I do appreciate the question from the member opposite. It is a very serious question affecting Canadian youth and children around the world—the increase of mental health needs in our province.

Mr. Speaker, we have in this province, every single year since coming to office, increased funding for mental health. We started with a nearly $18-million investment at the peak of spending under the former Liberals. Today, that investment is at $90 million—a 400% increase in investments, Speaker.

Year over year, we’ve hired 9% more mental health workers, professionals working directly with our kids—psychologists and psychotherapists; 7,000 more education workers, which includes social workers and child and youth workers. We recognize the demands are rising. It’s why we’ve increased funding this school year by an additional $10 million.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to our schools, many parents will get their kids access to treatment in their community. Working with the Ministry of Health, we’ve increased funding through the Roadmap to Wellness by $130 million, particularly for kids, and created 14 youth mental health hubs to ensure they have the services and the supports they deserve.

In addition to in-school supports—the hiring of more psychologists, psychotherapists and mental health workers—we also have stepped up support in community. There’s $130 million dedicated specifically for children and youth. We created, under our government with the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, 14 youth hubs to create integrated services for children in rural, remote and urban communities. We’ll continue to work together to meet the needs of our kids.

I am very proud to stand in this House as a New Democrat and as a provincial member who is excited about having the opportunity to stand on behalf of people when it comes to public education, public health care. I want to strengthen the system we have before us.

Tommy Douglas—his vision was also about pharmacare and dental care. That’s the whole thing—it’s supposed to be about wellness and the idea of prevention and trying to keep people well before they get sick. Economically speaking, that should make sense to Conservatives.

From a human perspective, health and wellness should be based on need, not people’s ability to pay, which is why we’re standing here talking about the importance of protecting medicare from this piece of legislation—and I’m proud to do that work every day.

Anyway, what I will say is that our communities have complex needs, so the fact that folks can go to the pharmacists, who are professionals and are able to deliver important pieces of that care—everyone across communities is glad for that. Who benefits from that beyond the patients and actual folks in the community? I get pretty sticky when it starts to be Mr. Galen Weston, over and over and over. I want health care to be about health care, about caring about health, not just about making folks stupid rich.

I think that when we are focused on patient care, we’re going to be doing the right thing—or, I guess, the left thing. When we’re focused on profit care, I’ve got a problem with that.

I’m going to do the opposite of that: I’m going to talk about why we should not privatize public hospital services, whatever that looks like, whatever they call it, them or the next—well, they won’t be the next. The next government will make the best decisions for Ontarians and their health.

Why we shouldn’t privatize public hospital services, from the Ontario Health Coalition—for-profit clinics and hospitals provide poorer-quality care; they hire less-qualified staff and direct public funds into profits rather than care, as we’ve talked about. It worsens staffing shortages. Private clinics take easier and less complex patients, leaving the more complex folks languishing, and they also charge user fees and extra-bill patients on top of OHIP for medically necessary services.

This is not the direction Ontario should be going. Reverse course, please.

Privatization or profitization, or whatever word this government is going to be comfortable with, is the wrong direction.

When it comes to the lowest per capita funding that we’ve got in Ontario—to the member’s question—there are multiple layers to why, but this government is not making it better. This government has not been investing what it needs to in health care.

The manufactured crisis is your smokescreen. That is this government’s “Hey, look over here. Look how bad things are. We’re going to have to rescue it with this absurd scheme that has been tried, time and time again, and does not bear fruit.” In fact, it will make sure that Ontarians don’t have what they need when they need it. That is the wrong way ahead.

This should not be a plan for just the wealthy. This should be a plan to—