 It's now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of His Majesty's loyal opposition. Good morning, Speaker. What a first week. It's Thursday, the end of the legislative week, and this government still hasn't tabled its promised bill to return lands to the Green Belt. They talk a big game, but their action on Green Belt accountability this week boils down to just trust us. Speaker, we could have had this done by now. In fact, this side of the House tried. So, to the Premier, what's the holdup? Mr. Secretary, as I said, of course I will be tabling a bill in the very near future that will not only return the lands that had previously been removed from the Green Belt through regulation, I will be presenting a bill that will in fact guarantee the borders of the entire Green Belt with the addition of the 9400 acres that we had previously suggested would be put in. So, we'll be presenting a bill that will guarantee those borders in legislation, removing the ability of government to change those borders simply through regulation, Mr. Speaker. We'll be presenting that bill to the House very soon. Something to mention, question. Look in the can even further down the road. In 2018, the Premier was caught on video in a back room promising land speculators that he was going to open up the Green Belt. And then he backed away. He said, oh, they don't want me to touch the Green Belt. We won't touch the Green Belt. Now we know that before the 2022 election, senior staff in the Premier's office were discussing removing lands from the Green Belt. They knew it would be unpopular, so they went to great lengths and spent untold amounts of taxpayer dollars on lawyers to keep their mandate letters secret. This Premier knew what he was hiding. Why did the Premier keep his plans to remove lands from the Green Belt a secret from voters? Mr. Minister, Ms. Colferes and House. We ran the last election on building homes for the people of the province of Ontario. Full stop. We ran the last election on ensuring that the economy was strong, that we created jobs. We've done that, Mr. Speaker. At the same time, it is absolutely true. We brought forward a policy that would have opened up lands for the Green Belt to build houses. We acknowledge the fact, and the Premier has apologized for that. We acknowledge the fact that the people of the province of Ontario were not in support of that proposal, Mr. Speaker, and that is why we return those lands to the Green Belt. But we will not be straight from our mission of continuing to build the economy. We will not be straight from our mission of building 1.5 million homes. We will work with our partners. We will ensure that we build those 1.5 million homes within the urban boundaries. We'll work with our partners to do that, despite the fact that I'm already getting calls and messages from the members opposite, telling me that their communities have already done their part, Mr. Speaker. I can tell you this. All communities in the province of Ontario are going to be asked to do their part to build 1.5 million people so that we can get people out of their parents' basements and into homes. A final supplementary. I'm going to try again back to the Premier. It wasn't just the mandate letters they attempted to keep under wraps, Speaker. The government forced non-political public servants working on the Greenbelt project to sign non-disclosure agreements, NDAs. Ministry officials described special steps they took throughout the project, including not using e-mail and instead using Microsoft teams to share documents. Why did the Premier go to such extreme lengths to keep his change in government policy a secret? Thank you for the question. I think I was pretty clear. I was pretty clear sorry, it's on vibrate. I don't know how to turn that up. Anyways, I was pretty clear I know when we went down the wrong road. I admitted the mistake. I apologize. We're moving forward. But as the minister just mentioned, that's not going to deter us from building homes. We're going to be building homes in every one of your ridings for your people that voted for you. We're going to build homes for newcomers that arrive here for a better life. We're going to build homes for the young people that are out of the housing market right now. And to be very frank, if we left it up to you, they wouldn't have a home right now. They wouldn't have a home under the Liberals or the NDP because you don't believe in building. You don't believe in building roads. You don't believe in building hospitals or long-term care in your own ridings. We're always, always owed to everything. We're going to continue with our mandate that we got elected on. That's building homes, building infrastructure, creating a strong economy, creating a strong government. Let's make the comments through the chair. The next question, the Leader of the Opposition. Speaker, yesterday I asked the Premier about his private cell phone use. Well, let's talk about emails. It seems that a powerful bad Apple can spoil the bunch. Apple found that contrary to the freedom of information laws and cybersecurity guidelines, conservative staff were regularly using their personal email accounts to communicate with lobbyists. It's right here. Not only that, but emails were also regularly being deleted. So back to the Premier again. Did government staff, staff in the Premier's office, or the Premier himself delete any emails or documents that are relevant to their decision to remove lands from the green belt? These documents as props. Minister of Municipal Affairs to reply. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I refer the Honourable Member to Page 135 of the integrity commissioner's report. In fact, I found that the Premier's office staff were not providing such direction. The Premier's office was kept in the dark by Mr. Amato as to the process he drove for the selection of properties to be removed from the green belt. The minister went on to say on page 140, I accept the purpose of the decision to remove lands from the green belt was to address the housing crisis, Mr. Speaker. We have never shied away from the fact that there was a housing crisis in the province of Ontario, largely built on the backs of the Liberals and the NDP in their time in office where they put obstacle after obstacle after obstacle in the way of people owning homes. From day after day, they were left behind by the Liberals and the NDP. Housing plan after housing plan aimed at removing obstacles time and time again. They have voted against it. This isn't about anything else, but the opposition's desire not to build homes for the people of the province of Ontario. We will continue. The supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. Actually, let's be very clear. Page 67. Page 67 of the auditor general's report found that this government's political staff followed the Premier's lead and also used their personal devices and email accounts to hide what they were doing. Speaker, they took a page out of the Liberals playbook and they regularly deleted emails related to the green belt. When the Liberals did that, they broke the law and someone went to jail. Why did your staff delete emails? Thanks to the chair. Minister, clear. When the Liberals did that, that member's party stood with the Liberals and kept them in office. One, two, three, four years more, Mr. Speaker. It's the same pattern we see from the NDP in Ottawa, right? When there was a big crisis, an SNC lava land crisis, who wrapped up the Liberals in Ottawa? It was the NDP, Mr. Speaker. When the Canadians went to them and said, listen, a carbon tax is killing us. Who propped up the Liberals and brought a carbon tax? It was the NDP. I was at Walmart, Mr. Speaker, a couple of nights ago and I came across Carol. You know what she said? She's a senior. She was a farm worker. You know what she said? She couldn't believe the price of food. She said to me, you know why? Because everything I do costs me more. From my tractor that I bring to the NDP, who's paying for it, all these people here at Walmart who are trying to buy produce. You know why? Because they stand for higher taxes. They stand for red tape regulation. We stand for moving economy. Order. Please take their seats. Order. Final supplementary. You always know when we're getting close to something, when they come back with answers like that. Let's follow along. Page 6. Order. Those who have been affected to report. Premier's chief of staff hand selects ministers chief of staff. They gave Ryan Amato an inexperienced, untrained staffer, one of the biggest files in government. The Integrity Commissioner found that he led a quote, chaotic and almost reckless process that led to an uninformed and to further the private interests of some developers improperly. The words of the integrity commissioner, page six, to the Premier. How are we supposed to believe that a motto alone rid the whole system when the Premier's hands are all over this? If the member reads page six you will get to other parts of the report and in that report it says that again that the integrity commissioner says that I found that the Premier's office staff were not providing such a direction Mr. Speaker but look we have acknowledged the Premier has acknowledged that we made a mistake when we brought forward a policy that the people of the province of Ontario did not support. The integrity commissioner himself suggests as we have said all along that the policy was driven because we wanted to do something immediately to impact the housing crisis across the province of Ontario. We want kids to be out of their parents basements. The other day I talked about a young family his first child and instead of being able to go to a home he's going to his bachelor apartment condo that he bought that is it's not who we are in the province of Ontario. We can do better Mr. Speaker and we will do better but why are we there Mr. Speaker because as I said yesterday legions of doom and gloom brought this province to its knees. High interest rates are taking thousands of people out of the market. We can do better. We will do better. We'll continue to remove obstacles. We'll get the job done not only for young Canadians but for all Ontarians who want to dream. Thank you Speaker my questions to the Premier. Yesterday the people of Toronto were disappointed yet again after the CEO of Metro Lynx Phil Verster announced that the Eglinton cross-town LRT remains indefinitely delayed. When reporters demanded more information about when this project might open information every member of the public deserves. Mr. Verster said quote give us some space. Mr. Verster has not only had over a year to explain the latest delay he has received massive pay increases and enjoys the support of 59 Vice Presidents who all seem unable to hold the B3 contractor to account. Why does Mr. Verster still have a job? Mr. Speaker I know how important this project is for the thousands of commuters who will rely on it to get to where they need to go every single day and I know that the public want certainty on this project that's why the CEO of Metro Lynx was out there yesterday and will continue to deliver those updates to the public so they can have that information. This is a very complex project Mr. Speaker but we have delivered for the people of Toronto the largest and this province the largest transit expansion plan in the history of this province and North America in fact Mr. Speaker when we do things differently we are building the Ontario line with shovels already in the ground when we look at the Eglinton West got the tunneling almost 50 percent complete so we're doing things differently this is a bad contract that the previous Liberal government left us us we'll deliver it we're going to make sure it's a safe and reliable transit system but we will take no lessons from the members opposite. Thank you. Speaker problems with the Eglinton LRTP 3 contract were flagged by the auditor general five years ago she found that the P3 contractor was submitting deficient designs building at risk and failing to meet performance targets instead of holding the P3 contractor to account Mr. Verster gave them a 237 million dollar payout that the auditor said should never have been paid the payout didn't get this P3 project back on track and in fact two years later the auditor revealed that the problems identified in 2018 had gotten even worse why does the Minister of Transportation continue to defend Mr. Verster. So if the member for Ottawa South and the government host leader want to have a conversation during question period if they could perhaps float in the hallway that would be better. Start the clock the Premier. Thank you for that question you know the auditor general's report back then they were talking about the the previous Liberal government maybe maybe he might be able to come up to step up but in saying in saying in saying that anything that we inherited from the previous government if it was not building long-term care homes not building hospitals not building roads not building bridges not building transit so this is where we're at now where we're at now and it's pretty remarkable in about four and a half years plan we got funding from municipalities we got funding from the federal government we have shovels in the ground on the Ontario line we're halfway through Eglinton West we're moving on the young extension moving forward and finally Scarborough that is being tunneled right now has a subway we have doubled the size of the subway line the largest in North America in the last four and a half years I find that absolutely remarkable and we're going to continue building transit the member for Burlington thank you speaker my question is for the Minister of Education parents in Ontario know that children need to be in classrooms with their teachers learning the life and job skills they need to succeed we know how important it is to have students in class surrounded by peers and educators to support their well-being mental health and academic learning and I know that our government has committed to making sure parents can expect their children to receive a stable uninterrupted school year by doing so children can focus on what's most important learning the foundations of reading writing and math speaker can the minister elaborate on what steps our government has taken to ensure children receive the world-class quality education they deserve free from interruptions to respond the minister of education thank you very much mr. speaker I want to thank the member from Burlington in our entire progressive conservative team because together we have delivered a deal that's going to keep kids in the classroom that is amazing news for the children we represent 400,000 English public high school children have the stability they deserve and that should be the aspiration for every child in this province and we've been able to land a deal that has been overwhelmingly ratified by 78.4 percent of os stf members it is now our intention our message to the other education unions is to come to the table to sign a deal and keep children in class there is no time for delay and we have demonstrated that we can put kids first we are going back to basics with additional funding and additional staffing we are raising the standards in Ontario's publicly funded schools because we believe these kids need to achieve their full god-given potential in this province so work with us work together to keep these kids in class supplementary questions thank you speaker it's reassuring for parents to remain informed about the progress our government is making to ensure that children are in their classrooms where they belong speaker our government has invested in the priorities that matter most to families initiatives and investments that will help improve reading writing and math skills for our students our government must remain steadfast in this commitment and thanks to the leadership of the premier and the minister of education we're getting it done for our students because of our government's targeted investments in literacy and STEM education we're seeing results speaker can the minister please outline his plan to keep kids in class learning the skills that will set them up for long-term success sir vegetation thank you thank you mr speaker thank you again to member for brilliant in for her leadership in this house mr speaker of course stability is key it is the cornerstone of our objective as a government to keep these kids in school as we go back to basics in Ontario schools and because of our plan our increase of investment 180 million dollar plan to lift literacy rates our doubling of math coaches our modernized curriculum that connects it to the job market the fact that we are restoring literacy and phonics and financial literacy and coding in Ontario schools for the first time in a long time we are seeing stability according to eql results reading writing and math is stable or up in every single grade as assessed in this province so yes mr speaker our plan is working it is incremental it is moving in the right direction and there's much more to do and the way we deliver better outcomes for these children is keeping them in class so we urge the unions to get to the table to sign a deal and provide stability for every single child in this province speaker thank you speaker speaker to the premier in his mandate letter the premier directed the former minister of municipal affairs and housing to develop a policy for changes to the green belt including swaps and contractions andrew signal the premier's former deputy chief of staff told the integrity commissioner there was usually a quote back and forth between the premier's office the p.o. and the ministry when it came to implementing priorities in the mandate letter he said the p.o. would normally be quote the senior partner unquote in this back and forth the integrity commissioner was unable to find evidence of this normal back and forth with respect to the green belt project something one would expect did the premier or any of his staff make a decision to suspend this normal back and forth including the p.o.'s senior partner role with respect to the green belt project well mr. speaker i think the integrity commissioner was pretty clear when i came to myself and my office but what we're going to do what we're what we're what we're going to do here we're going to build homes and the students up in those chambers they're going to remember this day because the homes that they're going to buy in 15 or 20 years will be part of the 1.5 million homes that we're building we're going to make sure that their families can afford a home we're going to make sure the young people can afford a home the newcomers that are coming to our province 800,000 a year that we're seeing or they need a place to live and folks let me remind you it's this government that's building homes for those folks up there not the liberals not the mvp we're the ones building the homes and the trains and the roads that they're going to be using and they're going to be riding on the subways that we build order supplementary question thank you speaker again to the premier i just want to note the commissioner was very clear there were no records yeah highly unusual no records assistant deputy minister shan phraser also told the integrity commissioner that it was usual and expected practice for political staff within the ministry to receive direction from the premier's office with respect to the details of a government priority mr phraser said quote in my experience political staff work with political staff they may be ultimately responsible to the minister but granularity like this is something that typically is dealt with of a staff level mr phraser said such direction would come from the premier's office did the premier or any of his staff make a decision to avoid leaving evidence of such direction with respect to the green belt project minister miss bullfairs in fact what the the integrity commissioner said is that i found that the premier's office staff was not providing such direction mr speaker he made it very clear in the report that he was not providing such direction look we made a public policy decision uh that the people of the province of Ontario were not in support of we made that decision because we know that we are in a housing crisis and we wanted to move fast to try to address that crisis mr mr speaker we made it we made an incorrect decision we're returning those lands to the green belt and we will focus on building homes and communities across the province of Ontario but you know what will be consistent mr speaker is that member and that party will vote against every single initiative to build homes now the premier just talked about it right they built they voted against subways they voted against housing they voted against long-term care they voted against hospitals funds this member here doesn't want to build anything for though i'm a god this is the one member in the nvp who's asking a question about building anything you vote i will remind the members to make their comments to the chair once again the next question the member for thornhill thank my question is for the president of the treasury board i would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the president of the treasury board and the minister of finance on the release of the public accounts this week it's great to hear it's absolutely great to hear that our government is implementing measures that focus on bringing fiscal stability to our province during this time of global economic uncertainty ongoing supply chain disruptions inflation and increased interest rates have created pressures for people across Ontario individuals and families need to see that our government is continuing to implement initiatives and investments that will make life more affordable speaker can the president of the treasury board please explain what actions our government is taking to strengthen our province's economic resilience and ensure that ontario is prepared for the future the president of the treasury board thank you speaker and thank you so much to the member from thornhill for that question ontario's economy remains resilient but the province does face potential economics uncertainty ahead and that's why it is so important that we make prudent and targeted investments to support the people of ontario as the minister of finance and i highlighted in the public accounts yesterday our approach is working we're building hospitals schools highways and transit we're investing in better services across the board and we are keeping costs down for the people of ontario and we are doing this in a prudent in a responsible way that respects taxpayer dollars in fact we received a six straight clean audit in a row from the auditor general is a refreshing change from the fiscal mismanagement of the previous liberal government speaker what our government will continue to do is make targeted investments that support families and workers today while laying a strong fiscal foundation for future generations supplementary question back to you member thank you speaker my supplementary question is for the minister of finance it's so positive and encouraging news to see once again our government received a clean audit opinion from the auditor general unlike under the previous liberal government who received qualified or reserved audit opinions on the government's consolidated financial statements the minister of finance spoke about the fact that ontario is not isolated from the conditions contributing to global economic uncertainty that's why our government must show leadership and demonstrate a strong economic vision and a plan that will help individuals and families during this unpredictable financial period speaker can the minister please explain how our government is continuing to work on behalf of ontarians during these challenging economic times Mr finance to respond thank you mr speaker to the member opposite for that a very important question and yes mr speaker a 14 billion dollar improvement in the deficit is meaningful to the people of ontario on the fiscal health of this province but let me tell you mr speaker just yesterday statistics canada outlined that ontarian's population grew by 151,000 people that's the most since 1971 now let me ask you a question when we attracted the Volkswagen plant in st. tom is 16 million square feet and tens of thousands of jobs did the opposition vote yes or no now when we started drilling the subway in scarborough that's already tunneling down there supporting 700,000 people in scarborough did they vote yes or no mr speaker to bring a fire bringing prosperity to the north did they vote yes or no mr speaker this is a government that's going to get it done we're going to keep going and we're going to continue voting yes thank you mr speaker the next question remember for nickle bell thank you mr president my question thank you speaker my question is for the premier the nurses represented by onah from hasting princeton with public health have been on strike for over a month after three years on the front line of a pandemic and this government limiting their compensation to one percent with bill 124 they want respect public health nurses keeps us safe from events like ecoli outbreaks in daycare that makes hundreds of children sick we know the government is focused on their wealthy friends but could the premier please focus on these nurses and the important work that they do the deputy premier and minister of health we are absolutely focused on building our health care capacity which is why we have programs like the law and stay program led by the minister of college and universities what does that actually mean it means that individuals who want to practice and train in the province of enterio can do that when having their tuition and books covered and in exchange are able to work in in under service communities we'll continue to build the health care capacity we absolutely understand the critical value the public health units and public health nurses bring to our communities which is why during august at the association of municipalities of enterio we announced that we would be continuing to invest and support our public health units thank you thank you the supplementary question thank you speaker well this government refuses to show any sign of respect to the striking woman my leader joined them on the picket line on september 22 public health workers represented by qp also had to go on strike to get fair compensation these public health workers keep ontarian healthy they make sure that our water is clean remember walkerton they make sure that the food in the restaurant we eat at is safe and the list goes on we know that this government likes to waste time and money in courts but will the premier show these nurses and public health workers the respect they deserve fund our public health unit and stop its appeal of bill 124 speaker the women and men who work in nursing professions across ontario whether that is in hospitals home care private facilities and yes absolutely in our public health units have been critical as we protect the citizens of ontario through the pandemic and moving out of it and we have had an opportunity to support public health units in a very tangible way as they support our communities we will continue to do that work and we will ensure that as we build the health care workforce we have opportunities across ontario across sectors thank you the next question the member for guelph good morning speaker my question is for the premier your 8.3 billion dollar green belt scandal has outraged ontarians and shattered trust in your government people have questions about the contents of brown envelopes good luck massages at vegas hotels and the mysterious mr x about how your cabinet handed over 8.3 billion dollars in windfall profits to wealthy elites questions about the flawed processes that gave insiders access to conservative connected speculators speaker the best way to get honest answers for the people of ontario and recommendations to prevent a scandal like this from ever happening again is an independent public inquiry i want to give the premier an opportunity today question back up his green belt apology and say whether he will say yes to an independent public inquiry respond the premier well to my friend from the the green party not one single penny was spent of taxpayers money not one cent not one cent in your neighbor that's speaking beside you let's not forget about the e-health boondog that cost a billion the gas plants that cost a billion dollars that we're still paying for not to mention the auditor general's report eight out of twelve you fail because she didn't believe you and we have six out of six but mr speaker in gualph they have the slowest housing that there is in the entire province we're going to continue to build housing in gualph and guess what we're going to build residents for students that their council refused to build with residents for students we're going to build highway seven that the green party will vote against us going from gualph to kitchens and mark my bottom dollar if the leader of the green party goes to kitchen ever he's going to be going on through the chair supplementary question back to the member for guelp speaker this is exactly why we need an independent public inquiry to get the honest answers the people of Ontario deserve because we are not getting them in this house people in this province want to know why the government was more focused on land grabs for wealthy well connected insiders 8.3 billion dollars in windfall profits instead of building homes that ordinary people can afford in the communities they want to live in i've put forward two bills that would make it legal to build multiplexes make it easier to build missing middle houses i've put forward proposals to get speculation out of the housing market i've put forward proposals to build deeply affordable non-profit co-op housing in this province but instead of having a government focused on that they're focused on benefiting wealthy in connect connected elites so will the pre we'd ask the member for guelp to withdraw the unparliamentary comment that was included in his question withdraw by the minister of municipal affairs and house thank you very much mr speaker i guess what the member is highlighting that he has been uns like really unspectacularly unsuccessful at building anything in his own community you know they have one of the slowest slowest spaces of home construction in his community they can't even get they can't even get student residents built in his community in fact it was this government that had to step in to build long-term care homes in his community mr speaker so look we'll take no lessons from him on how to get things done mr speaker the premier is right when he goes back to his riding he'll go back on highway seven that we have built he'll visit and campaign in long-term care homes that we built and he'll go into residences that we built he'll go into schools that we expanded he'll be there he'll do like the end of pd you know they'll be there to cut the ribbon and take but every single time in this house we'll vote against all of it mr speaker that is what they do we get the job done for the people the province launcher and we'll continue to do so the next question the member for brampton west thank you mr speaker my question is for the minister of agriculture food and rural affairs the agri-food sector is a significant economic driver for our province in brampton this industry contributes over 1.3 billion dollars annually to canada's gdp and employs our 8500 people across 300 companies food producers in my community and across our province expect their government to implement solutions that are innovative and will address their needs and challenges that said our government must continue to do all that we can to enhance the productivity of interiors agri-food sector and position it for continued growth speaker can the minister please share how our government is trending our agri-food industry to ensure an efficient reliable and responsive food supply for interiors minister of agriculture food and rural affairs the speaker and i i appreciate the question from the member from brampton west because did everyone hear that there's 300 food and beverage manufacturers in the city of brampton alone and ladies and gentlemen we're going to keep on growing our grow Ontario strategy that we discussed at this summit has been incredibly well received across this province and our actions are attainable because through our strategy we're going to grow the consumption of Ontario grown and produce food by 30 percent right here at home in this province we're going to grow the food and manufacturing opportunities and capacity by an additional 10 percent and that's going to translate as well into an increase of an 8 percent of exports of Ontario grown and processed food over the next 10 years ladies and gentlemen we're listening summits are important because we're introducing programs that are resonating and they're going to keep our food and beverage manufacturers strong and competitive for years to come the supplementary question thank you speaker and thank you to the minister it's great to know that our government is implementing measures that are helping to position Ontario as a leader in food and beverage processing however in order of for interiors agri-food businesses to further grow and develop they must be exposed to opportunities for expansion in domestic and international markets it is up to our government to create the right conditions so that food processors and producers are able to undertake the work of developing new products and implementing marketing strategies. Speaker can the minister please explain what action our government is taking to help agri-food businesses to reach new markets. Minister of Agriculture Food Ural Affairs. I hope everyone in this house is proud of the fact that never before has Ontario's food and beverage manufacturing sector had a confidence in a government that not only understands their sector but they have absolute confidence in the direction we're heading because of the programs we've introduced an energy efficient program worth 10 million dollars we've introduced biosecurity programs for our beverage and food sector that applicants can apply for up to 7.5 million and we also have a six million dollar program to help grow our market potential in this province of Ontario and applicants can apply to up to 60 000 per business and up to 125 000 dollars for programs to promote around the world that Ontario is the jurisdiction of choice when it comes to safe and at quality food produced right here not only in Brampton but around this province. We're strong and competitive. Thank you. Next question the member for trial senator. Thank you speaker and Ontario judge recently stayed a repeat offenders charges JP Kelly was charged with 17 counts of intimate partner violence including assault sexual assault choking and threatening death. Justice Laurie Thomas said this is a case that cries out to be tried on its merit instead Judge Thomas was forced to stay the charges after more than two years of inexplicable delays let that sink in JP Kelly is now back in the community without supervision or counseling our survivor one survivor told the press I hit the floor I was beyond disappointed in the Ontario judicial system and I wept for the entire day will the premier apologize to survivors who will never receive justice because his government has failed to fix the courts. The attorney general. Thank you Mr. Speaker and this is a very serious matter I won't speak to this to the specifics as as you have as I can't but I can tell you that this government is taking in a partner violence very seriously we've started initiatives that have that have never been even thought of before Mr. Speaker we've invested in our partner assistance response program we've invested in human trafficking beyond that Mr. Speaker we've put many many resources in we are taking it seriously and as for the operation of the courts Mr. Speaker we are working closely with our justice partners the chief justices at all levels and today happens to be opening of the courts and when you hear their speeches you will hear of the collaboration cooperation to make our system work the way that Ontarians expect Mr. Speaker. The supplementary back to the member for Columbus. The partner violence is an epidemic in Ontario as it is in Canada the court delays that survivors across Ontario are enduring are inexcusable there was a stabbing and a shooting in Barbara Hall Park just only a few steps away from this House Speaker and it happened on Tuesday the frustrated Toronto police have informed me that one of the assailants apprehended was actually out on bail he was actually wanted for a warrant a year ago I asked this government to take action to keep all our communities safe I and since I asked this question things have only gotten worse under your watch violent repeat offenders are being released back into the neighbourhoods because Ontario's justice system is literally collapsing on our head can the attorney general explain to ontarians why he spent his summer setting up an awarding king's council honorific titles to pc insiders instead of fixing our collapsing courtrooms the attorney general Mr. Speaker terrible terrible the attorney general to reply I would like to remind the member opposite that it was this premier and this government that wrote the letter of the federal government that said we need bail reform Mr. Speaker it was this attorney general and this solicitor general that went to Ottawa and achieved bail reform Mr. Speaker I will take no lessons from a member who will not even support the police in our communities Mr. Speaker I don't normally do this during question period but we've got the clock stopped in the Speaker's Gallery today as a former member who served in the House from the 36th 37th 38th 39th 40th and 41st Provincial Parliament representing Niagara West Glenbrook Erie Lincoln and Niagara South welcome back to the legislature Tim Hoodak start the clock the next question the member for Haldeman Norfolk thank you Speaker my question is to the Premier because when I see him answering questions in the media and here in this chamber I sense frustration because he must know conditions to build one and a half million homes don't exist in this province and yet there are ads from this government welcoming more people government does not dictate the housing market it's supply and demand that dictates the market more people means more demand and less affordability in the current environment it's clear Ontario cannot support the people already here so why subject 800,000 newcomers to a province where critical services we all rely upon are in chaos I hear a lot of we're going to do this we're going to do a lot of that but get it done Speaker through you to the Premier will he stand up for Ontario and tell Ottawa that we must take stock get critical services back on track before welcoming more people you know something to the to the member from Haldeman Norfolk we're building homes we're getting it done there's no bigger advocate for Ontario when talks to the federal government than this government is and I just want to remind the member from Haldeman Norfolk that we're building not a few homes we're building thousands of homes right in your your own writing and hopefully you'll be there and you'll support us on any housing bill and you'll welcome to come and cut the ribbon and there's going to be thousands and thousands of more homes to support the workers at Stelco that live in your writing that can't afford the home to support the family members support the family members that need a place to live that are going to be working at Volkswagen that will be able to live in your area as well so again I think the member means well I truly do and is a good member but it's better just to come on board when we're cutting the ribbon thank you very much and again I'll remind members to make the comments through the chair not directly across for those supplementary thank you speaker and yes to through you to the premier I do mean well and I believe that the premier means well too but I'm not certain that he has his facts correct on Stelco anyway the average cost of a home in Norfolk last year in 2022 was $830,000 I spoke to a family I spoke to a family last night who was packing their bags because they see no hope in this province and I'm not buying what this government is selling on the labour front because there are signs even potential newcomers have discovered that we are not the land of opportunity as permanent resident applications have plummeted as I traveled my riding this summer all I heard from constituents is that life has become unaffordable and they don't care whose fault it is the member from Thorne Hill mentioned this this morning speaker through you to the premier what is this government's plan for making life more affordable for the families of Ontario working so hard to make ends meet and yet falling further and further behind the premier I agree government doesn't create homes but we create the conditions in the environment for companies to come there and build homes and build businesses what are we doing to make things more affordable and I can't remember if you voted or not if you voted for the license plate stickers that saved eight million people got a check right at their front door order from our from our government we cut the tolls on the 412 and 418 we reduced the gas prices by 10.7 cents and I do agree with a member who holds the federal government accountable on the carbon tax we do we mentioned it non-stop the extra 15 cents are paying out the gas pumps delivering every product we have in the province is being affected by the worst tax this country has ever seen and it's a useless tax and that's the carbon tax again I'll remind members to make their comments through the chair the next question the member for Thorne Hill thank you speaker my question is for the new minister of environment conservation in parks our government must be committed to building a stronger and prosperous Ontario this commitment must include ensuring that Ontario is a leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting our province's biodiversity under the previous liberal government Ontario missed out on key opportunities to be part of the electric vehicle revolution could have helped in advancing transportation technology and supporting the environment Ontario is home to a significant source of critical minerals that are essential for our province's future that is why our government must continue to take thoughtful and meaningful actions to ensure that these minerals are extracted in a responsible and environmentally safe manner speaker question there are some people who believe that there is a trade-off between growing the economy and protecting the environment they believe that the focus on one requires sacrificing the other does the minister of the environment share that zero-sum perspective minister of the environment conservation and parks that's a great question I also want to thank the the community in Bairinasville for putting their trust in me to be elected in this legislature and for the previous confidence and putting me in the role of being the environment conservation parks minister but speaker our government has proven that we can both have a clean environment and a strong economy under our plan we are already taking historic action to cut pollution and also create new jobs we are well underway in creating a made in Ontario supply chain for electric vehicle manufacturing we negotiated a deal to protect thousands of jobs at DeFasco while making a once in a generation green steel deal we are also unlocking critical minerals in the province and helping spur new investments in battery technology under our plan we are securing good high-paying jobs for interior workers while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions it's about choosing it's not about choosing the environment or the economy speaker we're choosing both here the supplementary question thank you speaker and congratulations on your new role sorry the minister's new role this response will be welcomed by my constituents who strongly support the importance of collaboration when it comes to planning for the future unfortunately opposing voices repeat the tired argument that development opportunities and protection of our natural resources cannot be reconciled this stubborn and rigid opinion do little to help local communities businesses and our province as a whole as our government continues to build partnerships with communities throughout Ontario and with leading industry leaders there is tremendous potential and many reasons for optimism speaker before our government came to office businesses were fleeing Ontario due to high energy costs and high taxes how was our government securing Ontario's prosperity this is the environment conservation and parks speaker picture a family a house in the suburbs a car in the driveway a mom and dad with good jobs and kids who are safe when they walk or bike to hang out with their friends so much about this picture the car the suburbs and the safe streets terrify the opposition the opposition centres their policies around making this dream unaffordable and impossible to achieve under this government under the leadership of Premier Ford soon that family will be driving a made in Ontario electric vehicle or will be stepping into a new Ontario line subway station maybe their destination will be one of the new provincial parks we've created or one of the new schools we've built or one of the new jobs we've helped unlock speaker under the leadership of Premier Ford and this government we're making record investments to secure the future of Ontario we won't let the opposition take that bright future thank you speaker my questions to the Premier the government is quick to pick up the phone when it comes to helping their friends so will they encourage the management of the electrical safety authority to prioritize the safety of Ontarians and respectfully bargain a fair and equitable deal with their professional safety employees I recognize the minister thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question as the new minister responsible for this as one of 12 administrative authorities under the jurisdiction of my ministry Ontarians well-being is a top priority for our government and my ministry and I hold our oversight over the ESA very very seriously that is why we continue to ensure and enhance public electrical safety in the province of Ontario through the ESA now the ESA has advised that as of the morning of September 20 2023 the Society of United professionals has commenced strike action the union represents about 12 percent of the ESA's workforce primarily in the engineering IT communications and licensing departments the remainder of the ESA's employees continue to work including inspectors customer service call center representatives any questions regarding the collective bargaining process should be directed to the ESA Mr. Speaker thank you very much speaker my question for the premier speaker 6 000 actual commercial workers have been locked out since April of last year before locking them out and hiring scab workers to do their jobs the ad agencies demanded huge cuts through their wages and the elimination of their benefits and pensions at the one-year mark I asked the premier to stop using advertising agencies who use scab workers five months of past speaker and the conservative government continues to buy ads from wealthy union busting agencies like FCB Wink and Louis Burnett in fact the MOT is about to record another non-actor commercial after Toronto has contacted the ministry several times about this crickets will the premier halt this ministry of transportation commercial and will he commit to stop using advertising agencies to use replacement scab workers and Ontario's government funded ads I think I don't remember for the for the question of course we will continue to follow all of the rules that that we must when ensuring that we when we do our advertising or any other government procurement that it follows all the rules as established through legislation mr. Speaker but at the same time of course we're going to continue to ensure that we advertise and we get the message out to the people the province of Ontario much of the advertising that we do helps inform people whether it's on some of the very important initiatives that through health through health care some of the other safety initiatives that come across through various ministries mr. Speaker so so no we're not going to stop doing advertising because it's a very important part of helping ensure that the people the province of Ontario are aware of important initiatives that are important to them and their families mr. Speaker thank you the next question the member for Richmond Hill thank you my question is for the minister of citizenship and multiculturalism Ontario's diversity is one of the greatest strengths with people from all backgrounds fakes and walks of life representing our province the people of this province represent the best in abilities perspectives and experiences that should be respected valued and appreciated unfortunately discrimination and barriers to inclusion and acceptance still occur in our province any experience with discrimination harassment or stigma negatively impacts a person's self identity and well-being our government must continue to invest in strategies that promote diversity equity and social inclusion speaker can the minister please explain how our government is building savers stronger and more inclusive communities in for ontarians citizenship and multiculturalism well thank you very much speaker and thank you to the member for Richmond Hill for that question there's no question Ontario is a global leader in celebrating diversity and is home to people from all backgrounds fates and cultures our diversity and inclusivity is essential to who we are and remains a source of great strength for the province of Ontario nonetheless as the member mentioned there's always more that we can do to strive to build a stronger and more welcoming community and province just last month mr. Speaker i was proud to release the building a stronger more inclusive Ontario Ontario's anti-racism strategic plan speaker we're taking an all the government approach to dismantle barriers to success and empower communities the revised strategic plan outlines over $130 million from my ministry alone with additional support response from ministry partners the strategy highlights the meaningful work that is already underway to drive positive change while laying a foundation for future action supplementary thank you speaker safety and social inclusion are central to creating cohesive society and a strong economy that will secure Ontario's future growth and prosperity especially in my riding in Richmond Hill we have a lot of different diversity living in that community acts of discrimination hatred and violence have no place in our communities that is why our government must continue to take action to implement measures that will combat hate and will protect the people of our province investments and approaches by our government must be innovative and meaningful within our local communities thank you to our minister speaker may i ask the minister please elaborate on the steps our government is taking to ensure that Ontario is a safe inclusive and accepting place for all minister citizenship and multiculturalism well well thank you very much Mr Speaker and the member is completely right Ontario's anti-racism strategy contains over 40 unique initiatives across 14 partner ministries and millions in investments by our government to remove barriers and build a more inclusive Ontario miss speaker this includes the minister of education who implemented the streaming of grade nine students ensuring that all students can be successful in and pursue any post-secondary pathways they so choose to the minister of indigenous affairs who has made critical investments to support economic development priorities in indigenous communities and provide increased access to capital for indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs to the minister of health who's expanded the high-priority community strategy to remove barriers to improve access to health care for indigenous response racialized and low-income Ontarians mr. Speaker these are just some of the initiatives outlined in Ontario's anti-racism strategic plan that are already driving real change in thank you very much next question remember for starboard so class thank you very much speaker my question is to the premier speaker the premier has used immigrants as an excuse to justify his green belt grab despite the government's own housing task force saying that they do not need to build on protected farmland in fact environmental defence reported that there is enough available land to build three cities the size of paris friends without touching the green belt now if the government really wanted to build affordable home speaker why haven't they started building on the 59 000 hectares already available right now well mr. Speaker because we have been spending the last five years untangling the mess of obstacles and intrusions that were put in place by the Liberals and NDP mr. Speaker but I give the member my word and every member of that caucus over there that yes indeed we will be moving very aggressively in each and every riding of this province to build new homes for the people of the province you know i represented one of my own first news conference i have a very close affection to the member opposite because my parents journey to home ownership started in her riding on dentonia park when the entire kalandra clan in one home in basements all in that one place and then from there they moved to six lembar di crescent a wartime home in the member's riding like dad was a hairdresser of birch mount avenue in the member's riding then they got another home mr. Speaker that's where their journey and you know why they came to Canada because we offered them the pathway to that dream mr. Speaker i won't take that away for the next generation of the people of province about that and i hope you'll join with me to make sure that we deliver that dream for them that concludes our question period for this morning