Legislative Assembly of Ontario · Committee

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy · Room 1

The official transcript of the meeting, from Hansard, by heading. Ministers, officials and witnesses appear as the transcript names them; committees have no live transcript, so the record appears once the Assembly publishes it.

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Meeting ended

Selection of estimates

9:00 a.m.Official transcript

The Chair (Hon. Laurie Scott)

Good morning, everyone. The Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy will now come to order. On our agenda this morning is the selection of estimates for consideration. Pursuant to standing order 62(b), the estimates, upon tabling, are deemed to be referred to the standing committees to which the respective ministries and offices were assigned pursuant to standing order 113(b). All committee members should have received an electronic copy of the 2026-27 estimates and the corresponding ministry briefing books from the Clerk. The estimates for the following ministries and offices have been referred to this standing committee for selection and consideration: —Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism; —Ministry of Infrastructure; —Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing; —Ministry of Sport; —Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming; —Ministry of Transportation; —Office of the Lieutenant Governor. The objective of this morning’s meeting is to select the estimates of certain ministries for review by the committee. Standing order 63 sets out the process by which the committee makes its selections. Each of the recognized parties on the committee shall select the estimates of up to one ministry or office in each turn. The official opposition selects first, followed by the third party and then the government. If members of one party decline to make a selection, the selection then passes to the next party in the rotation. The process concludes when either there are no further ministries available to select, or if all recognized parties decline to make any, or any further, selections. Pursuant to standing order 63(c), these selections are to be reviewed in the order that they were chosen. This order may be altered by unanimous agreement of the subcommittee on committee business, or by order of the House. Pursuant to standing order 63(d), the time for the consideration of the estimates of each ministry shall be determined by the respective committee. It should be noted that, pursuant to standing order 63(d)(i), if the estimates of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor is selected, it shall have no time allotted to it, and when these estimates are considered, the Chair shall put, without further amendment or debate, every question necessary to dispose of these estimates. The estimates of those ministries not selected for consideration will be deemed to have been passed by the committee. As Chair, I will report those unselected estimates back to the House, and they will be deemed to be adopted and concurred in by the House. When making your selections, please look at the list of ministries as they are listed in the estimates book and give the correct names of the ministries when selecting them for consideration. The Clerk has displayed these correct names on the screens in front of you and has provided a hard copy which should be in front of you. Do members have any questions before we begin? All good? Thank you. We will now start with the official opposition for their first selection. MPP McKenney.

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9:04 a.m.Official transcript

MPP Catherine McKenney

We will start with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

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9:04 a.m.Official transcript

The Chair (Hon. Laurie Scott)

Next is the third party for their first selection.

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9:04 a.m.Official transcript

The Chair (Hon. Laurie Scott)

I’m just going to repeat what I read earlier about the Lieutenant Governor: Pursuant to standing order 63(d)(i), if the estimates of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor is selected, it shall have no time allotted to it. Tyler, I know you nodded “yes,” but can you say yes to Hansard that you are still selecting the Office of the Lieutenant Governor?

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9:04 a.m.Official transcript

The Chair (Hon. Laurie Scott)

I’ll now move to the government side for their first selection. MPP Saunderson.

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9:04 a.m.Official transcript

Mr. Brian Saunderson

The government would like to select the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism.

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9:04 a.m.Official transcript

The Chair (Hon. Laurie Scott)

Now we’ll go back to the official opposition, MPP McKenney, for your second selection.

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9:05 a.m.Official transcript

MPP Catherine McKenney

A second selection will be the Ministry of Transportation.

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9:05 a.m.Official transcript

The Chair (Hon. Laurie Scott)

We’ll now go to the third party for their second selection. MPP Watt.

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9:05 a.m.Official transcript

The Chair (Hon. Laurie Scott)

We’ll now move to the government for their second selection, please. MPP Saunderson.

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9:05 a.m.Official transcript

Mr. Brian Saunderson

The government selects the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming.

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9:05 a.m.Official transcript

The Chair (Hon. Laurie Scott)

We’ll now go to the official opposition for their third selection. MPP McKenney.

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9:05 a.m.Official transcript

MPP Catherine McKenney

The third selection for the NDP will be the Ministry of Infrastructure.

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9:05 a.m.Official transcript

The Chair (Hon. Laurie Scott)

Okay, we are done. I thank you for all your selections. If there are no motions and if all business is concluded—seeing none, I’ll thank everyone for attending this morning’s meeting. There being no further business, this committee now stands adjourned.

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