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May 28, 2025

44th Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2025-May-28 vol. A (PDF)

L018A - Wed 28 May 2025 / Mer 28 mai 2025

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 28 May 2025 Mercredi 28 mai 2025

Orders of the Day

2025 Ontario budget / Budget de l’Ontario de 2025

Members’ Statements

L’Arche Stratford

Andrew Lauer

Ontario Science Centre

Government investments

Government accountability

Events in Mississauga East–Cooksville

Basic income

Government investments

Events in Markham–Unionville

House sittings

Introduction of Visitors

Question Period

Government accountability

Government accountability

Government accountability

Government accountability

Pharmacare

Post-secondary education

Transportation infrastructure

Labour dispute

Public transit

Politiques énergétiques

Education funding

Public transit

Veterans

Social assistance

Notice of dissatisfaction

Deferred Votes

Pharmacare

Municipal Accountability Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 sur la responsabilité au niveau municipal

Introduction of Visitors

Introduction of Government Bills

Working for Workers Seven Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 visant à œuvrer pour les travailleurs, sept

Introduction of Bills

Marriage Amendment Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 modifiant la

Loi sur le mariage

Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Amendment Act (Beverage Container Deposit Program), 2025 / Loi de 2025 modifiant la

Loi sur la récupération des ressources et l’économie circulaire (programme de consignes applicables aux contenants de boissons)

Petitions

Visitor parking fees

Public transit

Social assistance

Consumer protection

Tenant protection

Endangered species

Social assistance

Orders of the Day

Time allocation

2025 Ontario budget

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

2025 Ontario budget / Budget de l’Ontario de 2025

Resuming the debate adjourned on May 15, 2025, on the motion that this House approves in general the budgetary policy of the government.

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

Ms. Jessica Bell: I will be sharing my time with the member for London West and the member for Parkdale–High Park today.

We’re talking about the budget motion, motion number 2. I’ve got to say, when I was reading through the budget, there were a lot of things that I was disappointed about. While there is some money for a slush fund, we don’t even know who it will go to yet, the protect Ontario fund. When we look at the core sectors that the Ontario government is responsible for, like health care, education and housing, we’re disappointed.

We are also disappointed because there is an utter lack of support for measures to help people who are low income, moderate income and even middle income get by at time when it has never been more expensive to live in the province of Ontario. We’ve got a lot of concerns about that.

We’re also concerned because things in Ontario—we have some challenges that we need to address, and people were expecting this budget to address them. We have unemployment that is rising; it’s gone up to 7.6%. We have the trade war, which I’m very concerned about is looking at becoming entrenched. It’s something that we’re going to be grappling with for at least four years or more, and that is causing extreme economic uncertainty and worry.

We see that inequality is on the rise. We’re also seeing—some statistics just came out a few days ago—that people are really struggling to make ends meet, renters as well as homeowners. There’s some new data coming out showing that foreclosure rates in the province of Ontario are at their highest level since the 1990s. That’s very concerning. It means that people are reaching their breaking point. Mortgages are often the last things that people are willing to forgo payment on and they’re reaching that point.

So there’s a lot of concerns. I think people wanted to see this budget, being $216 billion, I think—a lot of Ontarians were hoping there would be some relief for them in this budget, and I’m not seeing it.

I want to talk a little bit about some of the sectors that are most impacted by the budget. The one that we’re very concerned about is the issues around the health care system. We have a situation with our health care system where a lot of people are not getting the health care that they need. We have over 2.3 million people who do not have access to a family doctor in the province of Ontario. If you don’t have access to a family doctor, it means you’re going to a walk-in clinic or you’re not going to a doctor at all—or in some cases, you’re ending up in an emergency room to get care that should be provided by a nurse practitioner or a physician.

We’ve had situations in our riding where we hear about individuals who are going to the emergency room for conditions like a chronic ear infection because they’ve got nowhere else to go and they don’t have a family doctor, so it’s very concerning. We’re also seeing an increasing number of instances where emergency rooms are closing on the weekends, especially in smaller towns and cities. That’s very worrying. We’re seeing issues with long wait times in emergency rooms, or when people are admitted, they’re receiving the care in a hallway instead of a room. No one wants to be treated for appendicitis in a hallway.

They just don’t. It’s not the way that we can provide high-quality care to people.

We’re also seeing serious issues with staffing shortages. That has been alleviated somewhat because this government lost its fight to suppress health care workers’ wages in the courts. We have seen an increase in health care workers’ wages and we have seen the exodus of health care workers start to be reduced, which is a good thing, but we still have significant staffing shortages in our hospitals and it’s impacting the quality of care that patients receive.

What we’re also concerned about—you would expect that in this budget there would be some significant improvements and investments in health care, and quite frankly, we’re not seeing that. We have seen talk and some modest efforts to bring in an increase in primary care provision, an increase in hospital budgets, a 4% increase in base operating costs, and we are seeing some increases in infrastructure spending so that more hospitals can be built across Ontario.

But what we’re also seeing is that that increase for those measures, they fall far short of the need that we’re seeing in Ontario, and it’s very worrying. We receive, in Ontario, the least amount of funding per person for health care compared to every other province, and this budget does nothing to change that.

What we’re also seeing in this budget—which I’m particularly concerned about, because I’ve seen the rise of for-profit care when I was living in Australia, and then I also lived in the United States and I saw the impact and the decline in quality of for-profit care in the United States as well. What we’re seeing here is a continued move by this Ontario government to bring in for-profit care into Ontario, and I’m very worried about that.

We’re seeing $280 million more going to for-profit clinics. Why I’m so concerned about this is that we create a two-tier system: We’ve got a for-profit system where people who are forced to pay and have to pay or can pay are jumping to the front of the queue, and the rest of us are left with a public health care system which is chronically underfunded and understaffed. That means that we get two different types of care.

What we’re also seeing is that people are walking into for-profit clinics and they’re being upsold for services that they might not necessarily need, and they’re walking out with a bill when they shouldn’t be walking out with a bill. This is Canada; we believe in public health care. It is the NDP that brought in public health care into Saskatchewan and then it went nation-wide. We on this side of the House will be doing everything we can to protect our public health care system.

There are some concerns about that, and quite frankly, some of the for-profit medical clinics that we’re seeing in Toronto, at least, from our assessment, are breaking the law. They shouldn’t be charging for medically necessary services, but they are. It’s a violation of Ontario law. It’s a violation of federal law. Why isn’t this government enforcing its own laws? Good question, right?

The other issue that I want to talk about in my time is the issue of education. Education is a huge issue in my riding. We have over 33 public schools—elementary, middle school and high school—and increasingly, when I go from school to school, I see the same issues again and again. I see aging buildings. I see a state-of-good-repair backlog which is growing, not shrinking. I see heating that is inadequate in the winter, cooling that is inadequate in the summer. I hear about aging boilers. I hear about flooding. I hear about roofs that need to be repaired.

I recently went to Central Toronto Academy and I had students talk to me about the state of the washrooms with no doors, no locks; a field that is so poorly maintained that students don’t play on it because they’re scared they’re going to hurt themselves when they go for a run or play basketball. It’s not great. Their pool at Central Toronto Academy is already closed. When I’d raised the issue of pools being closed in the riding, they were like, “Miss, you are not up to speed, because our pool got closed years ago.” I was like, “Thank you for telling me. That’s very concerning.”

What we’re seeing with the Toronto District School Board at least is that we’re looking at seeing additional cuts. We’re seeing cuts to the music instructors program, delays in the roll-out of Chromebooks so that students can learn in class on a computer, cuts to outdoor education. There’s talk of increasing class sizes, which could save $7.5 million. These are awful conversations that school boards should not be having right now.

Then there’s the grossly inadequate amount of funding that is available to kids who have special needs and exceptionalities, because they’re, quite frankly, not receiving the care and the quality of teaching that they are entitled to, that they have a right to and that they’re not getting, primarily because of staffing shortages. It’s very worrying.

I want to talk a little bit about the Grants for Student Needs. It recently came out—well, it’s got a new name now, but a lot of us still know it as Grants for Student Needs; essentially, funding to schools. What we’ve seen with this new announcement that came out, I believe, last Friday—many of us were waiting for it—was that the per-student funding since 2018 is still grossly short of what is needed, and there’s been cut after cut after cut, and we’ve got a lot of concerns about that.

I want to read some statistics to you: Since 2018, this government has taken $6.35 billion out of our education system. That’s a cumulative total from 2018. For 2025-26 alone, funding is $561.7 million less than in 2018 when you take into account inflation and enrolment growth. So all this talk of caring about teachers and students and schools and educational assistants—it’s still a cut. And when there is a cut, it means that the quality of teaching that happens in a classroom suffers. It’s that simple.

We also see that funding for critical issues that we’re hearing about in our schools is woefully inadequate. For example, funding for student mental health is only 22.9 cents per student per day, when 90% of principals say they need more help to support mental health. And that’s been my experience too.

When I go around and I talk to principals, especially just after the restrictions were lifted and students were going back to school in-person full time, many of the principals would talk to me about the rise in mental health, the rise in bullying, the behaviour they were seeing which was not acceptable, the language that was being used. And they stressed to me that kids hadn’t been socialized for the last two or three years because they had been learning at home and that it had an impact on students’ behaviour and mental health, and they needed additional support.

We’re not seeing additional support in school boards even though kids are still recovering from COVID. Learning outcomes have not caught up.

We’re also seeing an issue with special education. Nearly every school board is spending more than they’re getting for a system that is not meeting students’ needs or protecting their safety.

Core education funding: The funding that we received is only a quarter of the total school board deficit. So even though this government is talking a lot about these issues, we’re not seeing the outcome when it comes to actual spending. We’ve got a lot of concerns about that.

I want to talk a little bit about housing. You would expect, given the housing crisis that we are experiencing, that there would be a significant increase in the amount of funding available to housing, but we’re not seeing that in this budget. We’re actually seeing a cut of $379 million. I don’t understand, when we have a homelessness crisis—we have over 80,000 people who are homeless; we have tents and encampments in cities and towns all across Ontario—why this government is choosing to cut funding to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing by $379 million.

I remember when the Auditor General came out with a report in 2021. It looked at the government’s plan on homelessness, and it concluded that the government has no plan to address homelessness. It’s four years later, and this government still has no plan to address homelessness. I remember back when this government got elected, they said that they were going to have a commitment to end chronic homelessness. I believe it was by 2025. Here we are, 2025, and the homeless crisis has gone from bad to worse.

AMO recently came out with a report that looked at what would happen if we entered an economic downturn and how that would affect homelessness numbers in Ontario. They estimated it would go up from 80,000 to 300,000. Where is the plan to address that? Instead, we’re seeing a cut.

I believe that there is going to be a rally outside Queen’s Park on Thursday to draw attention to the government’s tough-on-crime approach to addressing the encampment issue. We’ve communicated with many of the social service agencies that provide support to people living in encampments, including the city, and their overall assessment is that this tough-on-crime approach to encampments is inhumane, it’s futile and it’s incredibly expensive.

I also noticed, when I was reading the budget, that there seems to be a lot of talk about investing in correctional facilities; you know, more beds here and more beds here. And I wonder why we are talking about investing in correctional facilities when, in many instances, we should be talking about building supportive homes so that we’re providing homes to people and we’re not threatening people with six months of jail time because they happen to be too poor to find a place to rent. It doesn’t make any sense at all.

I think about the issues with rent across Ontario, and I think many people were hoping for some kind of relief with rent. We’ve introduced many pieces of legislation to address the rising cost of rent, including the Rent Stabilization Act, which would bring in stronger rent control in all homes, not just homes that were built before 2018—or first occupied before 2018—and also to bring in strong rent controls so that there’s a cap on how much the rent can be raised between tenancies.

Other provinces have this. Quebec has this. Quebec’s economy is doing just fine. Their housing starts are better than ours, but they’ve brought in measures to protect tenants to ensure that they have a good idea on how much they’re going to pay in rent next year so that they’re not priced out of their home because the rent has gone up by 20% or 30%.

We hear instances of this in our riding. People will move into our riding. They’ll move into a building. They’ll not realize that it was built after 2018. They reach their end-of-the-year lease, and then, all of a sudden, they’re getting a 20% rent increase because the landlord wants to move them out and find a tenant who is willing to pay more—or who has to pay more—so that they can generate more profits. It’s very concerning.

Just taking a look at some of the recent rental prices in the province, in Toronto, the average rent for a one-bedroom that’s available now is $2,346. That is so much money. I don’t know how anyone living on minimum wage could afford $2,346. I don’t know how someone earning $60,000 a year, which is above the average income, could be affording $2,346—or if you have a family. You’re not going to be looking for a one-bedroom if you have a family, unless you’re in a really difficult situation. So we’ve got a lot of concerns about that, and we’re not seeing anything in this budget that would address that.

What I would have liked to have seen, what I think a lot of people are wanting to see is a real plan to address homelessness, a commitment to build affordable housing and supportive housing on public land and partnering with municipalities and non-profits and developers to do that so we can provide people with permanent, affordable homes. Other cities have done it. Other provinces have done it. So should we.

I would like to have seen a plan to bring in strong rent control, like rent stabilization. I would like to see greater commitment to spur up the construction of housing starts in towns and cities where people want to live, easing the zoning restrictions, making it easier to build apartments and condos on main streets, allowing fourplexes. I’m not seeing it. Are we surprised that new housing construction starts are down to 30-year lows? Not exactly. No surprise there.

I want to talk a little bit about funding for municipalities. This government has talked a lot in this budget about how they’re providing an additional amount of money to water infrastructure, but when you look at the big picture, overall, funding to municipalities to provide the infrastructure that we need for current residents and new development has been cut. It’s partly because of Bill 23, which really gutted municipalities’ ability to ensure that developers pay their fair share, and the loss in revenue has not been made up by this government.

That’s one of the reasons why many people have seen very significant property tax increases over the last four to five years, because municipalities have to make up that money. I’m calling that a Ford tax, because the money has to come from somewhere. It’s very concerning.

When we’re looking at it, the government is looking at putting another maybe—is it $400 million?—into housing-enabling infrastructure. Compare that to the amount of money that municipalities are actually going to be spending over the next 10 years: $250 billion. So, what, is that 1/500th of what is necessary? It’s very small compared to what is actually needed to maintain our roads and our day cares and our sewage systems and our electricity system—a lot of things—our parks. We’ve got a lot of concerns about that.

I want to talk a little bit about universities. Universities are seeing a $1.2-billion cut. It’s astronomical. This is coming at a time when the number of international students that are enrolled in our colleges and universities has plummeted because of changes to our immigration laws. So colleges and universities are put in this very tough spot, where revenue from international students has dropped, and then at the same time the provincial government is cutting funding to colleges and universities by an additional $1.2 billion and tuition has been frozen.

Freezing tuition is obviously a move that I support, but what we expect is colleges and universities to be funded by the province to ensure that they can provide high-quality post-secondary education to Ontario students. That’s what we expect. Because the reality is this: Ontario universities receive the lowest per-student funding in Canada. What we’re asking for is it just to be funded to the national average.

I just gave a little

summary of the key sectors in the budget that I think are significantly impacted by this government with the announcement of their budget, and I’d like to cede my time to the member for London West.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): I recognize the member from Parkdale–High Park.

MPP Alexa Gilmour: It is a privilege this morning to rise on behalf of the people of Parkdale–High Park and to speak to the Conservative government’s 2025 budget.

I want to start by sharing an analogy, a story from my childhood about a time where I was swimming. I was taking the deep end test and I was trying to get across the lane. I got about halfway across and I began to bob, up and down and up and down. On about my fourth or fifth bob, I suddenly felt these arms wrap around my tiny chest and lift me up into the air and carry me out of the pool. Speaker, I hadn’t realized that I was drowning. The lifeguard had to leap into the water to save me.

I feel like so many of the people I’m speaking to these days are bobbing up and down and up and down, trying to keep afloat. What the people needed most from this government was a lifeguard budget, but they got a band-aid budget instead. Because even before you factor in the cost of Donald Trump’s tariffs, Ontario is facing more challenges than ever. We have, of course, the ongoing living crisis and it’s affecting every aspect of people’s lives, from their ability to pay rent to putting nutritious food on the table to the freedom to choose where they’re going to live in the province and where they’re going to raise their families.

I heard a story when I was knocking on the door of a woman. She was in a room in a studio with boxes all around her. She was being forced to move out of Parkdale–High Park because the rent had jumped to $2,000 a month for a studio apartment, and she couldn’t afford it. But she’d grown up her whole life in Parkdale–High Park, and she said, “I cannot believe I’m being forced out of my own community.” Even those who are more comfortable are beginning to question whether they can afford the odd date night out or anniversary celebration with their family.

I was in a meeting just recently with the tenants in High Park and the association, who said that many of them, because of the lack of rent control, were making choices between food and rent, were making choices about having to move farther and farther outside of the city, get roommates and find two, three and, in one case, four jobs just to be able to afford to live.

Ontario’s housing crisis is looming large over all of this. The supply is down, the rents are up, and people can’t afford to put a roof over their heads. Across the province, we are seeing more and more Ontarians falling into homelessness, with no assistance offered but police officers to kick them from one encampment to another. With 80,000 people homeless and an expected increase of something like 12% a year, we can see the possibility of 300,000 people in Ontario homeless in the next decade.

If the measure of a society is found in how we treat those made vulnerable by systemic oppression, then certainly Bill 6 is a horrific indictment of this government, as are the funding priorities in the budget that I’m speaking to today. Because at this time of great need, of overwhelming need throughout Ontario, our public systems are failing—our public health care, public education, public transit systems that Ontarians rely on and take such pride in. We are a community that cares for one another, and yet they are crumbling after years of disinvestment from both the Liberal and the Conservative governments.

We’re also seeing—not just here in Ontario, but across Canada and North America—that families are losing their homes to flooding. Farmers are losing their crops to extreme weather conditions. More and more kids are suffering from asthma and other illnesses because of pollution. We had fires in Jasper. We had fires in LA. Canadians need a government that will fight to protect our families and our planet. We’re running out of time.

But in its 2025 budget, the government of this province did not mention climate change once. Of course, tariffs are the thing that we are all most concerned about today, and we should be—people are losing their jobs. But climate change is today and tomorrow and until the end of time. I would have liked to see—in fact, the people that I serve were demanding to see—more in this budget that protected our children’s future and our great-grandchildren’s future.

All of this is making Ontario more vulnerable—vulnerable economically, to be sure—not just to the Trump tariff wars, but also vulnerable as a society. I mean, when people are forced into survival mode, they have a tendency to turn inward to protect themselves and to protect their immediate loved ones. It makes it harder for us to look beyond ourselves, to trust one another, to work creatively together on solutions, to innovate, to build a future that works for each and every one of us. What we needed was bold, compassionate leadership; solutions rooted in love, not in competition. They needed resources that will enable them to flourish, not just scrape by.

With the 2025 budget, the Conservative government could have delivered this. They could have strengthened Ontario and helped build a tariff-proof future with good schools; affordable homes; world-class public education and health care; and strong, strong, reliable public services. Instead, we got more cuts. The Ford Conservatives have produced yet another band-aid budget, when we needed a lifeguard. There’s definitely a lot in here for big businesses, for big dreams like a fantasy tunnel, but struggling hospitals and struggling schools are getting short-changed.

There’s nothing to help people afford groceries or pay the rent, let alone to get Ontario building—building those homes that we need to look after each other, to build a sustainable economy for that brighter future. We have major cuts to health care, education, housing—$609 million in cuts to the Attorney General, $266 million in cuts to children, community and social services at a time where every three days in Ontario, a child dies under Ontario’s care network, at a time when people living on social assistance are living in legislated poverty. And they got cuts.

There is $42 million less for emergency forest firefighting, at a time when climate change is increasing, and the number of forest fires are increasing, and towns, cities and municipalities are not safe from this. We learned nothing from Jasper, from Los Angeles. There’s $60 million less for natural resources and so much more.

Speaker, I wanted to hear from my own constituents in Parkdale–High Park about this budget that the government was proposing. So last week, I arranged for a town hall and I had our shadow Minister of Finance attend. There, we unpacked the budget, and so many shared with me what their hopes and their concerns about this government’s 2025 budget were.

Believe it or not, not a single person asked for funding about highways or for tunnels. What my constituents did ask for, above all, was that this government invest in housing, especially in the deeply affordable, supportive housing needed to address the growing homelessness crisis. Many expressed immense disappointment in the Ford Conservatives and the way that they seem to have thrown in the towel and have decided to cut $379 million to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, despite Ontario being nowhere close to meeting the government’s own targets on building 1.5 million homes by 2031.

When I was at the doors, Speaker, I spoke to many residents who were struggling around this issue of housing. When I was the minister at St. Luke’s, of course, I was daily working with people who were unhoused, for whom owning a home was not even on the radar; just finding a roof to sleep under for the night was.

In the conversations I had with constituents, they spoke about making difficult choices; between having to use the food bank so that they could keep their rent payments. Other young people spoke about the reality that they might live their whole lives in their parents’ basements, that they might never own a home, and that they worried that even getting a place to rent was impossible without roommates and extra jobs on the side.

My constituents in Parkdale–High Park also wanted to see serious investments in public health care and the creation of a truly world-class health care system that benefits us all, not $6.4 million in cuts at a time of unprecedented demand. They were distressed to learn that the Conservatives are funnelling $280 million to for-profit care clinics at a time when 2.3 million Ontarians are without family doctors and the staffing shortages are causing temporary emergency room closures more than 200 times last year. They wanted to know why there was no funding for South Bruce Grey hospitals and others that have had repeated and simultaneous closures throughout the year.

My constituents also wrote me asking that the Ontario government invest in our province’s future by adequately funding our public schools. This includes our world-renowned colleges and universities, which are facing $1.2 billion in cuts in the budget. They believe Ontario students deserve better than stagnant education funding that will lead to growing class sizes, crumbling classrooms and deep cuts to programs like music education that help them to thrive. As one of my constituents accurately and starkly put it, “Give a kid a trumpet or saxophone when they’re in grade 4 or 5, and they may not pick up a gun when they reach 13 or 14.” Our children need the supports.

Parents at one of the schools that I serve, Swansea public, are writing me again this year, as they wrote my predecessor, about classroom temperatures rising over 30 degrees this time of year, the lack of air conditioning, the inability to focus. Many of you will recall the famous viral video, again, of my predecessor being taken to Humberside on Take Your MPP to School Day when it was raining inside as well as outside and there was flooding.

It’s shameful that the FAO has estimated it will cost $31.4 billion over 10 years to clear the infrastructure backlog, to maintain the schools in a state of repair, and yet this province still falls short on what’s required. The Fix Our Schools campaign was started in Parkdale–High Park in 2014, and over a decade later, the problems have only gotten worse.

Special education funding also remains dangerously low in this budget. We had a town hall on Monday night for those who were concerned about the proposed TDSB deficits and budget cuts, and they expressed concerns about their children with special needs, who will not have the supports they need to stay safe and supported to receive the high-quality education that they need and deserve. One parent spoke about a child that attends using a wheelchair and is in a class of 30 children. At least one other is recognized as a high-needs child—there might be others—and the school classroom has one teacher and one ECE.

At my own school, where my children attend, the principal is regularly sitting in the administrators’ desk taking in the late slips because there are staffing shortages all over the place. Another school: The principal told me that they spend an inordinate amount of time chasing children down the hallways because there are not enough one-to-ones for the special-needs kids, and in order to keep the children safe, the principal must do the work that we need to fund ECEs and others to do.

This is not news to our government. The Ontario Autism Coalition and Community Living have both produced reports, one called Crisis in the Classroom.

In addition, in this budget, there were very few references to child care. The funding there is coupled with the education, and that is planned to be stagnant for the next three years. We need to commit to expanding our child care spaces.

I want to just share a brief story about my trip last week. J’ai participé dans le programme pour le Réseau des Femmes d’affaires du Québec. I went to Quebec last week with francophone parliamentarians from around the world, and there we saw, in the Quebec Legislature, the most amazing thing: When they redid their renovations, they built a daycare in the Legislature that opens at 7 a.m. and it closes half an hour after the chamber rises. So if people were here until 11:30 on Monday night, the daycare was here until midnight keeping their children safe and cared for.

They had a room just outside the chamber where parents—men, women, non-binary parents—could go to feed their child, to change a diaper, and there was a screen where they could watch what was happening in the Legislature as they did. There was another room for those who were 10 years old and up, who could come after school and do their homework.

Speaker, this speaks of the way that we care for families. When we lead by example in the Legislature—we know that each one of us is stronger and more able to be our full selves when the families we are in are cared for, and I would have liked to see more in this budget about caring for families.

It was certainly good to see the small increases in infrastructure spending for universities, but there were significant decreases in funding for college infrastructure. I wondered, where is the equity in that in a time where we need to get more people educated and into the workforce? I recognize and applaud the funding being put into the Skills Development Fund, PSE programs, skilled trades and scholarships for First Nations students. We would have liked to see an increase in permanent per-student funding to stabilize the sector and to increase access for financial assistance.

Speaker, the other thing that members of Parkdale–High Park spoke about was the meaningful investment in public transit that was needed and the government’s need to protect green spaces to tackle climate change head on. We were glad to see that Ontario was making some investments in public transit and electric vehicle manufacturing, but we wanted to know why the budget includes no targets for reducing Ontario’s carbon emissions and why it makes no mention of climate change at a time when floods and forest fires are putting us and the economy at risk.

Everywhere I look, people are struggling. We see that half of Ontario’s parents have sought mental health for their child, and they’ve said that they’ve faced challenges getting the services they need. The primary reason was long wait times. They also included things like “services don’t offer what their child needs,” “they don’t know where to go,” “they don’t offer the services where I live.” There are nearly 30,000 children on wait-lists for mental health, and it takes months. We would have liked to see that mental health had more support.

In fact, mental health needs to be fully covered by this province because mental health is health, and a world-class health service includes fully funded mental health and pharmaceuticals and more.

Importantly, my constituents state that Ontario must raise OW and ODSP rates and end legislated poverty so that the people in our province don’t have to struggle and sacrifice day-to-day just to survive. And so, we would have liked to see more in the support for those struggling at the margins.

In the end, the Conservative government had a choice with this budget to strengthen Ontario and build a future where families and workers can get ahead—a lifeguard budget—but they gave us cuts and a band-aid budget instead. But the good news is that while this government may have given up on the future of shared abundance, the people of Parkdale–High Park have not, and neither has the Ontario NDP, and I stand with them.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): I recognize the member from London West.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: It is a pleasure to rise today to participate in this debate on the 2025 Ontario budget.

This is a period of unprecedented economic uncertainty that we are facing. We are looking south of the border and seeing the most significant threat to our economy, even our sovereignty, that we have ever seen before. This budget would have been an opportunity for this government to respond to these realities in a meaningful way. Instead, what the government delivered is a band-aid budget that doesn’t provide the support that workers and families are looking for, that workers and families need in this province right now.

This was a missed opportunity for this government to keep good jobs in Ontario. We are seeing thousands of jobs at risk. The Financial Accountability Officer has predicted the loss of over 60,000 Ontario jobs. Yet the budget has no clear plan to stop manufacturers and equipment from leaving the province. There was a missed opportunity in public education, in colleges and universities, in child care, at a time when we need to create a more resilient workforce, and colleges, universities, our public schools and our child care centres are the way to do that.

The budget gives us a $1.2-billion cut to college and university funding this year, the following year and then an additional cut in 2027-28. There’s no new funding for special education, school nutrition, school transportation, addressing the huge maintenance backlog in our public school buildings across this province. At a time when schools are facing deficits, classroom teachers are struggling and students are not getting the supports they need, this budget offers three years of stagnant funding.

It was a missed opportunity in housing, when we are seeing more people homeless than ever before—80,000 Ontarians in this province are now homeless. The budget would have been a chance for the government to show that they’re serious about meeting the housing target that they had set out. Instead, the budget shows that housing starts are basically collapsing—down from last year—and the government is projecting to build 22% fewer homes than they did last year. We’re at a pace that is less than half of what is needed if we are seriously to get to that 1.5-million-home target by 2031.

Most importantly, Speaker, it was a missed opportunity in public services and in health care. We are seeing emergency rooms closing across the province, and yet the budget brings us $6.4 billion in cuts to health care.

There’s also nothing in this budget to address the fact that Ontario’s unemployment rate right now is the highest in Canada at 7.6%. That’s up 1% from what the government had projected last year, and there is no support for those who are facing unemployment, and particularly young people. We just heard from StatsCan that the unemployment rate for 15- to 24-year-olds is higher than it has been in more than two decades—14% unemployment for young people.

The cuts to our colleges and universities are worsening this pressure on young people who can’t get into the labour market, who can’t get the job experience that they need, because our colleges and universities, as they deal with this financial crisis, are looking at closing down, laying off staff, reducing the services that provide support for students seeking co-ops and internships.

I’m hearing more and more from students who were promised a work-integrated learning placement—a co-op or an internship—and they’re hearing back from their employer that, unfortunately, that’s not going to happen because of the economic uncertainty that we’re now in. Students need to get those real-life job experiences in order to avoid what’s termed as “scarring” that comes when people try to enter the labour market without the job experience they need.

Speaker, this budget is full of missed opportunities, but it also follows on decades—or, under this government, since it was elected in 2018—of many, many poor decisions about spending public dollars. We saw a report earlier this month about the $9.2 billion that has been spent over the past 10 years on using private agencies for the health sector.

We heard about Shoppers Drug Mart billing almost $62 million for unnecessary—in many cases—medication reviews, and yet the budget announces a further investment of $280 million over two years for private clinics, when privatized health care is the most expensive way to deliver health care because it siphons off public dollars into shareholder pockets, and it also worsens the health care worker shortage that we are seeing in this province.

We’ve also just heard about the $40 million that the government spent on self-promoting, partisan ads, which just calls into question who this government is working for. Do they care about investing in the people of this province, or are they more interested in their own electoral prospects and their donors and supporters?

Speaker, people in this province are struggling. In my community in London, there are 140,000 Londoners who currently do not have access to a family doctor, and we heard in a study that was published just yesterday that, although there may be more family doctors who are graduating, fewer are practising in family medicine. The experts who conducted this study have said very clearly that the answer to the primary care crisis isn’t just training more doctors; it is making family practice an area that new medical graduates want to go into. We know that doctors spend up to half of their working day on paperwork, and that’s a huge deterrent for anyone who wants to go into family medicine.

No investment in public health care in this budget. In my community, the Middlesex-London Health Unit is the third-lowest funded of all 29 public health units in the province. They’ve had to lay off staff in school health nurses. They’ve had to cancel participation in community projects because of the layoffs. We saw 22.5 staff positions were cut. This year, they’re anticipating as many as another 20 positions to be cut unless their funding crisis is addressed, and the reality is that, in London—London is the fastest-growing municipality in the province of Ontario, second fastest in Canada.

We are experiencing a very significant population growth, which means that the services of the Middlesex-London Health Unit are more necessary than ever and are more over-extended than ever dealing with that large population increase.

We are seeing an increase in the need for mental health services. I just met with CHMA Thames Valley last week and the executive director told me that they were looking at a deficit of $2.6 million because of wage harmonization that had to happen when they amalgamated agencies.

But the reality is that even with the wage harmonization, the staff who work at CMHA agencies are grossly underpaid given the services that they provide. CMHA Thames Valley has been able to clear about half of the deficit through restructuring, but they’re still looking at a deficit of $1.5 million. We know that there is a huge need for supportive housing in London and communities across the province and yet the budget provides no new dollars for operating supports, for the staff to provide the wraparound services that people living in supportive housing need.

I talked about the fact that there are over 80,000 Ontarians experiencing homelessness. In London, it’s close to 2,000 people who are on the homeless by-name list. We have 7,500 people who are on a wait-list for rent-geared-to-income housing who need deeply affordable housing because their income simply will not allow them to find affordable market housing.

It’s not just renters who are experiencing the affordability pressures that we are seeing across the province; it’s also homeowners. We just got a report about the number of Ontarians who are missing mortgage payments, more than at any time since they first started being tracked by Equifax in 2012. There was a 71% increase in Ontario in the 90-day-plus mortgage delinquency rates because there is not enough missing middle housing to enable people to find affordable places to live. People are taking on huge debts in order to find affordable housing.

We know that there is expected growth in the post-secondary-age population in Ontario. HEQCO, an arm’s-length agency of the government, has identified the need for 225,000 more student spaces to meet the demand from domestic students. Yet this government has yet to do anything to address the fact that high-achieving students in this province are not able to access the education that they need and deserve.

In this joint letter that was issued in March by the chamber of commerce, Colleges Ontario and the COU, the number one recommendation that they made was to increase base operating revenues. This government announced some new investments in the budget—although, overall, there’s a cut of $1.2 billion, as I said—but none of the new investments that the government announced address the fact that there is no increase to base operating revenues. And the response that the government had made to the sector a year or so ago about the need for some kind of stability in the funding formula was less than half of what the sector needed.

Speaker, I started out by referencing what’s going on with our neighbours to the south and Trump’s attack on our economy. Without stabilizing and sustaining our post-secondary sector, we will not be able to build the resilient workforce that we need to respond to those threats of Trump’s tariffs.

I encourage the government to listen to the chamber of commerce and listen to the council of manufacturers and exporters, who are also calling for stability in the post-secondary sector and make the investments that the sector needs.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): I now recognize the member from Don Valley West.

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: Good morning. It’s an honour to rise today to lead off the debate for the third party on the budget motion.

Two weeks ago, the government tabled what they called the Plan to Protect Ontario budget. The title sounds good, but after reading the document, I can’t even support the name. It feels more like a plan to neglect Ontario because the words in the document, the rhetoric in the document, with carefully crafted headlines, political slogans and lofty promises, just don’t align with the numbers in the budget document, the numbers that are in the tables, the footnotes, the fiscal projections that show us the actual actions and the actual money the government will spend and the impact of those actions and decisions on the people of Ontario are why we’re all here to serve.

What we witnessed with this budget was the favourite trick of this Conservative government’s political magician’s playbook. With one hand, they distract Ontarians with booze, buds and the like, while with the other they make your public services disappear. Never has a government spent so much to deliver so little. And now this government has let the people of Ontario down at the moment when we need it to lift us up.

To understand what the government’s budget is really about, you need to focus on the numbers, not the headlines. The numbers do not paint a pretty picture, contrary to the $40 million that the government spent on their self-promotion ads last year. So let’s dive into the cold, hard numbers because while words can distort the truth, the numbers don’t lie. The numbers tell the real story of this budget.

During his speech at the Empire Club on May 12, the finance minister promised a budget that would be the most consequential in a generation, he said. It certainly needed to be, but not just because of the impact of US tariffs. He also said that Ontario is at a crossroads. I agree with him, but not just because of the impact of US tariffs.

Unfortunately, it’s an understatement to say that what the finance minister delivered is underwhelming, unimaginative and insufficient. Their plan to protect Ontario is a plan to neglect it while they add billions of dollars of debt in just one year. This budget will do nothing to help those trying to buy their first home. It will do nothing to help those struggling with the high cost of affordability and groceries. It will do nothing to help those waiting more than 12 hours in the ER.

The finance minister was right when he said we’re at a crossroads but, again, not just because of US tariffs. The government needed to take a different direction because the road they’ve taken us down is a dead end. Unfortunately, this budget provides no new direction for Ontario unless you want to take a fantasy tunnel under the 401. We’re at a crossroads because the people of Ontario are living with the consequences of seven years of this Conservative government’s mismanagement of the economy.

With our unemployment rate at the second highest in the country, an affordability crisis and low business confidence, Ontario is falling short of the promise it once held. This budget was a chance to stand at the crossroads, take a look in the mirror and change course. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

The voices of Ontarians were heard during pre-budget consultations at the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, and those stakeholders—those people who live here in the province of Ontario—painted a picture of a province falling short of its promise. From St. Catharines to Stratford, from Ottawa to Leamington, Ontarians are saying the same thing: We’re not spending public dollars in a way that produces better outcomes, especially in our health care and education systems.

In health care, the message was stark. Interdisciplinary health teams are too limited in scope to meet community needs. Mental health services are under-resourced, and emergency rooms are overwhelmed, in part because too many Ontarians can’t find a family doctor—2.5 million and counting. At the same time, the province has doubled its payments to private nursing agencies to staff our public hospitals. That’s an expensive approach that many see as unsustainable and misaligned with long-term goals.

In education, stakeholders like OSSTF president Karen Littlewood highlighted how “historic” spending headlines mask the real decline in our classrooms. And I hear it from residents in my riding on a regular basis. They feel the per-student funding that’s fallen by $1,500 under this government. They see and feel the larger class sizes, fewer educators and the erosion of safe, supportive learning environments.

At one school I visited during take your MPP to work week, a school talked about how they’re losing a half of their one and a half special-needs teachers. Speaker, that will have an impact on those kids in that school and their futures.

Workers and businesses in this province have been struggling for several years. Now our economy is even more vulnerable because of the dramatic shift in US trade policy, but businesses are facing unprecedented uncertainty. That souring business sentiment is leading many companies to pause their investment plans as they reassess their sales outlooks in this softening economy, notably in the auto sector, which the Liberal government bailed out. Conservative members over there voted against that, but they’ve got an auto sector now because of the Liberal government.

They’ve been trying to attract investment, but guess what? Honda Canada’s $15-billion investment to scale up its EV supply chain here in Ontario is now on hold. Stellantis, while back open now, paused production for two weeks in Windsor following tariff announcements. Unemployment is increasing in other areas of the auto industry as well. According to the Bank of Canada, a growing number of workers across the province are worried about losing their jobs. Not surprisingly, the uncertainty is weighing on consumer spending decisions, and that affects us all.

These headwinds have emerged against a backdrop of already difficult economic conditions. When this government was first elected in 2018, they inherited not a bankrupt province, as the Premier likes to try to tell us. They inherited a province where Ontario had the second-lowest unemployment rate in the country, where economic growth outpaced all members of the G7.

In April 2025, under this Conservative government, unemployment jumped to 7.8% and is now the second highest in the country. Some 691,000 Ontarians are out of work. Historically, Ontario was a leader in national job creation, so our unemployment is usually below the national average. Seeing it above the national average is very unusual. In fact, it’s only happened twice in the past 50 years, during the 2008 financial crisis and then again during the pandemic.

Earlier this month, Statistics Canada—I think we can all rely on them and their data—noted that Ontario’s economy slowed for a third consecutive year in 2024. Speaker, let me say that again: Under this Conservative government, Ontario’s economy has slowed for three years running. Real GDP growth averaged just 1.2% for the year, the slowest pace in two decades. The province has seen its share of national GDP growth decline from 43% to 29% since this government was elected in 2018. So real GDP per capita, which is the broadest measure of economic prosperity, has been falling at a faster rate in Ontario versus the rest of Canada since 2022.

The unemployment rate in Ontario has gone up during the seven years of this government and has been above the national average because this government isn’t doing enough. They are not focused on the right things, Speaker. We know that business investment drives productivity growth. It creates jobs. It boosts workers’ incomes. Unfortunately, slower growth in private sector employment versus the rest of Canada since the end of the pandemic shows the Ontario government hasn’t done enough, and our productivity is on par with Alabama because of it.

Ontario families are seeing their after-tax income grow more slowly than the national average. In fact, Ontario’s poorer performance has cut the purchasing power of households by an average of $2,000 annually since 2018. That’s why people are feeling the pinch. They are feeling the affordability crisis hit them every day, and yet this government defeated our opposition day motion to provide tax relief to families and small businesses—shameful.

The only thing the government has achieved with its debt strategy is to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio at a still-high level—36.9% in 2024-25—and that doesn’t leave a lot of room to invest in Ontario to help Ontario businesses grow as we face this economic uncertainty.

Fewer manufacturing jobs are being created under this government, Speaker, and they know it, despite their rhetoric. The sector’s share of total employment hit a new low of 10% in 2024. Only 10% of jobs in Ontario are in the manufacturing sector, significantly below the historical average of 16.5%. The manufacturing sector is shrinking under this government.

Once again, let’s set the record straight on manufacturing: According to StatsCan, manufacturing jobs went up during the previous Liberal government, from 786,500 in 2013 to 803,100, for a total of 16,600 jobs—let’s round up and call it 17,000. Under this Conservative government, manufacturing jobs went from 803,100 in 2018 to 809,700 in April 2025. That’s 6,600 jobs—let’s round that up to 7,000.

Let’s just summarize that again for the members opposite; I hope they’re listening. In round numbers, so there’s no uncertainty on this side of the House: Liberals, 17,000 manufacturing jobs; Conservatives, 7,000.

Then there are the construction jobs. Under this Conservative government, 14,000 construction workers lost their jobs in 2024, on top of an additional 24,000 in 2023, making it the biggest two-year decline since the early-1990s recession. In 2024, Canada-US trade topped $1 trillion, a relationship that supports 2.4 million jobs in Canada. Ontario’s share of that is 1.1 million, and those jobs are certainly at risk. Those workers are feeling the uncertainty because of the dramatic shift in US trade policy. So the government did need to pay attention to that, and they had an opportunity with this budget to put forward a credible plan to protect jobs; sadly, it didn’t.

Speaker, it’s not a rosy picture, like the imaginary one painted by the Conservatives in their partisan ads for which they spent $40 million of taxpayer money before an election. They won the recent election with that money; their campaign manager even said so. Now it’s time for the Conservative Party to pay that money back to the taxpayers.

So, Speaker, yes, the resilience of our economy is strained, but not because of Donald Trump, like the Conservatives told people over and over during the election. The resilience of our economy is strained because of this Conservative government and their bad decisions in the last seven years, and it’s time that they acknowledge that.

Because of their poor performance and the economic uncertainty we’re now facing, the period ahead will be challenging for workers and businesses. The FAO noted in a recent report that GDP growth is likely to stall in 2025 and 2026 as US tariffs potentially disrupt Ontario’s economy. We may see a recession in 2025, with below-trend growth after that, reducing the real level of the GDP by about $20 billion, or 2%, between now and 2029. In Ontario’s manufacturing sector, the one most exposed to US tariffs, the level of trade could be 8% lower in 2026 versus a no tariff scenario.

So those output declines do put thousands of jobs at risk. In fact, the FAO sees 119,000—

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Debate time is up. Thank you.

Debate deemed adjourned.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): It is now time for members’ statements.

Members’ Statements

L’Arche Stratford

Mr. Matthew Rae: Today, it’s my pleasure to rise to talk about L’Arche Stratford; some in this place will know it very well. It will be breaking ground on its newest project on Britannia Street, an innovative and accessible new facility with eight affordable and independent living suites, activity rooms and offices to help grow their footprint in our community. They offer a variety of programs and services and have made Stratford home to the largest supported integrated living program in the province.

L’Arche provides those living with developmental disabilities with an engaged, active and fulfilling life within our community. This new location will help reduce local wait-lists for support by over 50% and provide more individuals with supportive living through L’Arche Stratford.

Speaker, I’m proud to share that our government is helping ensure this project moves forward in a small way. Because of Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, we are saving L’Arche Stratford over $32,000 in development charges. It’s wonderful to see how our government is helping get more affordable and supportive housing built in our small cities and rural Ontario. Congratulations to L’Arche Stratford on reaching this milestone. I look forward to attending the grand opening later.

Andrew Lauer

Ms. Jennifer K. French: When I was first elected in 2014, I met and hired Andrew Lauer to work in the Oshawa constituency office. Andrew is an Oshawa boy who has always had a heart for service and a head for politics. During the federal election in 1979, Andrew walked into the local NDP campaign office to volunteer and became a life-long member of the party. Andrew has been serving constituents for almost 30 years. He first worked for MPP Allan Pilkey in Oshawa during the NDP government and later for Peter Kormos in Welland. He worked for Frances Lankin in Beaches–East York, and then for MPP Michael Prue until 2014. Then, from 2014 until 2025, he’s worked in Oshawa.

Andrew has worked for five MPPs, and now that he’s retiring, I am quite worried he’ll write a best-selling tell-all book—and Andrew can tell you stories. Many of those stories are rooted in the human moments from when he was able to make a difference in the lives of our neighbours in need. Too often, we can’t solve impossible problems, but Andrew always built relationships and invested his heart and soul into helping people. He started before the era of the Internet and before emails. He has watched the work evolve but has always seen that some things have never changed: There are always good people who will need help.

Andrew is beginning his well-deserved retirement, which I hope will be filled with reading and travel and adventures. I want to thank him for being such a committed and valued member of our team and for his heart and compassion and dedication to helping the people of Oshawa and Ontario. Our team won’t be the same without him.

Thank you, Andrew Lauer, for 30 years of service to community and for a lifetime of believing in a better world and working so hard to make it happen. Congratulations on your retirement.

Ontario Science Centre

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: I’m sure many members will agree with me when I say that one of the best parts of this job is welcoming students from our riding. I know it’s going to be a great day here when students from Don Valley West arrive to visit at Queen’s Park.

Experts have debunked his and his minister’s answers: It’s not cheaper to move it than renovate it, and it’s not because the roof is falling. Most of the students, including those from Leaside High School recently, asked me to do one thing. They asked me to tell the Premier—they say “MPP Bowman, will you please tell the Premier to not move the Science Centre, to leave it where it is?” So, for the students in Don Valley West and across our city, that’s what I’m doing again today.

Government investments

Mr. Robert Bailey: Madam Speaker, it’s a pleasure to see you in the chair. Rural Ontario’s economy is vast, diverse and powerful. That’s why I was pleased that the 2025 budget recognized the potential of rural communities all across this province and commits to historic investments, including in my riding of Sarnia–Lambton, that will also protect Ontario. These investments include an additional $400 million in the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program and the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund. Of those two intakes for the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund, nearly two thirds of the projects have been in small, rural and northern communities not unlike mine.

Nearly $2 billion next year alone is committed across the province for repairs and maintenance in local schools. This includes an addition to a school in my area, Errol Village Public School, in Camlachie.

I was especially excited to see the modernization of the Rural Ontario Development Program, formerly known as the Rural Economic Development Program. We are doubling the funding, at $10 million annually, over the next two years.

This budget reflects and respects rural Ontario. It is an encouraging response to the needs of this province and highlights our government’s commitment to rural Ontario, matching the ambition of our rural economic development strategy. As we look to protect Ontario, we need to look to our small towns across the province, because when rural communities thrive, Ontario thrives.

Government accountability

Ms. Sandy Shaw: Doug Ford’s controversial Bill 5 must be withdrawn. With this bill the government is writing a blank cheque to exempt themselves from any and all laws and regulations to do whatever they want wherever they want—no consent, no consultation, no laws.

So-called special economic zones give cabinet ministers sweeping power to override laws, including laws that protect Ontario’s land and waters, even labour laws, and public safety protections.

With Bill 5, this government is displaying their staggering lack of respect for First Nations. Ontario, as the crown, has a legal responsibility to uphold the treaties. First Nations leaders have come to the Legislature and have told the government in no uncertain words that Bill 5 is a direct violation of their sovereignty and their inherent rights. There is no bill, no shortcut for the Ontario government to neglect their duty to consult. Underestimating this duty or underestimating First Nations would be a mistake.

This bill is a daring power grab that could have been ripped right out of the playbook of Donald Trump. I stand in solidarity with those who believe in accountable, responsible government, environmental protections and upholding the rights of First Nations. I urge this government to reconsider and withdraw Bill 5.

Events in Mississauga East–Cooksville

MPP Silvia Gualtieri: Madam Speaker, community spirit shines bright in Mississauga East–Cooksville, and I am proud to rise again to celebrate it. The 19th annual food drive, organized by the 52nd Mississauga Scouts, was a heartwarming reminder of the generosity of our youth. These young leaders collected for Food Banks Mississauga, truly showcasing what it means to give back.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Stephaney Wang, a bright and dedicated legislative page from my riding. Stephaney, we are proud of you.

We celebrated heritage and unity at the seventh annual Egyptian festival, the largest of its kind in North America, hosted by the Canadian Egyptian Heritage Association. The event brought culture, history and tradition to life.

At the International Christian Voice’s memorial meeting, we honoured Martyr Shahbaz Bhatti, a courageous advocate for religious freedom and human rights. His legacy lives on.

Tonight I will be joining the volunteer appreciation evening to recognize those who uplift our community through selfless service.

Looking ahead, I am excited to attend the Italian extravaganza on June 5, and on June 9 I look forward to welcoming residents for Seniors Living Expo, where we connect seniors with caregivers, families and the tools they need to live well and age with confidence—

Basic income

MPP Lise Vaugeois: The basic income program, with locations in Lindsay, Hamilton, and my riding of Thunder Bay, began in 2017 under the Liberals as a pilot program for poverty reduction. Participants were given up to $17,000 a year for three years in exchange for allowing themselves to become objects of the government’s study, sharing intimate details about their finances, relationships, physical and mental health, housing, and so on. The goal after three years was to provide enough data to assess the effects on people and on communities of a guaranteed basic income.

The Ontario government had contractually committed to completing this project over the planned three years; however, the moment Doug Ford was elected in 2018, he pulled the plug. This caused incredible harm to participants, many of whom had reported improvements in their physical and mental health, labour market participation, food security, housing stability, financial status and social relationships.

The abrupt closure was devastating, but this story doesn’t end here.

With the support of Cavalluzzo LLP lawyer Stephen Moreau, 4,000 participants are pursuing a $2-million class action lawsuit against the government, alleging a breach of contract, negligence, and a violation of

section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The behaviour of the government was egregious, and I believe the court case will prove this. A better idea would be to save everyone time, money and further suffering, and settle this case now.

Government investments

Mr. John Jordan: Our government recently announced its 2025 Experience Ontario grants to festivals in my riding of Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston. This grant provides support for events to motivate visitors to discover Ontario, connect people and local experiences, and increase tourism spending.

Thanks to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, the Stewart Park Festival in Perth was one of the successful recipients. Cathy McNally, director of community services for the town of Perth, said, “When our MPP John Jordan called me to share the news we had received the Experience Ontario grant, I was elated for our Stewart Park Festival team. This group of volunteers worked tirelessly to bring three days of music to the park here in Perth each summer. This provincial funding support goes such a long way to help to continue a beloved three-decade-long tradition.”

Overall, our government is investing nearly $20 million across the province, and over 350 festivals and events will be supported this year. Events like the Spirit of the Drum Pow Wow in Smiths Falls, June 14 and 15, and Almonte Celtfest, July 4 to 6, plus the Festival of Small Halls and a number of festivals in Kingston, Ontario. Now more than ever, it’s important that we come together to take

part in made-in-Ontario experiences that highlight the best of our province and support local communities.

Events in Markham–Unionville

Mr. Billy Pang: I am pleased to rise in the House today to recognize the remarkable people of Markham–Unionville. Earlier this month, we celebrated Mother’s Day by presenting the amazing mom award, a heartfelt way to honour the many incredible women for their love, dedication and care. Markham–Unionville is home to so many inspiring individuals, and I believe it is important that we continue to celebrate them. That’s why June will be filled with special initiatives to recognize them.

We will begin with the outstanding senior volunteer award during Senior Volunteer Appreciation Week, which was officially proclaimed in Ontario through my private member’s Bill 270, the Senior Volunteer Appreciation Week Act, 2021.

Next, we’ll recognize father figures through the amazing dad award, a meaningful way to honour the important role they play in our lives. Men usually feel forgotten in a family—not anymore, not in my riding.

Finally, we’ll wrap up the month with the shining star award, celebrating students of all ages who are achieving academic and personal milestones, with certificates and a “shining stars” festival being held in my riding.

Thank you to all the special people who make our community extraordinary and unique. I look forward to reconnecting with them in person this summer during my award presentation and community visits.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I’d ask the House to lower the volume on the sidebar conversations, please.

I recognize the government house leader on a point of order.

House sittings

Mr. Steve Clark: Yes, Speaker, point of order. Good morning.

I’d like to advise the House that the night sitting scheduled for this evening has been cancelled.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I beg to inform the House—and here’s the bad news. I beg to inform the House that, pursuant to standing order 9(h), the Clerk has received written notice from the government House leader indicating that a temporary change in the weekly meeting

schedule of the House is required, and therefore the House shall commence at 9 a.m. on Monday, June 2, 2025, for the proceeding orders of the day.

Introduction of Visitors

Hon. Trevor Jones: It gives me great pleasure to welcome the Beef Farmers of Ontario today. After question period, please attend the south lawn and enjoy fresh farm beef from Ontario beef farmers.

M me Chandra Pasma: J’aimerais souhaiter la bienvenue à tous les membres de l’Association franco-ontarienne des conseils scolaires catholiques à Queen’s Park aujourd’hui, y compris leur président, Robert Demers, et leur vice-présidente, Johanne Lacombe. Merci d’être venus pour nous parler de l’importance de l’éducation francophone. J’espère que vous passez toutes et tous une très bonne journée à Queen’s Park.

Mr. Rob Cerjanec: I’d like to recognize Sära Harsini, the president of the York University Undergraduate Political Science Council, and their members who are here today at Queen’s Park. Welcome to your House.

M. Andrew Dowie: J’aimerais souhaiter une très cordiale bienvenue à Robert Demers, Paul Lachance et Christine Brooks avec le Conseil scolaire catholique Providence. Merci d’avoir visité notre Assemblée législative.

M me France Gélinas: Moi aussi, j’aimerais souhaiter la bienvenue à Robert Demers, le président de l’Association franco-ontarienne des conseils scolaires catholiques, ainsi qu’à Chahrazad Chaabane, Mirela Lonian et Stewart Kiff. Bienvenue.

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: ᐯᔑᑯᔭᑭᐦ ᐅᑕᓇᐠ, ᐦᐅᒪ ᑭᐦᑭᐊᐱᒥᓇᐸᐣ

ᒥᐍ ᓂᐦᒪᒪ ᐁᑭᑎᐱᐡᑲᐣᑭᐸᐣ

ᒥᐍ ᓄᐣᑯᒼ ᑲᑭᔑᑲᓂᐠ ᒥᓇ ᐁᑎᐱᐡᑲᐣᐠ ᓂᒪᒪ

ᐁᐃᓇᓀᐤᒥᑕᓇ ᐁᑕᓱᔦᑭᐏᓀᐨ

A year ago today, we were standing here, and I’d like to just acknowledge my mom, Kezia Mamakwa. Today is her birthday. She’s 80 years old. Meegwetch.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Happy birthday, Ma Mamakwa.

Hon. Nolan Quinn: I’d like to introduce my summer intern, Joshua Deslandes. Joshua’s a bright student at the University of Toronto Scarborough with a passion for public service. We’re pleased to have him join my ministry team. Welcome, Joshua.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Good morning, Madam Speaker. I want to introduce some amazing friends from King–Vaughan who are with us today: my dear friend Meni and John Pitoscia, as well as Wendy and Fred. Thank you for joining us, thank you for your friendship and leadership—as well as a shout-out to Isabella, Sabrina, Ornella, Brandon, Amanda and Maia, all of whom are doing amazing work. Thank you all for your service.

Hon. Graham McGregor: We have very special guests here: my parents, Duncan and Lesley McGregor. My mother, Lesley, is here for the very first time. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: It gives me great pleasure to welcome Feed Ontario and members of the food bank network from across Ontario. I hope your day of action goes well.

M. Stephen Blais: Je voudrais prendre un moment pour souhaiter la bienvenue à quelques amis et membres de l’Association franco-ontarienne des conseils scolaires catholiques avec nous aujourd’hui : MM. Marc Bertrand, Daniel Boudria, Jean-François Boulanger et Olivier Gagnon Maheu. Merci pour votre présence, et j’ai hâte de vous rencontrer cet après-midi.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: I want to take the opportunity to introduce Corry Erkelens, who is the mother of Premier’s office staffer Jenna Bendayan, and Joelle Kapon, who’s also visiting us here today.

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: I want to welcome two very important people to the House this morning: my constituency assistant, Caleb Ratzlaff, and Steve Walton, a constituent and local tenants’ advocate. Welcome to Queen’s Park. Welcome to your House.

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: I’m pleased to welcome to the Legislature today, from my riding of York–Simcoe, my friend Grant Peckford, the host of the popular Rogers television program Georgina Life.

J’aimerais aussi prendre l’occasion pour saluer les représentants de l’Association franco-ontarienne des conseils scolaires catholiques : Robert Demers, Suzanne Salituri et Mirela Lonian, et aussi la représentante du Consortium Centre Jules-Léger Melinda Chartrand. Bienvenue à Queen’s Park.

Hon. Kinga Surma: I would like to welcome two of my interns: Bobby Smitiuch, who was actually with me since the very beginning, when I decided to run back in 2018, and Chiara Naccarato. They’re here today.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

MPP Alexa Gilmour: Our page captain today is Emma Hurtado Dagnino, from Parkdale–High Park, and I want to welcome her and her family, Michelle, Jorge and Hermes, who are here today.

Congratulations. Parkdale–High Park is very proud of you.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I apologize to everyone who was unable to make introductions—and my especial apology to the member from Oakville North–Burlington; you will be able to do so at 1 o’clock.

Question Period

Government accountability

Ms. Marit Stiles: This question is for the Premier. We have seen unprecedented opposition to Bill 5. And I know the Premier doesn’t like to hear opposition and he doesn’t like anybody opposing his ideas. Sometimes he gets a bit angry about it. He has been known to hurl a few insults. But thousands and thousands and thousands of people have reached out with their concerns. We’re hearing from mining companies. We’re hearing from scientists and engineers and, of course, from First Nations. I know that the Premier is feeling the pressure now, but so far, all this government is doing is blowing smoke.

Will the government take their responsibility to First Nations seriously and withdraw Bill 5?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Minister of Energy and Mines.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: We brought forth a bill after campaigning to the people of Ontario on a commitment to cut down the time it takes to build responsible resource development. I think all Canadians understand the point that we are literally losing this economic war because we are the second slowest in the industrialized world. We also recognize that in order to do big things in this nation, we need to do it in partnership.

The national government, in the speech from the throne yesterday, committed to reducing their assessments from five down to two years. The new NDP of Manitoba and BC have committed to reducing their timelines too. We are all working with the same intention.

We understand the need to strengthen the bill. That’s why the government has committed, working with the Minister of Indigenous Affairs, to further codify every

schedule relevant in the bill—that we will meaningfully consult before using our authorities.

We will respect the Constitution. But we will get on with building our nation and standing up for Canada’s economic self-reliance.

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: Well, Speaker, if the government wanted to do this right, they would consult before they introduce the law, not after.

This government has always been about show and not substance.

You’re setting us back generations with this legislation. This isn’t about mining. It’s not about the north. It’s not about the economy. It’s not even about fighting Donald Trump, for goodness’ sake. This is an unfettered power grab by this government and this Premier, and the people have had enough.

Back to the Premier: The only way to fix this bill is to scrap it. Nothing else is going to do that.

Will the government scrap Bill 5?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Response? I recognize the Minister of Indigenous Affairs.

Hon. Greg Rickford: Madam Speaker, this bill is in fact about more than just mining. It’s about creating an opportunity for First Nations communities who, for too long, have lived in the kind of socio-economic conditions that are completely unacceptable—the most brittle critical infrastructure anywhere; no road access; demands from First Nations leadership to build all-season roads because they are shrinking and goods and services cannot get to those communities.

We believe if we work in full partnership with First Nations communities to build out the critical infrastructure that is the face of developing critical minerals and mining sites, we think we have a fair, responsible and reasonable way for us to have common goals and common interests, to create a brighter future for the First Nations communities in this province that need it the most.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Supplementary?

Ms. Marit Stiles: Back to the Premier: You are not working in full partnership with First Nations. My goodness, if you got any message from this last couple of weeks, surely it’s that, right? Even the mining sector knows that free, prior, informed consent isn’t just a constitutional obligation; it is the key to the success of these projects.

But this bill? It just takes us backward, and all this scrambling that we’ve seen over the last few days from all these ministers—boy, they’re going in a thousand directions, but they’re actually not solving the fundamental problem here. Will the government do the right thing, the smart thing, withdraw this bill and go back to the drawing board?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The Minister of Energy and Mines.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Madam Speaker, doing the right thing is ensuring that we lead the industrialized world when it comes to responsible resource development. Doing the right thing is challenging the status quo.

The opposition wants to make this everything but resource development, but they too say that they would support getting mines built faster. We have a bill before the House that respects the Constitution, strengthens compliance, but cuts down permitting timelines by 50%, and because the New Democrats and the Liberals will never get to yes on getting a resource project done—this is about the self-reliance of Canada.

If we want to win the day and build the clean energy economy the opposition members aspire to for Canada, then they will work with this government, as the federal government is doing too, to cut down timelines, to reduce the bureaucracy, to cut the permitting time by half so that we actually get on with building our clean energy economy. We cannot do that when we are the slowest in the world, and we have a plan before the House, working in partnership with all communities impacted, to deliver responsible resource development, finally, for the people of Ontario.

Government accountability

Ms. Marit Stiles: I’m going to go back to the Premier again. Look, you have a bill before us here that is going to tie this government and these projects up in court for years. This isn’t going to help. It’s not going to speed anything up. It’s just going to make everything take longer.

And it’s not just disrespect for First Nations, Speaker; I want to be very clear with government—and that is enough of a reason—but it’s also that this bill is going to completely derail northern development. It is about the laws that they are going to be able to suspend. You can call them “special economic zones,” but what we know you are doing is opening up the floodgates for an abuse of power by government. The government is willingly putting workers’ health and safety and lives at risk. Will you scrap the bill and go back to the drawing board?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation.

Hon. Greg Rickford: Forgive me, Madam Speaker, if I’m struggling with that question from somebody who thinks northern Ontario is North York. Let me tell the member opposite about northern communities. The member sitting beside—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Order.

Hon. Greg Rickford: —has stood in this place and talked about the level of desperation with First Nations youth living in those isolated communities. Nobody has mentioned here today in this debate so far that we have signed good community partnership agreements that are going to tie those communities to legacy infrastructure, to meet the demands not only of what their communities expect, since their populations are shrinking and moving to the cities, but helping those young people move back to those communities with meaningful jobs, hope and prosperity.

We believe that, done right, the $3 billion that we announced and the money to support the consultation process will bring this to a place where we’ll be meaningful partners with First Nations and move forward in that spirit.

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: The minister can hurl all the insults he wants; it’s not going to make me back off of this one, I can tell you. I can tell you that.

I want to explain something to the minister. The government is giving themselves the power to override every law. I want to be clear about what this means, because this bill gives the government the power to override labour laws, those laws that keep those workers safe and protect fair wages.

Now, I want you to think for a moment, Speaker, about all those hard-working people in the mining sector who fought to make sure that at the end of the day they had the laws and protections that would make sure they got home safely to their families. Those laws? Out the window under this government’s law.

If the government truly respects Ontario workers, why would they override the very laws that protect them in this bill?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Speaker, we’ve seen unprecedented levels of investment flow into the province since we took office. In the last two years, 184 international companies have landed here, bringing $30 billion, hiring 18,000 new people. That’s what happens when you cut red tape and lower costs across the board.

Now, we are going to build on that progress, but we have to recognize that we need to move faster. The competition for investments is going to be unlike anything we’ve ever seen. If companies have to wait 15 years to get shovels in the ground, they’re going to invest in other jurisdictions. We need to get rid of unnecessary red tape, make it easier for companies to invest, to hire and to grow. That is exactly what Bill 5 will do.

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: Well, Speaker, I’ll tell you one thing: The laws that protect workers and their rights are not red tape.

We can build a more resilient economy. We can grow this economy. We can access Ontario’s resources, and you know what? We can do it all without overriding every single law—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Government side will come to order.

Ms. Marit Stiles: We can do that without overriding every single law and protection in this province, without suspending workers’ rights, without trampling treaty obligations, without opening the door to corruption.

What we cannot do is fight back against Trump’s trade war by adopting Trump-style tactics, but that is exactly what this Premier and his government are doing.

So I’m going to ask one more time: Will the Premier stop the Trump-like tactics and scrap Bill 5?

The competition to land investments is going to be unlike anything we’ve seen. We’ve said that over and over here: If companies have to wait 15 years to get a permit, they’re going to bring their investment dollars elsewhere. We on this side refuse to let that happen. We will create more jobs right here in the province of Ontario through our Bill 5.

Government accountability

Mr. John Fraser: Bill 5 is going to go through clause-by-clause today. It’s very clear that the Premier is pretty much hell-bent on ramming Bill 5 through.

Now, we’ve heard from First Nations leaders who said to the Premier very clearly, “You need to stop. You need to talk to us. You need to consult with us.” This is what our First Nations are saying to us, irrespective of what the Premier said yesterday. It’s a big problem.

So my question to the Premier is, why is he risking breaking the little trust that his government has with First Nations and going forward with Bill 5 in its present form?

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

Hon. Greg Rickford: The term is “the First Nations,” not “our First Nations.” Proudly, they are nations that we intend to engage and consult with in a meaningful way. We understand our responsibilities with respect to the duty to consult on Bill 5.

Committee is not a place for the duty to consult. The duty to consult starts when political leadership sits down with Indigenous leaders from across the province as they’re represented by their grand chiefs etc., and then proceed into regional parts of Ontario to make sure that Bill 5 is understood as an opportunity—an opportunity to build legacy infrastructure, to advance projects that are as much in the interest of First Nations as they are to the province of Ontario.

We have a rare opportunity, for all the reasons debated so far, Madam Speaker, to make meaningful partnerships with First Nations communities that can change their outcomes and look forward to the same kind of prosperity that the rest of Ontario thinks about and understands.

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

Mr. John Fraser: Speaker, I want to apologize: We don’t own First Nations. I don’t believe that, but I do believe we have a duty to consult and listen to them.

The only things that are salvageable in Bill 5 are schedules 4 and 5, and they relate to eliminating fees and the consolidation of the permitting process. The rest of it is just a recipe for disaster. Not only is it offending First Nations, it’s of great concern to the people of Dresden, who are specifically mentioned and pointed out in the bill. They are the first victims of the Premier’s special economic zones.

So the Premier’s message is clear on Bill 5: “I’m going to do whatever I want wherever I want whenever I want with whomever I want, and to heck with the rest of you. You don’t have a say.”

My question back to the Premier is, why will the Premier not do as First Nations are asking us, to put a stop to Bill 5 in its present form and go back to the drawing board?

Hon. Greg Rickford: Madam Speaker, if you look and listen to the feedback so far from First Nations leaders who’ve taken a very reasonable approach to what Bill 5 is presenting, it’s more about an opportunity—an opportunity to engage politically, an opportunity to consult on Bill 5 moving forward, which is what our obligation is once this legislation is passed, and we will do that. Under no circumstances will we compromise treaty rights or the duty to consult. In fact, it will be a sharpened focus with First Nations who’ve approached us about some of their economic interests.

Imagine, for the first time ever a government coming forward with the kind of heft in policy—$3 billion to support equity partnerships in major infrastructure projects, $70 million to support capacity and engagement in the duty to consult with First Nations so that when we move beyond consultation we’re in the right place for young First Nations people to have as bright a future as my children and anybody else’s.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Final supplementary?

Mr. John Fraser: It’s really hard to believe that answer when the government’s response to First Nations is, “Oh, we just put two amendments into the bill,” one in the

preamble—for God’s sakes, a

preamble—and another one. So it doesn’t really have very much meaning. It’s just more words, which First Nations have heard a lot for a very, very long period of time.

I guess the real question is, why did the Premier not go to the people? Why did this bill not travel? Why didn’t we go to the places in the north where the Premier is going to create his special economic zones? Why didn’t we go to the people of Dresden? Why didn’t this committee take the time to do this? It’s such a big bill, it’s so important, and we’re not actually listening to the people who are most affected by it? So why did the Premier not allow this bill to be travelled?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The Minister of Energy and Mines.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Madam Speaker, the member opposite is right on one thing: It can’t just be the rhetoric of public servants or politicians when it comes to commitments.

So, unlike the former Liberal government, this Premier put $3 billion on the table to ensure equity ownership of large-scale resource projects to create jobs, ownership and opportunity for Indigenous peoples. We put $70 million specifically on the table, increasing the Indigenous Participation Fund to navigate the duty to consult. That’s a 260% increase, a number one top ask of the leadership.

But what all Canadians want, including the federal Liberals as of yesterday’s throne speech, is an actual action plan to reduce the timelines it takes to build, because we are the slowest. It’s a legacy of the former Liberals that did nothing, that kept our resources landlocked, that didn’t get shovels in the ground.

We have a responsibility, yes, post-Trump. Let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room. It’s either we stand up or another authoritarian regime wins the day. We choose Canada and so should you.

Government accountability

Mr. John Fraser: Back to the Premier, Speaker: It would be easier for First Nations to believe this government if they weren’t late with their homework, with a couple of hundred words at the last minute to say they were serious about it. It’s hard to believe this government’s serious about it at all.

So, here’s what Bill 5 essentially does: It allows the Premier to draw a circle around a piece of land and say, “I’m going to do whatever I want, with whoever I want, whenever I want.” And the rules? They don’t apply here. What the Premier wants to do is say, “There’s one set of rules for me, and there’s another set of rules for everybody else.”

So I guess my question to the Premier is, why does he think he’s above the law?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The Minister of Indigenous Affairs.

Hon. Greg Rickford: I’ve got to collect my thoughts here, because I’m thinking of all the Liberal MPPs that actually come from northern Ontario and understand it—oh, there aren’t any, Madam Speaker.

I think what we have to do here is understand that this is a rare opportunity, unmatched in any experience or scenario that I have been in. Even going back to my federal days, Madam Speaker, we had an opportunity to work with First Nations communities on developing the kinds of economic projects that transformed their communities across this country.

As the Minister of Energy and Mines mentioned, there are other jurisdictions in Canada, notably British Columbia and Manitoba, who are looking at their policy actions and pursuing them in a way that not just builds out the opportunity for the world to serve up in critical minerals but to make sure that First Nations are full and meaningful partners, and that’s exactly what we intend to do.

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

Mr. John Fraser: Well, we all remember the last time the Premier drew a big circle, and what was that big circle around?

M me Lucille Collard: The greenbelt.

Mr. John Fraser: The greenbelt, that’s right. And we all know what happened, right? And we had to do that because there was a crisis in housing: “We have to do it; I’ve got to break these rules because there’s a crisis.” But we all saw what happened. We didn’t get any more homes, right? But wealthy, well-connected insiders, well, they sure were rewarded.

Bill 5 is just the Premier saying, “It’s okay for me to do that.” So my question back is, why does the Premier think he’s above the law?

Hon. Greg Rickford: Let’s go back to the last time a government drew a circle around a place in Ontario. Oh, it was the Far North Act. The Far North Act, that’s it. It was a piece of legislation that put reservations—Indian reservations, as they’re referred to in the Indian Act—into parks, without consultation. It land-locked those communities that were already land-locked in the Far North. I was there working as a lawyer in that region. There was outrage, Madam Speaker, because it provided no opportunities to give voices to First Nations; it recognized no partnership opportunities.

Bill 5 and the work we’re doing with our community partnership agreements are giving First Nations a powerful economic tool to fundamentally transform the kind of prosperity that they should have, since we all have access to it. Let’s be fair, let’s be reasonable and let’s ensure that First Nations youth, tomorrow and for the next seven generations, have an opportunity.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Final supplementary?

Mr. John Fraser: Speaker, I just want to make this clear to the members on the other side, especially the ministers. What Bill 5 permits to happen is the Premier, or somebody from his office, is going to come to you and say, “I want you to do this thing in this place with these people.” And then you will have a tough decision to make, and, rest assured, in that decision, you will be the person left holding the bag, because that’s how this Premier operates. I’m not making this stuff up. You have colleagues who know what it’s just like to be left holding the bag by the Premier, because that’s how he operates.

My question again is, why does the Premier believe he’s above the law?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Minister of Energy and Mines.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Yesterday in the federal Liberal throne speech, the federal Liberal party announced an intention to cut their assessment timelines from five years down to two. That is actually more aggressive than the one before the House today by our government. So it begs the question: You are well outside the political mainstream if you think the status quo is working—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Through the Speaker.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: And the members opposite of both parties posed the question, “Who stands by this bill?” Well, the Ontario Mining Association stands by the “one project, one process” vision. The head of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters association stands by that provision. The chair of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce stands by our plan to responsibly build resources.

The head of Frontier Lithium; the head of the Toronto Region Board of Trade; the head of Generation Mining; the head of Agnico Eagle; the CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce; the executive director of MineConnect; Iamgold; the Business Council of Canada—everyone wants us to get on with building a clean energy economy, and we’re doing this in partnership with First Nation communities—

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

Pharmacare

MPP Robin Lennox: My question is for the Premier.

Today there are people standing at pharmacy counters all across Ontario and wondering if they’re going to be able to afford to fill their prescriptions, trying to decide if they’re going to be able to treat their diabetes and pay their rent in the same month.

You’ve often spoken about how Ontarians will only have to pay for their health care with their OHIP card, never their credit card, but somehow that promise falls through in the short time it takes for someone to walk from their doctor’s office to the pharmacy to fill their prescription.

By expanding Ontario drug benefit eligibility to include all Ontarians, we could immediately put money back in people’s pockets while taking care of their health and saving our health system dollars.

Will the Premier commit to standing with the people of Ontario and voting yes on my motion to expand the Ontario drug benefit to all Ontarians in this province?

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

Hon. Sylvia Jones: The member opposite should know that with the coverage that we have provided in the province of Ontario, we actually cover almost 60% of the population who need these services. We have five publicly funded drug programs, and of course, the largest is the Ontario Drug Benefit Program. We make sure that individuals who are in need have access to these critical drugs.

I must say, the work that the Premier has made in terms of leading the Confederation to ensure that Ontario and Canadian individuals get fast access to pharmaceuticals is some of the work that he is doing as the current leader of COF.

We’ll continue to do that work. We’ll make sure that those individuals who are actually in need are getting the pharmaceuticals and the treatments they deserve.

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

MPP Robin Lennox: Unlike the Minister of Health, I’ve never been satisfied with a success rate of 60%.

The minister should know that if we don’t pay for people’s essential medications at the pharmacy, we’re going to be paying for it in our emergency departments and our hospitals.

One in five working Ontarians don’t have any medication coverage at all. Small businesses are struggling, having to eat into their profit margins to pay for private coverage for their employees. Expanding access to prescription medication through the Ontario drug benefit would help workers and small businesses alike. Workers would know that we have their backs and that their medications will be covered no matter what.

Will the Premier commit to standing with Ontario workers and Ontario businesses by voting yes on my motion to expand access to the Ontario drug benefit for all Ontarians?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Let’s actually look at who is covered by the five publicly funded programs. Anyone aged 24 years and younger—OHIP+ is covered. Seniors aged 65 and older are covered—people receiving social assistance; people residing in homes for special care, community homes for opportunity, and long-term-care homes; people receiving professional home and community care services; and households enrolled in the Trillium drug plan.

If the member wanted to do her job, she’d actually make sure that her constituents understand the five programs that we have and work with them to apply for them.

Post-secondary education

Mr. Stephen Blais: My question is for the Premier.

Madam Speaker, Ontario should be leading North America in innovation, talent and opportunity. But under this Premier’s watch, we’ve fallen embarrassingly behind. We are dead last in Canada for per-student university funding. While places like Quebec, California and Massachusetts are powering ahead, investing 3%, 4%, even 6% of their GDP into research and development, Ontario can’t even crack 2%. We’re getting lapped by global innovation leaders, and instead of investing in brainpower, the Premier is stuck in traffic with yesterday’s priorities.

Why is the Premier’s government steering Ontario into the slow lane when we should be in a full-speed race towards a smarter and stronger future?

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

Hon. Nolan Quinn: I’ll remind the member opposite: Under their government, it was the highest tuition in Canada. We will not put that on the backs of our students, Speaker.

On top of the $5 billion we provide the sector every year, we’ve invested another $2 billion in the last 15 months. We’re making targeted investments into labour market needs, whether that’s the $75 million to our colleges for construction seats, the $55 million for new teaching seats—with half of those being French teaching seats—as well as the $10 million for First Nations scholarships.

We’re focusing on what the economy needs. This summer, we’ll be starting a review of the funding model, and we’ll ensure that our post-secondary system is continuing to be world-class, as it always has been.

Mr. Stephen Blais: That doesn’t change the fact that this province is behind Massachusetts, it’s behind California, it’s behind Washington in investing in research and development. The Premier talks a big game about jobs and growth, but the truth is, you can’t build a strong economy when you’re cutting off the brainpower at its source. Colleges and universities aren’t asking for extravagances; they’re asking for a little bit of oxygen. Instead, they’re being told to do more with less while our competitors invest in their future. We’re now seeing the cost of that: Programs are being cut, fewer seats at universities and fewer reasons for talent to stay in Ontario.

To the Premier: How can we expect to lead in innovation when his government treats education like a line item to be cut instead of a launchpad to power our future?

Hon. Nolan Quinn: Let me be very clear, Speaker: Funding for the post-secondary system is higher than it’s ever been in Ontario’s history. Some $1.3 billion last year was invested into the system to stabilize it because the federal Liberals unilaterally changed the international student market, on top of the $750 million we’ve now invested into STEM seats, graduating an extra 20,000 STEM graduates every year on top of the 70,000 graduates in STEM we’re already providing the economy.

I’ve already mentioned the investments, but I’ll mention it again to the member opposite: $75 million for construction seats, with 100 of those being planning seats for our municipalities—understanding there’s a need for planning—on top of the $55 million for 2,600 new teaching seats, as well as the $10 million for First Nations grants for the north.

We’re going to continue standing by this sector and meeting with the sector to ensure that our system will continue to be there for the students of Ontario.

Transportation infrastructure

Mr. Amarjot Sandhu: My question is to the Minister of Transportation. Families in Peel region are tired of sitting in traffic. Gridlock is hurting their lives. It means missed dinners, late pickups and longer workdays. But Bonnie Crombie and the Liberals don’t seem to care. She said, “I don’t go to anything in Brampton. It’s not my city. I don’t care.”

Speaker, the people of Brampton and Mississauga voted for change. They voted for Highway 413. Our government is building the roads and transit that families need. We’re getting shovels in the ground, building faster and making life easier.

Can the minister please explain how our government’s plan is fixing gridlock and helping Peel region grow, despite opposition from the Liberals and their out-of-touch leader?

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

Mr. Hardeep Singh Grewal: Thank you to the member from Brampton West. He’s absolutely correct: Bonnie Crombie and the Liberals are out of touch. The people of Mississauga and Brampton voted overwhelmingly for our plan to build Highway 413. As an MPP from Brampton, I’ve seen first-hand how the Liberals think about Bramptonians—and don’t take my word for it; take Bonnie Crombie’s word for it: “I don’t go to anything in Brampton. It’s not my city. I don’t care.”

Speaker, the Liberals don’t care about my community and the fact that they’re stuck in gridlock. The Liberals don’t care that grocery prices are going up because trucks are stuck in gridlock. The Liberals don’t care that parents can’t make it home in time because they’re stuck in gridlock. That’s why, under her leadership, the Liberals lost every single seat in Peel region, including her own.

That’s why we’re going to support the growth in Peel, we’re going to build Highway 413 and we’re going to get it done for the people of Brampton, Mississauga, Vaughan, Milton and Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Supplementary?

Mr. Amarjot Sandhu: Thank you to the parliamentary assistant for the response. The Liberals say they’re listening, but the people of Brampton know better. Under their watch, gridlock got worse and nothing got done. Why? Because as Bonnie Crombie once said, “It’s not my city. I don’t care.” That says it all, Madam Speaker.

The Liberals may not care, but our government does. While Peel region keeps growing, the Liberals want to go to back to the same failed approach.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I apologize to the member. Order.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The government House leader will come to order.

I apologize. You can continue.

Mr. Amarjot Sandhu: While Peel region keeps growing, the Liberals want to go back to the same failed approach. They would rather leave Brampton stuck in traffic than build the roads people need.

Can the parliamentary assistant explain why building Highway 413 is the right choice and how our government is making sure Brampton and Peel region have the infrastructure to grow and succeed?

Mr. Hardeep Singh Grewal: Thank you again to the member from Brampton West. It takes too long to commute from Mississauga to Brampton. The Liberals studied Highway 413. They saw the need, but they sat back as the population in Peel grew. They ignored the growth. They didn’t support the community, and on our major highways such as the 401 and 410, they’re already at capacity. The 401 is North America’s most congested highway, and the Liberals don’t want to invest in these projects. With 200,000 people moving to Ontario each year, we cannot continue with the status quo.

Gridlock costs our economy $56 billion every year, and we cannot afford that. We need to make sure that we continue to build the critical infrastructure Ontario needs.

Bonnie Crombie and the Liberals are choosing to ignore the people of Peel region. That’s why they couldn’t even win one single seat in the entire region of Peel.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I’m going to ask members to lower the volume on the sidebar conversations.

Question?

Labour dispute

MPP Jamie West: My question is for the Premier. There are 4,000 workers at the WSIB who are facing record burnout and unimaginable workloads. Instead of support, the WSIB forced the first labour disruption in over 100 years.

Alyson’s husband works for the WSIB, and she has a question for the Premier: “We were already struggling before this started. We both work full-time, pay our bills, taxes. We have one child. We struggle. We’re going into debt putting food on the table. I am asking you to get this union and the employer back to the table.”

My question is, will the Premier go elbows up to protect workers like Alyson and her husband and demand that the WSIB gets back to the table?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development.

Hon. David Piccini: Thank you for the question from the member opposite and for sharing Alyson’s story.

I just do first want to start by saying that WSIB employees have done a phenomenal job—the entire organization, going from an underfunded liability to the position where they’re in today, where we have the lowest lost-injury time rate in modern history. I think we can all agree that low lost injury time is a good thing in Ontario.

The parties will be back at the table tomorrow. In fact, they’re at the Sheraton today, both parties. The latest wage offer was tabled by the WSIB. I’m pleased to receive and be in possession of a letter from the union that they’re willing to come back to the table with a wage offer. We look forward to that. The best deals are done at the table, and I’m really happy to see that both parties are back there.

MPP Jamie West: I think that’s promising news. The Premier has been going around as Captain Canada, which I think is great. He encourages Ontarians and Ontario businesses to spend their money here, but I don’t know if he’s aware that WSIB management has spent $14.5 million to hire an American company called BetterUp to provide corporate coaching services; $14 million, by the way, can provide a 4% increase for WSIB workers. They wouldn’t have the stress. They wouldn’t be on strike today.

While 4,000 workers are expected to do more with less, WSIB management spends millions on US contracts, they take trips, and they award themselves huge bonuses. Does the Premier think this is acceptable?

Hon. David Piccini: What we think is acceptable and what we want is a fair deal that’s reached at the table. WSIB workers are valued, and they are very well compensated for the work that they do—in fact, close to 70% of whom earn over $100,000 a year or more. So it’s important that they continue to do the great work that they do.

I’m glad that both parties are back at the table and I’m glad that we have a Premier that is leading this nation, standing up for workers, encouraging investment in this country, building, bringing Premiers from across Canada together to nation-build—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member from Waterloo will come to order.

Hon. David Piccini: That’s what we’re focused on, on this side of the House. That’s going to be generational wealth and opportunity for Ontarians of all stripes.

Public transit

Mr. Jonathan Tsao: Three weeks ago, I stood in this House and I called on the Minister of Transportation to do something to help the people of Don Valley North. I asked a simple and straightforward question: Would the minister commit to actually building the Sheppard subway? Instead of answers, all I got was a laundry list of unfinished promises that do nothing to help the people of Don Valley North.

So I’m going to give the minister another chance now. Minister, will this government commit to a timeline and dedicated funding for the Sheppard subway extension? Yes or no?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: I’m going to repeat to that member that, before this House, the Minister of Finance has tabled a budget which will invest $70 billion in investments to public transit. That includes that very line that member is talking about, the Sheppard extension. That includes the Ontario Line, the Scarborough subway extension, billions of dollars that we are investing in expanding GO Transit. Will that member stand up for his community, support this government’s budget and ensure that he supports our plan—the most ambitious capital plan in the history of this country and North America on public transit. Stand up, do the right thing, support the budget and support your—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Don Valley North.

Mr. Jonathan Tsao: Speaker, not just today but all week, we’ve had to listen to government members patting themselves on the back about their budget. But do you know what stood out to me? What stood out to me the most about this budget was its silence on the Sheppard subway extension. No timeline, no funding, just a vague mention of a proposal, a proposed extension, so faint that it might as well be written with invisible ink.

The people of Don Valley North are tired of proposals. This government has taken so little action but made so many proposals, you’ve got to wonder, what are you doing over there? Are you busy planning a wedding or are you building subways?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Government side will come to order.

Mr. Jonathan Tsao: Minister, when will you stop the proposing and start the building?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Let’s look at the record of the Liberal opposition members: voted against, multiple times, every chance they had, the Sheppard extension proposed. Whether it be the fall economic statement or the budget document, you have one more chance to correct that. Vote with the government.

They voted against the Ontario Line, voted against the Scarborough subway extension, voted against every single one of our LRT expansions. In fact, for 15 years, the Liberals did absolutely nothing. All they did was build upside-down bridges. That is their record on infrastructure. We will take no lessons from the former Liberal government or the opposition because they do not believe in building. There has not been a single project that this government has tabled that they have supported. We will invest $70 billion into public transit, get shovels in the ground and ensure that people have accessible public transit.

Politiques énergétiques

M. Stéphane Sarrazin: Ma question s’adresse au ministre associé des industries à forte intensité énergétique. L’énergie permet à l’Ontario de continuer à croître. Cette énergie alimente nos foyers, nos usines et notre secteur technologique. Mais avec les menaces venant des États-Unis, nous devons agir rapidement pour protéger tout ce que nous avons bâti. Nous devons produire plus d’énergie ici en Ontario, plus d’approvisionnement, et ce, rapidement.

Dans l’Est ontarien, des usines comme Ivaco Rolling Mills et plusieurs autres ont besoin d’énergie fiable pour croître, garder et créer plus d’emplois. Les entreprises technologiques d’Ottawa ont besoin d’un approvisionnement stable pour continuer à innover. Les familles et les petites entreprises veulent de l’aide pour réduire leurs coûts d’électricité.

Le ministre peut-il nous dire comment notre gouvernement fait avancer les projets énergétiques dans l’Est ontarien pour créer des emplois et protéger nos entreprises?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I’m asking members to lower the sidebar conversation volume.

I recognize the Associate Minister of Energy-Intensive Industries.

L’hon. Sam Oosterhoff: Je remercie le député de Glengarry–Prescott–Russell pour son accueil chaleureux dans sa circonscription et pour le leadership qu’il continue d’exercer en faveur de la croissance économique dans l’est de l’Ontario.

L’énergie alimente nos vies et notre prospérité. À Ivaco Rolling Mills, nous avons vu de première main comment l’acier produit en Ontario soutient des chaînes d’approvisionnement essentielles dans les secteurs de la fabrication et de la construction. Chez Nordik Windows, nous avons discuté de l’expansion de la production et de l’emploi local.

À Ottawa, la semaine dernière, j’ai également rencontré des chefs de file du secteur technologique de Kanata-Nord. C’est pourquoi, aux côtés du ministre Lecce, notre gouvernement lance le plan énergétique intégré de l’Ontario : pour planifier à long terme, éliminer les retards et fournir aux entreprises l’énergie dont elles ont besoin pour innover, se développer et créer de bons emplois ici-même, en Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): We do not mention members by their names.

Back to the member from Glengarry–Prescott–Russell.

M. Stéphane Sarrazin: Les familles et les entreprises de partout en Ontario veulent de l’énergie fiable sur laquelle elles peuvent compter. Nous voulons de l’énergie propre, fiable et abordable, de l’énergie quand nous en avons besoin.

Ailleurs, on cherche encore des solutions, mais ici en Ontario, on montre la voie. Nous construisons de nouvelles installations nucléaires. Nous sommes en tête en matière de stockage d’énergie par batteries. Nous modernisons notre réseau pour être prêt pour la demande du futur, et nous le faisons grâce à un seul plan cohérent. En regroupant l’électricité, les carburants, l’hydrogène et plus encore, nous réduisons la bureaucratie et donnons aux employeurs les outils dont ils ont besoin pour croître.

Le ministre associé peut-il nous expliquer comment le plan énergétique intégré de l’Ontario nous aidera à être un chef de file, non seulement au Canada mais partout dans le monde, grâce à une énergie propre, fiable et abordable?

L’hon. Sam Oosterhoff: Absolument. Alors que le monde cherche de l’énergie plus abordable, plus sécuritaire, plus fiable et plus propre, l’Ontario passe à l’action. Nous réalisons la plus grande expansion nucléaire du continent. Nous construisons le plus grand parc de stockage par batteries au pays. Nous ajoutons des milliers de kilomètres de lignes de transport et modernisons notre réseau pour répondre aux besoins de demain.

Tout cela fait

partie d’un seul plan, le plan énergétique intégré, dirigé par le ministre de l’Énergie et des Mines, pour assurer la fiabilité, réduire les retards, stimuler la compétitivité et soutenir les créateurs d’emplois partout dans la province. C’est ainsi que l’Ontario continuera à fournir une énergie propre, fiable et abordable pour toute la province.

Education funding

Ms. Chandra Pasma: Our children deserve the best-quality education, but under this government, they are in la