The member for Essex is absolutely right. We want every child and youth to have a safe and stable and loving home, and families and communities to be supported and strengthened through preventative measures and services and early intervention. And we want youth in care to feel supported and prepared for the future.

That’s why we’ve embarked on the redesign of child welfare, through which our government is introducing new initiatives to improve the quality of care in licensed residential placements. These include developing a new framework for what residential care looks like; increasing and enhancing oversight and accountability of licensed residential settings; and adding 20 new positions across the province to support the management, inspection and oversight of the children’s residential services system.

Every child and youth deserves a safe, loving and stable home, and our government will continue to work to deliver that.

Dans ma circonscription de Windsor–Tecumseh, je suis heureux de savoir qu’un projet a été retenu dans le cadre du Programme d’appui à la francophonie ontarienne, c’est-à-dire le projet, Une diversité qui nous unit, de l’organisme Épelle-Moi Canada.

Est-ce que la ministre peut en dire un peu plus sur les objectifs du programme, et comment ce programme appuie les entreprises francophones et stimule la relance économique?

Ce programme—dont notre gouvernement a doublé le budget, qui est maintenant de deux millions de dollars—sert justement à appuyer le dynamisme des communautés francophones au niveau local et au niveau régional.

Le Programme d’appui à la francophonie ontarienne est une initiative centrale de la Stratégie de développement économique francophone, dont un des objectifs vise à encourager et à stimuler la relance économique francophone par le biais d’actions visant spécifiquement les organismes et les entreprises francophones.

La communauté francophone joue un rôle important dans le succès culturel et économique de notre province. Monsieur le Président, outre le Programme d’appui à la francophonie ontarienne, la ministre des Affaires francophones peut-elle nous en dire un peu plus sur la Stratégie de développement économique francophone?

Cette stratégie vise à encourager et à soutenir l’entreprenariat francophone, à augmenter le nombre de travailleurs francophones et aussi bilingues en Ontario. Et, monsieur le Président, nous allons continuer à mettre en valeur la francophonie ontarienne comme atout économique pour la première fois dans l’histoire de la province de l’Ontario.

Pursuant to standing order 63, your committee has selected the 2022-23 estimates of the following ministries for consideration: Ministry of the Attorney General, Ministry of Indigenous Affairs, Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, Ministry of Francophone Affairs, Ministry of the Solicitor General.

Report presented.

Today, people across the province will wear purple to show support and remind Ontario’s children and youth that the help and support they need is available. Every child and youth has the right to be safe and supported. This is the core message of Dress Purple Day.

We know the kinds of challenges that families can face are wide-ranging. Children, youth and families may be going through a season that could make them vulnerable, such as housing insecurity, addiction and mental health issues, and intimate partner violence. Our message to them on Dress Purple Day is: Know that you are not alone. Help and support is a phone call away, no matter where you live.

There are 50 children’s aid societies in Ontario, including 37 non-Indigenous societies and 13 Indigenous societies. They help connect children, youth and families to the local programs or social services they need to overcome the challenges they are facing. These could include family or individual counselling, housing assistance or parenting programs.

We all have a responsibility for the welfare of children and youth in this province. A key component of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act is that Ontarians must report suspected cases of abuse and neglect. Simply put, if you believe that a child or youth is or may be in need of protection, or if your family needs support, please contact your local children’s aid society. Children’s aid societies investigate all reports of child abuse or neglect and deliver child protection services, if needed, and support families to give them the tools they need where appropriate.

Children’s aid societies are our partners in child welfare delivery, not only on Dress Purple Day but every day. A key service they provide families is supplying information and community supports and prevention and treatment services.

When necessary, they form a holistic plan that helps make sure the family is supported and stable. A plan could include assistance from extended family, neighbours, friends or members of a faith community. If a child is First Nations, Inuit or Métis, members of the community could be brought in to help as part of the plan.

As you can see, we want families and communities to be strengthened and supported through approaches that stress prevention and early assistance.

As part of our Child Welfare Redesign Strategy, we know there is more work to do. And we are making changes. We’ve been engaging with societies who have this front-line knowledge to inform the changes. With the input of children’s aid societies and others, including representatives from diverse community groups across Ontario and youth with lived experience, we are modernizing child and family services to better focus on prevention and early intervention.

Redesigning the child welfare system includes creating safe, culturally appropriate and responsive services for children, youth and families in need. Our redesign work features investments in areas critical to making the child welfare system more culturally appropriate and responsive, such as:

—a $5-million annual investment for enhanced prevention-focused customary care for First Nations, Inuit and Métis, to help more children and youth to be closer to their homes, families and communities;

—almost $3 million to help kinship service and customary caregivers, those adoptive parents and caregivers who have obtained legal custody of a child who was in extended care at a children’s aid society;

—another $1.5 million annually to enhance community-based prevention and well-being initiatives for Black children, youth, and families;

—$800,000 in annual funding to support One Vision One Voice, a community-led program focusing on culturally appropriate services and anti-Black racism; and

—$800,000 for projects to improve outcomes for LGBT+ children, youth and families in the child welfare system.

We are also working on changing the system to make it more responsive, so that youth in care of a children’s aid society are better set up for success as they transition into adulthood.

I want to say a heartfelt thank you to children’s aid societies across the province for their contributions to this redesign and for their work every day to help vulnerable children be safe, grow up and succeed.

Together with the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies, individual children’s aid societies, and local and provincial partners, we are strengthening families and communities across this province.

I encourage you to help raise awareness about Dress Purple Day in support of children and youth across Ontario, because Ontario’s future depends on the well-being of our children and youth, not just today but every day.