I appreciate the opportunity to introduce some very special guests, members of the Ontario Bar Association, who are joining us here at Queen’s Park today. In particular, I want to say thank you to Kelly McDermott, president; Kathryn Manning, first vice-president; Katy Commisso, second vice-president; Mohsen Seddigh, secretary; Mariam Moktar, treasurer; and Elizabeth Hall, executive director and general counsel. They’ve come to Queen’s Park with a team of lawyers. So for those members who’ve actually taken and approved meetings, you will have a very good discussion this afternoon.

Joining them are Darry Buxton, Dante Capannelli, Geoff Carpenter, Neha Chugh, Daniel Goldbloom, Eric Sadvari, Melanie Webb, Frances Wood, Tyler Jensen and Jenny Commisso.

My question is to the Premier. Ontario’s justice system has made recent headlines for all the wrong reasons.

CityNews has broadcasted: “‘Stop with the Excuses:’ Emotional Appeals to Overhaul Court System Amid Growing Backlogs.”

Toronto Star prints: “Defence Lawyer for Accused in Terrorism Case Wants Charges Stayed Due to Court Delays.”

CBC reports: “Mould, Asbestos at Milton Courthouse Have Led to ‘Delays in Judicial Process’....”

Is the Premier actually proud of these headlines that his government has garnered?

The crisis goes beyond the courts. We see the crisis of mismanagement with the historic backlogs in tribunals. Tribunal Watch, which is an independent, non-partisan watchdog of tribunal systems in Ontario, has revealed in their annual report that the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s backlog grew by 500 cases, despite historically high rates of applications being dismissed without ever being heard or the fact that the complainants are now abandoning their applications due to record delays at the tribunals.

On top of these historic delays there, we’re seeing historic delays now also at the Landlord and Tenant Board, without any fixes in sight.

Yes or no: Is the Premier also proud of his record in the tribunals?

It’s always nice to rise in the House and to actually offer the government a compliment. I want to commend them on the approach that they’ve taken with this bill. I recognize that a lot of upfronting of consultation took place, and stakeholders were widely brought in to provide some technical feedback. I think that’s fantastic because that is going to enable better legislation in the outcome.

But I want to contrast this approach to other approaches that the government has taken on other bills, bills that were perhaps more lobby-driven legislation, bills that were done in a haste and bills that were reckless and then had to be backtracked. Does the government see the benefit of using a process that is open, that is collaborative, that is consultation-driven in informing new bills that come forward? Can we expect a change in the government in their approach to developing legislation?