It was a pleasure to join the Minister of Education as well as my colleague the member for Cambridge in Kitchener on Friday for an important announcement. Our government will be opening 3,725 new child spaces in Waterloo region by 2026. This represents a nearly 25% increase in child care spaces which our government will deliver over the next three years.

The region of Waterloo has said that growing wait-lists have become a concern for every centre in the area, and obviously, this is great news for families in my riding of Kitchener–Conestoga and, of course, across our region. These new spaces will be part of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system, which includes a mix of not-for-profit and for-profit centres.

I want to applaud the Minister of Education and his hard-working team for this initiative.

Keeping options open for parents and communities is a key goal of the government of Ontario to provide families with choice and flexibility. This flexibility makes sense, especially in small towns, which is often where child care spaces are needed the most. That includes Wilmot, Wellesley and Woolwich townships, which are all listed as priority areas under our plan.

We remain committed to delivering more affordable and accessible child care spaces across the province.

My question is to the Premier. Homelessness continues to be a major problem in the region of Waterloo. The number of people experiencing chronic homelessness the region has grown by 129% in 2020, and it’s on track to triple by 2028 unless urgent action is taken. Regional staff reported that any plan to end chronic homelessness must have “a significant investment.” One regional councillor said, “It seems to me we are getting further and further and further into this pit,” because all the government can offer are short-term solutions.

Ontario needs a comprehensive plan to address the crisis, which is rooted in a severe shortage of affordable housing. The existing encampment in the region is already overwhelmed, and planning for a second encampment has commenced. This housing emergency calls for emergency action and emergency funding for real housing, not encampments.

Will the government use some of the $5.4 billion in the unallocated contingency fund to meet this moment?

These vulnerable people in encampments include women who are fleeing gender-based violence. It can take over a year for women to find stable housing after experiencing abuse. This government has yet to call gender-based violence what it is, an epidemic, despite 72 municipalities calling on them to do so. Encampments are not a long-term solution for these women, but that’s exactly how this government is treating them. They may claim otherwise; however, the evidence on the ground is over at Victoria and Weber Streets in Kitchener, where you can clearly see the number of encampments are growing.

This Saturday will mark the beginning of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, an annual, international campaign that calls on the elimination of violence against women. Women need shelter. Will this government recognize that, in the interim, at the very least, providing funding for emergency shelters for women fleeing violence is needed right now in Ontario?

Interjections.