Chaque fois, nous en sommes sortis plus forts et plus unis. Et surtout maintenant, nous ne devons pas sous-estimer la puissance de notre fierté en notre province et en nous-mêmes.

It means that we have to take pride in our flag, in our identity, in everything that’s special in our province. This budget gives us an opportunity to say to young and old—to say to my parents, to my own dad, Max, who will be 95 later this year, and my mom, who’s closing in just a few years behind—that everything they worked for, everything their parents gave to them, everything that is being passed to me, everything I will pass to my children will be based on a common thread of love and respect for our province. Nothing should come in the way, especially now, of standing up to protect Ontario on the common thread that we all share.

It has been a privilege to speak to this bill today.

I yield the floor to my friend from Parry Sound–Muskoka.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Brian Saunderson): I recognize the Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Hon. Graydon Smith: It’s great to be back here in the chamber after a weekend back in the riding, where I was able to talk to people about our 2026 budget, A Plan to Protect Ontario.

I just want to take a moment to thank the Minister of Finance, to thank the Premier of Ontario, to thank Minister Kerzner for his words.

But back to the finance minister and the Premier, for their steadfast dedication to Ontario—to prepare a budget that meets the moment, meets the times that we are in. It takes a look not only at the circumstances that we are dealing with today, which we all know are uncertain geopolitical and economic times—it takes all that into consideration and asks a fundamental question: How can we be the very best Ontario we can be? I think that is explained through the many, many pages of the budget.

Speaker, when I was at home, I also had the opportunity to speak with people this weekend about their impressions of the budget, and their impressions, to me, were that we’re making the investments in the places where we need to, making sure that we’re protecting workers, making sure that we’re giving people an opportunity to take the next steps in their lives—again, all shrouded in this uncertainty and uncertain times that we are in.

I would not relish, honestly, being the Minister of Finance right now. There are a lot of different inputs and things that go into fashioning a budget during the best and easiest of times, if there is such a thing in the financial world, but during uncertain times that work becomes that much more difficult. So, again, thanks to him.

Speaker, you’ll know—and I’ve talked about it many times, when I’ve spoken in this chamber before—that I have a history not only as an MPP for Parry Sound–Muskoka but also as a former municipal politician representing the town of Bracebridge and the district of Muskoka. I cut my teeth on those town budgets and on those district budgets many years ago. The plan that was within every one of them was always to ask the question, “What do we need to do today, and what do we need to prepare for in the coming years? What does the next 10 years look like?

What does the next 20 years look like?” Those almost two decades I spent in municipal government, I think, were certainly very valuable for me, to try to gain that eye when we look at a circumstance—not only to ask the questions about the immediacy, but about the future. I was pleased to do that work, to serve on the boards of Ontario Small Urban Municipalities and as the president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. Of course, when you serve in those positions, you gain an even more unique perspective on public policy. I was the person who used to come in and lead making the asks.

Now I play a role as Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and people come to me and make those asks. So I have a great deal of empathy and understanding for what it takes to keep municipalities solid; to make sure that they, as one of the foundational governments of our system here in Ontario, are getting what they need to do the job that they do every day.

That’s why, again, I’m proud of this budget. Things that allow municipalities to be able to look forward and plan are very important.

I remember taking a car ride with the Minister of Finance; he very graciously came and visited the riding not too, too long ago. As we drove around visiting businesses and talking about what the landscape of Parry Sound–Muskoka looked like economically, we also talked about municipalities in the time that I referenced earlier, and that importance of stability and predictability.

I’ll talk a little bit more about the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund later, but I would highlight that it’s things like that—we lay out that financial path for municipalities, to tell them, “This is the way that we are going to support you, and we’re going to raise that money that we use to support you, with unrestricted funds, for you to deploy best in your community.” And municipalities can take that and plan around it, and make sure that the stability that they need gets reflected in their budget documents.

The other thing, of course, that I want to talk about today, in my role as Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, is the provincial portion of the HST that is being cut for new home builds in Ontario. We’ll reflect back to last fall, when we made a historic step to remove that portion of the HST, in concert with the federal government, for first-time homebuyers. We know that we want people to be able to take that first step, to be able to get into a home, to live the dream of home ownership that so many have grown up with, that so many have expected.

You could certainly argue that we have an implicit understanding amongst generations here in Ontario and Canada that if you work hard and do the right things—save some money—you’ll be able to achieve that home. We also know that under the last several years of odd and different circumstances, beginning with the pandemic and extending into the geopolitical and economic issues I talked about earlier, that dream of home ownership has become more difficult for many.

Again, that’s why that step was so important to take at the time—to signal, especially to those young families out there, that that dream shouldn’t be too far away from you; that we want to work together with you to help achieve that.

We also know that there are cost pressures for everyone in the sector, and that when we look at the number of new homes that have been built in Ontario in recent times, it has struggled to keep up with the demand. So it was so refreshing, and it was such a great moment to be with the Premier, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the mayor of Mississauga, myself and the MPP for the local area, to announce that that HST portion would be removed for all new home builds in Ontario. That opens the door—

Interjection.

Hon. Graydon Smith: Yes, I like that clapping. I think that’s a good clap.

Anyone else want to chime in on the clapping?

Interjections.

Hon. Graydon Smith: There we go. We need the applause sign up for everyone. It’s a Monday morning. Everyone hasn’t had that first coffee yet.

By extending that HST cut to all new homes that are being purchased in Ontario, it really takes the window that was open a bit and throws it right open for everybody and lets a lot of fresh air in through that window. It’s something that we have been obviously talking with the federal government about, too. I think the real multiplier effect of this is that the federal government is participating as well. So when you look at the fact that you can save 13% on the purchase price of a new home build—everyone can in Ontario, going forward—that is a huge amount of money.

If you were going to buy that home anyway and pay that HST, chances are you would be amortizing that over the term of your mortgage and financing that, and not only paying $130,000 but the interest on that, and that grows and grows and gains every year. Ultimately, it might cost you $500 or $600 a month. That’s $500 or $600 a month that’s now not leaving the pocket of people who need it during challenging and unpredictable economic times. So it’s good for the purchaser. It doesn’t matter if it’s that first-time home buyer.

It doesn’t matter if it’s that family whot’s moving from the first small home they had to the next larger home that they need as their family grows. It extends to a senior who may be looking to leave the larger home that they had for a generation or two and step down to the next home that suits their current lifestyle. It fits everybody. It benefits everybody.

And it benefits a sector that has been asking for this and telling us that they needed it—a building sector that has been focused on getting homes built all throughout Ontario as fast as possible and as quickly as possible to meet demand until that demand starts to shrink. When that happens, of course, our workforce is in jeopardy too.

So this is important for a variety of reasons—again, not just because it’s getting people into a new home, not just because it will be an obvious and direct stimulus to building new homes in Ontario, but it also preserves the thing that we need to build those homes: the workers, the skilled trades who go to that job site everyday and work with pride to get that site ready, to put that foundation in, to build those walls, build that roof and ultimately create a home for people.

There were plenty of them at the announcement the other day too, and they were just as excited—maybe even more excited than everybody else who was there. We all took time to have a conversation with the heavy machinery operators and some of the other trades who were on site. And what was their message to us? “Absolutely, this is the right thing to do. Thank you for taking this step.

Thank you for having the foresight to take this step so that we can keep working, so that we can keep providing for our families, so that we can take that paycheque and put some money aside and be the ones to buy the home that we’re building.” What a delightful circle that is.

Speaker, this budget is focusing on things that matter for Ontarians, and having a home is one of the things that matters the very most for Ontarians. As I talked about the municipal sphere before, the benefit this has for municipalities that will see more homes built, will see continued growth for municipalities—we’ll continue to support them with the dollars that they need to help their communities grow, but they also benefit from the assessment growth. They benefit from every new home that is built to collect the dollars to provide the services that are important to the people in those municipalities.

It doesn’t matter if you’re in Kenora or Cornwall or Toronto or Chatham; it works the same way everywhere.

Communities need to grow. The way to do that is to attract people. You attract people when you have homes. You attract people when you have businesses. If there’s a business and they want to bring new employees to a community, the first thing they ask is, “How’s the housing supply? How’s the cost of the market? And what can we do to work together to make sure that the people I want to put in my little widget factory are going to be able to buy a home and settle here?”

So if we’re in a box-ticking exercise, it’s win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win. There are no losers in this, just winners.

And municipalities, again, continue to win because they’re seeing people come to their community. They’re seeing the economies of their community grow and stabilize. They’re seeing the young people in their community realize, “That price point is now in a place where I can buy that home, where I can settle here, where I can have a stable life, where I can live that life that I always dreamed that I would be able to live, maybe in the town that I grew up in.”

When we look at the small communities represented so well throughout this chamber, most of us are rural communities, and most of us have the same hope for our kids and our grandkids as they grow up: that should they choose to live in that community, they’ll have an opportunity to do so. If they choose to go somewhere else, that’s fine—but it was a choice that took them to their future, not a circumstance that drove them from where they grew up.

Again, this HST removal on new home builds is so vitally important for municipalities too, for the people who are going to buy those homes.

When I look at my riding again, and as we all look at our ridings, they’re chockablock full of small businesses. What do we see in this budget? A tax cut that is going to impact small business—30% less tax.

I have a particular affinity for small business owners; I was one for two different businesses. My parents were small business owners. That’s how they provided for their family—for my brother, my sister and me. We lived on top of a gas station and a restaurant, and they worked super hard every single day, just like so many small business owners do in this province, to make ends meet, to provide a good living for their family.

The more that they can keep in their pocket, the more they can provide that good living for their family—they did, my grandfather before my father did, my brother did, and my brother-in-law did. So I come by the love of small business honestly and with the greatest amount of respect.

I think, through this budget, we’re respecting small business owners and saying, “Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for being the heartbeat of so many communities. Thank you for being that business that gave so many people their first job.”

In fact, when my parents had their business, because it was a gas station and a restaurant, back in the days when you could pull up to the pump and somebody would serve you—which used to be me—there were so many—

Interjection.

Hon. Graydon Smith: “Regular or unleaded?” That’s how old I am.

We were the first job for a lot of people, the first job for those high school students who came and either were going to work that gas pump and check the oil under the hood of that car or work in the restaurant and learn what it takes to interact with people. I am a big fan of these small business first jobs, especially the ones that are customer-facing, because it teaches you how to interact with people, and I think it’s a bit of a lost art these days. You never know who’s coming in the door.

You never know what mood they might be in, but you have to be there, as a young person, developing your people skills, welcoming them in, working with them, whether they’re in a good mood or a bad mood, representing that business that hired you to be that front face for them. Boy, I’ll tell you, when we did that for 27 years, when my parents did that, we had so many great people come through our doors who had that first job and went on to amazing things—businesses of their own, going away to school, going to university and ending up as a professional. It all begins somewhere.

Often, it begins in those small businesses.

So we need to keep those small businesses healthy. We need to make sure that the money that they work so hard to make every year, every day—they keep more of it, because it’s not just about them keeping money for them. It’s about them keeping money to reinvest in their business. It’s about them having more money to hire that next employee and grow that employee count by one.

It’s not only about the first job; sometimes it’s about a lifetime job. A lot of small businesses grow, and suddenly they’re not so small anymore. They’re a medium-sized business because they were able to make the right investments. They were able to get the right employees. They were able to keep some dollars and invest in themselves, invest in their dream, invest in the way that they saw to move forward.

So this small business tax cut is the right note at the right time to show small business in this province that we see you, we hear you, we respect you.

I want to thank Associate Minister Tangri for the work that she does on a daily basis, visiting small businesses all across this province. She has been a fantastic representative, not only for the businesses that exist, but for the businesses that want to get going.

When we look at our small business centres that are located throughout the province, where young people can come in with an idea and a dream and maybe not much more and learn how to do a business plan, learn how to take that dream and turn it into reality—it’s all things that we are doing through this budget, this government, to make sure that small businesses know that being in Ontario, being in this province, is the right place to be.

Speaker, just to wrap up, I want to say to the potential homebuyers out there in Ontario, we’ve got your back.

I want to say to the small business owners in Ontario, we’ve got your back.

I want to say to the municipalities that we work with every single day and admittedly have a complex array of problems that cannot all be solved immediately but can be solved with good planning and working together, we’ve got your back.

But more importantly, to everyone in every community across this province, whether it’s continuing to invest in infrastructure, continuing to invest in health care, continuing to invest in transit, continuing to invest in roads—through all these actions, we can safely say to every Ontarian, again, from east, west, north and south, we’ve got your back.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Brian Saunderson): Questions?

Ms. Chandra Pasma: My question is for the Minister of Finance.

We’re in an unprecedented affordability crisis. People are being squeezed at the grocery store. Last year, over a million people used food banks—a record number in Ontario. There was a record increase in homelessness last year of 8%. Youth unemployment is at record levels.

Given this crisis, given all the records that we’re setting in the cost-of-living crisis, how could he table a budget that doesn’t even mention the words “rent” or “groceries”?

Hon. Graydon Smith: Thank you for the question.

I think one of the things that is very apparent in the budget that we brought forward is that we do respect that affordability can be a challenge for people in Ontario.

As I said before, when we look at the cost of housing, whether that’s buying a new home or even being able to afford rent—we’re seeing significantly more rental units being built in Ontario over the last three years, actually. We’re on a record pace with rental units.

And we continue to work with municipalities and our housing supply and service managers to make sure that we’re making investments in people all throughout Ontario.

I think if you carefully go through this budget, you’ll find that every page that talks about everything we are doing is making an investment for people in Ontario and ensuring that affordability is a component of that. We’ll continue to do that and make sure that people of Ontario are put first.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Brian Saunderson): Questions?

Mr. Jonathan Tsao: Speaker, the residents of Don Valley North have been waiting literally decades for a Sheppard subway extension, yet budget 2026 once again—year after year—fails to mention it.

Can the minister explain why the government seems to have funds for fanciful tunnels and luxury spas and an 11% increase to the Premier’s office staff, yet they force residents of Don Valley North and Scarborough to take overcrowded buses and sit in traffic every single day?

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: I appreciate the question.

Our government, again, has been very transparent in how we see infrastructure as playing a key role to protecting Ontario.

That’s why, when we look at what we have done so recently with the new subway lines, with Line 5 and Line—and remember, that’s the Finch West LRT and that’s the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. When we look at these historic investments, we don’t look at them just for this generation; we look at it for multiple generations.

My riding of York Centre is on Sheppard Avenue. I want to see the day—one day—that the two Sheppard lines will be connected, so we don’t have the gap between the Sheppard West station and Sheppard-Yonge station. This is something that our government will continue to work towards.

In the meantime, when it comes to infrastructure, we’re not going to stop. We are going to keep going. Even when other people tell us to stop, we’re not stopping.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Brian Saunderson): Questions?

Mr. Deepak Anand: Speaker, as we all know, buying a house is an important dream for many people. Right now, we are in a situation where we see gridlock, in terms of buyers waiting for the price to come down. There is a demand, there is enough supply, but there is no movement.

I’m thankful to the Minister of Finance that we are actually enhancing Ontario’s existing HST housing relief for all buyers—not just limited to the first-home buyers. With these changes, it will be a relief to those who are looking for that help.

What more is this government doing to spur the building of these homes through the MHIP program? Can the minister explain that to the people?

Hon. Graydon Smith: Thank you very much to the great member. I appreciate the question.

I know the amount of investments that we have made over the last few years in communities to enable housing is historic—in the billions of dollars. I think we’re up to $3 billion at this point. Just kind of following up on what I talked about in my speech, it’s all in an effort to make sure that communities have the infrastructure for the housing to be built. We know that we need the water lines, the waste water lines, the plants. Through that program, we’ve been able to do that.

And we’ve been able to support other housing-enabling infrastructure to ensure that, again, no matter what part of the province you are in, you are seeing infrastructure dollars invested to make sure that when that opportunity to build comes along, you can act on that; when that opportunity to grow your community comes along, you can act on that.

We’ll always be there to be a partner for our municipalities in Ontario, to enable more housing.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Brian Saunderson): Questions?

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: I’m happy to rise in this House to ask a question specifically around the budget.

As we all know, a budget is really a document that lays out the government’s priorities as well as its values.

This document, I would say, is showing us what the government is willing to do to support Ontarians.

What is also contained in the budget is $13.8 billion of a deficit, which is now double to what was originally forecast. The government is borrowing over $58 billion of long-term spending, out of which is about $16 billion just of interest payments.

Yet, we see that over the last eight years, we are not seeing a government fixing health care, fixing education; a government that is not making homes or building homes that are more affordable.

What are we getting in a government budget that is sitting at a $13.8-billion deficit?

Hon. Graydon Smith: I’m glad the member had an opportunity to go through the budget and see exactly where those investments are landing.

Whether it’s roads and bridges; whether it’s transit; whether it’s moving people in cities or whether it’s moving people between cities; whether it’s investing in health care and more money for hospitals; whether it’s investing in more money for primary care; whether it’s investing in the municipalities that, as I talked about, are a backbone of how we deliver services here; whether it’s cutting the HST for homes on behalf of people; whether it’s opening new markets to make sure that our economy continues to grow—all this is contained within the budget. This is a blueprint for Ontario to move forward in uncertain economic times.

I always find it hilarious when the NDP stands up and complains about deficits, because I cannot imagine what the deficit would be under an NDP government. They’ve never seen a dollar they didn’t want to spend, whether it was in the wallet or not.

Anyway, we’re being fiscally prudent and making investments that matter to Ontarians at a time when they need it most, and we’ll never apologize for that.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Brian Saunderson): I recognize the member from Ottawa–Vanier.

M me Lucille Collard: Speaker, through this budget bill, the government is choosing to invest significantly in expanding correctional facilities, building more jails, and the Solicitor General definitely put a lot of emphasis on this point during his speech.

However, meanwhile, communities across Ontario are asking for more mental health support. They’re asking for addiction treatment and for supportive housing.

I’d like the government to explain why it is prioritizing incarceration over prevention, and provide evidence that this approach will actually improve community safety rather than simply cycle more vulnerable people through the justice system.

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: When it comes to keeping Ontario safe, we will do just that, and we will be unapologetic.

And I’ve said many times, “Show me a government in our lifetime that has been more laser-focused on public safety”—it’s our government, led by the Premier.

To the member opposite: We can do two things at the same time. We can, as the Minister of Health has shown us, build the HART hubs. We can, as part of the Ministry of the Solicitor General, come out with mobile crisis response team grants—that’s the MCRT grant—that help many police services deal with people who are having health crises.

At the end of the day, when it comes to public safety, let’s face it: The times that we’re in require us to make the investments in our public safety, in our corrections, in our police services, and to make sure that everyone knows—firefighters, too—that we’ve got their backs. And this is something we’re really proud of.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

House sittings

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Brian Saunderson): I beg to inform the House that, pursuant to standing order 9(g), the Clerk has received written notice from the government House leader indicating that a temporary change in the weekly meeting

schedule of the House is required, and therefore, the afternoon routine on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, shall commence at 1 p.m.

Members’ Statements

Mighty Men of Zorra

Hon. Ernie Hardeman: Last Friday, I had the pleasure of seeing Mighty Men of Zorra at Embro’s Thistle Theatre. The play tells the true story of a group of ordinary farmers who achieved extraordinary fame.

In 1888, the people of Embro formed a tug-of-war team known as the Mighty Men of Zorra. The team was made up of five rope-pulling farmers and their coach. Most were in their forties and one member, Ira Hummason, was 51 years old. Despite their humble appearance, they quickly defeated local and provincial teams, and went on to beat competitors in New York state. Their strength reflects the proud Scottish heritage in the community. Tug-of-war has deep roots in Scotland and has long been a cornerstone of Highland games, where feats of strength and teamwork are celebrated as expressions of pride.

In 1890, the Mighty Men of Zorra travelled to Chicago to compete for the world championship. There, unfamiliar rules worked against them. After a controversial loss, supporters demanded a rematch, which took place in August 1893. After two intense pulls, the teams were tied. The final match was described as one of the greatest in sports history. The Mighty Men of Zorra prevailed, earning the title of world champions. It was a victory that helped put Zorra and Oxford on the map.

Mr. Speaker, I’m proud to celebrate this

chapter of Oxford’s local history—a story that continues to inspire today.

Edward Pottinger

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Today I rise on behalf of the people of Toronto–Danforth to honour the life and legacy of Edward “Ed” Pottinger, a beloved Jamaican Canadian community builder and the co-founder of one of the city’s most iconic cultural institutions: the Real Jerk, an amazing restaurant.

Ed Pottinger passed away on March 12, 2026, at the age of 69.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he brought to Toronto not only the flavours of his homeland, but its warmth, energy and deep sense of community.

In 1984, Ed and his wife, Lily Pottinger, opened the first Real Jerk at Greenwood and Queen. I have to say, it was noticed immediately; anyone who ate there told their friends.

The new and expanded Jerk became a neighbourhood anchor at Queen and Broadview in the Riverside neighbourhood for two decades before moving to its now-famous home at Gerrard and Carlaw in 2013.

The Real Jerk became internationally known in 2016 when Drake and Rihanna filmed part of the global hit music video Work inside the restaurant, instantly putting the east end landmark on the world map.

I have to say Ed Pottinger himself was really the heart of the place. He not only served food, but he was an incredibly gracious, friendly person to encounter when you came into the restaurant.

To Lily: Toronto–Danforth and Ontario thank you. Your partnership with Ed shaped not only a business but a community. Your work together strengthened our neighbourhood, lifted up Caribbean culture, and created a space where generations have gathered, celebrated and felt seen.

Riding of Nepean

MPP Tyler Watt: Over the winter break away from the Legislature, I had the chance to spend meaningful time in my amazing riding of Nepean, and it reminded me exactly why I’m so grateful to represent this community at Queen’s Park. From celebrating the new year in Barrhaven and Bells Corners to marking Chinese New Year and joining iftars during Ramadan, I saw first-hand the diversity and strength that makes Nepean so special.

I have to say, one of the highlights of the break was the iconic Brrrhaven chili cook-off. It was packed with families, neighbours and local businesses all coming together, sharing food, laughter and a little bit of friendly competition—which I almost won.

Moments like that matter. They remind us that community isn’t just something we talk about in this chamber; it’s something people in Nepean live every single day.

A great example of this is the Multifaith Housing Initiative that is leading the way in affordable housing in our city.

In every conversation, whether it was with city councillors, Ottawa police or residents walking into my office, I heard the same thing: People care deeply about this community, and they want to see it thrive. That’s what drives me.

Nepean is growing, it’s diverse, and it’s full of people who show up for each other every single day.

I want you to know that I will keep showing up for you.

It is the honour of a lifetime to represent Nepean.

Addison Hill

Mr. Joseph Racinsky: Cancer is the most common cause of disease-related death in Canada, and over 70% of adult survivors of childhood cancer suffer significant, lifelong side effects of their treatment and disease.

Addison Hill was a brilliant, kind, energetic 13-year-old girl, mature beyond her years, who presented with concerning signs and symptoms of a cancer of the breast over a period of several weeks. By the time she was referred to a specialist at SickKids, the cancer had evolved to a point that proved impossible to cure.

It is fortunate that cancer is rare in childhood, with an incidence rate in Ontario of about 160 per million, but that makes it all the more challenging to be alert to the symptoms and signs of concern. Most family physicians and many community pediatricians may go through an entire career seeing only one or two kids with cancer.

Addy’s parents, Jessica and Dave, and their family established Team Addy to support childhood cancer research at SickKids. This was Addy’s wish, and they have honoured her wish, galvanizing their community of Elora and thousands of others across our country.

I want to thank Jessica and Dave for their efforts to raise awareness around childhood cancer.

Every loss of life is a tragedy, especially amongst those who are young and vulnerable.

I want to thank Team Addy for promoting symptom awareness so that treatment can be given earlier and lives can be saved.

It is an honour for me to share Addy’s story in this place to amplify Addy’s legacy. Addy’s legacy lives on.

My thanks to Team Addy for the great work that they do.

Juno Awards

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas.

Ms. Sandy Shaw: Thank you very much, Speaker. I know you and all the other Hamilton MPPs will join me in showing how proud we are of Hamilton. We hosted the 55th Juno Awards. We welcomed 25,000 visitors to Hamilton, and Hamilton sure put on a party.

From artists to crew, makeup artists to managers, the Canadian music industry shapes our culture, creates jobs, and shares Canada’s stories with the world.

Congratulations to all of this year’s nominees and winners.

With more than 50 Indigenous nominees and the introduction of Latin Music Recording of the Year, the Junos reflect ongoing, important work to reduce barriers and expand representation so that we can honour the diversity and the vibrancy of our province and of our country.

Many Ontario artists, including TOBi and Jully Black, were among those recognized.

And Hamilton’s own Steve Marriner took home his first Juno for Blues Album of the Year.

Of course, the queen, the grand dame of the music industry, Joni Mitchell, was rightfully celebrated for a lifetime of making us proud to be Canadians.

But I want to end with a local story. Local hometown educator Raquel McIntosh won the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year—to make sure that we include all kinds of young people in our music industry. She said, “Hamilton, I hope you’re proud of me.” We’re proud of you, and we’re proud of Hamilton.

Thank you so much for what you did this weekend.

Municipalities

Mr. Stéphane Sarrazin: I would like to take this opportunity to welcome many municipal leaders from Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, and Glengarry–Prescott–Russell. They are all here. Look at these nice faces there. Of course, they didn’t come here for this session this morning. They came here for the annual OGRA convention, Good Roads convention. It’s always great to sit down with our municipal leaders to discuss how we can improve services for our residents.

The Ontario budget presented last week includes concrete measures to support families and strengthen our communities—among them, the elimination of the 13% HST on new homes, which is for homes valued at $1 million or less, which represents cost savings of up to $130,000. This will directly help families in SDG and GPR make ownership more affordable and encourage local construction, creating jobs and stimulating our regional economy.

We will continue to work with our municipal leaders to make sure we build the infrastructure needed in our towns to support residential and commercial growth.

Madam Speaker, in our region of eastern Ontario, we don’t have the largest cities and we don’t have the biggest attractions, but I like to think we have the best people.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the municipal leaders for the great work they’re doing for the residents of SDG and GPR. We’ll continue to work with you, and we thank you for everything you do.

Jack Crawford and Michaela Gosselin

Mr. Brian Saunderson: My riding of Simcoe–Grey is known for excellence, and today I want to pay tribute to two incredible athletes. This February, Canadians watched with pride as our athletes competed in the Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Winter Games in Milano-Cortina.

Jack Crawford is a two-time Olympian who competed in Beijing, where he won a bronze medal in the alpine combined, and most recently in Milano-Cortino, where he placed ninth in the downhill and 16th in the super-G. Jack honed his skills at the Craigleith and Georgian Peaks ski clubs and comes from an accomplished family of skiers. His sister Candace competed at the PyeongChang games, and his aunt Judy Crawford competed at the Sapporo games. Jack’s historic World Cup victory at the famed Kitzbühel course in 2025 broke a 42-year drought for Canada, going back to Todd Brooker’s win in 1983.

Michaela Gosselin of Collingwood is a para-alpine skier who grew up skiing at Osler Bluff Ski Club. She is a two-time Paralympian, competing in Beijing and Milano-Cortina. In Italy, she competed in five events and won a bronze in the women’s standing slalom, with her mom, dad, sister and aunt there to watch and share that incredible moment.

Speaker, seven years ago, at the age of 18, Michaela was diagnosed with bone cancer which resulted in a scapulectomy of her left shoulder. Through grit, determination, her love of skiing and the support of her family and her father, Kevin—a former national alpine team member—and her mother, Rachel, Michaela turned adversity into opportunity.

Congratulations to Michaela and Jack. You are shining examples of the pursuit of excellence and the power of sport, and I thank you both for your example.

Government accountability

MPP Lise Vaugeois: The Premier wants bail hearings to be livestreamed—a move that will cost the public millions because it is likely unconstitutional. Meanwhile, the Minister of Education has banned what should be public: the livestreaming of special education advisory meetings. Does anyone else see a glaring contradiction here?

And now, because the Premier has been ordered to share records from the phone he uses to make deals with public money, that he doesn’t want the public to know about, this government is retroactively killing off access to information so that we never find out what other scurrilous, self-serving and reprehensible deals he is making with public dollars. Given how many times this government has been caught using public dollars to enrich their friends or finance the Premier’s pet vanity projects, there must be a lot in those records they want to hide.

If this were a sketch on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, it would be hilarious to watch the Premier claim there is nothing political about hiding his government’s records while accusing the privacy commissioner of being politically motivated for protecting the public’s right to know.

Unfortunately, this is not a comedy sketch, and we are dealing with a government that is determined to hide from accountability while doing everything in their power to undermine our democracy.

Wiarton Willie

MPP Paul Vickers: Madam Speaker, I rise today on a sombre occasion. On March 10, during the noon hour, the news spread across the land: Wiarton Willie, Canada’s Groundhog Day prognosticator, had passed away.

The fifth Wiarton Willie made his weather prognostication debut in 2022, and he predicted an early spring. That started a five-year run where he only predicted early springs, and he was never wrong. Spring was always just around the corner.

Madam Speaker, I had the privilege of participating in the prediction morning festivities this year, on Groundhog Day. As our shadow cabinet huddled on the stage, Mayor Jay Kirkland shared that Willie had told him that despite the rough winter, closed roads, cancelled school buses, Willie once again believed in an early spring.

The Wiarton Willie Festival puts Wiarton on the map, just as its founder, Mac McKenzie, intended when this festival started with a fur hat and a Toronto Star reporter.

I encourage all members of this House to make the trip to Wiarton for Groundhog Day, to see the festivities for yourself. Who knows? You could become a personal friend of Willie, just like the Premier.

And what else do we say about our remarkable rodent Willie, but thank you? May your successor be as optimistic in his predictions as you.

Long live Willie.

Introduction of Visitors

Mr. Will Bouma: I’d like to welcome family of page John Thayil: Jo, Jinu and Jorden; and also, from the Ontario Association of Optometrists, from Brantford–Brant, Dr. Greg Wilson and the CEO, Mark Donnison.

Welcome to your House.

Mr. Brian Saunderson: It’s my great pleasure to welcome the pride of Collingwood and Simcoe–Grey, and Ontario, actually, and one of our newly minted Paralympic medallists: Michaela Gosselin—and her parents, Kevin and Rachel.

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: I would also ask all those in the chamber today to welcome the family of page captain Devlin Tomlin, from the community of Scarborough Southwest.

Mr. Ted Hsu: I’d like to welcome students from Queen’s University, members of the Queen’s University Liberal Association, who are visiting the House today.

MPP George Darouze: I would like to thank the eastern Ontario municipality leaders who are here this week in Toronto; especially my friends Mayor Mike Tarnowski, Mayor Mario Zanth, Tony Fraser and Steve Densham.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Tyler Allsopp: It’s my pleasure to welcome Alex Calderon, who’s here today from my own riding of the beautiful Bay of Quinte. Welcome to your House.

Hon. Nolan Quinn: I’d like to welcome the united counties of Prescott–Russell and Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry—as well as two special shout-outs: to Maureen Adams, who is finishing a great career as CAO in eastern Ontario, as well as happy birthday to Sue Landry, who is celebrating her birthday. I’m sure she did not want that. She is the wife of our warden right now.

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo: I’m delighted this morning to introduce four distinguished guests hailing from the beautiful town of Bassiano in the province of Latina, in the region of Lazio: Giovanbattista Onorio, Giovanni Cacciotti, Corrada Tatangelo, and Iolanda Russo.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: It gives me great pleasure to welcome Dr. Pasquale Vecchio, a local optometrist from my riding of London North Centre, as well as Mark Donnison, CEO of the Ontario Association of Optometrists. I encourage all members to attend their reception at 5 p.m. this evening in the dining room.

MPP Alexa Gilmour: I’d like to welcome to our House Chandra-Li Paul, the Ontario Federation of Labour’s director of women’s rights.

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: I’d like to welcome Liam Merber, who is one of our page captains today, from my riding of Don Valley West; his mom, Nicole Watson, who is in the gallery; as well as Jordana Lupo from Seneca College, who has been volunteering in my office.

M me Lucille Collard: Je voudrais souhaiter la bienvenue à Julie LaPalme. She’s from my riding office and it’s her first time at Queen’s Park. Welcome Julie.

Mr. Aris Babikian: It is a great pleasure to welcome to Queen’s Park teachers and students from Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute and BearBella team, Vincent Lu, Sally Shen and Noel Chao.

Mr. Deepak Anand: I’d like to welcome Clarence D’Souza, the CEO of CRF medical specializing in health care technology planning, from Mississauga–Malton. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

MPP Tyler Watt: I’d like to welcome members from the Ontario Young Liberals from McMaster, Waterloo and Western. Welcome to your House.

Mr. Stephen Blais: I’d like to welcome the Ontario Association of Optometrists to Queen’s Park, including those from across the province—especially Dr. Janelle King from Orléans. And I want to thank Mark Donnison, CEO of the OAO, for bringing everyone to Queen’s Park. Welcome.

Hon. Stan Cho: A couple of things: I just want to wish my nephew, Caleb Park, a happy seventh birthday. Also—I think they’re just walking into the Legislature now—it’s my privilege to welcome two proud Korean Canadian police officers from York region: Eric Seo and Korean police consul Tak Kwang-oh.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: I’d like to welcome a beautiful Beaches–East Yorker to the House: Celecia Partap with the optometrist association. Welcome to your House.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Kingston and the Islands on a point of order.

Mr. Ted Hsu: Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to immediately move a motion without notice authorizing the Standing Committee on the Interior to immediately hold public hearings to hear from Ontario farmers about the impacts of the Middle East war on world fertilizer prices and their livelihoods.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Mr. Hsu is seeking unanimous consent to immediately move a motion without notice authorizing the Standing Committee on the Interior to immediately hold public hearings to hear from Ontario farmers about the impacts of the Middle East war on world fertilizer prices and their livelihoods. Agreed?

Interjection: No.

Question Period

Ontario budget

Ms. Jessica Bell: Last week, this government tabled a budget that’s more about protecting them and less about helping Ontario. With the funding that is allocated to health care, we will not see any meaningful improvements to primary care, we will not see an end to hallway medicine, and we will continue to see emergency room closures across Ontario.

My question is this: Why is the Premier failing to properly fund health care so that he can meet Ontario’s needs?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the Minister of Health.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: I’m not sure where the member opposite has been, but the budget on Thursday had an increase of $1.1 billion in home and community care. We are, of course, investing in our hospitals an additional $1.1 billion to ensure that they have the operating capital to continue their important work.

World-class hospitals that are operating—whether it’s SickKids, whether it’s University Health Network, we should be incredibly proud of the work that our hospital sector and our primary care providers do.

Of course, I haven’t even touched on the primary care expansion that has seen literally 330,000 people attached to a primary care clinician in the last year alone. We’re making those investments, and we’re doing that work to ensure that, come 2029, every single Ontario resident will have access to a primary care provider. That’s the work that we’re doing under Premier Ford.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for University–Rosedale.

Ms. Jessica Bell: Back to the Premier: I’ll tell you what this budget does include. It includes measures to protect this government’s cellphone records back to 1988. That’s what this budget includes. But what it doesn’t include is real investment in schools. With the funding that is allocated to education, we will continue to see overcrowded classrooms, we will continue to see cuts to special education, and we will continue to see teacher shortages.

My question is to the Premier. Why is this Premier so fixated on helping himself but is not interested in helping the one million children succeed in public school?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the Minister of Education.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Madam Speaker, I suppose you have to read the budget to realize that education spending is scheduled to go up yet again, as it has every single year that we have been in office.

But more important than that is that we’re starting to see a real, fundamental change within the system. We have the highest graduation rates in the history of the province, under this Conservative government. Frankly, because of the reforms that this government started back in 2018, we are seeing literacy rates, reading and writing results at the highest level in provincial history. And we are finally starting to see math scores go up, albeit not at the level that we wanted.

That’s why we’re doubling down and making investments. This budget has significant investments to help us on the way, with respect to improving those math scores. And it has a historic $41-million investment to bring safety back into the schools by inviting our community police officers back into our schools. So it’s good news for students and parents.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for University–Rosedale.

Ms. Jessica Bell: Minister, half of grade 6 students do not meet the standard of math. That is a fact, and that is your government’s track record.

I want to talk a little bit more about what’s in the budget. What we see in the budget is that there’s money for a Ferris wheel in Niagara, even though Niagara already has a Ferris wheel. But there is no meaningful measure in this budget to make life more affordable. There is no talk in this budget of making rent more affordable. There is no talk in this budget of lowering grocery prices or stopping price gouging. In fact, the word “groceries” is not mentioned in this budget at all.

My question is to the Premier. Why is this Premier so focused on delivering a budget full of his pet projects when it should be laser-focused on making life more affordable for Ontarians who are struggling to get by?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

Mrs. Michelle Cooper: Global economic uncertainty is driving up costs for workers and families. Our government will do whatever it takes to protect Ontario families and keep costs down.

We have provided nearly $12 billion in support for families. HST cut for new home buyers, saving up to $130,000—and as well as all new home buyers. We have permanently cut the gas and fuel tax, saving Ontario households $400.

We are working to protect and create good-paying jobs for the people of Ontario by making Ontario the most competitive place to invest and do business in the G7, with this budget.

Nurse practitioners

MPP Robin Lennox: Madam Speaker, this question is for the Premier.

We could boost capacity in Ontario’s primary care system by giving nurse practitioners the ability to fully practise in our public system. As it is, less than half of Ontarians are able to get a same-day appointment with their primary care provider for urgent issues. That puts unnecessary pressure on our emergency departments. Nurse practitioners can be part of the solution, but they’ve been left waiting, with nothing in the budget and no communication from the Ministry of Health.

The federal government set a deadline for this Wednesday for nurse practitioners to be brought under OHIP.

To the Premier: You’ve known about this for over a year. Why don’t you have a plan to offer nurse practitioners in Ontario?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Minister of Health.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Well, in fact, we didn’t wait for the budget to come out. We’ve actually been expanding nurse practitioner seats. In fact, while I was working at the Orangeville home show this past weekend, I had a mother come up and say thank you for expanding nurse practitioner seats in the province of Ontario. “My daughter got in, and she is starting in September.” That’s the expansion. That’s the commitment.

Speaker, I have to acknowledge the work of the member opposite, because I see that this weekend she was thrilled to join the Hamilton FHT in celebrating the expansion of the health care clinic at Eva Rothwell. This collaboration has provided access to primary care for 740 patients in our north end and will be expanded to include up to 1,800 patients. Clearly, the member opposite sees the value of primary care expansion when she’s in her own riding.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member for Hamilton Centre.

MPP Robin Lennox: It’s wonderful to see the Minister of Health actually paying attention to the work that a health worker is doing in her community.

Let me tell you more about that fantastic clinic that you’re talking about. The nurse practitioner in that clinic is regulated as an employee. She cannot leave that clinic and bill for her services like every other primary care provider. Why won’t you give her that flexibility and our community the ability to have nurse practitioners where and when they are needed?

By the way, if you hadn’t dragged your feet, we wouldn’t have one in five Ontarians paying out of pocket to access primary care in this province.

To the minister: When will you take action to ensure that Ontarians can access primary care from a nurse practitioner without reaching into their own pockets to pay?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I’m going to remind members to direct your questions through the Speaker.

I recognize the Minister of Health.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: As the member opposite, in her own words, says, a multidisciplinary team includes nurse practitioners, family physicians, child and youth mental health support, diet techs, pharmacy and more. What she is talking about is exactly what our $3.4-billion investment in primary care expansion is about—making sure that clinicians can work together, not individually, because we know the best patient outcomes come from those multidisciplinary teams that include family physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, RPNs, dietitians, mental health workers. That’s when we get exceptional care, and that’s the investment that our government is doing.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member for Hamilton Centre with a final supplementary.

MPP Robin Lennox: Back to the Minister of Health: While the Minister of Health was spending her weekend following my activities, I was spending my weekend thinking about the health of the people of Ontario.

The people of Ontario were told two years ago we “will make sure that any clinic that is charging for an OHIP-funded service is ended, and the patients will be reimbursed.” That was you, Minister, in March 2024, speaking about this exact issue—patients paying out of pocket to access primary care from nurse practitioners—and yet, here we are two years later.

Nurse practitioners must be brought under OHIP for providing medically necessary services. You knew the deadline was this Wednesday.

So what will it be, Minister? Will you finally put your money where your mouth is and bring nurse practitioners under OHIP?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): A reminder to the members that you ask your questions through the Speaker.

I recognize the Minister of Health.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: A $3.4-billion expansion in primary care—that is putting your money where your mouth is. We have a 10% overcapacity in the last year alone. We were working on a pathway for attaching 300,000 people to primary care; in fact, we actually attached 330,000 people.

We are well on our way to making sure that all Ontario residents have access to a primary care clinician—and yes, they will be in multidisciplinary teams because we know those are where the outcomes for patients and clinicians want to be, and we’re seeing that change.

As we expand primary care access, we are seeing less pressure on our emergency department. We are seeing individuals who are getting access to diagnosis and treatment sooner because they have access to a primary care clinician. It is working.

I have no interest in going back to where the health care—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Question?

Ontario budget

Mr. John Fraser: Wiarton Willie—God rest his soul—may have really got it wrong when he predicted an early spring, but I am confident that he could have predicted the Ontario budget. It’s Groundhog Day—more of the same empty rhetoric, a cut-and-paste from the last budget. They couldn’t even come up with a new title. All this at a time when families are hurting—life is harder.

After eight long years and eight budgets, it’s clear that this Conservative government is tired and out of touch.

Speaker, through you: Why is there nothing in this budget to help families with their budgets?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement.

Hon. Stephen Crawford: I would encourage the member opposite to actually read the budget; perhaps he hasn’t. He has been too focused on Wiarton Willie.

What’s in this budget are a lot of affordability measures which our government has brought about in the past and will continue to.

First of all, we’re capping the resale of ticket sales in this province for the first time in history in Canada. We’re proud to stand up for fans in Ontario so that families can go to hockey games, baseball games, concerts.

We’ve also brought about an HST and GST tax cut for new homes. That will save families $130,000 on a new home. That’s serious savings.

That party there has voted against every affordability measure we brought in the past, whether it’s a gas tax cut or others.

I’ll have more to say in the supplementary.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the leader of the third party.

Mr. John Fraser: I did read the budget. “Protect Ontario”—about 74 times. The Premier is not protecting anything; he’s pretending. He’s pretending there is something in this budget for families, and there is not. There’s no HST relief on home heating or energy, even though energy prices are going up. There’s no relief for skyrocketing rents. And there’s no middle-income tax cut—oh, you know, the one the Premier promised eight years ago.

Speaker, life is hard, and Ontario families have to make tough choices.

After eight years and eight budgets, it’s easy to see that this Premier and this government are just tired and out of touch.

I’ll ask again: Why is there nothing in this budget to help families with their budgets?

Hon. Stephen Crawford: The only person who’s tired and out of touch is the leader—the interim leader, I should say; I think the third time—of the third party. That’s who is out of touch.

Speaker, they voted against every affordability measure that we’ve brought in the province of Ontario.

We’ve also reduced small business tax by a significant margin to help those small businesses.

We’re cutting down ticket resales.

Speaking of energy: Yes, oil has gone up, unfortunately, due to the crisis in the Middle East. But who voted against the carbon tax, every single time in this House—to push up oil and gas prices? The third party opposite.

Who voted against the LIFT tax credit that gave the largest tax decrease for low-income families in the province of Ontario’s history? It was the party opposite.

We are standing up for businesses, for workers, and fighting for the people of Ontario, and we will continue to do so.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the leader of the third party.

Mr. John Fraser: Well, that’s the same answer, I think, we’ve heard here for eight years.

Life is hard for Ontario families, and this Ford government is out of touch and out of ideas.

We’re half a trillion dollars in debt, when families face hard choices.

What’s the Premier chasing in this budget? Well, buying Billy Bishop; a floating fantasy island convention centre; a luxury spa; and a tunnel of love—sorry, that’s the tunnel the Premier loves—and God knows what else. So it’s kind of like the Premier fancies himself a billionaire—just with other people’s money.

Speaker, life is hard. Families are struggling. Why is there nothing in this budget to help families with their budgets?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

Mrs. Michelle Cooper: In these uncertain economic times, our responsible fiscal plan has put us in a strong position to weather economic headwinds. Our government has cut taxes and received credit upgrades.

The previous government raised taxes and got downgraded.

Under our watch, Ontario has received two credit rating upgrades for the first time in almost 20 years from all four credit rating agencies. We are reversing a trend of credit downgrades that Ontario faced under the previous Liberal government.

Thanks to our fiscally responsible management of Ontario’s finances, we are able to continue making historic investments in the public services that Ontarians rely on, from health care to education and more.

We will not be taking finance lessons from a party that has left Ontario with the largest subsovereign debt in the world.

Ontario budget

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: Just last week, the finance minister tabled a rinse-and-repeat budget that sugar-coats the reality of life in Ontario.

After eight years of this deflated Doug Ford Conservative government, life is harder—a record 700,000 people out of work; 200,000 young people can’t find their first job; one million people using food banks; more people living on the streets. For all of these people, life is harder.

This government removed rent control because they said it would create housing. Instead, housing starts are down and rents are up. For renters and those trying to buy their first home, life is harder.

My question to the finance minister: When will he stop pretending his plan is working and actually deliver a budget that serves the people of Ontario?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Hon. Graydon Smith: For eight years, we’ve been delivering budgets in Ontario that have mattered to the lives of Ontarians.

Contained within this budget is the single biggest measure to help the cost of housing that we have seen in a generation: lowering the provincial portion of the HST on not just homes for new buyers, but for all buyers in Ontario. If the members opposite don’t think $130,000 in the pocket of a new home buyer is serious money, don’t think that that helps with affordability, I’d love to see your bank accounts, because they must be a lot bigger than everybody else’s in Ontario.

Speaker, we are making a difference for people every single day. All throughout this budget, including in housing, we are making sure that costs get reined in and choice gets added on to the people of Ontario for the housing that they want, whether that’s rental or whether that’s ownership.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for Don Valley West.

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: This is a budget for Bay Street, not Main Street—$4 billion for investors in this government’s latest attempt to spur growth. But that middle-income tax cut they promised eight years ago? Nowhere in sight. And they could really use that right now, given this affordability crisis.

This ineffective Doug Ford Conservative government lost 9,000 manufacturing jobs. So those 300,000 manufacturing jobs they promised? Nowhere in sight.

They promised to fix hallway health care, but it has gotten worse. Their solution: Take hallway health care data out of sight.

So my question, back to the finance minister: When will he stop pretending his plan is working and actually deliver a budget that helps the people of Ontario?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I’ll remind members that we refer to members in the House by their title, not their name.

Back to the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement.

Hon. Stephen Crawford: We’re very proud of the budget that we brought out on Thursday with the great Minister of Finance.

The only pretending that happened was when we took office in 2018 and we uncovered, with an independent audit, a $15-billion deficit. That was the only pretending.

What’s happening in Ontario today? Let’s go back to 2018, when we took power. The budget for the government of Ontario at that time was $155 billion. Today, eight years later, we are proud on this side of the House that we’ve grown the budget with not one tax increase but by growing the economy in this province—a $245-billion budget. That’s not pretending. That’s real.

Speaker, I will also add that the Ontario economy, under our leadership, has grown to $1 trillion—$1 trillion.

The economic growth that we’re creating in this province is second to none.

We’re going to continue fighting for Ontarians.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for Don Valley West.

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: There’s no hiding the fact that this government has added $130 billion to the debt and we’re racing towards the half-trillion-dollar man. This government also wasted $3 billion—they actually borrowed it. They borrowed $3 billion plus interest to give out cheques right before an election. Their plan to protect Ontario is just pretending.

Look at the facts again, Speaker. All of the economic indicators that should be up are actually down.

Say it with me, folks: Expected GDP growth?

Interjections: Down.

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: Expected housing starts?

Interjections: Down.

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: Expected job creation?

Interjections: Down.

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: This is not a plan to protect Ontario. It’s a plan that neglects Ontario.

Back to the finance minister: When will he stand up, step up, and admit that his plan to protect Ontario is just pretend?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

Mrs. Michelle Cooper: Our real GDP is 1.2%, and we are one of the few reporting provinces with a path to balance and one of the lowest deficits in all of Canada relative to GDP.

As we protect Ontario’s economy, we are bringing investment back to Ontario and bringing back the jobs the Liberal government has chased away.

Speaker, our government is focused on making Ontario a more resilient and self-sufficient economy and making life more affordable for the people of Ontario.

We will be taking no lessons from a party that bankrupted the province, left our health care system on the brink of collapse and even managed to create a housing crisis while we were in it.

Education funding

Ms. Chandra Pasma: Supervisors appointed by the Minister of Education are making cuts that are taking supports and resources away from our kids and taking educators out of our schools.

The latest cuts to be announced are in the Toronto Catholic District School Board, where kids are losing access to language classes and reading support programs. Some 77 front-line instructors are losing their jobs because of these cuts.

Can the minister please explain why his hand-picked supervisor is earning $350,000 a year to fire educators and cut language and literacy classes?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Minister of Education.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Well, international language will continue to be offered at the Toronto Catholic District School Board. They had a unique program that no other board in the province of Ontario had. But we’ll continue to support those programs on weekends. The TCDSB has also decided to update its literacy programs to be more in line with the program that is offered across 71 other school boards across the province of Ontario that is also funded by the Ministry of Education. They have decided to come in line with those two programs.

At the same time, we’re seeing some positive things. This budget, of course, has an increase in funding, but, ultimately, what we’re seeing is the highest graduation rate in the history of the province. Thanks to this Progressive Conservative government, we’re seeing literacy, reading and writing scores at their highest level ever because of the changes that were brought on by this government. And we’re seeing math scores starting to finally go in a positive direction, albeit not as fast as we would like. That’s why this budget is doubling down and putting more money into that.

At the same time, there’s a historic investment to bring back safety into our schools by inviting our police officers back in and connecting students and teachers with community policing.

It’s a good-news budget.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member for Ottawa West–Nepean.

Ms. Chandra Pasma: The minister’s appointee, Frank Benedetto, told families that all school-day language programs will be gone as of September. The Minister of Infrastructure said no, Ukrainian schools—two of which are in her riding—will still have language instruction and “very little will change” for those students.

Can the minister please tell parents, are their language programs being cut because the Minister of Infrastructure didn’t pick up the phone for them?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Speaker, in that instance—as you would know, and I’d assume the member opposite would know, there is a significant amount of Ukrainian students who have come, fleeing the war in Ukraine. At the same time, the churches and the community have decided to pick up some of the responsibility for that international language program because there are so many people who have come and still need some additional help. That’s what it is that we’re supposed to do. But, at the same time, the program itself will continue to be offered across the system, as it is in 71 other boards, on weekends.

That is something that is supported by the Ministry of Education. We’re quite proud of that program.

I myself, as a student, learned Italian on weekends at the York Catholic District School Board. I went to St. Patrick’s every Saturday morning between 9 and 12 o’clock. My mom used to drop me off there, and that’s how I relearned Italian.

This happens all across the province of Ontario. The TCDSB is coming in line with what happens in 71 other school boards across the province.

Government accountability

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: Many of us are taught from a young age that if we make a promise, we should keep it.

In 2018, Doug Ford made a promise to stop the gravy train.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I’ll ask the member to refer to people in the chamber by their title.

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: In 2018, the leader of the Conservative Party made a promise to stop the gravy train. He was just pretending.

Eight years later, just like the debt that has ballooned to half a trillion dollars, the Premier, a.k.a. now the great pretender, has not stopped the gravy train. He has doubled down on it, and he has doubled the number of people working in his office—50 people, and a total office salary that has grown from $2 million in 2018 to $8 million today.

Through you, Speaker, to the President of the Treasury Board: How does this government justify their broken promise to stop the gravy train?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the government House leader.

Hon. Steve Clark: Speaker, through you to the honourable member: She’ll know that we were elected on a platform to protect Ontario.

All three parties—the mainstream parties—have all had their time in government in my lifetime.

The Premier’s office provides a very important link to other ministries, to programs, to caucuses, and those young men and women who are in the Premier’s office perform a very, very important role. So from my perspective, I’m not sure what the member was alluding to.

The fact of the matter is, we’re proud of our government. We’re proud of the men and women who support our constituency offices, who support our ministries, who support all of the legislative functions that we do as MPPs, regardless of whether they sit here in this building or in buildings all across Ontario.

I know when it comes to our caucus, we’re all working on one single thing, and that’s to do whatever we can do to protect this province amidst global pressures.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member for Don Valley West.

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: I don’t know what fantasy tunnel this ineffective Conservative government is living in, but in real life here in Ontario, people are struggling to buy groceries, find a job and afford a home.

The budget they tabled last week is a budget of broken promises—no mention of their promise to build 1.5 million homes; no mention of the great pretender’s promise to create 300,000 manufacturing jobs. Do you know why? Because he has actually lost 9,000.

With 700,000 people unemployed and more than 34,000 jobs lost last year alone, the only place in this province with record job growth is the Premier’s office.

To the President of the Treasury Board: When will this failed Conservative government stop pretending to protect Ontario and make good on their promise to stop the gravy train?

Hon. Steve Clark: I’m not sure where this member and her party think they’re going to go. They’ve had three struggling back-to-back-to-back elections.

Our party, over the last year, since the last election, in the midst of tariffs and global uncertainty—our plan has been simple. We need to put a plan together—like we’ve done in this budget, like we’ve done in the last budget—to ensure that we have protection for workers, families and businesses.

Speaker, through you to the member: I was at an Ontario Federation of Agriculture meeting this Saturday morning and had a great response from local farmers. One of my mayors showed me a graphic, and the graphic was actually a down payment on a new home. The sole reason why that transaction took place was because of what was in our budget—that measure in our budget on the HST and new home protection.

It’s those types of policies that this government will continue—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Question?

Health care

MPP Monica Ciriello: My question is for the Minister of Health.

People in Ontario and across Hamilton depend on strong, accessible primary care, and they want to know that their government is delivering results that matter the most.

In Hamilton, we have seen first-hand how meaningful provincial investments can strengthen local primary care capacity. Through a $2.2-million investment in primary care team funding, the Greater Hamilton Health Network has already connected more than 6,000 people to team-based primary care, who previously had no access. We saw this investment in Hamilton at the Eva Rothwell Centre, bringing primary care directly into a grassroots community hub supporting individuals and families living in poverty.

These successes show what’s possible when targeted provincial action supports local innovation and community-based care.

Speaker, can the minister please update us on how our government is strengthening primary care across Ontario and connecting even more people to the care they need when they need it?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you to the team member from Hamilton Mountain for your interest in this issue.

Of course, Ontario continues to lead the country, with over 90% of Ontario residents connected to a primary care physician/clinician. However, through our investment of $3.4 billion in the primary care action plan, we are, in fact, going to connect an additional two million more people to primary care over the next four years. And we are, of course, already seeing results in communities across Ontario, from Hamilton to the Port Arthur Health Centre family health team in Thunder Bay. They didn’t just meet their attachment goal; they achieved 269% of their target, attaching over 7,695 patients. Keep in mind, these were organizations that had committed to attaching just under 3,000.

This tremendous achievement shows what is possible when primary care teams have the money, the team and the support that they need. These results—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member for Hamilton Mountain.

MPP Monica Ciriello: Thank you for your leadership to ensure that Ontario residents across this great province have strong access to primary care.

Families in Hamilton and across Ontario want confidence that this strong progress is a part of a long-term plan to ensure everyone can access team-based primary care.

The early success in Hamilton—including more than 6,000 new patients who were connected to a primary care interprofessional team—shows the impact of provincial support for community-driven innovation.

But my residents of Hamilton Mountain want to know how this momentum will continue, how more residents will be connected, how providers will be supported, and how investments will expand care capacity in the years ahead.

Speaker, can the minister speak further on how our government’s recent and upcoming investments will help ensure that more Ontarians have access to timely, connected primary care across our great province?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: I know that the member opposite and her constituents will be watching closely as we continue with our progress.

This past year alone, we’ve already attached more than 330,000 people—exceeding our annual target by over 10%. As I’ve stated previously, this progress is being seen in communities across Ontario.

Another example is our investment in the Flemingdon Health Centre, which received over $4.5 million and has attached over 6,000 patients to primary care.

These strategic local investments in our interprofessional primary care teams are helping us expand capacity, making sure that—connecting people to primary care is our goal. And we are achieving those goals.

Alongside these investments, we’ve added 20,000 new physicians licensed in the province of Ontario since taking office.

Those investments mean that we have primary care clinicians, nurses, nurse practitioners able to do this work and connect through an interprofessional team. Our plan is working.

University and college funding

Ms. Peggy Sattler: My question is to the Premier.

Thursday’s budget revealed the truth behind this government’s so-called investment in post-secondary education. Not only does the budget cut $70 million from PSE this year and $1.5 billion by 2028-29; it also shows that $385 million was left unspent last year while 10,000 college workers were laid off, student services were reduced, and at least 700 programs were cancelled.

Speaker, how can this Premier justify cutting funding and leaving money on the table while our post-secondary system was crumbling around us?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The Minister of Colleges and Universities.

Hon. Nolan Quinn: As that member knows, the federal government made many, many, many changes to the international student allocations, which—our government stepped up with historic funding: $6.4 billion. I know it will never come out of the lips of the opposition, but $6.4 billion is an historic funding amount for not only Ontario, but for Canada. Part of that is $3.3 billion for high-priority programs that are going to ensure that our economy keeps growing the way it wants to go.

I won’t take any lessons from the opposition about how to run an economy.

There’s $1.7 billion for 70,000 newly funded seats to ensure that we have access for our post-secondary learners. That’s on top of the 20,000 seats we funded with budget 2025 and the $750-million investment into STEM.

We also have $1.1 billion to increase the student funding rate across the whole board and another $284 million for small, northern, rural and French institutions, because we understand the economics of having post-secondary in smaller communities. It’s a little bit more expensive.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for London West.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: Speaker, the numbers don’t lie. A cut to PSE funding is not an investment, and the fallout is being felt across this province.

Since this government’s historic funding announcement, we have seen more program closures, more job cuts. Algonquin, Fanshawe, George Brown and Humber just issued mass layoff notices.

What’s worse, it is students from low- and moderate-income families who will be hurt the most as money is moved out of OSAP grants to pay for any increases in operating. This government’s shell game will drive down domestic enrolment in whatever in-demand or high-priority programs are left.

Speaker, why is this government denying Ontario students the post-secondary opportunities that they deserve and our economy depends on?

Hon. Nolan Quinn: Speaker, the only shell game I can see is the opposition leader trying to hang on to her job when the deputy leader is going over to the Liberal Party.

Speaker, that $6.4-billion investment is stabilizing the sector. We understand that the sector has been destabilized because of the federal government’s decisions.

Ms. Catherine Fife: That’s a grade 7 answer. Do better.

Hon. Nolan Quinn: I hear the member from Waterloo yelling, “Do better.”

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Order. A reminder that we go through the Speaker and a reminder that we act respectfully in the Legislature.

I recognize the member for Etobicoke–Lakeshore.

Cost of living

Ms. Lee Fairclough: Speaker, it has been eight long years of this tired Conservative government. It is no secret that Ontario’s economy is broken. Families find life harder. To walk into a grocery store now is an infuriating and exhausting experience. Nearly 700,000 people are unemployed, and over one million people needed to use a food bank last year. And more kids are going to school hungry.

Now, after a budget that could have provided Ontarians real relief, this government is instead shielding itself from scrutiny. This is dead wrong, and we deserve better. We are in the midst of an affordability crisis. And while grocery prices are out of control, this government is doing nothing.

So my question is simple. Speaker, to the Minister of Finance: Do you know how much people in Ontario pay for a dozen eggs?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

Mrs. Michelle Cooper: We are in a situation right now with a war going on, and gas prices increased. Our government has worked to decrease and permanently decrease the gas tax.

We’ve provided nearly $12 billion in support to families.

We have taken tolls off of the 407 East, saving commuters $7,200 a year.

One important thing I heard over the weekend in my riding was—as I walked along the small businesses in my riding, I heard from small business owners who told me how thankful they were for us to cut the small business tax. This impacts 375,000 businesses in this province.

This is what we are doing to help the people of Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for Etobicoke–Lakeshore.

Ms. Lee Fairclough: Speaker, the minister didn’t answer my question, but it doesn’t surprise me, given how out of touch the budget was last week.

Let me tell the minister, as a mom who routinely shops to feed two growing and hungry teenage boys: Eggs are up almost 60%, to $4.93 a dozen, since he and the Premier came to power. A pound of butter is up almost 50%.

It seems to me that the minister has been spending more time looking out for government insiders than everyday Ontarians.

Speaker, people deserve better—better than the Premier’s vanity projects and retroactive laws to shield them from scrutiny.

We on this side of the aisle are focused on real results. We are focused on lowering costs and creating opportunities for people to thrive.

Speaker, since the minister could not answer how much more eggs are in 2026, maybe he can answer, how much more will an average family of four in Ontario spend on food this year?

Mrs. Michelle Cooper: Once again, we are saving Ontarians $11.9 billion with various programs we’re doing, not just—and I’m going back to the small business tax, because this is what I’m hearing loud and clear. These are the mom-and-pops that go out and buy the eggs at the grocery store. These are the mom-and-pops making, with the restaurants in each and every one of our ridings—that they need to buy those eggs. And we’re cutting the gas tax. That is, provincially, what we’re doing to help them when they go to the grocery store and they buy those eggs.

Also, when those eggs have to go from the farmer to the table—that is a gas tax we are cutting and helping Ontarians with. Those tolls on the 407—they also help, as well, in the production from farm to table.

So I want you to understand we are doing everything we can to help people in Ontario, period.

Indigenous economic development

Mr. Stéphane Sarrazin: My question is for the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation.

We know that building roads, strengthening energy infrastructure and responsibly developing the north is about more than just projects; it’s about unlocking opportunity, prosperity and long-term economic growth for communities across our province.

In northern Ontario, we’re already seeing unprecedented momentum as major infrastructure projects move forward in partnership with First Nations. Our government recognizes that First Nations are best positioned to lead the vision for their communities and that meaningful partnership is essential to getting this right.

Can the minister share with the House some of the progress being made to help unlock the Ring of Fire?

L’hon. Greg Rickford: Merci au député de Glengarry–Prescott–Russell pour son travail dans sa circonscription.

There’s an exciting story to talk about in the Ring of the Fire. It goes back about a year and a half ago, when we announced plans to work with Minodahmun Development Corp., owned and operated by four First Nations communities, to set up a commercial plaza there.

Madam Speaker, as we head into Geraldton proper and farther parts north, we entered into a shared prosperity agreement with Aroland First Nation, amongst other things, to dramatically improve and increase the electricity capacity in their community and focus on a couple of key infrastructure projects there.

A community partnership agreement with Webequie First Nation, Greenstone and Marten Falls aligned the province, those First Nations communities and those municipalities on projects that were priorities for them and to help the province and the people of Ontario move farther into the Ring of Fire.

The environmental assessments, led by First Nations, are now complete for approval with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, and the Greenstone transmission line identifies, from Red Rock clear through to Aroland First Nation, a new capacity to run electricity to the Matawa communities farther north who have none. This is exciting news and a lot of work in just over a year and a half.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for the second question.

Mr. Stéphane Sarrazin: Thank you to the minister for this important information.

Speaker, our government has been clear: Protecting Ontario means taking action to strengthen our economy, secure our supply chains, and responsibly develop our natural resources here at home. Sourcing critical minerals within our province is central to that goal and to building long-term prosperity.

We know the Ring of Fire is one of the most promising mineral development opportunities in the world, with enormous economic potential.

Through our Protect Ontario plan, we are advancing nation-building projects efficiently while upholding strong environmental standards and meaningful partnerships with First Nations.

Can the minister explain how our accelerated approach to the Ring of Fire is helping to protect Ontario’s economic future?

Hon. Greg Rickford: I’ll do my best.

Of course, at PDAC, I was joined by so many colleagues here to announce, with the Premier, an accelerated plan to build the corridor to prosperity, connecting isolated northern communities with Aroland and farther south First Nations and farther south to Geraldton and parts beyond.

We were able to pivot to an economic partnership agreement with Webequie First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation that looks at their ability to access the Indigenous opportunities fund to build and refurbish an aerodrome on the Eagle’s Nest site, the primary site for Ring of Fire activities; aggregate production; and housing capacity for the workers who will be required to do the work in that are