Thank you, Madam Speaker. Since taking office, my hair is getting grayer, and I continue to live in Simcoe.

I want to thank the member opposite for his comments today. The Indigenous communities are separate and apart in some ways with respect to the children’s aid societies. I know the member opposite knows that Indigenous children’s aid societies make their own placement decisions without the province interfering. That’s the law; it’s not an option.

I’m wondering if the member opposite could comment on his opinion of the children’s aid societies in his communities and their effectiveness in making sure that children are placed in culturally appropriate settings.

Thank you to the member from Kiiwetinoong. I live in Thunder Bay, so I have seen and heard about many, many deaths of young people, of an adult who had a trailer hitch thrown at her and children who died in the river in Thunder Bay. There has been no justice for those people, as there was no justice for Barbara Kentner.

But what I want to focus on is Ian. He was one year old. He was in care. He was the child of somebody I knew through family. He died in care, and he had a major bruise on his head at the time. The family never got any resolution as to what actually happened to him. They always thought that something wasn’t right.

So my question to you is, do you feel confident that when things happen when children are in care, that it will be taken seriously, that their families will achieve some kind of justice? We want to prevent it before it happens, but if it does, will there be justice?

I’m happy to share a few words about the bill. I was part of the committee that debated amendments, and it was a good process to hear from people with lived experience about how they felt about the bill and different partners in the community.

I do have to commend the government; we did get a lot of really good feedback, especially from young people who have lived experience. They were grateful that their information will be sealed off when they leave care, that they don’t have to worry about people going back into the system, accessing their information. They were grateful to hear about holding bad actors accountable. And they were grateful that we’ll be making a better effort to ensure that young people know how to reach out and have a voice and share when things are not going well.

I also want to commend the government because I know they have made investments in the Ready, Set, Go Program and have made investments in mental health services and homelessness services.

I’m here to share a bit more about the concerns I have about the sector and what I think we could do to improve the bill.

When I went back to the CAS in my community, they shared really dire concerns about their level of funding. They say they’re at a 10-year low in funding, and we know the sector has shared the number $63 million that they need just to stabilize. When we say stabilize, it means not living in overdraft. I think everybody here knows what it feels like to live in overdraft—or maybe you don’t, and that’s a privilege. If you’ve lived in overdraft, you know how that feels. It’s sickening, it’s stressful and I can’t imagine being an executive director of a children’s aid society looking at the reality they face, of living in overdraft.

We know now that our systemic gaps that we face in mental health, in housing and other issues—autism funding, developmental services etc. are impacting children’s aids societies. Families are not able to provide shelter for their families. They are not able to feed their families at a growing rate. So 20% of people referred to children’s aid society were done so because of inadequate housing. We know there’s 20% to 30% that need complex mental health care that’s being cut.

I’ve had three expert mental health professionals that I know personally—one agency was shut down, another program was shut down and another service that provides attachment trauma in a culturally relevant way was shut down. We are providing more access to those who need eight to 15 sessions, but these kids aren’t that, and we can prevent them going into care by properly funding complex mental health care and developmental services.

We need to reflect on the privatization of the child welfare system. I know that the societies that I talked to said that the rates that they’re being charged have gone up, but the funding they receive to pay those for-profit agencies has not gone up. We know that kin care, for example, only gets one tenth—one tenth—the amount of money. So we will pay someone in the private sector 10 times the amount we will pay their family member, who could be living in poverty, to care for an additional child. They’re doing it because they care, but they face real financial strains as a result. We need to stop that. We need to start looking at the funding model and looking at a funding model that looks at prevention, because the government should not be parenting children at the rate that it’s parenting children.

We know, just in my riding, oneROOF—I spoke to them last week; they had a meeting on Monday. They are questioning closing because of budget shortfalls. This is a youth shelter that is an essential service in my riding, serving young people ages 16 to 24, and we know that 60% of the kids in care are teenagers. So we need to look better at the services that we offer teenagers and the services we offer those on the autism wait-list, for example.

We also need to do better for racialized communities. In Toronto, for example, there’s an 8.5% Black-identifying population, but 40% of the kids in care identify as Black—that’s a huge gap—for Indigenous children: 3.4% of the population, but 25.5% of kids in care; Latinx and Asian individuals and families are much more likely to be referred for investigations. We need to look at systemic racism that increases the likelihood of people going into care.

We have to worry about these unintended consequences because if we add this red tape without commensurate funding, it equals a funding cut. And that’s what the CAS in my riding said. They said, “If you give us more administrative work and not the funding to do it, it equals less time with families, not more.”

And as a social worker, I know what it’s like to have growing caseloads. Growing caseloads is a serious reality that children’s aid societies are facing. If you have a growing caseload and a growing number of times you have to see those people, it becomes a tick box—you’re doing it to be sure that you did it—but the depth and the quality of that service is severely lacking—

Further questions?

I listened to the members really speaking very clearly about how we can make better strides to increase autonomy of our Indigenous communities. Wabaseemoong, Pikwakanagan, KI: It was our government that was working with these communities to make sure that we are giving them the opportunity to have more care and the right to have more care over their children, which is so important—because you know it’s a system that has been rooted in colonization and has impacted so many Indigenous families. That’s a lot of pain and hurt to fix.

So I’m asking the member, based on the direction you see our government going, can you see the good faith that our government is putting into making changes that will be impactful? This is the beginning in a series of changes that we want to make.

I want thank my friend from Kiiwetinoong for his remarks. For those tuning in who don’t know what we’re debating, we’re debating Bill 188, the government’s latest effort around child protection law.

The member spoke about Amy Owen. This is a story from our community that broke hearts wide open when we learned of it, because it’s exactly as the member is describing: It is a child discarded to the for-profit foster care system, which disregarded her life. For the record, I want to read in something that Amy wrote on Facebook 11 months before she took her own life. She wrote, “I am just a kid and my life is a nightmare.”

I guess I would ask us, would we allow any child anywhere in the province of Ontario to be housed in a place that did them harm? And are we going to correct that harm—I’m asking the member: Are we going to correct that harm by continuing to fund for-profit operators who, as you say, often refer to the children in their system as “cash cows,” or do we need to move to a non-profit public system, with appropriate staff, that is well run?

I appreciate the member from Kitchener Centre’s speech and her service for her community. You talked about the underfunding of CAS and the programs that support kids to prevent them from being in care. Can you talk about some of the real-life examples of what that underfunding means?

I want to acknowledge that, in 2018, this government fired the Child and Youth Advocate. One of the people who came to committee with lived experience said she would not be where she was today if it was not for the Child and Youth Advocate, that he became a special member of her support system. And as a social worker, I did experience heartbreak and felt crushed at a government firing the lawyer for kids who have no legal guardian.

We know that the numbers speak to that. We know that, right now, the Ombudsman office only provides investigations for 1,491 cases, whereas with the Child and Youth Advocate, it was 2,790 cases. There were also half as many children dying in care when the Child and Youth Advocate was in office.

That is the request I have: that we reinstate that office. It was vital.

So, I agree; this is a step in the right direction. What I hope the government opposite will see is that we bring forward amendments of good intention from the Ombudsman, Information and Privacy Commissioner, and Indigenous leaders, and we ask for those amendments to be considered so we don’t have to have another conversation in five years. We can get it right.

Yes, we need this accountability, we need these measures, but they have ideas on how we can cut red tape to ensure that that administrative time is really used efficiently, effectively. There’s a lot of red tape we can cut to just shift the amount of time that they’re using on administrative tasks to what we’re asking for today, instead of adding to some levels of administration that we need to address.

I hope when the government comes forward again, they will consult with the CASs and talk about cutting the red tape that they want to cut and optimizing their time so they can be with families.

One agency in Ontario that treats people who sexually offend—these are young people. We know early intervention for those who sexually offend is essential. The place is closed. Shame. Offered their jobs down the street in a non-unionized environment for $10,000 less—now she will work in the for-profit sector. She will work for two days, get the same amount of pay that she was getting for five days. And why did she leave? Because we closed that organization.

I can’t believe it.

Thank you to the member from Kitchener Centre for her words based on her experience. I was interested in what you had to say about red tape and the administrative burden that’s placed on social service workers. I wonder if you’d like to expand on that, given your experience in social services.

Thank you to the member—very passionate.

Moving on, questions?

I guess I just offer the member an opportunity to finish her thought. She was in the middle of a thought.

It’s my pleasure to rise today to speak about and discuss a matter of great importance, the Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024. This act is crucial to the commitment that demonstrates our unwavering dedication to the well-being and future of the children across this province. The act stands for a fundamental belief that every child deserves a fair chance at life, no matter their background. We must come together to provide them with the support and protection they need to thrive. Every child deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential, and it’s up to us to ensure that they do. Let’s work together to create a brighter future for our children and ourselves.

The Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024, holds the power to shape the lives of countless children and young people in our province, and the legislation is a sincere commitment to protecting the well-being and future of some of our most vulnerable citizens: our children and our youth. In a world where the innocence of childhood is often overshadowed by the harsh realities of life, it’s our duty to ensure that every child, regardless of their circumstance, has access to care, protection and the opportunities they deserve. This bill, if passed, will be a beacon of hope, bringing improved safety and quality to our children and youth services.

Our government has worked diligently to create this bill, consulting far and wide across the child welfare sector. Ministry staff held over 30 virtual engagements with various stakeholder groups, including youth with lived experience. These extensive consultations have ensured that this bill addresses the real and pressing needs of children and youth in Ontario’s care.

At its core, the Supporting Children’s Futures Act is about protecting children and youth in Ontario’s care today, through new measures for safety, service, oversight, accountability and privacy. It’s also about providing better opportunities for these children and youth to thrive as adults tomorrow.

If passed, this bill will protect children and youth in care and provide them with a better future by strengthening oversight and enforcement tools for out-of-home care, protecting the privacy of youth formerly in care and updating the Child, Youth and Family Services Act with lessons learned since it became law. The changes proposed in this bill will improve safety and independence for children and youth in care and moving on from care. In the short term, this will mean safer and more consistent services for those who need to live away from home. In the long term, it will prepare these children and youth for adulthood and set them up for success. They deserve a chance to grow up safe and happy.

Speaker, to ensure applicants are fit to provide quality care, this bill proposes a more thorough application process and new powers to refuse a licence on several grounds, most importantly the public interest. To ensure all children and youth in care receive safe, high-quality services, this bill proposes to increase accountability for operators. This includes requiring inspectors to take certain actions when they find non-compliance and a better range of penalties, including compliance orders, administrative monetary penalties and enhanced charges with larger fines.

All members of this House know of shocking instances where some providers have failed to provide the high-quality care that we expect them to deliver, and our government has been clear: There is no room in our province for providers who don’t operate in compliance with the law.

This bill proposes new high-impact enforcement tools to root out non-compliance, such as:

—an order for funding to be returned where a licensee has failed to use funds in accordance with the terms-of-service agreement for a child;

—an order for new management for an out-of-home care setting;

—restraining orders to restrain individuals who pose an imminent threat to the health, safety or welfare of any child or young person; and

—compliance orders to instruct the licensee to achieve compliance; for example, arranging staff training within a specific time frame if reoccurring non-compliances are identified.

These are critical changes that will reshape the way the rules and regulations are implemented and monitored throughout the program. We’re creating new provincial offences for violations of a youth’s rights against corporal punishment, physical and mechanical restraints, and detention—all positive changes, making it better and easier for youth to thrive.

We’re enhancing the penalties for provincial offences under the act: up to $250,000, imprisonment for up to one year, or both; and for corporations, fines of up to $250,000 and new administrative monetary penalties of up to $100,000. This is how seriously we’re taking this.

Bill 188 also proposes new processes for inspectors, requiring documentation of findings and, in the inspection report, the ability to conduct investigations with a warrant when an offence is suspected. Changes to the appeal process for licensing decisions, conditions, suspensions and revocations are also proposed, ensuring the appeals do not automatically result in a stay.

The appeal process to require more information from the applicant or licensee, improving the rules for evidence before the tribunal, and clarifying the tribunal’s orders following an appeal: These crucial new tools will hold service providers to the standard of care that youth deserve and our government expects. These new enhanced penalties will give ministry inspectors a more responsive and useful range of tools to use when they find a service provider that isn’t consistently complying with requirements.

We understand that the safety and well-being of our most vulnerable youth are our top priorities. The Supporting Children’s Futures Act is a comprehensive and necessary step forward in protecting and empowering the children and youth in Ontario’s care. Let’s work together to provide better care and a better future for all Ontario kids, because when we take care of them, we’re taking care of the heart of our community, Speaker.

You can see in the great work done by the ministry and done by the great minister that put forward this bill the amazing effort that they put in to capture all of those details that were given to them in consultation throughout their various ministry consultations and throughout the consultations that took place in committee as well. It shows the government’s dedication and understanding of what needs to be changed. I’m so proud that it’s this government that has taken action, after years and years and years, that’s finally delivering for these children and youth to ensure that they’re in a safe environment, they’re encouraged to grow, they’re encouraged to succeed. That’s the Ontario that we all grew up in and we all want to see, where that Ontario dream, where that Canadian dream is instilled in every single youth and child, where they’re able to dream to become anybody they want to be.

Speaker, we hear these amazing stories across the province of people who grew up in very, very harsh poverty situations, and today have some of the biggest corporations or run some of the biggest non-profit organizations. Those are the types of inspiring stories that we look up to as children, as we continue on in our daily lives. I remember even when I was a kid visiting, with a grade 8 or grade 7 class, Queen’s Park way back when. And I got to sit in the public gallery up there and watch members debate. It really generates a form of vision and encouragement for children that this too can one day be achieved by anybody who puts their heart on their sleeve and works hard for the people. Not only does that apply for parliamentarians, but that applies for anybody working in the private sector. Inspiration for youth is so important, because when we follow our dreams and work hard at it, we’re able to achieve them.

This bill helps support children and helps ensure that they are able to succeed in Ontario and grow in Ontario. As we continue to approve services—I know the minister has been working very hard to continue to improve services and ensure that children and youth are being supported across the province—we’re looking at new examples and new conversation pieces of where children felt that they were left behind and they needed more support. That’s what our government is doing: bringing in those changes to help support them, help grow their futures and ensure that we live in a society where each and every child in this province can grow up to live their absolute full potential.

I’m so proud to be a part of a government that takes this so seriously and is moving forward on these swift changes, and not only when it comes to the Ministry of Children, Social and Community Services. I believe all my colleagues that are ministers, parliamentary assistants and MPPs are doing amazing jobs in their portfolios to ensure that we have a better future for Ontario, a future where we all thrive and that Ontario dream continues to live on where we can all have a home, where we can all afford to raise a family and have a good life.

I recognize the member from Brampton East.

Questions?

Well, I want to thank the member opposite for the question. As he indicated, while we’re here today debating Bill 188, we’re also talking about a whole-of-government approach to making sure that all our children, regardless of their backgrounds, have equal opportunity moving forward.

Just on an interesting and related point, I was at the Ontario Association of Counselling and Attendance Services recently. They were holding their AGM in Collingwood. We were working with that sector and counsellors to make sure that children in school have the best opportunity moving forward, through access to counselling and attendance officers, to address the kids at risk, to come up with a plan to keep them in school. To the extent that children in care fall under those headings, I would hope they would have the opportunity to have those same services.

This is a government that’s invested record amounts since we’ve come into office, a 555% increase in mental health supports in our school system. This is a government that is working across the board to make sure that all children, including the children in our child care and welfare system, have the best opportunity moving forward to get the training skills they need moving forward.

I would like to thank the members from Simcoe–Grey and Brampton East for their presentation today. My question will be for the member from Simcoe–Grey. According to statistics, roughly a thousand teens age out of care every year; 400 of those will drop out of high school and 400 will qualify for post-secondary education. But only 20%—that’s 80 of those kids—who age out of care will pursue post-secondary education. If you follow it along, only eight graduate from post-secondary education.

I want to know if the member can speak about the importance of fully subsidized post-secondary education for kids who age out of care.

Many instances—there have been reports of children being badly treated where I come from, when they come down for service. By “badly treated,” I mean use of restraints; forbidding languages; in one case, being asked to be rescued.

It’s racist and deeply unethical for our children’s lives to be considered in terms of money and profits. I’m not surprised, but I am saddened that I have to say this here: No one should profit off our First Nations children. How does this legislation, Bill 188, stop that?

I thank the member opposite for her question. Yes, children’s aid societies play a pivotal role in making sure that our children at risk have access to the supports they need. That’s why this government has increased investments into child welfare and protection. In this year’s budget, it contained a $76.3-million increase for child protection services. On top of that, the estimates tabled recently show an investment of almost $1.9 billion in child welfare and protection, an increase over last year.

We recognize the importance of stabilizing the child welfare sector as the redesign work continues. My colleague spoke about the ongoing efforts in the review process. The child welfare sector saw a huge increase last year. We continue to look at ways that we can reduce any deficits for the children’s aid societies, and we will continue to work with them to ensure that those children being serviced by them get the best service.

This bill proposes to enable information-sharing between the children’s aid societies and the College of Early Childhood Educators and the Ontario College of Teachers, which will allow for timely action when there is an allegation of a risk to a child involving a teacher or early childhood educator. Currently, Madam Speaker, that obligation to report only applies to the early childhood educators. This broadens the scope of those protections to allow other professionals who see a threat or risk to an individual in care to share that information to ensure that the child is being protected and served in the best way possible.

This question is for the member for Brampton. Thank you for his presentation. We’ve heard that this bill won’t be the last step in improving the lives of children and youth in care. I understand that at the time this bill was introduced, the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services filed several additional regulations.

To the member: Can you expand on what these regulations do and how they complement Bill 188’s goals?