The petition I have to read into the record today is entitled “Improve Ontario’s Child and Youth Mental Health Services”—and with everyone gathered on the front lawn, I think they would also agree that mental health is health.

This petition calls upon the government to invest more in mental health services. We know the wait-lists are incredibly long, sometimes up to two years, as pointed out in the petition.

So, this petition calls upon the government to urgently invest rather than cut and make sure that children have mental health services when and where they need them.

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature and deliver it with page Farhan to the Clerks.

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?

I want to thank the member for Windsor–Tecumseh for those remarks. I particularly enjoyed your comments when you were talking about the staff, and the burden on the staff when they are aware of an unsafe situation for a youth and how that must weigh on them. I completely agree. That has been my experience meeting with workers for the children’s aid society in Ottawa.

I wonder if the member could elaborate on what this House could do, empowering this legislation even more to be mindful of making sure we hold on to those talented children’s-aid-worker staff? The member for Kitchener Centre said it earlier in debate this afternoon, and she comes from this particular sector, so she should know that, at the moment, in some cases, for-profit group homes and for-profit foster homes are pulling some of the children’s aid workers, paid non-profit, publicly, out of that system, because it’s difficult to compete. It’s difficult to retain talented people.

Do you think it would make sense—my question to the member—for us to make sure that there was proper funding for children’s aid societies so they can maintain the staff, the competence they have and reward those hard-working people?