Good morning. This question is for the Premier. Nearly 10 years ago, three women were tragically murdered in Renfrew county on the same day by the same man. Since then, hundreds of women have lost their lives to acts of intimate partner violence. The first recommendation from the coroner’s inquest into the murders in Renfrew county was to formally declare intimate partner violence an epidemic. It’s a simple yet very important and impactful step that this government has so far resisted.

My question is, will the Premier right this wrong and support the NDP’s bill to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic in Ontario?

I think all of us here often feel like we have a great privilege in being able to speak for so many who have been more directly impacted, often, by things like intimate partner violence. I always say it’s a privilege that we are able to be the ones to be here to advocate, and I do want to thank the government.

I am going to move on: I appreciate the government’s commitment to creating a committee. I’d like the government to consider taking everything a little bit of a step further today. We are joined, as I mentioned earlier, by dozens of survivors, their supporters, their loved ones, and they are here because, frankly, this government has ignored survivors for too long. This is the same government that cut millions in funding for the victims’ compensation fund and they changed the eligibility rules so that it’s even harder for survivors to get justice.

So I’d ask the minister and the Premier if they might consider explaining to the folks here today why they have taken that lifeline away and to, perhaps, restore it.

This is urgent. We need to increase that base funding right now. I would ask the government: Let’s not push this over to another committee for another 10 years or 12 years; let’s get this done today together.

I also want to mention courts again. We were joined this morning by a survivor who had the case against the accused stayed because too much time had passed. We hear this over and over again. We would ask the government to please consider properly funding the courts so that victims, survivors can truly see justice.

Will the government—and I know the government doesn’t want us to be talking about all these issues today, but this is what it means to declare this an epidemic. It means that you have to now treat it like the epidemic that it is. So I would ask the government again to restore the funding to the victims’ compensation fund and ensure that our courts are properly funded.

Interjections.