I want to thank the Roth family for channelling their grief into advocacy, and also the member for Waterloo for the petition that she has brought to this chamber today entitled “Mental Health Services in Ontario.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas there is currently a lack of consistent mental health intake policies and care across Ontario when people seek assistance at hospitals;

“Whereas staff training and readiness to support patients with mental health issues at Ontario’s hospitals lacks consistency and is not sufficiently trauma-informed or evidence-based;

“Whereas current discharge procedures often leave vulnerable people without access to adequate care or support;

“Whereas approximately 4,500 people die by suicide each year in Canada and suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth and young adults ages 15 to 34; and

“Whereas the experience of Waterloo’s Roth family in the death of their daughter Kaitlyn has brought to light serious flaws in mental health discharge procedures;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to direct the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions to earmark funding for dedicated training for staff providing mental health services with a focus on evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches, to review intake and discharge procedures to ensure consistency of care, and to provide funding for alternative destination clinics in communities across Ontario.”

I support this petition, affix my signature and send it to the table with page Aislyn.

I rise today to honour the life and legacy of my friend and mentor Marion Boyd: Ontario’s first woman—and first non-lawyer—Attorney General; former Minister of Education, Minister of Community and Social Services and minister responsible for women’s issues; a bencher at the Law Society of Upper Canada; a licensed lay worship leader in the United Church; and a lifelong champion for social justice.

It’s always a privilege for MPPs to pay tribute to those who came before us, but it is a rare opportunity to be able to publicly thank and celebrate a former MPP who had such a profound influence on my own life and my standing before you today.

Like many Ontarians, I first learned of Marion Boyd on September 6, 1990, when she gained fame as the NDP “giant-killer” who defeated former Liberal Premier David Peterson in the riding of London Centre. Shortly afterwards, I came to Queen’s Park myself, as a staffer in the NDP government, where I was in awe of and definitely intimidated by Marion Boyd. She was so strong, so principled, so competent, so inspiring, so clear-eyed and unwavering in her vision and commitment to social justice.

To many of us—and, I’m sure, to the leader of the official opposition—Marion was already a feminist icon when she arrived in office because of her remarkable record of advocacy and achievement as executive director of the London Battered Women’s Advocacy Centre.

Irene Mathyssen, elected alongside Marion in London–Fanshawe in 1990, remembers Marion’s incredible courage, integrity and leadership in the London community. Marion was at the table when the London Coordinating Committee to End Woman Abuse was established, Ontario’s first VAW coordinating committee. Marion worked tirelessly with the London Police Service to make London the first community to implement mandatory charging, raising local, provincial and national awareness of domestic violence as a criminal offence. Marion was there to march in London’s first Pride parade. She helped organize London’s first Take Back the Night march.

Here at Queen’s Park, Marion continued to make a difference for women, children and marginalized communities in this province, especially in her role as Attorney General. In 1992, the Morgentaler Clinic was firebombed. Death threats were made against doctors, and women seeking abortions were intimidated and harassed. As Attorney General, Marion worked immediately and closely with her cabinet colleague and then-health minister Frances Lankin to initiate and implement a legal injunction for no-protest zones around abortion clinics and hospitals that protected women’s access to health care until provincial legislation was passed in 2017. This was, her family told me, one of her proudest accomplishments.

Recalling that experience and their time together as MPPs, Frances Lankin describes Marion as brave, strong and tough, someone whose positions on issues were always carefully considered and well thought out.

Of course, Marion will forever be remembered for her courage in bringing forward Bill 167, legislation that prohibited discrimination against same-sex couples. Although the bill failed in a free vote, Marion paved the way for recognition of equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community and was delighted to be vindicated five years later by the Supreme Court ruling. I was here for Marion’s leadoff speech on that bill, in which she brilliantly referenced the Canadian family known to the world as representing the best in family values: Matthew Cuthbert; his sister, Marilla; and their adopted child, Anne Shirley. In using the example of Anne of Green Gables, Marion spoke to the obligation of recognizing that families come in many different forms and all are equally deserving of support. I knew in that moment that Marion was more than a feminist icon; she was also a kindred spirit.

After the 1995 election, I moved into Marion’s riding and was excited to become involved in her NDP riding association. I came to know her warmth and her kindness, her generosity and compassion, her deep connections with the NDP volunteers who had helped her through six campaigns, from her first three runs for office to her electoral successes in 1990 and 1995 to her final campaign in 1999.

Marion had a smile that could light up a room, often with a twinkle in her eye and an infectious, impish grin.

Another of her cabinet colleagues, Marilyn Churley, said, “Marion was a saint among us, but a saint with a wicked sense of humour and a lovely, sparkling laugh.”

Marion was also deeply committed to supporting and encouraging other women to stand for elected office, and I was a direct beneficiary of that when deciding to run for the school board in 2000. She said, of course, I should, and took out her chequebook to write me my first campaign donation. Although she had moved out of London by 2013 when the by-election was called in London West, she was one of the first people I talked to about running. Her confidence and steadfast support were instrumental in my decision.

Marion’s passion for social justice was matched only by her deeply held faith and her love of family. Family meant everything to Marion: her loving husband, Terry; and dear friend and confidant, Joseph Dunlop-Addley; her cherished daughter, Tina, who sadly passed away in 2017; her parents, and especially her mother, Dorothy, who Marion shared an apartment with in Toronto while serving at Queen’s Park; her siblings, their spouses and their children; and her large close-knit extended family circle. I want to welcome all of Marion’s family members and friends who have joined us today, and especially my own long-time friends Terry and Joseph.

On behalf of this Legislature, I offer our deepest condolences for your loss and our profound gratitude for Marion’s distinguished life of public service which made life better for so many Ontarians.

Applause.

I appreciate the remarks from my colleague the member for Niagara Centre, and wanted to let him know that London ACORN, which is a tenant advocacy group, held a rally in our city last Friday to oppose Bill 23. They’re concerned about the lack of any measures to ensure affordability. They’re concerned about the impact on the environment. They’re concerned about the impact on heritage.

That rally was attended by five new councillors who participated this week in a council meeting which identified a $97-million hole in London’s budget over the next five years. The city has called on the province to put a halt to the process of Bill 23, so that many of these newly elected councillors across the province, and the city councils that are going to be so negatively impacted, can consult with the government on this bill.

Does the member understand why the government is refusing to listen to councils?

I would like to express my thanks to my colleague the member for Spadina–Fort York for his passionate address this afternoon, but also for his advocacy and his commitment to putting words into action, which he has shown by his efforts.

But I wondered if he could comment on—there was a 2019 report from Feed Ontario that estimated the cost of poverty in Ontario is somewhere between $27 billion a year and $33 billion a year. They looked at the loss of tax revenue and the increased cost to the health system, the justice system. I wondered if the member could comment on the cost of poverty.