Thank you for that question. But I don’t know where the member has been for the last three years.

There is the Roadmap to Wellness, which is a plan that was developed by this government, backed by a $3.8-billion investment—$525 million in annualized funding—to deal specifically with mental health in the province of Ontario. So we have a plan, and we have been standing behind the plan and developing, over the lifespan, supports for children and youth, for adults, for people with addictions; building treatment and recovery strategies and continuums of care to ensure that anyone gets the support where and when they need it. Not only have we done it in southern Ontario but, recently, a $90-million investment brought us—56% of which is invested in northern Ontario, which is 400 new treatment beds and 7,000 new treatment spots.

So I don’t know where the member has been, but we’ve been active in ensuring that we build a system for all Ontarians—

We’ve had discussions about the needs of our children and youth—ensuring that we build systems that give youth the supports where and when they need them. We’ve invested heavily, as a government, in developing, at this point, 12 plus eight—there will be 22 in total, with an additional eight being slated to be developed—youth wellness hubs that are providing care, both primary care to children and youth, providing them the opportunity to get supports for eating disorders.

Under the previous government, we spent more money shipping kids to the United States for help rather than investing in our province to ensure that every child has those opportunities for help when it comes to things like suicide and other issues that affect our youth.

It’s a tragedy when we lose even one child. But we are making the investments to ensure that the supports are there that are age-appropriate and that ensure the kids get the supports where they need them, whether it be in Indigenous communities, rural communities or in our urban centres. We are making that difference, as a government, because our Premier and our government believe in—

I’m surprised—we are investing $525 million in new annualized funding each and every year in the province of Ontario to provide the supports to everyone across the province of Ontario, including Hamilton.

Mr. Speaker, I’m always surprised when I hear the opposition speaking about the lack of investments by our government. When we came here, we came as a government with all kinds of shortages as a result of previous government decisions, whether it was the Liberals deciding to spend $10 million for 127 people to get eating disorder help in the United States, or the NDP cutting 15% of the mental health beds in the province of Ontario—under their leadership, 9,645 hospital beds shut down. They created a doctor shortage by capping medical school enrolment. They said no to more acute mental health care and cut $53 million from Ontario’s psychiatric hospitals. And they voted no over and over again every time we’ve tried to make investments to improve the situation in the province. So I don’t understand why it is—

This is the first government that actually created a portfolio so that there is someone who has their eye on investments that are made across the government.

Mr. Speaker, our investments are being made in each and every aspect, and when you start with so many issues that have to be addressed—we’re addressing eating disorders. We’re addressing virtual care supports that came up as a result of a two-and-a-half-year pandemic. We’re investing in the Far North and providing land-based healing to Indigenous communities to ensure that they get the appropriate care where and when they need it. We’re investing in withdrawal management, which is something that’s direly needed everywhere across the province. We’ve opened up addiction treatment beds—7,000 treatment spots have been opened under this government, in addition to what is already here.

Mr. Speaker, we have a plan. We have a Roadmap to Wellness that ensures that investments are being made where and when they’re needed so that people get the support—

Interjections.

The $3.8 billion over 10 years is looking at investing in the different periods of time during the lifespan to ensure that the supports are there. Since 2019, $130 million has gone to children and youth mental health services. The road map slates another $170 million to be spent over the next three years.

Of the $194 million that we invested during the pandemic-related emergency funding, additional funds were put into children and youth supports and our Step Up Step Down programs. We’ve invested for youth wellness camps. We’ve invested in One Stop Talk virtual walk-in supports, as well as—

Speaker, through you: Clearly, the associate minister and this government are standing behind a plan that is coming up short.

The CMHA indicates that a quarter of Ontarians are seeking mental health support; that’s one in four.

Jordan Thomas of the London Centre for Trauma Therapy said, “We’ve seen ... a lot of depression, a lot of hopelessness, a lack of vitality, a loss of ... optimism about the future.”

Will this government increase funding and expand OHIP coverage so Ontarians get the mental health care that they need?

My question is for the Premier.

Mental health care is not getting any better in our communities. Just last week, it was announced that Hamilton city council had to cut staffing for mental health and addictions programming because this government froze those budgets. The wait-lists for treatment in Hamilton are staggering, ranging from six months to multiple years, and this move will only worsen this.

I did not realize that cutting program capacity was a part of the government’s Roadmap to Wellness.

So I’m asking, will the Premier commit to re-funding programs so people in my community can get the services they need when they need them?

That member works really hard for the people of Scarborough, and I thank him for that question.

I’m very happy to inform that member that yesterday we announced that we are allocating up to $505 million so that municipalities can keep local transit systems alive and deliver safe, reliable transit services to the hard-working riders across this province, including those in Scarborough. We heard from our municipal partners, and we are stepping up to the plate once again with historic funding delivered through phase 4 of the Safe Restart Agreement. For instance, nearly $348 million is now being given to the city of Toronto to support the TTC. This is on top of the $1.2 billion we’ve already committed to the city and the TTC through prior Safe Restart funding.

Speaker, improving the transit network isn’t just about laying down track or providing discounts and more options to pay. It requires supporting transit agencies so that hard-working people can get from point A to point B and do it seamlessly.

This is just the beginning. With this funding, we’re making sure that we protect transit. We’re getting it done for commuters in this province.

These most recent investments will make sure we boost ridership in Scarborough, as well as around the province, to ensure that riders get reliably and safely to wherever it is they need to go.

It’s unfortunate that the NDP and the Liberals voted against our previous Safe Restart funding, and given their track record, they’d probably say no to the recent $505 million.

However, unlike the opposition, we will continue to say yes to building world-class transit, yes to connecting the grid, yes to supporting transit agencies. Speaker, this is the only government that’s going to get it done for commuters in Ontario.