I, too, would like to present a petition today to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario calling on this Conservative government to reopen the emergency department at Minden hospital. It was closed without any public consultation. Communities need emergency rooms. If there was a life-threatening event, residents of Minden would have to travel over 20 minutes. Sometimes—it can take longer in the winter, and they do not have a local emergency room.

This petition here is signed by residents not only of Minden but residents from across Ontario, because we all understand the importance of having an emergency room in our communities.

I will affix my signature to it and join the calls from the people of Ontario to ask the government to immediately reopen the Minden emergency department.

The Ontario Works rate has been frozen for over two decades. For Ontario Disability Support Program, it has only increased by 3%, Speaker. It’s time to double the social assistance rates. I support this petition and will affix my signature to it.

My question is for the Premier.

The homelessness crisis is escalating across Ontario, with municipalities now declaring a state of emergency on homelessness—Niagara, Hamilton—and with over 10,000 people who are unhoused right now in Toronto, city council is poised to declare a state of emergency of homelessness this week. Cities across the province are in crisis, and the Ford Conservative government is abandoning them.

Will this government enact a homelessness strategy and work with municipalities to improve the lives of unhoused people in Ontario?

I would like to thank my colleague from Toronto Centre for their excellent presentation. The member makes a very, very important point, that there are businesses across this province—certainly many businesses in my riding—that have called on all of us as legislators to deal with the problem, the crisis of homelessness, and to make sure that people who are unhoused get access to housing and that they have the mental health and other wraparound services that are needed.

My question to the member is, given that the homelessness crisis is getting worse—the municipalities of Hamilton and, I believe, Ottawa have passed motions declaring a state of emergency on the homelessness crisis—what action can the government take today to address this issue?