Last Thursday evening, I attended the Attorney General’s Victim Services Awards of Distinction, where I had the privilege of acknowledging the exceptional work of Smiths Falls resident and award recipient Amber MacDonald. Amber has been the executive director of Victim Services Lanark County since 2015. Over the past eight years, she has worked tirelessly to establish the foundations for meaningful support in a well-respected, collaborative environment.

A strong and reliable advocate for the victims of crime and their families, Amber MacDonald works around the clock facilitating anti-human-trafficking workshops and providing free relevant training to hotel and motel staff. She helped establish the Lanark County Child and Youth Advocacy Centre in Carleton Place and was instrumental in implementing a forensic interview room to better serve victims of crime in a large service area.

When asked about her motivation to continue raising the bar in victim services, Amber replied, “The strength of our network is what allows us to give people back their voice ... to move someone from the worst day of their life to a place of empowerment and possibility.”

Today I stand before the House and echo the voices of all who have been impacted by the dedication shown by Amber MacDonald and victim services professionals across all our ridings. They deserve our utmost respect and our deepest gratitude for making a difference in the lives of those who need it most.

I rise today to recognize May as Asthma Awareness Month and to celebrate the anniversary of Ryan’s Law.

Speaker, eight years ago, my predecessor for Elgin–Middlesex–London, Jeff Yurek, introduced Ryan’s Law as a private member’s bill in this Legislature. This legislation was introduced because of a horrific incident that occurred in my riding on October 9, 2012. Ryan Gibbons passed away while at school after suffering a severe asthma attack. Ryan was unable to access his inhaler due to school policies and procedures which kept his inhaler locked in the principal’s office. Ryan’s Law mandated that students were allowed to access their inhalers and that schools were required to develop and maintain asthma policies and procedures to better protect asthmatic students.

Approximately one in five children are living with asthma in Canada. Asthma is a chronic lung disease that can make breathing difficult. That means that approximately 400,000 students with asthma in Ontario schools are now protected by Ryan’s Law.

I want to thank patient advocates such as Sandra Gibbons, Ryan’s mother, who played an instrumental role in advocating for Ryan’s Law, as well as the Lung Health Foundation for their advocacy, programming and services. We had an excellent meeting earlier this week, and I appreciate their strong advocacy.