Good morning, colleagues. It’s a pleasure and an honour to rise on behalf of Bill 188, the Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024, now under consideration by this House for third reading.

Thank you and congratulations to my colleagues and to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services for his comments today. This minister has really just been such a voice for so many children who felt like they were forgotten, making sure that we are not leaving any child behind. And also, thank you to all of the people who worked on this bill.

Madam Speaker, I used to work in the sector for a long time and have worked with many children who have been really hard struck by some of the things experienced in their lives. Knowing that we are making the changes and making it possible for them not to feel like they are condemned to details written in a file; that their lives are not going to be hindered by the things they experienced when they were growing up in such a challenging time, where their parents have had to make difficult decisions to release them to the care of children’s aid, where they felt lost, where they felt like everyone has abandoned them—this is such a great change, and I’m just very thankful to see that we are making these changes. Thank to all of you who have been able to do this.

Speaker, we are here today because of our government’s vision to ensure that no child is left behind and that they have every chance to thrive, to succeed, regardless of their circumstances. At its heart, that’s really what Bill 188 is about, and I must say that it resonates with me deeply, not only in my role as Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity, but because of the experience I’ve had working in children’s mental health for almost 20 years as a behavioural consultant, multisystemic therapist and counsellor. Working with families, especially when I was working with families who were being supported by children’s aid to manage and understand the aggressive behaviour in the homes, knowing that they are going to try to do everything they can to keep the families together but understanding that sometimes that decision or that possibility can’t happen. And when a child would be in care, especially now with the licensing requirements and also making sure that we are holding bad actors accountable, it’s going to make such an impact to those families who have to relinquish their child in care. To know that their child is still going to be taken care of is so important.

Bill 188 is just one of the ways we’re working to ensure that all children, youth and families, including those getting support through the youth services sector, get the resources and supports they need. The children and youth services sector supports a wide range of individuals with diverse needs, as well as their families and caregivers, in every corner of our province.

For example, the sector supports children and youth in need of protection who may have experienced trauma or have been or are at risk of being abused or neglect. The sector supports children with complex needs, as well as children who may be medically fragile. And I’m also talking about youth who are involved in the youth justice system, including those admitted to custody or detention, who also need support to walk a better path in life and to make sure their future, again, is not condemned to their past.

Ensuring timely support, care and intervention can also mean supporting the family or protecting a child from an abusive caregiver. It can mean encouraging a child to break through barriers to their future goals. And it can mean helping a youth involved in the justice system find their way so that they can engage with their families, friends and community in a positive way.

Bill 188 includes reforms to the child welfare system that aim to deliver better outcomes for young people and their families and caregivers who are receiving support from the children and youth services sector. A critical part of this work is collaboration, which is a theme I’d like to pick up. I listened to the minister’s remarks with great interest and noted his comments on noted his comments on collaboration and valued input of those with lived experience with the children’s aid sector. This work builds on collaboration with children’s aid societies and other service providers, as well as First Nations, Inuit, Métis and urban Indigenous communities from across the province.

I too pass on my sincere thanks and appreciation to the many individuals, stakeholders and partners who have taken time to share their feedback and their experiences. If I may, I’d like to share some of the public feedback we’ve received since Bill 188 was introduced.

From Mohamed Firin, Ontario’s advocate for community opportunities, ACO: “I want to applaud the government for introducing the Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024. This legislation will complement the mission of the ACO to empower young Ontarians by ensuring that all young people, in particular those in foster and group homes, receive the safest and highest quality of care so they can succeed and unlock their full potential.”

From Ingrid Palmer of the Child Welfare Political Action Committee: “The Supporting Children’s Futures Act is a significant move in the direction of enhancing the well-being of children and youth with child welfare experience. One’s time in care should never be a source of harm or discrimination years afterwards. Protecting the personal histories of this vulnerable community must be a high ... priority.”

Now, of course, feedback like this is great for us to hear, not just because it makes us feel good, but because it confirms that our proposed legislation is hitting the mark. And in that same spirit of continuing collaboration, our ministry is working with First Nations, Inuit Métis and urban Indigenous communities to help reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in care. We recognize that the approach to supporting Indigenous children and families must reflect the primacy of First Nations, Inuit, Métis and urban Indigenous communities in the well-being of their children and families. That’s why supporting services that integrate Indigenous cultures, heritage and traditions is central to our work to achieve better opportunities and outcomes for children, youth and their families.

To support these goals, in March 2022, the Legislature passed amendments to the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017. The amendments, once in force, are intended to:

—increase access to customary care, helping Indigenous children and youth to remain connected to their culture and traditions;

—establish circles of supportive persons;

—improve access to updated complementary services; and

—strengthen the role of prevention-focused Indigenous service providers.

We carried out engagements on the draft regulatory proposals for the prevention-focused regulations in early 2024, and we continue to engage with Indigenous representatives to further this process.

Madam Speaker, another part of this work involves important discussions and negotiations with Indigenous communities pursuing models of child and family services under Indigenous laws.

For example, Wabaseemoong Independent Nations, Ontario and Canada signed a trilateral coordination agreement regarding child and family services. That was the first coordination agreement signed in the province and the second in Canada since the federal legislation, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families came into force in 2020. The agreement supports the implementation of the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations’ Customary Care Code, which acquired the force of federal law in January 2021.

On March 31, 2023, a coordination agreement between KI, Ontario and Canada was executed to support the implementation of KI’s child and family services law, which came into force the following day—the second such agreement in Ontario and the first in Treaty 9 territory.

And just last month, the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation became the third Indigenous governing body in Ontario to have its own child and family services law take effect. Their new child and family well-being law provides a foundation for a system specifically designed to meet the needs of the children, youth and families of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation. We’re incredibly excited to keep continuing to work with the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation and Canada to support the implementation of the new child and family well-being law.

These are important accomplishments, and it’s reflective of our government’s approach and our commitment to ensuring we’re communicating with and making sure that we are having their voices in every step of the decision-making process—something that I feel very strongly about.

It was just last term that our government created the Indigenous Women’s Advisory Council, and it has been an honour to work with the many women of our First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities around the table to discuss the challenges and to discuss and come up with solutions with Indigenous women. This has been important—being able to say, “I’m not going to speak. I’m going to let you speak because you can communicate the needs that you have better than I can.” Having IWAC represented at the federal-provincial-territories meeting and—it’s Ontario. We advocated to make sure the women who are around that table are the ones communicating the needs, and we’re here to support and implement the strategies that they’re putting in place.

Bill 188 is another important step towards achieving our government’s vision where no child or youth will be left behind in Ontario. We’re building a province where all children, youth and families have the resources and supports they need to succeed and thrive. These new proposals build on the work the government has undertaken over the past several years, but there’s no way we’re going to stop there. We can never rest. We have to keep moving forward, and we have to keep making sure that we’re making improvements and committing to our ongoing collaboration with individuals, advocates, stakeholders and partners. Healthy parents raise healthy children who become healthy adults, and again, those healthy adults become healthy parents who raise children to become healthy adults. That’s cycle that we are working to establish here in Ontario, and that should not be any different for children who are being raised in the system of care through children’s aid.

I’m really honoured to be working with this government to make these changes. It’s one of the reasons why I made the shift from working in children’s mental health to becoming a parliamentarian and getting involved in this electoral system, because I’ve worked very intimately with families who’ve been stuck in a system that wasn’t working for them, and knowing that there are changes we can be making to make lives better, and again, making sure that children are not being condemned to the things written in a file—that shouldn’t be the determination of their future. That’s why we’re making these changes.

I encourage many to read and look at what our government is doing because we are making things better for a system that needed support and changes for many years.

I want to again thank everyone who took the time to share their insights and their experiences with us. As we continue to take steps forward together, we will strengthen families and communities across the province, and I will continue in my role to work with women and the girls who have been impacted by a life that has been filled with trauma, making sure that they have opportunities and pathways to their success.

With that, I would now like to turn things to over to my colleague the member for Markham–Thornhill to continue on the remarks.