It is my honour to stand in support of the member for Kiiwetinoong’s motion to adopt the recommendations of the official opposition’s report on the Indigenous determinants of health. Racism is a structural and social determinant of health. This will unequivocally improve the lives of indigenous peoples and their communities across the province.

As the critic for women’s social and economic opportunity, I want to pay special focus to what this motion means for Indigenous women. In Indigenous cultures, women are held in a special regard in many Indigenous teachings and traditions. For instance, “To the Ojibway, the earth is woman, the mother of the people, and her hair, the sweetgrass, is braided and used in ceremonies. The ... Sioux people of Manitoba and the Dakotas tell how a woman—White Buffalo Calf Woman—brought the pipe to their people. It is through the pipe that prayer is carried by its smoke upwards to the creator in their most sacred ceremonies.”

It was through colonialism that this was gravely disrupted, as we continue to witness today in Ontario, in our communities, and across our nation.

To quote Indigenous author Paula Gunn Allen, “Since the coming of the Anglo-Europeans beginning in the 15th century, the fragile web of identity that long held tribal people secure has gradually been weakened and torn.”

Gender and gender identity have now been listed as social determinants of health in this country, because to identify as a woman is to have barriers placed in front of you from birth because of a sexist world. These are not inevitable, but rather socially constructed. They are also not felt equally, and few are also impacted by the joint forces of colonialism and patriarchy as Indigenous communities are.

We have called on Ontario to recognize gender-based violence as an epidemic. We’ve called on this Conservative government to do so. Our calls are often unheard.

Indigenous women know all too much about gender-based violence, sadly. Indigenous women are at least three times more likely to experience violence, and at least six times more likely to be murdered. While just 4% of the Canadian population identifies as Indigenous and as women, they represent 24% of homicide victims. Many of them are never found, never even looked for, leaving their families shattered and without closure. No day of significance, no database, no event in our communities will bring their sisters, mothers, friends, partners and loved ones home.

We need action, and we demand that action today: action like committing to enacting every one of the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls report’s 231 individual calls; action like saying yes to my colleague’s motion, a systemic approach to doing better by placing Indigenous self-determination at the centre and by recognizing Indigeneity and colonialism as overarching—I want to say it again—overarching and intersectional determinants of health across government ministries and across every political group. These need to be recognized as the facts that they are.

Thank you, Sol. Thank you for this motion. I support it wholeheartedly.

This question is to the Premier. Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. To eliminate racism means cutting it off at the source through anti-racism education, yet across Ontario, only 49% of public schools have implemented a school-wide anti-racism policy, according to a report by People for Education in my riding of St. Paul’s. This is a direct result of Conservative government underspending on public education—$844 million and counting, to be exact.

My question to the Premier: Will Thursday’s budget include the necessary funds so that 100% of Ontario schools can implement anti-racism policies and practices to end racial discrimination experienced by both students and staff?

A recent school year report from the TDSB found that, across the TDSB, 50% of hate incidents were race-related; 61% of these were anti-Black racism. Black students need to feel safe from violence in all aspects of their lives, especially at school. They deserve for school to be a place of joy, building self-esteem and support. The toll racism takes on their academics and well-being is mounting as schools are increasingly underfunded and under-staffed. TDSB is projecting a $61-million shortfall and a loss of 522 staff positions in the coming school year because of this Conservative government’s cuts.

My question to the Premier: Will you prevent this from happening? Will your Thursday budget invest every dollar and cent needed to ensure students and staff have the resources necessary in their school to protect them from anti-Black racism and hate across the board?

Anti-Black racism wreaks havoc on the souls of Black people—400 years and counting. Health care workers, among others, have long called for this government to recognize anti-Black racism as a public health emergency detrimental to our physical and mental health. RNAO’s Black Nurses Task Force study surveyed 205 Black nurses and nursing students across Ontario and found 88% had reported experiencing anti-Black racism and discrimination at work.

My question is to the Premier: Will you join several cities across the province and take a solid step towards recognizing the impact of anti-Black racism on Black Ontarians by declaring today, the first Monday in March, annually as Black Mental Health Day?

For far too many Black children and adults, walking while Black, shopping while Black, driving while Black, learning while Black or having a mental health crisis while Black means experiencing racial profiling, harassment, discrimination, disproportionate use of force and sometimes, sadly, death by law enforcement. Both the target—if they survive—and their families and the larger communities are left fraught with confusion, fear, anxiety and depression. Anti-Black racism is a structural and social determinant of physical and mental health.

Premier, can you share with us what your government is doing, along with your 2023 budget allocation, to specifically address Black mental health in Ontario—specifically, Black mental health in Ontario?