I’m so pleased to follow my honourable colleague the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, to share more insights about the proposed Enhancing Professional Care for Animals Act, 2024. I’d like to begin by recognizing the work that the minister has done on this important file and for her leadership in guiding us along the road to where we are today. She’s very quick to provide a lot of insight and a lot of acknowledgement in others, and she’s very humble, but her leadership has truly shepherded this bill to where it is today.

On a personal note, I’d like to also recognize the caring, professional team at the Leamington Veterinary Clinic, which is where my family has taken our beloved dog, Caesar, for over 13 years of exemplary care.

Thank you to Dr. Dana Korpasova and her team, and all veterinary clinics across Ontario, for the work you do to keep our beloved pets and our farm animals healthy and safe. You are truly invaluable in our communities and integral to our families. You’re critical points of contact, care, important resources, and friends. You’re helping inform us and guide us on where our legislation needs to go in the future.

Veterinary medicine has been regulated as a profession in Ontario since 1877, for 147 years now. Access to veterinary care that is regulated and overseen in the public interest is important to everyone.

In 2020, it was estimated that 58% of Canadian households owned at least one dog or cat—a figure believed to have risen over the past few years.

Veterinary care is also important to our food supply chain. In order to raise healthy animals, livestock and poultry, Ontario’s producers need access to comprehensive vet care for their animals.

Veterinarians and veterinary technicians also serve as important public health care components to prevent the spread of serious diseases, such as rabies, and for food safety.

As the minister noted in her remarks, the Veterinarians Act was last updated in 1989, 35 years ago. As we can appreciate, so much has changed since that time, particularly with developments in technology. Technological advances have certainly transformed many practices and approaches to care. Vet care is increasingly being provided by a team of qualified professionals, including both veterinarians and veterinary technicians.

Vet technicians have specialized education, training and experience in animal care that are vital to the care team in many veterinary settings. While registered veterinary technicians have an association that advocates on their behalf—the Ontario Association of Veterinary Technicians—the current legislative framework under the vet act does not formally recognize the role RVTs play in animal care.

I feel very fortunate that my community hosts the exceptional Ridgetown campus of the University of Guelph, which has long been one of the most highly regarded vet tech schools in Ontario and an important partner in my community of Chatham-Kent–Leamington. I’m very grateful to the faculty, staff and students at Ridgetown campus who have welcomed me into their classrooms to meet with, speak to and learn from everyone there.

The very fact that vet techs aren’t recognized by the Veterinarians Act is just one example of how this act no longer reflects modern vet practices. This is precisely why the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is proposing to update the current legislative framework for the vet profession, to open the door to establishing laws that are flexible and modern, and to support a veterinary sector that supports both pet owners and our thriving agriculture industry.

As the minister explained, these proposed changes are designed to improve access to vet care by letting the college define a broader scope of practice for vet techs and to bring veterinary technicians under the same regulatory college and legislation as veterinarians. This proposed legislation would streamline the complaints process, better define the scope of practice for vet medicine and improve transparency. Modernizing the veterinary profession will make it more responsive to public expectations around governance, transparency, oversight and, most importantly, trust.

Like many regulatory bodies in Ontario that oversee a profession, the veterinary regulatory college operates based on a self-regulation system. Members elect peers to serve on the governing council, together with non-licensed individuals appointed by the Ontario government. The principal object of the college is to regulate the practice of veterinary medicine and to govern members in accordance with the act. The regulatory college overseeing veterinary professionals has expressed its alignment to our proposed changes that aim to enhance ministerial oversight of the regulatory college’s governing council.

Like any legislation in place for decades, it’s imperative to revisit this legislation to ensure it continues to serve its purpose efficiently and effectively. It’s crucially important to consider, in these proposed changes, the needs of veterinarians, veterinary technicians, the public, and the agriculture and food industry. The minister described the consultation process very well, but I want to take a moment here to thank the Associate Minister of Housing for his work, the work he did last year to ensure voices from across our province were heard in the development of this important bill. I want to thank everyone who took part in the consultations, whether they submitted comments via email, took part in the virtual meetings or attended one of the regional live round tables—in particular, the stakeholder groups that worked with our ministry throughout this process. Thank you for your time; thank you for your patience. We hopefully are going to get this right together.

Mark Hamel, chair of the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, said, “I think it was a very thorough review and consultation process. I applaud the work that’s behind it and the timeliness of getting it to this stage and hopefully passed quickly. Again, it will provide great benefit to our producers and the” broader “agriculture sector.”

John Stevens, CEO of the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association, shared this view, saying, “We’ve been very pleased and appreciative of the consultation to date from the ministry and from the minister’s office. We’ve been involved at every step of the way through the public consultations and have felt” we’ve been heard, and we’ve been going through this process together. “We’ve been sharing our inputs,” and the process undertaken so far has been wonderful.

It’s important to note that continued consultations and collaboration are actually built into this new act as the college puts this legislation and any regulations that come from it into practice, should this bill pass. We’re striving here to ensure the act can support both individual pet owners and the agriculture industry’s current and future needs.

An important aspect of the proposed changes is all about quality assurance, specifically, enabling the regulatory college to develop a formal quality assurance program, which will be overseen by a new statutory committee. This change aims to better ensure continual learning and competence of all members of this important profession.

The proposal mirrors what’s currently in place for professional regulatory colleges in human health care. For example, the member from Brantford–Brant must complete continuing education every year as a practising optometrist, and the member from Mississauga Centre participates in continuing education as a registered nurse. As a professional provincial police officer, I had to complete and pass mandatory annual training with specific qualifications. The same is true for accountants, for lawyers, for teachers and many other professions. This is designed to maintain public trust and assurance in the profession, as well as to ensure all active veterinarians and vet techs are up to date with the latest developments in animal care.

In addition to governance and quality assurance, the proposed changes would include the components dealing with investigations, professional misconduct, a member’s fitness to practise and suspected incompetence. The proposed changes would clearly enable a greater amount of information about a licence holder to be collected and, where appropriate, posted on the public-facing register. Again, this is very similar to other regulated professions.

Since regulated professions are specialists, many other people don’t have the technical knowledge to judge how well they do their jobs. The ability for the college to post information is intended to allow animal owners to check whether the veterinarian or vet tech they have is a member in good standing using proper protocols and practices, and that they’re up to modern standards.

The proposed changes would also bring about mandatory reporting requirements which would require any member who suspects that another member may be unfit to practise due to a health issue or other factor, to report this to the college. There would also be legal protections for members making such reports in good faith. Such a report could be used to bring about an investigation by the college if the college believes there is a need to examine the matter further or potentially discipline a member.

This bill, if passed, would also increase penalties for actions that could harm an animal, to better reflect the scope of wrongdoing. Fines for taking actions that could foreseeably cause serious harm to an animal without being licensed by the college would be set in legislation and carry serious fines up to: $25,000 for an individual on first offence and $50,000 for subsequent offences; $50,000 for a corporation on the first offence and $200,000 for subsequent offences. These are serious. Maximum fines for practising veterinary medicine without a licence would increase to the same levels.

Based on feedback received during our consultations, several significant points emerged that informed the proposed modernized legislative framework. Animal owners—including farmers, their family members and employees—need to be able to continue to provide care and treatment for their animals, and veterinarians need the continued ability to delegate tasks in a practice to a competent auxiliary—at their discretion and under supervision, of course. For example, this could be an experienced veterinary assistant at a companion animal hospital who is not a veterinary technician.

Bill 171 is part of a larger strategy to address the need for increased veterinary capacity in Ontario, particularly for farm animals in underserved parts of the province. As the minister mentioned, we have also launched a Veterinary Incentive Program to encourage newly licensed vets to practise in northern and underserviced communities and we’re investing in an additional 20 seats in veterinary school every year.

The College of Veterinarians of Ontario has worked with our government previously to reduce red tape through recent regulatory amendments which streamlined how vet facilities are accredited in Ontario. These efforts in the recent past have allowed vet practices to provide multiple levels of care to no longer need multiple certificates of accreditation, removing additional paperwork for practice owners. Together with the changes proposed in this bill, the Enhancing Professional Care for Animals Act, we’re confident we will be successful in increasing access to vet care for animals across the province.

Madam Speaker, I have appreciated the opportunity to speak today on the Enhancing Professional Care for Animals Act. To better reflect the current practice of veterinary medicine, Ontario needs modernized legislation that embraces contemporary approaches to professional regulation and governance: in other words, one profession—veterinary medicine—comprised of two professionals—veterinarians and veterinary technicians—serving the public interest.

These proposed changes are part of broader efforts to support success for Ontario’s agriculture and food industry, and to streamline and simplify the processes for those doing business in Ontario.

We feel very strongly that these proposed changes will help bring about a veterinary profession that is more responsive to public expectations in governance, transparency and oversight.

We are so pleased that the work done to develop the proposed act has been accomplished through close collaboration with those who are directly impacted by it. We are confident that the process of consultation on modernization of the Veterinarians Act has effectively shaped these proposed changes.

Key to the success of the consultation process on the act was the participation of the College of Veterinarians of Ontario, the Ontario Association of Veterinary Technicians and the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association as well as the veterinarians and vet techs themselves who took time out of their busy professional lives to participate in the process and the consultation, as well as other animal care providers, humane societies, farmers and pet owners. We’re so grateful for their collaboration and for their professionalism in this process. As always, we are committed to listen to stakeholders and to incorporate their insights, and as we continue to do so, we will ensure the proposed changes will better serve everyone in the province over the long-run.

The new legislative framework we propose aims to take a balanced and risk-based approach to the practice of veterinary medicine while continuing to protect animal health and well-being. We are confident these proposed actions will help us keep growing Ontario together.

Thank you for your time today. And on a final note, this process is collaborative, and that is a word to describe listening to stakeholders, to pet owners, to livestock owners, to farmers, veterinarians, vet technicians and that whole circle of continual care. By embracing that wisdom collectively, we think we have a diligent, prudent and comprehensive piece of legislation that can be accepted, can be agreed to; it can bring Ontario into the future, and we hope that we will have collaboration and we’ll have success from across the aisle and from everyone in this House to take vet care into the future.

It’s always interesting to listen to one-hour leads.

We recently learned of 14 animal deaths at Marineland in my riding of Niagara Falls. There’s been a growing concern over the lack of action and transparency from this government when it comes to holding this organization accountable for their actions towards animals and for their safety and care.

So my question is to the government: Will this Conservative government step up and hold Marineland accountable and work towards a day where there are no animals at Marineland anymore?

Questions?

Thank you to the member across. Those are serious allegations. We take all animal care very seriously, but the actions of that corporation don’t pertain to the bill before the House.

In fact, this legislation is enabling. It empowers veterinary technicians and veterinarians to practise to the full scope of their training and experience.

So although it’s very unfortunate and also is a serious concern, it doesn’t pertain to the matter at hand. Thank you for your question.

I want to thank the minister and the parliamentary assistant for bringing forth this legislation. It is extremely necessary and going to be a real game-changer in our agricultural sector. I want to thank you for having the consultations in Pembrooke as well. They were well attended and very, very helpful and informative.

I know there are number of things there that are real game-changers: the additional seats at the universities, the $50,000 allowance to encourage more veterinarians in rural and remote areas, but I want to focus more on the enhancement and expansion of the authorities of veterinary technicians. I see these as the nurse practitioners in our agricultural field now, where we’re understanding that there just aren’t enough doctors, so to speak, but we can give some additional authority to some other people that can be tremendously helpful.

I would ask the PA if you could expand on just how important and significant this change is going to be and what it’s going to mean to our agricultural sector.

I’ve been listening for the last hour to the presentation on the new bill. When we talk about animals, governments have come a long way. History tells us, where I come from, the former department of lands and forests would come in and kill our sled dogs. These are government officials that used to do that. That is for us to starve, right, so we don’t continue our ways of life.

But this is 2024. Where I come from, we have this term, “reservation dogs,” “reserve dogs” or “rez dogs.” Sometimes they’re overpopulated, and we don’t have access to veterinarians on-reserve. How will this bill ensure that the people in Kiiwetinoong and fly-in First Nations have access to veterinary services?

My question is to the PA. I have two very, very spoiled Australian shepherds. They’re like people to me. I was just wondering how this bill will affect the veterinary techs and the veterinarians and how it will help my animals live longer and be more successful in providing—I’m going to say entertainment, because that’s what it is.

Further questions?

Thank you to the member for that very relevant question. That whole continuum of care has to include farmers, it has to include the people that—it could be pet owners. Sometimes, modernizations include that continuum, using technology and using the people that have some experience, some training through different mediums—it could be through technology or through a veterinarian technician—to triage, care for and provide that whole wraparound level of care to extend that, especially in farming communities, remote communities and underserviced areas.

Sometimes the veterinarian could be an hour- or a two-hour drive away while there is an animal emergency. To have someone in close proximity to provide that care, under professional guidance, is critical. This act addresses that.

Now they have enabling legislation to reach out to connect to someone with the care and say, “We don’t have a vet on hand right now. We have an animal emergency,” or “We have some concerns for the safety of animals.” I can connect to someone with a level of care to provide that care to the animal and be fully protected under the law. Thank you for the question.

This enabling legislation, first and most importantly, enables veterinary technicians to practise a level of care to the full scope of their training and experience, where sometimes in the past it was limited. Little procedures that a vet tech can certainly take care of for your pets and for my pets had to be under the care and direct supervision of a veterinarian, who may be more apt to be taking care of more serious surgical concerns. So this enabling legislation allows everyone to do the care and to practise that care to the full scope of their training.

That’s what the college regulates, and that’s where the legislation takes us. Other areas of care are important. That’s one component, but I don’t think it’s really critical to the bigger conversation of advancing and modernizing animal care.

The backlog at Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board has expanded to over 53,000 cases. In Windsor West and across the province, we’re amidst the most severe housing and homelessness crisis in recent history.

Every day, the Premier gives his commitment to providing shelter for the people of Ontario, yet year after year, tenants and landlords alike are left waiting for justice. Under this Conservative government, the wait-list has quadrupled. Since 2018 when this Premier formed government, the tribunal has handled fewer applications every single year.

This backlog is a testament to a system spiralling out of control, as highlighted in the report by Tribunal Watch Ontario. Tenants facing maintenance disputes endure extremely long waits of over 14 months for resolution, while landlords struggling with rent non-payment eviction cases are left hanging for more than a year. This is unacceptable.

The report highlights that the root of this issue lies in the politicization of the LTB by this Conservative government favouring political appointments over experienced professionals who have knowledge in the field to make decisions fairly and quickly.

Every day, my office hears from tenants and landlords about the serious consequences of this, with individuals having to bear significant personal costs: lost housing, poor living conditions for tenants and significant financial hardships, particularly impacting small landlords.

My Ontario NDP colleagues and I continue to call on this government to implement much-needed reforms of the LTB as suggested by the Ombudsman. It’s time to ensure that all Ontarians receive the justice and relief they so desperately need.

My apologies to the member. I was very enthralled in that speech, but we’ve run out of time. It’s now time for members’ statements.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

It was a pleasure speaking about my two pets today. I’m sure Ginger and Scout are watching us right now on TV if Lassie isn’t on.

Madam Speaker, with much pride, I share with you some very good news from a school in my riding today. The International School of Cambridge was recently ranked by the Fraser Institute as one of the top schools in Ontario. The school, which is owned and operated by the Islamic Centre of Cambridge, was one of 13 schools in the province to receive a perfect score of 10. As such, the school was ranked number one among 2,975 schools across Ontario.

The International School of Cambridge, formerly known as the Islamic School of Cambridge, was founded in 1992 and is attended by approximately 300 students enrolled in grade 8 all the way down to junior kindergarten. The school attracts students not only from Cambridge, but also from Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph and Brantford.

Mohammad Darr, chairman of the Islamic Centre of Cambridge, had this to say about the school’s success: “We’re really excited. It is a matter of great pride for us. We maintain high standards of teaching and quality facilities as the reasons that this school stands out among others.”

The Fraser Institute’s Report Card on Ontario’s Elementary Schools ranks public, Catholic and independent schools based on nine academic indicators derived from the province-wide test results.

Congratulations to the students, teachers and administrators of the International School of Cambridge on a job well done.

Today, I’d like to highlight the importance of our local dairy farmers and dairy producers. On Monday, I attended the Stormont Dairy Producers annual general meeting in my riding. I’m really good at selling ice cream cones, but I’m no expert in dairy farming or agriculture. What I do know is that our local dairy farmers work long hours day and night to ensure our communities have high-quality dairy products.

At the AGM, I learned that Ontario is the second-largest dairy producer in Canada, accounting for over 32% of total dairy farm cash receipts in Canada. I also learned that dairy farming is the largest sector of Ontario agriculture, and as per the DFO 2023 Annual Report, Ontario is home to 3,213 dairy producers. That’s pretty impressive.

Next month, I will be attending the Dairy Cares event in my riding. Dairy Cares is an important event for our community where local dairy farmers, stakeholders and agribusinesses from across SD&G come together to celebrate and thank our three local hospitals: the Cornwall Community Hospital, the Winchester District Memorial Hospital and Glengarry Memorial Hospital. All funds raised at the Dairy Cares event go to these three hospitals. Last year, the event raised $187,488. I’m excited to know how much they can raise this year.

You meet many people in your life, and for whatever reason, some of them just stick with you. One person in my life is the Honourable Consiglio Di Nino. Sometimes it feels like the forces of the world wanted us to get to know each other. He was in the Senate when I was in kindergarten on the opposite side of the world. As a young activist, full of passion and energy, I was restless to change the world, and he was the wise sage with wisdom and encouragement along the way. He was the first person who told me I should run for office. Years later, I would seek public office—except as an NDP candidate. Even so, he endorsed me, donated to my campaign, and he has always championed me. I would go on to become the MPP for Parkdale–High Park, representing the very neighbourhood he grew up in as a young Italian immigrant boy.

He was a Parkdale kid. He worked at the TD bank at the corner of Jameson and Queen, and he went to school up the street on Roncesvalles, at St. Vincent de Paul.

Inspired by his mentors, he has lived with the motto “Life is about what you give, not what you get.” And he has given so much. He was a volunteer chair of the Harbourfront Corp.; president of the Canadian Italian business association; president of Scouts Canada, Toronto region; a founder of Villa Charities, and so on.

Most important to me, he has been the strongest voice for the Tibetan people in Canada. As someone who enjoyed high-altitude hiking, he went to Tibet and visited the Jokhang temple in Lhasa, the capital. While there, a monk took a big risk and secretly handed him a piece of paper with a message, and the message was to tell the world what was going on in Tibet. And Consiglio Di Nino has carried that message since that day, for over 30 years.

Con—or Uncle Con, as many call him—you’ve changed and shaped lives, including mine. Thank you for everything.

Nous célébrons aujourd’hui la Journée internationale de la Francophonie, marquant une journée très importante pour les Franco-Ontariennes et Franco-Ontariens et les francophones de partout à travers le Canada.

La Journée internationale de la Francophonie a été créée en 1988 et elle est célébrée à chaque année le 20 mars, avec pour objectif le partage et l’appréciation de la langue française et de la culture francophone. Aujourd’hui, plus de 300 millions de francophones vivent sur les cinq continents. L’Ontario compte plus de 620 000 francophones, ce qui en fait la plus grande communauté francophone du Canada hors Québec. Dans l’ensemble, plus de 1,5 million d’Ontariens parlent français.

La journée de la Francophonie est l’occasion de se rassembler en tant que communauté et d’honorer la langue française. Et en 2020, monsieur le Président, ma collègue la membre de Mississauga-Centre a eu l’honneur de proposer des amendements à la Loi sur l’emblème franco-ontarien, afin de désigner le drapeau franco-ontarien comme emblème officiel de l’Ontario. Il a reçu la sanction royale et est devenu loi le 24 septembre 2020, et le drapeau franco-ontarien est devenu le huitième symbole officiel de l’Ontario.

Notre gouvernement reconnaît la contribution inestimable de la langue française à la vitalité et au succès de l’Ontario. Nous avons démontré cet engagement envers les francophones en modernisant la Loi sur les services en français pour la première fois en plus de 35 ans, monsieur le Président.

En tant que membre de la circonscription avec la plus grande présence francophone en Ontario, c’est avec beaucoup d’enthousiasme que je célèbre cette journée avec vous tous. Que vous fassiez partie de la communauté francophone ou que vous aspiriez à apprendre la langue, cette journée est pour vous.

On Sunday morning, a devastating fire ripped through the Ward’s Island clubhouse on the Toronto Islands. The clubhouse was built by the islanders in 1937-38 and for generations has been a gathering place for the island community. A white clapboard structure, it housed the Island Cafe, which was a favourite stop for a delicious meal and good company on the lawn near the ferry dock. The thing I’ll remember about the clubhouse was the screen door, because there’s something about the slamming of a screen door that just speaks of summer, and it’s not something that you would expect to hear in downtown Toronto.

Many irreplaceable archives were lost, including a handwritten list of islanders who served in World War II and photos of the community dating back to the 1930s.

The island community is a village and one of the tightest-knit communities in Toronto. Last night, the community gathered to mourn the loss of the beloved clubhouse. They sang, tied ribbons on the protective fencing, held lanterns from the Shadowland Theatre and encircled the ashes of the building to say goodbye.

While people are gathering the memories of the old clubhouse, they are beginning to think and talk about rebuilding, about creating a new gathering place for generations of islanders and visitors to meet, dance, organize, mourn and celebrate. As one islander said, “The spirit of this building will live on in a new form.”

On February 29, the Madawaska Valley bid farewell to one of its leading citizens, Gerard O’Malley, just 10 days after his 65th birthday. Affectionately known as Tootie, he passed away while battling cancer. Well-known and deeply respected, he was a successful businessman, along with his partners Neil and Connie O’Reilly.

As co-owner-operator of the local Metro grocery store, Tootie was famous for his positive attitude, his unparalleled approach to customer service and his compassion and generosity to those in need. From his teenage years, he was laser-focused on his goals and willing to sacrifice and work hard to attain them.

What really set him apart was that, 40 years ago, he suffered a critical injury playing hockey and lived the rest of his life as a paraplegic. It was at this time that he faced his proverbial fork in the road. While it certainly was not easy, his determination and faith led him to choose a path of positivity and accepting each and every day as an opportunity. The life he lived after his accident has been an inspiration to so many, including myself. Rather than feeling sorry for himself, he did whatever he could do to enhance the lives of others. His examples of bearing his cross with a smile encouraged everyone he met to be better.

From his Metro family and all of their customers to the community at large, we were all gifted to witness his strength and grace facing his enormous challenges head on each and every day.

I was blessed to know Tootie most of his life. He leaves a mark on our community. It will not be forgotten. May he rest in peace.

The drug-poisoning crisis in my riding and in communities across Ontario is at a breaking point. Last year, Ontario saw an estimated 3,644 drug-related deaths, and over 20,000 have died since 2018. That’s 20,000 children, grandchildren, siblings, friends and neighbours.

On March 4, an urgent letter was sent to the Ministry of Health signed by over 50 advocacy organizations requesting direct emergency funding by March 29 to supervised consumption sites. These are clinics that provide scientifically-informed, evidence-based approaches to navigating a documented health condition. Staff here provide more than health care. They provide hope, connections and pathways to employment, housing and other services. As of yesterday, they received no response.

Safe consumption sites are essential to put an end to this crisis and they must include inhalation services and be scaled up immediately to prevent further tragedies. The crisis isn’t going away.

I want to thank the passionate and underpaid nurses and staff of the CTS in Kitchener Centre who are proud of the deaths that they prevent everyday at their clinic. I also want to thank the staff of the Working Centre, Sanguen Health, A Better Tent City, Michael Parkinson and many others providing direct service and advocacy to support equitable access and care to all.

As community leaders, we hope and we pray that a crisis never hits our community, that we never have to be with a family that is in desperate need. However, that is something that did happen in my community of Barrhaven in the city of Ottawa on March 6, when a woman—a mother—and her four children were murdered by a knife-wielding maniac.

My colleagues in Ottawa, we stood together with the remaining family member, the father of the four children and the husband of the woman, to mark the sadness and tragedy that befell him and our community.

I ask all members to think, if you’re a parent, about the children that you have reared and raised, because it’s one thing to see something on the news and to say what a terrible tragedy it is when four children die, but it’s quite another to remember that those children could have been our children. For example, a two-and-a-half-year-old child, Kelly, was murdered. I think any of us who have had a child remember a two-and-a-half-year-old, when they first learn to smile and they know who their mom and dad are, and they bring us so much joy. They’re worth every sleepless night.

There was a two-and-a-half-year-old child, Ranaya. I sat in front of her little, tiny white casket. Ranaya had this beautiful little smile. She looked like any two-and-a-half- or three-year-old would. The terrible twos: when they do something that you don’t want them to do, but they’re so cute, you laugh about it anyway.

Then there was the four-year-old sister. She was just beautiful. She had such a smile. Her name was Ashwini, and she had just started school. She was at that age where we remember our children becoming little people. They weren’t quite babies, they’re not quite big kids that go to elementary school, but they’re just starting out, and you’re starting to understand if they like the maths, the sciences, if they’re into English and reading books or if they like to draw and they’re more creative.

And then a grade 2 student, seven years old, a young boy, Inuka, who loved to play soccer with his friends and have lots of fun.

That’s who died in my constituency on March 6—senseless, tragic deaths.

And the family, though they were Sri Lankan and, of course, they were also Buddhist, I reminded them that they were also Barrhavenites.

From the 911 call from a neighbour, to the local police who attended on the scene, to the paramedics who looked after the victims as well as the father, who had to go to the hospital, the hospital staff and, of course, the nurses and doctors there, straight through to the teachers at Monsignor Paul Baxter School, who had to explain to all of the students there the next day why two of their seats, two of their desks were empty—no words can express their tragic circumstances.

All I can say: I know, Speaker, on behalf of every good person in this chamber, which every one of us is, we wish that their memories be a blessing and that justice may be served.