It’s my pleasure to add my voice of welcome to all those members from the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects, including some allies and friends who have joined us this morning for the reception. This includes Steve Crombie, who is the senior director of public affairs for the Ontario Road Builders’ Association; Andrew Hurd, executive director of the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies of Ontario; Joe Salemi, the executive director of the landscape architects; Lisa Kelly, the business development manager of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce; as well as Susan Wiggins, executive director of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute, and Jane Welsh, who is a friend and former colleague at the city of Toronto. Thank you very much for all of your work.

While the housing crisis worsens every single day in every single city across the province, my constituent is staying in a shelter. His name is Fred. He’s facing transphobic violence. He’s living with bedbugs. Fred desperately wants out of the shelter. He wants to find affordable and safe housing, he wants work, and he wants to complete his master’s degree, but the stress of shelter life is really eroding his mental health.

When will the Premier finally answer the call from cities begging for help and produce a real plan to build real affordable housing for constituents like Fred?

My question is to the Premier.

Encampments are growing across Ontario, mental health for Ontarians is worsening, and this government has no plan.

In June of this year, the Big City Mayors’ Caucus called on the Premier to personally host an emergency meeting to address the homelessness, mental health and addictions crisis facing cities across Ontario. That was six months ago.

Why has the Premier not personally set up a date for the emergency meeting with the Big City Mayors’ Caucus to come up with an immediate and funded plan to address the mental health and addictions crisis in Ontario?

My question to our member here is specifically with respect to the comments she raised. Clearly, this plan was being developed even prior to the election, but unfortunately I don’t think we actually heard much about this plan during the election. So I’m just very curious, considering this government’s record, especially when it comes to private long-term-care facilities, contracting out and deregulation, what does this member foresee happening in the future, should the bill go ahead without any substantial amendments or improvements?