My thanks to my colleague for his presentation today. I would ask him if he could talk a bit more about the impacts of this budget on his riding with regard to health care and education. You were just talking about education, but perhaps you could expand further.

Each one of us is on a personal mental health journey. We all face different challenges at different times. Through the years, there has often been stigma associated with mental health. We’ve made great strides in overcoming that stigma, but this is only a piece of the puzzle.

What is most important is ensuring that someone who is struggling in this province has the resources and supports they need. Building a robust and accessible mental health system—one without wait-lists or financial barriers—is the work that remains ahead of all of us. Whether it is a crisis of acute mental distress or a lifelong struggle to find balance, we all deserve a government that funds the resources we need when we need them.

In Durham region, we are very fortunate to have strong voices who advocate for mental health and youth mental wellness. I am happy to welcome Mike Shoreman back to Queen’s Park. Folks here will know Mike as the adventurous spirit who overcame physical and mental obstacles to become the first person with disabilities to cross the five Great Lakes by stand-up paddleboard. Across Lakes Erie, Huron, Superior, Michigan and Ontario, Mike used his platform to sound the alarm on the youth mental health crisis in Canada, and he has not stopped.

Young people are consistently facing barriers to the mental health care that they deserve. When youth have the courage to reach out, Ontario needs to be there with the excellent professional care and support that we are capable of providing.

For Mental Health Week 2024, the CMHA chose the theme of compassion, the kindness which connects us all. So I call on the government to recognize the power of compassion and invest in the mental well-being of all young Ontarians.

This petition is entitled “Let’s Fix the Northern Health Travel Grant.” I will say that there have been improvements to the Northern Health Travel Grant, but there are also some gaps, and these petitions address those gaps.

The mileage fee is still at 41 cents, whereas our mileage fee as MPPs is around 60 cents a kilometre, so I think that needs to be changed. Also, the rates for hotels are far below what it actually costs, so people who are using the Northern Health Travel Grant are still going to be out of pocket.

For that reason, I support this petition and I will give it to Kai.

Thank you to the member from Oshawa for her comments. I was very happy to see the investments in health care in this budget, and I think all of us share an interest in making sure we have the best health care available for our constituents. I know the member mentioned that she was pleased that the minister of mental health had worked with her to ensure that a community group was getting ongoing funding.

There are some great investments in the budget, including an extra $2 billion over three years for home and community care; a 4% increase in hospital funding; the first new medical school in Canada focused on training family doctors; and also the primary care investments—an additional $546 million for more primary care interdisciplinary teams.

The member said she expects this budget to do things to help people, and I wanted to ask: Don’t you think these are important investments to help people in your community and all of ours?