This government is quite famous for talking tough on crime—they’re going to get tough on crime; they don’t want criminals walking the streets—yet this government has so underfunded our court system that at least 124 cases were thrown out in 2022, some of them involving sexual assaults.

This bill is something similar. This is about animal abuse. It’s about puppy mills. The response from the government is to increase the fines, but if there’s nobody to inspect and enforce those fines, then the fines never get laid and the animals continue to be abused.

The report in the media is that the PAWS needs more than the hundred inspectors who are available right now to cover our province. Our province is a million square kilometres, so we need more inspectors. How will this government enforce these increased fines? How will you actually make the animals safe?

I’d like to welcome a good friend of mine, Janet Rodriguez. Janet is an incredible advocate for people with disabilities.

Welcome to your House.