I’m very proud today to see this bill, Bill 99, An Act to provide for safety measures respecting movable soccer goals, come before us today for third reading.

I do need to say thank you to my colleagues the MPP from Newmarket–Aurora and the MPP from Burlington, who will also be speaking today.

I want to express my appreciation to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, to all of my colleagues on both sides of this House and, of course, to my awesome staff team and the team here in the Legislature for their co-operative approach in getting this bill drafted, processed through first, second and committee hearings. And now, here we are at third reading.

Most importantly, I need to express my deepest gratitude and my greatest sympathies for the families of the victims that we’re speaking of today, that they have participated in this process. I also have lost a child, but I can’t imagine the strength that they endured—the horror, if you will—of having to come before this House, come before the committee and continue to talk about the tragedy that impacted their lives. I am deeply grateful for their participation in this process.

I hope and I believe that we all hope that if this bill passes into law, it will help to prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again.

Speaker, unfortunately, I need to remind the House of the tragic event that led us to where we are today, to this final debate.

On a sunny spring day in May 2017, a 15-year-old by the name of Garrett Mills, in the town of Greater Napanee, was playing in a local park with his girlfriend, Joanna, and his best friend, Josh. This was a young man who enjoyed making others laugh, apparently especially with silly puns. He made everyone around him feel better just by being around him. His parents, Dave and Gwen Mills, who are in the audience today, were very proud of this thoughtful, intelligent, responsible and quite charming young man. His girlfriend told them that day that it was actually one of the best days of his life.

Unfortunately, on that beautiful spring afternoon, as this young man was hanging around the park with his friends like any teenage boy would, the unthinkable occurred. This day, he was hanging off the crossbar of a movable soccer net, doing chin-ups, when tragedy struck in this small community. That 200-pound soccer goal tipped forward, falling on top of him and fracturing his skull. Later that afternoon, Garrett, that healthy, joyful, energetic young man, passed away from his injuries. He was the victim of an entirely preventable accident.

Speaker, I didn’t personally have the pleasure of knowing Garrett, but because of the marvels of technology, I’ve been able to see pictures of that spring and even that day. ,When I was learning about this young man, I heard stories from his mother and father—stories about how they admired their son’s outlook on life. His motto was to get out there and make a change in the world, make the world better. It’s a motto that we should all aspire to.

As we look at the final consideration for Bill 99, we are carrying on the legacy of Garrett, making a change in the world and working together to make sure that a tragedy like this does not happen in any other community in Ontario or to any other Ontario family.

Bill 99 addresses a growing number of incidents of soccer-net-tipping fatalities and injuries. Across North America, there have been over 40 fatalities, mostly young children, where tipping soccer nets were to blame.

Speaker, I think we all can remember growing up and being out at a local park. As kids, we may have felt invincible. But as parents, we all need to trust that every safety measure possible is in place to ensure that our children are safe.

In this bill, we’re not mandating a particular type of soccer net to be used in a park. Many field operators, often municipalities or school boards, use these temporary nets to allow for many sports to be played on their fields. It essentially doubles or even triples the value of that field as an asset to their facilities. What we are doing with this bill is enhancing an organization’s ability to provide outdoor recreation in a safe environment that our children can have access to.

If passed, this bill will allow the minister to create regulations on how the installations of mobile soccer nets are managed and how they are secured. These regulations will include properly securing the net to the ground, proper storage, and provide for signage, stickers and other educational resources to inform everyone of the risks involved.

The regulations that are suggested in this bill are not unique. Many jurisdictions across North America have already passed laws requiring that nets be secured, and almost all soccer associations in Canada have guidelines on how to do this. After a similar incident in 2003, when six-year-old Zachary Tran died in Chicago, the state of Illinois implemented Zach’s Law in 2011.

Speaker, I know that the minister is a strong advocate for sports and recreation. I know that he wants to ensure that the people of Ontario can enjoy a game of soccer and not need to worry that the soccer net could injure a player. Again, we don’t want to restrict the use—but instead ensure the devices are used safely. So I am encouraged to see members of all parties co-operatively working together to bring this bill into law.

In committee, Jacqueline Palm, the mother of Jaime Palm, who died in 2014 when a soccer net fell on her, told our committee, “Losing Jaime as a result of a preventable, avoidable tragic accident is heartbreaking.” Her father is in the House today. “Our lives will never be the same.”

I also want to quote from Dave Mills’s testimony in committee. He shared a segment from an op-ed piece written by Russell Wangersky:

“It’s hard enough for parents to deal with the unpreventables, the bad luck and the being in the wrong place at the wrong time situations....

“Like I said, it’s hard enough dealing with the unpreventables.

“But the preventables?

“If we can’t stop those from happening, what the heck is wrong with us?

“There should not be a single set of soccer goalposts anywhere in this nation that are not properly and permanently fastened down by now. Not indoor nets, not practice nets, not movable nets.

“There is a point where things just aren’t accidents anymore. If you’ve been warned and warned, it eventually crosses the line into sheer negligence.

“And we’ve been past that point for years.”

Tragedies like both Garrett and Jaime’s are preventable. This bill provides legislation to prevent tragedies from temporary and movable soccer nets from happening to any more Ontarians.

In an August 2014 CBC news article, Dr. Charles Tator, founder of Think First Canada and a neurosurgeon, said, “It’s been recognized for a long period of time that goalposts that are improperly anchored can cause injury, and in fact there are several recorded fatalities....”

Incidents like this date back to 2001, when, in Montreal, nine-year-old Patrick Rivest was severely injured. At the time of the incident, the Montreal Gazette stated that that was the sixth incident that year of injuries from toppling goalposts in Montreal.

Speaker, I need to take a moment to recognize the Minister of Energy and the Minister of Long-Term Care, who both, in previous governments, worked extensively to bring this bill forward. I’m honoured to be the one to carry the baton to carry this past the finish line.

In fact, back in 2018, our Premier came to the Quinte region and met with Dave Mills. After hearing about the tragedy of Garrett’s death, he made a promise: “Don’t worry, buddy. We’re going to get this done for you, and we’re going to get this done for Garrett.”

Today, I’m honoured to be the one to carry the torch across the finish line and get this done for Garrett.

Today, I ask that all members put partisan politics aside. Let’s unite together and prevent the preventable from happening.

I want to conclude my remarks by repeating Garrett’s motto one more time: Let’s get out there, make a change in the world and make the world better. This will be Garrett’s legacy.

Speaker, if you will indulge me, I have a few.

First, I would like to introduce Dave and Gwen Mills from my riding. They’re the parents of Garrett Mills—in the Garrett’s Legacy Act that was passed this morning.

Welcome to the House.