My question is to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. The Ontario Disability Support Program has required modernization for many years. As parliamentary assistant for the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility, I heard it from many impacted groups as well as from my constituents in Richmond Hill.

After 15 years of inaction and neglect under the previous Liberal government, our most vulnerable were significantly disadvantaged. It was wrong for the previous government to have ignored those in need for all those years, forcing them to work in a system that was outdated and unresponsive.

With the release of the fall economic statement, our government has shown leadership in addressing these long-standing concerns. Can the minister elaborate further on what progress we have made in implementing the most significant overhaul of ODSP?

I would like to take the opportunity to share what the Daily Bread Food Bank had to say in response to our recent actions: “The provincial decision to index ODSP will ensure that future hikes do not deteriorate into a debate over the worthiness of government expenditures. The depoliticization through annual inflationary adjustment of future hikes is laudable.”

While our government appreciates this recognition, we also know that we have had long-standing challenges with ODSP for over a decade. What else is our government doing to support those Ontarians who depend on ODSP?

I stand up to wish my seatmate a happy birthday today.

Deferred vote on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 14, An Act to enact the Climate Crisis Health Action Plan Act, 2022, the Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector Act, 2022 and the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Act, 2022 / Projet de loi 14, Loi édictant la Loi de 2022 sur le Plan d’action sur la crise climatique et la santé, la Loi de 2022 sur la Stratégie du secteur public de l’Ontario relative à la crise climatique et la Loi de 2022 sur le Comité spécial de l’action relative à la crise climatique.