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Hon. Michael Parsa

  • MPP
  • Member of Provincial Parliament
  • Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill
  • Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
  • Ontario
  • Suite 201 13085 Yonge St. Richmond Hill, ON L4E 3S8 Michael.Parsaco@pc.ola.org
  • tel: 905-773-6250
  • fax: 905-773-8158
  • Michael.Parsaco@pc.ola.org

  • Government Page
  • May/14/24 10:50:00 a.m.

Thanks to my colleague for the question.

First and foremost, I’d like to thank the women and men who are doing great work to make sure children and youth in our province are served and protected. That’s what’s driving the redesign of the child welfare system in the province of Ontario.

It was this government that took action. It was this government that said more reports, more discussions are not going to cut it. We need action, which is why we have more inspectors now hired across the province, which is why we have more unannounced inspections being conducted across the province.

I’ve said it many times in this House, and I’ll say it again: When it comes to children and youth, they may be a portion of our population, but they’re 100% of our future, and we will never give up on them. We will do whatever it takes to make sure that they’re served and protected, and back that up by investment.

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the leadership of the Premier and the Minister of Finance and the President of the Treasury Board and this caucus, the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services has received increased funding two years in a row, more than $1.6 billion—

It was this government, through the child welfare redesign, who said we don’t need any more report writing. We want to stand up for children and youth in care in this province now. We want to make sure every child, every youth that is in care is treated the same as every child regardless of their circumstance. That’s what’s driving our redesign. We will never give up on children and youth.

When it comes to the redesign, part of that is the Ready, Set, Go Program, which provides support for children in care as low as 13, supporting them, providing them with the life skills they need at 13, at 15, right up to their 23rd birthday, with financial support, something the previous government didn’t do and something that certainly was not a priority for the—

Interjections.

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