I believe that the success of our local entrepreneurs is crucial to strengthening the competitiveness of Ontario’s businesses in the global market and will promote economic growth and prosperity for all Ontarians.

That is why I rise to support the Association of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs, ACCE, and their mission in recognizing the successes and contributions of Chinese Canadian entrepreneurs. The 26th awards gala was held last week, when nine businesses were recognized.

Over the years, many of Ontario’s celebrities, including Adrienne Clarkson, Vivienne Poy, Michael Lee-Chin and Jean Lumb, received awards for their lifetime achievements. I had the honour to receive their Best Community Service Award in 2003.

Speaker, I believe that community service is an essential part of being an entrepreneur, and I’m committed to working with ACCE to promote corporate social responsibility and encourage community and environmental stewardship in Ontario’s business community.

Once again, congratulations to all the award recipients and nominees, and thank you to ACCE for their important work.

This question is addressed to the member from Etobicoke–Lakeshore. I know that you are an animal lover. How do the proposed amendments related to the Animal Care Review Board balance the enforcement powers to strengthen protections for animals while affording flexibility to owner-custodians?

Thank you to the member from Oshawa. Thank you very much for your compassion and your concern about the different officers and how they’re suffering from PTSD. I shared that emotion at one point. I think this is why we are having this special act to strengthen safety and modernize justice. Part of it is that, yes, we will continue to care and show our support for our officers, and at the same time we’re also hiring new and more officers right now.

But I would like to ask, even more so—this bill includes that we have immediate action to strengthen our bail system—is it important for us to include it in this act, in order to keep the violent offenders off of the streets?