I’d like to recognize the staff and board members of Youth Without Shelter and Helix House in University–Rosedale. They include Kim Wright, Anastasia Kemp, Emily Reign, Jacob Messam and Don Martins. Welcome to the House.

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome Youth Without Shelter to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Joining us here today are board members, directors, staff, as well as some of the youth who are visiting us from the shelter: Emily Reign, Jacob Messam and Don Martins Obioha. Welcome to the House. I look forward to seeing you after question period.

I also see my chief of staff, Alexandra Hoene, and my manager of stakeholder relations, Shaida Maleki.

Thank you for the question, and I couldn’t agree with you more with respect to when it comes to our youth and sport. One of the biggest drivers for the development of young people in sport: learning how to deal with people, teammates, understanding direction, understanding that things aren’t easy and they’ve got to work through things.

When we talk about the funding of the PSOs, which we do in a very successful way in Ontario, we allow them to get better at the levels they want to—that they need to provide the services that they provide.

You asked about oversight. We don’t feel a need at this point to go into the books to find out what every minor hockey, football or soccer organization does. If there’s a problem, we will look into it, but at this point, it’s only speculation. So I can’t get into that right now with specifics, but I will tell you that our ministry supports minor sport for all the right reasons and will continue to do so in the province of Ontario.

One of my dearest friends in this place is the member from Mississauga–Malton. As everyone knows, we used to be seatmates in the last term and that caused no end of discussion because we’re somewhat different in height. But I got to know him really well and I know that he came to this country with nothing and he made a life for himself and for his family in this country by hard work. And I know he’s talked to me a lot about the opportunities that are needed for youth in his riding, where they have a high youth unemployment rate.

I’m wondering if he could talk to this House about what it means to be building Ontario, to be building a stronger Ontario, to be creating a future not just in southwestern Ontario, not just in southern Ontario, not just in eastern Ontario, but especially in northern Ontario, and what that will mean, those jobs, that growing economy, for people in his riding.