It was a compromise.

Now, here are some stories about an amazing veterinarian. Last Christmas, presents were wrapped, sitting on the dining room table. I said “Okay,” went out, came home to get ready for church, see wrappers everywhere around the house, realized that Bruce unwrapped all the gifts, which were chocolate: Lindor chocolate balls in mugs for the party I was going to the next day. Anyway, I missed church on Christmas Eve, and Bruce and I headed to the emergency Mississauga vet. When I got there, he was actually the “Lindor chocolate dog,” because apparently there was a list of other dogs who were also into the chocolate on Christmas Eve. Always a fun place to spend your Christmas Eve.

But you know, it’s the kindest, kindest people there, and they see you; you’re in tears. You’re kind of a mess because your pride and joy is there, and what’s going to happen? The skills that they go through—the veterinarians, the vet techs, the people at the front—just to calm you down because we’re always getting nervous and we always want to make sure that our pets are taken care of. They do such great work.

I think it was about last week or two weeks ago; Guelph was here doing a lobby day in our dining room, and I had the opportunity to speak to some of the vet techs. They were so thrilled with the legislation that was coming forward. They said it’s about time they can do that work. We talk about nurse practitioners and how they help out doctors; this is sort of a similar thing, and I’m hoping that maybe this might help some of the costs going down, because you’re going to have a larger group of people who can help maybe give that shot or help you get your food or medicine or whatever. Whatever needs to be done, I’m hoping that will help the costs come down, because I know that sometimes our veterinary bills are a little bit high for many of us all across the province.

It’s important to note that we need to recognize the work that our vet techs do in animal care, and this proposed legislation works significantly toward improving access to veterinary care in Ontario. As the minister pointed out, that’s a welcome change being embraced by veterinarians and vet techs alike. So congratulations, Minister.

While better defining the scope of practice for veterinary medicine, the proposed legislation would also streamline the complaints and resolution process to allow disputes to be addressed more quickly. This addresses the public complaint that the complaint resolution process for veterinarians has taken far too long. If passed, the streamlined complaints process would include addressing investigations, professional misconduct and suspected incompetence. There will be mandatory reporting requirements if a licence holder suspects that another licence holder’s fitness to practise may be impaired. Where appropriate, more information will be available to the public and animal owners about practising vets and vet techs.

We always want to make sure our pets are safe. They can’t speak, so we just have to trust. So I appreciate this process just in case we need it. But I do know there are amazing vets out there. So, once again, we thank them for their work.

The legislation, if passed, would enable the regulatory college to develop a formal quality assurance program which will be overseen by a new statutory committee. The committee would set requirements for continuing education and refer cases of misconduct, incompetence or impairment to the college’s investigations and resolutions committee. All this comes along with increased penalties that will better reflect the seriousness of actions that can harm animals. Fines for taking actions that could cause serious harm to an animal without being licensed by the college would be set out in legislation. That’s a steep $25,000 for an individual on first offence, $50,000 for subsequent offences, $50,000 for a corporation on first offence and $200,000 for subsequent offences—good stuff. Good stuff, Minister. These proposed changes would ensure competence of members of the profession and further increase public trust.

As I said at the beginning, this legislation is not a stand-alone act, but one in a series of steps to strengthen the ecosystem of animal care in Ontario.

Now, I have already mentioned the PUPS Act. Before that, on January 1, 2020, our government enabled Canada’s first provincial animal welfare enforcement system, called PAWS. Ontario has the strongest penalties in Canada for people who violate animal welfare laws. For this, I am extremely proud.

Now, we want our province to have a robust and dependable veterinarian capacity. We are increasing enrolment into veterinary medicine with a $14.7-million investment to create 20 additional doctor of veterinary medicine seats. To address this critical shortage in rural and northern areas, we have launched the Veterinary Incentive Program, which provides $50,000 for up to 100 recently licensed veterinarians to practise large-animal medicine in underserviced areas. For those who live in rural and northern Ontario, we certainly know those are needed.

Madam Speaker, as a member of this House, a representative of Etobicoke–Lakeshore and a passionate advocate for animal welfare, I remain committed to spotlighting this issue. If you ever see an animal in distress, please call 1-833-9-ANIMAL. That’s 1-833-926-4625. That’s a hotline that’s been put in place, and there are people out there who will answer the phone to help out.

Once again, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. I can’t wait to pass this legislation. It’s great for our animals. It’s just part of a puzzle of animal welfare success in this province. Someone told me there has never been a government who has touched animal welfare in over 100 years. It’s a different time; let’s protect our pets out there and, number one, keep our pets safe.

Mine is a rescue. He came from a well-established rescue place. Of course, there’s always a place for volunteering your time to help out those animals in need. You don’t even have to be a vet tech or a vet; you could just be anyone helping out. But we want to certainly make sure that volunteering is available for all.

Compromise. It was a good compromise.

So we’re very blessed to have a thriving poultry industry in Waterloo region, in Kitchener–Conestoga and, of course, adjacent ridings. We had a lot of opportunity to work with the Chicken Farmers of Ontario, had been out to some farms, seeing first-hand the good work that they do right from the hatcheries to raising those chicks and then into processing. We have Maple Leaf Foods in our riding as well and a lot of other smaller suppliers that then feed our families, whether that be at a retailer at a grocery store, maybe the St. Jacobs Market, or even one of the great things that we have—and a lot of other members, including yourself, will have—is a lot of great farm stands where you can pull right up to the farm and get fresh poultry.

So chicken farming is alive and well in Kitchener–Conestoga, and I’m happy to see it thriving and continuing to. This legislation will aid in that by allowing essentially more veterinarians to get out on farm and practise.