“York Region won a national award for a new program that helps people who are homeless. I want to congratulate the local leaders and staff who made it work.”

“Mr. Speaker, the Regional Municipality of York works extremely hard to improve the lives of people experiencing homelessness. It launched a no fixed address pilot program, an integrated, data-informed, people-centred approach that helps vulnerable residents navigate complex support systems with wraparound services. The pilot produced a significant improvement in outcomes and it recently received the Institute of Public Administration of Canada’s national award for innovation here in Ottawa. The award recognizes an individual or organization that has produced an exceptional change or new way of doing things that addresses the public interest. I send my congratulations to the chair of the regional housing and homelessness committee, Newmarket mayor, John Taylor, for his leadership, and to the staff at York region for their remarkable work. I also send a special acknowledgement to Cristina Taglione, director of homelessness community programs, who served as my chief of staff at Queen’s Park. I thank the entire team.”