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?

Thank you very much to my friend for his presentation. I’m just wondering if he has any reflections on the fact that at the rate that I’m seeing, with the evidence we have, we have a situation where, with every week, we have a few kids who are passing away in one way or another in care. He’s lived it. I’ve grown up with friends who have had a similar experience. While I acknowledge the positive things in this bill, we have youth in our province we’re losing. So how could this bill be amended to make sure that we get the services and the supports, as my friend from Hamilton Mountain was saying, into these homes to make sure that the kids who are in crisis get the help they need?

I’m rising this morning to talk about a subject that’s on our minds a lot in this House, and that is mental health, particularly youth mental health.

Speaker, I had occasion, recently, to meet with a bunch of parents who are very concerned with the mental health of their children in high school. We’ve just lived through a difficult two and a half years of folks having to learn on their own. What I’m hearing from parents and what I’m hearing from high school students is that many don’t feel a sense of belonging; many are feeling they’re in a difficult place. And I don’t want to trivialize that. I don’t want to tell people that things are going to be better overnight. But what I do want to tell people is that in Ottawa, we have community services to help people with their mental health.

Next Friday, on May 26, at 4 p.m., at 464 Metcalfe Street, we’re going to be bringing together community providers who will give youth opportunities to volunteer, opportunities to plug into services, to feel like they belong.

So I invite you: If you want to plug into your community more, if you want to make your community a better place—or if you already are—join me and other community mental health advocates to find out about who you can meet, where you can belong, because you are loved for who you are. We need to make our province a better place, and we’re having an argument about that in this building. But on the way there, the services that our grandparents fought for—you deserve a right to access them, to make our festivals great, to make our athletics great, to make our arts community great.

Youth, we need your help, so join me on May 26. I can’t wait to see you.