Assemblée législative de l'Ontario

The committee met at 0907 in committee room 1.

Developmental services strategy

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): I call the Select Committee on Developmental Services to order. I want to start by saying how pleased I am that we are here today to adopt, or readopt, our report. We had made a commitment, as members, before the House dissolved that whomever was re-elected would work hard to revive this committee, and I think we’ve all put our best efforts forward to do that. That’s what brings us here today.

So we are here. We have less than one hour before us to get our work done. I know that these recommendations in our report will make a difference in the lives of many people. That’s why we wanted to do this as quickly as possible.

We’ll get down to business.

Interjection.

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): We have a couple of questions. I would like to allow each party to say a few words, if they wish, before we get down to the adoption. Ms. Jones.

Ms. Sylvia Jones: Chair, I echo your comments. I think it’s very important for the families and the individuals who serve people with a developmental disability that we proceed with this report. I will only slightly modify it and say that I believe this report is a great opportunity and will make a difference, if adopted.

My process question relates to whether this will be part of routine proceedings where you, as the Chair, present?

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): Yes.

Ms. Sylvia Jones: Okay. Thank you.

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): Any comments?

Miss Monique Taylor: Thank you, Chair. I’m just relieved about the fact that we’ve been brought back together again and that the people of this province will see the report that we worked so hard on to make sure that we’re making a difference in people’s lives.

I’m hopeful that the recommendations will be utilized, that they will make a difference, and that we will move people out of crisis in this province into a better future. That’s definitely my goal and my intentions of being on this committee and the hopes that I see coming from today’s report.

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): Thank you. Any comments? Ms. Wong.

Ms. Soo Wong: I also want to echo what my colleagues said, but I think the bigger piece about this report—wearing my other hat in my previous life as a registered nurse—is that this report, unlike others, has a following through the standing committee; because often we see how many reports come from this Legislature, and there’s no follow-up. I’m very pleased that right in the recommendation, clearly stated, is the timeline and the expectations for the various ministries, but more importantly, that they will be reporting back to the House and that there will be a standing committee monitoring and tracking the outcome, because Ontarians expect us to deliver but, more importantly, the families and the individuals who presented to this committee expect us to deliver.

I’m very pleased to have a recommendation that includes those pieces because I certainly do not want this to be lost in our busy lives.

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): Thank you. We just have a few routine questions here. First of all, shall the report be adopted? Yes.

Shall it be printed and translated? Yes.

Shall it be presented and moved for adoption of recommendations? Yes.

Shall we request a comprehensive response? Yes.

Once translated and printed, a bilingual coloured copy will be tabled with the Clerk? Yes. So everything is done.

Any further comments? Ms. Elliott.

Ms. Christine Elliott: I would like to thank the legislative research team, both Erica and Heather, for all of your work on this. I don’t think we would have had nearly as good a product without all of your hard work and diligence, so I just want, on behalf of the whole committee, to thank you very much. You played a huge part in this.

Applause.

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): Miss Taylor.

Miss Monique Taylor: Chair, I was just wondering if the committee wanted to do a press or media release combination, doing something out together, some kind of stand-up or something on the presentation of this report.

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): It depends on the will of the committee. Everybody’s in agreement?

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): How, when, where?

Interjection: What exactly?

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): What exactly?

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): We’re going to need some details.

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): We’ll need some details on that.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): Like, here, now.

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): Here, now, details. Would we want to issue a press release—well, it will be tabled tomorrow, so it could be done in tandem with that after we table—or in the morning, I guess, would be better. We can issue a press release in the morning saying, “Today, the report will be tabled.”

Ms. Sylvia Jones: A quick process question: To that end, the report actually doesn’t become public until it is tabled?

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): That’s correct.

Ms. Sylvia Jones: Okay. Thank you.

Interjection: So the press release has to come up right after it’s tabled.

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): Would the legislative research team draft it, and perhaps after you’ve drafted it, show it to—

Interjection: Subcommittee?

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): Yes, subcommittee members.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): Technically, we don’t have a subcommittee.

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): Technically, we do not have a subcommittee.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): I’m going to need a motion appointing a subcommittee, if that’s the case.

Ms. Jones?

Ms. Sylvia Jones: So the motion would read, “A subcommittee of Ms. Elliott, Miss Taylor and Ms. Wong, along with the Chair.”

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): Agreed? Agreed.

Ms. Wong, did you want to ask a question?

Ms. Soo Wong: No, I was just checking about the proceeding for tomorrow. Trevor, can you just clarify? The House doesn’t start in the afternoon till 3. Are we moving that up? Because if I heard correctly, until it gets presented to the House, it’s not a public report—

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): That’s correct.

Ms. Soo Wong: —so we can’t do anything till after 3.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): That’s right.

Ms. Soo Wong: So probably 4 o’clock, when all the—

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): You can send a press release just saying that it will be tabled at 3 p.m. You have to be vague about the content; obviously you can’t reveal the content of the ramifications.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): Do you want the—one, a member has to book the media studio, and we can do that through the Chair—

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): Issuing a press release doesn’t mean booking the media studio. They’re two distinct—

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): Okay. What exactly do you want to happen?

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): I would say a press release going out to all major outlets would be sufficient. If they’re interested, they will come to us for interviews.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): Okay. And is this before or after the tabling of the report in the House?

Ms. Sylvia Jones: I think you have to do it after, because you want to put the report with it. Right?

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): Okay, so we’re going to do it after.

Miss Monique Taylor: So as soon as it’s tabled, it can be sent—

Interjection: Exactly. Yes.

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): So it can be sent as an attachment.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): An attachment to the press release. Okay.

What’s going to happen is research is going to draft something up. The subcommittee will take a look, agree on it and then tomorrow, once we’ve tabled it in the House, it will get sent out with the report attached. Everyone’s good with that?

Anything I haven’t thought of can be determined by the subcommittee and/or the Chair.

Miss Monique Taylor: Breakfast.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Trevor Day): We’re never meeting. We’re not meeting anymore. That’s it.

The Chair (Mrs. Laura Albanese): Well, I want to thank all of you, all of the members. I know you have put your heart into this.

I want to thank the Clerk. I want to thank the legislative research team that has put in so much time and effort, and Hansard as well, and all the people who travelled with us throughout Ontario, and everyone who has presented, from the ministries to the families to the caregivers.

As I said at the beginning, I really do hope that the recommendations contained in this report will make a difference in people’s lives sooner rather than later.

Thank you to all of you. Thank you to my Vice-Chair, who has been of great assistance. Well done. Well done, to everyone.

We’re adjourned.

The committee adjourned at 0917.

CONTENTS

Monday 21 July 2014

Developmental services strategy DS-1

SELECT COMMITTEE ON DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES

Chair / Présidente

Mrs. Laura Albanese (York South–Weston / York-Sud–Weston L)

Vice-Chair / Vice-Présidente

Ms. Christine Elliott (Whitby–Oshawa PC)

Mrs. Laura Albanese (York South–Weston / York-Sud–Weston L)

Mr. Bas Balkissoon (Scarborough–Rouge River L)

Ms. Cheri DiNovo (Parkdale–High Park ND)

Ms. Christine Elliott (Whitby–Oshawa PC)

Ms. Sylvia Jones (Dufferin–Caledon PC)

Mr. Jack MacLaren (Carleton–Mississippi Mills PC)

Mrs. Cristina Martins (Davenport L)

Miss Monique Taylor (Hamilton Mountain ND)

Ms. Soo Wong (Scarborough–Agincourt L)

Clerk / Greffier

Mr. Trevor Day

Staff / Personnel

Ms. Erica Simmons, research officer,
Research Services

Ms. Heather Webb, research officer,
Research Services