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April 24, 2024

43rd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2024-Apr-24 (PDF)

L151 - Wed 24 Apr 2024 / Mer 24 avr 2024

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 24 April 2024 Mercredi 24 avril 2024

Consideration of Bill Pr32

Orders of the Day

Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 visant à soutenir l’avenir des enfants

Members’ Statements

Volunteers

Health care

Transportation infrastructure

Environmental protection

Armenian genocide anniversary

Don Morin

School facilities

Wearing of kaffiyehs

Canadian Cancer Survivor Network

Autism Awareness Month

Introduction of Visitors

Question Period

Government accountability

Autism treatment / Missing persons

Land use planning

Taxation

Health care

Taxation

Autism treatment

Services for persons with disabilities

Taxation

Education funding

Office of the Premier

Taxation

Forest firefighting / Lutte contre les incendies de forêt

Taxation / Long-term care

Tenant protection

Dairy Farmers of Ontario

Answers to written questions

Correction of record

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Social Policy

Petitions

Special-needs students

Winter highway maintenance

Social assistance

Social assistance

Land use planning

Missing persons

Hospital services

Cancer treatment

Social assistance

Health care

Organ donation

Subventions aux résidents du Nord pour frais de transport à des fins médicales

Orders of the Day

Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 visant à soutenir l’avenir des enfants

Private Members’ Public Business

Supporting Mobility, Affordability and Reliable Transportation in Ontario Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 pour une mobilité accrue, des prix plus abordables et des transports plus fiables en Ontario

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Good morning. Let us pray.

Prayers.

Consideration of Bill Pr32

Mr. John Fraser: Point of order, Speaker?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Point of order: the member for Ottawa South.

Mr. John Fraser: I seek unanimous consent that the member for Ottawa South be permitted to move second and third readings of Bill Pr32, Allied Contractors (Kitchener) Limited Act, 2024.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Ottawa South is seeking the unanimous consent of the House that the member for Ottawa South be permitted to move second and third readings of Bill Pr32, Allied Contractors (Kitchener) Limited Act, 2024. Agreed? Agreed.

Orders of the Day

Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 visant à soutenir l’avenir des enfants

Resuming the debate adjourned on April 23, 2024, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 188,

An Act to amend the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 and various other Acts / Projet de loi 188, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2017 sur les services à l’enfance, à la jeunesse et à la famille et diverses autres lois.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Further debate?

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: It’s my great honour to rise today to discuss Bill 188, Supporting Children’s Futures Act.

I’d like to being with a story. Back in September 2019, I had the opportunity to meet a really inspirational individual, somebody who had founded and created the Child Welfare Political Action Committee. Her name is Jane Kovarikova. It was interesting because when we first met, she informed me, “Oh, I’m a card-carrying Conservative.” I said, “What does that matter?” We continued to do some pretty phenomenal work which culminated in a really wonderful event for a number of young kids.

You see, Jane told me about her background, and her background was as a former crown ward who had aged out of the system without having been adopted. She shared some very disturbing statistics. Some of the statistics she shared included that 1,000 Ontario teens each year age out of care without having been adopted. About 400 of those teens will qualify for post-secondary education and 400 will drop out of high school. Of those 400 who do qualify for post-secondary education, only 20%—20%, Speaker; that’s 80 per year—will pursue post-secondary education.

But another unfortunate aspect of that is, even of that 80, only eight end up graduating from post-secondary education. It is an enormous loss of human potential, of brilliance of innovation, of some ideas that we may never know because the state has not supported these young people in their dreams and their pursuits for higher education.

Jane discussed many people whom she’s had the privilege to work with and how teens in the foster care system have a number of different intersectional barriers, including things like poverty. They may have moved around quite a bit as a young person. They might have, as a result of that, fallen behind in school. Some might just simply not be ready because of these arbitrary age-limit caps that are placed upon post-secondary education. They might be ready after the arbitrarily low age-limit for child welfare support.

You see, many also might have other barriers, such as psychological barriers, logistical barriers, where they live, where they want to pursue their studies. They might even run into the barriers of the OSAP application itself, which asks them questions such as, “What are your parents’ names and what are their incomes?” I don’t know that children who are aging out of the child welfare system are really able to answer that question in a correct way.

From 18 to 21, youth will have an allowance of approximately $875 per month and after that—and I know there have been changes from this government—unfortunately, these individuals are expected to be ready to enter society and ready to enter the job market. They have to be fully independent. They have to have their credentials. They have to be career-ready for life as fully functioning adults, and I don’t think that is necessarily possible. You see, the state is what many have described as a truly terrible parent.

Now, I was inspired after having met Jane because of her work with the MPP for Sudbury Jamie West, and she had indicated that, along with the MPP for Sudbury, they were able to convince Laurentian to offer free post-secondary education for five young people who had aged out of the crown ward system and had not been adopted. It was phenomenal work, life-changing work, and I was really incredibly inspired.

I want to read a quotation from Laurentian from that time. It states, “Jane Kovarikova, a graduate of Laurentian and currently a doctoral candidate in political science at Western University, grew up in foster care in Ontario. She founded the Child Welfare Political Action Committee, a not-for-profit organization that advocates for change in the child welfare system. It was thanks in part to her advocacy, with the support of Jamie West, the MPP for Sudbury and also a Laurentian alumnus, that Laurentian reinstituted its tuition-waiver program this year.” Phenomenal, phenomenal work.

The Child Welfare Political Action Committee has gone on. There are at least 71 institute options for children who are exiting the crown ward system to pursue that free post-secondary education.

Jane also goes on to state: “Education levels the playing field for people like me. I am grateful that financial access to university education will no longer be a barrier to social mobility for even more people who were raised in Ontario’s foster care system....” She goes on to state, “If you were or are in foster care, know that Huron, Brescia, King’s and Western, believe in you.”

You see, Speaker, after that initial September 19 meeting in 2019, Jane and I were able to get meetings with Dr. Barry Craig and Dr. David Malloy, and Jane went on meet with Dr. Alan Shepard, and Huron, Brescia and King’s were each able to offer five positions each for children who had aged out of the crown ward system. Then, main campus ended up offering 15 spots, bringing it to a total of 30.

I want to quote Dr. Barry Craig, who provided some information when they made this announcement on October 27, 2020. Dr. Craig said, “At Huron, we believe everyone, no matter background or socio-economic status, deserves access to education. It’s what defines Huron’s mission of delivering elite, yet accessible education, while challenging our students to be leaders with heart. Having this partnership will ensure a clearer path to education for those crown wards. Now more than ever, our hearts need to be in everything we do, and we must always enable success and opportunities for those in less than ideal situations.”

It was a powerful meeting for me, because, as it turns out, I was a joint student of both Huron University College and Western University. It was really amazing that the leader there, Dr. Barry Craig, was able to see the value in this initiative. It was really inspirational to me.

Jane and I also had a phenomenal meeting with Dr. David Malloy from King’s University College, who stated, “A basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. All of us at King’s are dedicated to improving the life of the poor by breaking down barriers to education. We are humbled to help enable former crown wards to be fully part of society by aiding them with a King’s education rooted in social justice, equality and the education of the whole person.”

It was yet again another powerful meeting. It was amazing to see, when brilliant minds come together, united in purpose, how they can change the lives of young people who deserve our care.

Dr. Alan Shepard states, “Jane’s success and leadership are inspiring—we want to encourage others to follow in her footsteps. We’re proud to join the growing number of schools committed to helping crown wards achieve their academic goals.”

At the time, I stated, “I am incredibly thankful to Huron, Brescia, King’s and Western for their commitment to our community. This historic leadership illustrates how Londoners care about one another and promote a kinder, more just and brighter community. My heartfelt thanks to the community-building vision and compassion of Drs. Craig, Jensen, Malloy and Shepard, as well as a true leader whose desire to reach backwards brings others forward, PhD candidate Jane Kovarikova. This is life-changing work.”

It was truly an honour to participate in this, and I just want to go over some of the other places where the Child Welfare Political Action Committee was able to secure free post-secondary education. They managed to have work done with the University of Toronto. Université Sainte-Anne created a youth-in-care bursary. Wilfred Laurier announced an updated Learners from Care Academic Success Program. They also were working in Manitoba to try to bring forward tuition-free post-secondary education opportunities.

IBT, I believe, is the first career college to offer tuition waivers to current and former crown wards. The University of Ottawa introduced a financial support program for youth leaving care. Sheridan had also offered a tuition bursary for current and former youth in care. Northern College offered educational opportunities. Nipissing University and Canadore College offered tuition waivers to youth in care. Lakehead University offered a tuition waiver for youth in care. CBU has a tuition waiver program. We also have Seneca.

We also have New Brunswick Community College. It’s the first post-secondary institution in New Brunswick. I could go on and on. It’s across Canada. It is phenomenal. Holland College; McMaster; NSCC, the first college in Atlantic Canada; MSVU; Loyalist—it is truly phenomenal, the work that has happened, and again, this is life-changing work.

So, Speaker, as we look towards Bill 188, I am just so thankful for the work that was able to be achieved and so happy that we were able to cross party lines and were able to work together. We were able to focus on one purpose, and that was to make sure that kids have the support that they need to change their lives because education is the greatest democratizing force.

It’s unfortunate, though, that kids in care facing difficulties, facing potentially an incredibly problematic background that we could never possibly understand, for many of us—we should be making sure that the state, as a parent, is providing them with those opportunities to escape cycles of poverty, to really live to their true potential.

When we look at Bill 188, it is interesting: I believe it is something that should be supportable, but it does raise some questions for us in the official opposition. One of the concerns that we had back when the Conservatives first formed government was how the child and youth advocate was removed as an independent officer of this Legislature, and it does beg the question: Why was this done, and does the government now see the value in reinstating that officer, to make sure that those kids have a contact, have a person—a voice within the Legislature—who is independent? That is incredibly important.

I also think to some testimony that we heard at the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs as we travelled across the province. We heard from the London and Middlesex children’s aid society that there were six children whose parents had to put them into care because there weren’t spots within the community for them to receive the mental health assistance they required. Since the number was reported in February of this year—it was six—and I believe that number has grown to nine, last I checked, and could potentially be yet more.

I can’t think of the moral difficulty of a parent who loves their children and wants to give their child every opportunity that this world has to offer, and yet is faced with this situation where they simply can’t help their child anymore, because there’s no access to mental health supports. Imagine that, Speaker—imagine being in that scenario, where there’s no other option for you but to put your child into care. Now, those children aren’t necessarily in need of care, which is really the problem here, Speaker. What they’re in need of is mental health supports.

If we do not deal with the root cause of an issue, it ends up growing, it ends up ballooning, it ends up creating yet more issues and, unfortunately, at that point we’re not dealing with the root cause, we’re dealing with a number of after-effects. Why we don’t simply make sure that kids have access to care within 30 days is beyond me.

In discussing this bill, Bill 188 adds a new

section to the Child, Youth and Family Services Act. It creates offences and penalties for a child services provider who contravenes sections of the act around restraints of wards, confinement of wards or use of corporal punishment. It makes good sense. Providers can face elevated fines—up to $250,000—one year of imprisonment or both. Providers that are not an individual, such as group homes, can also be fined $250,000. I should state there are not also limits on other, more serious offences.

Speaker, I want to think as well about privacy and about how this impacts children who have aged out of the crown ward system. After having lived potentially a very difficult youth and potentially a very difficult upbringing, these young people didn’t actually have access to their own information. That, to me, is unconscionable.

Oftentimes, when we are young people, we are formed by the people we meet and the experiences that we have as we grow up. I can imagine that many young people who have aged out of the crown ward foster system would want to then go into a caring role, go into a role supporting other people who are facing that same sort of childhood that they were in. It’s unconscionable to think that that person who might be working with young people in the foster system has access to children’s information, but even though they have aged out as a crown ward, can’t have access to their own information. That is something that is addressed with Bill 188, and I think it is long overdue.

I also want to think about how horrific and how disturbing it might be that a young person who has aged out of the foster system and is now working within the foster system as a caring person might be working alongside people who can access information about them—private information about them as a young person—without their knowledge. That is something that Bill 188 will seek to circumvent, and I think that is something that is long overdue. The information about us should be a possession of the person alone, not possessed by the system, especially when that person has become an adult.

As I begin to close my remarks, I just want to thank all of the education providers from Brescia University College, Huron University College, King’s University College and Western University as well as Laurentian for seeing the value in supporting young people as they seek to improve themselves, as they pursue their dreams. Education is the great equalizer. Education is the great democratizing force.

I’m so proud that I was able to work on this. I know that, many years from now, I will probably look back on this life in politics, and as I consider what might be the things that I am most proud of, this will definitely be one, because it was an opportunity to help, to participate, to advocate, to make sure that these young people—who had a very difficult childhood, who had never been adopted, who have created a chosen family—would be able to pursue their dreams, and to also know that they had the support of these post-secondary institutions; to know that there are people out there who care about them, who want to see them achieve their dreams.

Speaker, this is life-changing work. But first and foremost, I want to thank, I want to congratulate and I want to honour Jane Kovarikova for her tremendous work. She’s a force of nature. She’s unstoppable. Jane, it was an honour to work with you. Thank you so much for everything that you continue to do.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): It’s now time for questions.

Mr. Trevor Jones: Good morning, Speaker. I have to 100% agree with the member opposite about his recollection of Jane’s story, and I appreciate him sharing that today. That’s an important leader who continues to lead among us.

I know a little bit about the background about the member opposite as a professional teacher and librarian. We have these professionals, like teachers, physicians, social workers; they’re relied on to add to the protection of children, and they have a duty to report if they ever suspect that there’s harm by a caregiver or by a parent. Bill 188 proposes expanding that professional outreach to include early child educators.

Would the member opposite support having early child educators added to this wraparound support, to take care of the interests of our young people?

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: I’d like to thank my friend from Chatham-Kent–Leamington for a truly excellent question.

As trained educators, we learn within teachers’ college that the duty to report is paramount. It is not a matter of telling someone you are next to, it is not a matter of going to an administrator, it is not a matter of going to anyone except to report any suspicions straight away. There’s no exception to that rule, nor should there be. If there’s any thought that a child has been harmed, is in danger now or is in danger in the future, it has to be reported straight away. Adding early childhood educators absolutely makes good sense.

I don’t think that there’s much within Bill 188 that I could criticize, that I could talk down about.

I think the more that we do for children—it speaks about us as a society, as a Legislature, as a province, and, quite frankly, as the human beings we are.

We need to make sure that the people who are at the beginning of their lives and at the end of their lives receive more support than the rest of us in between, with some exceptions, naturally speaking.

I want to thank the member for the question. It is something that is—

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Thank you.

Further questions?

Mr. Joel Harden: I want to thank my friend from London North Centre for his remarks this morning and for his work, and the member for Sudbury—for their work in making sure that educational opportunities are afforded to people who have interacted with our child protection system.

I wonder if the member could take any of the time now in this exchange to talk a little about any stories—we can leave the names out—of which you’re aware, where people who had interacted with child protection followed Jane’s proud example of using that opportunity to make Ontario a better place. I hear you loud and clear. That’s what we should be doing with the treasury in this province—we should be using it to make sure people can have an opportunity. So tell us about those.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: Thank you to my friend from Ottawa Centre for the question.

It’s an interesting thing; I had an opportunity to meet, through Jane, a number of people who, despite numerous challenges and despite so many arbitrary obstacles they faced as well as obstacles that were placed within their path, were able to achieve the heights of education. Jane has received her PhD. I think of other people who were able to receive their doctorates, as well. I think of one young person who had tremendous problems with their birth family, was told so many things—that they would never succeed. Of course, there were mental health issues within that family, and that is incredibly unfortunate.

They entered the foster care system. Despite all of that, despite their young mind being filled with so many words of judgement, of criticism, of setting the bar so low, they succeeded.

I also want to come back to the courses that are often given to these crown wards. Often, these courses are such things as how not to get pregnant and how to apply for social assistance. How are we, as a province, setting the bar so low that we’re telling young people who want to live out their dreams how to apply for social assistance? That doesn’t—

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Thank you.

Further questions?

Ms. Laura Smith: This bill has a lot of positive things in it. The creation of a new system contained in this bill so that privacy of these children will help these children when they go into adulthood. It will literally level the playing field for the information-sharing.

Because there’s so much information that’s out there and we want to provide the best opportunities for these children when they start their care, when they complete their care and after their care—I’m wondering if the opposition member could talk about his interest or his comments on the privacy of youth leaving the CYFSA and some of the administrative changes that we’ve made to protect those children.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: Thank you to the member from Thornhill for an excellent question.

We can easily say that there are many children within the crown ward system who have encountered tremendous difficulties and have endured likely quite a bit of trauma. And to think that that information might be available to people after they have become the age of majority or after they have become an adult is simply disturbing.

Imagine, Speaker, having experienced trauma yourself and having that spectre hanging around you, above you, at all times, that there are people who could know that about you and have access to that information. That would be tremendously disturbing and upsetting. It would almost be like reliving that trauma. So I do applaud Bill 188 for its changes to privacy as it regards the history of former crown wards.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Further questions?

Mr. John Fraser: I’m sure my colleague from Ottawa Centre appreciates that. I want to raise something that he raised yesterday—that we both raised yesterday—and that is the independent child advocate. In 2007, the province of Ontario established, as an officer of this Legislature, the child advocate. That child advocate was the voice for children in care, for wards of the crown. He was able to hear their voices that are very hard to hear.

I would like to know the member’s opinion on whether he thinks to it would be a good thing for the government and all of us here to re-establish an independent child advocate so that children who we are responsible for, youth who we are responsible for as the crown, will have a voice and advocacy on their behalf?

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: I’d like to thank the member from Ottawa South for the question. There is no question: I strongly, strongly believe, that we need independent officers of this Legislature, first and foremost, but especially as it pertains to the welfare of young people. We require a child and youth advocate.

I think the removal, the firing, of Irwin Elman was a mistake. I think children who are encountering what are sometimes insurmountable difficulties and tremendous barriers and obstacles need that one person, that one trusted adult they can reach, and that would be realized through the re-establishment of the child advocate. I can’t understand why that was ever removed in the first place. I think that was a mistake. I think there’s an opportunity to re-establish it and the government should and must take it.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Further questions?

Mr. Wayne Gates: One thing that hasn’t been discussed so far today, and I actually didn’t hear it even yesterday when I was in the House: Do we realize that 25% of children now use food banks in the province of Ontario? I wanted to make sure we get that out because it’s unacceptable.

Do you believe we need to take proactive steps in the form of increased mental health resources for children and youth?

And, further to that, should inspectors do site visits at night when the kids that are in care are at home?

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: Thank you to my friend from Niagara Falls for the question. You’re absolutely right: One in four kids are going hungry. One in four kids are using food banks. It is a deplorable indictment of a province as rich as Ontario that there are young people who are not able to receive the nutrition that they require.

We absolutely need more investments in mental health and support services such as this to make sure that young people are able to live their best lives.

We also do need more inspections. I know that from the Children’s Aid Society of London and Middlesex. They are running out of spaces for kids. Many of these unlicensed places will take kids into hotels, where the child is staying in a hotel room and the care worker is staying in another room. These kids are vulnerable. These kids could potentially be trafficked. There are so many different issues with this. We need to crack down on unlicensed care placements. We need to make sure that we’re buttressing the system by providing supports for care and for mental health.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Further debate?

Mrs. Daisy Wai: I’m happy to join my colleagues to speak on behalf of Bill 188, the Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024, currently under consideration by this House for second reading.

Madam Speaker, today, I stand before you to address a matter of utmost importance: the welfare of our children and youth in Ontario’s child welfare system. It is a subject that touches the very core of our society, as it pertains to the safety, well-being and future prospects of our most vulnerable citizens.

This bill, if passed, will improve the safety, security and well-being of children and youth in care.

Madam Speaker, we are here because our government will never leave anyone behind. Our government wants the best for every child and young person approaching adulthood. And we are working together to deliver better outcomes for young people and their families and caregivers.

So, as you can see, Madam Speaker, this bill is an important element to the government’s ongoing redesign of the child welfare system.

The child welfare sector in Ontario is tasked with providing crucial services to children and youth who may find themselves in precarious situations, whether due to abuse, neglect, conflict with the law or complex special needs. Under the mandate of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, these services are administered by children’s aid societies, with a primary focus on protection and support.

Out-of-home care, a vital component of the child welfare system, involves providing care to young individuals in settings away from their parental homes. This can range from basic accommodation to specialized programs tailored to meet specific needs. Foster homes, children’s residences and staff-model homes serve as environments where children and youth receive the care and support they require.

In Ontario, over 7,000 children and youth are currently in care, overseen by 424 licence holders. Among those, approximately 4,038 foster homes and 301 group homes play a pivotal role in providing a stable environment for these young individuals to thrive.

Recognizing the significance of this issue, our government has embarked on a comprehensive redesign of the child welfare system. Madam Speaker, every child and youth deserves a safe and nurturing environment regardless of their circumstances. Through comprehensive redesign, our government is introducing a new initiative to improve the quality of care in out-of-home care. Some of these changes include:

—developing a new framework of what out-of-home care looks like;

—increasing and enhancing oversight and accountability of out-of-home care;

—supporting that oversight by adding 20 new positions across the province to support the management, inspection and oversight of out-of-home care for children and youth; and

—launching the Ready, Set, Go Program, which provides youth in the care of children’s aid societies with life skills that they need, starting when they are only 13, and financial support when they leave up to the age of 23 so that they can focus on post-secondary, including the skilled trades or pursuing employment.

Through initiatives like the Ready, Set, Go Program, many of the reforms proposed in this bill are designed to better support youth and provide skills and knowledge. They will help youth transition into adulthood.

Moreover, our efforts extend to strengthening oversight and accountability within the sector. The Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024, represents a milestone in this journey. If passed, this legislation will introduce measures to enhance safety, service quality, oversight, accountability and privacy for children and youth in care.

One key aspect of the proposed bill is the reinforcement of the oversight mechanisms to ensure compliance with established standards. Stringent application processes, increased accountability for operators and new enforcement tools are among the provisions aimed at safeguarding the well-being of children and youth.

Furthermore, the bill addresses the crucial issue of privacy rights for former children and youth in care. By restricting access to their records and enabling—

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): I apologize to the member for Richmond Hill. However, pursuant to standing order 50(c), I’m now required to interrupt the proceedings and announce that there have been six and a half hours of debate on the motion for second reading of this bill. This debate will therefore be deemed adjourned unless the government House leader directs the debate to continue.

I recognize the deputy government House leader.

Mr. Trevor Jones: Thank you, Speaker. Please continue.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Richmond Hill. Please continue.

Mrs. Daisy Wai: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I just want to say, furthermore, the bill addresses the crucial issue of privacy rights for former children and youth in care. By restricting access to their records and enabling individuals to publicly share their experiences, we are empowering them to reclaim their narrative while respecting their privacy.

Additionally, the bill seeks to establish clear and consistent practices within the Child, Youth and Family Services Act. Measures such as enabling information-sharing among relevant professional bodies and clarifying children’s rights to complain to the Office of the Ombudsman serve to streamline processes and ensure uniformity across the sector.

Alongside legislative reforms, our commitment to improving the child welfare system resulted in recent regulatory changes. Mandating increased information-sharing, enhancing visitation protocols and enforcing stricter disciplinary guidelines are just a few examples of our ongoing efforts to prioritize the safety and well-being of children and youth in care.

The Ready, Set, Go Program stands as a testament to our dedication to supporting the youth in their transition to independence. By providing financial support, life skills training and extended care options, we are laying the foundation for a brighter future for our youth.

As we reflect on the progress we’ve made and the path ahead, it’s essential to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of the stakeholders, advocates and front-line workers in the child welfare sector. Their dedication, expertise and unwavering commitment to the well-being of our children and youth are the driving force behind our collective efforts. Moreover, the voices of former youth in care serve as powerful reminders of the challenges and opportunities within the system. Their lived experiences inform and inspire our actions, guiding us toward more effective policies and practices that uphold their rights and dignity.

Looking ahead, our focus remains steadfast on building a child welfare system that is responsive, inclusive and compassionate. Through continued collaboration, innovation and investment, we can create a future where every child and youth in Ontario has the opportunity to reach their full potential, regardless of their circumstances.

Madam Speaker, Bill 188 also proposes changes that will enable the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers to share information with governing bodies and others in particular circumstances. This includes instances to confirm when a member of a college is under investigation or when a member poses public safety concerns.

The changes also seek to expand the list of professional colleges with which children’s aid societies and other service providers can share personal information. These measures are all to ensure that every child is safe and protected.

Madam Speaker, I would like to share a quote from a public member that our partners have shared since Bill 188 was introduced:

“As a former youth in care and a lawyer who practises family law and child protection law, I support the proposed amendments set out in Bill 188, which will help ensure greater oversight and accountability for the out-of-home care placements and help protect the safety and privacy of those who have been involved in the child welfare system. I have seen first-hand how childhood histories and records can be used as ammunition when former youth in care become parents themselves or seek employment in the child welfare sector, even though they were in care due to circumstances entirely outside of their control.

Individuals who were involved with the child welfare system as children deserve to have their personal information kept confidential so they can have a fresh start as they transition to adulthood. Carina Chan.”

Madam Speaker, we have received significant support from our partners since last week. I would like to share a few more quotes:

“The Supporting Children’s Futures Act is a significant move in the direction of enhancing the well-being of children and youth with child welfare experience. One’s time in care should never be a source of harm or discrimination years afterward. The protecting the personal histories of this vulnerable community must be high social priority. Ingrid Palmer, Child Welfare Political Action Committee.”

Another quote here: “Every child/youth deserves to feel safe and loved in their home environments—whether they are with their family or are in care. That is a fundamental right. It is our government’s responsibility to do everything possible to protect our children, especially the most vulnerable ones. I applaud our Ontario government. Today, they introduced legislation that shows they do care by enhancing protections and accountability for children/youth in care and helping to strengthen the systems that are designed to help them. Leena Augimeri, PhD.”

Madam Speaker, as you can evidently see, these proposed changes are a result of extensive and continuous consultation with our valued partners in the sector.

I am personally very thankful that this bill was introduced because every child is important to us. Every individual should have the right—and especially, we are allowing them the right to speak, if they would like to have that right—to recall some of the things that happened to them. They may be good examples, like what I have just quoted, or they may be something that they can share so that this will improve their lives or the children’s aid services down the road.

The other thing that I’m so happy about is that we are making sure that all these services that they receive are of top quality. We are adding more inspectors—20 more people going around just to go and see and make sure that all the services provided are the best for the children or the youth they are taking care of. That is why I urge members on all sides of this House to grant Bill 188 unanimous passage.

In conclusion, the welfare of our children and youth is a collective responsibility that demands unwavering commitment and action. As legislators, advocates and members of society, it is incumbent upon us to prioritize their needs and ensure that every child and youth in Ontario has the opportunity to thrive.

This is why, once again, I urge the House to support Bill 188, Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Questions?

Mr. Wayne Gates: My question is, how does the government plan to ensure consistent inspection enforcement for largely for-profit, public homes—in the sector of child welfare residences? We know that there are increased concerns—we saw that in long-term care, in particular—when profit is the primary motive for providing a public service.

Mrs. Daisy Wai: Thank you very much to the member from Niagara Falls.

This act is really helping children’s aid services to perform their role. In fact, I will say, on behalf of the ministry, I understand that for most of the services, they did a great job. However, I agree there are bad actors, which is why we increased it to 20 people—20 inspectors going at different times and just checking on them.

And also, one of the new tools that we are adding is to have higher penalties, which is the administrative monetary penalties that go up to a $100,000 limit. The worst kind of offences can be up to $250,000. So we want to make sure that the bad actors will stop doing what they’re not supposed to do.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Further questions?

Mr. Billy Pang: To the member: Bill 188 contains a number of great initiatives to ensure the quality of care and the quality of services provided for children and youth in care. The creation of new offences and the introduction of administrative monetary penalties are all important tools to increase and enhance oversight of out-of-home care. Similarly, updating who has a duty to report to include early childhood educators and increasing information-sharing with professional colleges will keep children safer. The privacy provision contained in the bill could help level the playing field for youth formerly in care.

So my question to the member: What are the steps this government has to support children, youth and families?

Mrs. Daisy Wai: Thank you to the member from Markham–Unionville. You’re right: We have done a lot of work. Since launching the comprehensive redesign of child welfare in Ontario, we have put many new initiatives and measures in place to improve the quality of care in out-of-home care.

These include, just to name a few, developing a new framework for what out-of-home care looks like; increasing and enhancing oversight and accountability of out-of-home care; and supporting that oversight by adding 20 new positions across the province to support the management, inspection and oversight of out-of-home care for children and youth. The most important is launching the Ready, Set, Go Program that provides youth in the care of children’s aid societies with the life skills they need, starting at age 13, and financial support until age 23.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Further questions?

Mr. Peter Tabuns: I appreciate the speech and the comments made by the member. I would ask the member, because my colleagues have spoken to this I think quite strongly: the restoration of the position of the child advocate. Will your government be supporting amendments to restore the position of child advocate in this province?

Mrs. Daisy Wai: Yes, we are doing the child advocate. From 2008 to 2019, the office of the child advocate wrote 79 reports that total 4,644 pages. That’s just from one source. That should have been a spur on the Liberal government to act, and it should have made the NDP demand action from them.

In fact, it is our government that knew that the time for more reports was over. It is our government that took the action and redesigned the child welfare system. The child advocate’s investigative function was folded into the Office of the Ombudsman and continues to this day. Children and youth in care have the right to complain to the Ombudsman, and this bill will improve the clarity and ensure that they know about their rights.

Our government is going to continue to improve on the child care welfare system because no one should be left behind in Ontario. I should note also that the former child advocate said, to this bill’s privacy provisions: “There are positive changes in this announcement.”

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Further questions?

Mrs. Robin Martin: Thank you to the member from Richmond Hill for her comments today on this important bill. It’s been a good debate. I was here yesterday afternoon as well—I think it was yesterday afternoon—listening to this debate. I think it is an important bill. We’ve heard from the opposition that there are many things in the bill that they support, and they think it is “a good start” and that after years of neglect, we are seeing some improvements. So can the member just tell us where she thinks the major improvements are in this bill and how we think it’s going to help those who are most vulnerable in our society to get a better start and to make Ontario better?

Mrs. Daisy Wai: Thank you very much to the member from Eglinton–Lawrence. I agree. I personally think that this is such a great help to children and youth, with this bill that we have, improving on the bill that we already had from before.

After going through this whole bill, the one thing that really touches my heart is the Ready, Set, Go Program. This is something that is not only allowing them to speak on some of their personal experience, but also communicating with them and understanding them, helping them—and it starts from the age of 13, understanding their needs so they know how to start their life and what are the most important things to help them.

The teenage years are the time when they really need the coaching, and we have somebody like this to help them, basically seeing them and getting them ready, get set and go. This is so dear to my heart.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): Further questions?

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I would like to ask a question of the member about some of the challenges that children’s aid societies in this province are facing, and I’m speaking specifically about the Children’s Aid Society of London and Middlesex. Fully half of the families that they support are not actually families who are in need of care. They are families who are struggling with the lack of mental health and addiction services in the community. One third of the families have caregivers with a problem. They are dealing with mental illness or drug or substance issues. More have family caregiver-child conflicts.

What is the government doing to ensure that there are services in the community so that these families don’t end up in the care of the CAS?

Mrs. Daisy Wai: Thank you to the member for that question. We understand that every family is different and every family needs support in its special way, which is why we have this care for the children and youth and their families, even if they have an addiction problem.

We can see some youth face more challenges than others. We get it. We want to ensure that when they get the support they need, they thrive and build to their bright future. When they are in a family that has challenges of drug abuse, we know that these youth or children are facing a complex condition and we are tracking them, supporting them and tackling them at different angles.

We invested $3.8 billion in the Roadmap to Wellness to increase the focus on children’s mental health, as well as supporting families. And in increasing our—

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): I apologize.

It’s now time for further debate.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: It’s an honour to rise today to participate in the debate on Bill 188, the Supporting Children’s Futures Act. This is the kind of legislation that I wish we could see more of in this chamber. It is a bill that we can support. It really speaks to many of the issues that, on this side of the House, we have been advocating for for years. We have been calling for protection of whistle-blowers in the sector to protect kids.

We would like to see more action from this government to respond to some of the other priorities that we have identified. Returning the child and youth advocate: That office played a vital role for children in this province, but this government decided to eliminate that position, which has resulted in many children not feeling like they have anywhere to turn if they are experiencing abuse in a placement.

We’ve also been calling for a total end to all for-profit group homes that take advantage of children. I know that some of those horrendous media reports about the abuse of children in residential group homes and foster care was a big impetus to bringing this bill forward, but that abuse happened in for-profit group homes that were using those vulnerable children as—and they called them this themselves—cash cows or paycheques, which is unconscionable. It is unconscionable that we have a system that enables children to be used in such a way.

But this bill does have some positive measures to strengthen protections for kids, and I congratulate the government on bringing this legislation forward.

I do, however, want to focus on some of the stresses that children’s aid societies in this province are facing in their efforts to provide child protection. I want to speak specifically about the London and Middlesex children’s aid society. In the catchment area for the London-Middlesex CAS, there are close to 6,000 referrals received annually. More than 2,000 assessments are completed. The last year that there was data, there were 590 children in care, so that’s 17% of the caseload. There were 151 new admissions to care. But the majority of the families that the CAS supports do not have children in care.

They are not children who are in need of formal child protection. They are children and families who are struggling with the lack of services in the community.

The executive director of the London-Middlesex CAS made a presentation to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs when it was touring the province in advance of the 2024 provincial budget. They held a meeting in London in January, and Chris Tremeer from the London-Middlesex CAS spoke to the committee and talked about the budgetary pressures that this creates on the CAS when they are supporting families who actually should be supported in other areas of the system, who turn to the CAS because they don’t have any other options, because the services that would be more appropriate for them to access simply don’t exist.

About one third of the families the CAS works with are related to caregivers who are struggling with mental health or addiction issues. Another 17% of the families that the CAS works with are those who are experiencing difficulty managing the behaviour of a child, or, in some cases, a child who is over 12 whose behaviour is such that there is a risk of physical harm to the rest of the family. These are families, these are kids who should be able to access the services that they need in the community.

You can imagine, from the perspective of a child protection worker, how frustrating it must be to see these families in such distress that they come to the CAS to hopefully be able to try to access services, but the CAS doesn’t deliver those kinds of services. The CAS is not a front-line mental health service agency; the CAS is a child protection agency.

One of the questions I asked Chris Tremeer when he appeared before the budget committee is, what would be the financial implications for the CAS, what would it mean in terms of resources for the CAS to do that vital child protection work that it is mandated to do, if appropriate services were available elsewhere in system? He told me that, in London, the amount that is represented by the non-child protection services that the CAS is providing is about $3.5 million.

He said they were projecting up to $5 million by the end of the year in terms of the child welfare budget that is used to house and provide interim treatment support to youth who need a different style of placement. He said across the province, it amounts to more than $50 million worth of pressure on the children’s aid budget envelope because of the absence of community services, leaving the CAS struggling to support these vulnerable families.

And one of the heartbreaking things that we hear as MPPs, and I’m sure that every member in this House has had constituent families who are desperate and they share their stories of the challenges that they’ve had, trying to get appropriate treatment for their children and they are advised—we hear this often—to relinquish their child to the CAS in the hope that this might fast-track access to treatment for their child, but in fact, it doesn’t. The CAS does not have a back door to children’s mental health services to enable that child to get the appropriate support they need.

What happens when children are relinquished to the CAS is that the other children in the home are kept safe—or the caregivers. If the behaviours of the child are so violent, then the parents, the caregivers, are also kept safe.

But what are we talking about here? If we were able to provide the supports that that child needed, that that family needed, we could support the child at home. We could prevent that child from being relinquished to the CAS. And, Speaker, I would strongly urge this government to look at the dire gap in acute children’s mental health services that we are seeing in our communities.

I did want to highlight the experiences of three London families who approached my office to talk about what it means when there are no intensive mental health services for children and youth in crisis. Over a short period of time, Speaker, I had three separate families approaching my office whose stories were quite similar, related to the lack of acute mental health support services for their children.

One family had been searching for intensive mental health treatment for their daughter since that child was at least 12 years of age. They contacted me when their daughter was about to turn 18 because they were frantic with worry that their daughter would never be able to access the children and youth mental health treatment that she needed and would become ineligible for the services that she was on a wait-list for. That child ended up at London Health Sciences Centre for months in a hospital room, which was not an appropriate placement for her, when she should have been able to access a community-based treatment.

Another family was told that their child would have to go on an indefinite wait-list and was told by ministry services, “There is no provision in the existing model that facilitates a crisis response if/when one is indicated. We are reliant on community-based ministry-funded services to address the needs of community youth to the extent that they are able.” So, if there are no ministry-funded services to address the community needs of youth, then those youth are out of luck and they’re told, “Well, one option is to relinquish your child to the CAS,” but the CAS doesn’t have the—as I said, they’re not a front-line mental health—

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly): I apologize to the member from London West, but it is now time for members’ statements.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

Members’ Statements

Volunteers

Mr. Nolan Quinn: Today, I want to highlight the importance of volunteers. I recently attended a couple of fundraisers in my riding to raise money for important causes.

I attended the second annual Dairy Cares event, where local dairy farmers, stakeholders and agribusinesses across Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry come together to celebrate and thank our three local hospitals: Cornwall Community Hospital, Winchester District Memorial Hospital and Glengarry Memorial Hospital. This year, the event raised over $234,000 for these three hospitals.

I participated in a fashion show for the House of Lazarus, in co-operation with St. James Anglican Church, that raised over $10,000 for the organization. They operate a warming hub where the community can access a shower, laundry services, a bed, breakfast and lunch once a week, and can get legal advice, and get advice from a nurse practitioner at no cost.

I also visited the St. Vincent de Paul food bank, followed by a volunteer appreciation luncheon at the Royal Canadian Legion across the street.

Speaker, volunteers are essential to the functioning of many organizations and communities. Volunteers contribute their time, skills, passion and love, and they are driven by a desire to make a positive impact, without expecting monetary compensation. They bring billions of dollars to the economy by volunteering their time at local events and charities. Their unpaid contributions have a significant economic impact through cost savings and enhanced community well-being. Volunteers play a crucial role and are the heart of strong, tight-knit communities.

Health care

Mr. Wayne Gates: Private, for-profit agency staff in health care cost our province nearly $1 billion last year. That’s the reality of how broken our health care system has become under this Conservative government. As we watch the government take front-line health care workers to court to suppress their wages, it’s not hard to imagine why this province is struggling to find and retain staff.

In Niagara, we’ve learned that these costs have exploded. After attempts to get the information directly from Niagara Health, we learned the details of nursing agency costs through our legislative library research team. In 2019-20, Niagara Health spent approximately $1,400 on nursing agency staff. In 2023, Niagara Health spent approximately $2 million on agency nurses. That’s a drastic change in only a few years. Niagara Health reported a $12-million deficit last year.

The government must invest in stabilizing staffing, recruit full-time staff, and we must all fight the privatization of our health care system. Private, for-profit health care services will further reduce staffing resources and cost Ontarians more—and maybe even their lives.

Let’s invest in front-line staff, respect our health care workers and support publicly funded, publicly delivered, not-for-profit health care in the province of Ontario.

Transportation infrastructure

Mr. Hardeep Singh Grewal: After a lengthy battle with the federal government over environmental assessments, we’re finally one step closer to getting it done and building the much-needed Highway 413.

Speaker, Halton, Peel and York regions are all set to grow at incredible speed. Our government is saying yes to building the roads and highways that will keep our communities thriving and moving.

We see first-hand the frustrations of individuals struggling to make it home to see their family or missing important moments while stuck in congestion. With gridlock costing our economy over $11 billion every year, it has never been more important to build this new highway.

Highway 413 will save drivers up to 30 minutes each way on their commute, and that’s one hour per day and five hours per week in people’s schedules. The relief will be the difference between sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic and spending quality time with your family and your loved ones at home.

Our government, under Premier Ford’s leadership, is committed to getting it done. In the coming months, we’ll continue to move ahead and get shovels in the ground as part of our plan to build Ontario by expanding highways and public transit to fight congestion, create jobs and prepare for the massive population growth that’s coming in the next 30 years.

We’re getting it done. We’re building Highway 413.

Environmental protection

Mr. Chris Glover: On Saturday, I was at the Earth Day cleanup in Liberty Village, and I was talking to a couple who had a little three-year-old girl. I said to the three-year-old girl, “Hey, you’ve got a firefighter’s hat on, and there’s a fire truck over there. Is that your fire truck?” She looked at me, and she looked at the fire truck, and then she said, “Yeah.”

I want to thank the Liberty Village Residents Association, TPS division 14 and the firefighters for coming out and cleaning up Liberty Village.

I also want to thank the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association and Friends of Berczy Park, the Garment District Neighbourhood Association, the Waterfront BIA, the Toronto Island Shoreline Cleanup and A Greener Future for organizing Earth Day cleanups across Spadina–Fort York. You’ve made our riding a little bit greener and a little bit cleaner over the weekend.

I also want to note that on Earth Day, Ontario Place for All released a study that showed that the mega spa on the waterfront is estimated to emit 100,000 tonnes of carbon, and a similar Therme spa in Manchester is estimated to consume the same amount of gas per hour as 3,000 homes in a year, the same amount of electricity per hour as 7,000 homes in a year, the same amount of water per day as 5,000 homes in a year.

As we enter this climate emergency, building a tax-subsidized, giant glass-dome mega spa on a bird migration route without an environmental assessment is an environmental disaster. So we are asking the government, in the spirit of Earth Day, cancel the mega spa on the waterfront.

Armenian genocide anniversary

Mr. Aris Babikian: Today, April 24, Armenians in Ontario, in Canada and all over the world will observe the 109th anniversary of the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire.

On the night of April 24, 1915, the Ottoman authorities gathered Armenian intellectuals, members of Parliament, clergy, teachers, writers, civic and political leaders and marched them to the concentration camps for slaughter.

The Armenian genocide claimed the lives of one and a half million and over one million Greeks. Among the victims were my great-grandparents on my Armenian grandfather’s side and my maternal Greek grandmother’s side. Who would have thought that one day the grandson of survivors of two genocides would be serving as a Canadian citizenship judge and be elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario? This is the promise of Canada to the persecuted people of the world.

In March 1980, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario recognized the Armenian genocide. On April 24, 1986, the Premier of Ontario declared April 24 as Armenian Memorial Day in Ontario.

Finally, in his annual commemoration statement, Premier Doug Ford stated, “Today, we remember the strength and bravery of the Armenian people and honour the memory of those who perished during this dark

chapter in human history. In remembering, we ensure that present and future generations reject hatred, intolerance and injustice in all its forms.”

Mr. Speaker—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Members’ statements?

Don Morin

Mme France Gélinas: Last Friday, my riding, my team and I lost a good friend, Mr. Don Morin. Don advocated for workers’ rights before and after his retirement from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

Don strongly believed in the NDP as the best choice for the working people of Ontario. Don was the president of the NDP Nickel Belt riding association in 2007, when I was first elected, and he continued as my president until 2015. We called him Best Prez Ever due to this constant involvement whenever and wherever he could help, whether it was putting up signs, bringing T-shirts, hats, snacks, tools. Whatever was needed, Don was always happy to help.

He also helped support my predecessor, Ms. Shelley Martel, while she was in office.

During the last election, he was really active with my team, pointing out all of the sign locations where NDPs had put up signs. He knew the size of it, the locations of it. He would grab the sledgehammer and start nailing the sign just like he had done for the last five decades. But that was against his wife’s instruction; there was supposed to be no sledgehammer for Don, because he was 81 years old at the time.

Don leaves behind his smiling wife, Diane, two sons and three grandkids. He was extremely proud of his family and what they have achieved.

Thank you for sharing Don with us. We’ve learned so much from him, and I can assure you his lessons will not be forgotten. I will miss you, Don.

School facilities

Ms. Laura Smith: Last week, I had the great pleasure to announce that our government is investing $47.2 million to build two new elementary schools in my riding of Thornhill.

These schools are going to be built in an area known as the VMC, also known as the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. This is the fastest-growing community, the VMC: Two new schools—Catholic, public—one roof, creating 1,134 new student spaces and 49 new child care spaces. This new emerging area is a transit community linked with easy access to the GTA, a vibrant area that’s already home to a beautiful YMCA, a library and so many local businesses. This school will be a much-needed and strong addition for the families in the VMC, no doubt.

As a mother who has also sat on school council for so many years, I know first-hand how important it is to have a solid education, including back-to-basics, hands-on learning, including STEM and after-school opportunities—all of this closer to home. This is part of our government’s plan to support the new school construction and expansion to existing schools, including child care spaces. Our new school strategy involves prioritizing shovel-ready projects, working with school boards to speed up construction through design standardization.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Minister of Education for his leadership on this project, and I will continue to work alongside my community partners and government to support these critical investments for our children’s future.

Wearing of kaffiyehs

Mr. John Fraser: We all know the world is a crazy place right now, and we all know in our communities we’ve seen the rise of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all forms of hate. We also know in our communities there are people trying to build bridges.

So, last week, when all four party leaders agreed that allowing the kaffiyeh was a good thing in this Legislature, that was building a bridge. That was rare. It was unanimity.

And when we couldn’t achieve that in here, I heard from thousands of people—thousands of people—who were disappointed, discouraged and some of them hurt. And I also said to a colleague here who felt the same way last week, “Don’t worry. It will be fixed by Monday.” It’s Wednesday. It’s not fixed.

Our job is to bring people together here, to be leaders, to build bridges. I think it’s important that we do that, and I would like all of my colleagues to consider just how important that is in each and every one of our communities. I encourage the government to bring forward a substantive motion in that regard.

Canadian Cancer Survivor Network

Mr. Lorne Coe: The Canadian Cancer Survivor Network is at Queen’s Park this afternoon for its annual reception. The network provides those faced with a cancer diagnosis and their family members and friends with educational tools and a place to have their voices heard in planning and implementing treatment. It’s a collaborative effort, Speaker, involving a range of community partners all working together to promote the very best standard of care and support.

At the reception, I’m going to share information about the cancer treatment centre at Lakeridge Health in Oshawa and programs and services provided by Hearth Place Cancer Support Centre in Durham region.

Speaker, as reluctant as I was in 2006, prior to the municipal election—and, to some extent, now—to speak about my cancer diagnosis and subsequent recovery, I do so this morning to emphasize the importance of the Canadian Cancer Survivor Network to the lives of so many in Whitby and other parts of the region of Durham, and thousands of other people across Ontario.

To my colleagues here this morning, please join me at this reception to learn more about cancer care.

Autism Awareness Month

Mrs. Daisy Wai: As we come together to recognize Autism Awareness Month, I am compelled to share the profound impact of our recent attendance at the opening ceremony. It was a poignant reminder of the importance of raising awareness and fostering support for individuals on the autism spectrum.

In reflecting on this event, I cannot help but draw from my own personal experiences. Before assuming my role as MPP for Richmond Hill, I had the privilege of serving special-needs children within my community. I vividly recall the early years, when I nurtured these young minds as they embarked on their journey, often starting at the age of five or six. Today, as they stand on the threshold of adolescence, I am humbled by the progress that they have made and the individuals that they have become.

Our commitment to autism awareness is not merely a gesture, it is a testament to our culture and collective responsibility to foster understanding and inclusivity. Let us continue to champion initiatives that celebrate neurodiversity and ensure every individual has the opportunity to thrive.

Introduction of Visitors

Hon. Michael Parsa: Good morning, colleagues. I’d like to welcome Alina Cameron, Tony Stravato, Kate Dudley-Logue, Bruce McIntosh and the many families from the Ontario Autism Coalition who are here for their advocacy day. Welcome to Queen’s Park and I look forward to meeting with them.

Mr. John Vanthof: I’d like to welcome the Dairy Farmers of Ontario here today, especially my constituent Steve Runnalls, and invite you all to their reception this evening.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: I too would like to welcome the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, and in particular chair Mark Hamel, who hails from Elmwood, Ontario, and Roger Boerson, who represents the dairy farmers in Huron and Perth counties.

I would like to join the member opposite in inviting everyone to the reception later this evening, hosted by the Dairy Farmers of Ontario. And I promise you, there might be some really good curds for everybody.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): And hopefully milk too.

Miss Monique Taylor: With April being Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month, I would also like to welcome the Ontario Autism Coalition: president Alina Cameron; VPs Tony Stravato and Kate Dudley-Logue; founding member Bruce McIntosh; board members Leah Kocmarek, Ashley Ferreira, Madison Hughes, Jodie Craig; and advocates Meghan Graham, Bernadette Rilloraza, Michau van Speyk and Chong Le Zhu.

The Ontario Autism Coalition is inviting all members of the chamber today to a luncheon, which will be held from 12 till 2 in room 228, and they’re hoping to see you all there.

Hon. Doug Downey: I just want to note that page Aura Sarin from Barrie–Springwater–Oro-Medonte is page captain today, and she’s joined by her mother in the gallery.

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: I am pleased to welcome the Girls Government group to Queen’s Park this year from Parkdale–High Park. We have from Runnymede public school: Hazel McGillivray, Stella Calandrino, Isobel Kenny, Lori Yalcin, Tori Nishi, Isidora Eror, Noelle Falconer, Chloe Lucas-Torres Barbiere, Isabel Meana, Baribelle Rands, Ella Henderson, Olivia Hollis, Meara Doran and teacher Anastasia Maniatis.

We also have from Swansea public school: Alexandra Arata Roman, Sierra Bender, Beatrix Cairns, Zoe Devlin, Teagan Kosmalski, Tessa Laceda, Chloe Lauzon, Avni Ramwani, Kaia Ratajczak, Stella Ratajczak, Jayda Richards, Naomi Sheahan and teachers Julie Gutierrez and Lisa Stewart. We also have a parent joining us, Emily Hollis.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Stephanie Bowman: I’d like to welcome Chris Markham from my riding. He was here to attend the Ontario Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance breakfast this morning. I thank him for his good work as well with the Ontario Autism Coalition.

Hon. Kinga Surma: I would like to welcome Justin Thompson to Queen’s Park today. He’s from my constituency, and I hope he enjoys the tour of the building.

Ms. Jessica Bell: I’d like to welcome parents from Kensington junior public school here today: Pouya Hamidi, Anna Gutkowska, Ricardo Junco Reinosa, Diana Laura Pech Mis, Julia Dorfman, Christopher McElhone, Nate Kreiswirth, Angie Gammage, Rebecca Osolen, Sepideh Shahi, Robyn Armstrong and Pete Wen. Thank you so much for joining us here today.

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: I’d like to thank the Ontario Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance for the most delicious and nutritious breakfast this morning. I met some beautiful Beaches–East Yorkers: super Sabrina Scarcello from Ophea—thank you for keeping kids healthy all over Ontario and Canada—and sensational Susan Flynn, the director of cancer prevention at the Canadian Cancer Society. Welcome to your House.

Hon. Greg Rickford: Trudy Sachowski, the executive member of the board of health for the Northwestern Health Unit, joins us today in the gallery. I appreciate her advocacy. She’s a real champ for northwestern Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): If there are no objections, I’d like to continue with the introduction of visitors, if there are more.

Hon. Todd J. McCarthy: I’d like to introduce and welcome to the House this morning Lawrence Berg, one of His Majesty’s counsel, called to the bar in 1968, a leading Ontario trial lawyer practising for over 50 years in Durham region and appointed originally QC by the Honourable Roy McMurtry and the government of Bill Davis. Welcome, counsel.

Mr. Joel Harden: It’s a great pleasure to see my friend Kate Dudley-Logue in the chamber here from Ottawa. Thank you for all the advocacy you do for autism. It’s much appreciated.

Hon. Stan Cho: Two visitors: Spencer and Lucas Fair. They’re Canucks fans, so on behalf of the government: Go, Leafs, go.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I guess Ottawa is not in the playoffs.

Ms. Natalia Kusendova-Bashta: I’d like to welcome Sudershan Lohana, who’s an MBA student from Windsor. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Later today, I’ll be welcoming students from Whitney Public School in my riding—their first visit to Queen’s Park. I’m looking forward to meeting with them. But what is really remarkable is that I actually spent one day as a supply teacher at Whitney Public School many years ago—

Interjections.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Only one day, only one day.

Mr. Brian Riddell: I’d like to welcome my new intern, Josh Green, who’s up there in the gallery, to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Andrew Dowie: Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity to wish my colleague from Cambridge, Brian Riddell, a very happy birthday today.

Question Period

Government accountability

Mr. Jeff Burch: Good morning, Speaker. This question is for the Premier. In August, the Premier’s friend, greenbelt developer Shakir Rehmatullah, told the Integrity Commissioner under oath that he did not socialize with Amin Massoudi, the Premier’s former principal secretary, and that they had never been in each others’ homes.

Earlier today, the Trillium revealed strong evidence that Mr. Massoudi had visited Mr. Rehmatullah’s mansion on multiple occasions. The Trillium previously revealed that Mr. Massoudi had a massage with Mr. Rehmatullah in Las Vegas, also contradicting their testimony.

Why did the Premier’s friend and his former principal secretary repeatedly give misleading testimony to the Integrity Commissioner under oath?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Mr. Speaker, I suspect that if the Integrity Commissioner has any questions, he will undertake a review of that with Mr. Massoudi.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Supplementary question?

Mr. Jeff Burch: During the time when Mr. Massoudi was the Premier’s principal secretary, the government handed out minister’s zoning orders to Mr. Rehmatullah like they were candy. And shortly after he attended the Premier’s daughter’s wedding, Mr. Rehmatullah benefited from changes to the greenbelt, as well as various ministerial amendments to municipal official plans.

A document obtained through freedom of information shows that on the day the government announced changes to the greenbelt, the Premier himself had demanded proof that Mr. Rehmatullah would be able to develop his greenbelt property in Nobleton. Through you, Speaker: Why did the Premier give such preferential treatment to his friend?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Mr. Speaker, what we’re trying to do across the province of Ontario, which the member should know, is get homes built in every part of the province. I know the member is opposed to this, because in his own community, where they had the opportunity to build affordable homes for people—the council turned it down in his own community.

Now, that’s not our approach. Our approach is that we’re going to do whatever it takes to build housing for people, and that includes all across those regions. In our five fastest-growing regions, what they need is sewer and water capacity. We’re going to give them that, Mr. Speaker. We’re going to remove red tape that is stopping homes from being built, despite the objections of the members opposite. We will get it done for the people in the province of Ontario. because the dream of home ownership shouldn’t just be for the people who have been here for decades, it should be for the people who are here now and the people who want to contribute to helping Ontario be a bigger, better province.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The final supplementary?

Mr. Jeff Burch: That’s quite an answer to a greenbelt question, Speaker.

Government officials used code terms like “special project” when discussing the greenbelt grab. Government emails were altered to replace references to the greenbelt with terms like “G*” in an apparent attempt to conceal what they were doing.

Now, we have further evidence that the Premier’s friend and his former principal secretary repeatedly gave misleading testimony to the Integrity Commissioner under oath.

Speaker, how will the Premier explain all this to the RCMP?

Hon. Paul Calandra: As I said, if Matlock has any additional information that he would like to provide the Integrity Commissioner, he can do that. It is not for the government to make those types of investigations. If the Integrity Commissioner requires additional information, I suspect the Integrity Commissioner will ask for that information. If the member opposite has additional information that he would like to provide, I can give him the address of the Integrity Commissioner so he can provide that information.

Because what happens in this place consistently, Mr. Speaker, is the drive-by smear without any evidence. That is what the NDP does. And do you know why they do it, colleagues? Because they have nothing to offer the people of the province of Ontario. They’re opposed to housing. They’re opposed to transit. They’re opposed to education. They’re opposed to building new hospitals. They’re opposed to everything, and that’s why the people of the province of Ontario oppose them and shrink them every single election. They’re irrelevant and the people of Ontario know it.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’ll remind members that we refer to each other either by our riding name or ministerial title, as applicable.

The next question.

Autism treatment / Missing persons

Miss Monique Taylor: My question is for the Premier. Today, the Ontario Autism Coalition is here at Queen’s Park, calling for action. They have brought solutions to issues that our children, youth and adults are facing in the autism community across the entire province—issues like wait-lists, determination of needs assessments, funding, housing and health and safety for our loved ones; issues that keep families up at night, forced with hard decisions to be made about education, therapies and finances.

In 2018, the Premier promised that no family would have to protest on the front lawn. There were 24,000 kids waiting at that time; today, there are 67,000 children waiting.

I ask you: Will you and your government listen and hear the calls to action today and truly help the autism community?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

Hon. Michael Parsa: I thank my honourable colleague for the question. We have been listening to the families from day one, when I became a minister in this portfolio, in this very important file for the government and for the Premier. I reached out to the families, to everyone who’s involved, to listen to them, to get that feedback from families, from service providers, from experts and from those with lived experience. That’s why this government doubled the funding of the Ontario Autism Program moving forward.

At that time when we formed government, there were 8,500 families receiving supports and services. Today, thousands and thousands, tens of thousands, are receiving supports and services through multiple streams. The family foundational service, the urgent response, the entry to school and the caregiver-mediated programs are programs that families can have access to the second they reach and register with AccessOAP. None of these programs were available before. Even core clinical service—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

The supplementary question?

Miss Monique Taylor: They may have doubled the funding, but they tripled the wait-list. There’s a problem there, Minister.

Time and time again, I have asked about the wait-list for core services, which is now 67,000 kids and counting. Every time your minister responds, he uses words and phrases like “world-class” and “no child left behind.” In this year’s budget, autism was mentioned once, and yet it fell very short of world class. It was not much more than a reannouncement of the previous year’s funding, a scramble to try and cobble together your broken program.

AccessOAP provides no indication of where kids are in the queue. This is the number one question all of our offices receive from families who are desperate to find the support their children need.

Premier, I ask again on behalf of the 67,000 kids waiting: When will they be told it is their turn and that they’re not going to be left behind?

Hon. Michael Parsa: I didn’t have enough time to be able to finish my first answer. After we doubled the Ontario Autism Program, thanks to the Premier and thanks to the Minister of Finance, this year, we announced an additional 20% to the funding to now $720 million compared to the $300 million of the previous government, which the NDP supported.

Mr. Speaker, I 100% back the program. Do you know why? Because this program was developed by the autism community. It was members of the autism community, those with lived experience, family members, clinicians and experts who are the ones who put this program—and even the implementation team was made up of those from the autism community.

So, yes, I’m absolutely supportive of the program that we have in place. I will continue to meet with families. And I said this from day one, that we will come to work every day to make sure we improve their lives and go home to do better the next day every time we come to work.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The final supplementary?

Miss Monique Taylor: In June 2022, Draven Graham, at the age of 10, went missing from his home. Draven was autistic. His family and his community were desperate to find him. Draven never returned home. Since that time, over 100,000 people have petitioned and called for an alert that would have notified the community to his disappearance.

In March 2023, I tabled Bill 74 that would have offered another solution to bringing missing people home safely. Later that same month, your House leader discharged the bill to the justice committee with a promise to Draven’s family and community that it would be brought back swiftly. Over a year later, Speaker, we are still waiting. People are still signing petitions, and the OAC is here today asking for the immediate passing of the Missing Persons Amendment Act.

Premier, will you finally honour your government’s word and ensure a quick passage of Bill 74?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats.

To respond, the Solicitor General.

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: To be very clear: We are concerned when a vulnerable person goes missing, and nothing is more important than the safety of everyone in Ontario. The issue of missing and vulnerable people is serious and deserves careful attention. That’s why we have acted. That’s why our government has funded initiatives like Project Lifesaver in the riding of Sarnia–Lambton and in Essex and in other towns in Ontario. This project, as an example, provides vulnerable people with bracelets that help police find them, using radio signals when necessary.

Mr. Speaker, the opposition does not have an exclusive for vulnerable people. We take this matter seriously.

Land use planning

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is for the Premier. The agri-food industry in Ontario contributes $4 billion to Ontario’s GDP each year, and more than 750,000 Ontarians are employed throughout the agri-food supply chain. Farmers play a vital role in Ontario. They are the backbone of this province. We are losing 319 acres of farmland a day in Ontario, and yet this government continues to advocate for undisclosed industrial sites located on prime agricultural land like in Wilmot township, where developers offered to buy the land before any official rezoning information happened, just like the greenbelt scandal.

My question is to the Premier: Why is this government prioritizing putting money in the pockets of developers rather than supporting Ontario farmers?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Mr. Speaker, I have to be honest here. I just met with Dairy Farmers of Ontario this morning. The fact of the matter is, time and again in this House I rise to talk about the investments that, under the leadership of Premier Ford and the support of this entire government—we are making historic movements forward in support of our agri-food industry. One example is the $1.7 billion that we’re investing over five years in partnership with the federal government through the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership.

Another example is what we are hearing from the Dairy Farmers of Ontario today, because they’re ready to grow, and they know it’s with our government, with our leadership that their industry is going to continue to grow and flourish for generations to come.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question? The member for Timiskaming–Cochrane.

Mr. John Vanthof: Let’s make this clear: What’s happening in Wilmot could happen in any farm community in Ontario. A developer shows up, offers you a deal, you don’t take it, and then the government comes along: “If you don’t take the deal, we’re going to expropriate it.” That could happen anywhere in Ontario, just like it’s happening in Wilmot for an undisclosed project. And then what will happen, if this undisclosed project is a factor, all of a sudden the land that was taken from the farmer will quadruple, will go 10 times in value, and that money will go to the speculator, to the developer, not to the farmer.

Is that the Ontario that you support, Minister of Agriculture?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats.

Once again, I’ll remind members to please make their comments through the Chair.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: I have to tell you, Speaker, that I am so incredibly disappointed to hear the rhetoric and the drama coming from that particular member opposite—because that’s all it is: It’s complete rhetoric, because the fact of the matter is we’re laying down the groundwork and the pillars to grow Ontario.

Again, the meeting I had this morning with the Dairy Farmers of Ontario points to our Grow Ontario Strategy, where we’re going to be increasing the consumption and production of Ontario-produced food and beverage by 30% by the year 2032. The Dairy Farmers of Ontario were identifying how they can support that strategy, because I can tell you specifically the dairy farmers in southwestern Ontario, they’re ready to grow, and I am going to do everything I can to make sure that they understand they’ve got the full support of our Ontario government.

The thing that the members opposite could really do if they were sincere about helping farmers throughout Ontario is fighting that carbon tax, because—

Interjections.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: —happening in this province—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. Thank you very much.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

I apologize to the Minister of Agriculture and Food. I couldn’t hear you.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Your time is up, yes. Thank you.

There’s another member who would like to ask a question, just in case anyone is interested.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Start the clock. The next question.

Taxation

Mr. Mike Harris: Speaker, and let’s talk about that carbon tax. My question is for the Minister of Energy. People in my riding of Kitchener–Conestoga continue to express concerns over the federal carbon tax and how it will make their lives more expensive. Since the introduction of this regressive tax, the costs of food, transportation and people’s everyday essentials have reached a new high.

Speaker, contrary to what the Liberal members in this House believe, the carbon tax is not—and I repeat, not—in the best interests of Ontarians. Its sole purpose is to take money out of people’s pockets. The punishment and the never-ending tax increases under the federal Liberals are propped up by the carbon tax queen herself, Bonnie Crombie, every step of the way. It’s shameful, Speaker.

Can the minister please tell this House why the federal government must immediately cancel this punitive tax?

Hon. Todd Smith: Mr. Speaker, the federal Liberals seem like they’re unwilling to listen to farmers across Ontario or across Canada. The current queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, the leader of the Liberal Party here in Ontario, is happy to have the federal carbon tax in place.

If the NDP really wanted to stand up for farmers, like our dairy farmers who are here today, they would join us—Premier Ford and our team—in fighting the carbon tax all the way to the Supreme Court. It’s just activities here in the Legislature to get attention. They’re not actually standing up for farmers in Ontario, while our Minister of Agriculture is and our Premier is by fighting the federal carbon tax, Mr. Speaker.

Now, if you don’t think the carbon tax is having an impact on our dairy farmers, you’re crazy, because everything they do requires natural gas or propane or some other type of heating oil, Mr. Speaker, and the cost is enormous to heat the barns. The cost is enormous to transport the milk to the processing facility and then onto the distributors. It’s a huge, huge impediment. I’ll tell you more—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Waterloo will come to order.

Supplementary question?

Mr. Mike Harris: Thank you to the minister for his response. At a time when the cost of living is at an all-time high, the federal government decided to hike the carbon tax by 23% earlier this month. According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, even the rebates that were promised for families and businesses did not cover the cost that people have had to pay.

It is disappointing to see the federal and provincial Liberals simultaneously turn a blind eye to experts’ warnings as we continue to see the hardships that people face here in the province.

Unlike the Liberals, our government is taking action to reduce the risks and impacts of carbon emissions through our clean energy advantage while prioritizing affordable and reliable energy for everyone.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government is securing clean, reliable and affordable energy for Ontarians without needing the carbon tax?

Hon. Todd Smith: By investing in clean, reliable, affordable nuclear energy, by investing in affordable, reliable, clean hydroelectric power like the Sir Adam Beck facility down in Niagara Falls—historic facilities that we’re implementing across the province.

We saw what the Green Energy Act did when the Liberals were in charge of our energy sector here in Ontario. It drove people into energy poverty. And the federal carbon tax, which the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, supports, is doing the same to farmers like the Dairy Farmers of Ontario today. And not just the dairy farmers, Mr. Speaker. What our agriculture minister wanted to get in was the impact on just the grain farmers alone. The carbon tax is going to increase costs to just the grain farmers by $2.7 billion by 2030.

That’s what the NDP stands for. That’s what the Liberals stand for. We don’t. It’s time to scrap the tax.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. Members will please take their seats.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Restart the clock. The next question.

Health care

M me France Gélinas: Ma question est pour la ministre de la Santé.

The health care staffing shortage has reached crisis level. The government has the data that shows this, but they are actively hiding that information from the public. The government was elected six years ago, and what have they done, Speaker? They have been disrespectful and harmful to our health care workers.

Is the minister so ashamed of her work on health care that she is hiding the workforce numbers?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Member for Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry and parliamentary assistant.

Mr. Nolan Quinn: Let’s be clear: That was a forecast in 2022, and that is why our government is investing record amounts into our health care system, including $743 million in this year’s budget over the next three years to address immediate health care staffing needs. That’s on top of the 63,000 new nurses that have registered to work in Ontario since 2018. An additional 80,000 nurses will join the health care workforce by 2028, increasing the number of post-secondary education seats, as well, by 2,000 registered nurses and an extra 1,000 registered practical nurses.

Our government will continue to do what is required to ensure that we have the best publicly funded health care, when and where the people need it.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

So can the minister explain to the people of Ontario why the government is pulling the wool over our eyes?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I heard the comment. There’s a reaction in the House. I’m going to ask the member to withdraw.

M me France Gélinas: Withdraw.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Member for Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry.

Mr. Nolan Quinn: The member opposite is well aware that we are investing $85 billion into our health care system this year alone, which is a 30% increase since 2018, when the NDP propped up the Liberal government at the time.

It’s important to remember where our health care system was when Minister Jones was sworn in as the Minister of Health in 2022. Ontario and the rest of the world was only beginning to recover from the global pandemic, a pandemic that showed the holes in Ontario’s health care system caused by over a decade of neglect by the Liberal government, propped up by the NDP.

Since Minister Jones was sworn in as the Minister of Health, our government has registered a record number of new nurses two years in a row, registering a total of 32,000 nurses in Ontario. Our government recognized that the status quo was no longer working for Ontarians, and that is why, under the leadership of Premier Ford, we have taken action to build a more connected and convenient health care system.

Taxation

Mr. Andrew Dowie: My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, who’s done phenomenal work bringing investment to Windsor-Essex like we’ve never seen before.

The carbon tax affects every single worker in Ontario. It doesn’t matter what sector you work in or how much money you make, the carbon tax is hurting everyone. Workers see it when they go to the pump to fill up their car with gas or when they go to the grocery store to buy food to put on the table for their families.

At the same time, it’s taking money away from business owners who want to invest in their workers. We want our businesses to succeed so we’ll have great-paying jobs. We need them in our country, in our communities all over the province. But we need the Liberals to stop burdening them with the carbon tax.

Can the minister explain how the carbon tax is hurting Ontario’s economy?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Speaker, we have been saying this for quite some time: The Liberals don’t realize the importance of leaving the people of Ontario with more money in their pockets. Think of the entrepreneur who wants to undertake a new business venture. That extra dollar in their pocket means being able to bring their ideas to life. It gives them the ability to scale up by hiring new workers and entering new markets. That extra dollar can be the difference in what makes their dream become a reality. That is what the Liberals are trying to take away when they hike taxes at every opportunity they get.

They missed an opportunity to correct course and scrap the carbon tax in their budget last week.

Speaker, we urge them to scrap this terrible tax today.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Mr. Andrew Dowie: Certainly, we’ve revitalized our province’s business environment after the previous Liberal government’s failed economic experiment. We witnessed that in my community first-hand.

When the Liberals keep hiking taxes, they are pushing away entrepreneurs and businesses and stifling innovation. We want businesses to see Ontario as the place where they can succeed, but the Liberals are telling them not to come here, with their carbon tax.

Unfortunately, Bonnie Crombie and the Liberals in this House endorse the Trudeau Liberals’ approach. They want to see the carbon tax hiked every single year, to try to undo the progress we’ve made in Ontario.

We need the Prime Minister to stop listening to his Liberal friends and start listening to the hard-working people of this province.

Can the minister let the Liberals know the risks that accompany their carbon tax?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: The Liberal approach of higher taxes just does not work. It has been tested time and time again, and every single time, it fails.

Look at the previous Liberal government, Speaker. Their high taxes chased out business. It cost us 300,000 manufacturing jobs in the past years. Businesses were looking everywhere but Ontario to invest and expand. Now the federal Liberals are trying to do what they did here in Ontario all over Canada, all over again, with their 17-cent-a-litre carbon tax. And now they’re doubling down on their budget disaster of last week.

We’ve built up Ontario’s global reputation as the best place to do business. We did it by lowering taxes, not by raising taxes.

Scrap the tax today.

Autism treatment

Ms. Chandra Pasma: This government’s underspending on special education means that children with autism are going without badly needed supports in school. This is not only impacting their learning; it is putting their safety at risk.

More than half of principals in Ontario say they’ve had to ask parents to keep their child with special needs at home because staff shortages are putting their safety in jeopardy.

Why does the Premier not believe that children with autism deserve a safe, high-quality education in Ontario?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Minister of Education.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: First off, we’ve worked very hard to ensure all children are in school for the next three years with stability. Children with special education needs are the ones with the greatest exceptionality, are the ones who need stability in schools, and our party alone stood up and delivered deals with every teacher union, providing some stability in their lives.

We also increased the funding for special education. We’re talking about an increase of nearly $540 million since 2018, $125 million more this year compared to last year—3,500 additional EAs in school boards, as reported by our school board associations.

Mr. Speaker, we know there’s more to do. It’s why in this year’s budget we announced additional funding for additional staffing in addition to supports for co-op education to help ensure these young individuals are able to put their talents to work in the labour market and seek employment and build skills.

We’ll continue to be there every single year to increase funding, staffing and supports for our kids with the most exceptional needs in Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question? The member for London–Fanshawe.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Premier, I wrote the minister in June of last year on behalf of families like Bethany’s. Her daughter has been waiting for years for autism core services and is still waiting. Bethany tells us that at her daughter’s school there is only one EA for three kids with special needs, and without OAP funding her daughter is falling further and further behind because she cannot get the ABA or the speech therapy she needs.

Under your government, autism services are only getting worse for this family and all the families here today. Premier, why are kids waiting for years for the OAP core funding they need and deserve so they can thrive?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

Hon. Michael Parsa: I thank the honourable member for the important question. As I said earlier, when we formed government, 75% of the families were waiting with no prospect of support at all. Today, because of the supports and services under the leadership of this Premier, we have increased the funding to more than double, $600 million, and this year, as a result of the budget—which, unfortunately, so far you’ve voted against, and I hope you vote in favour of it when you have the next opportunity, because in the budget there’s an increase of $120 million more to support families.

That will help us more with getting tens of thousands of families enrolled in core clinical services, like the member alluded to.

Unlike before, when families had one route to service—IBI—today, they have multiple opportunities through family foundational services, through urgent response, through entry to school and through care-mediated therapy, and tens of thousands of families are accessing these services because of our decisions.

Services for persons with disabilities

Mr. Michael Mantha: My question is to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services—a busy morning for you. Developmental services remain woefully underfunded in Ontario. In the run-up to the 2024 budget, developmental services organizations across Ontario led the #5ToSurvive campaign, calling for a 5% increase to their base funding to make up years of frozen budgets. The 2% they did receive is totally inadequate.

I wrote two letters to the minister outlining the strain on groups like Community Living Algoma, Community Living Espanola and Community Living Manitoulin. These organizations work tirelessly to serve people with developmental disabilities while working on increasingly tight budgets.

My question to the minister: Why did he ignore the needs of the developmental services sector once again in this budget?

Hon. Michael Parsa: I thank my honourable colleague for the very important question. In fact, quite the contrary: I will remind the honourable member that, under the leadership of Premier Ford and this government, we have increased support and funding for developmental services in Ontario by over a billion dollars since we formed government. We have increased funding for supportive living for those who require those supports and services by more than $2.2 billion in the province of Ontario.

In our most recent budget, which I hope the member and all my colleagues in this House support, we increased funding by $310 million for the sectors who are doing—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Member for Hamilton Mountain, come to order.

Hon. Michael Parsa: These organizations are doing fantastic work in every corner in our province, and we have their back.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question?

Mr. Michael Mantha: Again to the minister: The fact is that this government has never lived up to their word for adults who have developmental disabilities.

Here’s an example from people in my riding: Karen and Jacques Ribout in my riding were forced to set up their own micro-board to support their daughter Emily through the Passport Program. They work full-time coordinating support for their daughter in making sure that she gets the services she needs. This year, they were informed that they will receive a 0% increase to their Passport funding, putting them behind inflation once again.

Karen and Jacques wrote to my office saying, “This just piles on from previous years of lower-than-inflation increase and even years when 0% increases and cuts were the norm.”

People with developmental services deserve to have the resources to live healthy and full lives. My question again to the minister: Why is this minister refusing to make that a reality for people that are in need in this province?

Hon. Michael Parsa: Again, I thank the honourable for the question. When we formed government, we heard from families and service providers who were telling us—and the member would know this—that they are facing the same challenges as they had done 10, 15 and 20 years prior too, because nothing was done to support these families. This is why, through our long-term vision, with the help and support of the sector and families, we introduced Journey to Belonging, because we want to make sure every single person in our province, regardless of where they are, is able to participate fully in their communities.

That’s why, as I mentioned earlier, we increased the funding more than $1 billion in developmental services in the province of Ontario to $3.4 billion today.

The member talked about supportive living. We increased supportive living funding by more than $2.2 billion. Journey to Belonging is our long-term vision, but we’re making the process easier and more streamlined for families so that they can access services and supports digitally, regardless of where they are in the—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. The next question.

Taxation

Mr. Will Bouma: My question is for the Minister of Energy. Across the nation, Premiers from all political stripes are speaking out against the federal carbon tax and its detrimental impacts on families and businesses. Inflation has already reached devastating levels, resulting in many households not being able to make ends meet.

Every day, I receive emails and phone calls from constituents who are struggling to get by as a result of the carbon tax. I know that’s the case for members all across this great Legislature. The message from the people of Ontario is clear: They feel betrayed and punished for having to pay more at the pumps just to go to work and feed their families. This carbon tax must be scrapped immediately.

Can the minister please tell this House why the carbon tax queen, Bonnie Crombie, and her Liberals must come to their senses and join us in calling for an end to this disastrous tax?

Hon. Todd Smith: This is what happens when you leave the Liberals and the NDP in charge of energy policy. The Green Energy Act tripled our electricity rates. By 2018, they were booted out of office and remain the minivan party that we see today.

The federal Liberal government is doing the exact same thing, only they’re doing it with their carbon tax. They’re making life unaffordable for the people of Ontario and the people of Canada.

The member from Brantford–Brant just mentioned the price at the pumps. It’s up around a buck 80 a litre right now, and the federal Liberals want to triple the carbon tax. Holy mackinaw, in the words of Joe Bowen. That’s going to make it completely unaffordable for the people of Ontario.

We have to do the right thing. The queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie, does have to come to her senses. The NDP have come to their senses. We can’t afford this carbon tax. We have to scrap it today.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question?

Mr. Will Bouma: Thank you, Minister, for that response. The carbon tax pushes up prices across the board, affecting everything from fuelling our cars to building homes for Ontarians. And this is not the end of it, Speaker: This tax is going to triple by 2030. People cannot afford to pay their bills now, how are they going to afford it then? Ontarians need more financial relief, not additional taxes.

While our government has consistently opposed the carbon tax from the start, the NDP and Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals continue to support further hikes to this punitive measure. That is unacceptable.

Can the minister please explain why Ontarians cannot afford more NDP-Liberal taxes?

Hon. Todd Smith: It’s pretty simple, Mr. Speaker. We’ve seen this movie before, and it doesn’t end well. When the Liberals and the NDP teamed up on energy policy in Ontario, we saw 300,000 manufacturing jobs, including many in the automotive sector, leave for other jurisdictions. We came in in 2018. The current Minister of Northern Development was the Minister of Energy. He stopped the Green Energy Act madness, and we brought stability to our energy sector. As a result, we’ve seen jobs flooding back in to Ontario at a record rate.

But the federal Liberals want to do it all over again. It’s unbelievable that they want to triple the carbon tax, which is already crippling the people of Ontario and crippling the people of Ontario.

Interjection.

Hon. Todd Smith: And they chirp over there. They say, “Oh, where’s your plan?” We have a plan, Mr. Speaker. It’s called Powering Ontario’s Growth, investing in our nuclear reactors at Pickering and at Darlington and at Bruce, building small modular reactors in Darlington, investing in our water power—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. Order.

Start the clock. The next question.

Education funding

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: My question is to the Minister of Education. The Toronto District School Board is facing a $26.5-million budget deficit. This is after $17 million in cuts to programs and services for the upcoming year. The Conservative government has cut $1,347 per student since 2018. The chair of the board has written to the minister, saying programs students rely on are in jeopardy.

Will the minister address the TDSB’s structural deficit to avoid further drastic cuts?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I think the priority of parents in this province is that governments land deals that keep the kids in class, and that’s exactly what the government has done—not a peep from the New Democrats or Liberals who couldn’t do that when they were in government. We signed deals that provided stability.

The first principle of your question is that you’ve got to keep kids in front of their teachers, focused on the basics of education, which is why we hired 7,500 more education workers. It’s why we hired 3,000 more teachers. It’s why we just doubled the funding to build more schools in this province for families in Toronto and the smallest towns and villages of this province.

We are investing more in public education than at any time, but we’re doing it alone. When we brought forth a budget that added billions of investments to publicly funded schools, Liberals opposed that investment. When we hired thousands of additional teachers to help our kids get back on track, you opposed the investment.

But, Mr. Speaker, we’re not going to rely on the opposition to do what’s right, we’re going to continue to go back to basics and demand better for the people of this province.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary? The member for University–Rosedale.

Ms. Jessica Bell: Back to the minister: These are the facts. Schools in our riding are facing cuts, because the Conservatives are refusing to properly fund our public school system. We have 15 parents from Kensington school today. Kensington is losing two teachers. They just learned their kids will be in a grade 4/5/6 class. That means a teacher will have to explain and teach three lesson plans each and every day. That is not a recipe for student success, that is a recipe for kids being left behind.

My question is to the minister: Will you commit to more school funding so students in this province, including the kids of these parents who are here today, can succeed in school?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: See, Mr. Speaker, the members opposite seem to conflate that funding is the barrier to a qualified teacher in that classroom, but you know that there’s a retired educator in Toronto, as we speak, ready to get in that classroom. But because of your ideological aversion—like, it is just crazy, that you would rather a babysitter. Those parents would rather—you should tell the parents that the official policy of Liberals and New Democrats is to rather a babysitter, instead of leveraging a retired educator in classrooms in this province. It’s inconceivable, and it’s frankly shameful.

We have a solution right now, supported by the principals’ association, the trustees’ association and the common-sense parents of this province.

Get off this ideological aversion to leveraging people with experience and stand up for what’s right: qualified educators in the classrooms of Ontario.

Office of the Premier

Mrs. Karen McCrimmon: When you ask the people of Ontario if they’re better off now than they were six years ago, the answer is a resounding no. Patients, nurses, doctors, teachers, students—including the autism community—farmers and renters, all dealing with restrictions, slowdowns and cuts to essential services.

But I will tell you who isn’t dealing with cuts. This government has the largest, most expensive cabinet ever. This Premier’s office is also the largest, most expensive Premier’s office in history, doubling in size and salary. If this isn’t the gravy train, I don’t know what is.

Mr. Speaker, can the Premier please explain what exactly his 28 extra staff members, each earning over $100,000 annually, are doing for the people of Ontario?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

The Premier may reply.

Hon. Doug Ford: “Wow” is right. It’s a wow. I can’t believe what I just heard the member say. The people are not a little bit—they’re a thousand times better. There are 700,000 people collecting a paycheque who never collected a paycheque under them. There’s $28 billion of investment in the auto and EV sector that under their government—they ran them right out of our province. And wait until tomorrow: one of the largest investments in Canadian history in the auto sector. We’ll be announcing that.

So talk to the hundreds of thousands of people who have a secure job for years to come. Talk to the people who are in the tech sector—over $20 billion of investment. We’ve overtaken Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay area. We’re going 365% faster than that region when it comes to the tech sector.

Talk to the people who are employed with the $3-billion investment in life sciences, who have a stable job. Talk to all the businesses that we reduced $8 billion from—we have never raised a tax on the people or—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock.

The member for Ottawa South, come to order. The member for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke, come to order.

Start the clock. The supplementary question?

Mrs. Karen McCrimmon: This government has the largest, most expensive cabinet ever. This government has the largest, most expensive Premier’s office ever. And now we are being told that the Premier’s former principal secretary visited a developer’s home several times, contrary to what was told to the Integrity Commissioner.

What exactly is the Premier paying this enormous staff to do?

Hon. Doug Ford: Let’s just remind everyone: This is the member who said we’re better off with a carbon tax, following the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie: “This province is better off.”

Tell the people who are filling up their gas tanks and looking at 17.5 cents more as we reduced gas by 10.7 cents. Talk to the kids behind me about the new schools that they’re seeing built across the province. You closed 600 schools; we’re building $16 billion of schools. Talk to the 12,500 doctors who are now registered right here in Ontario. Talk to the 80,000 nurses. When they were firing nurses, we registered 80,000 nurses.

Mr. Speaker, we have become an economic powerhouse, not just in North America but around the world. We’re going to continue growing Ontario—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. The next question.

Taxation

Mr. Dave Smith: My question is for the Minister of Indigenous Affairs. The Liberal carbon tax is punishing Ontario families and businesses. After this month’s 23% tax hike, Ontarians are paying 18 cents more per litre at the gas pumps, and that is just unacceptable. This costly tax drives up the price of everything, but especially in remote Indigenous communities across northern Ontario, where the cost to transport goods is already much higher compared to anywhere else in the province.

Speaker, we know the opposition NDP and independent Liberals are more than happy to see this tax nearly triple by 2030. But the people of Ontario have had enough. They want to see this tax scrapped today.

Speaker, can the minister please tell the House how the Liberal carbon tax is adversely impacting on rural, remote and northern Indigenous communities?

Hon. Greg Rickford: Yesterday and today, the Minister of Energy and I got a real perspective on the cost of this carbon tax. There’s a couple of isolated First Nations communities who operate their own independent power authorities, and between the shortened winter road season and the impact of the carbon tax, what would otherwise be years that they would break even—several years, in fact—they’re now running significant deficits that they don’t know how to pay for.

These are serious issues, and so far, the NDP position has been nothing short of gallimaufry. And I can’t help but wonder, when Bonnie Crombie was in the House of Commons, standing shoulder to shoulder with Justin Trudeau, whether she imagined she’d take the throne of the Ontario Liberal Party and become the queen of the carbon tax and live up to the provincial Liberal standards of their understanding of northern Ontario: that it’s a wasteland.

It’s not. We’re proud of our vast region. We want affordable living in northern Ontario, and it’s this—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

The supplementary question?

Mr. Dave Smith: Thank you to the minister for his response.

The carbon tax is a tax on everything: your groceries, your gas, heating your home and so much more. It’s disgraceful that the federal Liberals and their provincial counterparts are forcing this burdensome tax on individuals and families all across northern Ontario.

Speaker, the Liberal record speaks for itself. The previous Liberal government, that was propped up by the NDP, neglected the north for years and actually called it “no man’s land.” Unlike the opposition, our government will always support northern communities, and that’s why we’re the only party in this Legislature that’s standing up to the federal government and demanding that they scrap this tax.

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on the detrimental effects that the carbon tax is having on the people, the communities and all of the businesses across the north?

Hon. Greg Rickford: Not too long ago, the Minister of Small Business federally attended an event in Sudbury, and she was pressed by business owners like Kelly Scott of Barrydowne Paint on what they planned on doing to mitigate the effects of the hard-hitting carbon tax. Of course, the nervous Minister of Small Business managed to absquatulate every time the question was put to her. But we know the truth: Any attempts by the federal government to mitigate the costs of the carbon tax will not flow to the consumer. That means more prices for gas, more prices for everything in a fully integrated supply chain, from food to steel to mining to forestry.

This tax is expensive. The opposition needs to stand with the government, who’s working to reduce the cost to these communities and make life affordable in northern Ontario, and just scrap the tax.

Forest f