Thanks to the member opposite for the question. That’s exactly why our government is committed to a reliable, affordable, sustainable and clean energy sector. That’s why we’re leveraging small modular reactors and our first-mover status that we have so that we can untap the benefits to our economy in Ontario, in Canada and, indeed, around the world.

This past spring we announced our vision to partner with other provinces—New Brunswick, Alberta, Saskatchewan—for the deployment of small modular reactors across the country. We’re also creating new opportunities to export Ontario’s goods, technology and expertise to North America and around the world, especially in Eastern Europe.

Last week I joined OPG and one of the largest electrical utilities in the United States, the Tennessee Valley Authority, or TVA, to announce a collaboration that’s going to allow TVA to replicate what we’re doing with small modular reactors here in Ontario: a first grid-scale SMR. That’s why we’re going to continue to unlock the potential of SMR for our environment and our economy.

We also need to be ready for an increased demand for clean, reliable and affordable electricity here in Ontario. Whether it’s the electrification of our transportation sector, powering new electric vehicles, or EVs, or making green steel with electric arc furnaces, our economy is growing and it’s electrifying. Nuclear power is going to continue to be a key part of Ontario’s clean electricity grid.

As we move towards a clean energy future, it’s clear that there is no path forward without nuclear energy to get us to net zero.

It gives me great pleasure to present the following petition on behalf of Dr. Marja Salminen at Vogue Optical Masonville. It reads:

“Petition to Save Eye Care in Ontario.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Ontario government has underfunded optometric eye care for 30 years; and

“Whereas the government only pays on average $44.65 for an OHIP-insured visit—the lowest rate in Canada; and

“Whereas optometrists are being forced to pay substantially out of their own pocket to provide over four million services each year to Ontarians under OHIP; and

“Whereas optometrists have never been given a formal negotiation process with the government; and

“Whereas the government’s continued neglect resulted in 96% of Ontario optometrists voting to withdraw OHIP services beginning September 1, 2021;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To instruct the Ontario government to immediately commit to legally binding, formal negotiations to ensure any future OHIP-insured optometry services are, at a minimum, funded at the cost of delivery.”

We’ve been doing this for a year. It’s time to get this done. I fully support this and will sign it and deliver it with page Pallas.

A petition entitled “Fix the Baitfish Zoning Boundaries in the Northwestern and Northeastern Regions:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the bait management zones in certain towns make it impossible for anglers to purchase live bait in their respective zone and go fishing in the area because of set boundaries;

“Whereas 95% of all stocked lakes near Hearst are situated west, and no legal option to purchase live bait and go fishing on those nice, stocked lakes;

“Whereas all the time and money spent throughout the years by government trying to stock those lakes and keep a healthy trout population for fishing enthusiasts to enjoy;

“Whereas the owners of outfitters in the region can no longer purchase their baitfish in the area with the new zoning and no other options exist by road to purchase baitfish in their zone close to the lodge;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“—to allow an exception or exemption option for the north, especially for towns like Chapleau, Wawa and Hearst, where two zones are separated based on the railway lines or roads;

“—to call on the Ford government and the Minister of Natural Resources to re-evaluate this new zoning regulation to make logistics possible for all anglers to purchase live baitfish and to enjoy this sport that represents our lifestyle in northern Ontario.”

I’m happy to sign this petition and give it to Zane to bring to the Clerks’ table.

I want to thank all the people of Byron who signed petitions at Byron Optometry to save eye care in Ontario. The petition reads:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Ontario government has underfunded optometric eye care for 30 years; and

“Whereas the government only pays on average $44.65 for an OHIP-insured visit—the lowest rate in Canada; and

“Whereas optometrists are being forced to pay substantially out of their own pocket to provide over four million services each year to Ontarians under OHIP; and

“Whereas optometrists have never been given a formal negotiation process with the government;...

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To instruct the Ontario government to immediately commit to legally binding, formal negotiations to ensure any future OHIP-insured optometry services are, at a minimum, funded at the cost of delivery.”

I support this petition, affix my signature and will send it to the table with page Ria.

In this chamber, we have the monumental responsibility of serving 15 million people across our great province. I will never forget that the people of Don Valley East have put their trust in me to be their champion and fight for them every single day. Even though Ontarians can hold us to account during elections every four years, the reality is that we are accountable every day, and my bill upholds that commitment.

The Publication of Mandate Letters Act sets out to define what mandate letters are and outlines the expectation that all letters to—

Thank you to the member opposite. My heart goes out to anyone facing difficulty in their lives, such as the individual you mention. That is exactly why our government has increased the ODSP rates to a really decades-long largest increase in this program. This is historic, and it’s not the only thing we use to support people in their time of need.

There are those who cannot work, and we support them through ODSP, through a variety of social assistance programs, the LIFT tax credit, the CARE tax credit, dental benefits for elderly low-income seniors. We’re continuing to allow discretionary benefits to be used for people in unusual circumstances. We’re working with our municipalities in that shared vision of how we improve the lives of people who aren’t able to work while creating the training programs and the job readiness programs for those who can work, and we’ll continue to do that important work.

This is something they’re also working on with the federal government, to make sure that they bring forth and fulfill their commitment to the Canadian disability benefit and also the programs for the supports through the federal government but also our municipalities, understanding that partnership is so important.

Whether it’s improving access to housing across ministries, whether it’s the Ministry of Health creating programs to support people in their time of need, this is a multi-ministry effort. It is across municipal governments. It is across layers of government, including the federal government, and we’ll continue to work for solutions. This is an important area, allowing people to get the support they need, when they need it.

An extra $50 a month isn’t going to get anyone housing in this market, Speaker.

Denise is not alone. Tracey Thompson, who contracted long COVID in March 2020, has recently applied for medical assistance in dying as well. Tracey, who is not even able to get ODSP because long COVID is not recognized by the program, has been clear that her application is exclusively a financial consideration. She wants to live, but she can’t afford to.

Speaker, we have reached a point in Ontario where people are being forced to choose between a quick death before the money runs out and a long, painful, slow death without financial support. Why is the Premier not taking action to address poverty?

Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

That concludes our question period for this morning. This House stands in recess until 1 p.m.

The House recessed from 1137 to 1300.

Mr. Shamji moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 10, An Act to amend the Executive Council Act and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act with respect to the publication and treatment of mandate letters / Projet de loi 10, Loi modifiant la Loi sur le Conseil exécutif et la Loi sur l’accès à l’information et la protection de la vie privée en ce qui concerne la publication et le traitement des lettres de mandat.

First reading agreed to.

I have a petition and it reads:

“Gun Violence Is a Public Health Crisis.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas gun violence and its devastating impact on communities is a deepening public health crisis in the province of Ontario;

“Whereas the number of firearm incidents is increasing each year, and the widespread trauma associated with acts of gun violence often goes unrecognized and untreated;

“Whereas the government must give communities the resources that they need to heal, including OHIP-funded counselling for those affected;

“Whereas the government must give funding to local public health boards for hospital- and community-based violence intervention programs;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to direct the Minister of Health to adopt Bill 9, Safe and Healthy Communities Act (Addressing Gun Violence), 2022, into government legislation.”

I will sign the petition and give it to page Tanisha.

To the finance minister: With the cost of living rising throughout the province, working people in Ontario and in my riding are being impacted by what feels like increasing prices on all day-to-day essentials. While the GTA is home to many hard-working Ontarians, it is also one of the most expensive regions to live in Canada. Food insecurity affects almost one in five Toronto households. Recently, the University of Toronto released a report that shows that nearly 16% of Canadians live with food insecurity.

As families’ basic needs continue to increase, we know that many families will have challenges, especially with a Liberal carbon tax that raises the cost of everything.

Speaker, can the Minister of Finance share what our government is doing to provide financial relief for the people of my riding and for all hard-working Ontarians?

Mr. Speaker, many Ontarians, including in my riding of Brampton North, are concerned about the cost of gas, which the NDP would like us to raise on hard-working Ontarians. For far too long, we had a Liberal government, supported by the NDP, that continued to impose new tax on new tax, increasing the financial burdens on hard-working Ontario families. Because of their reckless policies, we saw how they made life more unaffordable for not only my constituents but for all Ontarians.

They brought in a devastating carbon tax that raises the cost of everything. They implemented gas tax hikes with the HST. They made life less affordable for all Ontarians.

During the last provincial election, there was even a candidate, Mr. Speaker, if you can believe it, who was a former MPP, who called high gas prices a blessing in disguise.

Can the minister please tell us how our government—

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the current Niagara health system restructuring plan approved by the Ontario Ministry of Health includes removal of the emergency department and associated beds and ambulance service from the Welland hospital site once the Niagara Falls site is complete, creating inequity of hospital and emergency service in the Niagara region and a significant negative impact on hospital and emergency outcomes for the citizens of Welland, Port Colborne and all Niagara;

“Whereas the NHS is already experiencing a 911 crisis in EMS, a shortage of beds and unacceptable off-loading delays in its emergency departments across the region;

“Whereas the population in the Welland hospital catchment area is both aging and growing;

“Whereas the Ontario Legislature passed a motion by” the “Niagara Centre MPP ... on April 13, 2022, to include a full emergency department and associated beds in the rebuild of the Welland hospital;

“Therefore, be it resolved that we call on the government of Ontario to work with the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Niagara Health system to implement motion 47 to maintain the Welland hospital emergency department and adjust its hospital plan accordingly.”

I proudly add my signature and forward it to the Clerk.

I’d like to thank all the individuals at Campus Vision UWO who signed the following petition. It’s entitled Petition to Save Eye Care in Ontario. It reads:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Ontario government has underfunded optometric eye care for 30 years; and

“Whereas the government only pays on average $44.65 for an OHIP-insured visit—the lowest rate in Canada; and

“Whereas optometrists are being forced to pay substantially out of their own pocket to provide over four million services each year to Ontarians under OHIP; and

“Whereas optometrists have never been given a formal negotiation process with the government; and

“Whereas the government’s continued neglect resulted in 96% of Ontario optometrists voting to withdraw OHIP services beginning September 1, 2021;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To instruct the Ontario government to immediately commit to legally binding, formal negotiations to ensure any future OHIP-insured optometry services are, at a minimum, funded at the cost of delivery.”

I fully support this decision, will affix my signature and deliver with page Pania to the Clerks.

When we last debated, the member for Simcoe-Grey had the floor, and he can continue.

Thank you, Speaker. It’s a pleasure to speak to the House this afternoon as the new member for Simcoe–Grey. I want to start by thanking the hard-working voters of my riding for their overwhelming support on June 2.

Simcoe–Grey has a long and proud history of being Progressive Conservative, and I want to acknowledge my predecessor, Jim Wilson, who represented Simcoe–Grey in this House with distinction for 32 years. Jim was a committed, determined and effective champion for our constituents.

To the residents of Simcoe–Grey and the residents of the our great province, I pledge to continue that tradition of committed and determined representation that Jim Wilson and George McCague and Wally Downer before him established in this great riding.

Simcoe–Grey has a population of over 152,000 and consists of seven municipalities, six in Simcoe and one in Grey county. It stretches from Thornbury in the south to Thornbury in the north, from Alliston in the west to Angus in the east. It is a growing, dynamic and diverse riding that has incredible opportunities and is facing some significant challenges.

Geographically, Simcoe–Grey is blessed with an abundance of green space and natural features, as well as miles of shoreline along the southern shores of Georgian Bay. From the longest fresh water beach in the world and the UNESCO Georgian Bay Biosphere to the Niagara Escarpment and the green belt, the low-lying hills and ridges are Canadian Shield bedrock that support a rich mosaic of forests, wetlands and habitat with an incredible abundance of biodiversity.

Simcoe–Grey boasts a diverse and dynamic economy. There is a long-standing and robust farming sector in the south that goes back to the early 1800s and is one of the region’s original economic engines. The farmers of today continue the long and proud tradition in our farming sector of hard work, entrepreneurship, resilience and innovation.

There’s a strong manufacturing sector, including companies like Honda. Speaker, the Honda plant will be producing the electric CRV in early 2023, a direct result of this government’s commitment to making Ontario a powerhouse in electric vehicle production and greening our economy.

There’s Pilkington Glass that has produced car windshields for over 50 years. Since 2018, when this government, under Premier Ford, took office, the operations at the Pilkington plant have expanded significantly, producing more windshields and employing more people now than at any time in its long history.

There’s MacLean Engineering that is producing electric mining equipment and revolutionizing the mining sector with quieter and cleaner vehicles that are dramatically improving the working conditions underground. MacLean Engineering has been in operation for over 25 years, and it’s busier now than ever before, serving clients from around the world.

There’s boutique and cutting-edge manufacturing like Isowater, producing isotopes for medical and scientific uses; and Agnora Glass, producing architectural and specialized glass for clients such as Apple and the US Federal Aviation Administration.

There is a growing tech sector establishing itself in Simcoe–Grey: companies like Switch Video, WordJack Media, Deke, Interkom, Smash Reality, Adbank and more. These companies are at the forefront of the knowledge economy, and they are changing the economic landscape of Simcoe–Grey. They are creating well-paid sustainable green jobs in a quickly growing and evolving space. To support this growing sector, the town of Collingwood recently funded the creation of the South Georgian Bay Innovation and Technology Accelerator. The accelerator is a not-for-profit organization that works to support small local businesses and start-ups through access to mentoring and financial supports.

In 2019, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business ranked Collingwood sixth in Canada and first in Ontario among the top entrepreneurial communities. Collingwood has consistently made the top 10 since 2015. This ranking is recognition of the rich entrepreneurial spirit in Simcoe–Grey that is driving the growth of an important economic engine in our region.

The tourism and hospitality sector is yet another dynamic and robust economic driver in Simcoe–Grey. With the ski clubs in Blue Mountain Village in the north and Nottawasaga inn in the south, there are many thriving and diverse hotels and restaurants of all sizes in between that attract and serve millions of visitors to the riding each year.

In 2019, Maclean’s magazine ranked two Simcoe–Grey communities in the top 25 best places to live in Canada. New Tecumseth ranked fifth, and Collingwood ranked 22nd, further recognition of the beauty of our region, the dynamism of our economy and the quality of life to be had here.

It should come as no surprise to any member of this House that the people of Simcoe–Grey are its greatest strength. Whether you were born and raised in the riding or moved here recently, you are part of an inclusive and welcoming community, a community that has strong and vibrant service clubs, recreational and sporting associations, faith-based organizations and other community groups that provide varied programs, services and supports for their members and their communities.

Speaker, in the short time since the election, I have had the great pleasure of attending numerous events in my riding that speak to the power of our communities. On June 11, I attended the opening of a new cricket club in the neighbouring community of Shelburne. On that same day, I attended the Dufferin county multicultural festival, with the brilliant motto “Unity in Diversity.” I attended a park dedication in Alliston to honour local sports hero Deanne Rose, a member of Canada’s women’s soccer team that won bronze and gold medals at the last two Olympics. On a beautiful day in July, I participated in Collingwood’s Pride parade and was thrilled to see the crowds of enthusiastic supporters, young and old.

Speaker, when I see these events and the ways that our residents are committed to and champion our communities, I see tangible and powerful proof that there is far more that unites the residents of our communities and our vast province than divides us. I hope that this fact will inform and inspire all members of this House and the people of Ontario as we conduct the business of this province.

I grew up in Toronto, in the Yonge-Lawrence area, and did my elementary and secondary education there. However, Simcoe–Grey has been a very big part of my life. I first came to the area in 1965, when my family bought a century-old one-room schoolhouse that was recently decommissioned by the local school board. It was on the 10th Concession in what was then Nottawasaga township and is now part of Clearview township. The schoolhouse quickly became our second home and a very big part of our lives, and the region became our playground. In 1990, my wife, Susie, and I were married on the old ball diamond at the back, on home plate—truly the best home run of my life.

I did my undergraduate at the University of Western Ontario, a bachelor of arts and political science, but I spent much of my undergrad on the waters of Fanshawe Lake with the Western rowing team. Rowing became my passion, and after graduating, I moved to the west coast to join the national rowing team from 1984 to 1992. I competed in two Olympics and three world championships and won a silver medal in the men’s eight at the 1990 world championships.

Speaker, from sport, I have learned many valuable life lessons, many of which I carry with me to this day. Sport, like most endeavours, requires a strong worth ethic, and while this may sound trite, it is a simple fact that often separates the gifted from the successful. In my assessment, there are two critical types of work: hard work and teamwork. There are no shortcuts and no substitutes. To succeed in sport, as in politics, you must do the work. So again, I congratulate the members of this House on your hard work in winning your seat.

After my rowing career, I had to find a job. For those familiar with the sport of rowing, you’ll know that you spend countless hours on your butt looking backwards—skills that, while not suited for many occupations, are in fact ideal for the legal profession. So armed with the ability to sit on my butt and look backwards, I completed my law degree at the University of Ottawa and started practising law in Ottawa with the firm of Scott and Aylen. It was there that I was mentored by what I consider to be one of the great lawyers in Ontario, the late David Scott, the brother of Ian Scott, who was the Attorney General of our province from 1985 to 1990, and whose name is one of two on the Attorney General’s office building at 720 Bay. Dave was a courageous advocate who championed his clients’ interests while providing clear, concise and candid assessments of the merits of the case. He was a consummate professional who never let the heat of the trial alter his civility or his respect for opposing counsel, for the court or for the judicial process. After practising law for over 20 years, I have come to appreciate how fundamentally important these attributes are and how rarely they are embodied in one person.

Speaker, as I look at the eagle over the government side of the House, representing vigilance; the owl over the opposition side, representing wisdom; and the Indigenous carving over the entrance, representing the Seven Grandfather Teachings, I am reminded that these qualities—qualities I saw first-hand in David Scott—are essential for the workings of this House and this government.

My entry into politics was a journey that was not a straight one, and it was one that was directly shaped by my life experience, and two experiences in particular. On September 24, 1988, on a sunny afternoon in Seoul, Korea, I was in the stands in the athletes’ section with many of my teammates at the 30-metre mark of the track, awaiting the start of the men’s 100-metre final. Canada’s Ben Johnson, who was the defending world champion and world record holder, was taking on a field of talented opponents, including American Carl Lewis, the defending Olympic champion. Within the first 30 metres, Ben had established a commanding lead that he never relinquished, winning the race in 9.79 seconds, a new world record and Olympic record. Our nation and team celebrated. In less than 24 hours, the news of Ben Johnson’s positive test rocked the athlete’s village and dominated international sports news.

I remember the bedsheet hung from a balcony on the Canadian athletes’ building that read, “Hero to zero in 9.79 seconds.” The sheet belonged to Mark Tewksbury, a Canadian swimmer who would win gold four years later in Barcelona in the men’s 100 backstroke. Mark voiced the disgust and frustration of many of the athletes from Canada and around the world, but not all. For some, particularly those from the Eastern bloc countries, winning at any cost was the accepted practice.

Speaker, in the resulting commission of inquiry struck by the Canadian government to examine the use of performance-enhancing drugs, led by Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Charles Dubin, this was the main argument advanced by Ben Johnson and by his coach, Charlie Francis: To win, you needed to cheat, because your opposition was cheating. For them, the ends justified the means.

As an athlete, coach and parent, the findings of the Dubin inquiry and its impacts on international sport, from the Olympics to professional sport, I think are one of the single biggest events in the sporting world in the last 100 years. Canada stood to be counted. We changed how sport is conducted in the world. We called out cheaters, we enforced rules, and we made sure that there was an equal playing field for all, and that if you cheated, you were banned, you were disqualified, and you paid the price.

By way of contrast, in 1988, Canada did not win a single medal in rowing. The Canadian team as a whole won 10 medals—three gold, two silver and a bronze—and was ranked 19th overall. In 1992, the Canadian team won 18 medals—seven gold, four silver and seven bronze—and ranked 11th. Just to measure the impact on the sport of rowing, the Canadian team, which competed in only eight events, won five medals—four golds. They exceeded the total gold medal count from the 1988 games for the entire team. But more importantly, Canada stood for the proposition that process matters. How you do things is important. It’s not the end result; it’s how you get there. And, for that, I think Canada can stand proud in the world of international sport.

The second event I’m going to speak about: In 2012, the Collingwood council of the day sold 50% of its share in the local utility and used the funds to purchase two stand-alone sprung fabric membrane buildings for recreational facilities. The two transactions cost tens of millions of dollars and were made in very short succession and a quick space of time. The 2014 council asked questions about how these transactions were conducted and got no answers. The few answers we got were extremely unsatisfactory. So the council of the day asked the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Ontario to strike a judicial inquiry, and that inquiry was struck. Associate Chief Justice Frank Marrocco was the commissioner of the inquiry. Over 14 months of the inquiry, he looked into the two transactions and how they were conducted.

In November 2020, he released a report called transparency and accountability in local government. It was over four volumes and 1,000 pages, with 306 recommendations. I’m quoting from Justice Marrocco. He stated, “Undisclosed conflicts, unfair procurements and lack of transparency stained both transactions, leading to fair and troubling concerns from the public. The evidence I heard and the conclusions I have drawn show that those concerns were well founded. When the answers to legitimate questions are dismissive, spun or obfuscated, public trust further erodes.” Speaker, this is yet another powerful example that process matters—that how decisions are made is as important as the decisions that are being made. I was the deputy mayor on the 2014 council, and later mayor of the 2018 council, and I’m proud to say that the council, together with town staff, are aggressively implementing Justice Marrocco’s recommendations.

As a former ethics and business law instructor at Georgian College in Barrie, I want to share the observation of one of my students on the ethical decision-making process. She wrote that the true test is not whether you do the right thing when people are watching; it is whether you do right thing when no one is watching.

Speaker, I did not get here alone, and I want to thank my family and my campaign team for their commitment and hard work. Simply put, without their support and efforts, I would not be in this seat today.

My father, Bill Saunderson, has a long and proud history of working in the Progressive Conservative Party—from Dalton Camp to Robert Stanfield, from Brian Mulroney to Mike Harris. In fact, my father proudly served in this House as the member for Eglinton from 1995 to 1999 and was the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism before serving as Chair of the Ontario International Trade Corp. My mother, Meredith, was never far from the action and, in her quiet and highly effective manner, influenced the operations and outcomes of many leadership and election campaigns.

To my parents: I want to thank you both for your support and advice. You’ve forgotten more about politics than I am ever likely to know.

My wife, Susie, and my sons, Dylan, Max and Cole—I want to thank them for their unwavering support and understanding. They are my anchor.

And, finally, to my campaign team: You cannot know how much your support kept me going. My campaign chair, Don May, who has just undergone some very successful bowel surgery and is on the mend, and who also wants to compliment this government on the job they are doing to make sure our health care system continues to operate—and my campaign strategist Claire Tucker-Reid, who was also essential in my campaigns. I have many individuals to name, and I’m sure I will leave out a few, but I will try to do my best: Martin Rydlo, John Pappain, Brook Dyson, Pat Bollenberghe, Mike Jerry, Terry Geddes, George Watson, Ashley Boland, John Leckie, John White, Jeff Gilchrist, Foster Williams, Trish Williams, Margaret Anderson, David Anderson, Ken Burns, Kim Ellison, Alisha Johnson, Oliver Stone, Beth Dennis, Lauren Lamour, Martin Kuzma, Jack Martin, Jon Gillham, Patrick Whitten, Patricia Miscampbell, Pat Coe and Ted Woods. I want to thank all of them for their incredible efforts, and my sincere apologies if I omitted anyone.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to address the House today.

Further debate?

I’m very honoured to rise this afternoon to speak to government motion number 2, regarding my appointment as Deputy Speaker and the appointment of other presiding officers of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Speaker, during the past four years, I have admired the work that you do in your role as Speaker. You do an admirable job of maintaining order in this House, which at times can be impossible, because at times, emotions are running high and debate can get fairly rowdy. I want to assure you and other members of the Legislature that I truly understand the obligation of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker to maintain order and decorum in an impartial manner, in a way that rises above political affiliation. The roles of Speaker and Deputy Speaker are non-partisan apolitical roles, and I’m humbled to be considered to be appointed Deputy Speaker.

Many people in the House know that prior to becoming the MPP for Flamborough–Glanbrook, I spent 35 years as a broadcast journalist. Most of that time, or at least part of that time, I was able to cover stories that were heartfelt. I was born and raised and grew up in northern Ontario, as I’ve mentioned many times. That opportunity to live in northern Ontario as a young adult and to work right across Ontario in the broadcast media gave me a genuine understanding of the differences between communities across Ontario, their challenges, their strengths. It was a unique experience that I’m proud that I can bring to my job as MPP for Flamborough–Glanbrook.

Thirty-five years ago, social media did not exist, and most people relied on traditional journalism as the source for their news. I was really, really proud of the role that I played, reporting on the events of the day in communities right across, as I said, Ontario, telling the stories of the people who were about to shape our future. Some of those stories, as I mentioned, had happy endings and involved really good people who simply wanted to make a better life for themselves and for their families.

I want to share one story of a man and his wife, who I came to know and came to love: Ray Lewis. Back in 1932, Ray Lewis became the first Black Canadian Olympic medal winner. He finished bronze in the 4 by 400 at the Los Angeles Olympics. His story was compelling. It was tragic. I remember he was a porter for the railroad. When they would work and stop the train, he would get out and train by running beside the train. That was one of the ways he was able to improve his time and eventually compete at the 1932 Olympics. His wife, Vivienne, was absolutely beautiful. I spent hours with them, documenting their story, and it was one of the stories I was most proud that I produced in my time at CHCH-TV. I used to take her grocery shopping. In turn, she would make me this pound cake that I swear was the tastiest cake I’ve ever had. It was one of those stories that I’ll never forget—people who enter your life who you want to maintain a lifelong friendship with.

Another couple I came to know and love came into my life during the Bosnian war. I was assigned to cover one of the first couples that who came to Canada. They actually came to Hamilton, as refugees from Bosnia. When I showed up at their motel room, I recognized that they were about the same age as myself and my husband, and their children were the same age. The woman, the mother of this couple, of these children, spoke a little bit of English. So we chatted, and we chatted, and we chatted, and we chatted. I thought, “I can’t believe this. Here is a woman, her husband, her very young children, his brothers”—who all had worked for the Canadian government, by the way. One had worked for the Red Cross, one was a translator for the Canadian government, and one was a judge. The judge’s name was on a hit list, and they had to flee. I remember them telling me the story. It was so compelling. These men were six-foot-three, six-foot-four, and they had all packed into a car. When they got to the border to flee Kosovo, somebody recognized them at the border. His name, as I said, was on a hit list. The guard was actually a friend and snuck them out. They left with nothing. They came to Canada with nothing. I became really good friends with them. They would come to my house. Our kids were the same age; they played. Today this man, who came over here with his young family with absolutely nothing, is a family physician in London, Ontario. It’s just such a remarkable story.

These are the good stories, the good people in Ontario. Unfortunately, as you know, not all news is good news. I spent a lot of my time as a journalist, really, documenting the ugly side of humanity.

Back in the 1990s, again, I travelled to Doha, Qatar, as a young journalist to report on the Canadian troops at Canada Dry One. I absolutely love our military. I have such deep admiration and respect for any man or woman who will don a uniform and fight for their country. I assumed that sentiment would be prevalent in Qatar. You have to remember that back in the 1990s, this was in the height of very biased reporting when it came to the Gulf War—jingoism. As I ventured out into the streets while setting my camera aside and started talking to many of the locals, I was shocked to discover that we weren’t being embraced with open arms. There was another side to the story: people who were not happy that Canada had sent its troops to Doha, who weren’t pleased that the base was located just outside of Doha. It was just such an eye-opener because, as I’ve said, we were at the height of this patriotism, and I was realizing that, once again, as a journalist, there are two sides to every story. It was a side I had to tell—the side that, yes, we were very proud of our troops, but there were also other people who were questioning why we were there in Doha.

Being objective isn’t always easy, but I have to tell you again: I haven’t always been partisan. I spent a great deal of my time as a reporter covering all levels of government, from city hall to provincial government—one of the reasons I got into politics—to federal government. But we had to do it. We had to do it objectively. The story wouldn’t go to air if we showed any form of bias. I had a job to do. I had an opinion, but that opinion could not come through in the work that I was filing.

The most difficult part—I found, in my career as a journalist—of having to be objective was when I started to cover trials. I covered trials, actually, throughout my career, and some of the horrific trials, too. This was back in the 1990s. We had the Paul Bernardo murder and abduction of young girls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy. These were horrific stories that dominated our headlines and really captivated all of our attention. My colleagues—one of whom still works for me today—actually had to sit in those courtrooms and listen to those stories and still come out with an objective report.

One of the last stories I covered was the Tim Bosma murder trial. Again, your job is to report the facts as you sit and listen to the pain that his family went through as the evidence came forward when they were trying the two accused, Mark Smich and Dellen Millard.

The last trial I covered, actually, before I ventured into municipal politics was that of a young man. He was only 18 years of age, and he had been out with his friends on what we call Supercrawl in Hamilton. It’s a big deal in the city of Hamilton—probably 100,000 people walking around, a lot of people on the street. He had been out with a bunch of kids. They had a few drinks, perhaps, before they went into a bar. He was underage. He went into the bar, came out, bought a girl a rose. We often see street vendors in there, encouraging the young men to buy their date a rose, which he did. He ventured a little down the street, turned around the corner, was just in front of a Tim Hortons, and a man he had encountered earlier in the evening—a man in his fifties—fatally stabbed him. And that was it. It was horrific.

This young man was Portuguese. We had translators in the courtroom. His mother sobbed throughout the entire trial. It was gut-wrenching, and it was very difficult not to portray the pain and sorrow of all of these family members because of the absolutely unnecessary death of this young man who was simply turning a corner and walking down the street—but we had to.

The man was convicted of second-degree murder. I remember, months later when I was politicking, knocking on doors, I ran into the accused’s sister, who was quite upset with the reporting because she felt we didn’t show the other side and who she claimed was the victim, who was actually the man who was accused in the murder of this young man.

Speaker, the reason I’m bringing these stories forward is because in the role of Deputy Speaker, in the role of Speaker, you have to be objective. I’ve spent 35 years covering many, many stories where it would be so easy to simply state your opinion, to include your opinion in something because that’s how you feel, because you’re emotionally invested in the story of the day, but you can’t. That’s not your job. Your job is to look at all of the facts, present all of the facts and be as objective as possible.

Speaker, I believe that my experience in broadcast journalism has really prepared me well for this role. As I’ve mentioned, journalists are obligated to be impartial. We are required to hear and to consider all opinions and views on all issues. As a reporter, I had to reach out, speak to people and listen to the views of all of those people who were involved in the story, regardless of whether I agreed with them or not. I wasn’t allowed to allow my own opinion, my viewpoint, my bias, to get in the way of a balanced report, and I’m very proud of the role I played in that.

When I was a news reporter, I covered Hamilton city council, which I eventually ran in, and I had to report on the opinions and priorities of the councillors of the day. I kept my opinions to myself. My views were not reflected in my public reporting. I could not be accused of being a biased reporter.

For members of the opposition who may not think that I can relate to the so-called ordinary working people, my father was a railroad engineer. My mother was one of only four women in an executive role, as a receptionist who worked at a mine in our local community, and I went on to become the leader of our bargaining unit at CHCH in Hamilton. I understood the issues that faced the rank-and-file workers, and I fought to protect their wages and benefits and to improve working conditions, especially for the more vulnerable employees, and I was often clashing with management. I know how to negotiate. I’ve sat at the negotiating table, advocating for members. I was a voice for my colleagues.

During the recession in 2008, Canwest Global was threatening to simply shut down CHCH-TV. More than 150 jobs were at stake, and I went to bat for the employees and for CHCH Television itself. I travelled to Ottawa to speak before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and a parliamentary committee to fight for CHCH and to fight for all other struggling independent television stations. I wanted to preserve local news.

Speaker, I’ve been here for four years now. I know how the legislative process works. I’ve served on numerous committees, and prior to being elected to represent the people in Flamborough–Glanbrook, I served on Hamilton city council. I did so with respect and decorum. I received a lot of pushback as, I would say, one of the few Conservatives on a very left-leaning council. I received a lot of pushback from other councillors and members of the public—pushback from people who wanted to protect their own agendas and their own pet projects—but I stood my ground and respectfully defended my decision.

There has been a lot of discussion in this House recently about the importance of diversity and representation, and I am truly honoured to be appointed Deputy Speaker. I believe I have the background and experience to do the job well. I’ve been recognized for my work in advocacy in my hometown of Hamilton. I was recipient of the YWCA Woman of the Year in politics. And I never miss an opportunity to encourage women to run for political office. I served on the National Advisory Board for Canadian Culture. I’ve served on many local boards, such as Banyan Community Services, a not-for-profit organization serving at-risk youth and people with disabilities.

I’m a strong voice for my community, and I’ve been there championing local causes. I’ve been promoting initiatives that offer people skilled training, because I believe it’s the path to getting a better, well-paying job. I have assisted manufacturing firms in their bid to grow their business. I’ve been a voice for job creation in Hamilton and right across Ontario.

I’m both honoured and humbled by this appointment as Deputy Speaker. I promise you I will be fair and impartial. I will respect the integrity of this House. I will respect the role of each and every member of this House. I will respect parliamentary traditions, which include the right to be heard. I understand that debate can get very emotional, and I admire my colleagues, who are passionate about the issues that are most important to them, but in my role as Deputy Speaker I will ensure that debate is conducted in a respectful, courteous and civil manner. I will do my best to treat each member fairly. I will listen to each member respectfully and objectively.

This is my second term serving the people of Flamborough–Glanbrook. I’ve been in this House now for over four years, and I understand that members have differing views on issues. We all come from differing backgrounds, cultures and experiences. I’ve been in the thick of it. When the debate turns contentious—and heated at times, in fact—you have called me out on a few occasions, Mr. Speaker, but that’s because I’m passionate about the issues that I believe are important to people across Ontario and to people in this House. But, Speaker, you were doing your job. You were maintaining decorum and order in this House.

Speaker, if this motion is passed, I will be honoured and grateful to sit in the chair to serve as Deputy Speaker of the House.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise in this House to deliver my inaugural speech today. I’m honoured to represent the people of Timmins.

I want to recognize the historical connections of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit nations to this land. I was the first mayor of Timmins to acknowledge the traditional territory before the council meetings in Timmins, and today I would like to acknowledge the people of Mattagami First Nation who are part of Treaty 9 and have traditional territory in Timmins.

I would like to start, Mr. Speaker, by thanking my family for their support and encouragement throughout my journey to become a member of provincial Parliament. Thank you to my loving wife, Debbie; my children, Shaelah and Stewart, and their spouses, Lance and Alicia; and our grandchildren, Ella, Alivia and Charlie.

I’d also like to thank my campaign chairman, Gaetan Malette, who was the architect of my campaigns as mayor for Timmins, and certainly the architect during the campaign for MPP here.

I have deep roots in Timmins. My father was born in 1920 behind the mill of the Dome mine, very close to a place called Little Italy. My father’s parents arrived in Porcupine to farm, not to mine. Both the Stewart family and the Pirie family were farmers from the Ottawa Valley. The Piries arrived in Canada in the late 1800s, and the Stewart family arrived in the middle of the 1700s—both families from Scotland.

My grandparents came up north from the Ottawa Valley to farm; they, however, were not the first. The TNO railway was constructed to get to the farming areas of the Lesser Clay Belt and Great Clay Belt of northeastern Ontario. The TNO, you may not know, but it’s now called the ONR. The railway was built to join the trans-Canada rail systems in Cochrane. It was envisioned that Cochrane would grow to be the size of Winnipeg, with good reason, as there are 10 million acres of arable land in the Great Clay Belt, more than Manitoba.

Cochrane has been a rail centre for quite some time. You may not know this—everybody knows that Tim Horton is from Cochrane, but his father was a railway man, and he worked along the railroads. It may be of a little bit of interest that Conn Smythe started his career before the First World War—I guess he was rebelling, with his father—and he had a homestead just to the west of Cochrane. He gave that up; it was a bad idea. He sold that, and the individual he sold that farm to, unfortunately, died in the great 1916 forest fire. So I guess we’re very lucky that Conn decided to move out of Cochrane.

Cobalt: As the railway was being developed, they found silver in what is now Cobalt. Cobalt was by far the largest silver camp in North America, making the bonanza deposits in Nevada small, in comparison. These deposits in Cobalt at their height produced 40 million ounces of silver a year—a huge production. These discoveries quickly led to the rush of exploration in Gowganda, Elk Lake, Larder Lake, Swastika, Kirkland Lake and the Porcupine.

Cobalt was the reason why the Haileybury School of Mines was established, which is still one of the campuses of Northern College. These campuses also include Kirkland Lake, Porcupine and Moosonee. Moosonee is the only campus on a saltwater coast in Ontario. Yes, we have a saltwater coast in Ontario.

Moose Factory was established by the Hudson’s Bay Co., which was formed on May 2, 1670. For a time, James Bay was a flourishing centre of international trade. The trade went north to the coastal communities and from there to Europe.

I have maps from the early 1800s, where northern Ontario is far better-mapped than southern Ontario. Lakes in my area, like Night Hawk Lake, Frederick House Lake and Porcupine Lake, are well-mapped and have the original Indigenous names. They were the original trading routes that the Indigenous people used to get into the coastal areas.

Early mining maps show clearly the trail from Fort Matachewan and the very upper reaches of the Montreal River. This was one of the original ways the Indigenous people travelled to get to the northern coastal areas from the Ottawa and Montreal river systems to the Mattagami and Moose systems to bypass Abitibi River, which was treacherous through the Abitibi Canyon. Those sites now, of course, have all been harnessed by hydro and are generating millions of kilowatts of power a year.

An Indigenous man by the name of Stephen Lafricain was the last factor of Fort Matachewan, and he was instrumental in the discovery of gold in Porcupine. Stephen’s father was Jamaican, and his mother was Inuit. He was born in Labrador around 1830. An interesting anecdote is that he served with the Union forces in the Civil War. In that time, well-to-do individuals could buy out of their services, and Stephen took up that opportunity. He ended up working in the fur-trading industry with Hudson’s Bay, and his earliest trips in Porcupine were around the 1880s. As you could expect, he knew the region very well.

While wintering in the Night Hawk area, Harry Preston came to know Stephen over a couple of winters. In that period, Stephen told Harry where to find gold in Porcupine. Harry Preston was a member of the Wilson party, which discovered the Dome mine—the Big Dome, as we call it. The Dome mill is still operating and will continue to operate for quite some time. It is where the ore from the Borden mine, Canada’s first all-electric mill, is being processed.

There is L’Africain Avenue in Matachewan, and perhaps someday we’ll have a street in Timmins named after Stephen in the Porcupine. But I digress.

By 1920, my grandparents had left farming because mining was simply the best economic opportunity in the region, with mines being found on a regular basis. My grandparents raised five children: four boys and one girl. The youngest, my Uncle Bill, lives in London with his lovely Jean. Jean will be 88 years old soon. My Aunt Jean was also Jim Prentice’s aunt. Jim was, in my opinion, perhaps the best Prime Minister we never had. Mr. Prentice’s career intertwined with mine somewhat, particularly with Indigenous affairs, and he and I became good friends.

Mr. Prentice’s father was Eric, or Doc. At 17, Eric, or Doc, was the youngest individual ever to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was the older brother of Dean. Dean, in the off-season, used to come and visit his dad and mom who were the custodians for the Dome public school and lived in the school. Dean played for the New York Rangers, and it was a thrill for all of us young kids when Dean showed up.

My dad started to work at the Dome after he finished his grade 13 at 16. He did not see much need to advance his education as, in 1936, thousands of men were lined up for jobs in mines out of Porcupine and, quite frankly, he did not, nor did his family, have any money to go on to university. He often told stories about thousands of men lined up for one job at the Dome. So he stayed at the Dome and worked there. He started at 16 with the kid bull gang; you couldn’t work underground, but you could work on the surface. He married my mother before leaving to go to war, and the only place he ever lived outside of a mining village, up until he retired, was during his tour of duty in the Second World War.

My mother’s family was British. They weren’t English—my grandmother was very strident on that—they were British. My grandfather was born in London. He was 15 when he joined up to join the First World War. He decided—when he got into France and he was in the trenches, he thought that wasn’t such a good idea. He told his commanding officer that he lied about his age. The commanding officer said, “You’re out of luck. You’re going to stay there,” and he had to stay there. So he survived the First World War.

He met my grandmother while he was going through the discharge process. My grandmother was one of 28 children—not all of them survived, as you can imagine. Both grandparents were Roman Catholic. Because of the number of kids in my grandmother’s family, she was raised by an uncle, as my grandmother used to say, who had some means, and she was raised in Bath, England.

When my grandparents got married, they flipped a coin to see if they would immigrate to Australia or Canada; Canada won. They started their life in Canada, living outside of Guelph on a farm. Again, better economic opportunities appeared in the form of a job in an auto plant in Oshawa, and that is where my mom was born, one of five girls and two boys.

The Depression arrived in 1929. My grandfather would not go on the dole, as he called it, so when he lost his job, they simply closed the door, leaving everything as it was. They moved north to a little place called Larocque, which was on the ONR line. My mother would tell us how she felt when they left their house in Oshawa, containing her bedroom with her dolls and her dollhouse, with only their suitcases and just simply shut the door behind them, leaving her, as a six-year-old little girl, devastated. They spent the first winter in a sod hut on the side of a hill, attempting to earn a living farming. He realized quickly that there were better opportunities in Porcupine, and they moved there.

Again, life was very tough. They found a place to stay in an old bunkhouse at the Little Pet Mine south of the Dome Mine, in the bush with only a dirt floor. Again, my mother used to tell us stories: They had to strip the moss off the rocks to seal the cracks between the timbers to try to stay warm in the winter and keep the bugs out in the summer. I cannot imagine what my grandmother thought about that, as a young woman who was raised in Bath, England. My grandfather worked in the boiler rooms in Oshawa and, as such, he found work in the powerhouse at the Dome and was given a house in Dome-Ex, and that’s where my dad lived as well. Life began to get a little bit easier.

My parents started to date, and if you can imagine this, because my grandparents on my mother’s side were Roman Catholic and my father’s grandparents on his side, of course, were Protestant, they would get into fist fights, once again proving that children are smarter than their parents, if for no other reason than they are able to leave the parents’ bias behind.

My dad and mom married before my dad entered the navy and learned his trade as an electrician there, serving as a chief petty officer on a corvette. My father worked for the Dome for 47½ years and was the chief electrician there. My parents never owned their own home, but they raised seven children, two of whom were born during the war—my older brother and older sister. All of them were successful.

My father, mother and all of my siblings felt very, very proud of the fact that they, obviously, spent their early days in these little towns called Dome and Dome-Ex, which revolved around mining. Our lives just simply revolved around that. Our outdoor rink was right beside our house. We literally lived on the outdoor rink during the winter. We skated across the laneway to the rink in the morning, and we kept our skates on over lunch as Mom put carpets down over the kitchen floor. In the summer, we had tennis courts, ball fields, soccer fields.

Mining was intertwined with our lives on a daily basis in these villages. In the wintertime, while playing hockey on outdoor rinks, we counted the skips of ore hoisted to the surface, and in the summertime the doors were opened to cool the big hoist room motors, and as such we could actually see the Lilly controllers spin and hear the signals calling out indicating what levels the men wanted to go to. We had an elementary school, Dome Public School, and a grocery store and curling rink.

We kept time by the Dome whistle, which was a steam whistle that announced shift changes and noon-hour. Once a year at New Year’s, at 12 midnight, it rang for two minutes. It also used to ring every November 11 just before 11 o’clock, just to announce to all the workers that, of course, there was Remembrance Day. It also rang when there was trouble in the mines, a sound which caused the hair on the back of your neck to stand on end.

We and everyone who ever lived there felt that it was the best place in the world. Mining was just great. The career was a great way to live. My son feels the same, and he is now the fourth generation to work in the mining industry, in Porcupine at the Dome site.

So with this description of the mining life in Porcupine, it was a real shock to find out early in my career that the mining industry were the bad guys. I lived in a mining community that did progressive reclamation well before there were any regulations to do so. We were excellent corporate citizens with full social licence from the communities to operate, and yet we were the bad guys. In the movie Avatar, the mining guys really are bad guys, but they had no resemblance to the mining guys I knew of. We all seemed to be tarred with the same brush, and it troubled me.

In my career, I was lucky enough to travel all around the world, taking part in every facet of the mining process, including exploration, mine development, front-office activities and as an executive. The mines of the world are never found in resorts; they are found in the middle of countries, and that’s why I’ve travelled to the interiors of many countries across the world. I’ve seen the grinding poverty in South Africa and in Manila. I have worked through the political instability of Latin America and Venezuela. I have worked in developing countries like Papua New Guinea. We operated mines in Tunisia, and we closed mines there as well. But in every community that we operated in, in every country, we saw how mining elevated the standard of living, including Indigenous communities here in Timmins and in Canada. Whenever I arrived back home in Vancouver or Toronto, I felt blessed that we lived in a country like Canada that was democratic, and also a country of peace and prosperity. I was proud to work in the Canadian mining industry.

Mr. Speaker, I saw how through using industry-leading practices like revenue-sharing agreements, the five signatory nations of the Musselwhite agreement lifted the standard of living in all of these communities, to the point that other Indigenous nations were asking us to explore in their territory. I know the tremendous potential of revenue-sharing agreements and the power of economic reconciliation.

I’ve worked with Wahgoshig Resources, the economic development arm of Wahgoshig First Nation, and formed a diamond-drilling company building capacities and competencies. As the WFN lifted their standard of living, they built better housing and health clinics, all because of the development on their traditional lands and taking advantage of the mining opportunities then.

I know how enlightened the Critical Minerals Strategy is, with its promise of economic advancement and transformation to a green economy, matching the mineral potential of the north and the economic might of the south. We cannot achieve our climate goals without developing these critical minerals. We are no longer the bad guys; as I said, we cannot be green without mining.

I know this government believes in mining for all the right reasons, and its actions to make things happen have been proven by Côté Lake, which languished for 17 years despite the backing and support of the local Indigenous partners prior to this government appointing a senior environmental officer to steer this project through. It’s a critical mass of ounces, 20 million ounces—that’s a world-class deposit.

That’s why I felt so grateful to walk into the chamber in the magnificent homage to democracy and peace here in Ontario. I will admit that when I walked through the doors in this Legislature, it was an overwhelming experience. My brothers and sisters felt the same way because of our family’s rich history with mining in Ontario. The fact that I was walking down these stairs was an honour because of what Canada and Ontario has to offer.

Our country is blessed with solutions to the problems we experience in our communities, but I know things still aren’t perfect. We have 41,000 people in Timmins, and I know that number was on the downward trend. I’ve seen how economic challenges can lead to poverty, as well as mental health and addictions crises. At any given time, 95% of our homeless in Timmins are from the coastal communities. From my experience in the mining sector, I know the mining sector can provide solutions to our most serious problems by building communities and creating career paths that lead to prosperity.

Developing mines provides opportunities for Indigenous communities to participate and become leaders as we develop the green economy. Just last week, I participated in an honouring ceremony with the Chief of TTN, Bruce Archibald; RoseAnne Archibald, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations; Alison Linklater, Grand Chief to the Mushkegowuk; and Victor Linklater, Deputy Chief of NAN. These are the leaders of the TTN community, a community that is fully supportive of the Canada Nickel project just to the north of Timmins and is participating as an owner.

This is how you achieve economic reconciliation. This is a green project, and the ore is hosted in serpentine which absorbs CO₂. The TTN own the power transmission and, as such, I said during the ceremony that TTN is helping in solving the climate crisis. Mining is the solution to the climate crisis. I’ve always said you can’t go green without mining. Additionally, every parent wants their children to have a better life than they did. These projects allow this to happen.

Timmins is a vital economic engine of northeastern Ontario, but we can do better. We need to continue to open more mines and create opportunities for all people to enter the workforce and succeed, and for the Indigenous people to participate in economic reconciliation. We have to keep developing our agricultural sector to support our Mennonite community, who are rapidly redeveloping dormant farmland.

We have a government that is going to build the infrastructure we need to support new mines and resource development, including building roads to the Ring of Fire. That’s exactly what we have in Premier Ford’s government.

I look forward to serving the people of Timmins in my capacity as MPP and serving the entire province as Minister of Mines.

Further debate?

Further debate?