In my community of St. Paul’s—the question is to the Premier—we are fortunate to have the John Howard Society community office working tirelessly to support people affected by the justice system and those trying to rebuild productive lives post-incarceration.

JHS has been on the front lines, advocating for a just and reformed bail system. They have offered substantive recommendations to this government’s Standing Committee on Justice Policy. One of those key recommendations was for the government to invest in bail supervision programs that have a proven history and provide a lower-cost alternative to pretrial detention, a practice that is disproportionately applied more to Black, Indigenous and racialized individuals than white individuals for the same and similar charges.

Can the Premier share what investments they have made in the current budget to address the need for more bail supervision programs?

The John Howard Society is recommending deep government investments in programs focused on prevention, intervention and reintegration, as well as robust investments in supportive housing, people, since the overall dismantling of the social safety net by this government has led to an increase in incarceration.

My question, again, is back to the Premier. Hopefully he’ll answer. Why is spending $300 a day to warehouse legally innocent people the status quo, as opposed to lower-cost, effective, community-based interventions like supportive housing?

I’m happy to share a few words on Bill 46, the Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario Act.

I would like to start by saying that I think it’s a good thing—or something that’s at least okay—for us to be working with our judges post-retirement. However, I do note that this can create less opportunity for more diverse judges, for younger judges. I’m not being ableist, but I’m just recognizing that there are some justices who may be more attuned to technology, attuned to equity issues than those retired judges.

What I also want to ask the government about is the piece around red tape and mental health—

My question is to the government with regard to their bill, Strengthening Post-secondary Institutions and Students Act.

This government says they care for survivors and want to create conditions to make it easier for survivors to come forward and to get justice. So I’d like to know why the government is sitting on billions of surplus dollars, including $2.6 billion that they could be using to support post-secondary schools as we speak, right now, to hire those caring folks who support survivors, who support people who are trying to navigate the system to get the justice.

I’m wondering why the government is sitting on $23 billion in shortfalls to health. Whether it’s the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre, whether it’s any organization that’s helping survivors—that is part of our health care. Helping survivors is part of our health care; it’s part of education; it’s part of children, community and social services. Why is the government claiming to care about those who have survived sexual assault but they’re cutting the very sectors that are there to help survivors?