Speaker, this week, the long-awaited inquest began into the tragic death of Soleiman Faqiri in the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay. A report from Ontario’s chief forensic psychiatrist and subsequent OPP investigation found that while in custody, Mr. Faqiri was beaten, pepper sprayed twice and restrained face down, all leading to his death. Yet after three police investigations, one by the Kawartha Lakes Police Service and two by the OPP, no charges were laid.

The coroner’s inquest has already revealed more disturbing information about Mr. Faqiri’s death, including a graphic, 24-minute video of his last moments.

To the Premier: Will you support the reinvestigation of Mr. Faqiri’s death in light of the overwhelming evidence and commit to finally giving his family the justice and closure that they deserve?

Thank you to the member across. I think this is where you get to sort of play with words, but let me share with you what some of these words are.

In Finland, they have seen their trust in police fall from 95% to 91%. In Canada, Canadians have a great deal less confidence in police, by 41%, and the major difference is that in Finland, their Police University College completes a three-year, research-intensive university degree in policing before they even get into a uniform and get into a cruiser. That’s what’s going to give us more trust in our police. That’s what’s going to build us a modernized, effective policing force, and I really want to get there.

Thank you very much to the member across for the question. In Bill 102, there is language in there about actually creating a police outfit that is going to be less educated and less trained. What I have been advocating for and what I keep speaking about is neighbourhood community policing—community policing that works in partnership with the community and partners to deliver better, more effective community policing and that creates safer communities. We do that by also investing in public services and investing in community supports.

You’re wasting their time. This government is absolutely wasting their time by not investing in the social determinants of health, which are exactly the same as the social determinants of safety. You want to make it easier on the police? You actually invest in housing and social services.

But this bill actually is going to erode the type of officers, the high calibre of officers that we need by asking less of them. At the same time, you’re offering them and you’re making them do more work that’s not core policing work. That’s why I am so passionate about supporting the investments in social services so we can actually build safer communities in partnership with the police.

But guess what? Because those orders of government, including this one, are colossally failing in investing in deeply affordable housing with social supports, we see that the police are picking up the pieces. You’re not giving them the resources to do their job. The resources to do their job are more housing and more supports.

It’s an honour to rise in the House to speak on behalf of my community in Toronto Centre. Specifically, today we’re discussing the government’s Bill 102, Strengthening Safety and Modernizing Justice Act. There are some parts of the bill that are supportable, and I’d be happy to speak about these parts, but I do find that there are other parts of the bill that are very concerning, and so I’m glad that the government is here today to listen to those concerns, as well.

We know that the safest communities are not the most policed communities; they are the ones with the most resources. Much of crime is committed by people in desperate situations today, and they could be prevented. Obviously, we want to be able to get to a place where we have zero crime. Poverty creates crime. Addiction, without supports and treatment, can create crime. Loneliness, disconnection and a lack of community cohesion create crime. Police officers are dealing with the most downstream effects of these issues. We would not need so many police officers if we were not pursuing this lack of new recruits today as hard as we were, if the government actually stepped up and actually invested in communities to mitigate crime. It is proven—studying upstream avenues and solutions there is how we keep communities safe. Affordable housing is crime prevention. After-school programs are crime prevention. Doubling ODSP and OW is crime prevention. Funding addiction treatment beds is crime prevention. Anti-racism and gender-equity policies are crime prevention. Properly funding and resourcing our public schools is crime prevention. Increasing the minimum wage is crime prevention. I could go on; the list is actually endless, but the thesis here is exactly the same: When people have economic opportunity and social resources, they can live well and be part of the community. That’s when crime is prevented.

Affordable and, yes, government-subsidized housing is a cornerstone of happy, healthy, thriving communities. Just ask the neighbours. In my community, I speak to BIA members, and we are talking to mental health workers, we are speaking to street-involved people here in Toronto Centre, and they all absolutely agree—it’s a consensus—that mental health and addictions resources and actual affordable housing mean that we will have safer streets and that communities will then welcome everybody.

Every time I meet with a business improvement area, the number one issue that they bring up is community safety, but unlike the government, they are proposing a different solution. They are proposing supportive housing, deeply affordable housing. It’s not a radical idea. It’s coming from the business leaders in my community, and I’m hearing it from them more and more. Even more than the activists and even more than service providers, it’s the business community in this case, in Toronto Centre and the downtown financial district, that is actually leading that conversation by saying that the government needs to get back into the business of building deeply affordable, government-subsidized housing.

The government loves to tout itself as being supportive of police, and I would ask them to take a look at their policies a little bit closer. Many choices they have made over the last five years have actually eroded public services and the social safety net. Their lack of investments has made the jobs of police officers more difficult—it’s now more complex, and essentially it has made more work for the officers. The police should be the last resort. You should not have to call them when someone is homeless. You should not have to call them when someone is having a mental health disorder. When upstream services are eroded, the layers of help between the first line of assistance and the police get thinner and thinner, meaning that more calls fall to the police. This is bad for communities because issues escalate and become crisis situations more frequently. It is also bad for the police because they’re run off their feet, jumping from crisis to crisis, when they may not even be equipped to deal with a problem they’re faced with.

One of the programs that I’m most proud to speak about from my time at Toronto city council was the Toronto Community Crisis Service. This was a pilot project that I helped champion during my time at city council. It was introduced to four areas in the city. The downtown east pilot project covers almost all of my riding of Toronto Centre. It was done in partnership with the Gerstein Crisis Centre and other local organizations. We were able to successfully divert 78% of the 1,530 calls that we received from 911 with zero police involvement. The TCCS, as we call it, received a total of 2,489 calls for service from 911, as well as 211, and it was directly connected to community anchor partners. Out of those calls, 84% resulted in mobile teams being dispatched. Programs like this are a win-win solution. Our biggest champions are Toronto police themselves, who understand that they are not mental health workers; they understand that they are not social workers. When we’re able to divert those calls to the organizations and service providers that can actually provide supports, the police are then freed up to do real policing work, and they are more trained to handle those very complicated and violent situations.

This is why we need to have non-police options when a non-violent crisis occurs. If someone is in crisis and can benefit from the TCCS team and there’s a weapon, then we call the police, and then the TCCS will work with the police to go and be dispatched together. That’s how effective community safety works.

I have heard from constituents who have been overjoyed with how the TCCS team has assisted community members in crisis with compassion and professionalism. My constituent Chris emailed me to tell me about a situation he witnessed several months ago, right here on Parliament Street in Toronto Centre. There was a community member who was in crisis, yelling and approaching other pedestrians on the street outside of a grocery store. Shoppers were understandably distressed and concerned for the individual. Chris, who was on the other side of the street on a patio, saw the Toronto Community Crisis Service team approach the individual, provide compassionate support to de-escalate him and connect him with community resources to support him. Chris told me that he was blown away by how professional, how kind and how respectful the TCCS team was, and that they were able to help this person in crisis and that everybody was able to see community action in effect. He says that the compassionate community response to mental health crisis is what we should be amplifying and expanding in the city of Toronto, and I couldn’t be more agreeable.

I would even put forth that this government could actually take the model that we’ve developed right here in Toronto and export that to other urban centres to ensure that those communities are just as supported as we are. This pilot project is not as well funded as it can be, but certainly, with the right resources, you can scale it up.

I would love to see such a program expanded to answer the school discipline calls, as well. The presence of police during a disciplinary action can be stressful for many students, especially racialized ones. It would be great if all involved when a student is in crisis had access to outside mental health professionals who could assess the situation and provide options in a non-judgmental way that help us de-escalate the situation. Not every conflict has to lead to arrest. In all but a few outlier situations, a child in crisis needs support and strategies, not law enforcement.

That being said, I want to talk about another area where policing has worked incredibly well in my communities—I continually get positive feedback from constituents of many backgrounds—and that is in dedicated neighbourhood community policing models. Through community policing, four neighbourhoods in my riding have originally received neighbourhood community officers: Regent Park, Moss Park, Church and Wellesley, and North St. James Town. After years of advocating for neighbourhood community officers—and I was at the forefront of pushing forward a model of reformed community policing—in my riding of Toronto Centre, every single one of my neighbourhoods now is covered by neighbourhood community officers.

Interjections.

My question is to the Premier. Crystal Quartz, a drag platformer living in Guelph, has seen a spike in violent threats against drag artists. She’s being threatened by a hate group who has promised to disrupt her performance and give her audience “a show they’ll never forget.” Crystal is now forced to call the local police and hire private security for private events at restaurants such as Boston Pizza and Kelseys.

Will this government take on bigots who threaten drag performers and their audiences with hate and threats of violence?

“Kids’ eyes light up.... I’m this big pretty princess. Parents tell me that the whole week afterwards, it’s all their kids talk about.

“I go into ... communities that don’t have safe paces to create them.”

Crystal’s upcoming performance this Sunday is a brunch performance. It has already faced additional and escalating threats. What exactly is the Premier doing to protect Ontario’s drag community, their audience as well as the businesses that host these events?