SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Ontario Assembly

43rd Parl. 1st Sess.
April 9, 2024 09:00AM

I appreciate it’s a very specific question and it sort of allows me to give some specific answers.

Of course, we can always do more and we work with our partners to do that. As you go through the budget, I think you’ll see our continued focus on front-line services, whether it be the police, the firefighters, continuing to work with EMS—and it’s not always about money, Madam Speaker. Sometimes, it’s about operations.

I did a tour of the London Health Sciences Centre last Thursday. What a world-class hospital that is. I can tell you, Madam Speaker, the leadership team is top notch, but they’re working on how they interact with EMS, how they interact with the front-line services to make things more efficient and to make sure that the capacity is built so that we can serve the people of Ontario as well as we can, Madam Speaker.

By the way, I brought back Attorney General’s victim services awards, and all members get an opportunity to nominate people or have people nominated. I can tell you, the work that’s done—it’s absolutely stunning, the work that is done across Ontario by these individuals. So, thank you for that.

But I’m going to talk about what I am doing to help those communities. We’ve put Starlink in each of the fly-in reserves that the court has held and that’s so we are not dislocating communities.

It was surprising to me, when I became the Attorney General, to think of a six-seater plane that had on it the victim, the accused, some witnesses, all—I don’t know if you’ve been on a six-seater plane, but it’s a pretty intimate adventure. And to fly them out of their community into Sioux Lookout, and then potentially even drive to Kenora, and then what’s happening back at home over that extended time when you’re dislocating family—it didn’t make any sense. So we’ve invested in those communities, in justice services, and we’re working very hard. And we’re working collaboratively with our federal counterparts to try to arrive at better systems that are more effective for those in those communities.

So I can’t give you a direct answer on the boil-water, but I can tell you that we’re very focused on making sure that services are enhanced.

Now, we’re doing our part. What the federal government needs to do is potentially look at legislative change. Grand theft auto isn’t just a video game; it’s actually a charge in the States. So we need to do something about that. We need to make sure that they’re checking at the ports. They only check 1% of the cargo containers, Madam Speaker. It’s just ridiculous.

They’re trying to do “gotcha” politics. There’s no got-caught nonsense. It’s my obligation to appoint the Chief Justice, and I of course asked what is protocol, what is normal. It’s my obligation to appoint the Chief Justice. So of course I’m going to do an interview and make decisions, Madam Speaker. I’m not going to willy-nilly appoint somebody without even talking to the individual in an interview.

Now, we’re talking about the importance of making sure that the justice system is as solid as possible to protect people, keep our communities safe. That’s what this budget does. That’s what we’re working towards, and that’s what this budget does. The “gotcha” politics is nonsense. We’re getting the job done. We’re building highways. We’re building subways. We’re making sure the infrastructure is there, and we’re building the justice system.

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