I’d like to thank my friend our member from Kitchener–Conestoga for his excellent question. Our government has revamped training for police, who are now better prepared to identify situations where people are in mental distress.

I want to highlight and showcase the Ontario Police College in Aylmer, Ontario, a place that does extensive training for over 1,500 amazing cadets that will graduate this year to keep Ontario safe. And we’re not stopping there. Ontario is currently funding 18 mobile crisis response teams to ensure better outcomes and appropriate responses, and we’re investing more than $4 million over two years to keep all of Ontario safe.

Monsieur le Président, ce sont des gens formidables qui nous protègent au quotidien.

The crisis diversion program engages mental health professionals in the Waterloo Regional Police communications centre, with the goal of diverting appropriate mental health-related calls away from traditional dispatch police response. Waterloo Regional Police Service is a leader in addressing mental health through the lens of public safety, and we are grateful for their partnership in this issue.