I thank my colleague for the question. I’d be more than happy to tell her why. I’ve done it many times, and I’ll do it again—because the program wasn’t working for the people of this province. Mr. Speaker, 25% of the children and youth who were on the registry were receiving services before. Today, over 40,000 families are receiving supports and services. That’s why.

That party supported a failed program under the previous government. The families told them that.

We started from scratch. We worked with those with lived experience—experts, clinicians—to put a program that was put together by the community for the community. We went with more than that—we doubled the funding, to $600 million. And we didn’t stop there. This year, I announced that we further increased the funding of the Ontario Autism Program by an additional 10%.

We’re doing what they couldn’t do for the people of this province.

We’ve developed a program that was put together by the community for the community. The programs that she won’t list—I will do for her. These are programs that families across the province are accessing every day, as soon as they register on AccessOAP—foundational family services; caregiver-mediated early years programs; the entry to school program; urgent response service. Before, they had access to one service. Today they have multiple streams that they can access—every single family—as soon as they register for AccessOAP.

Once again, Mr. Speaker, the opposition always will come in here and they’ll talk to you about what their questions represent—but they held the balance of power. You’ve been here longer than any one of us. You know the process of Parliament. They could have held the previous government to account and said, “We will no longer support you if you do not double the Ontario Autism Program.” But they failed the people of this province. We’re not going to—

Interjections.

I thank my honourable colleague for the question. I’d be more than happy to address it. Unfortunately, this member would have to also communicate to her constituents that when their party was in power, they failed the families and people of this province. Under the previous government, 8,500 children and youth were receiving services. Today, 40,000 are receiving services. Why is that? Because while they neglected families, under the leadership of this Premier—he doubled the funding of the Ontario Autism Program. This year, we increased that funding by an additional 10% to make sure more children and youth continue to receive these services. More children and youth are now receiving not just one service, as under the previous government; they have multiple pathways to services.

We will continue to make sure those families are supported so that no one is left behind under the—

I think my colleague would know that since being honoured and appointed to this role, I have met with families, I have met with groups and organizations every single opportunity I have gotten. Why? Because we said from the beginning that we’re not going to leave people behind, which is why we doubled the funding.

The Ontario Autism Program was developed by the community for the community. That’s the program that we’ve implemented. Some 8,500 children were receiving services under the previous government. Now more than 40,000 children are receiving services—and not just one service. Children, as soon as they’re transitioned and they have registered on AccessOAP, have multiple pathways to service immediately, like foundational family services, caregiver-mediated early years support, the entry to school program—

I thank the member for the question. What we have done in the ministry and across government is we have made sure that the services and the funds that the service providers need are there for them. One of the first things that we did when we formed government is we looked at some of the challenges that service providers were facing, which were the same ones that they had been facing 10, 15 years prior to us forming government. That wasn’t good enough for us. What we said we were going to do is work with the service providers to make sure that the services that the children, youth and families are in need of are not only there, but there for families faster and in a way where they need it and in a way where it’s expedited and processed faster.

We’ve been working directly with service providers to make sure that happens. We’re making sure that the funds are there for the service providers and we’ll make sure that the services and the supports the families rely on are there now and into the future.

We had to look at redesigning a system that was left neglected by the previous government. Unfortunately, throughout their time, your party supported them. You didn’t do anything about it. It was this government that had to step in and fix the mistakes of the previous government and we’re doing that. How are we doing it? In collaboration with service workers, by listening to families and by listening to those who need the services. We will not let them down in—

I thank the honourable member for the question.

To Weston and every single child, youth and family in this province: We told you from day one that we’re not going to leave anyone behind, which is why—again, the member referenced the wait-list. Mr. Speaker, 8,500 children were receiving services before, under the previous government, supported by the NDP. Today, more than 40,000 children and youth are receiving services. Why? Because we doubled the funding, and we’re further increasing that. Why? Because we want to make sure that children, youth and families are receiving the supports and services they need. Again, the NDP, under the previous government, had the opportunity to expedite this. They didn’t do it. It took this Premier, it took this government to say, “We’re not going to leave anyone behind.”

We will continue to make sure that the programs—families, as I said, only had access to one program; now there are multiple pathways to service. And there’s more work to do. We’re going to get—

This is a government that has increased investments in all levels, in every corner of this province to make sure that every single person is receiving this support. That means that, in the member’s region and all across the board, the funding has increased under our government. We’ll make sure those preventative measures are there to support and also to make sure that every single victim is receiving the support that they need throughout the process.

We have invested in a 24-hour hotline across the province in over 200 languages to help ensure those affected by violence or sexual exploitation can access the support they need anywhere, anytime. Also, to support shelters, we have invested $18.5 million over three years through the Transitional and Housing Support Program.

Once again, under this government, we’ll make sure no one is left behind.

I thank the member for the question, Mr. Speaker. When we formed government in 2018, we saw an Ontario Autism Program that was broken. Families and children and youth were not receiving the service. That was under that government, and it was always supported by the NDP. Only 25% of the children were receiving services.

This may have been okay and acceptable by them and the previous government. It isn’t acceptable under our government, which is why we doubled the Ontario Autism Program, which is why we created a program that was developed by the community for the community. Now, children, youth and families have access to more services than ever before. Before, they had access to one service.

I’m happy to announce that this year we are increasing the support in the program by an additional 10% so that we can get more children, more youth, more families service—no thanks to the NDP.

I want to thank my colleague from Scarborough Centre for the great question and for the remarkable job that he’s doing for his constituents in Scarborough.

As I’ve said many times in this House, this government will not leave anyone behind. We’ll continue to support children and youth with complex needs and provide them with the specialized care that’s necessary to help them live the best lives possible.

Mr. Speaker, we supported this commitment by launching our Integrated Pathway for Children and Youth with Extensive Needs pilot to help children and youth with complex special needs. We’re investing $97 million over three years at three major hospitals in Toronto, in Hamilton and in Ottawa to connect children and youth to highly individualized and special care that is designed for them. We’ll continue to look for ways to improve their lives—every single life of every single Ontarian across this province, including our children and our youth.

Speaker, families participating in this program will be connected to a team of professionals who will work with them to provide a tailored, support-based experience that focuses on their child’s unique needs—services like medication adjustments, personalized behaviour support plans, mental health assessment and treatment. We know parents need support as well, which is why we offer counselling programs for parents and caregivers. We have also included a specialized assistant to help children and youth build skills such as communication and self-regulation.

This government, under the leadership of this Premier, will always stand up for children, youth and families across the province, and we will continue to take action to ensure every single person in this province has the support they need.

Thanks to my honourable colleague for the very important question.

Mr. Speaker, youth may be a percentage of our population, but they’re 100% of our future.

That’s why, when it comes to the program that the member is referring to—if you just go back to 2018, when we formed government, out of the 31,500 children and youth who were registered, only 8,500 were actually receiving service. Fast-forward to today: Not only have we doubled the funding of the Ontario Autism Program, but 40,000 are now receiving funding.

The new programs that the families have access to have an expanded set of core services that include applied behavioural analysis, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy and, for the first time, mental health services—not just one service, like they had.

But there’s still more work to do. That’s why the Premier entrusted me with this position, and I will do everything I can to make sure—

Mr. Speaker, once again, as I promised the member and every single family in this province, we’re continuously looking at ways to make sure that every child, every youth, every family is supported and we don’t leave anyone behind.