Point of order.

Third reading debate deemed adjourned.

Report continues in volume B.

I beg to inform the House that today the Clerk received the report on intended appointments dated March 28, 2024, of the Standing Committee on Government Agencies. Pursuant to standing order 110(f)(9), the report is deemed to be adopted by the House.

Report deemed adopted.

Mr. Ke moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 183, An Act to proclaim the month of February as Chinese Heritage Month / Projet de loi 183, Loi proclamant le mois de février Mois du patrimoine chinois.

First reading agreed to.

Madam Speaker, a point of order?

Point of order.

I beg to inform the House that today the Clerk received the report on intended appointments dated February 22, 2024, of the Standing Committee on Government Agencies. Pursuant to standing order 110(f)(9), the report is deemed to be adopted by the House.

Report deemed adopted.

Report adopted.

Mr. Todd Smith moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 165, An Act to amend the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998 respecting certain Board proceedings and related matters / Projet de loi 165, Loi modifiant la Loi de 1998 sur la Commission de l’énergie de l’Ontario en ce qui concerne certaines instances dont la Commission est saisie et des questions connexes.

First reading agreed to.

Point of order, I recognize the member from Barrie–Innisfil.

Point of order.

Interjection.

I beg to inform the House that today the Clerk received the report on intended appointments dated March 23, 2023, of the Standing Committee on Government Agencies. Pursuant to standing order 110(f)(9), the report is deemed to be adopted by the House.

Report deemed adopted.

Madame Gélinas moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 84, An Act to amend various statutes with respect to the removal and use of tissue from a human body for therapeutic purposes, medical education or scientific research / Projet de loi 84, Loi visant à modifier diverses lois en ce qui concerne le prélèvement et l’utilisation de tissus d’un corps humain à des fins thérapeutiques, pour l’enseignement de la médecine ou pour la recherche scientifique.

First reading agreed to.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour, say “aye.”

All those opposed, say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

Interjection: On division.

Motion agreed to.

Point of order. I recognize the member for Barrie–Innisfil.

I have the privilege today of paying tribute to Lily Oddie Munro, a cabinet minister in the David Peterson government whose political journey began in my hometown of Hamilton back in the mid-1980s.

Lily Munro was first elected MPP for the riding of Hamilton Centre in 1985 after losing a by-election the year before by the slimmest of margins—just 64 votes. She was appointed Ontario’s Minister of Citizenship and Culture, the only woman in cabinet at that time. Two years later, following the Liberal landslide of 1987, she became Minister of Culture and Communications. She was an energetic, self-confessed workaholic who embraced cultural issues.

Lily Munro’s career certainly did not begin on a political path. After graduating from Delta Secondary School in Hamilton, she went to work as a secretary at Stelco steel. Munro remained at Stelco for 13 years. She then decided that she wanted to improve her formal education. She was driven and determined. At the age of 32, Lily Munro enrolled at university and earned not just one degree but three degrees, including a doctorate in educational philosophy. Following graduation, Dr. Munro worked as a psychologist. She became the director of the Centre for Continuing Education at McMaster University.

Lily Oddie became more engaged in politics when she began working for federal MP John Munro, a man whom she later married. John Munro once described his wife as a “tough fighter and a hard fighter.”

As Minister of Culture, she was a fierce proponent of funding for the arts and culture. She fought for funding to restore the Elgin and Winter Garden theatres because she desperately wanted to provide year-round employment for seasonal theatre staff. She weathered the storm around accusations of conflict of interest in the Patti Starr affair and brushed aside daily calls from the opposition to resign. Her staff called her “Tiger Lily.”

Lily Munro had deep roots in Hamilton. She immigrated to Canada from Britain with her family after the war. She served on various boards and committees in Hamilton that promoted the well-being of women, children and the disabled.

Lily Munro has been described as being shy and reserved, but those who knew her well say otherwise. She was spontaneous, energetic and warm.

At 80 pounds, she was a black belt in karate. I’m told that in an east-end Hamilton karate club, she once broke another woman’s ribs.

At the age of 60, Munro decided she wanted to ride a motorcycle. After getting her licence, she went on rides with friends to the United States. She gave up the bike at the age of 70, at the insistence of her son.

She was a woman with no reservations about getting up on stage in costume for roles in theatre.

Another time, the culture minister graced the front page of a Toronto newspaper dressed as a character from the musical Cats.

When the Hamilton Tiger-Cats won the CFL Eastern final in 1985, Munro led this House in an Oskee Wee Wee chant. In fact, Lily Munro was a staunch Steeltown cheerleader who raised Hamilton’s profile at Queen’s Park.

Decades after her high school graduation, Lily Munro was inducted into the Delta high school Wall of Excellence.

Lily Munro embraced life. She lived a long and full life. She passed away at the age of 83.

I want to thank her son, John, and grandson, Finn, for sharing their mother and grandmother with us. She was a woman who had Hamilton’s best interest at heart, and we are a better community because of her work.

I’m very honoured to rise this afternoon to speak to government motion number 2, regarding my appointment as Deputy Speaker and the appointment of other presiding officers of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Speaker, during the past four years, I have admired the work that you do in your role as Speaker. You do an admirable job of maintaining order in this House, which at times can be impossible, because at times, emotions are running high and debate can get fairly rowdy. I want to assure you and other members of the Legislature that I truly understand the obligation of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker to maintain order and decorum in an impartial manner, in a way that rises above political affiliation. The roles of Speaker and Deputy Speaker are non-partisan apolitical roles, and I’m humbled to be considered to be appointed Deputy Speaker.

Many people in the House know that prior to becoming the MPP for Flamborough–Glanbrook, I spent 35 years as a broadcast journalist. Most of that time, or at least part of that time, I was able to cover stories that were heartfelt. I was born and raised and grew up in northern Ontario, as I’ve mentioned many times. That opportunity to live in northern Ontario as a young adult and to work right across Ontario in the broadcast media gave me a genuine understanding of the differences between communities across Ontario, their challenges, their strengths. It was a unique experience that I’m proud that I can bring to my job as MPP for Flamborough–Glanbrook.

Thirty-five years ago, social media did not exist, and most people relied on traditional journalism as the source for their news. I was really, really proud of the role that I played, reporting on the events of the day in communities right across, as I said, Ontario, telling the stories of the people who were about to shape our future. Some of those stories, as I mentioned, had happy endings and involved really good people who simply wanted to make a better life for themselves and for their families.

I want to share one story of a man and his wife, who I came to know and came to love: Ray Lewis. Back in 1932, Ray Lewis became the first Black Canadian Olympic medal winner. He finished bronze in the 4 by 400 at the Los Angeles Olympics. His story was compelling. It was tragic. I remember he was a porter for the railroad. When they would work and stop the train, he would get out and train by running beside the train. That was one of the ways he was able to improve his time and eventually compete at the 1932 Olympics. His wife, Vivienne, was absolutely beautiful. I spent hours with them, documenting their story, and it was one of the stories I was most proud that I produced in my time at CHCH-TV. I used to take her grocery shopping. In turn, she would make me this pound cake that I swear was the tastiest cake I’ve ever had. It was one of those stories that I’ll never forget—people who enter your life who you want to maintain a lifelong friendship with.

Another couple I came to know and love came into my life during the Bosnian war. I was assigned to cover one of the first couples that who came to Canada. They actually came to Hamilton, as refugees from Bosnia. When I showed up at their motel room, I recognized that they were about the same age as myself and my husband, and their children were the same age. The woman, the mother of this couple, of these children, spoke a little bit of English. So we chatted, and we chatted, and we chatted, and we chatted. I thought, “I can’t believe this. Here is a woman, her husband, her very young children, his brothers”—who all had worked for the Canadian government, by the way. One had worked for the Red Cross, one was a translator for the Canadian government, and one was a judge. The judge’s name was on a hit list, and they had to flee. I remember them telling me the story. It was so compelling. These men were six-foot-three, six-foot-four, and they had all packed into a car. When they got to the border to flee Kosovo, somebody recognized them at the border. His name, as I said, was on a hit list. The guard was actually a friend and snuck them out. They left with nothing. They came to Canada with nothing. I became really good friends with them. They would come to my house. Our kids were the same age; they played. Today this man, who came over here with his young family with absolutely nothing, is a family physician in London, Ontario. It’s just such a remarkable story.

These are the good stories, the good people in Ontario. Unfortunately, as you know, not all news is good news. I spent a lot of my time as a journalist, really, documenting the ugly side of humanity.

Back in the 1990s, again, I travelled to Doha, Qatar, as a young journalist to report on the Canadian troops at Canada Dry One. I absolutely love our military. I have such deep admiration and respect for any man or woman who will don a uniform and fight for their country. I assumed that sentiment would be prevalent in Qatar. You have to remember that back in the 1990s, this was in the height of very biased reporting when it came to the Gulf War—jingoism. As I ventured out into the streets while setting my camera aside and started talking to many of the locals, I was shocked to discover that we weren’t being embraced with open arms. There was another side to the story: people who were not happy that Canada had sent its troops to Doha, who weren’t pleased that the base was located just outside of Doha. It was just such an eye-opener because, as I’ve said, we were at the height of this patriotism, and I was realizing that, once again, as a journalist, there are two sides to every story. It was a side I had to tell—the side that, yes, we were very proud of our troops, but there were also other people who were questioning why we were there in Doha.

Being objective isn’t always easy, but I have to tell you again: I haven’t always been partisan. I spent a great deal of my time as a reporter covering all levels of government, from city hall to provincial government—one of the reasons I got into politics—to federal government. But we had to do it. We had to do it objectively. The story wouldn’t go to air if we showed any form of bias. I had a job to do. I had an opinion, but that opinion could not come through in the work that I was filing.

The most difficult part—I found, in my career as a journalist—of having to be objective was when I started to cover trials. I covered trials, actually, throughout my career, and some of the horrific trials, too. This was back in the 1990s. We had the Paul Bernardo murder and abduction of young girls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy. These were horrific stories that dominated our headlines and really captivated all of our attention. My colleagues—one of whom still works for me today—actually had to sit in those courtrooms and listen to those stories and still come out with an objective report.

One of the last stories I covered was the Tim Bosma murder trial. Again, your job is to report the facts as you sit and listen to the pain that his family went through as the evidence came forward when they were trying the two accused, Mark Smich and Dellen Millard.

The last trial I covered, actually, before I ventured into municipal politics was that of a young man. He was only 18 years of age, and he had been out with his friends on what we call Supercrawl in Hamilton. It’s a big deal in the city of Hamilton—probably 100,000 people walking around, a lot of people on the street. He had been out with a bunch of kids. They had a few drinks, perhaps, before they went into a bar. He was underage. He went into the bar, came out, bought a girl a rose. We often see street vendors in there, encouraging the young men to buy their date a rose, which he did. He ventured a little down the street, turned around the corner, was just in front of a Tim Hortons, and a man he had encountered earlier in the evening—a man in his fifties—fatally stabbed him. And that was it. It was horrific.

This young man was Portuguese. We had translators in the courtroom. His mother sobbed throughout the entire trial. It was gut-wrenching, and it was very difficult not to portray the pain and sorrow of all of these family members because of the absolutely unnecessary death of this young man who was simply turning a corner and walking down the street—but we had to.

The man was convicted of second-degree murder. I remember, months later when I was politicking, knocking on doors, I ran into the accused’s sister, who was quite upset with the reporting because she felt we didn’t show the other side and who she claimed was the victim, who was actually the man who was accused in the murder of this young man.

Speaker, the reason I’m bringing these stories forward is because in the role of Deputy Speaker, in the role of Speaker, you have to be objective. I’ve spent 35 years covering many, many stories where it would be so easy to simply state your opinion, to include your opinion in something because that’s how you feel, because you’re emotionally invested in the story of the day, but you can’t. That’s not your job. Your job is to look at all of the facts, present all of the facts and be as objective as possible.

Speaker, I believe that my experience in broadcast journalism has really prepared me well for this role. As I’ve mentioned, journalists are obligated to be impartial. We are required to hear and to consider all opinions and views on all issues. As a reporter, I had to reach out, speak to people and listen to the views of all of those people who were involved in the story, regardless of whether I agreed with them or not. I wasn’t allowed to allow my own opinion, my viewpoint, my bias, to get in the way of a balanced report, and I’m very proud of the role I played in that.

When I was a news reporter, I covered Hamilton city council, which I eventually ran in, and I had to report on the opinions and priorities of the councillors of the day. I kept my opinions to myself. My views were not reflected in my public reporting. I could not be accused of being a biased reporter.

For members of the opposition who may not think that I can relate to the so-called ordinary working people, my father was a railroad engineer. My mother was one of only four women in an executive role, as a receptionist who worked at a mine in our local community, and I went on to become the leader of our bargaining unit at CHCH in Hamilton. I understood the issues that faced the rank-and-file workers, and I fought to protect their wages and benefits and to improve working conditions, especially for the more vulnerable employees, and I was often clashing with management. I know how to negotiate. I’ve sat at the negotiating table, advocating for members. I was a voice for my colleagues.

During the recession in 2008, Canwest Global was threatening to simply shut down CHCH-TV. More than 150 jobs were at stake, and I went to bat for the employees and for CHCH Television itself. I travelled to Ottawa to speak before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and a parliamentary committee to fight for CHCH and to fight for all other struggling independent television stations. I wanted to preserve local news.

Speaker, I’ve been here for four years now. I know how the legislative process works. I’ve served on numerous committees, and prior to being elected to represent the people in Flamborough–Glanbrook, I served on Hamilton city council. I did so with respect and decorum. I received a lot of pushback as, I would say, one of the few Conservatives on a very left-leaning council. I received a lot of pushback from other councillors and members of the public—pushback from people who wanted to protect their own agendas and their own pet projects—but I stood my ground and respectfully defended my decision.

There has been a lot of discussion in this House recently about the importance of diversity and representation, and I am truly honoured to be appointed Deputy Speaker. I believe I have the background and experience to do the job well. I’ve been recognized for my work in advocacy in my hometown of Hamilton. I was recipient of the YWCA Woman of the Year in politics. And I never miss an opportunity to encourage women to run for political office. I served on the National Advisory Board for Canadian Culture. I’ve served on many local boards, such as Banyan Community Services, a not-for-profit organization serving at-risk youth and people with disabilities.

I’m a strong voice for my community, and I’ve been there championing local causes. I’ve been promoting initiatives that offer people skilled training, because I believe it’s the path to getting a better, well-paying job. I have assisted manufacturing firms in their bid to grow their business. I’ve been a voice for job creation in Hamilton and right across Ontario.

I’m both honoured and humbled by this appointment as Deputy Speaker. I promise you I will be fair and impartial. I will respect the integrity of this House. I will respect the role of each and every member of this House. I will respect parliamentary traditions, which include the right to be heard. I understand that debate can get very emotional, and I admire my colleagues, who are passionate about the issues that are most important to them, but in my role as Deputy Speaker I will ensure that debate is conducted in a respectful, courteous and civil manner. I will do my best to treat each member fairly. I will listen to each member respectfully and objectively.

This is my second term serving the people of Flamborough–Glanbrook. I’ve been in this House now for over four years, and I understand that members have differing views on issues. We all come from differing backgrounds, cultures and experiences. I’ve been in the thick of it. When the debate turns contentious—and heated at times, in fact—you have called me out on a few occasions, Mr. Speaker, but that’s because I’m passionate about the issues that I believe are important to people across Ontario and to people in this House. But, Speaker, you were doing your job. You were maintaining decorum and order in this House.

Speaker, if this motion is passed, I will be honoured and grateful to sit in the chair to serve as Deputy Speaker of the House.