Speaker, it’s not prosperity when you have young girls dying by suicide, when you have young boys dying by suicide. That’s not prosperity. But 31 chiefs in the Sioux Lookout area, as part of the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority, have declared a public and social emergency because of the disproportionate mental health and addiction issues in the north. The cost of doing nothing, because Ontario uses jurisdiction as an excuse, costs lives and health every day—every day, Speaker.

Will this government acknowledge that colonialism is a determinant of health for First Nations people?

I thank the member opposite for the opportunity to answer this question. We know that there are gaps in care, and they’re wider in Indigenous communities. Since 2019, we’ve invested over $40 million annually in Indigenous care organizations through the Roadmap to Wellness. We’ve strengthened partnerships with community-based organizations doing incredible work: $4.2 million to open 37 treatment beds in Sioux Lookout; $3.8 million to St. Joseph’s health care and Dilico Anishinabek Family Care; 34 new treatment and medical-withdrawal-management beds; $1.7 million to expand beds for KCA youth camps, youth mental wellness service programs; $13.5 million across government with 30 projects aimed at stopping the cycle of intergenerational trauma; two new and expanded treatment and healing centres in northern Ontario through Roadmap to Wellness.

Mr. Speaker, we know we need to do better in Indigenous communities, and we’re working in partnership to build culturally appropriate mental health and addiction supports and services for all the people of Ontario, including Indigenous—

Here are the facts: We are making the largest investment in public transit in the history of this province. Speaker, under the leadership of Premier Ford, over $30 billion is being invested in the city of Toronto.

That member and the members from the Toronto team in the party of the opposition have voted against key projects in transit. They voted against the Ontario Line. They voted against the Scarborough subway extension. They voted against LRTs across this province. They don’t want to build transit in cities like Toronto. They don’t want to build transit in Ontario. We will take no lessons from them.

We will continue on our path to making sure the people of Ontario can move, whether it’s through transit or highways.

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you what the Premier is doing, and that is building the subway system, expanding the subway system by 50% in the city of Toronto and York region. He’s also building public transit in other communities—like Mississauga and the Hurontario line.

Interjections.

Interjections.

The supplementary question.

The next question.

The Minister of Transportation to reply.

Start the clock.

My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. Every region in Ontario is experiencing a labour shortage. More workers are needed to deliver on our government’s plan to build homes, schools, roads and other critical infrastructure. That is why our government must develop a workforce to take on these important projects.

In northern Ontario, many businesses, supply chains and industries are expanding. That is why more people in First Nations communities must be connected with well-paying, in-demand jobs in the skilled trades that are close to their home.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government is providing accessible training for First Nations communities to prepare for careers in the skilled trades?

As communities and businesses in northern Ontario continue to grow, workers must be prepared for in-demand careers with local employees. That is why our government must take action to break down barriers so that workers can have rewarding careers that are close to home.

Can the minister please explain how our government is developing a sustainable workforce in northern Ontario and Indigenous communities?

Businesses in my riding of Toronto–St. Paul’s and the community they serve have suffered because of delay after delay of the Eglinton Crosstown P3 project. These businesses have not been compensated for these delays—although we’ve asked many times of this government. But the P3 contractor has been rewarded with hundred-million-dollar bailouts paid by the public. Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster has been rewarded with huge raises and just had his contract extended. We might as well call him the million-dollar man.

My question is to the Premier: Why are the people responsible for this fiasco getting rewarded while business people in Toronto–St. Paul’s and, frankly, elsewhere are left to suffer by this Conservative government?

Interjections.

The Metrolinx board won’t hold Mr. Verster accountable. Instead of firing him, they want to give him another raise and pay him over $1 million per year.

The Premier won’t hold the Metrolinx board accountable. Instead, he keeps stacking the board with cronies and PC donors. Where is the transparency and the accountability in that?

Again, back to the Premier, if he’d only answer the question: Who will finally hold the Premier accountable for the Metrolinx gravy train? The RCMP, maybe?

To reply, the government House leader.

Government House leader.

Please start the clock. The government House leader still has the floor.

The next question. Start the clock.

My question is for the Premier. Last week, Ontarians got some news that comes as a relief for many, news that the RCMP is launching an investigation into the failed $8.3-billion backroom deal that was going to benefit wealthy, well-connected insiders, or, by the Premier’s own admission, his friends. Cabinet ministers and senior political staffers have already been interviewed by the Integrity Commissioner, and it’s clear from his report that they all lawyered up.

As the Premier knows, lawyers are expensive, so can the Premier tell us today that not one penny of taxpayer dollars for any government members or staffers caught up in this $8.3-billion scandal will be spent?

Interjection: Yes, he can.

We know that members of the government, former cabinet ministers, senior staffers in the minister’s and the Premier’s office and the Premier himself are all likely to be questioned by the RCMP in this investigation, and folks, they’re all going to need a lawyer. So Ontario taxpayers want to know that none of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars will go for any members of this government or any political staffers caught up in this scandal. Can the Premier commit to that today? Please rise in your seat and tell Ontarians that.

This is a member who replaced the leader whose chief of staff and members of his party went to jail—to jail, Mr. Speaker. This is a member who has a leadership candidate who still wants to build on the greenbelt. This is a member who, under their watch, saw the province lose thousands of jobs, gave up on manufacturing, didn’t build long-term care, ruined our hospital sector, destroyed education, starved post-secondary education, couldn’t build transit, didn’t build roads. On every single count, they failed.

Now, for two elections in a row, even the NDP have beaten them at the polls, and that’s saying something. So we’ll continue to do what’s right for the people of the province of Ontario: grow the economy for everybody.

Now, what we didn’t do is what the previous Liberal government did. They then paid billions of dollars to try and help their members win elections on a public policy decision that nobody supported. Remember the gas plant scandal? That scandal actually cost the people of the province of Ontario billions of dollars. In that party, people went to jail. That party has been reduced—

Interjections.

Interjections.

My question is for the Minister of Red Tape Reduction. Ontario’s businesses are a key part of Ontario’s economy. They play a vital role in driving innovation, creating jobs and fostering vibrant communities across our province. Our government must be focused on removing burdens that impact their operations. Taking action to reduce red tape supports our small businesses through direct cost savings, which, in turn, fuels job creation and growth.

Businesses expect our government to follow through on our commitments and leave no stone unturned when it comes to cutting red tape. Speaker, through you, can the minister please explain what actions our government is taking to help businesses remain competitive?

However, there’s still more to do in creating an environment that drives new investment and growth across the economy. Speaker, through you, can the minister please elaborate on what actions our government is taking to deliver better services for people and reduce costs for businesses?

My question is for the Premier. My office has received several calls from mothers desperate for help. They’ve told me about their daughters who have had psychotic episodes or been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Faced with the unknown, these families have tried everything in an endless loop of referrals which go nowhere. When their children are left isolated and alone overnight with minimal interaction, they often get released from hospitals with no supports, no follow-up and, the worst possible scenario, released to homelessness.

Speaker, when will the Premier give these families the attention they need instead of focusing on his insider friends?

I want to thank my colleague from Carleton for that important question. Our government is supporting Ontario’s competitiveness by keeping costs down. One of the most important ways to do that is eliminating unnecessary red tape. The actions that we have taken to cut red tape have helped Ontario businesses save nearly $950 million each and every year.

Thanks to our efforts—the 11 different red tape reduction packages—we have removed over 16,000 different kinds of red tape pieces to keep our businesses competitive on the world stage. The results speak for themselves. There are over 700,000 people that are working today that were not under the Liberals, supported by the NDP.

Later today I will be introducing our 12th red tape reduction package. It will continue our government’s effort to make sure our businesses are positioned to succeed and are competitive in the world. It will show that our government is working around the clock to get it done, driving economic development, encouraging job creation and demonstrating why Ontario is the best place to live, work and raise a family.

Mr. Speaker, everyone is aware that we inherited the Eglinton Crosstown project. We do not contract projects in the same way anymore. But since 2018, 27 P3 projects are in construction today—27. It is this Premier that will build this province.

Thank you to the member opposite for the question. This is a very important issue for our government. We understand the importance and the needs of children and youth, and ensuring that supports and services are there for them. We developed the Roadmap to Wellness and, starting in 2019, invested $130 million into children and youth mental health services through the road map. The road map slates another $170 million over three years in education, $90 million for school-based supports and $20 million for an across-the-board 5% funding increase, something that has not been seen before by previous governments.

And we’re extremely proud of the youth wellness hubs that we’ve developed: 22 of them across the province of Ontario, making a huge difference in the lives of so many of our young people. We’re continuing to invest with early interventions to keep kids from harmful behaviours, which are giving us a great return, easy accessible care, investments—

But you know, Mr. Speaker, I sit here on this side of the House and I listen to some of the rhetoric from the other side, and I wonder if they’ve stopped for a moment to think about what they did when they were in power and how they permitted another government to do absolutely nothing. Under their watch, 9,645 hospital beds for mental health were closed.

Our government, with $90 million, opened 400 new beds, 7,000 treatment spots, and we’re continuing to build a continuum of care to look after the needs of everyone in the province of Ontario to ensure they get the help they get, where and when they need it, no matter where they are in the province: the north, the south, the east or the west.

Back to the Premier—but respectfully to the minister, I wasn’t speaking of children; I was speaking of adults in a system that is absolutely in a horrifying mess, and we see that in all of our communities.

I also wanted to bring a message to the Premier today from Kitchener Centre about their struggle with the access to mental health care. One constituent wrote, “The provincial government keeps touting its investments in health care and its focus on mental health for young people. But what is actually being done? It seems to be that all that is being done is fancy press releases, while single moms like me have to figure out how to make it work, and more often, have to live with the guilt of not being able to provide my teen with the care they need to become a healthy and productive citizen.”

Can the Premier tell us if he will stop spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a parking garage in a spa for downtown Toronto, and instead start investing in mental health care in Kitchener and across the province?

Interjections.

To reply, the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

The supplementary question.

Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

Thank you to the member for that question. Actually, after question period, I’m heading down to the college fair, and I’ll be meeting with students, faculty and colleges but also with our team from OSAP and hearing directly from those folks who are working on the ground, dealing directly with students.

What’s interesting is, under the former Liberal government, this province had the highest tuition in Canada, but it was our Premier who said, “No more.” In 2018, we decreased tuition by 10%. We want tuition to be affordable for all students across the province, and that’s why we continued to freeze that tuition. And we’ve kept OSAP as a needs-based assessment, so that students in 10, 15, 20 years will have access to the OSAP system. In 2021 alone, we invested $4.2 billion in direct aid to 385,000 full-time students, with 80% of Ontario’s funding provided as grants, opposed to the 54% of federal student support.

My question is to the Premier. A report last month from the Ontario Real Estate Association quoted CEO and former PC leader Tim Hudak saying, “Student debt is not merely a financial burden; it’s the biggest barrier to the ... dream of home ownership for many young Ontarians and their families.”

The report stated that students with debt want to own homes, but they are losing hope; 70% are worried it will never happen, and student loans are the main reason.

Speaker, this government’s changes to OSAP have left more students drowning in debt than ever before. Why is this government denying post-secondary students the dream of home ownership?