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April 5, 1990

34th Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

ORDERS OF THE DAY

PRIVATE MEMBERS’ PUBLIC BUSINESS

VICTIMS’ BILL OF RIGHTS ACT, 1990

REPRESENTATION AMENDMENT ACT, 1990

VICTIMS’ BILL OF RIGHTS ACT, 1990

REPRESENTATION AMENDMENT ACT, 1990

AFTERNOON SITTING

MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS

NORTHERN TRANSPORTATION

DAFFODIL DAY

PUBLIC LIBRARIES

MOOSE TAG LOTTERY

AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE

BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION FINANCING

CAPITOL THEATRE

PACIFIC RIM INITIATIVE PROGRAM

VISITORS

ANNIVERSARY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING’S ASSASSINATION

STATEMENTS BY THE MINISTRY

GREATER TORONTO AREA RAPID TRANSIT

ONTARIO AMATEUR SPORTS AWARDS

RESPONSES

ONTARIO AMATEUR SPORTS AWARDS

GREATER TORONTO AREA RAPID TRANSIT

ONTARIO AMATEUR SPORTS AWARDS

GREATER TORONTO AREA RAPID TRANSIT

RECEPTION FOR JOUZAS KUZMICKAS

ORAL QUESTIONS

PATRICIA STARR INQUIRY

TENANT HOTLINES

ATTENDANT CARE

CONTAMINATED SOIL

CAPITAL FUNDING FOR SCHOOLS

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

RECEPTION FOR JOUZAS KUZMICKAS

HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION

WOMEN IN FILM

PETITIONS

SAULT STE MARIE JAIL

CLOSING OF CAMPGROUNDS

TEMAGAMI DISTRICT RESOURCES

AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE

CHOICE OF HEALTH CARE

AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

LABOUR RELATIONS AMENDMENT ACT, 1990

TOBACCO SALE REGULATION ACT, 1990

HEALTH PROTECTION AND PROMOTION AMENDMENT ACT, 1990

ONTARIO ENERGY BOARD AMENDMENT ACT, 1990

ORDERS OF THE DAY

TIME ALLOCATION (CONTINUED)

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

The House met at 1002.

Prayers.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

PRIVATE MEMBERS’ PUBLIC BUSINESS

VICTIMS’ BILL OF RIGHTS ACT, 1990

Mr Jackson moved second reading of Bill 113,

An Act to establish the Rights of Victims of Crime.

Mr Jackson: At the outset, I would like to thank all members of the Legislature for receiving this bill in the same nonpartisan spirit in which it was written and tabled in this House.

When faced with the issue of the treatment and care of victims of crime, the major political parties in eight provinces across Canada have put aside their differences to work together to establish victims’ rights bills. I am pleased that the members of this assembly have demonstrated their wish to stand by that nationwide example of statesmanship and concern for the plight of victims of crime.

The need for private member’s Bill 113,

An Act to establish the Rights of Victims of Crime, may perhaps be best understood when we compare how our justice system treats victims with how it treats the criminals. Our justice system indeed protects the rights of those accused of crime, and properly so. The accused are automatically provided with specific rights, rights which have been entrenched in law, so as to ensure that the basic principles of due process of law are upheld.

But how does the justice system, how does society, treat the victim of crime? Where are the provisions entrenched in law that would regularize police and legal procedures with respect to the treatment of victims of crime who, in the aftermath of the criminal act, must often face the sentence of prolonged suffering? Where is the established legal framework that would provide that victims of crime become not only a part of the process of criminal prosecution but also a part of the equally important process of self-rehabilitation?

Let us remember that under the law the accused are innocent until proven guilty. Victims of crime, in their pain and loss, never cease to be innocent. And in this is to be found a great injustice, a sad inversion of what we all fundamentally believe about the difference between right and wrong. It is this injustice which Bill 113 seeks to address and to alter in Ontario.

Studies show that 60 per cent of all information which results in the conviction of a criminal comes directly from the victim. Our criminal justice system works because of the direct participation of its victims. Still, depending on the crimes committed against them, 30 per cent to 90 per cent of victims do not report them to police. As Pat Marshall of the Metro Action Committee on Public Violence against Women and Children indicated to me, surveys show that women who do not report crimes of violence against them frequently cite the mistrust of our judicial system as their reason for not reporting.

Dr Irvin Waller, professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa, was involved in the design of the United Nations Declaration on Crime Victims. He tells me that victims’ rights bills the world over have recognized that declaration and have instituted practical changes that both recognize and appreciate the victim as the driving force of justice. I might add that Professor Waller has also worked on victims’ rights bills for France, Australia and Manitoba, and he has monitored Ontario’s efforts with respect to victims’ rights since the federal-provincial justice conference in 1981.

In 1984 the victims’ rights task force emanated from that conference. They issued a report. That report has been with the office of the Ontario Attorney General for the past five years. The Attorney General has also had 13 months to study my first victims’ bill of rights, Bill 220, which I presented to the House in February 1989.

We must also acknowledge, however, that a limited number of programs have been established in certain municipalities in Ontario that do provide specific services to victims of crime. I am informed that the London family violence program is an excellent example. But there is no systematic, province-wide program that both informs and supports victims and nothing in law that ensures that victims are entitled to such programs.

Services such as rape crisis centres and other victim help groups receive some funding from government, but a great deal of their time is spent guiding and supporting victims through a justice system that places their needs after the needs of our courts and after the care and rehabilitation of the perpetrators of crime.

Crown attorneys view illegal acts as crimes against society and not necessarily against the individual victim. This view, however, can blind one to the sight of the faces of victims who are left in situations of prolonged suffering, of continuing victimization and with less assistance and support than that accorded the criminals at taxpayers’ expense.

Let us consider for a moment that more than 250,000 Ontario residents will be victims of crime this year. Every day in the newspapers we read about these victims. In the media they are portrayed as the wronged, as the key players in courtroom dramas, and so often become unwilling celebrities in cases which publicize widely their private suffering.

Victims, however, are not accorded the same play in the legal process. Carole Cameron, president of Victims of Violence, a national group based in Ontario, informed me of a case in which the mother of a murder victim in Welland learned about the trial of the case two weeks after it was over. She heard about it from a friend who read about it in the newspaper. Neither the police nor the crown attorney had bothered to contact the mother since the arrest of the accused.

The bill which we have before us today would serve as an important corrective to incidents such as that one. Bill 113 would require that victims receive information about the cases they are involved with, including the dates established for bail hearings for their assailants, including when and how present victims’ impact statements are made.

I was informed of another case involving a family in which three children were victims of incest; they were sexually assaulted by their father for over six years. As adults they decided, not lightly, to press charges against their father. When they went to the police station, they were simply told to sit down at a typewriter and make their statement, without being previously informed that this would be the basis for their case in court.

These examples demonstrate why victims feel that they are the ones on trial. They feel that our justice system applies to them the reverse of the legal procedure reserved to the accused. Victims feel punished by that system as if it were they, and not their assailants, who had broken societal norms of conduct.

Pauline Duffet of the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres has told me that the majority of women do not report their rape or assault because they do not think they will be believed. Bill 113 would redirect attitudes of our judicial system and also of society towards victims who for obvious reasons are unable to articulate their own pain without the kind of support available to them in this bill.

As I indicated earlier, Ontario and Alberta do not recognize in law the rights of crime victims. I know that all members of this House would agree with me that victims deserve justice, respect, compassion and supportive understanding from our society. That is what Bill 113 is about: ensuring that victims of crime are no longer the secondary and, therefore, somehow less important focus of our legal and social service support systems.

Many elements of this bill come from a statement of basic principles of justice for victims of crime that was agreed to by the federal, provincial and territorial justice ministers in March 1988. Ontario’s Attorney General participated in those discussions.

We are pleased with the federal government initiative, Bill C-89, and Bill 113 complements that bill. It would establish in law the right of a victim to be treated with dignity and compassion. It would entrench in law the victim’s right to social services, health care, medical treatment and counselling. The bill would make easier and more immediate access to such services for victims a priority for our justice system. As such, the bill assumes a definition of justice in terms of a balance between victim rehabilitation and criminal prosecution.

Victims should have the right to be informed by the police of the progress of their investigations relating to their cases and of laying charges in connection with them. Victims should be routinely informed by police of the protection available to them to prevent unlawful intimidation. All members should be aware of a program that has been established in Quebec since 1983, called Infovac. That is exactly what Bill 113 calls for our government to do.

Bill 113 would also establish the right of victims to be informed by the crown attorney of their role in prosecution, of court procedures and of the outcome of all proceedings. It would establish the right of victims to make presentations to the prosecuting crown attorney before plea bargaining, before sentencing and before interim release.

Under this bill, and upon request, victims of sexual assault would have the right to be interviewed by a police officer of the same gender.

In terms of compensation to victims, this bill would make offenders directly liable for damages to their victims as plaintiffs in any civil action, including those undertaken for emotional distress and bodily harm.

Victims of crime in Ontario deserve the best care and support that society can offer. Therefore, on behalf of the victims of crime, I ask all members to join with me in passing the bill of rights for victims of crime in Ontario.

Miss Nicholas: I am really pleased to have an opportunity to speak on Bill 113, presented by the member for Burlington South, and I would like to express my support in principle for the bill today. I think it is important that we recognize that victims of crime, whether that be through sexual assault, robbery or violence, need to have some treatment and attention and not just be the forgotten souls in a criminal activity.

The Ministry of the Solicitor General has undertaken a number of initiatives that do give attention to the victims of crime. While we can always do more, I think maybe I will just point out a few initiatives that have been undertaken to show that there has been more movement to the attention of victims of crime in recent years.

I look at Bill 113. Paragraph 1 of

section 2 reads, “Victims should be treated with courtesy, compassion and respect for their personal dignity and privacy.” I think that is very important, the courtesy and compassion. Recently, the Solicitor General introduced the new Police Services Act. In the

preamble, which states about five principles of police services in Ontario, one of them specifically gives recognition to victims of crime. It stresses “the importance of respect for victims of crime and understanding of their needs.” I think this reflects a major shift in attitude which is focusing more and more needed attention on the range of support services that are required by victims of crime.

The Police Services Act not only establishes the principle of respect for and understanding of victims’ needs; it also establishes the practice. I think this is something we really had to look at and I am glad that the Police Services Act has. It makes victim assistance explicitly included among the responsibilities of our police officers. It is a major step forward in reaching out to those who have been subjected to crime and violence. So I think that the Police Services Act in its own way has addressed paragraph 1 of

section 2 of Bill 113 from the police perspective. I am glad to say that the Solicitor General has undertaken that.

Another paragraph in Bill 113, paragraph 3 of

section 1, reads: “Victims should have access to social services, health care and medical treatment, counselling and legal assistance responsive to their needs.” In this regard, I think we are aware of the Solicitor General’s increased funding to sexual assault centres; it has been increased to $1.8 million over the next three years. That represents a 300 per cent increase over the last year to sexual assault centres. The major service in the sexual assault centres is providing counselling. It has short-term emergency counselling and long-term counselling within a social and mental health context.

The sexual assault centres were saying they did not have enough money to provide all the services they had a mandate for. I think that this increased funding will go a long way to ensuring that not only are they a home that victims can run to to find emergency shelter, but that victims will also get the counselling that is needed as victims of crime.

Another activity which the Solicitor General has been undertaking is operating a pilot test project, a 24-hour volunteer base service to assist police officers to help victims of crime. This is known as the victim crisis assistance and referral service or VCARS for short. This program is providing victims with emotional support, the practical assistance and the referrals to other services they need to cope with the consequences of a criminal act. It can be as varied as it needs to be.

It can be counselling, it can be sitting with you, escorting you to something you may have to attend, it may be helping you with how to provide evidence in court. They may talk to you about the system. They may tell you, if you have been a victim of a robbery, how to get clothes or to get items back in your house to help you try to resume your life as quickly as possible in a normal way.

It is a very important program. It is an excellent example of the police and community working together to meet a common concern, and that is looking after victims of crime.

There is an evaluation under way because this pilot project is only in a few centres at the time. I think that all accounts are that it has been a very profitable program for all. The VCARS program has been very helpful, and I think that this evaluation will go a long way in helping us determine what we should do in the future with similar programs across Ontario.

In the act -- Bill 113; to the member for Burlington South, I am already calling it

an act, if that is any indication -- Bill 113 asks that victims be informed of the progress of investigations that relate to their crime. It is not common practice currently for police officers to keep victims of crime abreast of the investigation or whether charges are laid, and that is something, certainly, that this bill requires. I should, however, mention that information is not kept from the victim in most cases.

If the victim does call up and ask how the investigation is going or whether charges have been laid, this information is readily available, but it does put the onus on the victim to call the police officers. It is not a practice of police, but it is available if requested. I think that it is there, and it is open to people.

I think there are a number of other things that have been done in the Ministry of the Solicitor General. I think they address a great number of the specific sections outlined in Bill 113, but I did want to bring to the members’ attention the Police Services Act and the move towards the needs of victims of crime; the increased funding to sexual assault centres so that counselling can be a very important part of the service that they provide, and VCARS, the victims of crime assistance referral service. I think also that the police are being sensitized to the needs of the victims of crime.

I commend the member for Bill 113, and I am pleased today to have an opportunity to state my views on it.

Mr Kormos: We too congratulate the member for Burlington South for his initiative in presenting this bill, and we will be supporting it at this point, second reading, and looking forward to its referral to committee. Indeed, it provides for a great deal of consideration and discussion and perhaps even expansion.

I can tell members that having practised criminal law, primarily in Niagara, for the last decade, the judicial districts of Niagara North and Niagara South are particularly fortunate, policed by a police force which indeed on its own initiative has demonstrated sensitivity to victims, fought with restraints in terms of budgets and time and the person power available to it and has overcome, to a large extent, the difficulties, the burden, generated by those restraints; overcome them and, on its own initiative, as I have said, conducted itself in a way that very much resembles the content of this particular piece of legislation.

Similarly, the crown attorney’s office, in both Niagara North and Niagara South, has demonstrated a particular sensitivity to the needs of victims in both judicial districts in Niagara. As often as they can be, indeed, victims are consulted and given an opportunity to speak with the crown attorney when it comes time to sentence an accused. The matter of the presence of victim impact statements has become commonplace, as I say, not as a result of legislative requirement but as a result of the concern, sympathy, empathy and attentiveness of the crown’s office and its personnel and of the police force in Niagara and its personnel.

Similarly, during the course of interim release considerations and the position that a crown ought to take on the occasion of a judicial interim release hearing, victims are, as often as they can be, consulted, and their opinions are put to the courts.

All of this, as well, must take into consideration the role that members of the bench have taken in Niagara. They too have demonstrated an eagerness and a willingness to include the consideration of victims in disposition of matters, and they have displayed a sensitivity to the needs and the rights of victims in the course of conducting trials, in the course of considering judicial interim release of accused persons and in the course of sentencing.

But that is, as I say, based on the desire of these components of the criminal justice system to pay heed or give effect to what they perceive as an interest that victims have in the course of that criminal justice system, and it is not as a result of legislative fiat. It is important that victims of crime can know that they are not going to be subjected to the whim of an institution as to whether or not they are involved in the process; that indeed they have a right to be involved in that process.

It is important for victims to know and understand that it is not a matter of being extended a mere courtesy when they are regarded in a particular light, but it is a matter of having a right to be regarded in that particular way.

We have some concern because the principles expressed in

section 2 of the bill indicating that victims should be informed by the police of the progress of investigations and the charges laid and, if no charges are laid, the reasons why no charges are laid -- indeed, it is important that victims be allowed at least that. The sad reality is that police forces, and certainly police forces like those in Niagara region, are without the person power, without the resources and without the financial support necessary for them to fulfil this type of obligation completely.

Indeed, had they been funded and supported with resources in a way that was necessary to give full effect to their role as understanding, compassionate and hardworking police officers, the member for Burlington South may not have felt compelled to include subsection 2(4) of this particular bill, the one that requires that victims be informed by the police.

It is important that when this bill is passed as law, resources be made available to police forces in Niagara and elsewhere in Ontario to ensure that this right will be one not just stated but one that is a reality for victims.

Similarly with subsection 5. Victims should be informed by the prosecuting crown attorney of, among other things, the victim’s role in the prosecution, court procedures, dates and places of all proceedings and the outcome.

Crown attorneys and crown attorneys’ offices are overburdened with case loads that are just overwhelming. They too need the resources to be made available to them to ensure their role in advising victims of rights that they have in the course of a matter through the criminal justice system. Again, the province should pay more than mere lipservice to the matter of victims’ rights and make sure that not only are they contained in statute but given effect in reality by virtue of proper funding and proper resources being given to the municipalities, upon whom these obligations will fall when this bill becomes law.

I want to talk a very little bit about

section 3 of the bill.

Section 3 talks about certain presumptions being made in the event of civil proceedings.

Section 3, in my view, is a particularly important one because, once again, it endorses what we know is already a right of a victim to seek redress in civil litigation against a wrongdoer. What it does in

part is encode what courts have been told by appellate courts in this province for some time now, and that is to say that the victims of sexual assault, by the very nature of that offence -- sentencing judges in this province have been told that judicial notice can be taken of the fact that a victim of a sexual assault has suffered emotional trauma. It is absurd to think anything else.

If the victim of assault is or was a spouse of the assailant -- once again, it is absurd to suggest that the victim of that type of assault could not be suffering, at the very least, emotional pain as a result of being victimized in that particular way. It is trite to suggest that it be stated in such a way that the victim is not required to have to prove that emotional pain and that emotional suffering, among other things, in the course of civil litigation.

I would be pleased to see this group of offences expanded. As often as not, victims of break-and-enters tend to be senior citizens. Senior citizens are regarded by the types of persons who would engage in break-and-enters as being more defence-less, more vulnerable. As often as not, they are living either alone or as a mature senior couple without children living in their home. What that means is that their home has fewer people coming and going to it and from it.

As well, as senior citizens, because of the fact that they tend to be retired, they have available to them lengthy periods of time to take vacations. So as I say, it is not uncommon for police or people involved in the criminal justice system to see seniors particularly victimized by those thugs in our community who would break into and enter people’s homes.

Interjection.

Mr Kormos: Can you call it any other way? Come on, Mr Speaker. We are talking about a violation of someone’s home, which is as significant as a violation of his or her person. I say that not to diminish the one but to tell you that I would be very interested in, and I am sure the member for Burlington South would be pleased to engage in a dialogue to lead to an inclusion of, let’s say, break-and-enter of a dwelling house as being among those crimes for which it is not necessary for a victim to establish suffering, pain, damage.

The sad thing about that proposition is that I suspect there is hardly a family in this province that has not been affected either directly or indirectly. If they themselves have not been the victim of a crime, a family member or a close friend or a neighbour probably has been.

When the crime is sexual assault or spousal assault or an attempted sexual assault, the pain, the trauma is so self-evident, but it is equally present in the case of break-and-enters. As I say, as often as not, it is a senior who comes home to find a house in complete disarray, in shambles; items missing which have no real financial value to the thief but which are irreplaceable for the victim; items of sentimental value, photographs, jewellery, wedding rings, engagement rings. These are things which will inevitably be dumped into a stream somewhere or will be hawked or pawned for the smallest amount of money; things that are, as I say, irreplaceable.

So I should be pleased, and I am sure the other members of this Legislature would be pleased, for there to be a consideration of some other types of crimes included among those crimes for which it would not be necessary for a person seeking compensation to have to prove damage, to have to prove emotional trauma, emotional injury. Again, it is in no way suggesting that there be a diminishment of the impact of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault or even, indeed, spousal assault on its victims.

The whole role of compensation for victims is, sadly, inadequately dealt with by current legislation. The Compensation for Victims of Crime Act -- and of course this has been mentioned time and time again -- requires that the application be made within one year after the date of the injury or the death. Well, that is absurd, particularly now when we are confronted here in the province of Ontario with the scenario which is currently being investigated and, sadly, not through the course of a public inquiry conducted by the government. Of course, I am speaking of the St Joseph’s Training School for Boys investigation being conducted by the Ontario Provincial Police.

We are talking about sexual assaults and other assaults that took place on young boys as far back as the 1950s and the 1960s, a school that has been closed down, as I understand it, since 1974. We are talking about an investigation that took place in 1960 in which the allegations of sexual assault and physical violence on young boys were confirmed by the government of the day, yet not a single charge was laid. Those young people, now adults in their forties and fifties, have not even enjoyed the decency of having been acknowledged as being victims.

They have lived with suffering and with pain and with scarring that is undeniable, yet they have not even been extended the courtesy, the basic decency of being acknowledged as victims.

Those victims of sexual assault at St Joseph’s are not entitled to compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. Their one-year limitation period is long, long past. There is a government, however, that acknowledged and confirmed the violence imposed upon them, and for that the government has to accept some responsibility because that same government, the government of Ontario, suppressed that information, buried it, engaged in a coverup, engaged in a whitewashing that is obscene.

As I say once again, it is important not only that this legislation be enacted to establish the rights of victims but as well that there be consideration of an extension of limitation periods so that victims more than one year after the fact, or five or six years after the fact, depending upon the type of offence, can similarly engage in litigation, because as often as not, particularly in cases of incest, we may well be dealing with scenarios wherein an acknowledgement by the victim of having been the victim of a crime does not occur until after an extended period of time.

None the less, we applaud this legislation. It is long overdue. It is important that it be pursued diligently by the government; that is to say, that it not be the subject of being set aside and put on the back burner and not be the subject of the types of delays that this government is notorious for when it comes to important legislation.

It is important that victims across Ontario be told that there is an acknowledgement of their pain and that there is an acknowledgement of the individual responsibility of criminals; that is to say, that once a criminal has paid his or her price to the state, has served a jail sentence or paid a fine, his or her crime against the state has been absolved, if you will.

But the indignity and the pain and the injury inflicted on the victim are not dealt with in criminal courts. There is room for it, there is need for an expansion of the consideration of compensation for victims, but there is also an acknowledgement here that the process of engaging in civil litigation against wrongdoers should be made easier, should be made more accessible to victims and indeed should be one which perhaps should be pursued more frequently, because perhaps the more important wrong to be righted is not the wrong against the state but the wrong against the individual, whom the criminal justice system so often inadequately considers.

Mr J. M. Johnson: I rise to support the bill presented by my colleague the member for Burlington South and to commend him on an excellent proposal to solve some of the problems that the victims of crime have in our society.

The member has stated quite clearly many of the principles involved in the bill so I will not be repetitious of him, but I think it is appropriate at this time possibly to bring to the attention of this House a resolution that I presented on 17 November 1988. I would like to just read that resolution in this House:

“That... the Attorney General should review the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act to determine whether that legislation is adequate to meet the needs and redress the losses of victims. Such a review should take into account recommendations made by the standing committee on the Ombudsman; the standing committee on procedural affairs; and the areas identified by the past chairman of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board as requiring special attention.”

It might be needed for clarification that this resolution did receive the unanimous support of the House at that time, but I am very sorry to say that the Attorney General did not accept my excellent advice that a review should be conducted to determine if changes are needed. I think that review is needed much more today than even at that point in time.

I might just mention one example of why I say that. I will make reference to an

article appearing in the Toronto Star dated 9 August 1989, “Murdered Girl’s Mother Fights for Compensation.” This is a lady by the name of Sandra Carmen, a 42-year-old lady whose 14-year-old daughter was murdered near Owen Sound in March 1987. This occurred just a few miles from my home, just a little north, and I was very personally concerned by it.

Mrs Carmen makes a few comments that reflect the concern that I have, and I will quote a couple of the paragraphs.

“Society spends countless thousands rehabilitating murderers, but turns its back on the relatives of their victims, the mother of the slain teenager says.

“‘My life sentence is really a life sentence,’ said Sandra Carmen, 42, whose 14-year-old daughter was murdered near Owen Sound in March of 1987.” She goes on to say: “I have no desire to see people who are convicted of crimes denied their rights. I just want to see a little more equity in the way victims are treated.”

“Carmen is appealing the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board’s refusal to compensate her for the income and career loss she suffered because of the trauma she suffered after her daughter’s death.” Her daughter was killed by two shotgun blasts. Her semiclad body was found dumped in a ditch and she had been sexually assaulted. She got nothing but a little bit of sympathy, which is not really satisfactory.

“Carmen has received a cheque from the board for $829.13 to cover the costs of her daughter’s funeral. She returned it.”

Just by way of determining the justice of that decision, I checked with a couple of funeral parlours in the immediate vicinity. One funeral home quoted an average funeral cost of $3,500. Another said a respectable funeral cost $3,200. I was very disillusioned with what $829.13 would buy.

Carmen has suffered from severe depression, she has quit her job, she has moved. She requires therapy once a week. She asked for some consideration, some justice and has received very little, if any.

Another

article that disturbed me greatly appears in the Globe and Mail, 30 March 1990, just recently, by Sean Fine, the Globe and Mail reporter. “A man accused of fatally shooting a baby boy was released on $5,000 bail with the prosecution’s consent because he is not considered a danger to society.” A crown attorney involved in the case suggested that it was not a problem.

This disturbs me greatly. Someone charged with first degree murder is free on bail. I do not want to get into the legal ramifications of such a procedural affair, but I would suggest that if we allow easy bail and we allow people like this to be released without any consideration of the problems that could occur -- I would concede that if society allows this, then society has a right to make certain that if any innocent person suffers because of this early release, then we have a heavy responsibility to make sure that those innocent victims are truly compensated for what we in society consider a just decision. This bill presented by my colleague would go some way in solving that problem.

In closing, might I just leave the members with one major thought. If we want a more tolerant, caring society, a society that supports rehabilitation of our criminals and does not seek vengeance and punishment of these people, then one way to attain that goal would be to make certain that innocent victims of these criminals are treated in a very fair and compassionate way.

Mr Fleet: First, I would like to congratulate the member for Burlington South for bringing forward Bill 113. It is a bill which I support, and in particular I want to emphasize support for the intent and the opportunity that this provides.

There are two particular benefits to having the bill come forward at this time. First, it reminds us that victims of crime must never become victims secondarily, or victims all over again, while in the criminal justice process. The second benefit of having the bill come forward at this time is that it provides me with an opportunity to reiterate the very real and substantial commitment that this government has made to address issues pertaining to victims of crime, and particularly female victims of crime, for almost five years. So I am pleased that the member has now brought forward this bill.

There are some problems with the drafting of the bill. I do not want to go into those in any great detail, but I will refer to some of them as we go along, to indicate as well why the Ontario government has been so committed in providing services and the real and substantial allocation of financial and human resources to assisting female victims of crime.

We have spent in the last year some $41 million on the Ontario joint family violence initiatives, which involve some 23 different programs and services. Of the $41 million, $35 million has been spent on direct shelter and support services for abused women and children. In addition, another $3 million was spent providing financial support for enforcement initiatives. These were introduced as new initiatives starting in 1986.

Then again, in January of this year, the Minister without Portfolio responsible for women’s issues issued a new set of announcements dealing with the very specific needs of sexual assault victims, and that is $28.8 million in new funds over five years. During the fiscal year we have just entered, the expenditure will be some $6.6 million.

I would like to just touch quickly, in the time that is available to me, on the kinds of programs to give a sense of the range of activities that the government has addressed. There is the victim/witness assistance program. It is operated through the Ministry of the Attorney General. It is a pilot program with 12 sites across the province to support victims as they are dealing with the criminal court system.

We have, in addition, particular training that has been provided to police and crown attorneys, as well as correctional staff and probation officers, to try to deal with the issues of victim services to sensitize all of the people in the system to the very real problems facing, in particular, female victims of violence.

There are a number of areas in the bill which have been proposed by the member for Burlington South that deal with the sensitivity that is important to recognize the needs of victims as they are being dealt with and are impinged upon in the system, and particularly the right that victims do have to be treated with courtesy, dignity, compassion and respect. That is exactly what the emphasis is already, what we are doing and will continue to do, and I am pleased that this bill highlights that important consideration.

In addition, there is the victim crisis assistance and referral service operated by the Ministry of the Solicitor General. That provides assistance particularly involving some volunteer counsellors. It too is on a pilot project basis, because we are interested in making sure that we are as effective as possible in delivering services.

There has been additional support to crown attorneys to allow for specialized case preparation in cases of wife assault and sexual assault, and it allows for a much more complete consultation with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. From my personal experience as a lawyer in the system, I can tell the House that is exactly what takes place. There is greater sensitivity and it has had a real benefit for victims.

There has also been the revision of the sexual assault forensic evidence kit, and that has been undertaken with the Solicitor General’s office with various community groups. That is on the verge of being completed, I understand, and there is going to be further training of police and hospital officials when that kit is distributed across the province.

In addition, there is the ability of women who have been abused to seek emergency legal aid certificates to get emergency legal advice for free.

These are just some of the programs and services that demonstrate that over the last five years this government has been particularly sensitive to the very specific needs of female victims of violence. I would also like to emphasize the degree of commitment of financial resources. In the current fiscal year it is going to be something approaching $50 million. That is a really significant allocation of resources, and in the final analysis that is the most important benchmark of commitment of a government.

The way the bill is set out, it provides for the most part a set of what really amounts to policy guidelines. I am going to touch on a few of the concerns of the Ministry of the Attorney General in that respect, because for the most part those are being done on an ongoing basis. I have referred to some of those things already.

One of the other things I noticed on my own, in terms of reading through the bill, is the definition of “victim.” Some might argue that the definition in the bill is too narrow. It deals only with the Criminal Code, and one might ask whether other kinds of provincial offences might be appropriate to consider to include victims. I say that not to criticize what is there now, but to consider whether in the subsequent consideration of this bill it ought to be expanded.

In addition, though, the heart of the problem with the bill comes on the question of enforcement of so-called principles -- in effect, policy guidelines that the bill sets out -- that the bill does not have any additional provision to enforce. There is a danger that victims would feel there is a benefit in law that is not really enforceable, and that has a deleterious effect on the administration of justice and in effect on the position they have as victims. It is important that we provide resources and that there not be any sense that victims have that the system is promising something that cannot be delivered.

I know as well that the Attorney General’s office is concerned about a perception that might be gathered in this respect about the function of a crown prosecutor, a crown attorney or an assistant crown attorney. They are not in the exact same role as a lawyer for the victim, nor can they be, and the reason is that the crown attorneys do carry out a quasi-judicial function, a certain element of impartiality -- they have special access to the police -- and there is a difference. But they do have to be sensitive to the concerns of victims and that is exactly what the existing guidelines deal with.

It also bespeaks the fact that this probably would require amendments to the Criminal Code, which falls under federal jurisdiction.

But again I congratulate the member. I think it is important that we emphasize the needs of victims, as I have touched on. I would like to be able to go on at greater length. Time does not allow, but I would like to thank the members for this opportunity on this occasion.

Mr Runciman: I would like to put few comments on the record in support of the bill of the member for Burlington South before the House today and to indicate my strong support for it, but also to acknowledge his leadership, not only in our caucus but I think throughout the province with respect to victims’ rights. Certainly my colleagues in the Progressive Conservative caucus are very much aware of the member’s very strong feelings in this area and I think this bill is indicative of how he feels and we feel. I am sure it is the sentiment in the House today that the members of the Legislature feel this is the kind of initiative that is long overdue.

I have had some personal problems related to the lack of victims’ rights in my own riding. They do not tie in directly with this legislation, but I think that if this kind of legislation is adopted in the province it could have an impact on the thinking of others dealing with victims and perpetrators of crime.

I am thinking specifically of those individuals confined to forensic units in psychiatric hospitals who have committed violent crimes but are found not guilty by reason of insanity. There was a situation in my own riding recently where a gentleman who had been found responsible for the brutal murder of a nine-year-old boy in Toronto back in 1971, the sexual assault and mutilation of that child, was confined to Penetanguishene, and then some 15 years later was released into the community and committed another violent crime.

Fortunately the victim in that instance was able to fight off the attack, but this gentleman has once again been found not guilty by reason of insanity and is going before a review board to find out just where he will be directed for the remainder of his life.

I want to say that the mother of the nine-year-old boy who was murdered in Toronto, Carol Ann Deasley -- her son Kirkland -- has been refused, at every turn, the opportunity to present her case, her views, her feelings and those of her family to the review board. This is someone who has suffered through many years following the brutal murder of her son. The people who are charged with the responsibility of this individual, the gentleman -- I could not call him a gentleman -- John Finlayson, who committed the murder, allowed him out on to the street once again and do not wish to listen to Mrs Deasley and her concerns about this individual.

The judge who chairs the mental health review board -- I cannot recall his name -- was called by a reporter recently to see if Mrs Deasley could present herself before the review board hearing and provide a victim impact statement. The judge said: “We don’t want to listen to any of that emotional stuff. We don’t want to hear that kind of thing. We want to hear the facts. None of that emotional stuff.”

That is indicative of the thinking of too many folks in officialdom, if you will, in this province. I think that we have to start, as my colleague’s bill says and what he has said earlier in his opening comments, paying more attention and expressing more concern towards victims of crime in this province.

We talk about an individual being incarcerated at significant expense to the taxpayers, but we also see individuals like Mr Finlayson receiving extensive psychiatric and psychological treatment and assessment. But we have a victim like Mrs Deasley, who has to be concerned about this individual getting out on to the street, not being aware of when he is out in the community. What kind of trauma has she had to suffer throughout her life? What kind of psychological or psychiatric care has been made available to her by the state to deal with the kinds of difficult circumstances that she has had to face throughout these many years?

I am indeed very sympathetic. It has perhaps been mentioned earlier that many are concerned that Ontario, in terms of major jurisdictions, is the only jurisdiction in North America that has not passed legislation like this that would recognize the rights of and assistance for victims of crime.

In a letter to Mr Jackson, Irvin Waller, who is a professor of criminology, indicates that surely Ontarians can have justice for all, even for the victim. I think all of us, as indicated by the debate here today, share that view. It is long overdue, and once again I want to put my commendation on the record for the member for Burlington South for not only this initiative, but his ongoing battle on behalf of victims of crime in the province of Ontario.

Mr Jackson: I appreciate the comments of all members of the House today regarding this bill. I guess they have come to the same conclusion that I have over the years, that to know and understand what victims go through in the province of Ontario is to know anger, to know frustration. When we, as legislators, come to that awareness and understanding, we are impelled to respond with legislation and that is what I have done with this bill.

It is a response to hundreds of cases that have been brought to my attention through my work as women’s issues advocate for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, by being advised by my visitations to rape crisis centres, to shelters for battered women, to understand the evolution of these services in Ontario. They did not come freely and easily from legislators. They were fought for because of the dignity that victims felt for their rights and for their cause.

Just as the evolution of rape crisis centres was a response to a need to help victims and as shelters were established in response to victims’ needs, we are now seeing today a further advanccInent of that agenda with the rights of victims to be more entrenched in our judicial codes so that they can expect a certain level of support, information, understanding, awareness from our crown attorneys and the court system, and from our police, who are doing a good job but in fact could be doing a much better job when it comes to the treatment of victims.

I want to thank several members of the House for their comments. The member for Scarborough Centre, in her support for the bill, also indicated that she was very proud of her government’s initiative, as we all are, of increased funding for sexual assault centres. But she should be reminded that the centre in Hamilton, for example, still has over a year and a half’s waiting list for incest survivors in order to get counselling services. That is too long a time frame to wait to live with your own victim’s circumstances without the support services that a victim deserves in this province. So those waiting lists are chronic and they continue in virtually every part of our province.

I thank the member for Wellington. All members of this House supported his recommendations for a review of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. In a year and a half nothing has been done from the Attorney General’s office to review the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act, and yet we have one of the lowest rates of access in all of Canada for women here in Ontario.

In spite of the positive announcement of the government to raise the maximum levels in this province, and I commend the Attorney General for that, we still have one of the lowest average awards in Ontario at around $2,400. Case after case, these are presented to us. There is reference from the member for High Park-Swansea about expanding the scope of this bill and I encourage him to participate, as I know he will when -- if this bill is passed today -- it is referred to the justice committee. Then we will have opportunities to examine at first hand some of the concerns and incidents that we see occurring for victims, which we as legislators find intolerable.

I would like to thank my colleague the member for LeedsGrenville for his kind comments. I know that he has, inside my caucus as well, been very active on the issues involving victims’ rights in this province.

I want to thank all members of the House for their participation in this debate. For me personally it is the summation of about two and a half years’ work listening to victims’ rights groups and to women’s associations. It was through that understanding that I developed this bill. To achieve that objective, I wrote to over 100 countries around the world and received back considerable information on their bills of rights, and I used that as an amalgam to establish this bill and added some rather unique Ontario-based resolutions inside the bill.

I want to thank the assistance and co-operation of people like Mary Lou Fassal of the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, Pauline Duffett of the Ontario Rape Crisis Coalition, Trudy Don of the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses, Carole Cameron of the Victims of Violence National mc, Pat Marshall of Metrac, and Professor Irvin Waller of the University of Ottawa. I would also like to thank my assistants, Guy Giorno and Alex Roman for their work.

I want to thank the hundreds of victims who have taken the time to inform all members of this House of the importance of this bill. Without their teaching us how to listen, we would never have really heard them, would never have understood their cries for justice and compassion.

Finally, I would like to thank the members of this House who have set aside their partisan views to support this bill and whose basic compassion has led them to a common conclusion that victims of crime in this province deserve and will obtain one of the most progressive and caring victims’ rights bills in Canada.

REPRESENTATION AMENDMENT ACT, 1990

Mr MacDonald moved second reading of Bill 115,

An Act to amend the Representation Act, 1986.

Mr MacDonald: It is my pleasure to stand in the House today for debate on second reading of Bill 115,

An Act to amend the Representation Act, 1986.

I would like to bring the House up to date on the background of the electoral district of Prince Edward-Lennox.

In 1975 the electoral district of Hastings was abolished and the electoral district of Hastings-Peterborough was created. Then 1986 saw part of Hastings county transferred from Hastings-Peterborough to Prince Edward-Lennox. These areas included the town of Deseronto, the township of Thurlow, the township of Tyendinaga and the Tyendinaga reserve.

The electoral district of Prince Edward-Lennox, originally established in 1933, is now composed of portions of the county of Hastings, portions of the county of Lennox and Addington and the complete county of Prince Edward.

Lennox and Addington county, in addition to its agricultural and historical strengths, has realized substantial economic growth in recent years. With an announcement in May 1988 the Goodyear tire plant was located outside the town of Napanee in the township of Richmond. The plant, now in phase I, operating with 350 employees, expects the first tire to be produced this month. With the Goodyear location announcement, local spinoff has been realized in many forms including real estate and economic benefits. A generating plant in Bath also contributes to the local economy.

To the west, Prince Edward county can boast of strength in agriculture, tourism and small business, in addition to a major cement plant industry. The nucleus of the county, the town of Picton, draws tourists from across the province to stroll the quaint streets, to browse in the unique shops and to bask in the sun of the nearby stretches of white sand beach of the Sandbanks Provincial Park.

I would like to turn my focus today, however, on the history of the portion of Hastings county located in Prince Edward-Lennox. This area of the riding has a population of approximately 13,000, representing 22 per cent of the population of my riding.

Mohawk Track 55, the Simcoe Deed, now known as the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, covers 17,000 acres in Tyendinaga township. Population of the reserve has risen from 1,400 in 1985 to 2,000 in 1989. Although classified as a midsized reserve, the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte have become the most heavily impacted reserve in Canada. This is due to the federal Bill C-3 I which governs status and non-status Indians.

Located in this area is the home of the First Nations Technical Institute, a non-profit, seven-member board institution funded from all levels of government. Just this past October the institute introduced a new aviation technology program.

Each year in May, Mohawk Sunday, a memorial service in honour of the re-enactment of the 1784 landing, is held. Natives adorned in their ceremonial head-dress, carrying their Queen Anne communion silver, brought from Mohawk Valley, pull to shore in canoes to complete their ceremonial service. I have had the honour of attending this ceremony in the past and was deeply moved by the historical significance of this event.

Tyendinaga township itself was created out of lands surrendered to the crown by the Mohawks of Tyendinaga reserve in 1820. The early I 800s saw many men employed in the lumbering trade. Today the major focuses in the township are agriculture and aggregate resources. It has a great many gravel pits in that particular area. As I have said many times, we do not have all good land down in Prince Edward-Lennox. A lot of it is very shallow.

Deseronto, incorporated as a town on 7 January 1889, celebrated its 100th anniversary last year with a number of special events recognizing this memorable day. In addition to the celebrations, last year also saw the initiation of a community resource centre to co-ordinate social services for Deseronto and the area. Among other businesses, Deseronto hosts a marine yard and a woodworking business established in 1944, still owned and operated by the same family.

To the west, with its nine concessions first surveyed in 1787, lies the township of Thurlow, bordered by the city of BelleviIle to the south. Thurlow has good reason to be proud of its agricultural background. Many fine dairy farms are located across the township. Thurlow may also easily boast of its cheese factories, cement plant, distillery and a family-owned mill in operation since the purchase in 1857.

A large majority of Thurlow residents are employed in nearby Belleville, a city of continuous economic growth. Thurlow itself is expanding and has high potential for future economic growth, which by every indication will be realized in the near future.

During my campaign for election in the fall of 1987, I spent a good portion of my time in the town of Deseronto and the townships of Thurlow and Tyendinaga. The people of this area are grass-roots people, people who are politically minded, people who keep abreast of all the issues locally, provincially and federally.

Whether attending an information meeting, bringing greetings at an official opening, enjoying a sports event or having the honour of presenting a scroll from our province, the people of South Hastings have been warm and open with me, expressing their concerns and views on various topics. One message has been predominant: the desire for South Hastings’ residents to be recognized by incorporating their geographical area into the riding of Prince Edward-Lennox.

I wish to emphasize to the House today that I strongly support the views of South Hastings’ people. To change the riding name to Prince Edward-Lennox-South Hastings would give fair recognition to these people who feel they are not properly identified.

I am proud to represent the people of Deseronto, Thurlow and Tyendinaga and this is why I rise in the House today to change the riding name to Prince Edward-Lennox-South Hastings.

Mr Pollock: I am pleased to take

part in this debate too. I want to say to the member for Prince Edward-Lennox that I appreciate his comments and I want to make the House aware that I will certainly be supporting Bill 115, changing the name from Prince Edward-Lennox to Prince Edward-Lennox-South Hastings.

I would not really have any problem with just changing the name from Prince Edward-Lennox to Prince Edward-Lennox-Hastings either. I have talked to people from that area and they seem to be of the same mind. They really do not care whether it is South Hastings or Hastings, just as long as the name Hastings is in there, because after all this should have been done back in 1986 when the riding boundaries were changed.

If we were to hold up this bill for any length of time, I think it would be remiss, because the Ontario Electoral Boundaries Commission meets every 10 years. They last met in 1984 to decide to change the boundaries, so they will no doubt be meeting in 1994 to take another look at the boundaries. If we held this up for any particular time, we would be running into the next Ontario Electoral Boundaries Commission meeting.

Therefore I emphasize to the House that this bill should be passed. As I say, I have no problem with calling it Prince Edward-Lennox-Hastings or Prince Edward-Lennox-South Hastings.

As the member for Prince Edward-Lennox mentioned, this area used to be part of the riding of Hastings-Peterborough. There are approximately 12,000 people in the area. There are four municipalities: Thurlow, Tyendinaga, Deseronto and the Indian reserve.

I would like to put on the record that it was an honour for me to represent those people from that area here at Queen’s Park for six years. I went to 4-H clubs with youngsters from that area, played ball in junior farmer tournaments with lads from that particular area and went to dances, and I also sat on Hastings county council with people from that area. These people are good solid citizens and believe in fair play.

It was not my idea that the boundaries be changed. They moved my riding farther west. I know that when I was a teenager there used to be such things as harvest excursions and people were saying, “Go west.” When the Ontario Electoral Boundaries Commission actually moved my riding west, I really did not want to go. I was quite satisfied with my riding the way it was, but I really did not have any choice in the matter.

A few things I would like to talk about are some of the things that took place in that riding while I was a member. Shortly after the 1981 election, I got an invitation to attend the official sod-turning ceremonies for the Belleville and District Fish and Game Club. From those sod-turning ceremonies, they went on to build a building they can certainly be proud of. It will house approximately 400 people for a banquet. They have a games room. They have all kinds of parking there. That building received some Wintario funding. It is a credit to that area and I compliment the Belleville and District Fish and Game Club members for constructing that building.

They built a new senior citizens’ complex in Foxboro. This allows the senior citizens from that particular area to remain in their local village. This senior citizens’ complex has a homy atmosphere. I visit there on many occasions and the people seem to be happy and quite satisfied with the senior citizens’ complex in Foxboro.

Highway 37 was paved all the way from Belleville right through to Roslin.

In Deseronto they had built a new arena before I became the member there, but I was able to reap some of the benefits of that because some of the teams from Deseronto went on to win all-Ontario championships and I attended all those banquets where they recognized teams from that area. Deseronto is quite the hockey town.

They also built a state-of-the-art filtration plant in Deseronto. They paved and they reconstructed many sewers and water-mains in the town of Deseronto.

In the township of Tyendinaga they remodelled two recreation centres, one in Read and one in Melrose, and this was done with Wintario funding. They also built a new TVOntario tower in Tyendinaga. Of course the wheels started turning when I was the member to build a new township garage in the township of Tyendinaga and this was officially opened in 1988. The honourable member for Prince Edward-Lennox was on hand at that particular time, and I appreciated the invitation from the township to join it on that special occasion.

I always made a point to attend the official landing of the Mohawks. This is a ceremony where the Mohawks come ashore in their canoes and they give thanks there. Then they carry their canoes across the road to a cairn and have another ceremony. Then they break up and go to their respective churches for their Sunday morning church services.

I have been at Mel Hill’s house. He has a museum in one room of his house and he has a lot of Indian artefacts there. He also keeps the Queen Anne communion set there. This particular set has a lot of history behind it. It was given to the Mohawks of Mohawk Valley in New York state by Queen Anne back in 1711. At the time of the American War of Independence, the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte decided to leave New York state and move to Canada. They could not bring this Queen Anne communion service with them because anything of any value was confiscated. So they buried it and went back at a time when there was less friction and dug it up and brought it to Canada, where it rightly should be.

They have a computer centre on the reserve. As far as I know, it is the only computer and technology centre for native students in any reserve across Canada. This is a credit to that particular reserve. I understand that reserve boasts of more post-secondary students than any reserve across Canada.

While I was there, one of the industries that moved into the area was Milliken carpet in Deseronto. They put out a good product and employ people in that particular area. They are good corporate citizens. Of course, Corby’s in the township of Thurlow employs a lot of people and the new Sears plant is now in that area of Thurlow. It has been annexed by Belleville, but it used to be in that area of Thurlow which was a part of the provincial riding of Hastings-Peterborough.

Here are just some of the facts on this new Sears warehouse. It has four times the floor space of the Dome. It has roughly 25 acres of floor space. They estimate that when it is in full production, it will employ 1,500 to 1,700 people. It is a credit to the area. There is already a spinoff from Sears having moved into that particular area.

I just wanted to put a few of those things on record. As I say, I am going to be supporting Bill 115 because I believe this should have been done four years ago when the boundaries were changed.

Mr Keyes: I am also very pleased to speak in favour of Bill 115, as put forward by my honourable friend the member for Prince Edward-Lennox. Bill 115,

An Act to amend the Representation Act, 1986, deals with renaming the electoral district of Prince Edward-Lennox to the electoral district of Prince Edward-Lennox-South Hastings.

There have been many instances in the past when representation acts were introduced to change the existing boundaries of ridings across the province. We have also witnessed and participated in commissions which were initiated to determine the number of electoral districts into which the province should be divided.

The Ontario Electoral Boundaries Commission, which operated from June 1983 until March 1986, had as its mandate the responsibility of ensuring that all the citizens of this province would receive proper representation as a result of its recommendations and proposals, which of course it formulated after holding province-wide hearings.

There are indeed many similarities, when one discusses complete redistribution as undertaken by the Ontario Electoral Boundaries Commission, when we talk about the renaming of a riding as has been recommended by my honourable friend the member for Prince Edward-Lennox. That is what he is proposing today and that is what I support.

I want to say to members of this House that perhaps the most important factor that we must realize today is that, as legislators, we are accountable to the constituents we serve. In order to be effective parliamentarians we must ensure that our communities receive the recognition they deserve and that they have access to their member, that they feel they are a part of that particular riding; and of course access to their member so that their concerns and their views can be readily communicated not only to this House, but to the respective standing committees of the House and to the ministries with which one has desire to work.

Through the renaming of the particular riding in question, the request to name it Prince Edward-Lennox-South Hastings, the citizens residing in South Hastings, the portion that has had the honour of representation by the member for Prince Edward-Lennox but not in name within the naming of the district, will feel a much deeper sense of belonging if it forms part of their name. It is this feeling of fair recognition and representation that should guide our deliberation today and the full support of this House.

In making a comparison to the honourable member’s request for renaming, I just want to go back to some historical data, to refer to other occasions in this House when members from all parties have made similar requests for change of names of their riding. I want to refer to some of the statements made, as I went back through Hansard, through the courtesy of the legislative research library, to put on the record what some of those people said about the necessity of recognition of people and the role of ourselves as legislators.

In June 1983 debates were held concerning redistribution of the electoral districts. That of course was the commission I referred to earlier that went from 1983 to 1986. At that time Ross McClellan, a well-known former member of this House, an MPP representing the riding of Bellwoods, stated in this House, “Each and every person who lives in this country is entitled to have fair representation.”

It is interesting to note how none of these members is in the House any longer, but Terry Jones, the MPP for Mississauga North, said on the same occasion:

“I believe the job of the elected politician is not only to participate in the debates of Parliament or to be a parliamentarian, but to rub shoulders and arms and to get into the real heart, soul and guts of his or her community. This is the only way we can represent those people adequately and well.”

Our honourable Treasurer of today, the member for BrantHaldimand, on that same occasion asserted that, “Redistribution of the population into constituencies in this province is one of our most important democratic responsibilities.”

My own riding of Kingston has undergone a great number of modifications in the number of people it has represented and in its title. It goes back to the research of 1885, when the franchise act of the day stipulated that, in addition to the city of Kingston, the electoral district of Kingston should also contain the township of Kingston and the village of Portsmouth, which had previously belonged to the electoral district of Frontenac. These became included in actuality, although not in any additional name, at that time in 1885.

Then in 1894 the representation act of the day removed Kingston township from the riding and restored it to the county of Frontenac, leaving the village of Portsmouth with us. Another 30-some years passed, and in 1929 another redistribution act added to the electoral district of Kingston the islands of Amherst, Howe, Wolfe and, included with Wolfe, Simcoe, Horseshoe and Mud islands. They were reaffirmed as being appropriate municipalities within the electoral district of Kingston in 1954.

But it was not until 1966 in this House that, again on demand of the citizens in the area, particularly from the islands and from the member representative of the day, W. M. Nickle, that a representation act, which was then known as Bill 92, renamed the electoral district of Kingston to that now melodious and beautiful riding of Kingston and The Islands.

That little history lesson is simply to illustrate that the naming of a riding is very significant to the residents of a particular area and, therefore, Millhaven is in the very fine riding of Prince Edward-Lennox and, hopefully soon, South Hastings. These points are made to illustrate the intense feelings that people have about the name of the riding.

I know that the honourable member from the third party has on occasion risen in this House to likewise to have the name of his riding changed. But it is my understanding of a few moments ago, while it passed in this House for second reading, no change was made in that, and it is something perhaps the honourable member must bring to the attention of this House subsequent to today’s positive motion to have that rectified.

As I have said, each subsequent and additional change of name ensured that the citizens not only received fair and adequate representation, but they were included in name as well as reality in the decision-making process, and so they have been encouraged and acknowledged. I see this act today, put forth by the honourable member for Prince Edward-Lennox, to be somewhat similar to the number of occasions that I have referred to with a renaming of the riding that I have the pleasure to represent.

Of course, I support so wholeheartedly the renaming of the electoral district of Kingston to Kingston and The Islands because I myself was born on Wolfe Island, as a farm boy, lived my career there until about 21 and moved to the great city of Kingston. So this is my life today supporting the honourable member for Prince Edward-Lennox.

I am very honoured to be the first inhabitant and son of Wolfe Island to serve the residents of the island and the city of Kingston in this capacity and this House as I have had the pleasure to do since 1985. I am sure that just as I am honoured to have served my people from where I was born, so is my honourable friend from Prince Edward-Lennox. He feels a deep sense of pride not only in the people he has represented so well, but now in his request to represent all of his people through the renaming of his riding to Prince Edward-Lennox-South Hastings.

I am pleased to support the bill and I encourage all members of this House to do likewise. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to speak on the member’s behalf, on behalf of his citizens as well as my own, in support of this bill.

Mr Wildman: I am pleased to participate in this debate. While I am reminded of the phrase, “A rose by any other name is still a rose,” I wonder whether we need to be as concerned as some members are to try to ensure that all parts of their ridings are signified in the names of the constituencies. However, I respect the local member’s concern. Obviously he is responding to the views and concerns of his constituents, and in that sense I certainly would have no reason to object, particularly when the neighbouring member, the member for Hastings-Peterborough, is in support of the change.

I have some sympathy with a nice, neat name. The first on the list alphabetically in this House of all the constituencies is the constituency of Algoma, which is the fourth-largest constituency in Ontario. It is approximately 400 miles from one end to the other.

I represent a very diverse area of the province, many, many small communities very widely dispersed, all the way from Hornepayne in the north to White River, south to Sault Ste Marie but not including any of the city of Sault Ste Marie, and east from there to Blind River and the very small community, or at least part of the very small community, of Algoma Mills. That community, for some reason which is beyond me, frankly, is divided between my constituency and the constituency of Algoma-Manitoulin.

Mr Mahoney: They requested it.

Mr Wildman: Actually, no. At the time of the last boundary change the then member for Algoma-Manitoulin and I both said, “Move the line one way or the other a couple of miles,” so that all of Algoma Mills, which is a very, very small community, could be either in Algoma district or in AlgomaManitoulin constituency. It is not a big place.

But at any rate, when we say Algoma, we know that we are talking about the whole of Algoma district, which is a very large area. We do not try to say that this riding should be named Hornepayne-Algoma Mills or White River-Blind River. In other words, you could run into problems if you tried to represent every part of the riding in its name.

However, in southern Ontario and southeastern Ontario, where there are communities that are closer together and perhaps have very long histories and have been in the past recognized in the names of their constituencies, I suppose it makes sense when there are a number of different counties represented by one constituency to represent them in the name. I note that we are saying South Hastings in the proposed change as a way of trying to differentiate from the other riding that has Hastings in its name, and I accept that.

I wonder, though, why, it seems to me, it is the constituencies that already have the longest names that want to get longer. I mean, we already have Prince Edward-Lennox. Now it is going to be Prince Edward-Lennox-South Hastings. I note a few years ago my friend the member for Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, the united counties, wanted to make a change in the name of his constituency. As a matter of fact, in his case he wanted to shorten it. He wanted to change it so that he recognized Grenville as part of his constituency. I believe that proposal was supported in the House, was it?

Mr Villeneuve: It was a private bill.

Mr Wildman: Oh, it was a private bill. But it never went anywhere after first reading.

I think we should do everything we can to accommodate the local member on a thing like this, and his or her constituents. It seems to me that if we are going to make an effort to expedite the passage of this particular private member’s bill so that the constituency, the electoral district, will now be called Prince Edward-Lennox-South Hastings, it would be equitable for us to consider very carefully the proposal made by my friend the member for Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry and to look at the possibility of expediting the passage of the private bill. I am sorry, I was under the impression that it had been a private member’s bill.

Mr Villeneuve: It was a private bill.

Mr Wildman: If it was a private bill I can see a somewhat different situation, but perhaps we could look at the possibility of expediting the passage of that as well, as long as the Deputy Speaker has no objection.

I found it interesting to listen to the history of the area as interpreted by the member for Hastings-Peterborough, because he is a member who is very concerned with his constituents and has been known to work very hard on behalf of the very small communities of his area. I am sure he is very well known and understands the concerns and feelings of the constituents of the area that he represented but which is now part of the other riding. I respect him for that.

I appreciate also the concerns of the current member. I do say that while this is private members’ hour and we all, as private members, have the right and the obligation to consider individually the proposals made by private members in this debate, I think that members of my caucus will be united in the view that if the local member and his constituents wish this change, then everything should be done to expedite it by the Legislative Assembly and, hopefully, by the Ontario Electoral Boundaries Commission.

In that view, I will just say briefly and finally that we support the proposal. I think that if we are going to make this kind of change in this case, we should look very carefully at similar suggestions that have been made by other members to see whether we can assist them in making similar changes. The only proviso I put on that is that, representing a very large area, a very diverse area with the very short, neat name of Algoma, I think brevity has some advantages over complexity in the naming of constituencies.

Mr Villeneuve: I too rise to support Bill 115 and my friend and colleague the member for Prince Edward-Lennox.

I think I understand very much of what he is going through. Several years ago, following redistribution, I put in a private bill. I am pleased that my friends and colleagues the member for Algoma and the member for Kingston and The Islands remember that particular occasion when I was suggesting that the very historical riding of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, following redistribution, included the east half of the county of Grenville. It is part of four very important counties in Ontario, and particularly in eastern Ontario.

As the name presently stands in my case, it is Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry and some 12,000 people in the municipalities that I represent here at Queen’s Park from Grenville county effectively are not recognized. It may only be in perception, but perception, as we well know here at Queen’s Park, becomes reality very quickly.

My suggestion was based on some of the historical facts. Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, back in the days of wartime, had the SD and G Highlanders; they were the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders but they were affectionately known as the SD and G Highlanders, proudly wearing the Macdonnell of Glengarry plaid as their fighting colours.

I thought that possibly recognizing the riding -- and I understand that Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry and East Grenville becomes a bit cumbersome; however, cumbersome or not, my suggestion is that we shorten it to SDG and East Grenville, and it possibly would be less cumbersome, but would incorporate everyone who is included in the riding, the 57,000 people who are in the riding that I very proudly represent.

Right now left aside -- and I realize that my neighbour to the west, Leeds-Grenville, incorporates approximately the west half of the county of Grenville geographically; population-wise it is a lot bigger. However, population and geographics should always be recognized. So possibly the change of one name of a riding would follow that a second riding would have to have a slight change of name. But I think it is all done in respect for people we represent, and right now the town of Kemptville, the village of Cardinal and the townships of Edwardsburgh, South Gower and Oxford on the Rideau are not recognized in the name of the riding that I represent.

To go back to the riding that I represent, very similar to the member for Prince Edward-Lennox, I quite often travel Highway 401, and as I get to that Deseronto exit that is about halfway home. So it is always a friendly reminder. The worst half is behind me, and the first half is always the worst half. From then on you are going downhill. Affectionately, his riding is always a point in my trip home or my trip to Queen’s Park.

The history, I know, in the honourable member’s riding is very agricultural, as it is in mine. And I am always proud to tell people that half of the bicentennial farms are situated in the riding that I represent, bicentennial farms that were recognized back in 1984 by this Legislature and by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. To my friend and colleague the member for Prince Edward-Lennox, I look forward to recognizing him henceforth as the member for Prince Edward-Lennox-South Hastings and I hope some time members look at the name of the riding that I very proudly represent.

Mr Mahoney: I am indeed pleased to have been asked by the member for Prince Edward-Lennox to speak on behalf of and indeed in support of this piece of legislation which is very important to him. In doing so, I tried to analyse, other than being his seatmate, why. I think what I have determined is that it is important, particularly having listened to the very fine speakers who have just talked in favour of this bill, perhaps to bring a different perspective towards the support of this legislation.

The member represents a substantially rural community. My community of Mississauga West, of course, is primarily an urban community. So I bring an urban perspective, along with the member for Durham-York, who is coming up to cause me some grief at the moment. I bring a perspective that I think is particularly significant, coming from the big city, so to speak, or the Big Smoke, as it is sometimes referred to, in talking about what I consider to be some of the most wonderful country in this province.

This particular community represented by the honourable member is really a fantastic place to visit, to vacation in and to tour. I would like to just take a moment, if I could -- I am sure the member and others have done this many times; I have done it -- to drive members along one of the most scenic routes in the entire province of Ontario, and indeed in all of Canada, and that is the Loyalist Parkway, which runs from one end of the member’s riding to the other.

The history in this part of Ontario is very, very strong, very similar to the history in the area spoken about by the member for Kingston and The Islands. If you drive along this particular area you really get to get the feeling of Canada, get the sense of the great province of Ontario and indeed of this great country. You start off coming out of Kingston and Amherstview, a place where I have spent a little of time in playing hockey in the past, enjoying that great community just outside of Kingston.

You drive along from that eastern gateway to the parkway into Millhaven. Members, particularly the member for Algoma, were asking if Millhaven was in this riding. We can arrange a short stay for the member if he is interested. The accommodation, I understand, according to the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, is second to none. We will see that he gets steak and a good breakfast any time he would like to go there.

But everyone knows Millhaven. Unfortunately, it is known primarily as the home of that penitentiary, but in reality it is some of the most spectacular country you could see. The lake view and the waterfront properties are breathtaking, and I am really quite impressed with that.

As you leave there, you go along through Bath. Some of the members could probably spend a little time in that particular part of the country. You see an awful lot of early Ontario architecture and great history. Moving on to pick up the Glenora ferry, that is one of the most entertaining and enjoyable trips, to ride the ferry over to Picton.

The Deputy Speaker: Thank you. The member’s time is up.

Mr Mahoney: My time is up? I just got started.

The Deputy Speaker: Just 15 minutes per party, and the time is up.

Mr Mahoney: Since my time is up, let me just say that I support the member and his motion and am delighted to have the opportunity to say so.

The Deputy Speaker: Do other members wish to participate? If not, would the member for Prince Edward-Lennox please wind down?

Mr Jackson: How much time is left for the Tories?

The Deputy Speaker: Did the member for Burlington South wish to address the floor?

Mr Jackson: Is there any time left for the Conservatives?

Miss Roberts: Yes, there is.

Mr Jackson: Is there? How much time? I am looking to the clerks for guidance. No? Then fine.

The Deputy Speaker: Is there agreement to let the member for Burlington South --

Mr Jackson: No, that’s all right. I thought there was time left.

The Deputy Speaker: I understand that there is time left for the official opposition, and if other members wish to speak -- the member for Beaches-Woodbine would like to speak. Fair enough.

Ms Bryden: I do feel that when a member desires a change in the name of his riding he must have good reasons for it. I think there is a time when one has to bring up to date the events that are going on in your own area so that people do recognize that the description of the riding is a true description of the communities involved.

I share the thoughts of the previous speaker, the member for Mississauga West, that it is a beautiful area. It is an area that I enjoy visiting on my vacations and it is an area that we hope will continue to be kept in its present state and not taken over by developers or too many highways and things of that sort. But I do hope that some day, whatever the name of the riding is, it will become a New Democrat riding.

The Deputy Speaker: There are over six minutes left. Do other members wish to address the House? Is there consent for the official opposition to let go its time? Then the member for Wellington.

Mr J. M. Johnson: I would like to speak in support of the bill and congratulate the member for bringing it forward to demonstrate his concern for all the people in his riding.

I was first elected to represent the riding of Wellington-Dufferin-Peel. The Peel

section included all of Caledon, and the people in Caledon for many years were quite concerned that their identity was lost because the name Caledon did not appear in the name of the riding. There was concern that, not having the name, you really did not represent that group of people. The honourable member has tried to address this issue by taking in names of all the people in his area, the same as the member for Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry has, by hoping to add the name of one more township.

I think that we take for granted that people should accept the fact that by calling an area such as greater Peel just by the one name anyone living in this area will be considered as part of that great area. But there are several members from Peel. They used to be all Conservative; now, for some reason, they have changed for a short while. But maybe if they are more conscious of where they are living, they will be a little more interested in the voting procedure.

I can recall a constituent of mine driving up Highway 401 and approaching the new town of Halton many years ago. The sign said, “Town of Halton, former Georgetown.” He said, “How would you like to be from an area that used to be the former community?” If you lose your identity, it is not good. I think the member for Cambridge had a similar problem many years ago. I think it has been resolved, but at one time it used to be Hespeler-Galt-Preston; now it is all Cambridge.

There is a loss of identity, there is a loss of personal feeling that you belong to a community. So the member has made the right decision to proceed in this direction, and I will assure him of my support. I do understand it will be called for third reading today and I can indicate the support of all members of our party, the three of us.

Mr Jackson: I wish to commend the member for his bill,

An Act to amend the Representation Act. He was not a member of this House when we last debated the Election Act, but many of the comments that he made were reflected in that debate, the very strong commitment to his riding, to making sure that the people feel very much welcome and accommodated by the name of their riding. It is a pride of ownership in their representation. So we fully support that.

During that debate as well, some few years ago, concern was expressed in similar terms for the riding of Oakville South and its relationship to Burlington South. We had a change from the old riding of Oakville, which included the city of Oakville. It expanded to take in a portion of Burlington from the riding of Burlington South. There was a lot of concern expressed by the residents of East Burlington, in the area from Appleby Line to Burloak Drive and from New Street to the lake, who are now part of Oakville South.

There has been a persistent and consistent request from the citizens of that area that the riding name of Oakville South be modified to reflect its partial Burlington representation. I underscore the name of the street which binds the two communities, Burloak Drive, as a potential name for a riding. I would hope the member for Oakville South is listening. His predecessor fully supported the principles that the member for Prince Edward-Lennox states today in his resolution.

So I fully support it, and fully encourage its application for at least two or three other instances in this House. I respect the leadership he supplied to this bill, and for that reason we will be supporting it. Should the member for Oakville South be so inclined to represent in this fashion a bill similar to that of the member for Prince Edward-Lennox, then he would have my full support, and I would certainly ask him to consult with the member for Prince Edward-Lennox because of the work he has done. I wish him well and I certainly will be supporting his bill.

Mr Tatham: I am very happy to support this bill based on the fact that several years ago a committee went across the province of Ontario. We visited 26 counties, and wherever we went we found that the people have a great love and affection for their own area and they like to know who they are. This matter of coming together with counties was such that they wondered about their identity. They wondered what would take place if they amalgamated. I know in our own county of Oxford we put 18 municipalities down to eight. There was a great deal of wonderment about what names should be used.

In one instance, we took three municipalities and put them into one. They had to have a vote on this matter. So it is something that I think we are very much in favour of.

The Deputy Speaker: This completes the debate on the member for Prince Edward-Lennox’s bill.

Interjection.

The Deputy Speaker: Oh, I am sorry. Yes, the member for Prince Edward-Lennox may wind up if he wants. What am I saying? Thank you very much.

Mr MacDonald: It is certainly my pleasure, in wrapping up the debate on this bill, to thank all the members of the House today for joining the debate. I am very pleased they have gone along with this bill and supported it. I do appreciate it.

I do want to pay tribute to the member for Hastings-Peterborough who did represent this part of the riding for a good many years. When I did tour the riding there was nothing but very great things said about him and I do pay tribute to his standing up today and saying what he did.

Naturally, I am here today to bring recognition to those people in that part of the riding and that is solely why I am here. I again thank the members very much for joining the debate and supporting the resolution.

The Deputy Speaker: This really does complete the debate on the bill of the member for Prince Edward-Lennox.

VICTIMS’ BILL OF RIGHTS ACT, 1990

The Deputy Speaker: Mr Jackson has moved second reading of Bill 113.

Motion agreed to.

Mr Jackson: Mr Speaker, could I have that referred to the standing committee on administration of justice?

The Deputy Speaker: Is there agreement of the House?

Hon Mr Elston: Committee of the whole House.

The Deputy Speaker: I would need a majority vote to send it to the committee; if not, it is going to have to go to the committee of the whole House. It would appear to me that the vote would be committee of the whole House in that case.

Some hon members: Agreed.

Bill ordered for committee of the whole House.

REPRESENTATION AMENDMENT ACT, 1990

The Deputy Speaker: Mr MacDonald has moved second reading of Bill 115.

Motion agreed to.

Third reading also agreed to on motion.

The House recessed at 1203.

AFTERNOON SITTING

The House resumed at 1330.

MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS

NORTHERN TRANSPORTATION

Miss Martel: Today this government announced the transportation capital program at a staged performance at Union Station. I waited for some announcement regarding Highway 69 north. I was confident some commitment would be made to improve northern highways. After all, if this government can give away $2 billion to the greater Toronto area in one morning, surely it is not too much to expect that northern Ontario could receive a small piece of that pie.

Not one word was mentioned about northern Ontario, not one dime allocated to road improvement in the north, not one word even hinting at a commitment by this government to the four-laning of Highway 69 north, no indication that the Liberals even have a plan of action for this route.

This is in spite of disturbing accident rates in 1989. In district 7, for example, from Midland to Bala, there were five fatal accidents, seven people killed, 48 personal injuries and 123 property damage accidents. In district 12, the Parry Sound area, there were two fatal accidents and two people killed, 79 personal injury accidents and 152 property damage accidents. Farther north, from Still River to Sudbury, in district 13, there were six fatal accidents, nine people killed, 79 personal injury accidents and 156 property damage accidents.

Safety on this northern highway continues to decline. That is why ministry funding last year in the Port Severn area did nothing to resolve the problem. We need a commitment from this government to the four-laning of Highway 69 north to stop the carnage on this transportation route.

DAFFODIL DAY

Mr Eves: I want to remind the Legislature today of Daffodil Day. On an early spring day many years ago a group of cancer society volunteers decorated the tables for a cancer tea with daffodils. These early spring blossoms, they felt, represented a sense of hope and renewed life.

Today, Daffodil Day is celebrated all across this country. It has turned into a three-day event, supported by numerous volunteers, to aid in the battle against cancer. Today, presold daffodils will be delivered. Tomorrow, those of us who have still not supported the Canadian Cancer Society will have the opportunity to purchase them at subway stations, on the street and in malls throughout the province. They will be available on Saturday.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask members to support this very worthwhile cause. Fifty cents of every dollar collected will go towards research; the other half will go towards valuable projects such as public education and patient services. At least one third of us will have a contact with cancer during our lives. Last year, volunteers raised $1.5 million from the sale of daffodils. This year it is hoped that even more money will be raised to support this very worthy cause.

The cancer society has also begun its residential campaign and I would like to ask all Ontarians to support the battle against cancer. I would also like to commend the thousands of dedicated volunteers across the province and this country who have made further research and services for cancer patients available to all.

PUBLIC LIBRARIES

Mr Tatham: “And what is so rare as a day in June?” “The paths of glory lead but to the grave.” “Ay free, off han’ your story tell when wi’ a bosom cronie, but still keep something to yoursel’ ye scarcely tell to onie.”

Words, phrases, books, libraries: wonderful things, wonderful places.

In 1985 our librarians gathered at a futures symposium, Libraries 2000. They were warned that our society would be split into two classes: the information rich and the information poor.

So hundreds of librarians and trustees have worked on a draft Ontario public library strategic plan that will bring Ontario fully into the information age with all principles intact: the right to information, equity of service throughout the province and the right to intellectual freedom. The draft plan will be released simultaneously at 21 libraries across the province on Saturday 7 April.

I commend my colleague the Minister of Culture and Communications and her ministry for having had the foresight to organize Libraries 2000 and fund the Ontario public library strategic plan. We can help as well by encouraging our local library people to respond to the draft plan.

As Longfellow said: “Build today, thou strong and sure, with a firm and ample base; and ascending and secure, shall tomorrow find its place.”

MOOSE TAG LOTTERY

Mr Wildman: There is a great deal of discontent among moose hunters in northern Ontario regarding the present moose lottery system. A large number of hunters have been unsuccessful in the draw for an adult moose tag for a number of consecutive years. The time and cost involved in a hunting expedition can be expensive; many hunters feel it is not feasible financially or otherwise to participate in the hunt if they have not been awarded an adult moose tag.

The cost of a moose licence, therefore, is very expensive if you have to pay it before you get into the lottery. The position of many hunters is that the moose licence cost should be refunded to those hunters who are unsuccessful in the draw for an adult moose tag and who do not wish to participate in the hunt for a moose calf.

This would provide a much more equitable approach rather than having the provincial government and the Ministry of Natural Resources collecting money that does not benefit the hunter and, as a result, requires the hunter to pay even if he or she is not successful in entering the draw. I know some people may not find this a major issue, but it certainly is of significant importance to many constituents in Algoma and across northern Ontario.

AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE

Mr McLean: My statement is addressed to the Minister of Financial Institutions and concerns Bill 68.

The people of Ontario are well aware of how this government is trying to pull the wool over their eyes on the issue of auto insurance. My constituency offices in Orillia and Penetanguishene have been flooded with calls and letters.

Finally, the Liberals in this province are starting to wake up to the inability of their government to provide a fair and equitable solution to the rising cost of automobile insurance. Liberal ridings throughout the province are introducing and passing resolutions against this bill. Ridings in North Bay and Sudbury have passed these resolutions, and they have been introduced in Hamilton Centre. I know that many staunch Liberals, in Muskoka-Georgian Bay and Simcoe Centre ridings, are also opposed to this bill. Most recently, it has been brought to my attention that the Liberal association in my own riding of Simcoe East has passed a resolution condemning this bill.

The people of this province are opposed to Bill 68 because it sacrifices fairness for accident victims in the name of political expediency. It results in Ontario taxpayers paying more for fewer benefits. I can tell the members that it is going to eliminate a lot of insurance agents too.

So far, this government has refused to listen to the people of the province. Now it is refusing to listen to its own party members. When will they wake up and smell the taffy? It is starting to stick. Ontario is saying no to Bill 68.

BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

Mr Pelissero: This year, 1990, marks a bicentennial celebration for the town of Grimsby and for West Lincoln, not because of the founding of those communities, for they were already well established 200 years ago, but because the first municipal council meeting in Upper Canada was held there, on 5 April 1790.

The meeting for township 6 was held at the request of the Court of Common Pleas for the district of Nassau, which at that time included the Niagara Peninsula. The meeting was held at the home of John Green in the village of The Forty, now called Grimsby. At that meeting, the officers chosen were a clerk, a constable, an overseer of the poor, a pathmaster to oversee the roads and two viewers of fences and appraisers of damages. Besides the selection of these officers, the only business recorded in the minutes is a discussion of the matter of the distance allowed between fence rails.

These minutes are the basis for a re-enactment of that first municipal meeting, to be held in Grimsby tonight, Thursday 5 April 1990. Councillors from West Lincoln and Grimsby will play the roles in a brief drama, called Fathers of The Forty, written by local author Dorothy Turcotte. In addition, there has been a logo contest, with the winning entry made into a flag which is being flown in both municipalities this week. Other special events will take place throughout bicentennial year.

The municipalities of Grimsby and West Lincoln appreciated the Premier’s visit on 23 March, at which time plaques were presented in honour of this memorable occasion.

This celebration is a reminder of how far we have come in 200 years and how precious our tradition of freedom and self-government is.

POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION FINANCING

Mr Allen: At the University of Guelph, the administration is persisting in a plan to take over the student-run campus bookstore and threatening the same for a coffee shop, both run by the Guelph Campus Co-operative, a long-standing student institution. University officials, including the president, have declared that they are following a specific mandate from Queen’s Park to take over student-run retail operations on campus to create additional revenues for the university.

If the university proceeds, it may face federal government charges. But what has to be most troubling is that the roots of this heavy-handed attempt appear to lie with the Liberal government here at Queen’s Park. That the Liberals should be resorting to such tactics is an open confession of their failure to adequately fund Ontario’s universities.

Government support has fallen once again to the bottom rank of provincial systems. Even so, it is difficult to comprehend how this nefarious combination of Queen’s Park Liberals and the Guelph administration can seriously contemplate actions that would effectively wipe out the major activities of a long-standing student co-operative. Have the two technocratic bureaucracies lost all sense of the importance of people learning to work together and running their own affairs?

If this government ever issued such a mandate, I call on the Minister of Colleges and Universities to publicly renounce such a mistaken and mischievous policy.

CAPITOL THEATRE

Mr Villeneuve: This government is practising a completely two-faced attitude towards preserving historical buildings.

In Toronto, millions have been spent to restore the Winter Garden. In Cornwall, the Liberal government is arranging with the city to demolish one of Canada’s oldest theatre buildings in order to build a provincial government building.

The Capitol Theatre in Cornwall was one of the very first theatres in Canada to show motion pictures with sound. It is very much a historical building. Although neglected for some two years, an Ontario Heritage Foundation expert reported on 28 January, “There is no reason why the Capitol cannot be repaired.”

On Monday, Cornwall council is ready to remove the historical designation, tear down the building and sell the property to the province. On Saturday, the people of Cornwall will be showing their disapproval.

The provincial government’s behaviour has been deplorable on this issue. According to all sources, the proposed site could accommodate an office building together with a restored theatre. This is what the province must insist on from the city of Cornwall, and I fully agree.

PACIFIC RIM INITIATIVE PROGRAM

Mr Velshi: Recently I was apprised of the initiatives of the East York Board of Education. I would like to share them with the House at this time.

In keeping with the changing shape of Ontario’s socioeconomic profile and, more specifically, changes in the domestic and foreign marketplace, the East York Board of Education has endorsed a major Pacific Rim initiative. The East York Board of Education has taken a bold step towards preparing its students for the competitive workplace of the 21st century. The trustees approved the recommendations of the education committee to launch a Pacific Rim initiative program set to begin in September of this year.

The program is designed to increase the awareness and understanding of such countries as China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. The further intent of this initiative is to increase opportunities for students to develop an understanding and appreciation not only of economics but of culture, values and languages as well as trade initiatives.

These broad goals will be achieved through student and teacher exchanges, seeking partnerships with Pacific Rim businesses, establishing advisory groups and appointing a Pacific Rim special assignment teacher to provide leadership in this education initiative.

I feel that these are most worthy goals. I am pleased and reassured by the efforts of the East York Board of Education and I look forward to and support the development of this most timely and important endeavour.

VISITORS

Mr Velshi: I would also like to inform members of this House that grade 8 students from John XXIII school in my riding are visiting us today, sitting in the gallery, and I would appreciate our welcoming them.

Hon Mr Ward: Mr Speaker, I wonder if I could seek unanimous consent for statements by all three parties acknowledging the 22nd anniversary of the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King.

Agreed to.

ANNIVERSARY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING’S ASSASSINATION

Mr Curling: I rise today to remember a day 22 years ago, a day when the world lost a great man.

The Martin Luther King story has been told and retold until it has become almost a legend; a legend, I believe, that is central to our history and to our understanding of what we stand for as a people.

When I speak about this great man, images sweep through my mind: images like the face of Rosa Parks as she sat in a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, late on a hot afternoon in December back in 1955; an image of her being told to move to the back of the bus to give a white man her seat, something she had been told to do all the years of her life. But something rose up in Rosa Parks that day and she refused to yield her seat.

I can imagine that young Alabama preacher’s face when he heard about this astonishing act of defiance and courage. That preacher was Martin Luther King. When he heard about Rosa Parks’s courage, something rose up in him as well, something strong, something fierce, something that told him, “Yes, the time has come for all men and all women to be as equal under the law as they are in the eyes of God.”

Then images come faster to me, flooding my memory: images of Martin Luther King marching down dusty roads all over the southern United States, marching in the face of armed troops and guard dogs and threats to the lives of his children. And wherever he marched behind him marched a swelling company of his followers. I can see their faces now, lit by courage and a new hope and a wonderful kind of joy that they were part of this incredible journey through history.

Then images crowd one upon the other: Martin Luther King at Selma, Alabama; Martin Luther King at Little Rock, Arkansas; Martin Luther King in Washington, his words ringing out from the Lincoln Memorial; and then Martin Luther King on a motel balcony in Memphis.

I have a final image of my own feelings on that terrible day in 1968, an image that the heart of all people had been shattered, that our light and our courage had been torn out of us by the bullets of a single assassin. That was wrong, of course, for the heart grew stronger and stronger, filled by the courage and determination of people around the world who reached down to pick up the torch that had fallen from Martin Luther King’s hands.

I recall the sermon he gave at the Ebenezer Baptist Church on Sunday morning, 4 December 1967, a few months before he died. Martin Luther King told the congregation how he wanted to be remembered after his death. “Tell them,” he said, “not to mention that I got a Nobel peace prize. That’s not important.” He paused and then he continued: “I would like somebody to say that I tried to feed the hungry. I would like somebody to say that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked and visit those who were in prison. I would like it to be said that Martin Luther King tried to love somebody.”

He said much more that December, but I think it would please him to know that his words have been remembered and that here in a northern city, in another country, 22 years after his death, those words are cherished by people whose lives are so much more than they might have been because this one extraordinary man lived and dreamed and struggled and died.

“I have a dream,” said Martin Luther King, and his dream lives in the hopes and aspirations, and fired the spirits, not only of blacks but of oppressed people everywhere.

“I have a dream,” cried Martin Luther King, and his words of true freedom and equality and justice were transmitted by television signals and radio waves, by cable and letter and by the spoken word to every corner of the earth and heard by every man and woman who knew in their hearts that freedom and justice should be their universal human birthright.

His dream, the power of his courage and his belief in what all human beings can achieve transformed the world. It rolled back laws that had oppressed blacks in America for more than a century. It opened doors and opportunities for all of us and for all our children and for all the children yet to come.

There are those who say that dream has died, that the light has gone out, that the groundswell of the forces of change are fading with his memory. But just 22 years after Martin Luther King was laid to rest, we are equal partners in a society where freedom and justice for all are enshrined in law. Twenty-two years have passed, and we are living in a place and time where no one moves to the back of the bus, where no one is left without protection against discrimination, where every child has an equal chance, where we are all invited to sit down at the table of brotherhood.

But do not think that I am saying our journey is over. In Canada we live in a just society, but millions of our brothers and sisters in distant countries do not, and our journey will not be over until the dreams of a just society are realized. While it is true we have equality under the law, we still find inequality in the course of our everyday lives. We have food to eat and clothes to wear, but so long as one child among us goes hungry or cold, our journey will not be over. We must always measure ourselves against the yardstick of Martin Luther King’s hopes for what we should achieve.

Sometimes we despair that cruelty and hatred will never be wiped from the human slate, but those are the times we should remember his words, “It is only when the sky is darkest that you can really see the stars.” Martin Luther King never stopped believing that not only his dream but also the dreamers would prevail. The dream lives on.

Mr B. Rae: First of all, in following the member for Scarborough North, I want to simply say that we are very proud to associate ourselves with the eloquence of his remarks. I might say in passing that we are delighted to assess the performance of his government and indeed of all governments on the basis of the standards set out by Dr King.

I think it is almost trite now to say, but it is certainly worth saying again, that few people in the world have so changed the course of human history and so served as an example to the rest of us as Dr Martin Luther King. Like all members of the House, I knew him only through the power of television and through the force of his words and of his example. And, of course, it is in reading more about Dr King and his extraordinary contribution and courage and his incredible dedication that one gets to an even deeper appreciation of the life he lived and of the example he set.

Last week when I was speaking to a rally of Lithuanians in Nathan Phillips Square, a little kid up on the ramp was holding up a large picture of Dr King -- larger than life, larger than the child -- and showing it to all the people. When you think about it, it is an extraordinary time in which we live when the life of a pastor from the southern United States serves as an example to the Lithuanian community in this country and to freedom-loving people everywhere and is seen as their symbol too. I saw something marvellous in t hat, just as I saw something marvellous in the fact that the other picture being held up by the child next to her was that of Mahatma Gandhi.

The fact that we now have a world in which all of us, regardless of our race or colour, are able to appreciate the lives and the courage and the contribution of others from different races and different backgrounds and even from different times, I think is a marvellous symbol of the fraternity and the sorority, the brotherhood and the sisterhood, the fellowship that sustains all of us in even the most difficult of times.

Dr King was a man of great eloquence. He was a man whose eloquence was not only of words but of deeds, whose vision extended beyond simply talking about the legalities of civil rights to making these rights real in the world, whose vision of freedom and hope and love extended far beyond the United States to include the people of North Vietnam. He had the courage to speak out at a time when it was controversial and when he was branded as a communist for so doing.

Perhaps it is worth recollecting that although many were prepared to mourn his death when he was shot in April 1968, his views were not respectable in the time in which he lived. He was perhaps more widely recognized and appreciated outside the United States than he was within the United States. He was also someone who, at the end of his life, realized -- and began writing and talking about this more and more -- that the cause of civil rights could only be achieved in a world in which freedoms were real.

They could only be achieved in a world in which social and economic justice became as important as the fact of racism and of discrimination, and which came to understand that it was only through creating a new international order of world economic and social justice that people could be truly free.

To those who said equality and freedom were somehow antithetical or opposed to each other, to those who said that freedom and justice were somehow opposed to each other, he gave a very different vision and a very different answer. He said more clearly and eloquently, I believe, than any figure in our recent history, what he believed.

He reiterated what I believe to be a fundamental truth, that it is nonsense to talk about freedom unless we are prepared to recognize that people have to have the means to be free; that it is nonsense to talk about freedom unless we recognize that poverty is as much an enemy of freedom as political oppression; that poverty is as much an enemy of the notion or the idea of individual liberty and an end to discrimination as any other act of government; and that economic inequality and the oppression that follow from that and the oppression that, yes, follows from the economic system in which we live, just as surely as the cleaners in Memphis lived when Martin Luther King went down to be with them on their picket line.

That is an enemy that must be overcome and that is the enemy that all of us must once again join in overcoming.

We remember Dr Martin Luther King and his memory best not simply by what we say today but by the actions we take as legislators in this province and by the actions we take as citizens. That is how we shall overcome: not simply by praising Dr King but, if I may say so, by imitating him.

Mrs Marland: Before I make my statement, I would like to say that I too recognize the eloquence of the words of the member for Scarborough North today. Regardless of the fact that I obviously come from a different political persuasion than the leader of the official opposition, I do not think we ever hear more eloquence from any member of this Legislature than we do from the member for York South.

It is a particular privilege for me to rise today on behalf of the Progressive Conservative caucus to recognize the 22nd anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King. What a joy it would be if we were not recognizing an assassination but an ongoing life, one that was more committed to other people than any life we have known in the past century. It has been 22 years since the assassination of Martin Luther King, but the years that have passed since that tragic day have not lessened the greatness of his work or the heroism of his actions.

Today I stand not to talk so much about the man as about his vision. His most powerful and famous speech, “I have a dream,” has become a worldwide symbol that inspires hope in the hearts of oppressed people everywhere. He was able to articulate his dream, the dream of equality between peoples and the dream of peace between peoples. The dream captured the attention of the world and in 1964 he became the youngest recipient ever of the Nobel Prize for peace.

One of the problems that minorities have is the absence of a role model, someone in a position of power whom youngsters can look up to and think, “I can make it too.” Martin Luther King became a role model for his own people as well as for other minorities, and his vision co