I think they’re trickling into the gallery, but I want to thank ACORN, who are in the building today—an advocate for tenants, low-income Ontarians. I’m proud to be a member myself.

Welcome, ACORN, to your House.

Let’s all get out to the reception at lunch.

Last Thursday, I left Ottawa at 6:30 in the morning on my bicycle, bound for this place. We called it the #SafetyRide. Our goal was to get here in four days, and I’m proud to say we made it, with the support of colleagues and friends along the way. We stopped in Kingston, in Brighton, in Oshawa, in Scarborough, and we ended here on the front lawn of the Legislature. Our goal was to hear from people and families about vulnerable road users and to talk about our private member’s bill we’re working on: Bill 40, the Moving Ontarians Safely Act.

Speaker, as we stopped in community after community, we heard stories that I will never forget. I talked to Anita Armstrong about her daughter Serene, who is now 14 years old and will live the rest of her life with a critical brain injury after being hit, as she crossed the street in Ottawa, by a driver who fled the scene. We met with Jess Spieker and Meredith Wilkinson, two cyclists in this great city of Toronto who have critical, lifelong injuries after being hit in our streets. I talked to Chris, a paramedic, who was responding to an emergency at the side of the road and whose paramedic bus was hit by a driver who was driving recklessly.

Speaker, the unfortunate reality is that the number of pedestrians and cyclists and other vulnerable road users being killed is not going down. Today, statistics bear that 20 vulnerable road users will be brought into emergency room departments after being struck down by a careless driver. We have to change our laws, and I urge members to support Bill 40.

I’d like to present a petition before the Legislature entitled “I Support the Moving Ontarians Safely Act.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas we’re seeing an alarming rise in road accidents involving drivers who injure or kill a pedestrian, road worker or cyclist;

“Whereas currently, vulnerable road users in Ontario are not specifically protected by law. In fact, Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act allows drivers who seriously injure or kill a vulnerable road user to avoid meaningful consequences, often only facing minimal fines;

“Whereas this leaves the friends and families of victims unsatisfied with the lack of consequences and the government’s responses to traffic accidents that result in death or injury to their loved ones;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to:

“—reduce the number of traffic fatalities and injuries to vulnerable road users;

“—create meaningful consequences that ensure responsibility and accountability for drivers who share the road with pedestrians, cyclists, road construction workers, emergency responders and other vulnerable road users;

“—allow friends and family of vulnerable road users whose death or serious injury was caused by an offending driver to have their victim impact statement heard in person in court by the driver responsible; and

“—pass Bill 40, the Moving Ontarians Safely Act.”

I’m happy to submit this to the Clerks’ table with my friend Minuka.

I’m very privileged to say that there are a number of vulnerable-road-user advocates with us in the chamber today: Mark Fernandez and Bob Murphy from the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition; Ingrid Buday, Taqrim Syed, Tasnuba Syeda, Syed Abukarem Ahmed, Stewart Wallace and Colleen Worsley. Thank you so much for joining us today for the Moving Ontarians More Safely Act.

I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge John Sewell, who apparently was led out of this building by police officers because he’s standing up for our province.

Thank you, John, for being here.

My question is for the Premier.

It’s Halloween and Ontarians are accustomed to seeing and hearing about spooky things today, but nothing prepared me for a video I saw this weekend. I saw a video of Tyler Russell, an organizer with the hate group Canada First, receiving a call from what sounds like this Premier on February 11, 2022. After our exchange, Speaker, I’ll be posting this video to my Twitter account. This happened on February 11, in the middle of the convoy. If it is in fact the Premier taking this call from Mr. Russell, promising Mr. Russell, as you will see, that it was about ending vaccine mandates and COVID restrictions—that was his priority.

Can the Premier confirm if this in fact was him and why this conversation was even happening when my city was under siege?

The people of Ottawa need you, Premier—Speaker, through you, we need him to come clean on whether this in fact was a conversation he had in one of our worst moments of the convoy occupation crisis. I want to know if there were other members—did the Premier talk to Pat King? Did the Premier talk to Tamara Lich? Did the Premier talk to some of the people who were organized at a high level, infiltrating our city, blocking our city, harassing residents? It is a matter of public interest.

The Premier has been silent beyond talking about policing and jurisdiction. Other members of Parliament, other political office-holders who are not members of federal jurisdiction have had the courage to come testify in Ottawa.

Again, is this the Premier in this video? Will he come to Ottawa to testify?

I’d like to introduce the following petition, brought to us from folks participating in the Capital Pride festival this summer. It reads:

“Support Gender-Affirming Health Care

“Whereas two-spirit, transgender, non-binary, gender-diverse and intersex communities face significant challenges to accessing health care services that are friendly, competent and affirming in Ontario;

“Whereas everyone deserves access to health care, and they shouldn’t have to fight for it, shouldn’t have to wait for it and should never receive less care or support because of who they are;

“Whereas gender-affirming care is life-saving care;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support the reintroduction of a private member’s bill to create an inclusive and representative committee to advise the Ministry of Health on how to realize accessible and equitable access to and coverage for gender-affirming health care in Ontario.”

I want to thank Isabelle Coxworth for signing this petition as well as many others. I’ll send it to the Clerk’s table with page Malini.

“Stop Ford’s Health Care Privatization Plan.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontarians should get health care based on need—not the size of your wallet;

“Whereas Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones say they’re planning to privatize parts of health care;

“Whereas privatization will bleed nurses, doctors and PSWs out of our public hospitals, making the health care crisis worse;

“Whereas privatization always ends with patients getting a bill;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately stop all plans to further privatize Ontario’s health care system, and fix the crisis in health care by:

“—repealing Bill 124 and recruiting, retaining and respecting doctors, nurses and PSWs with better pay and better working conditions;

“—licensing tens of thousands of internationally educated nurses and other health care professionals already in Ontario, who wait years and pay thousands to have their credentials certified;

“—making education and training free or low-cost for nurses, doctors and other health care professionals;

“—incentivizing doctors and nurses to choose to live and work in northern Ontario;

“—funding hospitals to have enough nurses on every shift, on every ward.”

I’m happy to sign this petition and will send it with page Rachel to the Clerks’ table.