It’s a pleasure to rise in the House today to speak to the second reading of Enhancing Professional Care for Animals Act, 2024. I’ll be sharing my time with my esteemed parliamentary assistant, the member from Chatham-Kent–Leamington.

Interjections.

Before I begin, though, there are a number of people that I would like to thank for the role they played in getting us to where we are today. First of all, thank you to my parliamentary assistant, the MPP for Chatham-Kent–Leamington. His support through this process was unwavering and he has worked incredibly hard—double duty, if you will—in making sure everything flows really well. I just appreciate his spirit and everything he does.

I’d also like to recognize the now Associate Minister of Housing. When he served as my parliamentary assistant last year, he led a large part of the consultations on this bill, and he played a significant role in making sure that we landed in the right place to be able to bring this forward today.

I also want to thank all the stakeholders who have worked so incredibly well with us through this process, including the College of Veterinarians, the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association, the Ontario Association of Veterinary Technicians, and there are so many others.

You know, whenever you bring a substantial bill forward, the meetings and the discussions are so, so important because, again, everyone has their opinions and the direction that they would like to seek. But at the end of the day, once we made our way through all the important discussions, we found a landing spot where, I’m so incredibly pleased, everyone supports.

I think a testimony to that and the work that everyone has done happened just a few weeks ago. I think the date was March 7, when the gallery was full of stakeholders here to see the tabling of this important piece of legislation. Over 20 associations alone attended the introduction to support Bill 171. Again, their commitment to seeing this through is so very appreciated. We’re better because of their involvement as well.

Dr. Wade Wright, president of the College of Veterinarians of Ontario, said, when we tabled the bill on March 7, “Today is a pinnacle moment, a significant step toward a robust and effective legislative framework to govern veterinary medicine in Ontario.”

Doug Brooks, president and CEO of the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society, said, “This is an important step to increase access to veterinary care in Ontario and we look forward to working with the province to further ensure all animals can get the care they need.”

Bill 171 represents the ideas and suggestions we heard from both the public as well as stakeholders. But all of the ideas in the world wouldn’t do any good without people who can turn those ideas into legislation. I wouldn’t be standing here talking about this bill today without the dedication and amazing commitment of team OMAFRA.

Not only does my direct team in the minister’s office deserve a shout-out—they’ve been phenomenal, shepherding this piece of legislation to where we are today—but I also would like to recognize David Hagarty, assistant deputy minister for the policy division; Andrea Martin, director of the food safety and environmental policy branch, and her team, Robert Blenkinsop, Michael Richardson, William Martin and Vicky Grahovac; and also the OMAFRA legal team: Shannon DeLeskie, Mark Schofield and Rushda Munshi. Honest to goodness, this was an effort that required heavy lifting by all of our team members.

Interjections.

We worked diligently right through to the eleventh hour. I really, really appreciate the work that we received and the desire to make sure we got it right in a short turnaround time. I really think that we’re stronger because of their commitment to getting this done.

I want to start by sharing a reflection with all of you. Bill 171, the Enhancing Professional Care for Animals Act, would repeal the Veterinarians Act and replace it with the Veterinary Professionals Act. The Veterinarians Act was introduced in 1989 and—

Interjection.

I have to tell you, this legislation is 35 years old, and it has served Ontario animals and animal owners well. The reflection I want to share with you is that it was actually introduced by a predecessor of mine, Jack Riddell, whom we recently paid tribute to in this House. It was a much-needed step forward at the time. I look upon Bill 171 as building on the great foundation that Jack Riddell built. Essentially, one Huron county MPP picks up where the other one left off, so that is pretty cool too, in and of itself.

Jack not only was the Minister of Agriculture and Food, but he represented our riding so incredibly well. At the time, he represented both Huron county and Huron–Middlesex. Today, I’m proudly in front of you representing both Huron and Bruce counties. Jack had an amazing tie and connection to the agricultural community throughout all of Ontario.

In introducing this bill, I believe that it’s a tribute to the amazing work that Jack started and we’re continuing to modernize. I think he would be pleased that another person who calls Huron county home is picking up and getting it right. Because we need to make sure that not only animals across Ontario but our professionals have the right supports in place, and that’s all defined through legislation.

Our government recognizes that animals play such an important part in our world, from cats to dogs to unique household pets through to livestock in our barn. We all do our very best to make sure that they’re well cared for. I think it’s important to share that not only do we need to think about our companion pets, but we need to think about what it means to have the responsibility of caring for both pets and livestock.

We know animals serve society in more formal roles. Service dogs are trained to assist many people who are visually impaired. They are also being trained to help in other ways, like alerting owners to an imminent epileptic seizure, or just a calming feature for people who need that outlet to relieve their stress. From police horses to Canada Border Services Agency dogs, we also rely on animals to protect our society. Finally, we need to recognize that a good source of protein is realized through livestock as well. According to Stats Canada, in 2021, there were more than 20,000 livestock farms in Ontario. Farmers take good care of their animals, and they take pride in that. This bill is intended to help them do that as well.

Drew Spoelstra is the new president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, and he has hit the ground running. I appreciated his comments on this particular bill, and I’m going to quote him: “Veterinarians play a critical role, promoting the health and welfare of animals and maintaining a healthy, safe and sustainable agri-food system. These proposed changes to modernize and streamline the act will ensure Ontario farmers have access to modern and quality care for their livestock, a crucial component to the economic stability of Ontario’s rural communities.” That is so true.

Honest to goodness, when we take a look at the overall landscape, all animals need access to veterinary care, regardless of whether they are pets, service animals, working animals or livestock. Even wild animals sometimes depend on veterinary care if they are injured and are taken to a wildlife sanctuary.

So much was harvested, if you will, through the consultations that Associate Minister Flack facilitated on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Knowing that access to veterinary care has long been a challenge, especially in rural and northern Ontario, we began to look at how the Veterinarians Act could be modernized to address that. We reached out to stakeholders and the public to hear their suggestions and ideas about how to increase access to veterinary care.

Just as we developed the Grow Ontario Strategy, things were happening in tandem. Some of you may recall that we have three main pillars in our Grow Ontario Strategy: a safe and secure supply chain; a commitment to research and innovation; as well as attracting the very best talent, and veterinarians are part of that as well. We made a commitment to listen to stakeholders in that spirit and take time to consider their feedback carefully.

In November 2022, my ministry launched a pre-consultation for the public to submit ideas to modernize the Veterinarians Act through a dedicated web page. A more detailed discussion paper based on consultations and research done by the College of Veterinarians of Ontario and a proposal to modernize the Veterinarians Act—all of that information was posted on the regulatory registry on March 1, 2023, for three months.

That particular proposal that was posted on the regulatory registry stated, “The goal of this modernization is to better define the scope of practice for veterinary medicine, improve transparency and align oversight of Ontario’s veterinary profession with other self-governing regulated professions in the province, to uphold the public interest. By modernizing the act, the government is laying the groundwork to increase the availability of veterinarian services for both pets and large animals.”

Between the posting and the web page, our ministry received nearly 300 submissions from veterinarians, vet techs, agricultural groups, animal welfare groups and individual citizens. In April and May 2023, OMAFRA staff also provided information about the proposal during four public webinars. Alongside these sessions, former parliamentary assistant Flack hosted several round table discussions across the table. The round tables were held in St. Thomas, Barrie, Lindsay, Huntsville, Pembroke, Thunder Bay and Toronto. I want to thank my colleagues who co-hosted these round tables, which included agricultural groups, local humane societies, veterinarians and other interested individuals.

I again want to commend the Associate Minister of Housing for the work that he did on this, and I expect he will speak to this bill and share with members of this House more about what he heard from the over 120 people who attended the round tables and webinars.

The majority of these submissions supported the proposed modernization of the Veterinarians Act and the proposals outlined in the discussion document. There was also a strong interest among stakeholders in ensuring a modernized legislative framework so it could better serve the needs of veterinarians, the public and our agricultural industry—not just for today but for years to come.

Now, in the spirit of modernizing the legislative framework, I also want to reflect and talk about our veterinary technicians. After a year and a half of consultation with stakeholders and partners, I’m so very pleased to bring forward proposed changes to the legislative framework for veterinarians and veterinary professionals to better reflect how veterinary medicine is delivered today.

Our proposed legislation will, if passed, recognize the important role that veterinary technicians play in delivering care to animals. Over the past 35 years, delivery of veterinary care has become a team endeavour—I can’t stress that enough; veterinary care is really, truly facilitated by a team in our communities—however, vet techs are not recognized in the current Veterinarians Act. This new, modernized act will, if passed, regulate both veterinarians and veterinary technicians, reflecting a “one profession, two professionals” approach to the delivery of veterinary medicine in Ontario.

In order to reflect that change, the College of Veterinarians of Ontario will be renamed the College of Veterinary Professionals of Ontario. The renamed college will create regulations, subject to the government’s approval, that will outline the scope of practice for veterinary technicians. It is our expectation in government that the regulations will define a broad scope of practice that is in line with the skills and training registered vet techs possess.

I think it’s really important to share with you that I was honoured to speak at the registered vet techs conference in Hamilton just a couple of weeks ago. In doing so, the magnitude of what we’re doing by enabling a scope of practice for registered vet techs really hit me. Honest to goodness, Speaker, people were in tears when they heard that we were moving forward to recognize their training and their expertise. I know that this has been asked for for a long time. It’s our government that is proudly getting it done on their behalf.

Why does this matter? Well, we all know, especially in rural and northern Ontario, we have a shortage of veterinarians. By recognizing the scope of practice for registered vet techs, there’s going to be increased access to care in the spirit of that team approach that I just referenced. And I know when I travelled to Thunder Bay about 18 months ago or so and visited a vet clinic, the veterinarian and his techs alike really were truly advocating for a modernization of the act so that he could extend his services through the expertise and training of his amazing team of vet techs. That was a really good visit and drove home for me that we were indeed on the right track to get this done.

For those who aren’t aware, the vet tech program is a two-year diploma program offered at a variety of institutions across this province. I think it’s amazing because, again, it’s so important that students, if they so choose, can learn at home. When they learn at home, chances are, in rural Ontario, they stay close to home as well. There are two-year programs offered at Algonquin College, Collège Boréal—en français—Georgian College, Northern College, Seneca College, Sheridan College, St. Clair College, St. Lawrence College and, as well, at the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown campus.

Each college describes their program a little differently. The following is the Northern College’s description of their vet tech program based in Haileybury, in Temiskaming Shores:

“Students learn to perform basic patient examination, collect data on vital signs, administer medications and prepare pharmaceuticals as prescribed by a veterinarian. They will explore anaesthesia, animal nursing, surgical assistance, dental prophylactic procedures, diagnostic laboratory work and tests, such as blood chemistries, culture and sensitivity, and electrocardiograms. This program covers veterinary practice management skills including computer applications, recognizing behavioural signs of small animals and educating and counselling clients in the area of pet nutrition.”

These programs are all accredited by the Ontario Association of Veterinary Technicians. Graduates of these programs are well trained to perform a number of veterinary services. The intent of this legislation is that vets will now be able to use the skills of vet techs to their fullest potential. That is amazing news.

I have also met with a number of vet techs over the past year or so, as I mentioned. The conference in Hamilton was amazing. There were 1,200 registered vet techs in attendance. The trade show was incredible, and the spirit and the commitment were palpable. You could tell registered vet techs are very proud of their position and what they do in the spirit of animal care.

While that was before Bill 171 was introduced, the association was aware of the consultations. All of the registered vet techs who were able to exercise their voice, I can tell you with certainty, were very excited about future opportunities in this profession based on how we’re moving forward with Bill 171.

Vet tech students are also excited about the future because, again, they have the potential of having their full scope of practice recognized and valued. I was pleased to be joined by two Seneca College students, Elizabeth Crouchman and Joner Kuo, for the introduction of this bill.

I want to talk about other non-veterinary animal service providers as well, because we need to also recognize that there are important animal care services that are currently being performed by qualified and competent non-veterinary practitioners. The proposal acknowledges that there is a role for non-veterinarian animal health practitioners in the delivery of services respecting animal care. We have had an approach which continues access that I think reflects the fulsome picture of animal care, all the while protecting health and well-being.

I have to say, when pet owners know their pets—and/or farmers with their livestock—are stressed and not well, it can create a situation whereby there’s a lot of anxiety. So this new act would enable regulations to be made in consultation with the stakeholders that could formalize exemptions for non-veterinarian practitioners and help ensure that the public and these animal care providers will be qualified and competent to provide safe care. Because again, that’s what we do on farm; we work diligently to make sure our animals are healthy and safe and relaxed, just like pet owners. The regulations that would be set out in the terms and limitations, guidelines and prohibitions in this legislation will set out how these professionals can safely continue to provide care to animals.

I think it’s important to recognize that this also applies to pharmacists. They would be able to compound, dispense and sell medication that an animal owner has a prescription for. This would also enable the ability, through regulation, to clarify that people can request a copy of their prescription if they would like to get it filled by another provider.

Similar to when you visit the eye doctor, you have a choice of whether you purchase glasses through them or you take your prescription to go to another store. That’s the perfect analogy that speaks to what we’re enabling here. It’s about access to care and choice.

Another concern, though, that was raised during consultation was access to ultrasounds for pregnant animals, in particular, small ruminants such as sheep and goats. Albeit we’ve had a herd dispersal in the fall of 2023, we still have six does, and we really could have used a few preg-checks because, honest to goodness, the last three weeks have seen six goats that we kept produce 18 kids, and that’s a lot. That is a lot: two sets of quads, two sets of triplets and two sets of twins. Honest to goodness, I want to give a—actually, I have to do this. I have to give a shout-out to my brother and sister-in-law, who have adopted our goats while my husband recovers. They have been busy. Oh my goodness.

Interjections.

Thank you for that.

You know, when the first set of quads arrived, it was like, “Oh my gosh, she did it all herself.” Just on Sunday, we had our last doe kid-out and she had quads. Unfortunately, she’s a younger goat, and she’s like, “What are these four things hanging around me?” So we have—the collective we, meaning my brother and sister-in-law—had to be very hands-on. I want to give a shout-out to Al and Teresa for taking that extra care to make sure those four little kids are getting the nutrition they need at a pivotal time.

But a preg-check could—if we were able and had access to the technology, a preg-check would have come in really handy because we would have known what we were going to be experiencing this spring.

Larger herds and bigger farmers actually really benefit from the low-risk preg-checks that can be facilitated, and we need to make sure that that continues, both for sheep farmers and goat farmers, and I also heard from pork producers as well that they need to be continuing to—how do I say this? Pork producers also want to be able to continue the practice of preg-checks in their facilities as well, because it could get very costly.

With low margins and the cost of farming going nowhere but up based on added expenses and the bad policy that we’re seeing from the federal government—I’d be remiss if I didn’t have a second pause and say that margins are tight on farms, and we need to be doing everything we can to help farmers succeed, as opposed to what we see coming from the federal Liberal government right now. I wish the provincial Liberals would stand up to them and say, “Look, we need to make sure that we’re enabling our farmers to be the very best they can be, as opposed to weighing down their shoulders with heavy carbon tax implications.” April 1 is just around the corner. It’s happening next week. When costs of production continue to skyrocket because of this ill-advised policy, it’s important that we do everything we can here provincially to let them know that we are proud of our farmers and we’re trying to reduce burden and reduce the cost of production for them, to offset what little we can because of the bad policies coming from the federal level.

To get back to the subject at hand, if this bill is passed, it would ensure that ultrasound technicians that provide pregnancy checks for small ruminants will continue to be able to do so.

This bill also continues a number of key exemptions that exist in the current Veterinarians Act, such as the ability for farmers, their families and employees to continue to provide care for their animals. This would include continuing the exemption for farmers who have taken the courses to perform preg-checks on their own animals. That’s really important.

This bill also does not propose to regulate lower-risk services such as grooming, hoof trimming or massage. I have to give a shout-out to Ezra. Thank you for coming out on Saturday morning to trim the hooves of our does. We really appreciated that. It’s important. Husbandry matters, and we need to be able to access those people who have those skills.

Rural Ontario has a plethora of talented people who care for animals, and we need to do everything we can, again, to embrace that team approach, recognizing how important our veterinarians are, our registered vet techs, but also that there are other people who provide services to help us be the best we can be in the care of our animals on farm.

Now, as I mentioned, this bill will, if passed, change the name of the regulatory college to the College of Veterinary Professionals of Ontario. It will also add new objects to the college, including working with the minister on access to adequate numbers of qualified, skilled and competent veterinary professionals.

Our bill also includes a number of improvements that will enable the regulatory college to achieve positive outcomes. These improvements include establishing a more diverse council, enabling mandatory quality assurance programming, streamlining the complaints process—and upholding the public trust in the field of veterinary medicine is paramount. That all sounds very complicated so I’ll spell it out for you.

The council for the renamed College of Veterinary Professionals of Ontario would be expanded to include veterinary technicians, representatives from a vet school and a vet tech program and more members of the public. This will bring more perspectives to the table when decisions are being made. What the legislation calls quality assurance programming breaks down to a few things. The college will be able to create requirements for continuing education for its members, something the college has requested and most other self-regulated professions already require. All these proposed changes would bring the veterinary profession in line with other self-regulated professions across Ontario.

One of the concerns we heard during the consultations was that the complaint resolution process for veterinarians took far too long, on both sides of that equation, if you will. This bill proposes to streamline that process, which will be good for both, as I alluded to, veterinarians as well as animal owners. All in all, stakeholder reaction to the proposed modernization has been very positive. Again, I’m proud of the work that entire team has committed to get it right.

I’d also like to share with everyone that the reality is this community of people who care for our pets and our livestock throughout Ontario have been asking for this modernization for years. Their last big push to address this was in 2017. I’m so very proud to stand in front of you today to demonstrate that our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, had the capacity, had the understanding and had the commitment to listening, consulting, to get it right. It’s our government that’s getting it done, not only for pet owners and for farmers, but we’re getting it done for the professionals who pride themselves in the care that they give in terms of professional care for animals and livestock. Again, building on the legacy of Jack Riddell and the legislation that he introduced 35 years ago, I am very confident that with this legislation and by working with our stakeholders through regulation development, we absolutely will have a foundation for which we can enhance, with confidence, professional care for animals from one end of this province to another.

Madam Speaker, I’m glad that an incredible amount of time was taken to consider the feedback from all of our stakeholders. People will see themselves in this legislation because we took time to reflect on the common-sense approach to the modernization of this particular act. I’m very proud of the manner in which it’s been incorporated into the proposed Veterinary Professionals Act.

Recognizing that there is a team of professionals that come together in the spirit of animal care, does everyone agree? Of course not, but this legislation recognizes the reality that we have across this province here and now. It’s in that spirit of collaboration that I invite all of our professions to continue to work together to make sure that we get it right, because at the end of the day, it is about enhancing our animal care, increasing access, giving certainty to people, pet owners and livestock owners alike across this province so that they have access to good veterinary care. And most importantly, there’s choice as well, like the example that once you have your prescription, you can go to your pharmacist to fill it if you so choose. Choice matters as well in this instance.

Given the extensive consultations undertaken, we feel confident that we are taking the right steps, with actions that will help strengthen the agriculture and food sector and help us to grow Ontario together. That’s the spirit in which our Grow Ontario Strategy was devised and introduced in the fall of 2022. What we’re doing here today with Bill 171 fits so well into our overall Grow Ontario Strategy. Modernizing the legislative framework and increasing veterinary capacity are part of our government’s Grow Ontario Strategy.

Grow Ontario is our provincial agricultural and food pathway, if you will, and it aims to attract and grow Ontario’s agri-food talent. More specifically, these proposed changes would support the government’s plan to develop and increase capacity in the agriculture and agri-food sector. Increasing total agri-food sector employment by 10% by 2032 is a key goal of our overall Grow Ontario Strategy. Like these proposed changes, which arose directly from stakeholder consultations, the Grow Ontario Strategy was informed by the insights of industry.

Speaker, I see the Enhancing Professional Care for Animals Act as one leg of a three-legged stool that supports our government’s goal to improve veterinary care throughout Ontario. Another way we are working to address the labour challenge is by making investments to address veterinary shortages in rural and northern communities. Through our Veterinary Incentive Program, we are encouraging up to 100 recently graduated veterinarians to work in large-animal practices. This program will give these new vets up to $50,000 over five years to work in an underserviced area of the province to address critical skill and labour shortages. This program was announced late last year and already we’re seeing new veterinarians receiving funding to practise in underserved communities, from Fort Frances to Cobden—and Cobden comes from the great county of Renfrew, which has an MPP proudly representing it, day in and day out.

Yes, Yak-tastic, as my colleague said. Also, I have to share that that access to underserviced communities is going to be incredibly well received, from Sturgeon Falls to Markdale, which is represented by our amazing member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound.

We have also announced that we are investing up to $14.7 million in the creation of veterinary medicine seats, which will result in 20 additional veterinarians graduating each year. All of these actions, together with the proposed Enhancing Professional Care for Animals Act, will help us to care for our animals, whether they be pets, service animals or livestock.

At the end of the day, this is making sure that people who choose to be pet owners or people who proudly farm and have livestock that they care for have the supports needed, because animals play such an important role. We’ve got a 75-pound lap dog. I don’t know how that happened; my husband will blame me. But we would do anything for her. And even, begrudgingly, my husband would do anything for our barn cats. Our livestock, our purebred Boer goats matter as well, because we are raising our goats in spirit of having the very best genetics in the province of Ontario that other people can benefit from. Those six goats that we kept are working very hard to make sure that we are coming back and increasing our herd in rapid style, much to our chagrin in some cases. We like twins. We’re good with twins, but these triplets and quads blow my mind. I’m always busy on the weekends when I get home to be hands-on.

I also want to share that we’re sincere in the manner in which we are coming forward with this piece of legislation. Bill 171 represents a cumulative effort to make sure we’re getting it right in the spirit of modernization. Getting it right means that there needs to be compromise and that there needs to be the opportunity to understand the importance of working together in the spirit of making sure that, together, in the spirit of a team, we are enabling Ontarians to access the care that they choose, when and where they need it.

Again, our government is getting it done. When you combine the modernization of the Veterinarians Act with the proposed legislation that we’re talking about today, with the fact that we’ve made a significant investment—up to $50,000 over five years—to incent veterinarians to go into practice to care for large animals, particularly in northern and rural remote areas that are underserviced, and you combine that with the additional 20 seats that MCU has worked with finance and OMAFRA on, our government is taking bold steps that haven’t been taken for decades.

Again, this legislation hasn’t been looked at for 35 years, and we need to modernize. I think about our veterinarian at home, Clayton. When I reached out to him to get his perspective on this legislation that we’re bringing forward, he was excited. He said, “I don’t think many veterinarians in this county have had a Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs reach out to see how they felt about a piece of legislation.” That’s the difference between our government and governments of the past. We care enough to take the time to listen.

With that, I look forward to passing the floor over to my esteemed colleague from Chatham-Kent–Leamington. I hope you’ll listen to what he has to share, because he has played a pivotal role in the process of bringing this legislation to the floor.