I am pleased to join my colleagues the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services; the Associate Minister of Women’ Social and Economic Opportunity; and fellow parliamentary assistant the MPP for Markham–Thornhill and rise on behalf of Bill 188, the Strengthening Children’s Futures Act, 2024, now under consideration by this House for third reading.

It has been truly a pleasure to work with the minister on this bill. We believe that all children and youth deserve safety, stability and access to resources and supports to help them succeed and thrive, and as the minister said before, children and youth may only be a portion of our population today, but they are 100% of our future. This is why our government is working to ensure that no child or young person is left behind in Ontario and that everyone has the best chance of success as they approach adulthood.

Speaker, I think we all want to see successful transitions for individuals as they leave Ontario’s child welfare system. I think we all want to see and we all need to see these children and youth becoming confident adults who can contribute to the success of our province, and this is the essence of Bill 188.

Speaker, as I outlined for the House at second reading, our government has worked diligently to introduce other reforms into the child welfare system that will deliver better outcomes for children and youth and their families and caregivers who are receiving support from the child and youth services sector.

But components of Bill 188 are an important part of the government’s ongoing redesign of the child welfare system, and I’d like to take this opportunity to speak to the connection between the proposed changes in child welfare design as it provides important context for the proposals in this bill.

Members of the House will recall that the ministry announced the Child Welfare Redesign Strategy in July of 2020. Through this strategy, our government has introduced new initiatives to improve the quality of services that children and youth receive in out-of-home care. Some of these initiatives have included developing a new framework for what quality of care looks like and feels like; increasing and enhancing oversight and accountability for out-of-home care; and adding 20 new positions across this province to support the management, inspection and oversight of out-of-home care for children and youth.

Speaker, every child and youth deserves a fair start and position in life, and our government is delivering on that. We hit the ground running by:

—consulting widely in the community and with service providers to better serve children and youth;

—increasing the numbers of inspections;

—increasing access to customary care, which helps children and youth remain connected to their culture and traditions—and this is very important. As somebody who worked within the child protection act, having that child touchstone with their community and their culture gives them the essence of the child and helps them really be a positive person for the future;

—bolstering family-based options like kinship and foster care to ensure children and youth and families have a voice and decisions about their care;

—improving the quality of child welfare data, as well as developing an outcomes-based performance measurement framework; and

—releasing the children and young persons’ rights resource to help children and youth understand their rights and use their voices.

Speaker, we have backed this important work with significant investments of more than $1.5 billion in the child welfare system. This investment supports Ontario’s 50 independent children’s aid societies, including 13 Indigenous children’s aid societies.

Since announcing the child welfare redesign in 2020, we’ve made several changes and investments to better support children, youth and families receiving child welfare services.

We have invested almost $3 million to help support kinship service and customary caregivers, adoptive parents, and caregivers who have obtained legal custody of a child in extended society care. I can’t stress the importance of kinship—I worked in that area, and I know the value of that work and putting the child in the right place.

We have annualized $800,000 in funding to One Vision One Voice, which supports culturally appropriate service delivery for Black and African Canadian children, youth and families in the child welfare system.

We’ve invested an additional $1.5 million annually in the Education Liaison Program to help children and youth in care across this province get the support they need to focus on their studies.

We are providing $5 million in annualized funding to enhance access to prevention-focused customary care for Indigenous children and youth, helping them remain closer to their homes, families and communities.

And we launched and invested $170 million in the Ready, Set, Go program which provides youth in the care of children’s aid societies and other eligible youth with the life skills they need, starting at age 13. This includes financial and other supports to those aged 18 to 23 so that they can focus on post-secondary education, skilled trades, or pursuing employment.

I’m so proud to add that youth and child welfare first-voice advocates were important contributors to the design of Ready, Set, Go and the new youth-leaving-care policy.

Aside from these investments, we’ve directed children’s aid societies to end the practice of using birth alerts, which we heard disproportionately affected Indigenous and racialized expectant parents and families.

As Associate Minister Williams outlined, we continue to work with Indigenous communities that are pursuing Indigenous-led models of child and family services.

Speaker, I believe all of this is a strong record of achievement, and the passage of Bill 188 would continue our efforts to improve the child and youth services sector.

Thank you to all the children and youth with lived experience—so important—families, children’s aid societies, service providers, as well as First Nations, Inuit, Métis and urban Indigenous communities, who have taken the time to share their insights with us through various engagements. Your input is vital to the success of our government’s work.

The Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024, would, if passed, modernize and standardize important safeguards throughout the child and youth services sector. We are proposing changes that would provide new and enhanced enforcement tools. These changes would support better compliance with licensing requirements that are designed to protect the safety and security of children and youth in licensed out-of-home care, including foster care and group homes. In addition, these changes would hold service providers more accountable for the care they deliver. The proposed changes include amending the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, to strengthen ministry oversight, enforcement and licensing; mandating children’s aid societies to provide information about health and safety risks to the ministry’s licensing and enforcement staff; and enhancing information-sharing between stakeholders and the ministry’s licensing and enforcement staff.

These changes would help children and youth in three important ways.

First, they would supplement current ministry compliance and enforcement tools by enhancing the ministry’s progressive oversight model. This would better enable the ministry to choose and use the right tools to respond to instances of non-compliance. The proposed new tools include compliance orders, restraining orders, orders requiring management, orders for the return of funds, and notices of administrative penalties. In addition, we’re proposing enhancements to existing powers, including powers to refuse issuing, renewing or revoking a licence.

Second, these changes would enhance program administration and delivery by enhancing criteria to obtain a first licence, strengthening ministry staff’s oversight and enforcement powers, clarifying regulatory and administrative processes, and improving transparency and information-sharing.

And third, these changes supported by recent complementary regulatory amendments would enhance oversight of children in care by children’s aid societies by requiring societies to visit each child placed in out-of-home care more frequently and enhancing information-sharing and service coordination between societies.

We are proposing changes under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act that would restrict access to the records of individuals involved with the child welfare system, in certain circumstances, once regulations are developed. These changes aim to better protect the privacy of individuals who were formerly children or youth involved with the child welfare system. They would also enable individuals to speak freely—which is so important—about their lived experiences which would give them more say and control over what they want to share publicly about their time in the child welfare system in circumstances that would be prescribed at a later date.

Speaker, our government is working so very hard to ensure that individuals involved with the child and youth services sector receive high-quality care from service providers—care that supports their health, their safety and their ability to reach their full potential. We’re working to help ensure that all children and youth have access to the resources and supports they need to succeed and thrive.

I would like to just briefly provide a little bit of context for all of the wins that we’ve had in this, because this has been a positive time for the ministry. I’d like to share some important feedback that we’ve received.

From Valerie McMurtry, president and CEO of Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada:

“We commend the Ontario government for their work to increase clarity regarding the care of young people placed in out-of-home-settings through the Supporting Children’s Futures Act.... Our collective priority should be to ensure that young people remain in the care of their families and communities. However, when this isn’t feasible, it’s critical that young people have access to the high-quality supports they need, including understanding their rights and assistance available to them through” the “Ombudsman. We value the government’s commitment to making sure young people receive this information and ensuring their voices stay central in shaping this act and next steps with respect to child welfare redesign.”

Madam Speaker, it is so clearly apparent to me, as somebody who worked within the child protection act, that these proposed changes are a result of extensive and continuous consultation with so many valued stakeholders. Now that we’ve arrived at third reading, I owe it to our stakeholders and people across our great province, and in particular to the children and youths’ families, who will ultimately benefit from the proposals in this bill, to take the next steps and pass this bill.

I want to thank everyone in the House for listening to my statement, and I truly appreciate all of my colleagues within the ministry for their support on this bill.

I am pleased to join my colleagues the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services and fellow parliamentary assistant, the MPP for Markham–Thornhill, to speak on behalf of Bill 188, the Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024, currently under consideration by this House for second reading.

We want the best for every child and young person approaching adulthood, and we want to ensure that nobody is left behind in our province. The Minister of Children, Community and Social Services has done incredible work to deliver better outcomes for children, youth and their families and caregivers who are receiving support from the children and youth services sector.

Speaker, I am proud of our government’s record in this area. The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services is there for the people throughout their lives. It’s there for the young people who, at age 18, may need to transition from receiving children’s special needs services to receiving ministry-funded adult developmental services, including Passport funding and disability supports, also known as ODSP. The ministry is there for survivors of gender-based violence, who may also be receiving child support enforced by the Family Responsibility Office, also known as FRO. It’s there to help survivors of human trafficking rebuild their lives with dignity and compassion. It’s there for youth who were involved with the youth justice system by providing them with the right supports and interventions that respond to their unique risks so they can contribute fully to their communities. And the ministry is there for children and youth who, in care, have experienced abuse or neglect, who now need supports in finding a job, pursuing training or furthering their education.

These investments in our youth are so important. They demonstrate our government’s solid commitment to help ensure that they have a positive outcome. The future is essentially in the hands of the next generation, and supporting youth and providing them with the tools to better equip them and help them navigate through these challenging times—it’s not only better for the young people, but it’s better for the community as a whole. Every child deserves to have a fair start.

And it’s not just the children and the youth that are our focus. Through the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, the government delivers, funds and licenses programs and services that support people at key moments in their lives and helps them be the best they can be.

Bill 188 is only the latest example of how this ministry has stood by the people across Ontario who rely on these many programs and services for support. With the rising cost of living across the province, it is this government that is standing up for Ontarians. We increased minimum wage to $16.55 per hour just last fall, and we will continue raising the minimum wage with annual increases to reflect the cost of living.

We’re also working across government to make life more affordable. We introduced the CARE tax credit, which will provide about 300,000 families with up to 75% of their eligible child-care expenses, and the low-income individuals and families tax [Failure of sound system] 1.7 million people. Similarly, in order to continue to bring children out of poverty, our government invested roughly $1.2 billion last year in the Ontario Child Benefit.

Speaker, under the minister’s leadership, our government is working with a number of community partners and organizations to improve outcomes for children, youth, families and individuals who need support. We’re committing to putting people at the centre of what we do.

This past year, the ministry partnered with the Ministry of Health to invest an additional $330 million each year in pediatric health services, including $45 million for children’s rehabilitation services. To support children and youth with special needs, the ministry invested in the children’s treatment centres. This includes moving forward on a brand new facility for the Lansdowne Children’s Centre in Brantford.

The ministry also continued its work to redesign the child welfare system so that children, youth and families [Failure of sound system] youth with additional support earlier in their journey, and that’s so important. It helps to prepare them for adulthood by guiding them toward work and school opportunities so they can thrive after leaving care. It was our government that invested $170 million on this innovative program to support youth after care.

As part of our efforts, we continue to work with Indigenous partners who are pursuing Indigenous-led models of child and family services. Last year, we celebrated another coordination agreement that supports the implementation of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug’s child and family services law, the second agreement of its kind in Ontario.

Just last Friday, on April 19, the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation made history by becoming the third Indigenous governing body in Ontario, and 11th in Canada, to have its own child and family services law take effect with the force of federal law, in accordance with An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families.

The law, Nigig Nibi Ki-win, provides a foundation for a service delivery system that has been specially designed to meet the needs of children, youth and families of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation. We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation and Canada to support the implementation of the Nigig Nibi Ki-win.

Moreover, to ensure students across this province get the nutrition they need, we invested an additional $5 million in the Student Nutrition Program and the First Nations Student Nutrition Program. To build on this investment, we partnered with community organizations to launch the Healthy Students Brighter Ontario campaign. This is part of the first province-wide fundraising partnership of its kind, helping school-aged children and youth have healthy meals and snacks throughout the school year so they are well-nourished and ready to learn. All of this progress was only possible with the support and efforts of our government’s many partners and front-line workers.

As you can see, Speaker, Bill 188 is part of our continued commitment to people across Ontario who depend upon our services.

In my previous life, I worked under the child protection act. I want to take a moment to recognize so many of the important people who worked within that sector: the caseworkers, the social workers, the administrators, the court workers and all the different professionals within Ontario’s social services sector. Your dedication and compassion make all the difference for those you serve. You truly work as a team to help our most vulnerable. I was proud to work in that field.

The Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024, would, if passed, modernize and standardize important safeguards throughout the child and youth services sector. The bill proposes new and enhanced enforcement tools to support compliance with licensing requirements that are designed to protect the safety and security of children and youth in licensed, out-of-home care, including foster care and group homes, and hold service providers more accountable for the care that they deliver.

We’re proposing changes to better protect the personal histories of children and youth who experience the child welfare system. These changes would further restrict access to child welfare records, once regulations are developed. The proposed changes would also further enhance control over personal information for children and youth who experienced child protection, to enable them to share their stories freely, if they chose to do so.

In addition to legislative changes, complementary regulatory changes will enhance children’s aid societies’ oversight by requiring them to conduct more frequent visits to children in care; broaden the list of unacceptable methods of discipline in licensed, out-of-care settings; and establish new offences for failing to comply with certain requirements.

Our government is working to ensure that individuals involved with the child and youth services sector receive high-quality care from service providers that support their health, safety, and ability to reach their full potential. All children and youth have access to the resources and supports they need to succeed and thrive.

I would also like to note that Bill 188 proposes amendments to clarify when children’s aid societies and licensed, out-of-home care providers are to inform children in care about the Ombudsman office and their many functions. This proposal complements an important piece of work that our government launched a few years ago called the Children and Young Persons’ Rights Resource. We developed this resource to help children and youth understand their rights, set out in the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017. They have to know where to go or who to talk to if they have questions about their rights and know what to do if they feel like a service provider is not respecting their rights.

The Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, and its regulations require service providers to explain rights under the act to children and youth when they first receive any services under the act, explain rights under the act to children and youth in words that they understand, be available to help children and youth understand their rights under the act and answer any questions they might have about those rights, and continue to check in with children and youth about their rights under the act.

We want all children and youth receiving services to understand their rights under the act because the paramount purpose of it is to promote their best interests and the protection of their well-being. The proposed changes would also clarify that early childhood educators can be subject to the offence of failing to report a child protection concern to a children’s aid society, in line with other professionals.

In addition, we are proposing to provide the Lieutenant Governor in Council the authority to make regulations that would allow information, other than a formal police record check, such as an offence declaration, to be required in the child and youth services sector.

In the future, we intend to consult on bringing forward future regulations to standardize police record check requirements for the youth and child services sector.

Bill 188 also proposes changes that would enable the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers to share information with governing bodies and others, in particular circumstances. This includes to confirm when a member of a college is under investigation or when a member poses public safety concerns. The changes would also seek to expand the list of professional colleges with which children’s aid societies and other service providers can share personal information. These measures are all to ensure that every child is safe and protected.

I would like to share some of the public feedback that our partners have shared since Bill 188 was introduced last week. From Carly Kalish, the executive director of Victim Services Toronto: “We commend Minister Parsa and the government for their commitment to improving the safety, well-being and privacy of children through the introduction of the Supporting Children’s Futures Act, 2024. Every child deserves a safe and supportive environment to thrive, and these changes mark a significant step towards achieving that goal. By strengthening oversight, protecting privacy, and increasing support for children and youth in care, the government is demonstrating its dedication to ensuring all children have the resources and opportunities they need to succeed. We look forward to seeing the positive impact of these measures on the lives of Ontario’s children and families.”

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

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

Lastly, Nadia George, another volunteer with the Child Welfare Political Action Committee: “A new era is marked. One that could give those who have lived experience in the child welfare system the much-needed privacy and protection rights we deserve. This is something myself and others at the Child Welfare PAC have been advocating for since 2016. Thank you, Minister Michael Parsa and team, for letting current and former foster kids know we matter.”

Speaker, as you can evidently see, these proposed changes are a result of extensive and continuous consultation with our valued partners in this sector. This is why I urge members on all sides of this House to grant Bill 188 unanimous passage. Passage would bring us closer to achieving our government’s vision of an Ontario where all children, youth and families, especially those getting support through Ontario’s children and youth services sector, are empowered with the resources they need to succeed and thrive.

We will continue the work to reform the services and supports that help so many people across Ontario, and we will continue to work with our fantastic network of community partners and organizations to deliver quality supports and services as we partner together on improving outcomes for vulnerable youth and children in our province.

Speaker, children and youth are our future. As I said earlier, these investments demonstrate our government’s commitment to help ensure that they have a positive outcome. The future is in the hands of the next generation, and supporting our youth and providing them with the tools that will better equip them and help them navigate a challenging time is not only better for those young people, but it’s also better for our community as a whole.

As I said earlier, every child deserves to have a fair start. We have to help guide them safely to their adult years and set them up for successes so that they may realize their full potential and contribute to the province. We’re getting closer to that goal, and, as somebody who worked in that sector, I am beyond proud to stand here, an advocate for such a monumental change that will affect so many children in a positive fashion.

I want to thank the minister for doing—

Interjections.

Let me begin by saying that it is truly an honour to stand here with my colleagues in this House. I want to extend my deep-hearted thanks to the people of my riding for their trust and support in electing me as Thornhill’s member of provincial Parliament. I also want to congratulate my colleagues on both sides of the floor. It is important to respect all opinions, as their position demonstrates democracy and fair order in our province.

My journey into politics, and my role, was truly a group effort. I want to take this opportunity to extend my very deep appreciation to my campaign team, who tirelessly worked on my behalf, especially my campaign manager, Nikita Drakokhrust, and the co-chairs of the campaign, Eleanor Millar and Rick Ekstein. I have said this once and I will say it again: Rick Ekstein is the reason why Thornhill is blue and I am proud to be his friend.

I would also be remiss if I did not recognize members of my team: Justin Mihaly, Andrew Hall, Brandon Crandall, Shir Barzilay, Tay Rubman and a very dear friend of mine, Cynthianna Mills. These people selflessly gave up so much of their time to see me in the position I am today, and I am forever grateful for their dedication, skill set and their determination.

With respect to my colleagues: I’ve grown to truly appreciate the dynamics and the commonality of each one of us.

Like many, I began my journey into politics via volunteerism within my community, this vital work that contributes to the fibre of our neighbourhoods, schools and sporting organizations at the grassroots level. I think most of us in this chamber, on all sides, can completely relate to this. Like many of my colleagues, I believe that public office is another form of community service, and, like many, sometimes this work is done at the expense of my time with my friends and family.

To this end, I want to thank my family for their support, specifically my husband Larry, who was my rock throughout my campaign journey and presently in my new role as the elected member. He’s behind there.

My previous day job centred within the child protection act. That work ensured that adopted or newly placed children within our community had a legal right to a continued relationship with their biological family members and the culture they were born into. This includes First Nations, Métis and a plethora of others that enrich and provide a touchstone to our diverse spectrum of peoples, not only within Ontario but throughout Canada. This meaningful work strengthened the value of community and the ties that keep us linked as a society.

Like most of my colleagues, I have a deep affinity for my riding and province. Many of you have expressed the awe of entering the Legislature for the first time, and although I share that feeling, I was truly introduced to this building many years ago through another source.

My father loved architecture. Modern, gothic, neoclassical—the list is literally endless. This love also includes that of Toronto-based architect Edward Lennox, who designed several of the city’s most notable landmarks, including Casa Loma, Old City Hall and the west section of this very legislature. I recall my father advising on the caricature stone carvings on the west entrance. Those wood ones in this very room are very similar and were rumoured to be mimicked after politicians and possibly the people constructing that area of the Legislature. I find it quite comforting that I presently park my car just steps away from that entrance, and I think of the little girl that stood at that very place so many years ago every time I walk up the stairs.

My father, like so many, arrived in Canada in the 1950s, a member of the British air force who was looking for a new life. He arrived at the east coast of Canada and made passage to Toronto via train. Travel documents provided information that he was planning to continue further west, but after arriving at Union Station, my father watched as a streetcar cleaner stopped to light a cigar. At that time, my father only knew of regal, wealthy statesmen types—the types of Winston Churchill—to be smoking a cigar, and he decided this was the place he was going to stop and plant his roots. And that’s why I’m here today. He was a newcomer to Canada and decided that Ontario would be his home, knowing that it was full of opportunity and a fresh start.

At that time, my father had already been through quite a bit in his then-young life. A few years earlier, my father had ever so slightly exaggerated his age so that he could serve his country and become part of the clean-up crew serving with the British air force following the Second World War. They, by the way, had me at a very late stage, and I don’t want to add any more numbers to my age. Nobody do any quick math, please. He was then a young man with several missions and tours under his belt. He was weathered but still so very excited to come to this country.

When freshly in Ontario, he took whatever jobs were available. He would set pins at local bowling alleys. This is a time before they had machinery in place to set the fallen pins. How my father would laugh as he spoke of the patrons who sometimes, if he did not move quickly enough, would aim for his ankles instead of the pins.

My father, after taking some technical training, went on to become a photographer, and then an architectural commercial photographer. Because my father was truly born fearless, much of his work was done hundreds of feet in the air. He was a fly boy and very comfortable in the front seat of a small aircraft, with the passenger door of the airplane strategically removed. And yes, I’m saying that we removed the door of the small aircraft. He would lean out onto the wing, holding his strap, to get just the perfect shot. He was fearless, or as my mother would say, not smart enough to recognize fear.

My father photographed Ontario from top to bottom, and I mean this absolutely literally. He worked alongside city planners, architects and engineers during the construction of some of Toronto’s subway lines, and he also became the chief architectural photographer for the CN Tower. I spent many an afternoon strapped to the back of a small Cessna aircraft—that’s the aircraft that had no doors, Mr. Speaker—in the back seat as my father insisted the pilot circle around one last time so he could get just that right shot. The evenings following one of my father’s shoots always made for interesting dinner conversation.

My father loved taking pictures of this province, and Ontario provided that safe haven and a chance to start over. He then, like so many, created a life, a career, and a family—a newcomer to this province who created something from nothing, which is the story of so many people in my riding of Thornhill.

This is the thing: When I knocked on local doors, I was constantly meeting those who arrived from another country, built a business from nothing—countless origin stories.

Thornhill is home to the largest Jewish community in Canada. Historically, Jewish people were limited in the jobs they could take, many creating their own businesses because it was simply the only viable option they had. People who arrived here with very little, who came with so few resources, they started a business. They were able to employ, expand and so on.

Thornhill is presently a multi-ethic riding, and I am proud to represent constituents with origins identifying as East Asian, Persian, Chinese, Korean, Italian, Filipino, Spanish, Russian and countless others, but the story remains the same: They too created something from nothing.

Thornhill ingenuity lives and prospers. Our hard-working residents have created businesses and employed countless people. Our businesses include historically significant places of trade like the York Farmers Market, located in the heart of historic Thornhill. York Farmers Market first opened in the spring of 1953. The market provided a central location for local farmers to sell their produce grown on farms all around York region and to showcase homemade baked goods, preserves, crafts and a wonderful assortment of fresh, natural delights. I have fond memories of walking into this market with my uncle and my grandmother as a child. I loved coming to the market because I knew the visit would result in baked good treats like a butter tart or a freshly baked sweet sticky bun. I have never stopped going to this iconic market. I still purchase my fresh eggs and produce within this historic location, and I am happy to report that you can get some pretty good sushi there too.

The farmers’ market is just steps away from historic Thornhill Village, dating back to 1796. The name Thornhill did not come into existence until 1829, when Benjamin Thorne, a local merchant, was successful in having a post office established. By then, it was the largest milling centre north of York, now known as the area of Toronto. This area is the origin story of our humble beginnings, and if you ever have the opportunity, I strongly encourage you to visit Colborne Street. Almost perfectly preserved in time, it’s actually used as a movie set quite often. To that end, we have an outstanding historical society that provides walking tours and promotes the history of our cherished past.

Thornhill is also the home to Normac Kitchens, Toromont Cat, TACC Developments and countless tile and other businesses that support the construction industry that employs thousands of people.

And then we have businesses that, despite the odds in opening in the midst of a pandemic, have flourished. Yosef Mokir Shabbos is a new food takeout business that is owned by a newcomer to Thornhill, who, like so many, came here with nothing and created a livelihood for his family and many others, as well as creating strong ties to the community.

We are also the home to FCAV, also known as the Filipino Canadian Association of Vaughan. This organization is led by a tireless, dedicated leader, Erlinda Insigne. FCAV provides a welcoming sense of community as well as a safe haven for newly landed immigrants.

Thornhill is also the home of DANI. DANI is a not-for-profit organization that was created to support people with disabilities, founded 15 years ago by two parents of adults with disabilities in the GTA. Their programs include seven social enterprise businesses, two locations, and an online learning academy.

Then there is Reena, an inclusive, not-for-profit organization that promotes dignity, individuality, independence and personal growth for people with developmental disabilities. Since 1973, Reena has provided residential support, respite programs, employment, community participation programs, and advocacy for individuals with diverse abilities.

Then there’s Kayla’s Children Centre, an organization that uses cutting-edge educational, therapeutic and recreational programs for infants, children and teens with special needs, and to assist their families by offering support and respite. The centre embraces children of all abilities and needs.

Then we have Beit Halochem Canada, which provides aid to disabled veterans of Israel. Their organization is committed to rehabilitating, rebuilding and enhancing the lives of over 50,000 Israelis disabled in the line of duty or through acts of terror. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting some of the children of these veterans through a program called Kids of Courage. In this unique program, children of the disabled veterans came to Thornhill and also attended a summer camp in the Muskokas, during which Israeli and Canadian campers bonded, providing an invaluable experience for all. Peaceful yet vibrant, the camp environment allowed the Israeli children to relax, away from the pressures of their lives at home.

We are also the home of the new Niagara University. I had the pleasure of meeting many of their educators and students, both newly graduated and freshly accepted. This new university has a multitude of programs that are feeding the framework of Ontario’s future—these include areas in science and education. Niagara University is providing the much-needed training for our future educators. I was so pleased to have met the students and professors. It was inspirational to listen to their passion and dedication.

We thrive and support our businesses and not-for-profits because they support us and provide a future for our children. We choose progress not only for our generation, but for many to come.

As a mother of two, like any, I worry about the future of my children regarding housing and employment.

Gridlock is a constant issue. We value time with our families.

Thornhill looks forward to the new Yonge Street subway extension that will link our community with the much-needed homes, employment and infrastructure that are so desperately required to sustain and build for the future. Getting shovels in the ground on these projects is key for not only ourselves but for our children, our children’s children and the newcomers to Ontario. This new subway system will extend beyond Finch for the first time since 1973—1973. A plan to build will help get people where they have to go in a timely fashion, provide an estimated 1,600 jobs just in that area alone, reduce gridlock and set a course forward for new homes and businesses.

Although the dynamics of my community are diverse, one theme seems to be prevalent: We are a group of self-starters who navigate through obstacles and do not accept no as an answer. We are constantly setting a course forward—in so many circumstances, just like my father, arriving and building from nothing.

Sadly, these businesses and my community have been victims of unfair attacks of anti-Semitism. Last month, the owner of a store, Taste of Israel, fell victim, along with the other owners of businesses at a local strip mall. This closed down traffic on their busiest day and right before Sabbath. As Ontarians, we have to be vigilant in opposing these acts. The owner of this business’s only crime was that he carried the name “Israel” in his store’s name.

We must continue to help our businesses thrive, Mr. Speaker, and continue so that they can expand and plan for the future.

We must continue to cut red tape and continue to build on key infrastructure like the Yonge Street north extension, creating homes and jobs while eliminating gridlock and reducing the need for so many buses. We are building for the future.

My father, who deeply treasured our historic architecture, was also a cog in the wheel of progress and infrastructure. He worked alongside engineers, architects and construction workers, building for the future.

My father always said that you had to understand the past, with a plan to build for the future. He respected vision and courage, working alongside those architects and engineers, working in unity to build for the next generation. He believed in the necessity of infrastructure.

Simply put, there would not be food on the table of our household if new builds and infrastructure did not happen. Progress depends upon it.

Mr. Speaker, on June 2, the people of Thornhill, along with the rest of this province, sent a clear message to Queen’s Park. We are saying yes to building homes. We are saying yes to building hospitals. We are saying yes to building long-term-care facilities and beds. We are saying yes to educating and hiring health care workers and the Learn and Stay program. We are saying yes to cutting the red tape and barriers that stifle our business growth. We are saying yes to cutting costs and putting dollars back into the hard-working men and women of our province. We are saying yes to investing in our children with the new STEM programs in education. We are saying yes to investing in the future of our environment by reinstating Ontario as the flagship province in the auto sector and in the building of e-vehicles.

I will leave you with this one final thought: I love this province, and the pride I hold for my community is unwavering. I am still that same little girl who stood on the west side of that entrance admiring the carvings in stone embedded in the entrance of our historic building.

I am my father’s daughter. I was fortunate to receive and inherit this gift of passion for my province. My father, that same man who arrived at Union Station, just a 20-minute walk down the street, who arrived so many years ago, who went on to become the CN Tower’s chief architectural photographer during its construction, along with his colleagues, on a bitter, cold March day in 1975, ran out on the tarmac to sign my name and my brother’s on the 335-foot antenna before it was lifted by the giant Sikorsky S-64E helicopter, known as Olga, high into the sky and attached to the tallest level of the CN Tower. My name is on the top of the largest piece of infrastructure in Canada. I think about him every day, especially as I look at the skyline. I recall him singing in his thick British accent, “This is a place to stand, a place to grow.” I wrote those words before hearing our Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, speak the same words. My family and I—this is a fun story—would actually sing that song into a tape recorder and we would send those cassettes to our cousin in England, because we thought the song was so fantastic. He loved Ontario because it offered so many opportunities.

And I stand before you as a faithful servant of Ontario with the best of intentions: to build for the future, to serve my community and keep that vision alive.

Thank you for this opportunity to share my story.