It’s a pleasure to rise this afternoon and join this debate on opposition day motion number 3.

I can tell this House that hearing from the member opposite that we are a very different party on this side actually warms my heart, because we, on this side of the House, are very different from the opposition and from the Liberal Party. We are getting things done.

On the topic for today, I would like to start just by differentiating our budget items from the Liberal budget items. This comes from the Auditor General’s report itself. Between 2015 and 2018, the Liberal government spent $48.9 million annually on advertising. On this side of the House—if you take out the pandemic years, which were very different—this side has spent $29.2 million, and it has been money well-invested in ads that have been informing. They’ve been approved by the Auditor General, pursuant to the policy, and they have been providing Ontarians with important information about what has been going on in our province—important information about access to health care; important information about housing programs; important information about long-term care; and important information about how we are improving Ontario’s economy.

We’ve attracted, as we heard this morning, 700,000 jobs to this province and over $35 billion in investment in the EV sector and the agricultural sector and other business sectors.

We are absolutely different, on this side of the floor, from that side of the floor. We’re improving life for Ontario residents, and we’re getting the job done, and we’re happy to talk about it.

Madam Speaker, if I can just review the Government Advertising Act history—it was passed in 2006, and it requires the Auditor General to review government advertising to ensure it is free of partisan content, as defined by the act. The act applies to a government office, which the act defines as a ministry, Cabinet Office and the Office of the Premier. Items that are reviewable by the Auditor General under the original act included any advertisement that a government office proposes to pay to have published in a newspaper or magazine, displayed on a billboard or broadcast on radio or television; printed matter that a government office proposes to pay to have distributed to households in Ontario by bulk mail or another method of bulk delivery, where bulk mail or bulk delivery means the printed matter is not individually addressed to the intended recipient; and any additional classes of messages prescribed by regulation.

That original act was amended in 2015, and these changes include: adding digital advertising to the Auditor General’s scope of review, and digital advertising is defined by the regulations; defining what partisan means in relation to government advertising; clearly stating what can be advertised publicly by the government, such as fiscal policies and policy rationales or objectives; clarifying rules around government advertising during general elections; and, finally, requiring the government to submit a preliminary version of the ad to the Auditor General for review, in addition to the final review process.

The amendments addressed comments received since 2011 from former Auditors General requesting the ability to review digital advertising. The amendments also clarified what is meant by the term “partisan” and defined a partisan ad as partisan if:

(1) It includes the name, voice or image of a member of the executive council or the Legislative Assembly, unless the primary audience is outside Ontario. However, the use of a member’s title would be permitted—e.g. Premier’s Awards.

(2) It includes the name or logo of a recognized party.

(3) It directly identifies and criticizes a recognized party or a member of the assembly.

(4) It includes to a significant degree a colour associated with the governing party, unless the item depicted in the ad commonly appears in that colour.

Just adding to the comments of my colleague from Mississauga–Lakeshore, these ads were all approved by the Auditor General, as per the act. These ads were all legitimate, they were almost half the cost of what the prior Liberal government was investing, and these ads were serving a public purpose in making sure that Ontarians know about the activities that are going on at Queen’s Park that impact their daily lives.

We believe that the government should provide important health information, like vaccination campaigns and public health measures, like we did during the pandemic.

We believe that the people of Ontario should be told about what their government is doing to help build new homes so that young families can achieve the dream of home ownership.

We believe that the people of Ontario should be informed about how their hard-earned tax dollars are building a stronger economy and creating thousands of new jobs across our province.

We believe that Ontario is a place we should all be proud of.

There’s work to be done, and we’re happy to do that work, we’re quite prepared to do that work, and we will continue to do that work. It is for this reason that we on this side of the floor believe that the ads that we have been putting out are responsible, informative and are a very critical part of continuing to be an open and transparent government about the things that matter most. And we will not apologize for that.

It’s a pleasure to rise on behalf of the residents of Simcoe–Grey to speak to Bill 31, the Murray Whetung Community Service Award Act, 2023. I want to thank my colleague the MPP for Peterborough–Kawartha for bringing this important bill forward and allowing me the opportunity to speak today.

This is an extremely important award, Madam Speaker, because it is a tribute to an important First Nations elder, decorated veteran and family man, Murray Whetung. We heard earlier that he was discharged honourably in December of 1945 after coming back and serving in a very, very dangerous time, obviously, in Europe and being a part of the D-Day wrap-up. He was 24 at the time that he was discharged, and he died in February of 2021 in his 100th year. He had 76 years after his time overseas, and when he came home, he continued to be an important contributor to his community. He was an engine mechanic, a United Church minister and an elder and good friend to many in the Curve Lake First Nation. He had 12 children, over 50 grandchildren and I think they’ve lost count of his great-grandchildren. So Mr. Whetung is a man who cast a long and indelible shadow in his community, both in terms of serving his country overseas, but also in serving his community long after when he returned home.

We’ve heard others speak about the importance of his contribution as a veteran in a time when there was great discrimination against our First Nations soldiers. It’s interesting that he went into the army because First Nations were not allowed to go into the air force or the navy, and so he became, as all of his brothers, a member of the army and fought the ground battles that really changed the complexion of the war in the European campaign.

This recognition is of the critical role that our First Nations people played in defending our country willingly and not through conscription; they all volunteered to defend our way of life, a way of life that often was at odds with their own. And we’ve heard about the prejudices they faced overseas and the potential loss of their Indian status if they were away from their band for over four years, and then coming home and not being able to wear their medals, their uniforms, or, in fact, go to the Legion and even to vote. They defended our nation when they did not have the right to vote, and it was not until 1951 when they were given the right to vote and then subsequently allowed into our Legions.

So it really speaks to the character of Murray Whetung and his brothers that they would make this sacrifice, that they would risk their lives for a way of life that really didn’t accept them at that time. And that is another reason for the importance of this bill, is that it is, in part, an act of reconciliation. And reconciliation, as the report from Murray Sinclair’s committee suggests, is about truth and reconciliation, and before we can get to reconciliation, we have to confront the truths at the time so that we can move forward together so that we can be partners in making Canada a more accepting and better home for our First Nations peoples.

And it’s important also because it is a recognition of the cadets and Junior Rangers and the important programs that are offered through the air cadets. I know in my riding of Simcoe–Grey, in Collingwood, Branch Legion 63 has the cadet program there, Branch 1909, and I’ve been many times in my former life as a municipal politician to their annual reviews and banquets, and it’s wonderful to see these youth aged 12 to 18, young men and women, who are participating in the programs, getting exposure to healthy programs, community service. Many of them go to Base Borden, which is also in my riding, to attend the Blackdown Cadet Training Centre program in the summer which is a two-week camp, and I was at their review last summer—to see the proud faces of these kids and their parents as they completed the two-week program there.

So it’s very important to have this recognition to recognize their achievements and their commitment to serving their communities, but also so that they became aware of the life and legacy of Murray Whetung and the role of our Indigenous forces and veterans in both wars.

The Legions—and there are nine of them in my riding—and every year on Remembrance Day, as well as throughout the year are integral parts in their community and in supporting community events such as hockey banquets, sport banquets, parades and as well, during the pandemic, in my riding in Collingwood, the Legion served a vital role as the overflow hospital with 17 beds in the case of any wave of the pandemic that forced patients out of the hospital.

And these are just aspects of the important role that our Legions play in our communities. Not only do they provide supports for our veterans and our first responders—I as well am a member—they are important places to gather for our communities to celebrate our communities, to honour and recognize the roles that our veterans played in our lives and the incredible debt that we owe to each and every one of our veterans. In the words of Winston Churchill: “Never has so much been owed to so few by so many.”

And that continues today when we see the geopolitical instability in our world that we are not as far from war as we would like to be, and it is important to understand and appreciate the legacy of our veterans and to promote their values as we move forward to make our communities safer, more inclusive and more resilient.

So I want to give an acknowledgment out to all of the Legions in my riding for the great work that they do and to thank them and their boards for making such an impact in our communities.

It is a great honour today to be speaking in support of this legislation to recognize a very important man, Murray Whetung, but also to recognize what he represents as one of over 7,000 First Nations veterans and the contributions they made to our country during the war, despite the negative impacts it could have on them, on their return—and also to recognize and carry forward the legacy of Murray Whetung and his caring, giving, all-embracing attitude to make sure that our young cadets honour and appreciate that.