I’d like to introduce and welcome to Queen’s Park members from OPSEU: Mike Cranley, Adam Manlow, Paula Van Dusen, Sean MacCormack. Thank you very much for your service and welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Speaker, I am seeking unanimous consent that, notwithstanding standing order 45(b)(iv), the time for debate on opposition day motion number 2 be allocated as follows: 54 minutes to each of the recognized parties and 12 minutes to the independent members as a group.

I’d like to welcome the president and CEO of the Richmond Hill Board of Trade as well as Rocco Rossi, the president of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. Thank you for all your support for non-profit appreciation week.

I wanted to welcome Norah Fountain and Viktoria Hamma from the Muskoka Lakes Chamber of Commerce to Queen’s Park. Thank you.

Just the fact that we have doubled the funding, that we have five times more children receiving services than at any time under the previous Liberal government—and let’s be clear, when we came to office, we understood that the old program under the Liberal government had little prospect for delivering services to 75% of the children who were waiting. That’s why we have doubled the funding. That’s why we have created a comprehensive program that is created by the autism community for the autism community. It’s why we’ve expanded beyond the ABA services. It’s why we have added in—and we heard people: They wanted speech-language pathology; they wanted occupational therapy; they wanted mental health services. We have done that. We have launched foundational family services, the Entry to School Program, caregiver-mediated early years programs, and core clinical services as well. That’s why we built AccessOAP to support families through every step of the journey with care coordinators.

We’re already seeing results: Over 40,000 children are receiving supports today, almost five times more—

We listened. People wanted mental health services. They wanted speech therapy. They wanted occupational therapy. We listened, and we put that into the program. We created AccessOAP so that it would be an independent intake organization that would help families navigate with care coordinators. This is a needs-based program based on domains of need. It allows families to have their own unique needs addressed. This is a program that is world-leading, that has never been done before that we understand or researched. It is based on research and clinical evidence, and we’ll continue to implement this important program.

The member for Ottawa–Vanier has a point of order.

To reply for the government, the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

The supplementary question.

The response?

Thank you for that question. Our government takes mental health in the province of Ontario very seriously. I’m the first minister appointed to look after mental health and addictions issues in the province. We came up with a Roadmap to Wellness, which is a basic plan, a foundational document that looks after lifespans. It looks after investments required for children and youth, for adults, for seniors, for people with addictions and concurrent disorders. We backed it with a $525-million-a-year plan, $3.8 billion over 10 years. Seeing the crisis, another $90 million in February of last year was invested to create 400 treatment beds, which is the equivalent of 7,000 treatment spots throughout the province of Ontario—not just in southern Ontario, everywhere in the province of Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, the investments continue. When we speak about the investments that have been made with respect to mobile crisis intervention teams, over $40 million has been put in place to create low-barrier access for individuals needing supports. So yes, investment—

I would like to welcome Peter McCallion, the son of Hazel McCallion. He was here today. Thank you for joining us today for my member’s statement about Hurricane Hazel.

I would like to welcome the son of late former mayor Hazel McCallion, Peter McCallion, to Queen’s Park. Welcome. Your mother was a champion. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, once again I reiterate: The province of Ontario, this government, is making substantial, unprecedented investments throughout the province of Ontario to assist anyone in need.

For instance, you mentioned Indigenous communities. Indigenous communities are a focus of the work that we’re doing, providing land-based healing opportunities to allow Indigenous communities to look after the needs of the people in their communities.

In rural and remote communities, we’re investing in mobile health units to allow individuals access to care which they may not otherwise get, given the fact that there are large distances to travel. We continue to make investments and work with all service providers in the province of Ontario to ensure that people are getting the supports they need.

I look back at what we inherited as a government, and I’ve got to call out, once again, what the NDP did: They reduced 13% of the mental health beds. They took away 9,645 hospital beds across the province—

We have an opioid crisis. We’re working to ensure that the supports are in place to assist individuals who want to recover from an addiction.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I can’t help but think of what the implications were when the NDP were in power and they cut $53 million of funding to the psychiatric hospitals—the implications that that had, with the fact that we have a shortage in HHR today directly related back to the fact that places were eliminated—

Focusing on addictions and the concurrent disorders that need to be addressed, the 400 treatment beds that have been opened, the 7,000 treatment spots that have been created—these are all increasing capacity to be able to assist individuals. We’re focused on culturally appropriate and sensitive services, creating low-barrier access to individuals in need, ensuring that the supports are there when and where they need them, if they’re ready for them, to recover. But the harm production provisions that we put in place are also assisting individuals.

Mr. Speaker, we are building a system for the province of Ontario after the neglect of the previous government, supported by the NDP.

The Roadmap to Wellness outlines the vision for children and youth: Early interventions keep kids from harmful behaviours and are a great return on investment. We will continue to build a future for our children, to ensure that they have the mental health supports where and when they need them.

Thank you very much.

Supplementary question?

The final supplementary?

The Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

In every community, paramedics are on the front lines each and every day, saving lives. These everyday heroes work tirelessly to bring us medical care when we need it the most. Paramedics, along with ambulance communication officers, regularly encounter risk and traumatic events that can impact their health and safety. Under the previous Liberal government that was propped up by the NDP, there was no advocacy, no action on behalf of these essential emergency workers to address their industry-specific risks. They had years to act; instead, they chose to ignore the needs of our front-line workers.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government is protecting the health and safety of these workers?

The minister talks about the Roadmap to Wellness. It’s a road map to nowhere right now, I’ll tell you. We are in a mental health crisis in every community in this province, but in Indigenous, northern and rural communities, the government is not even trying to pretend; they’re just failing, miserably. We’ve got epidemic rates of suicide, homelessness, addiction.

The Canadian Mental Health Association shows skyrocketing demand for their services, but in Algoma they’re only getting a 2% increase in base funding over the past 10 years—2%. In Kenora, they got just 2% over the last 22 years. They need an 8% emergency stabilization investment today.

My question, again to the Premier—you’re sitting on $6.4 billion, unspent—will he support our motion this afternoon to provide that 8% emergency funding?

Mental health care is life-changing. It’s also a cost savings. It frees up hospital beds. You have less 911 calls, and do you know what? It saves lives. That’s why today we are going to go all out on this issue: because people in Ontario cannot wait any longer, and I’m sure there’s not one of us in this entire room that hasn’t seen the impact on our families and in our communities. So let’s do it: 8% emergency stabilization investment into CMHA. That’s $24 million.

My question to the Premier today: Premier, please, will you take just half a per cent of that $6.4 billion that has been squirrelled away unspent, to help people get the mental health care they so desperately need today?

What a shameful answer from the minister. People in this province are dying because they cannot access the mental health supports they need, and that’s the kind of answer you give?

My question is to the Premier. Ontario is facing a mental health crisis. More Ontarians are seeking mental health supports and demand for services has significantly increased under this Conservative government. Across Ontario, people are experiencing anxiety, depression and burnout at higher rates, yet base funding for the Canadian Mental Health Association has fallen significantly behind the rate of inflation. The Mental Health Strategy for Canada recommends raising mental health funding to approximately $5.1 billion in Ontario alone.

Speaker, will the Premier commit to treating mental health care as health care and provide the desperately needed funding for mental health supports?

Children can’t wait. They need access to services immediately. Speaker, will the Premier commit today to capping wait times for mental health care for children and youth?

I want to thank the member for Scarborough–Rouge Park for this very important question. Ontario’s paramedics and ambulance communication officers are truly heroes in our health care system. They are innovative and always willing to take on new roles to support our government in building a more comprehensive and connected health care system.

Our government created a stand-alone committee under section 21 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act to develop resources that address unique health and safety risks that these front-line heroes face every single day serving our families and our communities. This new paramedic services committee will complement the existing first responder committees for fire and police services while providing a focused channel for recommendations from experts, employers and workers. Both labour leaders and chiefs and all paramedics have been calling for this committee now for more than 20 years and, under the leadership of our Premier, our government is getting it done for them.

In Ontario, there are over 28,000 children and youth waiting for community mental health care, with wait times as long as two and a half years. Cutting wait times to 30 days will ensure timely access to care. It will help prevent needs from worsening and the wait-list for more acute services from growing. Providing early intervention programs will also cost the province less and reduce the burden on our health care system.

I’ve tabled a bill to cap wait times for children and youth mental health to 30 days. Speaker, kids can’t wait. My question to the Premier: Will you pass it?

Our government was pleased to address this long-outstanding request, as our government recognizes and supports the important work of this sector in our health care system. This announcement demonstrates that our government listened to unions, including Unifor, CUPE, SEIU and OPSEU, representing front-line paramedics and ambulance communication officers, as well as the strong advocacy from paramedic chiefs and the Ontario Association of Paramedic Chiefs, which represents every paramedic service across our province.

This committee is a great opportunity for paramedics, ambulance communication officers and paramedic chiefs to make important recommendations and provide practical guidance for employers and workers. The creation of this committee is a vital investment in the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of our paramedics and ambulance communication officers.

Our government, Mr. Speaker, is working for workers and building a stronger Ontario that leaves no one behind.

And the supplementary question.

Thank you to the minister for the response. It is clear that workers in this sector are valued by our government and our priority is to advocate for the support, protection, and safety that they deserve. The risks that paramedics and ambulance communication officers face are separate and distinct from other health care worker professionals as they interact with patients in unpredictable and complex situations. Under the leadership of the Premier, Minister of Health and this minister, actions such as this announcement demonstrate our government’s commitment to foster safe workplaces.

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate about how the new paramedic services section 21 committee will improve safety for this sector?