I rise today to speak about a constituent of mine from Stittsville, Cara McNulty. Through her advocacy group, Life Jackets for Life, she is a tireless and hard-working advocate for children’s safety. Her group’s goal is to change the law to require children to wear life jackets on small vessel boats. Just over four years ago, her 11-year-old son, Joshua Steinburg, passed away in a drowning accident. The 26-foot speedboat he was riding hit a wave, and Joshua had removed his life jacket just minutes before the accident.

Joshua’s story is not the only one—hundreds of boat drowning accidents happen each year. According to the OPP in 2020, over the last decade, 80% of the people who died in investigated boat drowning incidents were not wearing a life jacket.

These deaths are preventable.

Norm Miller, the former MPP for Parry Sound–Muskoka, introduced legislation in this House, in the form of a private member’s bill, in order to make the wearing of life jackets mandatory. That bill never made it through the House. I’m hoping that I can work with members from all sides of the House and all parties to reintroduce Norm Miller’s legislation.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Cara and every person who has lost a loved one to drowning: Whether you are fishing or riding your speedboat, always wear a life jacket. It saves lives.

I’d like to thank all of my colleagues in the House who have spoken on this important motion: the members for Brampton Centre, Burlington and Whitby; the members for London West, Ottawa–Vanier and Toronto–St. Paul’s. Thank you for your commitment to opposing gender-based violence.

Thank you also to all the organizations in my own community who support the victims of violence and who work selflessly to make sure women and children are safe: Halton Women’s Place, Zonta Club of Oakville, SAVIS of Halton and the Women’s Centre of Halton.

I’d like to recognize the many people who have worked to promote Keira’s Law provincially and federally, including the municipal councils in Oakville and Burlington, who passed resolutions in support. Thank you to federal member of Parliament Anju Dhillon and my federal counterpart in Oakville North–Burlington, Pam Damoff, for their leadership.

In the gallery today, we have some great supporters of this initiative: Marlene Ham from the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses, Silvia Samsa from SAVIS of Halton, my friend Sonia Robinson from Oakville North–Burlington and my friend Kristin Demeny. For their insights and advocacy, I thank you.

Most importantly, my gratitude to Jennifer Kagan-Viater and her husband Philip Viater for their courage and leadership. Because of the work they’ve done, I believe that lives will be saved.

On a personal note, I would like to offer my profound gratitude to the women who courageously came forward and shared their personal stories of trauma and abuse with me. In my research, I came across a quote from Grant Wyeth in a recent article saying, “How societies treat women and children is the true reflection of their social health—and the behaviour of justice systems provides the legal framework to these values.” As members of this House, we can lead how our society treats women and children—and I welcome your involvement in the consultation with justice partners as we move forward.