Okay, I just thought the government would want to speak to this particular piece of legislation, if you’re so proud of it. But I’m very happy, Madam Speaker—

I join the debate here on consumer protection, and I just want to say, this is a government that continually says, “Why don’t you support us? Why don’t you like us? Why don’t you vote with us?” You give us so many reasons to take pause and to take a step back when you present legislation. I’ve always said in this House, much of it has to do with the process of creating said legislation. If you do your due diligence, if you do appropriate consultation with stakeholders, you will create a better piece of legislation.

Why the government has brought forward a consumer protection bill that hasn’t been updated in a fair sense since 2002—and we know so much more about where the weaknesses are in consumer protection for Ontario. We know who’s actually being taken advantage of: primarily seniors; to a large degree, new immigrants and refugees; and then there are a number of marginalized folks in our communities who have no choice at some point, right? They sign on to a contract, sometimes for hot water heaters, sometimes for a service around the house, and they are locked in.

The government is well aware of this. You’re well aware of the vulnerabilities. I know as an MPP in Waterloo that the services that our constituency office provides—we are seeing a growing number of seniors come into our office, I want to say primarily women, who have signed a contract for some services, who have been promised—because it’s incredibly misleading. The company is incredibly misleading. They have an official Ontario name. Sometimes, they use the provincial government’s logo and people feel that this is a service that is legitimate—so why Bill 142 actually prevents this from happening in Ontario is beyond me.

I will say that when you look at this bill—and any bill that aims to increase protections for consumers has to be given some consideration for approval, right? Because it is so, so bad out there right now. This bill does fall short. If there is a willingness on behalf of the government to send this bill to a committee and have that committee actually try to make the legislation stronger, we will have many amendments and many recommendations for the government with regard to Bill 142. I hope that there’s a genuine interest in getting to that place. I know that sometimes bills get sent to committee where they die. They die there. I personally have a very important bill that’s currently at social policy, the Till Death Do Us Part act—

I would just think that the government right now is really desperately looking for a channel changer, like if I put myself in your seat. And I think that if you want to extend an olive branch to the people of this province after really undermining some core trust issues, a lack of transparency and accountability—that core trust is broken—calling that bill to social policy and having an honest discussion about why we still separate seniors in long-term care or care options, why it’s not enshrined in legislation that we want couples who have invested in this province, have paid their taxes, have volunteered in their communities and then, at the end of their lives, much to their dismay and stress, they find themselves unable to find care options where they can stay together—and I’ve said this from the very day. When the new member from Cambridge was elected, I said, “Listen, if there’s ever a non-partisan issue, reuniting seniors in care options should actually be something that we can all agree on.”

I just want to say, just on this final piece about the committee and where bills go and trying to make legislation better, I’m happy to say that if you call the Till Death Do Us Part act and you call the experts and we call in the delegations and we can make that piece of legislation stronger, I’m 100% already there. Time is ticking, though. There is an urgency here. I don’t want to get emotional about it, but Jim and Joan McLeod have been separated now for six years, and they’ve been married for 65 years. The clock is running down here. So let’s help each other out, hey? Let’s get a good-news story out of Queen’s Park, because it isn’t happening any time soon, and let’s call the bill to committee, identify the weaknesses in the legislation—

Interjection.