It is a pleasure to rise on behalf of the resident of Simcoe–Grey this morning to join the debate on Bill 81, an act to proclaim May 30 each year as Croatian Heritage Day. I want to congratulate my colleague from Flamborough–Glanbrook on bringing this private member’s bill forward and thank you for the opportunity to join the debate this morning.

Diversity makes us stronger, and the opportunity to celebrate that diversity and recognize the important ways that other cultures and their heritage enrich our province to make us a stronger and more inclusive and more resilient society is worth celebrating and is the reason for this bill.

Following the defeat and dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the First World War, the southern Slav people formed a new kingdom which included historic Croatian lands. It was known initially as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes and, in 1929, changed its name to Yugoslavia, which translates to “the land of the South Slavs.”

As noted in the preamble to the bill, Croatian immigrants escaping the oppression of the Communist regime began arriving in Ontario in the 1920s, seeking a better life. They worked in steel mills in Hamilton and Sault Ste. Marie, in mines in northern Ontario and on construction sites across Ontario, and I know they worked in the Collingwood shipyards as well.

They established vibrant communities across the province including Windsor, Welland, Hamilton, Mississauga, Toronto, and further north in Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. Today, Ontario is home to over 100,000 people of Croatian descent, the largest Croatian population in Canada, and the contributions of Ontarians of Croatian descent have been numerous.

Moreover, athleticism is an important part of the Croatian identity. As an aging athlete, I am a great believer in the saying that life imitates sport so I would like to focus my comments this morning on the great Croatian Canadian athletes that many of us grew up cheering for as they competed in Canada and for Canada. They entertained us, they represented us with distinction, and they made us proud to be Canadians.

The Mahovlich brothers, Frank and Peter, have Croatian parents and are National Hockey League legends. Frank, also known as the “Big M,” joined the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1957, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year and he won four cups with the Maple Leafs in 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1966.

Frank also won two Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens in 1971 and 1973. Frank’s younger brother, Peter, known as “Little M,” even though he towered over his older brother, won four Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens, two with his brother and two more after Frank had been traded, in 1976 and 1977.

Peter joined his brother Frank on Team Canada for the memorable Summit Series against the Soviet Union in 1972, and the two brothers were key contributors to that historic victory, which has come, really, to be a watershed moment in Canada’s hockey history.

There are few hockey fans who watched that series who cannot recall in great detail where they were when Paul Henderson scored the winning goal in game 8 with 34 seconds left in regulation time. And the Mahovlich brothers are just one of numerous accomplished sibling duos of Croatian descent to embrace what for many Canadians is our national game, hockey, and to play in the NHL.

The Pavelich brothers were skating in the NHL before the Mahovlich brothers had ever put on skates, and their careers spanned four decades, from the 1940s to the 1970s. Older brother Marty played 10 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings during their heyday and was a member of four Stanley Cup teams with the Red Wings, in 1950, 1952, 1954 and 1955.

Marty’s younger brother, Matt, debuted in the NHL in 1956 as a linesman and retired 23 years later, in 1979, after working 1,727 regular season games, 245 playoff games and seven Stanley Cup finals. In 1987, Matt was the first linesman ever to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

And there were the Sakic brothers, Joe and Brian, another dynamic Croatian brother duo. Joe Sakic won two Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche as a player in 1996 and 2001 and another as the Avalanche general manager in 2022—only the second player to do that with his own organization. Joe was also a key member of Team Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where Canada won gold. And we all know the famous story of the loonie under centre ice.

Brother Brian was drafted by the Washington Capitals in 1990, but never played in the NHL. He played professional hockey in the Western Hockey League and had his jersey number retired by the Tri-City Americans, with whom he set WHL records for career assists and points.

And there are the Kordic brothers, John and Dan. They are the fourth sibling duo with Croatian heritage to play in the NHL. John played in the NHL for seven seasons and won a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1986, and his brother, Dan, played for the Philadelphia Flyers for over five seasons.

There are, of course, other Croatian Canadian NHLers who have won the Stanley Cup, such as Cory Sarich, but these four brother duos are unique, not just because of their Croatian heritage but also because they won a total of 18 Stanley Cups between them—a truly remarkable feat. As new Canadians, they embraced our national sport, they excelled beyond all expectations and they made a place for themselves in our hockey lore.

Continuing with the siblings theme, Sandra and Val Bezic are another example of a Croatian sibling duo that excelled on the ice beyond all expectations as pair figure skaters. Sandra and Val were Canadian champions five times, from 1970 to 1974 inclusive, and placed a very respectable ninth at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan.

Speaker, the name of George Chuvalo, which has been mentioned previously, is another Canadian sports legend with Croatian heritage, and he’s very well known to sports fans in Canada and around the world. He was Canada’s heavyweight champion for 20 years and a two-time world heavyweight title challenger. George fought many of the heavyweight greats, including Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman. He had 93 professional bouts and is famous for never being knocked down in his entire career.

Tragically, George faced his biggest losses outside the ring as he lost three sons and his wife to addictions and mental health struggles. Speaker, he faced those losses head-on, speaking candidly and openly about his family’s mental health struggles long before it was mainstream. He was perseverance and determination personified, both in and outside the ring, and for that, he won the admiration of Canadians everywhere.

I’d like to use my remaining time just to speak about my personal connection with Croatia and, in particular, Zagreb, the capital and largest city in Croatia. During my time on the Canadian rowing team, I had the great pleasure to race in Zagreb in 1987 at the world student games. I was a member of the coxed four. It is a beautiful 13th-century city, surrounded by pastoral countryside, and it had a state-of-the-art rowing course, perhaps one of the best courses I raced on in my time racing internationally. The final was a hard-fought and closely contested race that saw us finish third, within a second of the Italians and less than a second ahead of the Yugoslavian crew.

That, Madam Speaker, is an important note, because during my time on the national rowing team, one of the things that I got to witness first-hand was geopolitical shifts and changes in our world. We saw the coming down of the Berlin Wall. In 1988, I raced against the East and West German crews; in 1990, I raced against the unified Germany. In 1988, I raced against the Yugoslavian crew, that same crew that we raced in 1987, and I’m sad to say, they beat us that race. Then, in 1992, I raced against Croatia and Slovenia as separate nations, after Yugoslavia broke up during the Bosnian War.

Having a first-hand seat to those changes internationally gave me an understanding and appreciation not only for the athletes, but for the heritage and the places they came from. It’s a shifting world and we need to take time out to celebrate our heritage communally and collectively, and this is such a great opportunity in this House this morning to do that.

Today, the Croatian rowing program is thriving, and, once again, a sibling duo is their top crew, with back-to-back Olympic gold medals in two different events. Martin and Valent Sinković won gold in the men’s heavyweight double at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and, four years later, won gold in the men’s heavyweight pair at the 2021 Tokyo games. Interestingly, this is only the second time in Olympic history that this feat has been accomplished. I’m very proud to say that Canada’s own Kathleen Heddle and Marnie McBean, my teammates in 1992, were the first ever to accomplish this feat, winning gold in the women’s heavyweight pair in Barcelona in 1992, where they also won gold as members of the Canadian women’s eight, and four years later, they won in the women’s heavyweight double at the Atlanta games in 1996.

My last connection to Yugoslavia is my coach, Boris Klavora, he himself an Olympian rower who represented Yugoslavia in the heavyweight eight at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. To me, I think Boris really represents the spirit of Yugoslavia and Croatia. He is determined and analytical, with an infinite capacity to challenge himself fearlessly and relentlessly. Indeed, it is these traits that make our Croatian Canadians such accomplished athletes and valued members of our communities across the province, and it is just one of the many ways our Croatian communities make Ontario stronger, more inclusive and more resilient.

That is why I will be supporting Bill 81.

I’d like to introduce folks from the Lake Simcoe area who have travelled here to recognize World Water Day: Ann Truyens, from AWARE Simcoe; Linda Wells, from Barilla Park Residents Association; Penny Trumble, Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation; Rostyslaw Pityk from Innisfil District Association; Jean Ucar, Innisfree cottagers; Jack Gibbons, Lake Simcoe Watch; and Katharine Harries, Midland field naturalists. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Meegwetch, Speaker. I want to welcome to the Legislature the people from Rescue Lake Simcoe: Margaret Prophet, Claire Malcolmson, Susan Sheard, Jessica-Margaret Paige Merriman, William Alexander Agnew, Diana Wells and Carolyn V Boyer. Meegwetch for being here.

Speaker, tomorrow is World Water Day, March 22, and we have many people here in the gallery who have travelled from the Lake Simcoe area. They, along with the Chippewas of Georgina Island, are very concerned with the health of this beloved lake. We have a majority government. There are five Lake Simcoe area Conservative MPPs, including the Minister of the Environment, in this area. There’s existing legislation dating back to 2008, and yet, we have seen no action in cleaning up the phosphorus issues in Lake Simcoe.

This budget, the Conservative budget, is coming next week. Will the Premier finally adequately—adequately—fund the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan, yes or no?

Interjections.

I really welcome the member’s interest in this file. This government has been interested in protecting Lake Simcoe from day one. For instance, there’s this historic project to take five tonnes of phosphorus per year out of the Holland Marsh, thanks to the actions of this Premier and this government. A project that was on the books for decades that wasn’t getting done, this government is getting done.

Work is already under way, Speaker. This is a great project for the watershed, a great project for the jewel of Lake Simcoe. This builds on the millions of dollars of investments in the lake, to date. We’re working with partners like the Lake Simcoe conservation authority and the St. Lawrence River institute, amongst many other partners, in terms of reducing chloride levels, reducing phosphorus and making sure we have a great state-of-the-art lake for generations to come.

I truly appreciate the question from this amazing member from Simcoe–Grey because he totally has nailed it. There are inequities happening across the board because of this failed ideology that has driven Liberal policy to make the cost of everything go sky-high.

For instance, in the spirit of inequities, in rural Ontario and across the entire province, 70% of people require heating through natural gas. In some instances, like in northern Ontario and on our farm, we use propane.

Furthermore, we have to take a look at what’s happening in rural Ontario. With the increase of carbon tax happening as of April 1, we are going to have more stress and pressure on all of our systems. For instance, in rural Ontario, we have transit mobility initiatives, but the cost of those buses travelling from town to town is going to go nowhere but up. School buses, ambulances, even getting our mail delivered in our rural routes across the province: It’s going to go sky-high—

Thank you to the minister for her response. The carbon tax is harming the hard-working individuals, businesses and farmers of Simcoe–Grey and areas across our province.

We know Ontario has one of the cleanest electrical grids in Canada. We also know that Ontario has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 27% as compared to 2005 levels. That is 90% of the way to our target, Mr. Speaker. We are leading Canada.

The fact is that the tax is taking money from families for no good reason. On top of that, the federal government is selectively exempting home heating oil from the carbon tax. They are sending the message that not everyone is treated equally across this country. Again, this is unfair and it’s unacceptable.

As we continue to face an affordability crisis, our government must continue to fight the carbon tax and provide Ontario families with the financial relief they need. Can the minister please explain why the federal carbon tax is costly and unfair to the people of Ontario?