44th Parliament, 1st Session

L026B - Wed 22 Oct 2025 / Mer 22 oct 2025

 

Report continued from volume A.

1800

Private Members’ Public Business

Homelessness Ends with Housing Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 visant à mettre fin à l’itinérance grâce au logement

Ms. Clancy moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 28, An Act establishing a homelessness elimination strategy / Projet de loi 28, Loi établissant une stratégie visant à mettre fin à l’itinérance.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Pursuant to standing order 100, the member has 12 minutes for their presentation.

Ms. Aislinn Clancy: I’d like to start off by thanking the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing—he’s been very generous—and I’d like to thank his chief of staff, Scott Collyer, for meeting with me over the summer to discuss this bill. I also want to thank the MPP for Etobicoke–Lakeshore for co-sponsoring this bill with me. It’s been an honour to work with you, and I deeply respect all that you do and how you do it.

I’d like to also thank my GPO team and my constit team, especially Stacey Dankert, who helped with the drafting of this bill. I’d like to thank my local leaders; there are so many people in my community who are working diligently, who’ve answered the call to support our most vulnerable people in our community. You know who you are, and I love you.

I’d also like to say that this bill was inspired by the very in-depth report that came out in January 2025 from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. AMO represents 444 municipalities in this province, and they have united us with this report to call for an end to chronic homelessness in Ontario.

And finally, I dedicate this bill to the front-line workers who go to work every day, helping people in the most difficult situations, and the 80,000 people in Ontario who are experiencing homelessness tonight.

Almost daily in my riding, people come to my office expressing hopelessness and feeling scared because of their housing situation. Too many people are facing homelessness because they’ve lost their job, or they have a violent partner, or they’re facing a renoviction from a bad-acting landlord. Other people are living life in limbo, spending years and years and years and years on affordable housing wait-lists and supportive housing wait-lists. Supportive housing is what somebody might need to get by every day, and I can’t tell you how many people come expressing to me that they are forced every day to choose between a roof and food. This is an impossible choice.

But I know that whether you are someone who is living this reality every day or, like myself, a neighbour who is worried about the increasing number of people experiencing homelessness, everyone in this place can agree that we can do better, that we need to do better and that it’s time for a plan.

I’m proud to be with you today to discuss the bill, the Homelessness Ends with Housing Act, which was introduced last spring. We have received so much positive feedback, whether from housing advocates, homelessness experts, health care professionals, front-line workers, or individuals with lived experience. Everyone, whether you’re in health care or education, social services, whether you’re a municipality—and I think we can all remember the downtown businesses who have come to us, desperate for solutions, desperate for support from this province to deal with the harm that homelessness is having on people’s lives and on our communities. I know that the member from Cambridge and I have talked a lot about how hard it is to see this devastation in our downtown communities, the impact it has on our local ecosystem, our local economies and on people’s lives.

But it’s no longer an issue of a small demographic of people with complex addiction and mental health. I just recently spoke with Marillac Place, which is a transitional-housing/supportive-housing project in downtown Kitchener where they help new mothers. Some 40% of the people who live there experienced homelessness as children. So if we think of those 80,000 people, a lot of those 80,000 are kids, and those kids will experience homelessness again. There’s a high risk they will experience homelessness again as adults.

I’ve also talked to my children’s aid society staff. The executive director said they spend so much of their dollars not necessarily doing the work of child welfare, but trying to house families. So much of their work is trying to house families, and they tell me stories of parents separated from their kids because of inadequate housing. Their number one ask is access to housing supports.

When I talked to my Ontario health team in my area, they told me that the biggest growing demographic of people facing homelessness is our seniors. I know this. I’ve had women who have said, “I’ve worked my whole career and I’m living in a car right now.” Or somebody who’s faced a disability and they can’t keep working and so they are homeless or living in shelters.

We also know that housing allowances have not kept pace. Raise your hand if you could find somewhere to live in your riding for $390 a month. That’s for people on Ontario Works. Raise your hand if you think somebody with a disability can find somewhere to live on $599 a month in your riding.

We also know that folks working full-time—I have heard the Premier say, “Get a job.” We have people who are working full-time minimum wage jobs and there are zero places in this province, stats show, that you can find a place to live within 30% of your income.

I’ve talked to people at A Better Tent City, which is not in my riding; it’s in the member for Kitchener South–Hespeler’s riding. She said to me in my face, “I would rather live in a tent and have enough money to eat than spend all my money on rent and starve.” That is the choice she had, and she said she won’t make that choice. But she is stably housed at A Better Tent City because without provincial support, they have gone ahead and created a tiny home community that is full of love.

I won’t go into our food bank data; I am sure my colleague from Etobicoke–Lakeshore will share that our food bank data is astronomical, that that choice between a roof and food is impossible, but an increasing number of people are having to make that choice. No parent should have to choose between a roof and food. No senior, no newcomer, nobody with a disability, nobody with addiction and mental health issues—in fact, nobody in Ontario should have to make that choice between a roof and food.

On my walk to work every single day, I walk past the most famous encampment in Ontario. It’s still there. We emptied it, years ago. We built and managed the encampment. We spent the money, the municipality—more than the lion’s share of homelessness money is spent by municipalities, not the province and not the feds. We did the work. We did the heavy lifting. People moved into stable housing. But you know what? I watched as that patch of land filled up again because people have nowhere to go.

Our region—for every affordable unit we build, we lose 39 in the private sector. We need to do more to help tenants who are losing their housing because we are hemorrhaging people onto the streets. We’ve had a doubling of homelessness in my riding in three years. Our numbers came out at 2,500 and they were 1,200 not too long ago. We are hemorrhaging people into the streets and AMO predicts that in Ontario, if we do not act now, there will be 300,000 people homeless by 2035, so in the next 10 years. Imagine: 300,000 people. How many of our ridings would be completely devastated by that reality? But we know it will happen. Unemployment is going up and the headwinds of the economy are serious. We have to make housing a priority. What we are doing is not working.

I even think of Mary, pregnant and without a place to go. If she were in Ontario, would we give her a fine? Would we put her in jail? Or would we find her the supportive housing she needs to have her child, care for her child with the love and support and shelter she needs.

This is a moral injury. It’s a moral injury to our front-line workers at shelters who turn women away. They send them out into the streets, into dangerous situations of human trafficking or back to violent partners. It is a moral injury to our firefighters who are faced with the truth that they see someone in a tent and they have to say, “Do I tell you to stop keeping yourself warm or do I ask you to stop that fire and you risk dying of exposure because we have cold winters?” It is a moral injury, and we can’t stand it any longer. There is a zero vacancy rate in my riding. There is nowhere to go.

I do thank the municipalities because, without the tools, they’re trying to do what they can and doing the lion’s share of the work to meet our housing needs in this province. But we need this bill now more than ever.

1810

This bill is a simple plan. It’s, “How do we get organized?” Let’s get experts to the table. Let’s get people who have done this in other jurisdictions. It works. It works in Finland. It works in Houston. It works in Winnipeg. Wab Kinew is doing it right now, as we speak. We know it works.

What it involves is having adequate levels of the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit. It runs out every year. It just means filling that gap between what people have and what people need to pay their rent.

We need adequate levels of supportive housing. Folks with disabilities and health care issues need supports to be successfully housed. We need to rely on experts and create a committee so we have the data and we can mark our progress. Right now, the data is almost completely lacking. It is funded by our municipalities, who have done the heavy lifting to get our data. So let’s get a plan, because we know that homelessness ends with housing.

Every time, I challenge each of you: Next time somebody says, “You know, I went down there, and I said, ‘Come and get a job,’” or “Somebody just needs to get a job and they’ll be housed,” I hope all of us will push back against that false narrative. I ask all of us to live homeless for a week and see how employable we are at the end of the week. I know I’m tired, and I’m barely employable as we speak. I’m just kidding. I’m just really tired.

We know this is a false narrative, and I hope that each of you will show the care and concern in your heart to not punch down, to not be angry against people who are at their worst, but actually push back and say, “You know what? If we had the right supports, if we had the housing and health care solutions, that person would not be homeless today.” We know that.

We know also that this is going to save taxpayer dollars. So not only do we know it works and the bill has the recipe for something that works, we know it will save us all money. Dunn House, just down the street, this past year has saved $1.6 million by housing folks who were regular users of ER rooms. They had 100 patients that accounted for 4,500 emergency room visits. In the one year that they’ve housed people, emergency room visits dropped by 52% and hospital bed stays dropped by 79%. Our health care system is buckling under the pressure, and this is something we can do to alleviate that pressure. Not to mention—

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Further debate?

Ms. Laura Smith: It’s a privilege to rise in this House today to speak to Bill 28, the Homelessness Ends with Housing Act, 2025.

Let me begin by saying this: No one in this chamber disagrees with the goal that every Ontarian should have a safe and stable place to call home. That is a goal that we all share, and the intention behind this bill is undoubtedly noble. It reflects compassion, empathy and a deep desire to see people lifted out of hardship, and I want to recognize the intent and thank the member opposite for putting forward a proposal that speaks to the dignity and well-being of some of Ontario’s most vulnerable residents.

But, Speaker, good intentions alone do not make good legislation. We have a responsibility to not just express compassion but to deliver results, and that means ensuring every measure we adopt is workable, effective and sustainable for the long term.

Unfortunately, while the spirit of this bill is admirable, its structure and implementation framework raise some serious concerns. The bill would legislate the elimination of homelessness within a fixed 10-year time frame. That is a worthy ambition, but as legislators, we know that homelessness is not a challenge solved simply by setting targets. It’s a complex, multi-faceted issue tied to economic conditions, mental health supports, addiction services, local housing markets and the availability of homes. By binding the province to an inflexible statutory goal, the bill risks turning a complex human problem into a political deadline. Legislating a fixed timeline will not produce effective results for the people who need it.

Moreover, the bill’s requirement for annual detailed reporting, additional advisory bodies and prescribed data collection, while well intentioned, would add new layers of administration and bureaucracy without necessarily improving outcomes on the ground.

Our government believes in action. Municipalities, service providers and outreach agencies already work tirelessly to deliver services. Adding another reporting regime could draw time and money away from front-line supports that make a real difference in people’s lives.

Speaker, this government agrees that data and transparency are essential, but our focus is on ensuring better outcomes for those we serve. We must also recognize that homelessness is not a uniform challenge across Ontario—what works in downtown Toronto may not work in Timmins or Windsor or in Kenora. This bill’s centralized approach risks overlooking those regional differences. That’s why our government has chosen a different path: to empower service managers to provide local results, rooted in partnership, flexibility and results. We’re investing directly in programs, communities and supports that help people move from the streets and into housing and stability.

Speaker, under the leadership of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and this Premier, Ontario has made the largest investment in homelessness prevention in our province’s history. Through the Homelessness Prevention Program, our government invested $700 million in 2024 alone to help municipal partners provide stable housing and wraparound supports. This includes funding for the Indigenous Supportive Housing Program, ensuring culturally appropriate and community-driven solutions for Indigenous partners.

We have also invested $529 million to open up 27 homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs—or HART hubs—and these HART hubs represent a transformative approach, integrating supportive housing with addiction recovery and mental health care. This will include 560 supportive housing units, and the first nine opened their doors on April 1 this year. These are real results, and these are real result spaces where people are receiving treatment, finding stability and regaining hope.

Speaker, we know that addressing homelessness means meeting people where they are, and that is why we’ve provided $75 million to help our municipal partners provide direct supports to remove encampments safely and compassionately. Those funds are allowing local teams to connect people with outreach workers, treatment options and transitional housing while restoring the safety of public spaces for all.

Through the New Deal for Toronto, our government has committed $1.2 billion over three years to support shelters, housing and homelessness in the city of Toronto. That’s the largest provincial commitment of its kind. And through a new deal for Ottawa, we’re investing $120 million over three years, again with a focus on shelters and homelessness prevention. And that’s not all, Speaker—we’ve dedicated $50 million to accelerate ready-to-build affordable housing projects, helping communities open doors faster on homes that are nearly complete but require additional targeted funding to reach those finish lines, and I’m going to talk about some of those finish lines later on.

We’ve also allocated $20 million to expand shelter capacity and create temporary accommodation spaces, ensuring that no one is left out in the cold. And to help people transition out of shelters and into longer-term housing, Ontario has invested $5.5 million to top up the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit. This top-up will free approximately 1,000 emergency shelters spaces by helping people move from shelters into stable homes.

Altogether, Speaker, this represents $1.7 billion in 2023 alone for community housing, supportive housing and homelessness prevention—and that’s not rhetoric, it’s record investment. These investments are guided by a simple principle: Ontario is leaving nobody behind. We’re making every effort to connect people to the care they need, where and when they need it.

Speaker, this government’s approach is pragmatic and compassionate. We’re not interested in empty promises or symbolic legislation. We’re interested in outcomes, getting people off the streets and into care, into homes and into stability.

Homelessness is not a problem that can be solved by a government alone. It requires coordination across sectors of health care, mental health and addictions, housing and municipal service delivery. It requires partnerships with Indigenous communities, faith-based organizations and the not-for-profit sector. It requires flexibility because the causes and the solutions differ from community to community.

1820

That’s why our government is focused on enabling these local solutions, not prescribing one-size-fits-all timelines from Queen’s Park. We’re building more supportive housing through our HART hubs initiative, and we’re increasing capacity where it’s most needed. We’re providing direct housing benefits that move people from temporary to permanent housing, and they’re working hand in hand with municipalities through the new deals for our largest cities to ensure local needs are met with local flexibility.

I want to be clear: The government shares the goal of ending chronic homelessness. What we differ on is the method. Legislating the end to homelessness does not make it so. Success requires sustained evidence-based investments, careful planning and the ability to adapt in changing circumstances. A legislative deadline might make for a great, strong headline, but it risks setting up false hope and future disappointment if the promised outcome cannot be met. Ontarians deserve honesty and practical leadership, not arbitrary timelines.

Our government’s record shows we’re already taking unprecedented action to tackle homelessness from every angle: prevention, treatment and housing. We’re doing so responsibly, ensuring accountability to taxpayers while protecting those in need. Our government will continue to create conditions to build more homes of every type in every community so that all Ontarians can find a place that they can call home, and we’ll continue to empower municipalities with funding and flexibility.

Last summer and into the fall, I spent some time travelling Ontario and visiting some of our newly built supportive housing sites that are making the dream of a home a reality for so many individuals.

The minister and I visited a location in St. Thomas called Tiny Hope. It’s a modular housing project that creates new units for our most vulnerable citizens and their families. This was enabled through the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative, also known as COCHI, in residual funding. Through the collaboration of all levels of government, we’re taking action to accelerate the construction of much-needed housing, removing barriers, streamlining approvals and bringing innovative solutions to the table.

I also visited another location, the 265 Kerr Street assisted housing development in Oakville. This project is also delivered through COCHI and the last-mile funding and is another example of a testament of what can be done and achieved when all levels of government come together. It’s more than just housing; it’s an investment in people, health and building a stronger, more supportive community.

And 265 Kerr Street provides assisted and supportive housing with 52 units for older adults, including ground-level community wellness hubs serving tenants and the community in partnership with Ontario health teams. It provides one-to-one support and connects the occupants and the community with the supports they need, literally helping people get off the streets and into housing. I was truly proud to be there when they opened their doors and visited with the people who worked there, and I also met the residents.

These are just a couple of the examples of what’s been accomplished. I visited so many other locations across this province. I’m going to continue to do that, and we’re going to continue to pursue real, practical solutions that put people first.

In closing, I again commend the member opposite for their compassion and their commitment, but compassion must also be paired with practicality. Bill 28 in its current form is simply unworkable. It would add bureaucracy without improving outcomes, and it would impose rigid timelines without improving resources and constrain future governments from adapting to changing needs.

Our government’s plan is already delivering measurable progress through record investments, innovative partnerships and direct support to those who need it the most. We’re going to keep building on the progress guided not by deadlines written into law but by the enduring commitment to help every Ontarian feel safe, stable and give them a hopeful place to call home.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Further debate? I recognize the member from Ottawa Centre.

MPP Catherine McKenney: Thank you, Speaker. I’m going to split my time with my colleague from Spadina–Fort York.

I do want to start by thanking the members from Kitchener Centre and Etobicoke–Lakeshore for tabling this bill. We do actually need to design, implement and maintain a homelessness strategy with targets, because without targets, we won’t move ahead; we’ll have nothing that we can measure ourselves against. And I’ll tell you, when I’m the housing minister, I’ll do it in one term; it won’t take 10 years. It’s actually the only thing about the bill that I thought—10 years, it’s a bit long. I bet you if it was our children, we wouldn’t wait 10 years, but we’re going to for someone else’s.

Too many Ontarians have family members—we know that—or they know someone who’s without housing or shelter. We see it every day in our streets and in our parks, and it is shameful. The answer to it is not $10,000 fines, and it’s not prison, and it’s not building more prison beds—because you’ve got targets for that. No. It’s compassionate housing.

If we are really serious about tackling this, we do need to understand the full scope of the problem. As the member from Kitchener Centre said, the report from AMO really painted a stark picture of where we are as a province, and it’s actually shameful. We’ve got at least 80,000 people in this province alone without housing. That’s a 25% increase since 2022. As I said, Ontario is at a tipping point, and without significant intervention, the number of people who are homeless in the province will reach 300,000.

At the same time, we know that housing affordability remains the dominant driver of core housing need. With a quarter of households in this province spending a significant portion of their income on housing, it is no wonder that we have a housing crisis. These are the people in our province who are at high risk of losing their housing. It’s a matter of priorities, and this government continues to demonstrate that it always prioritizes those who are the lowest income.

We do know what works—we heard it from the member across: supportive housing and housing first. Absolutely. St. Thomas is a success story. Why? Because they invested in supportive housing. We know what works. We’ve got supportive housing across this province, and it works, but we need to scale it up. We need to give people the supports that they need to come out of homelessness.

In my riding of Ottawa Centre, we have an organization called Operation Come Home. They support homeless and at-risk youths. They work with them to secure educational and employment opportunities and get them into housing. They’re on the front line every day, housing kids who have nowhere else to go, but they cannot house all of those youths without the funding and without the targets. We know how many kids need housing. We know how to house them. We just need to do it.

There was a time in this province when we did fund public, non-profit, co-op housing, and that provided good, affordable rental housing for low- and moderate-income families, but we stopped doing it. We stopped providing good housing for people. We stopped building the housing that people need so that they don’t fall into homelessness.

If you want to end homelessness, you’ve got to stop people from falling into it in the first place. And yes, it’s coordinated with the federal government. And yes, municipalities have to do their part. But we’re like Spider-Man—we’re all pointing at each other, and nobody is doing anything. We can actually get it done. We don’t even have to create a new way of housing people; we already have it.

I’m just going to give you some practical solutions, just to get you started on your implementation.

When we’re in government, we will create 60,000 new supportive housing units that will allow people living in encampments and in shelters to move into safe permanent housing. We will connect them to mental health and addiction treatment. We’ll create a public builder in Homes Ontario that will provide grants, low-cost financing, public land, fast-tracked approvals and other supports to get 300,000 new, permanently affordable houses built. And we will strengthen renter protection to make sure that every rental unit in this province is rent-controlled so that people do not continue to fall into homelessness.

1830

The time for action is actually now—it is now—or we will be letting down those who are at risk of homelessness and working-class Ontarians who are struggling to pay rent or their mortgage. I hope this government will take this crisis seriously and develop a plan to reinstate strong rent controls, introduce a public builder and provide more funding to municipalities.

I want to tell you, in all honesty: My door is always open. I know what the solutions are. I know what the plan is. I am more than willing to work with anyone who really, truly wants to ensure that kids, families and individuals are housed in this province.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): I recognize the member from Etobicoke–Lakeshore.

Ms. Lee Fairclough: I’m very pleased to be here co-sponsoring this bill, the Homelessness Ends with Housing Act, with MPP Clancy. I return the thanks to her for working together on this. It really has been a pleasure to work with you and your team.

I also want to say thank you to my caucus colleagues for being here.

Hard challenges require us as legislators to work across party lines to ensure progress. Given what we’re seeing across our communities in Ontario, the size and scale of growth in homelessness warrants this approach to prioritizing a plan to address it. I’m sure that all of you can relate. Today, I’m going to talk about why it’s important. I’m going to talk about what we think we should do. The good news is there are solutions, and there’s proof that it could work.

First of all, why is this important? I always believe that it’s important to consider the experiences of individual people as well as the data when we make choices on our priorities.

So here are two stories. People might recall a media story from last summer of a 91-year-old man, deeply connected to his community in Little Italy, who became homeless when he lost his apartment of 20 years and could not find any affordable housing in his community.

Or you might remember last January, when the depth and breadth of the homelessness and housing crisis was brought home to the Ontario Legislature when former MPP Lorenzo Berardinetti shared his deeply personal story of becoming homeless. His story could be anyone’s story—a job loss, a marriage breakdown and a devastating illness. In telling his story, he recounted people who learned of it and what they said to him. They said they are concerned that they may become homeless as well one day. A lot of people are afraid of that.

Ontarians are stressed, and they’re worried about affordability. In fact, three of five people, when asked, are concerned that if their financial situation were to change, they would be at risk of losing their housing. But these are just two stories behind the numbers.

Here’s the quick run of the facts that we know. Last year, Ontario municipalities collectively counted over 80,000 homeless people in communities large and small, rural and urban—a 25% increase in two years. Those are outcomes that we need to address.

There’s a need for at least 36,000 supportive housing units, where people who face mental illness, substance use disorders, developmental disabilities or chronic health conditions can have stable housing.

Toronto food banks set another record this year: 4.1 million client visits. Through their research, we know 88% of their clients are in housing that’s unaffordable, and the remainder are homeless.

And of concern are the growing numbers of seniors who are becoming homeless. For example, the rates of homelessness amongst seniors have doubled in the Niagara region in the last five years.

Like many of your communities, I too hear from constituents who are concerned. I’ve seen more and more people relying on food banks, and we had 38 encampments in Etobicoke–Lakeshore last year.

But the solutions are out there, and we know they pay dividends, both economically and socially. We just need to decide to set goals, actually. Let’s set real goals and prioritize action—and that is exactly what this bill is calling for. I would hope that everyone in this Legislature could actually easily get behind it because I think the vast majority of MPPs in Ontario relate to the need.

But again, the most important action is to just make the decision to do something about it. Set a 10-year goal, set a four-year goal, set a two-year goal, but set a goal.

What are the components of that strategy in this bill?

Set housing targets. That will lead to improved housing affordability and ensuring a plan is put in place to create adequate availability of deeply affordable rental units.

Invest in new housing that includes supportive housing.

Increase the portable housing supports benefit.

Use a housing-first approach. Focus on quickly moving people experiencing homelessness into independent and permanent housing without preconditions.

And then, finally, let’s make sure we can measure it. I don’t know about all of you, but the classic mantra in business is that you set a goal and you actually measure your progress to achieving that goal. I’m not sure why we’re worried about setting a goal. We just need to set up the systems to actually measure whether we’re achieving what we need to.

I was asked earlier today in a media interview about this bill why I thought it was important to co-sponsor it now. It’s because it would fill a gap we’ve got in our current housing and other policies. We must address the increasing unaffordability that people are experiencing, the job loss, the rising cost of rents. It needs to stop. We need to help people hold on to their housing, and we need to get those who need it housed.

Secondly, the other good reason to do this now is because Canadians want us to do it to address the problems of homelessness. They want to do this. More than 80% believe that the solutions to homelessness have to include housing, mental health and other health supports, not incarceration. If the government were to support this bill and appoint a single person accountable for addressing homelessness within your government, we would be doing exactly what people want us to do.

Thirdly, without action, the size of the problem will continue to grow. That is certain.

The good news is—similar to the member opposite, I also spent some time travelling in Ontario, making sure I got outside of Toronto to see what some of the promising solutions could be. Communities are coming together to come up with innovative solutions with the resources they have available.

A great example was Peterborough. In one day, I toured four different sites that represented the different stages that we need to actually bring people out of homelessness.

I visited the Trinity centre, a daily gathering place for day programs, which, unfortunately, was overflowing. That is where I saw, very directly, the growing numbers of seniors—and in talking to the staff there, that’s their biggest need, given the rental trends in that community.

The Brock Mission was my next spot. It has a beautiful new location, with 30 traditional dorm-style shelter beds, coupled with 15 single independent units that people can live in, in a more supported environment, and shared resources, with primary care right on site.

The Wolfe Street location was my third spot. This is, again, like A Better Tent City and other places, where they’ve built 50 tiny homes that are supported by common spaces for residents. What was interesting there was speaking to residents. They feel more safe. One resident said, “I harm myself less.” As well, they feel a sense of community. This site was built across the street from a previous encampment, and police visits have been reduced from 67 in the previous year to four.

My last stop was some long-term housing that the city has built very quickly through a modular approach. They’re leveraging that asset now, where people are coming in for more stable housing, but they’re leveraging it to build more.

Again, this is an example of a community coming together and figuring out how to do it.

The challenge is, we need these approaches in all municipalities, and they can’t do it alone. They need the province to step up. I was struck, meeting with community leaders at the AMO conference this year, by just how prevalent homelessness was, and they’re aching for solutions.

At the same conference, I learned about a promising pilot in Burlington that targets low-income seniors at high risk of losing their housing—getting a little upstream. The community wellness hub coordinates and provides support to ensure access to primary care, mental health care, social connections, and system access for this most vulnerable population. They’ve estimated savings of $90 million per year from reduced hospitalizations related to chronic conditions for 100,000 older adults.

Finally, we know there’s a connection between housing and health for those experiencing homelessness. For many, it started by losing their job or being unable to pay rent, and then they were homeless. Their other health concerns came later—mental illness, drug use. So we need to ensure that the solutions that support people to stay well are there, and we also need to reduce the pressures that we’re seeing in emergency departments.

1840

This is where I saw one last very promising option, Speaker, and that is the 24/7 mental health crisis centre in London. It triages patients outside of hospitals and enables paramedics and police to bring people to a clinic with an average wait of 13 minutes to get the kind of assessment that they need instead of spending hours in the emergency department. It also has 10 beds available to support stabilization. It’s also a walk-in too, so somebody is ready to engage in their care. They can walk in and they can access it.

But again, we need the provincial leadership. The province has critical mandates on health, mental health infrastructure, housing policy, and the last thing they have is provincial lands. The federal government and the city of Toronto are leveraging underused properties to attract the private sector into creating mixed affordable, rent-geared-to-income and market-based developments. The province actually could be doing the same. The province has important levers that require portions of building projects to include affordable, deeply affordable or supportive housing options. We actually do see some developers stepping up to do just that. But there is little in our current policy or the review process at the OLT that would demand this.

For over 20 years now, jurisdictions in Canada, Europe and the United States have been using the housing-first approach for those who need it. Housing-first takes the approach to support people suffering from mental illness or addictions or both to a much better place for recovery. And again, I do feel it’s important to say that we know that these things can work. We shouldn’t be afraid of setting goals because we know that we will get results.

Researchers in Calgary studied their housing-first approach over six years; 55% enrolled in the program remained housed.

Finland did what we are asking for in this bill. They made a decision to do something about homelessness, shifting away from shelters and actually putting that money into getting people housed—a 72% reduction in people living rough.

France is doing outstanding work. They’re actually doing a major study of what the impact would be. In the early 21 months, they already show greater residential stability and fewer arrests; greater control over drug and alcohol use and better health outcomes; and lower residential and health costs.

These are the kinds of results that we need. We need them in Ontario, and we need to make a decision to act.

In conclusion, stable housing helps people manage health issues, overcome addiction and find stable employment. We have the data, we have the road maps, and we know housing-first works. All that is needed is for the Ontario government to take clear and decisive action.

We can solve homelessness in 10 years. I hope it might even take less. We call on MPPs from all parties to work together and support this bill to address one of the most challenging issues facing our communities today.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): I recognize the member from Spadina–Fort York.

Mr. Chris Glover: It’s an honour to rise in the House today in support of this motion, and I want to thank the members from Kitchener Centre and Etobicoke–Lakeshore for bringing it forward.

The bill is called Homelessness Ends with Housing Act. It seems like a pretty simple equation: If you build housing, you can end homelessness. I want to thank the member, my colleague, from Ottawa Centre for their experience in building affordable housing as a councillor in Ottawa. I am shocked, however, by the Conservative member from Thornhill, because they have said that ending homelessness in Ontario in 10 years is an unrealistic goal.

In 1961, John F. Kennedy said that, at the end of the decade, the Americans would put a person on the moon. In 1969, they did that. They were able to put a person on the moon in less than 10 years, and this government—whose motto is “Getting It Done”—can’t end homelessness in 10 years. And the reason they can’t end homelessness is because they are contributing to the problem.

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario states that there are 80,000 homeless in Ontario right now. This government, in 2018—the Conservatives, when they got elected—inherited 50,000 homeless from the Liberal government. They’ve increased that by 30,000 in seven years. But the projection from the association of municipalities is that in 10 years there could be up to 300,000 people homeless in Ontario. There are 1,400 encampments. This government has the second-lowest rate of housing starts of any province in the country. The only housing that this Conservative government is building are tents in parks, and then they get angry because there are tents in parks and they’re passing legislation to fine the people in the tents in parks $10,000—because of course they have $10,000 in their pockets or in their banks. Otherwise, you know, it’s just—it’s cruel and it’s ludicrous.

Anyways, I want to give an example of a success story. During the pandemic, I was helping a food program and we were delivering meals to people in encampments. There was a guy I met down on Cherry Street, in the woods near Cherry Beach, and I saw him regularly because I was going there once a week. During the last campaign, I was knocking on doors, and I was knocking on doors at a TCHC—community housing—building, and I knocked on the door, and there’s this guy. He’s got housing. Streets to Homes and the city of Toronto were able to find this guy housing. And he’s looking great. We had a wonderful conversation. He’s stable now. He’s looking for work. You know, I am hoping that he will be able to find work.

These are the kinds of success stories that aren’t happening in Ontario because this government is not willing to build housing. They’ve got this ideological concept that the market will solve all the problems. When the NDP introduced a bill last year that replicated a former Conservative bill from the mid-1960s to re-establish and start building government housing—it was almost exactly the wording of the bill introduced by John Robarts 50 years ago—this government called it a Communist plot, that the government would actually build housing.

This government refuses to build the housing that we need. The market is not doing it. And the NDP? We are building housing. We know how to do it. Olivia Chow broke ground on a 600-unit co-op building at 2444 Eglinton Avenue East. The federal government was contributing. And do you know who was at the groundbreaking? Olivia Chow was there and the federal government was there. Do you know who was not there? The Premier of Ontario was not there, because the government of Ontario did not contribute to that, because they don’t believe in co-operative housing, even though that is a really sustainable and affordable way to build housing. This government is contributing to the problem.

I’ve got a minute left. I want to talk a little bit about how we got to the crisis that we’re in. From 1945 to 1995, the government of Canada and the provinces were building affordable housing under the National Housing Strategy. In the early 1990s, the federal Liberal government cancelled the National Housing Strategy and introduced real estate investment trusts. Real estate investment trusts are corporations that do not pay tax, buy up housing, jack up the rents, evict the tenants and drive out people. They particularly target low-income apartment buildings and low-income communities, because the gradient by which you can raise the rents is the highest, so the potential profit is the greatest. If you live in a building that is owned by a real estate investment trust, you pay on average 40% more rent than you do if you live in a comparable building in that neighbourhood.

We need to rein in the real estate investment trusts because they are driving this homelessness crisis, but this government won’t do that. They won’t build housing, and they won’t even commit to bringing an end to homelessness in 10 years, because that is too broad a goal—an unachievable goal for this government. It’s really shameful. If you can’t do it, step down and let the NDP build housing and bring an end to—

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): I recognize the member from Guelph.

Mr. Mike Schreiner: It’s an honour to rise to speak on Bill 28. I want to thank the MPPs from Kitchener Centre and Etobicoke–Lakeshore for bringing forward this important bill.

I can tell you, Speaker, I knocked on a lot of doors in 2023 when the member from Kitchener Centre was first elected. Over and over again, the member was told housing was the number one issue, so I want to thank the member for her work on her bill to protect renters and this bill, co-sponsored, to end homelessness with a housing-first strategy.

1850

We have to be honest with the people of Ontario. The housing affordability crisis is getting worse, not better: sky-high rents, young people wondering if they’ll ever be able to afford to own a home and an unprecedented number—a record number—of people experiencing homelessness in the province of Ontario. Over 80,000 people in this province will not have a roof over their head tonight, and under current government policy, according to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, that will rise to 300,000 people in the next decade. We can’t let this happen, Speaker. We cannot let this happen in a province like Ontario. That is why I support Bill 28, Homelessness Ends with Housing Act, and it’s why I think this bill is so critically important.

We have solutions to the housing and homelessness crisis, but we need a strategy for the government to identify and implement those solutions. That’s what this bill does; it says we need a timeline, we need targets and goals, we need data to measure it. The bill doesn’t tell the government what they have to do or how much money they have to spend; it just says set a goal, set a target, measure progress.

Speaker, I can tell you as a long-time small-business owner, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it, you will not solve it. The Premier, over and over again, has said that government needs to operate like a business. I may not 100% agree with him on that, but I can tell you, if we don’t bring business principles of measuring our success on something, we will not solve this crisis.

Right now, it’s unacceptable, so I’m hoping the members opposite are actually going to vote for this bill. Right now, it is unacceptable that in Ontario people living on social assistance, people working full-time at minimum wage jobs, cannot afford average monthly rent at market rates anywhere in this province. It’s unacceptable that the cost of social housing has been downloaded onto municipalities and property tax payers, a system that was never designed to pay for housing and homelessness. It’s unacceptable that 93% of the deeply affordable homes built in the province of Ontario were built before 1995. Thirty years of underinvestment in deeply affordable housing has led to the crisis that we are facing now.

So, let’s be honest: 80,000 people in this province experiencing homelessness tonight is a policy choice and a policy failure that we all as Ontarians bear responsibility for. It’s a moral failure and it comes with a financial cost. The cost of housing people in permanent supportive housing is $40,000 a year. The cost of housing somebody in jail is around $140,000 a year. If you’re a fiscal conservative in this province, you should take a housing-first strategy because it’s the moral thing to do and it’s the financially responsible thing to do.

I want to give you one example of many that we can talk about in Guelph: At 10 Shelldale, with provincial support—and I want to thank the provincial government for providing financial support for this—we’ve built an apartment building; 32 people moved from tents in our downtown into housing with wraparound mental health and addictions supports. Not a single person has ever been evicted from that in over a year and a half of operation—no police calls, no emergency department calls, no overdose deaths.

That’s the kind of solutions we need. It’s the kind of solution that this bill charts a course of how we can achieve, and I believe everybody in this province wants every party in this province to vote for this bill to solve this crisis.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): The member now has two minutes to reply.

Ms. Aislinn Clancy: I want to remind all of us, as we talk about encampments, that people have nowhere to go. In my region, in my riding, we have an encampment, and a judge has said, “Where are people supposed to go?” I tell you, every time we break down encampments and we move people, they go somewhere else and they’re in a tent somewhere else—unless they die. I don’t want our homelessness numbers to go down because people have died. But that’s an unfortunate reality.

I am grateful to the government. I have a hundred supportive housing beds in my riding right now, just waiting on some operating dollars to get going. I’m really keen to see how we can get the beautiful money put forward by municipal affairs and housing into operation and be cutting those ribbons quite shortly. So, please, reach out to me. I’m grateful for those projects, I’m grateful for the team and the municipalities doing those projects, ready for last-mile funding.

I do want to push back. The housing benefit is the most flexible way you can address homelessness. The housing benefit, in and of its name, means you can spend your money to rent wherever you want. It is the ultimate of choice. There is tons of flexibility there. And the supportive housing doesn’t say what you have to build where. It says, let’s have a goal. Because if you measure what you value, you change what you measure. If we truly value ending homelessness, we have to measure it.

Evidence is not red tape, I have to say. We saw, when London hospital started collecting data on people who are homeless using their front-line emergency room shelters—it’s not a shelter but it gets used as a shelter—they were able to come up with solutions. We should have every hospital in this province, every police service, every firefighter and every paramedic documenting the resources they used by addressing homelessness, because AMO is calling on us—444 municipalities are calling on us—to do better. We have to do this for all the people of Ontario.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): The time provided for private members’ public business has expired.

MPP Clancy has moved second reading of Bill 28, An Act establishing a homelessness elimination strategy. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour of the motion will please say “aye.”

All those opposed to the motion will please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the nays have it.

A recorded vote being required, it will be deferred until the next instance of deferred votes.

Second reading vote deferred.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Pursuant to standing order 36, the question that this House do now adjourn is deemed to have been made.

Adjournment Debate

Automotive industry

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): The member for London North Centre has given notice of dissatisfaction with the answer to a question given by the Premier. The member has up to five minutes to debate the matter, and the minister or parliamentary assistant may reply for up to five minutes.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: Earlier today, I had the opportunity to ask the Premier a question about a crisis that is going on in the London area with the removal of the BrightDrop system from the CAMI automotive plant in Ingersoll. The reason I filed this dissatisfaction is because the Premier’s answer really showed a blatant disrespect for workers and for families at CAMI automotive in Ingersoll. I asked why the Premier, as a good business person, would hand over billions of dollars without a contract, without strings attached. I also mentioned that there was posturing, that the Premier claims that he will sue GM.

Now, it was very interesting, because in the Premier’s answer he mentioned being out of touch, which I would say was really strangely ironic, considering that he did not say “CAMI,” he did not say “GM,” he did not even say “Ingersoll” or “workers.” Really, I wonder if I was able to get under the Premier’s skin because I was questioning his competence and whether there was a contract in place whatsoever. But this government’s history with contracts is really dubious at best. I mean, all we have to do is look towards the Ontario Place deal with Therme Spa, a financially questionable Austrian spa company. It does beg the question whether they’re hoping that this will fail so it can be turned into a casino at one time.

1900

But I think it’s important to mention that I have first brought the issue of CAMI to this chamber and to this House on April 17. I mentioned that the lagging sales of the BrightDrop system were putting the financial future of this plant in jeopardy. This government has taken no action. This government has shown no leadership. They’ve shown no attention to this matter whatsoever.

In the second question, where I mentioned the situation with Canada Post not purchasing vehicles from CAMI in Ingersoll and how their slow sales have led to this situation that we’re in right now, I also asked the government to put their money where their mouth is. I asked how many vehicles were purchased by this government from CAMI in Ingersoll.

Again, the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade was talking about 2018—an answer that does not meet the moment. Trump’s tariffs are not new news, Speaker. It was ridiculous that the minister would completely avoid—again—saying “CAMI,” saying “GM,” saying “Ingersoll,” or talking about those workers.

The writing has been on the wall. The Magna plant, Qualtech Seating Systems, has also closed. They were supplying seats to GM in Ingersoll.

Now, I have noticed that since my questions asking for the Premier to release the contract, he’s now given a rather lukewarm, non-committal response, saying that he is open to releasing the contract. Well, I would say it’s time to release the contract. Let’s see what strings are in place, what controls are in place. Let’s make sure that we can protect these workers and not wait until the plant has closed or the “ship has sailed,” in the Premier’s own words.

We need to see some real commitment. We need to see some real leadership from this government when it comes to these jobs. You know, from this government, we have not seen an Ontario-first economic strategy. Instead, we’ve seen an economic climate that’s been created that’s one that benefits insiders. It is one of scandal. It’s one of patronage. We’ve seen a government that has created opportunities for multinational corporations to skip town with millions and billions of dollars without any consequences—all money from the public purse.

So, to the member from Bay of Quinte, who I know will be responding to this, say their name: say “GM,” say “CAMI,” say “workers.” Because these people are multi-award-winning skilled labourers who deserve respect from this government. They deserve recognition from this government and they deserve a government that’s going to stand up for them, stand up to GM and make sure that CAMI in Ingersoll remains open.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): I recognize the member from Bay of Quinte.

Mr. Tyler Allsopp: Thank you to the member from London North Centre for your question and also for the deep sense of care that you have for the members of your riding. It’s something that all of us in this house feel. I know that this announcement from GM about the CAMI plant in Ingersoll has been a massive blow to your community. I want you to know that not only are we thinking about all of those workers—I know that some of them are your friends, your family and certainly your constituents—but we’re also working tirelessly to make sure that they’re supported through this very difficult time.

This announcement really underlines the fact that we are living in unprecedented and uncertain times, with President Trump’s tariffs putting a chill on businesses on both sides of the border. President Trump’s tariffs are undermining North American supply chains that have prospered for generations. But our government is ramping up our efforts to build a more resilient, self-reliant and prosperous economy. We have lowered the annual cost of doing business by $12 billion. And we have never raised a tax for the people of Ontario.

As a result, last year we saw 409 international companies invest $40 billion, creating 24,711 jobs right here in Ontario. These companies are investing in Ontario because they know that we have everything that they need to be successful. We have seen businesses create over one million new jobs since 2018. But, Speaker, this is the progress that is under threat. We were elected on a mandate to protect Ontario, and that is what we will continue to do. These unprecedented times call for decisive action, which is why we have responded with $30 billion in tariff reliefs and supports. This includes the $1-billion Protect Ontario Financing Program, $1.3 billion for the expansion of the Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit, $50 million for the Ontario Trade Together Fund and $40 million for the Ontario trade-impacted communities fund.

We will continue to be there for the workers and businesses in Ingersoll and across the province as they navigate through these challenging times. This includes supporting workers affected by GM’s CAMI plant announcement yesterday. We are working closely with both GM and Unifor. GM knows that its Ontario operations are integral to its success. That is why they have told us they are exploring new opportunities for the plant. Let’s be clear: As with all of our contracts, we have very strong guardrails in place. These guardrails are tied to clear milestones and job creation targets. Funding doesn’t flow until they are reached. In the case of GM, we are closely reviewing the contract to ensure all of our agreements are respected and enforced.

Whether it’s in our auto sector or in other parts of the economy, the challenges that we are facing will be met with strong and decisive action from this government. We will never turn our backs on the over 157,000 men and women who power Ontario’s vibrant automotive sector. And while we support businesses in the immediate term, we are acting swiftly to build a more resilient and prosperous economy for everyone in Ontario. We are leading the nation in breaking down internal trade barriers that cost the Canadian economy up to $200 billion every single year. We are cutting red tape and creating the pro-business environment that companies need to be successful. We are rapidly speeding up permitting and approval times so that job-creating projects can get shovels in the ground faster. With these actions, we are creating the conditions for businesses to add the one million jobs that they have created since 2018.

But, Speaker, we know these actions are only one part of the solution. We are diversifying our trade, meeting with businesses from around the world who are ready to invest in good-paying jobs for the hard-working people of Ontario. These efforts have assisted in seeing an 81% increase in foreign direct investment between 2023 and 2024. They have also helped us land some of the world’s top tech, life sciences and advanced manufacturing companies.

But we won’t stop there. We will continue to ensure that every product possible is made right here in Ontario, by Ontario workers. We are going to continue standing up for Ontario’s workers throughout this province and we will never turn our backs on them. We will always ensure that they have the supports that they need to be successful. And we will continue to act decisively to ensure that our province comes out of this once-in-a-generation crisis stronger than ever before. Thank you very much.

Government accountability

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): We have a second adjournment debate today. The member for Ottawa South has given notice of dissatisfaction with the answer to a question given by the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. The member has up to five minutes to debate the matter, and the minister or parliamentary assistant may reply for up to five minutes.

Mr. John Fraser: Thank you very much, Speaker. I want to start by thanking you, everyone at the table and my respondent, who’s going to be speaking up, for being here tonight and for taking the time to let me say a few more things about something I’ve talked a lot about already, but it deserves a lot of talking.

I just listened to the response to the member from Bay of Quinte and I would have a lot more sympathy for the response if the government wasn’t shovelling millions and millions of dollars in the direction of people who didn’t need it and if there weren’t 700,000 people out there looking for work in Ontario. And the treatment of the people’s money, that the minister is in a clear conflict, that he admits that he made a decision that involves a party who is represented by his best friend, as well as his connection with a company, as we see through the Leafs game—he thinks it’s okay.

And then you look at the latest round of the Skills Development Fund, where 63% of $342 million is going to people who donated $1.3 million. Then, when you look at the roster of the government lobbyists, you see the same names: Kory Teneycke, Amin Massoudi, Nico Fidani-Diker, Michael Diamond. That’s right. It’s the same names: Kory Teneycke, Michael Diamond, Amin Massoudi, Nico Fidani-Diker. Sound familiar? Did anybody say “greenbelt”? So why—why? I’m sorry; a minister just distracted me over there, did something very funny, but I’m not going to talk about it. Why do people like the carpenters’ union, who have been doing skills training for more than a decade, have to hire Kory Teneycke? They’ve got a government relations person. They’re already doing it. We know they’re good.

1910

So why is the government—why do they have to do that? Why do they have to hold a $120,000 fundraiser? They’re not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. It’s pretty obvious what’s going on. There’s a report where there’s a couple of gurdwaras and a church that stand out in the Skills Development Fund, and it’s tied to donations. Is the government tithing religious institutions now?

How many more people is the government, is this minister, going to drag down into the muck and the mud and the rot that is the Skills Development Fund?

There are lots of people out there doing good work; we don’t dispute that. But it’s all the connections, those lobbyists—Kory Teneycke, Nico Fidani-Diker, Michael Diamond—right? Why do we need those people? And that money, when it gets shovelled over, well, those are the folks that are taking a few—I was going to say spoonfuls, but handfuls. Why do we need them? Why do we need lobbyists to access funds for things that people are already doing? Like trade unions—why do they need a lobbyist? Who is telling them they need a lobbyist?

What I said earlier today was I don’t understand why this minister is still called a minister. He needs to be fired. I don’t understand why the Premier is protecting this minister when he hasn’t actually protected the workers in Ingersoll, Brampton and Ear Falls.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): I recognize the member from Mississauga–Erin Mills.

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: I would like to thank my colleague from Ottawa South.

When we talk about the Skills Development Fund, we are not just talking about a government program; we are talking about projects that are transforming lives, communities and our economy. Since it launched in 2021, Ontario Skills Development Fund has invested in more than 1,000 projects, delivered by over 500 organizations, aiming to help over one million people in Ontario get the training they need for better jobs with bigger paycheques.

The results speak for themselves. More than 100,000 Ontarians found work within 60 days of completing their training. That’s real opportunity and real people whose lives have been changed through this fund.

Speaker, this fund is helping us build the resilient workforce Ontario needs to be competitive in the face of tariffs. The SDF is providing training for workers in critical sectors such as construction, manufacturing, health care, mining and more. Under Premier Ford’s leadership, this government has invested $1.5 billion and another $1 billion over the next three years because we believe in workers, their potential, and the power of training to change lives. Our government’s unwavering mandate is to protect Ontario workers and ensure their safety, fairness and opportunity. That’s our mission, and it will never change.

Speaker, the outcomes speak for themselves, and I could quote recipients, participants and even members of the opposition who have supported this program all day, but the true power of the SDF is found in the stories of people, those whose lives have been transformed by the SDF.

Frankie’s story is one of them. Frankie lives with a developmental disability. Through Melly’s marketplace, funded by the Skills Development Fund, he got the training and workplace experience he needed, and today he’s proudly working at the LCBO in a unionized job, earning a paycheque and contributing meaningfully to his community.

Then there’s Waheed, 22 years old, who enrolled in the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario crane apprenticeship program. Thanks to the SDF, he gained the confidence, training and in-demand skills to start a rewarding career in the trades.

That’s what this program delivers: better training for a better job with a bigger paycheque.

With support from program mentors and hands-on experience, Amanda now has a way to earn her Red Seal certification.

The list keeps going. These are real stories and these are individuals whose lives were transformed by the SDF.

Speaker, this fund is providing training across our province, from apprenticeships in Niagara to miners in northern Ontario. The SDF will continue to provide training for everyone who wants or needs it in every corner of our province. It helps Indigenous apprentices like Dylan, who trained through IBEW’s Indigenous training program and is now a third-term electrical apprentice.

It supports innovators like Quentin from Fanshawe College, who trained through their SDF-funded electric vehicle upskilling program. Through hands-on learning with advanced EV systems and diagnostic tools, Quentin gained the skills to thrive in Ontario’s fast-growing clean-energy sector and is now mentoring the next generation of technicians.

These stories show the diversity of Ontario’s workforce and the strength that comes with supporting the next generation of workers. That is why we will never stop supporting our workers.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): There being no further matters to debate, pursuant to standing order 36(c), I deem the motion to adjourn to be carried.

This House stands adjourned until 9 a.m. tomorrow.

The House adjourned at 1919.