It’s an honour today to rise to speak to Bill 41. It’s an even deeper honour to be one of the co-sponsors of this bill. I want to thank my colleague from Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock, my colleague from Spadina–Fort York, and I’m most thankful to my colleague from Ottawa–Vanier for taking the lead on bringing this legislation forward.

If passed, Bill 41 would be the second bill in Ontario’s history to be sponsored by all four political parties here in the Legislature. This bill is especially important, Speaker, because it will make a huge concrete, practical difference in the lives of survivors of human trafficking.

I want to, as my colleagues have mentioned, give a shout-out to Richard Dunwoody, who first brought to my attention the issue and the financial challenges that survivors of human trafficking face. I want to thank everybody who has provided input on this bill, provided feedback on this bill and has worked hard throughout the process of this bill; getting it to the place it is this morning. I know the details of this bill—we’ve had some long conversations about it, some conversations in committee about how it would be implemented, but I want to say that what has been unequivocally clear to me throughout all those conversations is the unanimous support for this bill and what this bill intends to accomplish.

If passed, Bill 41 will provide great relief to the survivors of human trafficking from incurred fraudulent debt and, in doing so, allow them to move one step closer to reclaiming their freedom and their lives as survivors of human trafficking. Speaker, 65% of police-reported human trafficking cases in Canada in the last decade were right here in Ontario, with 95% of those cases affecting women, teenagers and marginalized groups in our society. In most of these cases, survivors were unaware of the accumulating fraudulent debt that they were accumulating because of their trafficking situation.

If you think about it—think about the trauma, think about what it has done to your life, and think about the courage it takes to survive and remove yourself from human trafficking. And then think about how you must feel when you realize that the debt that has nothing to do with you but is fraudulently in your name is preventing you from getting a student loan or applying for a car loan, applying for a mortgage, possibly renting an apartment, securing a credit card. So many of the things and the financial tools and instruments that so many people just take for granted as part of everyday life—imagine that being denied to you. That’s what’s so important about this bill.

But I will say, in my conversations with survivors of human trafficking, there’s even a deeper importance to this bill. I had one survivor tell me that every time she heard the phone ring, it retriggered her trauma. Most of the times when that phone rang, it was a debt collector trying to collect the debt that her trafficker incurred in her name. She said to me, “Yes, I want my financial life back. I want the independence and freedom that brings. But what I want as much or more than that is just for the phone to stop ringing, so I don’t have to relive that trauma each and every time I hear it.”

When we talk about what we can do and what a difference this bill is going to make in somebody’s life, I think of those stories. I think of those stories, Speaker. This bill will open doors of financial opportunity that will allow survivors to move forward.

I want to say to my colleagues on all sides of the House that by coming together today and—I’m hoping—unanimously voting in support of this bill, we are enabling survivors to move past a dark chapter of their life.

I want to echo my colleague from Spadina–Fort York’s comments about some of the other things we can do, because we know that while this is a vital step, there are more steps to take. Today, Ontario interval and transitional housing supporters are here as part of the Wrapped in Courage Campaign. We know that a number of survivors of human trafficking end up in shelters, and those shelters are underfunded. Those shelters need support. We need support for victim compensation. We need to ensure we address the housing affordability crisis so those survivors have a safe, affordable home to go to.

Speaker, I’m proud of the work that we’ve all done together across party lines to bring this bill forward. It’s a positive step. It’s a step I believe we can all be proud of. Once again, I want to thank my colleague from Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock, not only for your advocacy on this bill but for your advocacy on human trafficking. My colleague from Spadina–Fort York, thank you for standing up and bringing Richard Dunwoody’s vision to reality through this bill. And my colleague from Ottawa–Vanier, thank you for having the insight to say, “You know what? Let’s bring all parties together to sponsor this bill, to not make it just in my name, but to make it in the name of all four parties.” Because I think it is so important, Speaker, to send a direct message to the survivors of human trafficking that this is a bill, and you as a survivor—we see you, we hear you, we’re going to act for you and we’re going to do it in a way that brings everybody in this Legislature together, to say that all Ontarians have your back. And we’re going to give you the tools to have financial freedom.

Thank you, Speaker, and thank you all for your participation in today’s debate.