It’s certainly a pleasure this afternoon to rise in this House to speak to third reading of the Strengthening Safety and Modernizing Justice Act, 2023. I’d like to start off by acknowledging and thanking the Attorney General and the Solicitor General for their tireless work and dedication to bring this bill forward.

As we all know, crime is on the rise in Ontario and across Canada. That is why our government is taking action to train and attract new recruits, break down financial barriers, and get more front-line officers on our streets.

I’m happy to speak to what Bill 102 will do, if passed, to make Ontario a safer place to live, and I will pick up on some of the comments of the Attorney General in his speech.

We’re looking at new ways to harness thinking about Internet technology to make justice accessible for all. We’re looking to provide increased access to critical services in northern and remote communities.

The members of the House may recall that, at the start of the pandemic, fly-in court proceedings—necessary in many First Nations communities—were suspended. This system, as many of you know, brings judges, lawyers, courts and victim support staff to remote communities, sometimes for single day at a time, to hear a wide range of issues. Unfortunately, access to reliable high-speed Internet had previously been unavailable in most fly-in communities. Something had to be done.

I’m proud to say that this government has invested in reliable, high-speed satellite Internet access and video conferencing equipment to enable virtual proceedings in 29 fly-in communities. This work has been flying ahead. I’m proud to stand here and report that, as of today, 24 of the 29 fly-in communities have Starlink units installed, and the remaining units will be fully installed and working in all 29 communities by the end of the summer. This is a great achievement. It is important and one of the cornerstones of our vision to deliver a justice system that is accessible and works in a timely manner, no matter where you live.

But we are not done making improvements and implementing changes there.

In the bill before the House today, we’re also proposing a housekeeping change to the Provincial Offences Act. This change will clarify an existing process in the courts, indicating that it is court staff, and not judicial officers, who file judicial review applications and materials with the courts. This change will ensure efficiency by bringing clarity to the process and eliminating duplication.

In keeping with our commitment to harness digital transformation, the Ministry of the Attorney General has unveiled the Courts Digital Transformation initiative as part of our justice accelerated strategy in 2021. This is a new digital justice solution that will transform the way people resolve their legal matters by providing on-demand digital access to court services. This end-to-end digital system will feature online self-service, integrated case tracking and more efficient court operations.

We have also introduced electronic filing, as well as a new online court case search tool so that people can access select court information with ease.

We’ve also made other changes that include the authority for provincial offences officers to serve part III summonses on individuals within the province by registered mail, courier or email, thereby updating the current system. Service of a summons on a recipient’s lawyer or paralegal, with their advance consent, is also now permitted in order to streamline processes.

We’ve also continued to support municipal partners in their efforts to enforce and collect outstanding POA fines. We have implemented numerous initiatives to help assist in the collection of outstanding fines, including improving the “Notice of Fine and Due Date” form, to encourage defendants to pay their fines on time to avoid additional fees and other penalties, such as a licence suspension.

Speaker, the Ministry of the Attorney General is also continuing our collaboration with the Bill 177 municipal working group to implement other reforms to further modernize the Provincial Offences Act processes, including implementing additional fine enforcement initiatives.

These are just some of the more recent initiatives we’ve been working on to ensure that the municipal court system works swiftly and efficiently to hear so many matters that affect Ontarians daily.

I’d also like to speak about how digital and Internet access has improved our criminal justice system and tell members about an ongoing transformation project that we are currently working on in collaboration with partners across the justice system, from police to the courts.

For several years, we’ve been working with the Solicitor General to implement the Criminal Justice Digital Design initiative, to transform Ontario’s criminal justice system and enhance public safety in the process. This system involves digitizing the criminal case record and connecting IT systems so that data can flow seamlessly from the police to the prosecution to the courts and then to corrections. Already, we have implemented a number of processes to help share digital information in an organized and timely way.

Since June 2022, criminal eIntake has been available province-wide, which allows police and other investigative agencies to electronically send and receive documents and data so that a justice of the peace can consider the information and allow charges to be laid, where process is issued. This has greatly reduced the time and effort it takes to put information before the courts.

We’ve also introduced a Digital Evidence Management System, which makes it possible for police and other agencies to manage, store and share digital investigative or evidentiary files using a consistent set of tools and standards. As of this January, more than 60% of police agencies have onboarded to this digital system.

There is much more to be done, but we have made great strides here. The safety and well-being of our communities requires an agile and properly functioning criminal justice system that works efficiently for all Ontarians, wherever they are.

Madam Speaker, through this work, we have also learned that enforcement and prosecution efforts are more effective at reducing violence and increasing public safety when combined with meaningful intervention initiatives. We also know that the traditional criminal justice system can, in certain circumstances, be limited in how it responds to the complex needs of communities, victims and offenders across our province.

That is why we have taken steps to introduce justice centres that take a transformative approach to community safety, by moving certain criminal cases out of the traditional courtroom and into a community setting. They help provide wraparound supports for accused persons through coordination with on-site social, health, mental health, addictions, employment education, and housing providers.

That is why, since September 2020, our ministry has launched four justice centre locations: in London, Ontario; Toronto downtown east; Toronto northwest; and, most recently, in Kenora.

The Kenora justice centre was launched earlier this year, in February. It is a groundbreaking initiative—the first of its kind in northern Ontario—and it was developed, designed and delivered in collaboration with local organizations, Indigenous leadership and the courts. It is an initiative that is truly born from a collective partnership, and it represents a meaningful path forward towards creating safer and healthier communities in our north.

Speaker, all of the changes I’ve spoken about today are essential in improving the lives of the people of Ontario, no matter where they live—whether that is through support and safety for victims of crime, effective and appropriate responses to perpetrators of crime, or reducing the complexity of our justice system while increasing its efficiency and its accessibility for all Ontarians.

Madam Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to talk about this very important piece of legislation. I look forward to the vote and encourage all colleagues to support this important piece of legislation.

I’m pleased to join in debate on Bill 102.

Supporting education of judges and justices of the peace: The Courts of Justice Act and the Justices of the Peace Act—these amendments would support judicial education related to gender-based violence for provincially appointed judges and justices of the peace. I think we would all agree that professionals in our legal system must be trained to understand all of the signs of abuse, including coercive control, because we know that abuse can be more than physical or sexual. Coercive control is part of the definition of family violence contained in both the federal Divorce Act and in the update our government made to the Children’s Law Reform Act in 2020.

Speaker, I need to interrupt my presentation, because I forgot to say that I’m going to share my time with the member from Mississauga–Erin Mills.

To the aspect that I just referred to in terms of the Children’s Law Reform Act in 2020—the member from Oakville North–Burlington introduced the Keira’s Law motion in the Legislature, aimed at protecting children, supporting women who are fleeing abusive relationships, and those who are victims of intimate partner violence and coercive control.

In courts in Canada and other countries, one of the strategies used by abusers is victimizing themselves or suggesting parental alienation. This is a tactic used by abusers whose interest is not in the best interests of the child or the ex-spouse, but in control. We must ensure that decision-making professionals in our Family Court system receive education and training about intimate partner violence, including emotional violence and coercive control.

The proposed changes to the Courts of Justice Act and Justices of the Peace Act would, if passed, ensure a consistent approach to the way judges are educated about gender-based violence and its impacts on children, families and communities.

For this government, nothing is more important than our community safety, and we understand that our police services across our province are the front line that keep Ontario safe.

I recently met with the president of the Durham Regional Police Association and reminded him that we have the backs of everyone who keeps us safe today and every day, and we will do absolutely everything we need to do to help keep the region of Durham and other parts of Ontario safe. In turn, the membership of that association is supportive of this government as champions of community safety. They’ll continue to work with me and our government on changes that mean the most to those members of the Durham Regional Police Association.

To support recruitment efforts at a time when local police officers have signalled challenges in doing so, Bill 102, if passed, would eliminate the post-secondary education requirement to become a police officer, as set out in the Community Safety and Policing Act, the CSPA. If passed, the act would amend the CSPA to provide that a secondary school diploma or equivalent is sufficient education for the purposes of being appointed as a police officer.

Many of us here in the Legislature will be familiar with Jon Reid. Mr. Reid is president of the Toronto Police Association. Mr. Reid had this to say about the proposed legislation:

“The Toronto Police Association welcomes the Ford government’s investment in community safety and policing.

“The public has lived with the consequences of an inadequate bail system for far too long, and resources recently announced mean our members will be able to refocus their efforts on proactively monitoring violent offenders who wreak havoc on our sense of safety.

“We have long advocated for this support, and we will continue to work with the provincial government on the changes that will keep our communities and our members safe.”

He went on to say that the announcement by the Ford government is another positive show of support for police officers in Toronto and across the province—standing with those men and women who keep our families safe.

“Everywhere, police services are struggling to hire police officers. Whether it’s the years of anti-police rhetoric, the impact of the COVID pandemic or the recent increase in violence against police officers, we’re not getting the numbers we need.”

There is safety in numbers, and we know that a well-resourced police service, like the Durham Regional Police Service, improves public safety and enhances our ability to build positive community relationships.

Speaker, the government is taking action to keep Ontario safe today, tomorrow and for future generations—like my granddaughters, Annette and Sophia. This past weekend, they both walked with me in the Brooklin Spring Fair, but before we went to the fair, I spoke a little bit about what I was planning to do here at the Ontario Legislature. I spoke about this particular bill and why I saw this bill as generational, and the impacts it will have in the months ahead but also in the years ahead, going forward. They’re now 11 and 13, and they understand the impacts in their community. They live in Bowmanville, just east of where I live in Whitby. They understand the impacts of this bill—they understand keeping their community safe also.

At the end of the day, we’re providing those at the forefront of community safety with the legislative and administrative supports they need to deliver the highest-quality services to the province overall.

I quoted Mr. Jon Reid, president of the Toronto Police Association, but we also have a quote from John Cerasuolo, president of the Ontario Provincial Police Association: “The grants will provide the necessary financial resources to support active engagement and monitoring of bail compliance. The ability of police services to utilize these financial resources will be limited by an ongoing staffing shortage and competing organizational priorities. The efficacy of this initiative will be tracked with a view to providing long-term, stable funding to engage in this important program that will enhance public safety, officer safety and confidence in the criminal justice system.”

Going forward, we do have the support of many policing associations, including mine in the Durham region.

Speaker, through you, I’ll now cede my time to the member for Mississauga–Erin Mills.