At the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, I was very pleased to be able to announce an expansion of the paramedic programs that have been incredibly successful in some of our communities. Not all Ontario communities have access to that, and we are making sure that that continues.

Now, when a paramedic today has the only option of taking their patient to an emergency department, it is a strain on the system. When we have—with the patient’s consent—the ability to take that patient to a mental health facility, to a long-term-care facility, to a palliative home, there are opportunities that, together working with the patient, make for stronger and better outcomes. That’s what we’re doing. That’s what we’re talking about when we say the status quo is not an option in the province of Ontario.

Visitors to Ontario, to different parts and communities, don’t always know that, which is why we as a government have invested, and will continue to invest, in next-generation 911.