In September, I attended on a ride-along out of 51 Division with Toronto Police Service with officer Jeff Gough. Very shortly into that ride-along, we ended up responding to what ultimately became a death, the death of a very frail and elderly but much-beloved patriarch of a family. I was off in the corner while events were unfolding, but what I witnessed was one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen. It was managed by the firefighters, the paramedics and the police.

As I watched these individuals manage the scene and work on this elderly gentleman and work with his family, I saw something that I think will probably stick with me forever. What I noticed was, this is something that, for these first responders, may have been the first call in their night, but for me it was something absolutely incredible. The respect, the honour, the diligence with which they worked was absolutely breathtaking. It struck me that this is just part of their job. This is the job that they do as first responders. For me, it was epic, and for them it was business as usual.

It was absolutely my honour to invite them here today. They’re sitting over there. We have officer Jeff Gough, officer Chris Atwood, officer Julia Grant, paramedic Christian Vantellingen, paramedic David Rundle, paramedic superintendent Michael Larsen, and not present but involved, firefighter Joseph Luongo and firefighter Zachary Miller. Again, thank you so much for all of your service to Toronto and to our community at large.

In addition to the individuals I mentioned earlier, I also want to note that we have Toronto Paramedic Services Commander Ric Rangel-Bron, as well as Toronto Paramedic Services Deputy Chief Mike Wionzek, present in the gallery as well.

Again, thank you so much for coming and thank you for your service.