I rise in support of a motion tabled by my colleague the member of Essex. I, too, want to thank our men and women in uniform for the work they do every day by keeping our communities safe.

Speaker, as we’ve heard tonight, Ontarians from all walks of life and all across this province, from Etobicoke–Lakeshore and Essex to Flamborough–Glanbrook and Whitby and everywhere in between, have earned and deserve the right to safe streets and safe communities. But it seems that everywhere you turn now, especially through social media, you come across pockets of people who say law enforcement isn’t part of the solution but part of the problem. They want to spend less on policing in the face of rising crime, random violence, gang shootouts and other forms of mayhem now gripping many of our cities and towns.

In fact, as mentioned earlier, a policy paper issued not long ago by the official opposition puts it plainly, right there on page 1: “We cannot and should not ... dismiss the call to defund police.” Well, Speaker, I can say with some confidence that the response to this statement from this side of the House is: Oh, yes, we can, and yes, we will.

So I rise to declare my view on this matter as reflected in tonight’s motion put forward by the member of Essex: “In the opinion of this House, the government should reject the ‘defund the police’ position and continue funding police, seizing illegal guns, suppressing gangs and supporting victims of violence through the Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy”—hear, hear, Speaker—because the reality is that the city of Toronto, for example, currently has fewer police on our streets than we did 10 years ago. That’s despite significant population growth and the fact that many forms of violent crimes have skyrocketed in the decade since. Would the members opposite not concede that there might just be a cause-and-effect relationship at work here, do you think?

Speaker, I say it again: The people of Ontario deserve safe communities. That is why, since 2018, our government has allocated approximately $203 million to combatting gun and gang violence. Through the government’s Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy launched in 2020, we are taking action to support measures that dismantle crime activity. We are enhancing investigative supports, increasing collaboration throughout the justice sector and stopping the flow of illegal guns across the border, and it’s working.

Just last April 11, the Windsor Star reported the seizure by police of 173 guns and the arrest of 42 people resulting from a cross-border trafficking investigation. Congratulations to the Windsor police. The story quotes Toronto Police Service Superintendent Steve Watts as saying, “A seizure of this size is definitely going to save lives on the streets of the GTA and elsewhere.” But then I suppose the official opposition might not dismiss the call to defund that program, too.

I just want to say a couple more words. I want to thank the member from Essex for this motion. Once again, I want to thank our servicemen and women. I want to thank them for what they do every day. A special shout-out to 22 Division in my riding of Etobicoke–Lakeshore and of course our OPP officers. They’ve gone through some hardship over the last couple of months and our hearts go out to them and their families.

As we know, later on today we’ll be debating something similar about missing and vulnerable people, who are extremely important to this government. We believe all people deserve to be safe in their homes and in their communities. We do have vulnerable people out there, seniors and young people.

Right now, we have an Amber Alert program for missing young people. Certain criteria are sent into the police and an alarm goes off. We’ve all received the Amber Alert.

We are certainly looking at your bill, Bill 74, and that’s something that we’re going to bring to committee to discuss. But I also look forward to the MPP from Sarnia–Lambton’s debate this evening.

But the other piece is removal of animals. We heard this from numerous stakeholders out there. Lynn, if you’re watching, we’ve heard you, and Donna as well. We hear all the time that there was a loophole that didn’t allow people to take animals away in dangerous situations. We want to make sure that our animals feel safe and are safe. If you see an animal in distress, the first thing you should do is call the PAWS hotline, making sure that an inspector goes out to deal with the situation immediately.

It is my absolute honour and privilege, on behalf of Solicitor General Kerzner and PA Bailey, to welcome to the House the Peel Regional Police chief, Nishan Duraiappah, and the executive director of the Office of the Chief of Police, Charles Payette.

I want to thank you both. I want to thank the men and women in uniform. Under a Doug Ford government, we will always have your back.