I’m pleased to be able to ask a question to the member from Durham.

There are seven members in this Legislature who are supposed to be representing the Durham region, and I’m proud to represent most of Oshawa.

The member talked about a spirit of collaboration in health care, increasing access to health care, the importance of care close to home.

So, with that in mind, I would ask why, in this most recent budget, Durham region didn’t see any provision for funding a planning grant for a new regional hospital and trauma centre for Lakeridge Health in Durham region? The folks in the region were sorely disappointed and, I think, were expectant; however, this government didn’t deliver. I wonder if he could answer to that, and the other six members of the government who represent Durham—why Durham’s needs are not going to be met in this budget.

My question is to the Premier.

The District School Board of Niagara, like many school boards in Ontario, is facing significant financial pressures. Since Christmas, the board has welcomed 400 new students, who were relocated to Niagara through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. The board has requested $500,000 in additional targeted funding for the unique learning challenges faced by these students, including multi-language resource teachers, social workers, and translation software. After repeated follow-ups with the minister, the school board is still waiting for support.

Why is the Premier refusing to act and provide the necessary resources to keep classrooms functioning and students properly supported in Niagara?

Our government has increased funding to our school boards year after year since taking office. That includes $26.7 billion in base GSN funding for the next school year, an increase of over $700 million this year alone, a 14% increase since 2017-18.

Since the 2002-03 school year, staffing has increased by nearly 8,000 despite student enrolment remaining the same across the boards.

We continue to be very dedicated to our school boards and our school boards’ and our students’ success.

In total, we hired nearly 2,000 new front-line educators, who will be hired and supported by the overall education funding, which is at the highest level in Ontario history, with nearly 1,000 additional skilled math and literacy educators to boost skills across our boards.

We believe in our students’ success and achievement.

Thank you, and it’s great to see you in the chair, Speaker.

The member opposite knows very well that hospitals are responsible for their day-to-day operations and make those decisions independent of the Ministry of Health and government. We have been assured that the Haliburton Highlands Health Services board and leadership have made this decision carefully and thoughtfully, understanding and appreciating the needs of their community and their staff. I will let them do that work.

Our government continues to support hospitals in many ways, including Haliburton Highlands Health Services, to which we have increased funding by 11% since we came into office.

This is not a funding conversation; this is a conversation that the hospital leadership, the hospital board has made based on the needs of the community, and appreciating that they want to best serve the community, and they’ve done that.

The Niagara school board has been promised the funding. Please just answer the question; it’s important to Niagara.

I want to be clear: This is a very real and very urgent issue that the board needs to address. The board has spent an additional $300,000 outside of their regular spending models. At this rate, it’s not sustainable. They need support from the province to ensure students in Niagara are receiving the education and support they need and deserve.

Our education workers and our teachers deserve to have the resources needed to provide quality education in our schools.

Will the Premier commit to follow up with the District School Board of Niagara and ensure they have the necessary funding to support all students in our community?

Thank you to the member for this question and for the amazing work that he does for his constituents.

Madam Speaker, the opioid crisis has hit northern communities particularly hard, and that’s why we are focused on building a continuum of care that covers the entire province. Of the 400 new treatment beds and 7,000 new treatment spaces that have been created through the Addictions Recovery Fund, over half of them have gone to northern and Indigenous communities.

Our investments through the Roadmap to Wellness and the Addictions Recovery Fund have funded things like the mobile crisis response teams, mobile mental health clinics, wraparound supports, and treatment beds that are filling the gaps in care that have been experienced by those in the north.

Madam Speaker, through our ongoing partnerships with amazing community organizations like St. Joseph’s and Dilico Anishinabek Family Care in Thunder Bay, Canadore College in North Bay, and Algoma Family Services, we’re making sure that the wellness of northern Ontarians will never again be an oversight.

Since 2019, our government has invested over $130 million to improve and expand those services, and just last year we added another $31 million in annual funding to reduce wait-lists so that kids can get help sooner.

We’ve also provided funding for the creation of 22 youth wellness hubs across the province of Ontario, including one that’s scheduled to open next month in downtown Sault Ste. Marie. We’ve funded a youth wellness hub in Sagamok in one of the Indigenous communities. And along with our friends up north in Kenora–Rainy River, along with the Kenora Chiefs Advisory, we’ve funded beds for children and youth who are of Indigenous and non-Indigenous origin. Madam Speaker, the—