The House has reconvened, but since we were last here, two great Canadians have passed away. I had an opportunity to attend a celebration of life for both of them, so I want to talk about Ed Broadbent, and I want to talk about Daryl Kramp.

I had occasion to be at the Dominion-Chalmers centre with current and former elected officials to celebrate the life of Ed Broadbent. Many people don’t realize, but Ed won by 15 votes in a close three-way race in his hometown of Oshawa in 1968; went on to serve this country; led our party federally for 14 years; was a friend to people from all caucuses. It was wonderful to be in that room and to remember Ed as a human being. Ed was someone who believed Canada could be a place of opportunity for everyone.

I want to say, Speaker, politics is also full of surprises, because I found the same to be true of Daryl Kramp. Mr. Kramp was the chair of the government caucus for 2018 when we were both elected to this House, but he had served Canada in other capacities federally before that.

I had occasion in this building, after a very difficult debate in this House, to be up on the third floor where both of our offices were, hanging my head. Mr. Kramp came over, put his arm on my shoulder and said, “What’s wrong, Joel?” I said, “I’m having a hard time with the heat in this place.” He said, “Take the heat, and let it power you to work for your people.”

One of the things that was said at his celebration of life I take to the bank: “You can get a lot done in politics,” Daryl used to say, “if you don’t worry about taking credit.” Amen to that.

Rest in peace, Ed. Rest in peace, Daryl.

I want to join with the minister to stand in thanking Good Roads and all the fantastic work they do, and invite all members of this House to go to the Good Roads reception at 5 o’clock. Thank you for everything you do, Good Roads.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome some vulnerable road user champions to the people’s House today. With us are Peggy Hawthorn and Bob Murphy, who made the three-hour commute from Wasaga Beach. Thank you very much. Peggy represents United Senior Citizens of Ontario—300,000 seniors.

With us as well is Robert Zaichkowski, who is the author of the Two Wheeled Politics blog; Jonathan Schmidt, one of our friends from Scarborough who advocates for cycling; Richard Oldfield, Rick Harrington, Ann-Marie Thompson—Speaker, do not try to keep up to these people on a bicycle; they’re incredibly fit. Thank you for your work.

Also with us this morning is the Sayed family from Scarborough; Sharon Lee; Janice Jim; Patrick Brown; Kelsey Pietrobon; the incredible Ethan Smith-Johnson from our Ottawa Centre team—thank you for being her; and Jessica Spieker and Alison Stewart from Cycle Toronto and Friends and Families for Safe Streets.

We’ve got a lot of help, and we’ve got a great debate this afternoon. Thank you so much for making the trip out here to be with us.

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 want to thank Simon Taggart, from Ottawa Centre, for submitting this petition to me, as well as a number of neighbours. It reads:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas as part of the Highway 417 bridge replacement and operational improvements project, the Ministry of Transportation plans to replace the existing steel noise barriers with translucent Acrylite barriers in the area abutting Highway 417 from Clarendon Avenue and heading west to the Island Park Drive exit ramp (a distance of roughly 188 metres);”

Be it further resolved that “these translucent Acrylite noise barriers are designed to allow light penetration and provide a visual link between the highway and the surrounding area; for the majority of their length, the new barriers would be installed at or just above ground level in a residential area.... As a result, the surrounding homes and neighbourhood would have a visual of the roadway and be exposed to light from vehicles” all day “and the highway lighting system;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“We hereby request that the Ministry of Transportation replace the existing steel barriers with a fully opaque noise barrier solution in the location abutting Highway 417 from Clarendon Avenue and heading west to the Island Park Drive highway exit ramp. We feel strongly that the use of a translucent barrier in this location will negatively impact residents in the adjacent homes and surrounding neighbourhood by allowing the infiltration of light pollution and providing an unattractive visual of the often congested highway.”

I’m happy to sign this petition and I’ll be sending it with Liyao to the Clerks’ table.

I just want to acknowledge, as I give this brief explanation, that Bob Murphy from the Toronto community for safe cycling is with us here today, and it’s one of the vulnerable road user organizations advocating with us this morning. Thank you, Bob, for being here.

The bill amends the Highway Traffic Act. It is also about the legal consequences, as you mentioned, of a collision that seriously injures or kills a pedestrian, a cyclist, a mobility device user, a roadway worker, an emergency responder outside their motor vehicle or another individual listed in this bill.

Some highlights include that the driver who caused the injury or death is guilty of an offence if they caused it by breaking one of the rules listed in the bill, which includes unlicensed drivers, driving while using a cellphone, speeding, careless driving, disobeying signs or lights at intersections or pedestrian crossovers, improper signalling, sharing the road and so on and so forth.

In a nutshell, it’s continuing a piece of legislation that’s been attempted three times in this Legislature. I look forward on this fourth occasion to winning the support of my colleagues in this House to keep our streets safe.

Madame Collard moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 41, An Act to amend the Consumer Reporting Act and the Prevention of and Remedies for Human Trafficking Act, 2017 with respect to certain debts incurred in relation to human trafficking / Projet de loi 41, Loi modifiant la Loi sur les renseignements concernant le consommateur et la Loi de 2017 sur la prévention de la traite de personnes et les recours en la matière à l’égard de certaines dettes contractées dans un contexte de traite de personnes.