It’s my great pleasure to welcome to the House some hard-working and dedicated people from our not-for-profit sector in Simcoe–Grey who do incredible work: Norine Baron from Beaver Valley Outreach; Lisa Ogbole from Imani’s Place; Janice McGurran from My Sister’s Place; Mary-Lou Osborne from Community Living Association of South Simcoe; Teresa Gal from Breaking Down Barriers—and for our Model Parliament today, Stefania Giampa.

My question is to the member from Whitby. He sits on the justice policy committee and was part of the hearings leading up to this legislation. My question to the member: We heard from a number of police commissioners and police association leaders that you don’t need a post-secondary degree to apply to the OPP in this province, but also, that they felt that having a university degree could pose a barrier for certain racialized communities that would prevent them from joining the police force. They also talked about how critical it is to make sure that individuals in the community see themselves reflected in their police force for community policing.

I’m wondering if the member could please comment on the importance of making sure that our community police forces reflect the communities they serve, and that a vote for this act is a vote for community safety.