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May 28, 2026

44th Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2026-May-28 (PDF)

L079 - Thu 28 May 2026 / Jeu 28 mai 2026

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Thursday 28 May 2026 Jeudi 28 mai 2026

Orders of the Day

Building Billy Bishop Airport Act, 2026 / Loi de 2026 sur la construction de l’aéroport Billy Bishop

Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act, 2026 / Loi de 2026 visant à protéger les rues et les collectivités de l’Ontario

Members’ Statements

Public transit

Harmony House

Phở 90

Good Neighbour Awards

Jerisha Grant-Hall

Howard Moscoe

Toronto Paramedic Services

École élémentaire catholique des Deux-Rivières

Introduction of Visitors

Question Period

Transportation infrastructure

Transportation infrastructure

Government accountability

Government accountability

Hospital funding

Public transit

Housing

Education funding

Health care

Public safety

Seniors’ health services

Government jet

Public safety

Services for persons with disabilities

Notices of dissatisfaction

Deferred Votes

Lydia’s Law (Accountability and Transparency in the Handling of Sexual Assault Cases), 2026 / Loi Lydia de 2026 (responsabilité et transparence dans le traitement des cas d’agression sexuelle)

Building Billy Bishop Airport Act, 2026 / Loi de 2026 sur la construction de l’aéroport Billy Bishop

Introduction of Visitors

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Government Agencies

Standing Committee on Public Accounts

Introduction of Bills

Adapting to a Hotter Ontario Act, 2026 / Loi de 2026 sur l’adaptation à un Ontario plus chaud

Menstrual Health Day Act, 2026 / Loi de 2026 proclamant la Journée de la santé menstruelle

Nancy Rose Act (Paediatric Hospice Palliative Care Strategy), 2026 / Loi Nancy Rose de 2026 (stratégie des soins palliatifs pédiatriques)

Petitions

Outdoor education centres

Collective bargaining

Outdoor education centres

Outdoor education centres

Energy policies

Tenant protection

Student assistance

Health care workers

Collective bargaining

Student assistance

Health care workers

Health care workers

Collective bargaining

Collective bargaining

Orders of the Day

Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act, 2026 / Loi de 2026 visant à protéger les rues et les collectivités de l’Ontario

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers / Prières.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): You may be seated.

Orders of the Day

Building Billy Bishop Airport Act, 2026 / Loi de 2026 sur la construction de l’aéroport Billy Bishop

Resuming the debate adjourned on May 27, 2026, on the motion for third reading of the following bill:

Bill 110,

An Act to enact the Building Billy Bishop Airport Act, 2026 / Projet de loi 110, Loi édictant la Loi de 2026 sur la construction de l’aéroport Billy Bishop.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Further debate?

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: I’m always happy to rise in this House, of course, and represent the phenomenal people of beautiful Beaches–East York. I will now continue on my scintillating debate that I know you were all hanging on—

Interjection.

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: Yesterday you were, so today is the sequel. Thank you very much for your support.

We’re going to talk about the runway of Billy Bishop. First, the expansion is far beyond what is presented. As I mentioned, Billy Bishop airport would demand 900 metres of new land mass, a 600-metre runway and a 150-metre buffer zone on each end. Unfortunately, the extra 900 metres does not even scratch the surface of a waterfront disruption. The Billy Bishop expansion would need hundreds more metres of buoys and guide lights extending into the water, repair hangars, new customs facilities if flight paths are added, exclusionary zones and more.

Before I get into all the infrastructure—because there is a lot of infrastructure needed for this plan, dream, whatever you want to call it—let’s just take a minute to touch on a pretty fundamental piece of infrastructure in any airport: the tarmac. The jets used at Billy Bishop were never meant to be there. The tarmac, which is asphalt topped on sand, gets too hot in the summer, and these Q400 jets actually sink in the heat. Consequently, they cannot be stored at Billy Bishop airport in the summer, and instead they reside in London. I’m not sure if you knew that. So right off the bat, the airport cannot even house its critical equipment.

We’ve all seen the heavy layer of fog that can fall over Toronto, sometimes thick enough that all you can see is the road and that car or the bike headlights in front of you. Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport, especially being on the waterfront, is susceptible to fog, low visibility and delays, so these lights are non-negotiable.

Now, this expansion is not just a matter of slapping some asphalt down; it’s not just waving your magic wand like you seem to like to do. No—we are talking about building a runway off an island into the water, which requires making land where there is none. So for the underwater infrastructure, this would mean building down into the water not just to support the land of the runway, but it would require an underwater berm system so jets do not blast the peninsula into bits when they take off, and a retainer wall, just to name a few pieces of infrastructure necessary to operate a safe airport.

Moreover, building down into the water completely and irrevocably disrupts the whole underwater aquatic ecosystem. Toronto’s waterfront is home to several endangered species: American eel, Jefferson salamander, redside dace, piping plover, rusty-patched bumblebee, just to name a few. But we know how this government actually feels about endangered species, and I won’t get into that.

When we build underwater infrastructure, like retaining walls and berms, as we would need to for the airport expansion, we not only change the ecosystem that lives in the water but the flow of the water itself. Disrupting or completely blocking off points of drainage from rivers means that where water may have previously been able to flow from rivers and disperse over a wide surface area, it may now be concentrated and stronger, leading to changing currents affecting water activities and leaving us at risk for greater floods.

And with the amalgamation of conservation authorities, loss of local knowledge and responsibility for growing regions of watersheds, this is simply not the time to take the chance with floods.

While we’re on the topic of water, stay tuned for my private member’s motion on creating an all-party Great Lakes committee, which I know that you will be eager to support because you did it once before.

Time and time again—let’s talk about the health impacts—studies show that airport cities experience poor air quality. And this can lead to adverse health effects like premature death, pre-term birth, decreased lung functions, cancers and more. This would only worsen with increased air travel in the core of the downtown, as the government is pushing for it and growing the traffic. Commercial jets emit various pollutants, and all of these have adverse effects that this government has not reported on for the airport expansion. That needs to be incorporated in the plan that doesn’t really exist.

We’re talking infrastructure. We’re talking health impacts. Let’s get over to congestion, because I’m short on time. We talked about that. I know this government claims to be keen on mitigating traffic and looking for congestion mitigation measures, hence Bill 212, the ridiculous bill which involved removing bike lanes. Why would you touch this intersection? It’s not even fully—it’s an intersection, but it’s really kind of like a cul-de-sac.

I know many of the government members and many members in this House have flown into Billy Bishop. We all love Billy Bishop. It’s a great quaint, cozy boutique airport. That’s what we like about it: two million passengers. When you blow it up to 10 million, a major airport, then you don’t have that boutique feel. Everything you love about it will be gone.

We know there are 400 vehicles an hour—current city of Toronto transportation data, right now. And sometimes it’s double that. I actually was down there on the weekend for a play at the beautiful new Irish Corleck building, and I could have crawled faster to get to the building, which is right beside Billy Bishop. It was that congested on a regular Saturday in the city, so why—

Interjection.

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: I’m sorry, I wasn’t riding my bike that day. I was with my husband, if you have to know.

Interjection.

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: He likes to remain private.

Anyway, let’s get back to the traffic. It’s barely manageable now. You have the end of Bathurst; you have Queens Quay; you have Eireann Quay. You do have transit down there. You do have the bike lanes, Martin Goodman Trail, all that. But you have an immense amount of traffic already, so you would need to have a parking lot, and, gosh, where would you ever put a parking lot down there? There’s a lot of green space; we know about the parks. You’re not touching those for a parking lot. So I don’t know what the thinking is about where the cars would park—but also all the idling and the danger of having that many vehicles.

It’s not alarmist. These are concerns we must consider thoughtfully when the government proposes this massive expansion in the heart of Toronto where homes and schools and other institutions and densely populated—I think the member from Kitchener Centre said it best yesterday: that the population down there is probably more than some of your ridings, actually, so think about that, and leaving people vulnerable to pollutants and the health impacts.

The expansion should require full studies to understand how this will affect species habitat, air quality, water quality, ecosystems and, of course, the traffic impacts and what that leads to. We’ve already talked about Bill 105 and this government’s plan to actually remove all environmental assessments. You would definitely need an environmental assessment down there. You’re going to have to make an exemption to Bill 105 for that. It has to be done.

We have the exclusionary zones, which I’ll touch on briefly. The exclusionary zones avoid damage from jet blowback at the ends of the runway and are along the runway, too. The jets need to taxi, and when they are given that all-clear to move from that spot, there will be blowback, and it will not be safe for all the boating that’s done down there. There are the swimmers, canoers, kayakers. As we’ve heard at committee, the amount of tourists who come down to that area specifically when they come to Toronto is monumental.

Then you have your Therme. How is Therme going to feel about this proposal? I’d be curious to know about that. I’m going to skip a bit over that and get to the cost.

As we talked about yesterday, where is the business plan? Logically, you cannot possibly plan to do a massive, ginormous infrastructure project like this without having done your due diligence ahead of time. Bring in the experts, figure it out ahead of time and lay out the business plan. You don’t start anything without a business plan.

So we don’t know. We’ve heard numbers tossed around. I think the latest I heard was $5 billion. We all know how far that would go for health care, for fixing our decrepit schools, for more transit, for housing. And when we’re talking about housing, we have to talk about what you’re doing to the Port Lands plan that Waterfront Toronto has developed on Ookwemin Minising. Those proposals that developers were told were viable are 19 storeys to 49 storeys. If you do this crazy dream of yours, to expand Billy Bishop to the full extent you want to, you are capping that housing in the Port Lands at 15 storeys.

We also heard from the Waterfront Secretariat that you’re capping the housing and destroying the housing plan for south Etobicoke. So it’s not just the east. I represent the east-end riding, so that’s what I was focused on, but then I heard from the Waterfront Secretariat about the other areas of Toronto. That will destroy your plan for housing starts. That’s something that should be considered.

There are a couple more things that I’ll talk about in my last minute. I’ve spoken at length about Little Norway Park. We do not pave over historical monuments. We don’t destroy history; we don’t disrespect our veterans. I’ve heard you speak proudly of that, so why would you touch Little Norway Park? And that had a pin in it on your map, so you have some explaining to do with that.

In consultation at the committee, we heard—I can’t even believe it. The city of Toronto is the fourth-largest city in North America, and this government does not think to give them the heads-up, maybe consult, maybe show a little bit of respect. We heard from the Waterfront Secretariat; they found out about it in the media—in the media. Are you kidding me? This is a massive proposal. It’s a tripartite—three, tri—agreement. It doesn’t show much respect.

One of the last things I will say is—we haven’t heard anyone speak about this yet in the House: the curfew at Lester B. Pearson. There’s a curfew at that airport, so there darn well better be a curfew at Billy Bishop. This isn’t a workaround for your economic benefit and your buddies.

This is an empty bill. It’s not a plan; it’s a misguided dream, and Ontario deserves better.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Questions?

Mr. Matthew Rae: Good morning. Thank you to my colleague from Beaches–East York for her remarks yesterday and now this morning on this important piece of legislation. I know there has been lots of discussion around the city of Toronto, but the federal government actually has recognized the importance of Billy Bishop airport. They’ve invested in US pre-clearance, highlighting its role as a cross-border travel destination for tourism, business and economic opportunity with our largest trading partner south of the border.

I was just perplexed why the members opposite, the Liberals in particular at Queen’s Park, are opposing an airport when the federal Liberal Prime Minister and his federal Liberal colleagues support this investment and economic transportation—they’re going to buy airports, apparently, federally.

I was wondering why the member won’t pick up the phone and ask her federal member why he supports the expansion of the Billy Bishop airport.

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: Thank you to my second-favourite member across the chamber, who is going down lower today. Thank you for that question.

I have absolutely spoken to my federal colleagues—of course I would. I believe in communication, consultation, dialogue, unlike this government. And I think the quote from the Prime Minister was that this is interesting, but he is pretty darn shocked at the move that this government did, pulled a fast one by just grabbing onto the city’s portion of that tripartite agreement without talking to anyone. It’s actually outrageous.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Question?

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Meegwetch to the member from Beaches–East York. I’m her favourite colleague here. I thought I’d get up and—no.

When I first got elected in 2018, I remember specifically being in the dining room when we had the sessions in the summertime, and I remember the Minister of Transportation at that time said, “Sol, I just learned we run 29 airports in northern Ontario. I just got briefed. We need to meet.” That’s the first time that the Minister of Transportation knew that they actually ran airports.

This morning, I think at 4:55, I got this picture from a friend of mine who is a pilot for Ornge, and it was in Kingfisher Lake. It was an amazing picture, but a lot of people do not realize that there’s such, such high need for a modernization of airports in northern Ontario.

How do you think this government—does this government really know the conditions of the northern gravel airstrips that are in northern Ontario?

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: Thank you very much to my fine member from Kiiwetinoong. I would say, yes, up there, favourite—it’s shared with the member from Timiskaming–Cochrane. You have to share it.

I love when that member from Kiiwetinoong stands up and speaks about his riding, because I represent a downtown riding in the city of Toronto, and I have not been to his riding, but I am scared when I hear him speak about, yesterday, the 27 gravel airstrips. I feel the north is disrespected by this government because they’re obsessed with the downtown waterfront in the city of Toronto. It’s wrong.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Question?

M me Lucille Collard: Thank you for the speech from my colleague from Beaches–East York—always very entertaining, keeping everybody awake. I was a little bit worried to stand up and ask a question. I’m worried about the qualification I might get from my colleague, so maybe you want to abstain from that.

I know you had a lot more to say about the reasons why this airport is not a great idea—you said you had to put down some of your pages—so I’ll offer you the opportunity to talk a little bit more about the aspect you might not have touched upon. Or, alternatively, you can also tell the government what they could do with this huge amount of money that they would spend on this disastrous development.

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: Thank you very much to the excellent member from Ottawa–Vanier and a great representative and a great friend.

Yes, I missed a bunch of my pages because I got on a rant about this government—which is so easy to do, actually.

What I didn’t get to speak on: As far as spending that $5 billion, I would share it amongst everyone else. I wouldn’t hog it for beautiful Beaches–East York, but we do have a hospital, phase 2, and we do have schools and, the same as you, have to build.

But we did talk about how there’s a $3-billion expansion going on right now in Lester B. Pearson airport to increase the capacity up to about 68 million passengers. That’s the major airport in Toronto, and Billy Bishop is the boutique airport—end of story.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Question?

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I’ve been listening to the member from Beaches–East York, and I noticed the member pretty well every day rides her bike here into Queen’s Park from Beaches–East York. I was wondering, wouldn’t it be easier for her to go to the Billy Bishop airport by bike instead of driving, or whatever, to get to the Pearson international airport? As well, what about the 23,000 construction jobs that are being created by building this airport here, at Billy Bishop? Are you against unionized workers building and expanding our airport?

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Through the Chair, in future.

Response? Member for Beaches–East York.

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: I biked in today, and I was debating about whether I should wear my bicycle helmet in the chamber to protect myself from this onslaught, but I wasn’t sure that security would let me.

Last time I checked, you could bike to airports. I’m sure some people do. You would be wearing the same underwear, I think, for your trip, because you wouldn’t be able to pack your suitcase. But I take the transit to Lester B. Pearson. I take the TTC: $3 gets me there lickety-split. That’s what I do. We also have the UP Express. Lester B. Pearson is accessible and easy to get to by transit. I wouldn’t—

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Question?

M me France Gélinas: Thank you to the member from Beaches–East York for a very entertaining morning. But the topic is serious.

I fly all over northern Ontario. There are 29 airstrips that are gravel and are dangerous. We tell one another, “Be very careful if you land at the 400-metre mark. There’s a big hole. There’s a big washout.” And those are airports that are owned and operated by the government of Ontario. Don’t tell me that the government of Ontario is willing to spend $5 billion for an airport we don’t need in Toronto but cannot spend $100,000 to make the airstrips in northern Ontario safe.

Can you see a discrimination against northern Ontario in there?

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: Thank you very much to the member from Nickel Belt for that excellent question and for representing her riding so well.

I am appalled when I hear about the state of the airports in the north. The north is being ignored and disrespected by this government because this government is just solely obsessed—I’m trying to think of a bigger word than “obsessed.” I’m going to have to get my thesaurus out because they’re just—

Ms. Sandy Shaw: Fixated.

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: —fixated. It’s this love affair with the Toronto waterfront—but it’s kind of love-hate because you’re destroying it.

I think this government should put their money where their mouth is and actually start investing in the north and in northern airports.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Further debate?

Hon. Steve Clark: Good morning, everyone. I’m pleased to join in the debate on Bill 110, the Building Billy Bishop Act. This is a very important project for our government. It’s a bill that has had nine hours at second reading. We’ve gone into committee with the minister. I’ve been able to bring the bill back to committee.

I think this morning, I’d love to get your take on whether you’re satisfied that we’ve had adequate debate. So with that, I’ll move that the question now be put.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): There has been over six hours of debate, and 19 members have participated. Mr. Clark has moved that the question be now put. I am satisfied that there has been sufficient debate to allow this question to be put to the House.

It is the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour of the motion that the question be now put, please say “aye.”

All those opposed to the motion that the question be now put, please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

A recorded vote being required, it will be deferred to the next instance of deferred votes.

Vote deferred.

Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act, 2026 / Loi de 2026 visant à protéger les rues et les collectivités de l’Ontario

Mr. Kerzner moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 119,

An Act to enact two new Acts and to amend various other Acts / Projet de loi 119, Loi édictant deux nouvelles lois et modifiant diverses autres lois.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Further debate?

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: I’m very pleased to be sharing my time today with our great Associate Solicitor General for Auto Theft and Bail Reform, my friend the member from Milton; as well as our great member from Perth–Wellington. I look forward to their participation in this debate.

Madam Speaker, we’re here again because public safety matters. Protecting Ontario matters. It’s something that the Premier, our government and I treat with the highest degree of priority, and we have done so since the earliest days Premier Ford came to office in June of 2018.

In a few weeks, I will have contributed four years as the proud member from York Centre to this Legislature. I will have contributed almost four years and a few more weeks as Solicitor General of this province.

But I have not done it alone. I have done it with some incredible people in the Ministry of the Solicitor General who have helped me every day make sure that the priorities of our government, led by the Premier, are carried out ambitiously, with vigour and, I might add, with dispatch.

I’m pleased that one of our deputy ministers is here in the chamber today: Deputy Mario Di Tommaso, a person who had an entire career as a police officer and came back for a second act, and we’re delighted, and I can say that there is no finer Deputy Solicitor General for community safety. We will never have a person—I welcome him and thank him so kindly. Thank you.

I also want to welcome our incredible chief of staff, Nicolas Di Marco, who basically grew up around politics as a young person at city hall. He finds himself here, and what Nicolas brings is also a set of eyes with clarity, and he has helped me every single day with an incredible team in the minister’s office. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, we’re here on Bill 119 as a reaffirmation that public safety will never take a back seat in the priorities of our government. I can point to so many incredible things that we have done in the last four years, but perhaps I’ll start with a story that I think is meaningful.

This past Monday, I had the privilege of witnessing 85 new Toronto police officers receiving their badges—their commission. They took their oath of office. This class of 85 represents an incredible representation of diversity in our province unlike anything I have ever seen. When people around our province—and they are very few—do not understand the role that public safety plays in their lives, let me share my story of why I think it ties into Bill 119 so beautifully.

These 85 people, by the way, understand that our province is diverse; our city is diverse. I will, as minister, as an MPP, as a citizen of the province who loves my province, champion those men and women who put on the uniform every day, supported by incredible civilians with an objective of making sure that everything we should not worry about—I’ve said this before, about going about our lives, waking up our kids—such was the case today when I woke up our kids; although they’re a little bit older, I still wake them up—and checking in on our seniors and loved ones. We go to work. We shop. We play in the park. We worship. And we do it because there is this safety net of people.

The member right here from Chatham-Kent–Leamington, the minister of agriculture and agri-food, was a police officer, and not just for a short time; I might say he had an exemplary career in the Essex detachment of the OPP. There are people who will come next who will bring the same background. Deputy Di Tommaso had over 30 years at the Toronto Police Service, rising to the rank of staff superintendent, which was at that time just a notch below deputy chief. He understands what it means to have safe communities.

Let me tell you something else that I learned. When we have safe communities, we have something else: We have an environment that encourages people to invest, to thrive; for entrepreneurs to feel that they can develop the ideas of tomorrow and see it through proof of concept and into production, because the climate that exists understands public safety matters.

When we ran as a government and we were re-elected in February 2025 on the clarion call of protecting Ontario—protecting Ontario means “protect us, strong economically.” The times that find us are uncertain and perhaps things we’ve never had to deal with, but the threats of tariffs have just helped us reinvent two things: the pride and love we have of our province, of our flag, of our identity, of our diversity, but also something else, that in our province of Ontario, there’s nothing we can’t do.

We have the resources, we have the intellect, we have the expertise and we have the ability to do whatever we want to do, and control our destiny and make our identity as Canadians and as Ontarians our own. Bill 119 helps us talk about a few things that will help ensure, from a public safety perspective, there’s nothing more important than the welfare of those who live in our province.

We’ve said a few things in Bill 119 that are important. Some of it goes back to what Premier Mike Harris did so brilliantly. He turned tragedy into action and purpose when he came forward in understanding that the tragic death of Christopher Stephenson was not going to just exist with no action to prevent other children from being brutally murdered by sex offenders. And he came forward with Christopher’s Law, 25 years ago plus. Christopher’s Law was designed to create an Ontario registry that the police services would have that would allow caution to exist in communities where sex offenders may exist and may try to hide under the veil.

We’ve made changes, and we’ve strengthened it numerous times by going forward in this bill to allow the OPP, through the commissioner, to have a new Web page and vision that will help allow certain information to be released to the public in the communities. And to keep communities safe is another reaffirmation that we will always be with our community. We will always side with the victims.

Madam Speaker, my friends across the way—and some of them are real, real good friends too—understand that when it comes time to both have pride in our province and respect for those men and women who serve as police officers and firefighters and correctional, probation, and parole officers, animal welfare inspectors, the love and respect for our community should be universal.

I read in the papers, by the way, yesterday, that there were some members on the other side—although the good news is they’re not in the chamber right now, although I shouldn’t say that, so I’ll retract that. But what I want to say is there is universal respect for those people that want to keep our province safe.

The changes that we’re going to make to the public website for high-risk offenders will be very important because, most importantly, it will improve the public awareness, and that’s very important.

I also wanted to address something else: that we want to crack down, as we have been, understanding that people who feel it’s okay to produce illegal drugs with pill presses, another means in Ontario—it’s not acceptable. And that’s why, through the dramatic increased investments we’ve made year after year that have been cumulative, we’ve worked with our police services to ensure that they have resources, the technology and the wherewithal to go after crime and to fight it hard.

We also want to make sure that people who harbour those who make illegal drugs should not be absolved from their responsibility. That’s why we’ve said commercial landlords who harbour, who are aware, who lease space to people in commercial buildings will be held accountable if they continue on in this way. I feel this is the right way to go.

I also want to talk about how we want to modernize our security guards. It was just maybe a month ago that we had a security guard at Fairview Mall who was shot right in front of the Michael Hill jewellery store. We want to make sure that as we go forward, we dust off legislation that hasn’t been looked at again in almost 20 years. Who is a security guard? What type of training will they get? What standards of common training will they have? I really want to make sure that we address this, because that and retail theft are a major problem—$9 billion-plus: That’s what retail theft does to our province.

It increases the cost of goods. One way we control the rate that we’re paying, the rate of inflation on the goods that we’re buying is stopping the people who are stealing the goods, that are making it more expensive for everyone.

By the way, I travelled last summer in the riding of the member from Kiiwetinoong. I’ll be honest; I was shocked when I went to two fly-in communities and I saw the price of goods. I took pictures of the prices, and when I showed it to my own family, they asked me whether that was in Canadian dollars, because the prices are unbelievable. We have to stop retail theft. It has a chain reaction everywhere, and it’s not fair to the law-abiding citizens who want to buy their product and pay a fair price. So that’s something we want to do.

My colleagues across the ministry, the Attorney General, the Associate Solicitor General will be talking about different things as well, but we want to have an all-of-government approach that will say that we have to go back to what is best for Ontario. I said a couple of days ago one of the things we want to do is encourage entrepreneurs to come forward with Ontario-made products.

So the days of buying Chinese drones that absolutely have no more place in the future of our province when we can manufacture a better product here and keep all of the data and software right here in Canada—that’s why my colleague Minister Crawford, from Oakville, his Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement has come forward to be part of this bill. I think this is very important.

By the way, we’re not telling the OPP, “Don’t use these drones that you might already have,” but don’t use it for certain things today. Secondly, we will see a day very soon when we will have a Canadian and Ontarian manufacturer helping with this.

I want to talk about a few other things that are very, very important. I want to talk about the fact that victims of human trafficking in some cases—I would say maybe in many cases—who were coerced into this find themselves with debt that actually should not be their responsibility. When we look at the human trafficking debt relief component of this bill, it will help survivors rebuild their lives, remove financial barriers created by traffickers and support long-term recovery and independence. This is important.

I think it’s got a lot of bipartisanship across the way because this is something that nobody should ever face—and have been coerced to incur a debt that’s not theirs. I’m very, very pleased that we’ve done this.

I also want to talk about the changes that we want to make in communicating our government’s priorities to the police service boards. Now, the Leader of the Opposition, I think, needs to reread it, because I saw her comments, and they don’t make any sense. We don’t direct any police service, and the leader knows that. We don’t. We don’t direct the OPP, we don’t direct municipal and we don’t direct First Nations police services. But what we know is alongside the local municipal priorities are the provincial priorities. This legislation will allow for the conveyance, the clarity and the enunciation of the government’s provincial priorities to the board.

And what are examples of provincial priorities? Fighting to get the guns out of our community: That’s a priority. Stopping the illegal drugs from being produced in our communities and getting them out of our communities: That’s a priority. Keeping our parks free of drugs and available for people to play in the park: That’s a priority.

To keep our transit safe—and one of the things I announced is looking into having special transit constables having additional authority, so if they see somebody engaging in inappropriate drug behaviour, that can be stopped, and they can arrest them if they have to or escort them out. Who wouldn’t agree with things like that? Go on transit and experience something that you’re not being threatened by or made uncomfortable by—that’s important.

When we look at the things we have done—two seasons a year, Madam Speaker, in the fall and in the spring. We do it because we want to further strengthen the narrative. And whether it be in animal welfare—and there’s a piece in this as well, because there were medically unnecessary procedures on dogs that don’t need to be done, devocalization on cats, declawing on dogs, dog tailing. There are things that don’t have to be done—or ear cropping. They don’t need to be done. We want to take the information, the views and the concerns of our stakeholders moving forward.

A little later this evening, I will be in Windsor, participating again at the annual meeting of the Police Association of Ontario, led by my good friend Mark Baxter. Thousands of members of police services are part of the PAO. And the PAO—together with the Ontario Provincial Police Association, and in Toronto, the Toronto Police Association—represents the men and women that take the risk every day to keep us safe.

The firefighters take risks every day. The correctional officers are heroes beyond measure. The people that answer the 911 call—when we call 911, they pick up the phone. And thanks to the new technology we’ve adopted, the NG9-1-1—next generation—actually, they’re picking up the phone across the province that much quicker.

When we look at the animal welfare inspectors, they’re reminding Ontarians as to the standards we have set to care for our animals. When we look at the people in the centre of forensic science and at the coroner’s office, we look at people that put service over self every day to find the next discoveries and, most importantly, take what we can learn from a tragedy and prevent that from reoccurring.

The purpose of legislation being introduced in the fall, or in the spring, or however the government has an opportunity to do it, is to send a message to Ontarians that they don’t walk alone, that there’s somebody with them every day: the brave men and women, yes, but also the government, also the Parliament of Ontario, because we all have an equal right to vote and support public safety legislation.

For me, as I mark—as many of us will do from the class of 2022 on all sides, just in a few days. These four years here have been remarkable, to say the least. I’ve listened, and at the end of the day, I realize the role that we have on all sides is not to say what people need to hear from us; it is to make sure that our commitment and that our love and our respect for the province and being elected here is transmitted in everything we do and everything we say.

It has been a privilege beyond a lifetime, and I know my colleagues feel the same way. And I hope that we will continue, both as a government and as a Parliament, to all say that there’s nothing more important, sincere or valued than protecting our province and its future. Thank you, merci beaucoup, and meegwetch.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): The minister let us know he’s sharing his time. I recognize the Associate Solicitor General for Auto Theft and Bail Reform.

Hon. Zee Hamid: In addition to the member from Perth–Wellington, I will also be sharing my time with the member from Whitby.

I’m pleased to rise for the second reading of Bill 119, the Ontario government’s proposed Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act, which we introduced in the House earlier this week.

Speaker, our government has a comprehensive strategy to safeguard our province and continue in our ongoing commitment to protect Ontario. We’re protecting Ontario jobs and industry through smart investments and by taking steps to boost trade and unleash our economy.

We’re protecting Ontario families through strategic investments in health care, infrastructure, education and social services. And we’re protecting Ontario families and communities by enhancing the justice and public safety systems which exist to serve them.

That’s why we’re making historic investments in front-line policing to make sure officers who protect us have the resources and tools they need to do their jobs effectively, and overhauling the adult correctional system by modernizing and expanding infrastructure, hiring more correctional staff—including mental health professionals and nurses—and enhancing safety in our institutions.

Along with these investments, we’ve advanced bold legislation in the name of justice and public safety. Bill 119 builds on the work our government has done to ensure we have a legislative framework that supports and advances our public safety priorities.

We started in 2023 with the Strengthening Safety and Modernizing Justice Act, which advances the career of policing, strengthens protection for animals and increases access to courts by reducing backlogs.

Early in 2024, the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act received royal assent. Changes in the act were designed to help protect children, support families and people struggling with addiction by restricting supervised consumption sites, and address road safety issues caused by careless commercial motor vehicle drivers. That was one of the first acts that I had the privilege of voting for when I came in through a by-election that year.

Later that year, the House passed the Enhancing Access to Justice Act, which took a number of steps to advance the province’s public safety and justice systems.

The Protect Ontario Through Safer Streets and Stronger Communities Act passed last year is another clear example and demonstration of our commitment to public safety. This act addresses critical issues like intimate partner violence and human trafficking, while streamlining the justice appointment process, giving police additional tools to combat auto theft and other serious offences.

Speaker, I know that Milton families in my riding are hard-working families, and families across Ontario expect that when bail conditions are imposed in the administration of justice, they are followed and abided by, and when they are not, there are real and meaningful consequences. As Associate Solicitor General for Auto Theft and Bail Reform, I’m particularly proud of measures in the legislation that strengthen the bail system by making sureties more accountable for bail breaches.

We backed the Protect Ontario Through Safer Streets and Stronger Communities Act with meaningful action, including a $91-million investment in the Community Safety and Policing Grant program. This innovative and effective program funded 127 community-based policing service projects, addressing issues like gang violence, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, hate-motivated crime and retail theft.

Last week, I was with Peel police doing an announcement where we announced a bust of a retail theft ring that was funded through this grant program. Later today, I’ll be with Barrie police doing another announcement that is also funded through grant programs like these. So these programs are making a meaningful impact in public safety.

And last year, Speaker, we took another bold step to safeguard our province and protect drivers on the road, families in their communities, front-line heroes on the job and victims from the lasting impact of crime. Bill 75, the Keeping Criminals Behind Bars Act, built on our public safety and justice legacy by proposing changes that would crack down on dangerous driving, strengthen bail compliance by making sure offenders and sureties are held accountable for bail breaches, provide public safety personnel and their families additional tools and supports, and enhance support for victims of crime.

Which brings me to our latest set of actions: Bill 119, the Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act. This bill is the foundation of a comprehensive public safety and justice package that has three clear objectives: make sure our communities are safer, give police and public safety personnel stronger enforcement tools, and enhance protections for victims of crime and other vulnerable Ontarians.

Speaker, I would like to take some time now to explore each of these three objectives in more detail.

The first objective is to make our communities safer. We promised an Ontario where everyone can feel safe and secure on the streets, in their homes and across their communities. Bill 119 includes amendments to support this commitment. We’re looking to amend the Community Safety and Policing Act in ways that will strengthen the governance and transparency of municipal police service boards.

These changes include limiting the ability of police services, or police service boards, to hire current or former board members; establishing rules of attendance in closed board meetings; and enabling the Solicitor General to set policing priorities for police service boards.

We’re also proposing changes that would streamline the Inspector General of Policing’s operations. In addition to these strong governance measures, we’re proposing amendments to modernize the Private Security and Investigative Services Act. Over the past decade, the private security sector has grown steadily. Today, more than 136,000 private security professionals are licensed in Ontario. That’s more than all our police officers serving our communities combined.

As a government, we have a responsibility to ensure these people are doing their jobs safely, responsibly and in alignment with provincial priorities. Our government’s proposed changes would enhance training resources for private security personnel and ensure the sector has effective public complaints processes in place to ensure that concerns are heard and acted upon.

Meanwhile, we’re asking the House to consider steps aimed at improving the overall efficiency of the justice system. The Attorney General is proposing changes to the Provincial Offences Act that would enable parties to reach plea deals and plea agreements for specific provincial offences outside the courtroom. This is a practical and common-sense change that would help reduce a lot of court delays, actually.

Beyond legislation, we’re advancing policy initiatives that reflect the complexity and changing dynamic of today’s public safety landscape. For example, the RCMP recently restricted the use of Chinese-made drones after determining they posed risks in specific policing and national security situations.

The Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement, under the direction of the member from Oakville, is taking a close look at the issue. With the best interests of Ontario in mind, we want to ensure that drones used to support provincial police work are secure, safe and reliable. And to keep up with the evolving and interconnected nature of crime, we’re also developing a provincial strategy to combat money laundering, while looking at ways to improve oversight in areas like forensic care.

The next objective of this public safety and justice package is aimed at improving enforcement tools. We want to seal any holes in the net and make sure that legislation is not only intelligently considered but is effective and enforceable. As such, illegal and open drug use is an area of special concern.

Speaker, people are just fed up with illegal drug use in public spaces. Public transit is a case in point. Millions of Ontarians rely on public transit, and they want to feel safe while they’re using public transit. They don’t want their health compromised by exposure to toxic substances. They don’t want to witness criminal behaviour. My daughter was 15 years old when she started taking transit to go to school. I do not want kids in her age group, or anyone, for that matter, relying on public transit to be exposed to drug use.

It shouldn’t even be a question that Ontarians deserve the right to be safe. It shouldn’t be a question that they deserve the right to travel in dignity. In my riding of Milton, I hear from my constituents all the time that our transit system needs to be more than just on time. It needs to be more than just modern. It needs to be more than just clean. It also needs to be safe.

The TTC has reported a significant uptick in security incidents since the pandemic, with many incidents involving intoxication and drug use. To tackle this, our government has made a regulation under the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act. With this new regulation, transit special constables will have greater authority to prevent illegal drug use on transit property. They can now confiscate illegal substances. They can direct drug users to leave a public space, and when there’s a refusal to comply with lawful orders, constables have the authority to lay provincial charges.

Our government is also examining actions that will address meth labs and other facilities used in the production of illegal drugs. By bringing into force the Measures Respecting Premises with Illegal Drug Activity Act, it will be illegal for commercial landlords to knowingly permit illegal drug production on their property.

Our government is also looking at ways to assist our brave men and women in uniform to keep drugs out of our communities, including introducing legislation that will make it an offence to unlawfully possess precursor chemicals for the purpose of making illegal drugs and pill presses or other devices used in the production of illegal drugs.

Beyond this, we are also addressing concerns in the towing industry. My colleague the Minister of Transportation will talk about this in more detail, but for now, here’s a short

summary, Speaker: Bill 119 includes amendments to the Towing and Storage Safety and Enforcement Act to reduce dangerous driving by tow truck operators and ensure the industry is more effectively regulated. If passed, these measures will make it easier for authorities to penalize tow truck companies that skirt the rules.

What’s more, the minister from Elgin–Middlesex–London and his incredible team at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing are moving forward with changes to the Planning Act to allow municipalities to issue administrative monetary penalties, or AMPs, for specific types of unauthorized illegal land use. This would help municipalities punish unauthorized commercial operations such as illegal parking lots and storage yards.

It’s an issue that impacts a lot of communities along the 401, including my own riding of Milton. I served 12 years as a municipal councillor, Speaker, and a large number of issues from the rural residents of Milton involve illegal truck parking, because this is not just illegal truck parking in inappropriate locations; they’re also doing servicing, they’re generating noise and pollution, they’re doing oil changes and all sorts of things that should not be permitted in inappropriate areas. So in order to tackle that, municipalities have asked us for new tools, and we’re doing just that.

At the same time, the Attorney General is moving amendments to simplify enforcement of restraining orders made in other Canadian jurisdictions.

The third aim of our package centres on granting more robust protection for victims of crime and other vulnerable Ontarians. By now, everyone in this House understands why it’s critical that Ontarians have the information they need to safeguard against high-risk offenders, including sex offenders. We cannot have a system that places this information behind a bureaucratic firewall.

Therefore, we’re bringing forward changes to the Community Safety and Policing Act authorizing the Ontario Provincial Police, the OPP, to maintain a public website that provides updates about high-risk offenders who are subject to a community notification by a chief of police. Bill 119 also includes changes to Christopher’s Law that would better align the reporting requirements for the Ontario sex offender and trafficker registry with those of the National Sex Offender Registry.

Another proposed change deals with an inefficiency in the current police criminal check system. Police services across Ontario process over a million police record checks every year, 70% of which are vulnerable sector checks. These are more detailed checks conducted for people working and volunteering with children, seniors and people with disabilities. These are detailed and time-consuming and often require extensive data analysis, stricter identity verification and manual review by police. Right now, federal rules limit vulnerable sector checks to the police service where an applicant resides or another authorized body.

If passed, Bill 119 would amend the Police Record Checks Reform Act to allow police services to process vulnerable sector checks for people living outside the jurisdiction. That will allow us to load balance and direct things where there’s more capacity. It would eliminate pressure on local police and make vulnerable sector record checks significantly faster.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s ministry is suggesting changes to the Victims’ Bill of Rights that would create a new statutory tort of harassment. Currently, this behaviour is usually addressed in the Criminal Code. Bill 119 would give victims the right to sue their harassers in civil court even if there is no criminal conviction in place.

Our government is also examining methods to support the rules set out in the Protection from Coerced Debts Incurred in relation to Human Trafficking Act. All these underscore our government’s commitment to public safety and protecting victims and standing with victims. Under the proposed amendments, victims of human trafficking will no longer have to pay off debt they were forced to take on by their exploiters.

We’ve also made regulations that prohibit the medically unnecessary and cruel declawing of cats, as well as outdated devocalization or ear cropping of dogs. I’ve had cats my whole life, and one of the cats we had rescued was declawed. I did not realize at the time—we didn’t go through the process; we rescued the cat—that declawing the cat involves cutting off their toes, not just taking off the nails. So it’s a process that a lot of well-meaning cat owners and pet owners have gone through, thinking they were doing the right thing, but it’s medically unnecessary and it could be quite painful for the animal. It is about the time that these medically unnecessary processes are stopped.

The measures outlined today mark a major step forward for public safety and justice. They’re rooted in experience, informed by evidence, and focused on measurable outcomes. Bill 119 builds on our record of bringing forth legislation that makes life better for people in this province, that makes our streets safer, that makes our communities safer and makes our families safer.

Our government is responding to these challenges and working to protect the province as we position Ontario to adapt to the challenges of the future and take advantage of the opportunities to come.

The proposed Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act also builds on our commitment to safer communities and a stronger justice system. I’ve heard time and time again, Speaker, as I’m sure you have, and I would imagine every member of this House has, that the public expects our streets to be safe, their families to be secure, and that when something happens, they expect justice to be served. And that is what this bill is doing.

I’ll now share my time with the member from Perth–Wellington.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): I recognize the member for Perth–Wellington.

Interjections.

Mr. Matthew Rae: Thank you, colleagues. It’s great to be able to rise this morning to speak to a very important piece of legislation: Bill 119, Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act, 2026. This legislation reflects our government’s work and unwavering commitment, as the Solicitor General and the associate minister mentioned in their remarks this morning, to protect the people of this great province, support victims, and strengthen public safety in communities across Ontario.

In reviewing this piece of legislation when it was tabled—there are five overall themes throughout this bill, whether it’s safer communities, stronger enforcement, protecting victims and the vulnerable, strengthening private and intercountry adoptions, and, finally, improving safety and the supports, as well, under the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. This is the latest step in our government’s efforts to crack down on illegal activity wherever it may be occurring, protect victims of crime, and strengthen public safety across this province.

In my remarks this morning, I will, obviously, as the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, speak to our proposed amendments to the AMP program—administrative monetary policy. We’re going to talk about fines this morning, colleagues, at the municipal level. Hopefully you’ll all stay with me, and awake. It was a very important piece of legislation—this component—and as parliamentary assistant, I was actually working, under the former Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Minister Calandra, on this through committee.

So there has already been some committee work, colleagues, on this piece of legislation, specifically related to this illegal truck bylaw and the challenges around enforcement and compliance.

If passed, this piece of legislation would take meaningful action to protect transit users by expanding authority for special constables to address illegal drug use on transit systems—an issue of grave concern for municipal leaders with large and small transit services, and transit riders across our great province.

It would support survivors of human trafficking by providing up to $50,000 in debt relief for those who are forced or coerced into debt by these human traffickers. It would also protect victims by allowing restraining orders issued in other provinces to be enforced in Ontario without additional court declarations or the need to obtain them from our law enforcement.

It would also improve transparency and public safety by allowing the Ontario Provincial Police to publish information about high-risk offenders on provincial public websites.

It would reduce wait times for police record checks for people working and volunteering with vulnerable populations and doing that important work.

It would also strengthen oversight and accountability in the towing and private security industries.

And it would help protect sensitive provincial information by restricting the use of Chinese-made drones across government operations.

Speaker, these measures build on important work our government has already advanced through the Protect Ontario Through Safer Streets and Stronger Communities Act and Keeping Criminals Behind Bars Act.

But Speaker, today, I want to focus, as I mentioned, specifically on one part of this legislation that speaks directly to the concerns we are hearing from our municipal partners, residents, farmers and rural communities across Ontario. We’ve been asked by municipal leaders at ROMA, AMO and at other municipal conferences and meetings—and we’re delivering on our commitment to crack down on illegal truck yards and illegal land use practices through the stronger enforcement tools being proposed in this piece of legislation under the Planning Act.

The reality is, Speaker, illegal truck yards have become a growing problem for a number of Ontario communities, particularly in our fastest-growing rural and suburban municipalities in the greater Golden Horseshoe. Residents have raised serious concerns about trucks and the trailers being parked and stored on agricultural, rural and residential lands that were never intended to be zoned for those purposes.

These are not minor concerns. Illegal truck yards can create serious safety hazards. They can damage local roads that were never designed for heavy-duty commercial truck traffic. They create excessive noise, light, odour, drainage problems and environmental concerns for the surrounding residents and farm families. They threaten the integrity of farmland, which is something very important to this government, and undermine proper land use planning.

In communities like Caledon, Halton Hills, Vaughan and other communities in York region, local leaders have been sounding the alarm for years. Residents have watched as agricultural properties and rural lands were transformed into illegal truck depots operating outside of municipally zoned rules and other bylaws. Municipal bylaw officers have faced lengthy investigations, costly court proceedings and limited enforcement tools that often fail to stop repeat offenders quickly enough.

We’re listening to local leadership to make changes to the Planning Act that will help municipalities address illegal land use within their jurisdictions. The proposed changes respond directly to calls from municipal leaders, such as Mayor Annette Groves from Caledon, and councils across Ontario that have asked for stronger enforcement tools to deal with illegal truck depots operating on lands not zoned for these purposes.

Speaker, what municipalities have told us is clear: The current system is simply too slow. Right now, municipalities can prosecute offenders who violate zoning bylaws, but those prosecutions often require significant staff time, which then leads to significant legal costs; obviously, time for investigations; and ultimately, years of court proceedings before any meaningful outcome is reached. In some cases, by the time enforcement is completed, the damage to communities is unfortunately already done.

The town of Caledon has investigated more than 100 files related to suspected illegal land use and trucking operations since 2024, colleagues. In Halton Hills, there have been more than 50 illegal truck depots and over 40 active investigations in 2025. The largest successful prosecution resulted in a fine of $115,000, an amount that still did not cover the municipality’s prosecution and enforcement costs.

This is not sustainable. Municipalities need practical tools that allow them to respond more quickly, more efficiently and more effectively when illegal land use does occur.

That’s exactly what this piece of legislation would provide. If passed, Bill 119 would enable municipalities to impose administrative monetary penalties, commonly known as AMPs, in relation to illegal land uses, including illegal truck depots—

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): I apologize to the member. Sorry to interrupt the member. Seeing the time on the clock, it is now time for members’ statements.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

Members’ Statements

Public transit

Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is making historic investments in infrastructure and public transit: nearly $70 billion province-wide to build a stronger, more resilient and self-reliant Ontario. Through programs like the gas tax, Connecting Links, and the Ontario Transit Investment Fund, we are providing Durham municipalities with the stable, predictable funding they need to plan for the future.

Harmony House

MPP Catherine McKenney: I recently had the privilege of visiting Harmony House, a second-stage shelter in Ottawa that provides refuge to women and their children who are fleeing domestic violence. What I saw moved me deeply. I watched children playing in the shadow of a building, tucking themselves out of the sun and making the most out of a small patch of shade. These are children who have already survived so much. They are resilient and joyful and full of life, and they deserve so much more.

Harmony House does vital work. Second-stage shelters are a lifeline. They provide the time and stability that women and children need to begin to heal, to plan and to imagine a future.

But that future is being blocked. Right now, there is nowhere affordable to go. Without deeply affordable housing, women cannot move on. They stay longer in second-stage shelters, and other women in crisis shelters have nowhere to move to. The whole system seizes up, not because of a failure of courage or effort, but because this government has failed to build the homes these families need.

Speaker, the children I saw playing in that shadow deserve a home of their own, a permanent, safe, affordable place to grow up and thrive. Every day this government delays the needed investment in deeply affordable housing is another day those children wait.

MPP Stephanie Smyth: National AccessAbility Week is a time to celebrate the incredible people, advocates, caregivers and community leaders who continue to push Ontario forward every single day.

Phở 90

MPP Mohamed Firin: I rise today to recognize and congratulate Phở 90 in York South–Weston on receiving the Toronto Star Readers’ Choice for best Asian restaurant. This recognition is a significant achievement and reflects years of hard work, dedication and commitment to excellence by co-owners Sang Nguyen and Hung Ton, as well as their entire team.

Their story is one that reflects the opportunity and the promise Ontario offers to those willing to work hard and contribute to their communities. Arriving in Canada in the 1980s, Sang Nguyen and Hung Ton brought with them generations of family traditions and authentic Vietnamese recipes that have now become part of the rich culinary fabric of York South–Weston.

Over the past seven years, Phở 90 has been more than just a restaurant. It has become a welcoming gathering place for residents and families across York South–Weston, known for its hospitality and quality service. The restaurant’s distinct recipes, inspired by four generations of culinary traditions from Saigon, have helped Phở 90 stand out within Ontario’s vibrant food industry and earn numerous awards over the years.

During Asian Heritage Month, it is important to recognize businesses like Phở 90 that preserve the culture and traditions while also contributing to our local economy, creating jobs and strengthening our communities.

I would like to recognize co-owner Hung Ton, who’s here today. He’s a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for his service and contributions to the community.

I ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating Sang Nguyen, Hung Ton and the entire Phở 90 team on this well-deserved recognition, and I wish them continued success for the next generation.

Good Neighbour Awards

Ms. Chandra Pasma: I want to say a huge congratulations and thank you to Ottawa West–Nepean residents who are receiving a Good Neighbour Award. These awards celebrate the people in our community who brighten and sustain the lives of their neighbours every day in ways big and small.

They are all nominated by members of our community. They are volunteers for community organizations, churches and community associations. They help welcome newcomers, ensure everyone in our community has access to food, clothing, books and bicycles. They welcome newcomers, support seniors and youth and deliver meals and cookies to neighbours. They organize celebrations and social events. They clear snow and promote cleaner, greener neighbourhoods. They solve problems and advocate for important causes.

Congratulations to Alicia Cuzner, April MacDonald, Dennis Bronson, Fatou Camara, Grant Gilliland, Harry Fischer, Janet Decoste, Jeannine Jennings, Judy Madhosingh, Larissa Law, Laurie McKnight, Michael Sims, Norma Lamont, Paul Dietz, Randy Taylor, Rick Sellick, Salim Jam, Sharon and Kirk Reid, Sharon Roy, Steve Wilson, Theresa Ramsay, Tyler Hull and William Myles.

In a time when there’s so much in the world that can make us feel anxious, concerned or disconnected, you remind us that we are always surrounded by goodness and there is always someone to lend a helping hand.

Thank you so much to each one of you for being a good neighbour.

Jerisha Grant-Hall

M me Dawn Gallagher Murphy: I would like to recognize an outstanding community leader in Newmarket–Aurora, Jerisha Grant-Hall, who has recently been named one of the 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women, a national recognition celebrating the achievements and contributions of Black women across this great country.

Jerisha is the founder and executive director of the Newmarket African Caribbean Canadian Association, known as NACCA, which was founded in 2018. NACCA has become an important centre of support and empowerment for Black youth and families, not just in Newmarket but across York region. NACCA has launched initiatives that uplift youth, provide scholarships for Black students, expand access to culturally responsive mental health services, as well as advancing food security and community well-being.

Jerisha’s work reflects a deep commitment to service, community care and the principle that when we invest in the success of our young people and families, we strengthen the future of our province. I am honoured to have known Jerisha for more than seven years and have closely watched and supported her work. She’s a wonderful mother, wife, community leader and a true visionary.

Please, everyone, join me in congratulating and recognizing Jerisha Grant-Hall.

Howard Moscoe

Mr. Tom Rakocevic: It is my honour to rise today and remember the late city councillor, TTC chair and Toronto municipal icon, Howard Moscoe. He was a dear friend and mentor to me.

Speaker, Howard’s childhood trips to Queen’s Park helped spur his interest in politics. He was a proud, lifelong New Democrat. He was brilliant. He understood the rules better than the people who wrote them, and he knew how to use those very rules, often against their own makers, to protect the public and fight for what’s right.

In true Howard fashion, he did so with principled mischief, cutting wit and an over-the-top antic to prove a point that always got the cameras rolling. He hated injustice and corruption, and he fought them fearlessly at every turn. He leaves behind a legacy of social justice and fairness that shaped our city and province in far more ways than we will ever know.

You can learn all about this larger-than-life political maverick in his autobiography, Call Me Pisher: A Madcap Romp Through City Hall. In it, he even wrote his own eulogy: “Instead of having some rabbi misrepresent me at my funeral, I’ve decided to do that myself.” I promise you, it’s an absolute page-turner.

Howard is an inspiration and proof that politics can be principled. He was the true political embodiment of David versus Goliath in his 32 unforgettable years at Toronto city hall. May he rest in power.

Toronto Paramedic Services

Mr. David Smith: I rise today to highlight the continued progress of Toronto Paramedic Services’ multi-function station currently under construction in my riding of Scarborough Centre.

I recently had an opportunity to visit this new facility spanning 90,000 square feet. This modern space will house up to 40 ambulances and 16 emergency response vehicles, bringing together logistics, equipment, fleet services, administration, education and development units. The facility will support a transition to electric and hybrid vehicles for non-emergency operations and will include features such as solar panels and anti-idle technology in ambulances to help reduce emissions and support a clean future.

I would like to thank the members of paramedic services unit TCEU Local 416; Atif Sharif, the commander, policy, projects and process improvement; and Bikram Chawla, chief, paramedic services, for their leadership and dedication to this important project.

École élémentaire catholique des Deux-Rivières

MPP Billy Denault: I rise today to share in this House a substantial investment our government has provided to a community in my riding.

In Arnprior, the community is receiving $13.6 million to expand education, specifically for—and pardon my French—L’école élémentaire catholique des Deux-Rivières. This school will be converted into a JK-to-grade-12 school by delivering 184 new secondary student spaces for local francophone communities through le Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est.

Speaker, as I said at this announcement, this investment will create opportunities for students to thrive in our community well into the future. For years, francophone families in Arnprior have had to send their children elsewhere for secondary schooling. Now students will be able to complete their entire French Catholic education right here in their own backyard.

It was great to tour the school following the announcement, to see all the big smiles and happy faces on the news. I can say it wasn’t just the kids that were ecstatic.

I want to thank the Minister of Education for his tremendous work, and I also look forward to visiting the school once again when the expansion is completed.

I also want to give a shout-out to all who played a role: the parents, teachers, trustee Daniel Levasseur, the board and, of course, representatives of the town of Arnprior. And a special shout-out to Liane Gallant, a parent in my riding, for their advocacy on this file. They all played a role in it, and it’s great news for the community.

Introduction of Visitors

MPP Mohamed Firin: I would like to welcome Hung Ton from my riding of York South–Weston.

M me France Gélinas: It is a great pleasure of mine to introduce a member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan representing the riding of Regina Walsh Acres, Mr. Jared Clarke. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo: I’d like to welcome this morning to the House two incredible women: the first, Filomena Lofranco, the CEO of LDV & Co. and a creator of many successful cultural and business events and exchanges between Canada and Italy; and Mercedes Tibollo, a poet, a bioethicist and, most importantly, my daughter. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

MPP Alexa Gilmour: Today, I want to welcome members of the OFL, members of the Period Purse, who have come in to be with us for the tabling of the Menstrual Health Day Act, which will happen today at 1 o’clock. Thank you, and welcome to your House.

MPP Andrea Hazell: I would like to warmly welcome students from the University of Toronto Scarborough campus, Scarborough Hub for Innovation in Public Policy. Please join me in welcoming them to the Legislative Assembly.

Welcome to your House.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I want to welcome Anthony Carella from the city of Vaughan. Anthony just completed the World’s Toughest Row, crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 35 days—top five in the world. We welcome this young man inspiring our youth.

Thank you for your leadership for the people of Ontario.

Hon. Rob Flack: I’d like to welcome the Ontario Professional Planners Institute. I’d like to recognize Andria Leigh, chair; Beverley Hillier, chair-elect; Susan Wiggins, executive director, and all members of the OPPI. Have a great advocacy day. We’ll see you at lunch.

Hon. Stephen Crawford: From my community of Oakville, I have Mr. Raymond Pace and Cindy Lowes. Welcome to Queens Park.

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: Madam Speaker, although he just recently had to leave for a meeting, I was pleased to welcome to the Ontario Legislature the Minister of Justice from the province of Alberta, the Honourable Mickey Amery.

Ms. Aislinn Clancy: I’d like to introduce my son, James Fobel; co-op student Kaeden; our friend George; and the one and only Sally Palmer, who has been advocating for doubling OW and ODSP for years.

Thank you for all you do.

MPP Lise Vaugeois: I would like to welcome Maria Sardelis, Tina Economopoulos, Joy Seguin, Vic Seguin, Kathy Jolicoeur and Shelley Thorpe, who are here today in support of my bill, Andre’s bill of rights. Welcome to your House. Thank you so much for coming.

Hon. Sam Oosterhoff: I’d like to welcome the new director of government and stakeholder relations for the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies of Ontario, Kelly Harris. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Laura Smith: I would like to introduce and welcome great Thornhill residents Howard Katz and Linda Saiet.

Mr. Andrew Dowie: I want to welcome the family of page Mason Grisch, including his father, Michael Grisch; as well as Emmanuelle Richez and Vincent Georgie, who are here to receive the Ordre de la Pléiade today. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Deepak Anand: I’d like to welcome my favourite niece, Nikita Thakkar, co-chair of the Period Purse, Canada’s first registered charity dedicated to menstrual equity. Welcome.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: I want to welcome students from KMSchool, who are here visiting from Brampton. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Catherine Fife: My sister is watching. I’m marrying her and Kate Bell this weekend in a hot-air balloon. So I really hope to be here on Monday.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): This from a woman who is afraid of heights. And she’s going to be in a hot-air balloon for five hours?

Ms. Catherine Fife: Three hours.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Three hours—think about it.

We look forward to seeing you again on Monday.

Question Period

Transportation infrastructure

Ms. Marit Stiles: This question is for the Premier.

This Premier is throwing taxpayers to the wolves. And he’s howling about it.

Yesterday, he chose to keep the tax on groceries.

Today, he’s choosing to leave taxpayers with a $5-billion bill to land luxury jets on Toronto’s waterfront.

Premier, nobody wants this, especially the people who live in Toronto.

Why is this Premier taking $5 billion from the taxpayers’ pockets instead of making life more affordable for people?

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

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: As we have made clear, there are no taxpayer dollars going towards this project.

The port authority will continue and move forward with this modernization project because it makes sense for this province at a time when political leaders across this country are talking about nation-building projects, when they are talking about making Ontario more competitive, Toronto more competitive.

Of course, you can count on the Leader of the Opposition to oppose progress and development in this province. There’s not a single project—whether it’s the Ontario Line, whether it’s the Scarborough subway extension, whether it’s Billy Bishop airport or building the roads to the Ring of Fire, that member has opposed every single one of those investments.

We are going to continue to build Ontario and develop Billy Bishop into a world-class airport.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the Leader of the Opposition.

Ms. Marit Stiles: Oh, man: $5 billion. That is $900 out of the pocket of every single household in Ontario. Imagine that.

But does the Premier care? Apparently not. He proved that when he spent $30 million on a luxury private jet. Now, he wants private jets landing on the Toronto waterfront, and he is willing to spend $5 billion of your hard-earned money to make it happen.

When is this Premier going to start putting money back in people’s pockets instead of spending it on his lavish vanity projects?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Madam Speaker, let me repeat one more time: Not a single dollar from that $5 billion will be from the taxpayer or from Ontario taxpayers. But you know what? The truth is not something that that member, the Leader of the Opposition, wants to hear.

What we want to do is we want to build for the future. We want to build Billy Bishop. It’s going to support over 23,000 construction jobs. It currently moves over two million passengers a year and supports 20 different cities. We want to connect more people to northern remote communities, which Billy Bishop will help let us do.

We have got a vision for this province, and that vision is to build the transportation infrastructure that we need to make Ontario more competitive, especially when we face threats south of the border with tariffs. Ontario has to be more competitive, self-reliant. That’s exactly what we are building towards with historic investments into Billy Bishop and across this province.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the Leader of the Opposition.

Ms. Marit Stiles: Well, Speaker, we’ve heard this story a few times before, haven’t we? And instead of investing in the things that could make a difference in people’s lives, like health care or schools or housing or—my goodness—northern highways that are safe, this Premier is spending billions on luxury jets, filling in a lake so he can land right there in downtown Toronto. He is spending your money on a project that nobody asked for.

We could be opening hospital beds. We could be building housing. We could be hiring teachers, for goodness’ sake. But no, the Premier wants to land more fancy jets for his buddies.

When will the Premier start respecting the taxpayers’ dollar?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Once again, Madam Speaker, not a single one of those dollars will be funded through the taxpayer. It’s a private sector investment—the private sector—because it makes sense: Toronto is a world-class city. When you look at other cities across the world, whether it’s New York, whether it’s Houston, whether it’s London, they all have two airports because it makes them that more competitive. It allows more tourism, more business to be attracted into the city.

But let’s look at the record of the official opposition on projects in Ontario: The Ontario Line, a public transit project that is going to move 400,000 people, is going to support the people in the Leader of the Opposition’s riding. She opposes those investments. In fact, the NDP were holding funerals for trees to stop the Ontario Line project. That is unacceptable.

That is why we were elected on a mandate to build Ontario—transit, highways. Supporting the modernization of Billy Bishop is going to create thousands and thousands of jobs in this province, and that is exactly what we are going to continue to move—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Question?

The Leader of the Opposition.

Transportation infrastructure

Ms. Marit Stiles: Speaker, nobody out there believes this government anymore. I have been out on the doors in Scarborough this week, and I want to tell the Premier what people there are talking about and what real working people are concerned about right now, because he doesn’t seem to get it.

They have told me about their concerns about wait times in emergency rooms. They’ve been talking about finding a family doctor and how difficult that continues to be, the need to hire more health care workers, transit that would actually get people to work and family on time.

What they are not worried about, Speaker, is whether the Premier can land luxury jets on Toronto’s waterfront—not on the radar at all. So how can this Premier be so out of touch with everyday families?

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

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Madam Speaker, we have spent a lot of time in Scarborough, and guess what? That Leader of the Opposition lost her own deputy leader from Scarborough because she has ignored the residents of Scarborough.

Do you know why? Because we came forward with a historic investment for the people of Scarborough in the Scarborough subway extension, a project that will move 100,000 people every single day. That Leader of the Opposition forced her deputy leader to vote against that project every single time, even though the people of Scarborough were denied access to rapid transit for 15 years under the previous Liberal government. They were ignored, Madam Speaker.

Whether it’s hospitals or transit, this government is delivering for the people of Scarborough, and that is what we’re going to continue to do. We’re making historic paces on the development of the Scarborough subway extension. The stations are moving forward in construction right now. We’ve got the tunnel boring machine—over 50% complete on that Scarborough subway extension because we are committed to the people of Scarborough, and we are going to build for Scarborough.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Leader of the Opposition.

Ms. Marit Stiles: Well, Speaker, I’m going to go back to the Premier again, but my goodness, this subway extension, if it ever happens—it’s been delayed again. The people of Scarborough aren’t going to see that now until the 2030s. Give me a break.

Once again, we have a Premier who is just looking out for the wealthy: his wealthy friends who want to land their luxury jets at the Toronto waterfront. That’s what this is all about. Maybe he’s hoping to get a ride on one since he had to return his—maybe.

He seems to be more worried about his frequent flyer miles than he is about helping parents who are looking for more support for their kids in classrooms, Speaker.

So back to the Premier: Can the Premier explain why landing jets downtown is more important than the needs of the people of Ontario?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Madam Speaker, we have an ambitious capital plan to build across this province. In fact, since 2018, we’ve invested over $9 billion into the city of Toronto to ensure it becomes a world-class city.

Billy Bishop is a key cornerstone to that progress. It’s not just an important asset for the city of Toronto and the province of Ontario; it’s for the entire country. When we look across this country, when we look at other countries, they’re trying to build a more competitive, more self-reliant economy. That is exactly what the Premier and our government have been focused on since the tariffs south of the border.

Here’s a project: Billy Bishop, right now, supports over 4,900 direct jobs in this city, Madam Speaker. We’re going to continue to build that asset so it can support not only 23,000 construction jobs that will occur because of the modernization and redevelopment, but because of the expansion of this project. These are common-sense projects that we need to move to continue to build Ontario, build this province—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Leader of the Opposition.

Ms. Marit Stiles: I’ll tell you one thing the people of Ontario know: It’s that this government never spends $5 billion on anything that doesn’t directly benefit their friends, their family. The wealthiest Ontarians get anything they want, right? They get a luxury airport in downtown Toronto that nobody else needs or asked for.

Five billion dollars may not seem like a lot to this government, but for most people, it’s unimaginable. It’s unimaginable. People want hospitals. They want hospitals. They want smaller class sizes for their kids, right? It is a choice that this government is making, and it makes no sense. Five billion dollars could build 14,000 affordable homes for people in this province, but, instead, you’re choosing to build a runway on a lake in downtown Toronto.

I want to ask the Premier one more time to stand up and explain to us why this government is so obsessed with jets landing on Lake Ontario that they aren’t building housing in the province—

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Madam Speaker, not a single one of those $5 billion is going to be spent by the taxpayer. The Leader of the Opposition knows that. We’ve been very clear on that.

But guess what, Madam Speaker? The Leader of the Opposition has to appease a very small special interest group that she has to pander to. You know why? They are the same ones that objected to the Ontario Place redevelopment. They are the same ones that objected to the Ontario Line development. They are the same ones that objected to the 413, the Bradford Bypass.

The Leader of the Opposition can’t stand up and say she supports a single one of these projects because she doesn’t believe in building Ontario. Some 400,000 people are going to move every single day on the Ontario Line, a public transit project that will support over 400,000 people moving across this city. Why would the Leader of the Opposition be opposed to that?

Here’s a project at Billy Bishop that is going to support over 10,000 direct jobs—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The Leader of the Opposition will come to order.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: —construction jobs. The Leader of the Opposition will be opposed to that, Madam Speaker.

The Highway 413: The member knows very well that they lost two of their own members—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the leader of the third party.

Government accountability

Mr. John Fraser: My question is for the Premier.

We have to get to the bottom of this air rights scandal. We need an answer as to why a company owned by Carmine Nigro, a close friend and associate of the Premier, got a multi-million-dollar settlement for air.

Engineers have asked, how does air have any value if you can’t build on top of it? Lawyers are saying this settlement is unprecedented.

Giving money to your friends when Ontarians are working hard and struggling just to get by—well, that’s an even worse look than the Premier’s luxury private jet.

Speaker, will the Premier disclose just how much money Carmine Nigro’s company got in this air rights scandal?

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

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: The leader of the third party knows that we have nothing to do with matters that involve expropriation. They are independent legal matters that are handled by an independent agency at Metrolinx.

Now, if the leader of the third party—when they were in government for 15 years—built anything, they would know how the expropriation process works, but they don’t because their record is building upside-down bridges. They’ve rejected building in this province, whether it was public transit, whether it was highways. They built nothing.

That is why we came into government with a mandate to build: the Highway 413, the Bradford Bypass, the largest expansion of public transit in this province’s and country’s history, Madam Speaker.

Last year alone, we reached a record: over 76 million people using transit on our lines. We’re going to continue to make sure we make those investments to deliver better and reliable service on our public transit.

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

Mr. John Fraser: So this minister is responsible for Metrolinx. He knows the number, but he’s not saying it, right? Why is it so hard to disclose, Minister?

Mr. Nigro sat at the table at a family wedding. He’s a fundraiser for the PC Party. He’s a serial appointee of the Premier. It seems that the Premier can help his friends every day, but to heck with everybody else.

Speaker, one more time: Will the minister just release the number? He knows what it is, and Ontarians deserve to know.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Once again, Madam Speaker, that member knows that we do not get involved in expropriation matters. They are legal and they are handled by Metrolinx—not the Premier, nor myself, nor anyone in this government.

But what I can tell you is we are singularly focused on building transit. For 15 years that member, when he was a part of the governing Liberal Party, did absolutely nothing to build public transit—absolutely nothing.

When you look at downtown Toronto, for the first time in over 60 years we have tunnel-boring machines underneath the downtown core building the Ontario Line. When you look at our GO lines, whether that’s the Lakeshore East line, the Lakeshore West line, we’re seeing record individuals using it because we have invested in the service enhancements needed to get more people onto public transit.

That is what we are singularly focused on as we continue our mandate to build the largest expansion of public transit in this province’s—

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

Mr. John Fraser: Speaker, this payout stinks like a rotting fish. We can smell it over here, but maybe when you sit in the stench too long, you don’t notice the smell anymore. But the smell is not going to go away, just like the Premier’s luxury private jet.

The Premier has no money for the two million people who don’t have a family doctor, no money to fix hallway health care, but the Premier’s close friend and associate gets millions of taxpayer dollars for something he couldn’t build on and never actually owned.

Speaker, back to the minister: Will he just simply do the right thing and release the number so Ontarians will know?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Once again, Madam Speaker, there is no involvement by the Premier or any member of this government in that process. What we are involved with is continuing to deliver on our historic mandate to build public transit.

Let’s look at the success we’ve had so far. The Finch West LRT, the Eglinton Crosstown: These are projects that are moving hundreds of thousands of people every single day, as we speak.

We’re in the final phases of getting the Northlander project operational, a project that the Liberals cancelled in 2012, robbing the people of northern Ontario of options for public transit. That is a shame, Madam Speaker. As a part of their budget, they made sure that the Northlander did not exist. This government made a commitment to bring it back, and that is exactly what we are doing because we believe in building this province in every corner of this province.

That is why we were elected on a historic mandate for the third time. The people of this province recognize the vision the Premier has to build Ontario, and that is exactly what we are—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Leader of the third party.

Government accountability

Mr. John Fraser: Back to the Premier: I’m just simply asking for the minister to release the number that he knows. He knows the number. Ontarians deserve to know.

After eight long years, reasonable people are saying, “Why am I struggling? Why am I working so hard? And why are the Premier’s friends doing so well?”

Carmine Nigro, a close personal friend of the Premier—chair of the LCBO, the Premier appointed him to it; chair of Ontario Place, the Premier appointed him as well; and on Invest Ontario, another Premier’s appointment; a fundraiser for the Premier; a fundraiser for the PC Party—gets money for something he never actually owned and can’t build on. Do you want to tell me that’s reasonable? Stand up and say that’s reasonable.

So it feels like a favour for a friend; that’s what it feels like. I think it’s reasonable for people to know how much this favour, or what looks like a favour, costs.

Speaker, it’s their money. Will the minister simply release the number that he knows?

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

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Madam Speaker, what’s unreasonable is the 15-year record of the previous Liberal government, where they bankrupted this province. Over 300,000 manufacturing jobs fled this province because of the disastrous policies that were put forth by that member and his government in the 15 years.

But we’re reversing that, Madam Speaker. We’re putting shovels in the ground, whether it’s the Scarborough subway extension, the Yonge North subway extension, whether it’s the Ontario Line or the Eglington West extension. These are projects that have shovels in the ground and those that we are working on to build because we believe in building in this province, unlike the previous Liberal government.

Let’s look at Scarborough, a place that was forgotten by the previous Liberal government for 15 years. We’ve got shovels in the ground on the Scarborough subway extension for the first time. They did all the talking. We’re doing the building, and that’s what we’re going to continue to move forward with and deliver real results for the people of this province.

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

Mr. John Fraser: Maybe everybody on that side is good with the Premier treating government like it’s his personal piggy bank to reward his friends, but we’re not good with it over here.

Mr. Nigro’s company sued the government for $500 million for something—I’m going to say this again—he couldn’t actually build on and never really owned. It’s literally air—air.

They offered him $78 million for the air. Now, that’s a whole other issue, why you wanted to give him $78 million. But you know the settlement has got to be more than that, right? Because you don’t settle for less.

So how is it that anybody over there can defend what has happened in this government, when you give a close friend and associate of the Premier millions of dollars for literally air? Will the minister just simply release the number that he knows?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Madam Speaker, that member knows, and I’ll repeat again, that we do not get involved in expropriation matters.

But what I can talk about is that for 15 years they built absolutely nothing in this province. Of course they don’t know how expropriations work because they built nothing in this province. Whether you look at highways, whether you look at transit, their record is absolutely right: upside down bridges. They left our infrastructure in disrepair. We’re fixing that. We’re getting people to where they need to go, quicker and faster. That is why we invested over $73 billion into the Gardiner Expressway to move it to 24-hour construction and to get it built almost 18 months ahead of schedule.

We’re going to continue to work with municipalities across this province to deliver on the roads, bridges, highways and public infrastructure that they deserve. It’s about moving people more efficiently and quickly. That’s exactly what we’re going to focus on, because that is what we were elected to do by the people of this province.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Leader of the third party.

Mr. John Fraser: I can’t believe that the minister doesn’t know the number. And if he doesn’t know the number, he shouldn’t be doing the job. Metrolinx is his responsibility. They want to hide everything: the greenbelt, skills development, the luxury private jet. No wonder the Premier doesn’t want to divulge his cellphone records, right?

After eight long years, people are tired. They’re working hard, and they see the Premier’s friend and close personal associate get rich, while they can’t afford groceries or gas or rent or kids’ clothes—millions of dollars for air.

I am going to ask for the last time: Will the minister just simply release the number that he knows? Release the number. Just release the number.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Once again, for the hundredth time, we don’t get involved in the expropriation process. It’s a legal matter, and Metrolinx is an independent agency that does them.

But what I will talk about is how many jobs we are supporting with our plan to build public transit. The Ontario Line: Over 4,700 jobs are supported by that project, which both the Liberals and NDP opposed. Let’s talk about the Scarborough subway extension: Over 3,000 good-paying jobs are supported by that project, and once again, opposed by the Liberals and NDP. Now let’s look at the Eglinton West and the Eglinton Crosstown, the extensions, the current transit line: Over 4,000 jobs were supported through the construction and the operation of that project.

Madam Speaker, we are investing in historic infrastructure in this province because it is good not only for today, not only for the next 10 years, but for generations to come. That is why we are also investing in a 401 tunnel to ensure that we can move people on one of the most congested expressways in all—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Question?

Hospital funding

MPP Robin Lennox: We’re nearing the end of this legislative session, and the Conservative government has chosen to prioritize a $5-billion expansion of Billy Bishop airport. Our constituents aren’t asking for an island runway to land their jets. They are asking for hospital beds, for family doctors and for care without delay. We haven’t seen a single bill this session focused on addressing hallway health care or ER wait times.

To the Premier, are you really going to let this session close without a plan to address the crisis in our hospitals?

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

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you for asking a question related to the health of the people of Ontario. Our investments as a government since Premier Ford has formed government have been literally historic, whether it is $60-billion-plus in hospital capital—I think it’s really important to remember that we have already opened an additional 3,500 net new beds in the province of Ontario and we are on track to open an additional 3,000 net new hospital beds.

We have invested in emergency care. We have invested in our clinicians. We know, as we train more physicians, more nurses, more physician assistants, nurse practitioners—and we are doing it all here—we have more opportunities for individuals to practise in the province of Ontario: 100,000 new nurses licensed to practise—

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

MPP Robin Lennox: We know that privatization and health care don’t mix. We have seen it in long-term care, with cataract surgery, and in home care. When we introduce profits into the equation, our patients always lose. The Ontario Health Coalition and others have been sounding the alarm because we have seen this before. This Conservative government likes to starve our public services to the point of dysfunction and then move towards privatization. We cannot accept that for our hospitals.

To the Premier, will you commit to a plan to actually fix our hospitals that will not involve privatizing them?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: I’m actually shocked that the member opposite would raise cataract surgery as an example. When we expanded cataract surgery in community in Ottawa, in Kitchener-Waterloo and in Windsor, we actually decreased surgery wait times. Why? Because we had existing community capacity, and we gave them OHIP-funded money to make sure that they could do that.

When I spoke to an individual, a woman from southwestern Ontario, she said, “Thank you. Thank you for expanding cataract surgery, because I’m reading to my grandchild again, I’m volunteering in my community again, I’m driving again,” because she had access to cataract surgery faster.

Eliminating those wait times and wait-lists means we have opportunities for people across Ontario.

Public transit

MPP Andrea Hazell: My question is to the Premier. The people of Scarborough were promised a subway extension, but what they got from this government was a lack of transparency and accountability.

Since the dangerous derailment of the Scarborough RT, 632,000 residents have been stranded with painful transit connectivity in Scarborough, all while being told the subway would be open in 2030. That was fiction. We now know the opening date is now 2033, a three-year delay, with a budget that doubled to over $10 billion, all hidden from the public. The people of Scarborough found this out not from this Premier but from an FOI request. This has all the warning signs of another Eglington Crosstown LRT disaster.

Through you, Speaker, my question to the Premier: When will you stop misleading the gracious people of Scarborough and finally take accountability?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Withdraw.

MPP Andrea Hazell: Withdraw.

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

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Once again, when it comes to Scarborough, for 15 years, that previous Liberal government didn’t deliver a single transit line for the people of Scarborough. They ignored the hard-working people of Scarborough. What have we done? We’ve got shovels in the ground on projects like the Scarborough subway extension, a 7.8-kilometre extension for rapid transit that the people of Scarborough deserve and need. It’s going to board over 100,00 people every single day. That’s what the residents of Scarborough want, that’s what the residents of Scarborough need. They were neglected under the previous Liberal government for 15 years.

But that’s not it; we’re building a medical school, we’re building a new hospital, because the Premier believes in the people of Scarborough. We’re not going to ignore Scarborough like the members opposite did for 15 years. We’ve got stations under construction as we speak. We’re moving at a record and historic pace to continue to ensure that those residents get access to rapid transit and as quickly as possible.

We’re going to continue to deliver for the people of Scarborough—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for Scarborough–Guildwood.

MPP Andrea Hazell: Madam Speaker, our Scarborough doesn’t end at Kennedy station; that’s just the beginning of Scarborough. Residents have to take three or four separate buses just to get to their jobs, doctors’ appointments, schools and for their groceries. This is a physical and financial punishment.

Listen to these alarming stats: Since the RT derailment, Uber trips in Scarborough have skyrocketed by 72%; trips to and from the vital hub of Kennedy station have spiked by 29%; 43% of Scarborough residents are dependent on public transit.

On June 19, Scarborough doesn’t need this government’s free hot dogs, hamburgers and a can of pop; Scarborough needs a government that listens and takes actions.

Speaker, through you, I ask the Premier, when will you stop punishing Scarborough and deliver the transit they deserve now?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: This coming from the party that can’t even run a nomination in Scarborough. They’re covering up the results. They won’t even release the results of that.

What the people of Scarborough and transit riders of Scarborough wanted was affordable and accessible transit. That’s why we put forward the One Fare program. Now, how can those members look at the residents of Scarborough or anywhere in the GTA and say that they voted against a program that is going to put almost $1,600 back into the pockets—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I apologize to the minister. Members of the—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Order. Members of the third party will come to order. The members of the government side will come to order.

Back to the transportation minister.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Let’s look at the record of the Liberal government when it comes to Scarborough. They voted against the medical school. They voted against the hospital. They voted against the community centre, and they voted against rapid transit for the members of Scarborough—a 7.8-kilometre extension that is going to move over 100,000 people. Shame on the Liberals for neglecting Scarborough.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I will start warning people.

Housing

Mr. Brian Riddell: My question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

In my riding of Cambridge, families, young professionals and seniors continue to tell me they want to see more homes built that are affordable and delivered efficiently. Over the course of this session, our government has remained focused on tackling Ontario housing challenges by creating the conditions to get more homes built faster, and we are beginning to see renewed momentum in housing starts across our province as confidence returns to the market.

Could the minister tell the House what actions our government is taking to help support new home construction in my community and throughout Ontario?

Hon. Rob Flack: Thank you to the member for Cambridge for that great question.

We’ve had a historic session, Speaker. Bill 98 was passed, reducing the time it takes and the cost it takes to get homes built, creating those conditions—very important legislation. We’re rolling out a development charge reduction program next week that is going to benefit all municipalities across this province, including our small northern and rural communities. We have introduced the historic HST rebate that is going to affect all construction of new homes for one year, April 1 to next—a great initiative.

We have seen over 4,000 new starts to date, and we thank our federal friends for joining us in this great initiative. But I would ask them to get their legislation in place, to get the initiative in place so we can indeed recognize booming sales for the rest of the year. Speaker, to them, respectfully and thankfully: Slow help is no help. Let’s get it done.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member from Cambridge.

Mr. Brian Riddell: I’d like to thank the minister for that very encouraging update.

Our government recognizes that one of the major barriers to housing construction is the slow and inconsistent approvals process that builders face. Too often, unnecessary red tape, duplication and delays add costs and uncertainty that prevent homes from being built on time.

That is why we introduced Bill 98. This legislation helps address these challenges by creating a more predictable and standardized approval framework that supports municipalities while ensuring projects move faster.

Speaker, could the minister further explain how the measures in Bill 98 will help reduce municipal red tape, speed up approvals and continue to support increased housing construction across Ontario?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Thornhill.

Ms. Laura Smith: A major focus this session has been ensuring approval processes are faster, more transparent and more consistent across municipalities. That’s exactly why we introduced Bill 98.

This legislation contains practical reforms that would help streamline planning processes, reduce duplication and create greater certainty from builders to municipalities to families waiting for homes to be built. For far too long, housing projects have faced unnecessary delays, caused inconsistent local requirements, complex approvals and administrative bottlenecks. Bill 98 would help standardize processes.

Clearly, the timelines have to be very clear and improve coordination so projects can move from application to construction more quickly. We’re also modernizing and simplifying planning systems to ensure municipalities can focus on resources, on getting homes approved and built instead of navigating unnecessary bureaucracies. Remember: Slow help is no help.

Education funding

Ms. Chandra Pasma: The Auditor General has confirmed what parents have been saying: Special education is underfunded, and it is leaving children without access to a meaningful education and the supports and resources to be at school safely.

Instead of investing to support our children, per-student funding for special education teachers, education workers, psychologists and other professionals is going down next year, not up.

How is it that the Premier has $5 billion to land private jets on Toronto’s waterfront, but when it comes to supporting our kids, it’s another cut?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: Madam Speaker, of course that is not true. We’ve increased special education funding significantly in the province of Ontario by over $3.85 billion. Each and every year, we’ve increased special education funding.

But as I’ve said—and I know the opposition doesn’t want to hear it—what I’m focused on is outcomes. I want to make sure the money we’re investing in special education is actually providing the outcomes that our parents and teachers are insisting upon. That is why we’ll be taking a further look at special education and all of the models that are being delivered across the province of Ontario: to make sure that it is meeting the needs not only of parents but, more importantly, of students.

We’re listening to teachers. We’re listening to educators. We’re looking at boards that are doing it better. Some boards are doing it better than other boards. Why is that, Madam Speaker? Some boards aren’t spending their entire allocation on special education while some boards are spending more than that allocation. So we are going to look at that system, but ultimately it is going to be based on what the outcomes are so that we can ensure our kids get the best possible opportunity to succeed.

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

Ms. Chandra Pasma: Let’s talk about outcomes, Speaker, because the outcome of this government’s repeated funding cuts is that education workers, teachers and principals are being laid off all across Ontario. Just this week, 171 EAs and admin assistants in York region were told they’re losing their jobs, on top of the 78 custodial and skilled trades workers who already got pink slips. The TDSB is now up to 824 positions cut.

I don’t think there’s a family in this province that would say their priority is a runway in Lake Ontario. So why is the Premier throwing away $5 billion on that when that money could hire 58,000 more teachers and education workers?

Hon. Paul Calandra: One of the challenges the NDP seems to always have is understanding that when you grow an economy, you have more money to spend in education, and you have more money to spend in health care.

We understand that the NDP doesn’t get this. They don’t like the private sector. The NDP have never liked the private sector. That’s just their ideology. They think government should do everything, and the way that government does everything is by taking all of the money out of your pocket and letting them spend it.

We’ve been down this road before in the province of Ontario. It was called the Bob Rae government. They bankrupted the entire province, built nothing and laid off teachers. They closed schools. They closed hospitals. That is the record of when you allow socialists near anything to do with government. They’re bankrupting the city of Toronto. Anywhere they have a role, whether it’s in school boards, education, councils or opportunities to run provinces, they cause chaos.

Here’s what we’re going to do: We’re going to continue to focus on building an economy that works so that we can continue to spend record amounts in education, record amounts in transportation and record amounts in health care to build a bigger, better, stronger and safer province—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Question? I recognize the member for Kanata–Carleton.

Health care

Mrs. Karen McCrimmon: One of the privileges of my work as an MPP is the ongoing consultation I get to do with the people of Kanata–Carleton. The number one issue of concern is the current state of health care in Ottawa. They are worried, in spite of the glowing words of this government, that things are only getting worse.

When people like Dinah, a retired nurse, Margaret or Jess ask what this government is doing about hallway medicine, emergency room wait times, nursing, doctor and specialist shortages, the government tells us how much money they are spending.

We know they really, really like spending money on luxury spas, taking care of rich insiders, record debt and a $30-million luxury jet, while people across the province are hurting.

Speaker, when will this Premier realize that his out-of-control spending is doing nothing to improve the dismal state of health care in Ottawa and Ontario?

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

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Well, perhaps it would help the member opposite communicate to her constituents that, in fact, for matching primary care providers with patients, we have over-exceeded our target for this past fiscal year. We were hoping to be able to attach 300,000 people; in fact, we have attached 330,000 people across Ontario.

If we looked at, for example, elective surgeries in the province of Ontario: the highest number ever in the history of Ontario. Over 684,000 people received elective surgery in the province of Ontario from our world-class hospitals, provided by our world-class clinicians.

Those are the numbers that you should be sharing with your constituents.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Member for Kanata–Carleton.

Mrs. Karen McCrimmon: Taxpayer costs for the Premier’s top staff have gone from $2.9 million in 2019 to over $8.1 million in 2025. They’re proud of that.

Ministers keep rising and proudly proclaiming that they are spending record amounts of money. The problem is that all of this spending is not producing any results, no improvement in outcomes.

Constituents like Ava, Pat and Kathy have seen first-hand that in Ottawa hospitals patients are waiting in hallways. People are spending hours in emergency rooms. Doctors and nurses are quitting because they can no longer survive the dreadful working conditions, and they’re burning out. And this tired, out-of-touch, elitist government keeps spending money on luxury jets, insider friends and strip clubs.

When will this Premier start thinking about the state of health care in this province?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Order. Order. The Minister of Education will come to order.

I recognize the Minister of Health.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: I know the member opposite understands that all politics is local. Perhaps she should be highlighting to her constituents that the Somerset West Community Health Centre is actually matching 7,500 people because of the investments of Premier Ford and our government.

Let’s actually look at the data. Ontario leads the country in radiation therapy. In Canada and Ontario we have performed 2.95 million MRI and CT scans—the most ever and, in fact, a 7% increase. Why? Because we invest in not only hospital MRIs but also community MRIs. Ontario has the shortest wait times nationally for CT scans in comparison to Manitoba and Nova Scotia. Ontario has the shortest wait times for MRI scans.

Speaker, I could go on all day about how Ontario continues—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Brampton West.

Public safety

Mr. Amarjot Sandhu: My question is to the Solicitor General.

Ontarians expect their streets and public spaces to be safe. They are concerned about the impact of repeat offenders, illegal activity and those who prey on vulnerable individuals for profit, including the criminals behind human trafficking. These individuals exploit and harass, putting communities at risk and victimizing some of the most vulnerable people in our province. Our government has been clear that victims deserve protection while those who commit these crimes must face real consequences.

Through you, Speaker: Can the Solicitor General tell the House how the newly introduced Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act will strengthen the public safety system?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the Solicitor General.

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: To my friend from Brampton West: He knows there has never been a government ever in the history of Ontario that is more laser-focused, with a surgical approach, to keep Ontario safe.

Madam Speaker, when we introduced Bill 119, which we started to debate today, we did it in a way that specifically made sure that those who were victims of human trafficking will not be subjected to not having anybody on their side. Specifically, we want to ensure that up to $50,000 in debt relief for victims of human trafficking who are coerced into debt will not have that burden on it. We want to help survivors rebuild their lives. We want to remove financial barriers created by the traffickers.

But it goes to everything that we’re doing in Bill 119—strengthening the safety on our transit by empowering special constables to stop drug traffickers on it. What we also want to do, Madam Speaker, is that we want to fight retail crime, which is a $9-billion threat to our economy.

Madam Speaker, we—

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

Mr. Amarjot Sandhu: Thank you to the Solicitor General for the encouraging response. I know families in my riding of Brampton West are reassured to hear about the strong measures we’re taking to protect communities across our province.

Speaker, Ontarians expect leadership that will strengthen public safety and hold offenders accountable. Our government has been working hard to address these very important concerns, and that is why we’re taking action through our recently introduced legislation to help Ontarians stay informed and protected in their communities.

Speaker, can the Solicitor General explain further how the Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act will keep Ontario safe?

Hon. Michael S. Ke