Meegwetch, Speaker. Remarks in Anishininiimowin. Good morning.

My question is to the Premier. In 2017, the chair of the Ontario Human Rights Commission toured a provincial jail in Kenora and found that every inmate was struggling with mental health and addictions disorders. Speaker, I was there last week, and I can tell you that that situation is not getting any better. What I saw—it’s as if the people who are there are not human. Ontario needs to act on its promises to provide more treatment in jails, especially as the addictions crisis continues.

Speaker, what is Ontario going to do to ensure inmates in northern jails are getting the mental health and the addictions they need help with?

The lack of resources inside provincial jails is simply a reflection of society—out of sight, out of mind. The answer is not building more correctional facilities. If we had proper addiction and mental health treatment for our communities, there wouldn’t be nearly as many people in jails in the first place.

What is this government doing to ensure that that the addictions crisis doesn’t continue filling Ontario jails, especially in the north, for our young people?

Interjections.