Last March, at Science North, L’Arche Sudbury launched a project called It’s Home. There was a video message from the Associate Minister of Housing, who’s now the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. I took a photo and shared it with him when we sat again, and he just said, “I love that place.”

There is a lot to love about L’Arche Sudbury. L’Arche is an example of a better community, where people with and without intellectual disabilities live, work and play together—where, instead of clients and staff, core members lead their own lives with the support of assistants.

Now imagine you take that independent living model beyond a typical L’Arche Sudbury home and you take it beyond core members and assistants—that’s what L’Arche Sudbury Place will be. L’Arche Sudbury Place is a combined residential complex. It will have 28 units and a gathering space—10 will be affordable housing for L’Arche core members, and the rest for the general public. Think about that: affordable housing for people with intellectual disabilities, market rentals for the general public, and a truly accessible community gathering space. It’s a great idea; it is so good that last Thursday Desjardins donated $500,000 from their GoodSpark Fund to support it. That’s half a million bucks, Speaker.

Thinking back to the minister who said “l love that place,” I want to remind him that Jennifer McCauley, L’Arche Sudbury’s executive director, said, “If we had all the funding and the dollars that we need, we could be shovel-ready for the spring of 2024.”

I look forward to hearing about a provincial investment into L’Arche Sudbury Place soon.