This petition is titled “Justice for Sexual Assault Survivors,” and this bill is in support of Bill 189, Lydia’s Law, that has been brought forward by my colleague from Waterloo.

Speaker, it is really a shame that, in Ontario, 1,326 cases of sexual assault in 2022 were withdrawn or stayed before trial. Already we know that 80% of sexual assault cases go unreported, so the Auditor General looked into this issue and made recommendations in their report. Recommendations 1 and 3 are part of Bill 189, which is Lydia’s Law, which makes the Independent Legal Advice Program much more accessible for survivors, and also reviews the Victim Quick Response Program to ensure it’s meeting its mandate.

Speaker, survivors of sexual assault need justice, and we cannot allow the current system to retraumatize them and have their cases thrown out of court simply because the system is not working.

I fully support this bill, and I will affix my signature to it.