I’d like to welcome all members of the Police Association of Ontario who are here today, especially Philip Perrins and Matt Jotham from the city of Guelph.

I’d like to welcome, from the Ottawa Police Association, Barmak Anvari, Brian Samuel, Cameron Entwistle and Matthew Cox. I look forward to meeting them today.

I also want to welcome, from the progressive contractors’ association, a constituent of mine, Matt Hill.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I’d like to introduce two police officers from my riding: Sergeant Jeff Chartier and Mark Ballantine.

I’d like to welcome Justin Wheeler from the Cornwall police force that’s here today with the Police Association of Ontario. We all know the hard work that they do.

Thank you, Justin, for everything you do.

I want to give a shout-out to the members of the Thunder Bay Police Association who are here today, as well as my former colleagues from the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards and the Ontario Police Arbitration Commission.

I know they’ve been welcomed already—but a special welcome to the members of the Waterloo Regional Police Service who are here today.

And my wife, Kim, is joining us today.

Every day, Ontario’s police officers put their lives on the line. They go above and beyond to serve and protect our communities. Thank you.

Front-line police officers are leaders in our communities. Our government should be determined to continue providing them with the support, resources and tools they need to do their jobs effectively.

Unfortunately, studies reveal that during a police officer’s career, they will be exposed to nearly 1,000 traumatic events, ranging from fatal car crashes to homicide scenes.

Speaker, could the Solicitor General inform the House about what our government is doing to support the brave men and women who serve in our police services?

I want to take this opportunity to thank the police officers from my riding of Chatham-Kent–Leamington and all across this province for everything they do, every day, in the line of service.

However, the reality is that due to the nature of their jobs, these officers face traumatic situations and are more likely to suffer from PTSD. Our government must ensure that these brave individuals have the resources and treatment they need to heal, return to work safely, and return to their family safely.

Speaker, could the Solicitor General please explain what our government is doing to help our officers with work-related PTSD?

I want to thank my friend for the question. It’s an important issue.

Officers can’t just leave the impacts of those traumatic images behind at the end of the day, but for too long that’s what was expected of police officers by the public, by their superiors—even by the officers themselves.

The Police Association of Ontario was very excited to learn of Ontario’s $45-million investment in supporting the mental health of first responders in our last budget.

My ministry is also working closely with the police associations to continue to make improvements to mental health for our officers.

I can tell the front-line officers this: Your government has your back today and every day.

Monsieur le Président, je suis fier de soutenir nos policiers, qui nous protègent au quotidien.

I’m proud to say that our government has invested over $1 million in the Runnymede project for first responders.

We will continue to work with police associations to build awareness.

Yesterday morning, I was proud to attend the PAO annual meeting. I’d like to acknowledge Mark Baxter, the president, who is with us today.

Monsieur le Président, nous travaillons avec tous les organismes d’application de la loi de la province pour assurer la sécurité des Ontariens.