In Thunder Bay, there are 42 methadone and suboxone clinics, an amazingly high number for a population of about 90,000. Because most of these are for-profit, people are kept dependent for years on end on what are meant to be transitional drugs.

OPSEU’s mental health and addictions workers are advocating for increased capacity in publicly funded, publicly run treatment centres, because they offer far better health outcomes and cost savings. They’re also advocating for mobile crisis response teams supported by ongoing operating funds so that communities can count on these crucial services. These workers also recognize that systemic racism leads to high levels of mental distress amongst racialized people, along with their over-incarceration. For this reason, mental health court diversion programs need to be developed, implemented and promoted.

Being homeless and poor causes significant mental and physical harm. Supportive housing with 24-hour staff care needs to be expanded, and OW and ODSP rates must be increased so that people have the help they need to move on to permanent housing.

Finally, in support of the mental and physical well-being of the workers providing these crucial services, Bill 124 must be rescinded.

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—

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?

Again to the Premier: My office is working with three families facing similar struggles. Each of them has a child who is self-harming and has made multiple suicide attempts and is violent at home. These families have been told that their children’s needs are too complex for community program options, but they can’t get in-patient care. One family has been waiting months to hear about a placement in Hamilton or Niagara. The second family is waiting to go on a wait-list, if a residential treatment option can be found. The third child was placed in a group home and is now using and living on the street.

Will this government commit to providing appropriate treatment options in London for children with some of the highest mental health needs?