Speaker, what a question from the member from Perth–Wellington this morning. He brings up some important facts, doesn’t he? It’s under the leadership of this Premier that this government, in five years, has 18,000 homes built or shovels in the ground today.

Now, let’s not get lost in the numbers. We need to build more, and we know that. The member mentions West Perth, which is fantastic, but those aren’t the only beds that have been announced since this government came to power. Let’s talk about Ritz Lutheran Villa, 128 redeveloped beds; Knollcrest Lodge, three new spaces; Saugeen Valley Nursing Home, 87 redeveloped spaces; and Strathcona Long Term Care, nine new spaces. Speaker, we’re going to keep going, because it’s not just about capacity. It’s about health human resources, investing nearly $5 billion to have the best quality of care and focusing on outcomes as well.

I want to thank the member from Perth–Wellington for a fantastic question this morning.

You know what this last Minister of Long-Term Care did, recognizing that construction was challenged with increased costs and supply chain challenges? He introduced the construction funding subsidy, which led to the building of over 11,000 spaces for our wonderful seniors in the province of Ontario. I want to thank the minister for that work.

But that’s not all he did. He introduced something called the Local Priorities Fund, which actually targets the outcomes within our health care system. That includes, of course, long-term-care homes.

Do you know what this member got in his riding? Let’s talk about it, Speaker: $8,700 to Spruce Lodge for the purchase of diagnostic equipment; $52,000 to Kingsway Lodge for the purchase of specialized geriatric equipment, as well as better outcomes for the dementia seniors who live there; $19,000 to Kingsway Lodge for the purchase of diagnostic equipment, and the list goes on, Speaker. Because why? If we can keep our seniors out of the hospitals for minor ailments, fractures, that’s a better outcome for the hard-working people of this province.

Let’s say it again: Seniors built this country. They took care of us. That member and this government is taking care of them.

Mr. Speaker, everyone has a right to live safely in their own homes and communities. I want to give a shout-out today, because it’s important, to thank the 911 call operators, the telecommunicators. They keep Ontario safe each and every day. Just this past Saturday night, I toured late in the evening the comm centre in Peel.

But, Mr. Speaker, whether you are a senior, whether you are a person with an exceptionality, whether you are a young person, everyone has an equal right to be safe in our province. We take our public safety concerns extremely seriously, and I want to reassure everyone in Ontario that we will always have the backs of everyone who keeps this province safe.

Everyone has a right to be safe in our province and that’s why our government has made unprecedented investments to put more boots on the ground: to keep our communities safe, to fight auto theft and to keep the violent and repeat offenders off our streets. To this government, our public safety matters.