Monday, October 5, 2026

The committee met at 1000 in committee room 2.

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Consideration of the following bill:

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Bill 119, An Act to enact two new Acts and to amend various other Acts / Projet de loi 119, Loi édictant deux nouvelles lois et modifiant diverses autres lois.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Good morning, everyone. The Standing Committee on Justice Policy will now come to order. We’re meeting today to conduct public hearings on Bill 119, An Act to enact two new Acts and to amend various other Acts.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

I will now call on the Honourable Michael Kerzner, the Solicitor General of Ontario, as the committee’s first witness. Minister, you will have up to 20 minutes for your presentation, followed by 39 minutes of questions from the members of the committee. The questions will be divided into two rounds of 6.5 minutes for the government members, two rounds of 6.5 minutes for the official opposition members and two rounds of 6.5 minutes for the third party. Solicitor General, the floor is yours, sir. Please begin.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’m delighted to be here and to talk about Bill 119, which was our spring justice bill, the Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act, 2026. I’m very grateful to the committee members for taking the time out of their day so we can be here together. Let me give some context of why Bill 119 was debated in the Legislature prior to coming to committee—and I’m grateful for the work that the committee will do next to make sure that they meet with their stakeholders and people that want to give deputations and why it’s important. Slightly over four years ago, in June 2022, when I took the oath to be honoured to be the Solicitor General for Ontario, I took it with great personal pride that the fundamental rights that we have in Ontario to our public safety are equal. It doesn’t matter whether our background was privileged or not. It doesn’t matter where our families came from or not, or how they got here. It doesn’t matter what language we speak. It doesn’t matter the faith we observe. It doesn’t matter the people that we love. The fundamental rights that we all have to enjoy public safety, to enjoy the simple rights of going about our daily lives—and I’ve spoken about this, Mr. Chair. I’ve spoken about seeing our kids off to school, saying goodbye to our spouses, checking in on our seniors, going to work, shopping, playing in the park, worshipping. These umbilical rights that we have are equal. It is up to a government to make sure that they are fulfilled. That’s our responsibility. And, fall and spring, our government has come forward with pieces of justice and public safety legislation that seizes the moment to ensure that these fundamental rights we have meet the times that we are in. I want to speak, as part of Bill 119, to some of the successes that we have had as a result of the work that this committee has done and the Legislature has done. We came forward to say we need more people to seek a career in public safety. I want to speak for a minute on that. Earlier this morning, I attended the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association health and safety conference. It’s remarkable, the level of interest in people who want to be first responders, who want to be firefighters. Members opposite—my friend from St. Catharines—know that I am a great champion of our fire services. Their jobs are not easy. Our government moved the needle in many respects by doing things that governments of the past didn’t do. We made amends. We paid the debts that we owed our firefighters. And I think it has gone a long way across the aisle that we all agree how hard our firefighters work and how important our fire services are. On the public safety side also, we look to our police services: our OPP, a flagship provincial police service anywhere in the country; municipal, First Nations police services—these police services told us we need more people to be police officers, so we changed the tone and attitude of our government by saying that nothing is more important than their welfare and safety. We came forward with bold initiatives to change how we approach our recruitment and what the role of the Ontario Police College is. We came forward with investments. It’s actually over $34 million a year because we absorbed the tuition of over 2,000 individuals to go through the college. It means that for the members around this table, in their municipal, OPP and First Nations police services, there are people that are coming forward to serve. That historic investment has basically doubled the amount of people going through the college just in the last four years. It means in the time that I’ve been Solicitor General, we’ve welcomed 8,000 new individuals who have been badged to serve as our police officers. That is absolutely without precedent. We realize that as our population grows, we have to modernize our correctional system as well. We have to make the investments—we have to make the investments in the facilities we have; we have to be creative in the facilities we aspire to build; we have to be transparent where the new spaces will come online. I think our government, led by the Premier, has done a great job, and we’ve been very transparent. We have more work to do, but the almost 2,500 new spaces that will be brought online will make a big difference, and I’m really pleased about that. That represents about a 24% increase over the next decade. We came forward in introducing important legislation like the Strengthening Safety and Modernizing Justice Act, the Enhancing Access to Justice Act, the Protect Ontario Through Safer Streets and Stronger Communities Act and the Keeping Criminals Behind Bars Act, and we’re considering more. One of the things that’s very important—and I think you will agree, Mr. Chair—is strengthening the governance and transparency of police service boards and ensuring we can set clear priorities. Bill 119 is the first opportunity we have had to talk about this. This means that a police service board will be able to understand what are the priorities of the government, not to work in isolation of what local priorities are within the communities but to understand what is the focus. If our focus, as an example, is cracking down hard on people that are stealing our cars and breaking into our homes at 3 in the morning, if our priorities are getting drugs off the street, combatting hate and getting illegal guns off our street, then the least a government should be able to do is to confer and to communicate these priorities. I’m pleased that Bill 119 speaks to that. We’re modernizing the oversight and training for private security guards. We have to look back at how many years did a government bother looking at this, and maybe there were reasons why they didn’t do it in the past. I think it’s important now. We see people come forward who want to be employed as a security guard but with little training, with little standards that are equal across the system. By modernizing the oversight, because it’s the oversight as well—it’s not just the training; it’s the oversight—we’ll make sure that our population sees people who are wearing a security guard vest, understanding that there is better streamlining of training. Especially now, especially when our country and the world doesn’t feel as safe as it once did, especially now, when we see an unprecedented rise of hate that’s affecting many communities, including my own Jewish community, we have to look at what levers does a government have to look at what exists today. Security guards exist today. I think this is important, that we’re going to look at this. We’re also looking and addressing—and I’ve spoken about this, Mr. Chair—the security risks for what potentially lies with the Chinese-made drones—what security risks might lie there. So we want to explore restricting future government purchases of Chinese-made drones. This will not impact public safety today, but it will migrate us to do two things: number one, take pride in what Ontario is able to manufacture and to create and innovate—that’s number one—and number two, look at what Canada can do. Ontario, Canada—we have a lot of talent here, and this is important. I want to talk also about strengthening enforcement. Let me speak for a minute about illegal drugs. We want to stop illegal drugs at their source. This bill will help address the unlawful possession of precursor chemicals and equipment like pill presses with the intention of producing illicit drugs. This is important. We know that the precursor chemicals are coming into our province. We know people are making this. We have to crack down hard on this. And we have to hold commercial landlords accountable for knowingly permitting their premises to be used for illegal drug production. That’s important too. You can’t hide behind the veil when you know but you’re not owning up to the fact that this is wrong. I’m happy about this. We’re enabling special constables to stop dangerous drug use and other dangerous behaviour that sometimes follow illicit drug use on public transit. We had a great announcement. Yep, it happened to be in my own constituency of York Centre, because I am one of the few members of provincial Parliament that happens to have a GO stop and three subway stops right in my own little nook, in one little corner between Wilson and Sheppard, running off Dufferin and Wilson Heights. It’s quite remarkable. It’s right where Downsview Park is. It’s important that we send a message to the public that somebody’s on their side. This government, not acting exclusively—because I respect the will of the Legislature; I respect the voices from my colleagues on all sides, but the concept that somebody has to be there to help an average person and have their back is what drives me every day. Even on Bill 119, Mr. Chair, we’re talking about towing. That’s very important, because we know there’s predatory towing operators that prey on drivers in distress, positioning themselves near collision sites and sometimes driving dangerously. So we’re making it easier to enforce penalties against tow truck companies. I want to say, Mr. Chair, that there are very legitimate tow operators in Ontario, and I’ve spoken to them. This is not about them; we’re talking about bad actors and predators. We also want to analyze something that Ontarians have said is a problem—the towing and storage rates—so that we can establish a maximum rate, so that a breakdown on the highway does not turn into a financial disaster. Unfortunately, as a father of a daughter, that happened to us, and it’s something that may have happened to you. We’re going to examine that. I want to talk about organized retail theft, because we know this is increasing. I had a meeting in the summer with executives from Home Depot. I was really floored by the stories that they told me about the brazenness of individuals that will come into a store, look for expensive items in Home Depot—we’re not talking about sheets of drywall or plywood, but we’re talking about drill bits; we’re talking about pieces of equipment that have substantial value—and they’re just taking it out and walking it out of the store. This endangers the staff and customers. That’s why we want to establish a dedicated prosecution team, building on the success of similar specialized prosecution teams we’ve created. Bill 119 helps us re-examine Christopher’s Law. It’s passionate to all of us. It goes back to the time when Premier Harris was Premier. It goes back to the story of young, beautiful Christopher Stephenson. Some of us had met his family not that long ago. It is overwhelming. We cannot understand how they can go forward, day after day, knowing the tragedy of what happened to their son, that somebody murdered their son. So we’re strengthening Christopher’s Law and protecting the most vulnerable people in our society, our own children, by making some information available on public websites so that parents and families can better protect their children. Other measures include the fact that, just as we’re looking at protecting the vulnerable people, we want to make sure that police record checks—which are very important—the vulnerable sector checks and police record checks are done in a proper timeline that allows somebody who may want to work in a long-term-care home or be a camp counsellor to get it in a reasonable time and not jeopardize their ability to seek their job. We came forward, actually, with an announcement that I think is beautiful. It allows police services, through a memorandum of understanding, one to another, through the different services, to help alleviate a backlog that may exist. It means that a police service would be able to do the background work from another service even if you are not in jurisdiction. We must protect the vulnerable. We’re making it easier to enforce restraining orders issued in Canada but outside of Ontario.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

We’re cracking down on harassment by enabling victims to pursue damages in civil court even where there hasn’t been a criminal conviction. And of course—and this is personal to all of us—we want to help relieve victims of human trafficking from debt that was forced on them by their traffickers. We’re strengthening protections for individuals accompanied by guide dogs and continue supporting Indigenous-led safety initiatives through the renewed Pathways to Safety strategy. Friends, members, colleagues, Mr. Chair, this bill is not our first step to protect Ontario, and it won’t be our last step. We will continue to work, to meet with our stakeholders, to look at the times that find us. The role of a government must be responsive to the times that we are in. It was very interesting going back to Christopher Stephenson’s family. It’s a long time ago, but when you met his family—the member from Thornhill was there that day, other members from the Legislature were there that day in Peel. We live in the moment as elected officials to represent our constituencies everywhere in Ontario, but when we have these moments in time, we can’t forget about it, pay our respects and move on. We have to stop and be prepared to take action. Bill 119 is an example—it’s a thoughtful example of working collaboratively, of seeking debate in the Legislature, of coming here to the justice policy committee, of listening to the people that will make deputations and understanding that we have to be innovative, we have to be creative. Yes, it’s true: The role of Parliament is not easy. In many respects, sometimes, it feels like you’re in an aircraft carrier. It’s hard to position this large vessel to turn and to make things happen. But things can happen. Premier Ford is a leader who believes that our role in government is to make things happen—and it’s to work with some incredible people in the ministry. I’m sitting beside one of the finest career police officers and leaders who has been our Deputy Solicitor General for public safety for quite a period of time, Mario Di Tommaso. I’m grateful that we have Deputy Solicitor General for corrections Erin Hannah. I’m grateful that behind them there are assistant deputy ministers and other leaders within our ministry. When we’re tasking them to come forward and help develop policies on items that we need to bring forward as legislators, we do it with the confidence in the professional standards they uphold. I’ve got great confidence in the incredible team that I am blessed to have all these years. Throughout my entire time as Solicitor General, on the public safety side, we’ve had Deputy Di Tommaso. I believe that there’s more work to do. I believe that if a government stops and takes a breath and takes a breather, we’re forgoing what our public has asked us to do. When we came forward just a week ago in the riding of Durham—Mr. Chair, you’re a proud MPP from Durham and Whitby—we saw a helicopter be branded with the Durham Regional Police Service identity. That helicopter is another example of a government that won’t sit idly by, that’s always on the move, that’s creative and innovative and imaginative. That helicopter, part of the joint air support unit—it’s an over $190-million investment that will integrate the groundwork, the excellent groundwork, that our police services do with now having the air support. When a car is stolen, it’s not going to stay in a jurisdiction just because it’s the jurisdiction of a specific police service. It will go wherever that criminal takes it. That was an excellent example of a government working together. We’ve had other excellent examples where governments have come forward by changing the legislation and the regulations—the attitude, the tone, the expectation—to work collaboratively. I’ll tell you, Mr. Chair, when the member from Hamilton Mountain—

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Minister, that concludes the amount of time you have for your delegation. Some of the other examples that you were about to share with the committee members, you might want to consider weaving them into your responses to the questions which you’re about to start with the official opposition. Just as a reminder, you have 6.5 minutes for each round. The Clerk is the timekeeper, so I’ll let you know when you have one minute remaining in your round of questions. We’ll start now with the questions, please, for the official opposition.

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Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens

Well, thank you—

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

MPP Stevens, maybe just put your hand up when you want to ask a question. That would be good. Thank you.

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Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good morning to you.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Good morning.

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Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens

And good morning, Solicitor General. I want to thank you for your presentation this morning on Bill 119, or the bill to amend and amend and amend. However, Solicitor General, Bill 119 has been presented in the past as a public safety bill, but when I look closely at the 17 schedules in this omnibus bill, we see a collection of very different measures—some technical, some supportable and some raising significant questions about accountability and government outreach, I feel. What we don’t see is a comprehensive response to public safety challenges Ontarians are actually facing today. In my home community in St. Catharines, as in communities right across Ontario, people are concerned about crime, they’re concerned about the opioid crisis, fentanyl on the rise, court delays, retail theft and whether victims can get help when they actually need it. So what I want to focus my questions on is what this bill actually does and, importantly, what it does not do. Solicitor General, in Bill 119, it gives you new powers to direct the priorities that police service boards must reflect in their strategic plans. As I said, in St. Catharines, residents expect their local police services and police service boards to understand the needs of our community. From downtown safety, property crime to the opioid crisis and the pressures facing front-line officers, communities across Ontario have their own unique public safety challenges. Solicitor General, why does your government believe that you, the Solicitor General in Toronto, should have more powers to dictate local policing priorities, rather than working with our local police leaders and chiefs, police service boards in communities like St. Catharines, to determine what public safety should look like?

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

I want to thank the member for the question. Firstly, and I think the member knows this, that as minister, I have an ability to consult with board members on different boards. The reality is that what we want to do is align the priorities with uniformity across our municipal police service boards. The member from St. Catharines knows; she has a flagship service, the Niagara Regional Police Service. She knows it’s a great service. But I want to make sure, as an example with her board, that when we establish what our priorities are, it be included in that strategic plan in her example of the Niagara Regional Police Service board.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Thank you for that response. Question, please.

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Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens

Solicitor General, your government has made announcements about transit safety, retail theft and animal welfare alongside this bill. But those measures aren’t actually contained in Bill 119. The proposed transit enforcement powers are being left up to regulation, from what we’re seeing. The retail theft task force isn’t established in this legislation, from what I’m reading and what others in the public are. And the broader restrictions on unnecessary animal procedures are also being left for regulation, once again. I’m going to ask the minister, why should this committee accept the government’s public safety claims about measures that aren’t actually before us within Bill 119 or the amendments?

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

To the question, please.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

Thank you. I appreciate the question. I’ll ask the Deputy Solicitor General to speak to the mechanics and machinery. However, I was very, very clear that currently, the act does provide police officers and other provincial officers to direct individuals to stop using illegal substances on transit, as an example. What we wanted to do through this bill is authorize special constables at Metrolinx, at TTC and at OC Transpo to make sure that they have a further ability to keep our transit safe. But I’ll ask the Deputy Solicitor General to speak further.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Deputy Minister, I need your full name for the record, please, sir.

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Mr. Mario Di Tommaso

Good morning, Mr. Chair. My name is Mario Di Tommaso. I am the Deputy Solicitor General for community safety in the Ministry of the Solicitor General.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

There’s one minute left for questions from the opposition. Go ahead, sir—your response.

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Mr. Mario Di Tommaso

Thank you so much for the question. You did reference a couple of issues. One is the work that we are doing with regard to retail crime. I can assure you that we are engaging with the Retail Council of Canada to come back with options for the minister to consider, and that will be brought forward with regard to future legislation. What Bill 119 does refer to is the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act amendments. One of the things that we are doing is we are enhancing record-keeping requirements, currently only in place for dogs. We’re going to extend that to cats and any other animal prescribed by the LGIC. We are giving us the regulatory-making authority to prescribe record-keeping for other animals as well, but currently we are extending it to cats.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Thank you, Deputy. You’ve got 14 seconds.

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Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens

Can I ask what happens, Minister, if the drug user on the transit says no?

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

Well, the—

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Thank you. That concludes the questions and answers for the official opposition. We’ll now turn, please, to the third party. MPP Collard.

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Mme Lucille Collard

Thank you, Solicitor General, for being here this morning. I want to focus my questions on the provisions relating to human trafficking, the coerced debts. I don’t know if you have somebody who has the expertise and can answer some pretty specific questions. As you know, Bill 41 was passed unanimously by the Legislature back in December 2023, and survivors have been waiting for the implementation of these measures for almost three years now. So I’m really glad to see that the measures that were contained in my bill are now included in Bill 119, but I remain concerned about the implementation timeline. Can you give this committee a firm date by which the coerced debt protections in Bill 119 will actually be available to survivors?

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Solicitor General, to the question, please, sir.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

I’ll have to get back to the committee on that specific answer. But what I can tell you is—and I thank the member from Ottawa, because it’s important and this is something that I spoke about in my opening remarks. When you think about it—that somebody could have been coerced into debt and have no mechanism to get rid of that debt that they were coerced into—it’s completely unacceptable and this is why we’ve come forward. I’ll get back to the committee the date of the implementation.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Your commitment, sir, will be noted. New question, please.

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Mme Lucille Collard

As a follow-up to that regarding the process—which is now more elaborate under Bill 119 than what I had envisaged in Bill 41: It now considers a system that is definitely more legally comprehensive, but we don’t want it to be practically inaccessible to the very survivors it is supposed to protect. What kind of safeguards have you put in the bill to make sure that there is not an additional or too-complex burden for the survivors of coerced debts of human trafficking, to ensure that they have access to the mechanism that you will be implementing?

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

I’ll just say that the part sets out the framework for establishing a coerced debt as well as related procedural preconditions and requirements, which may be supplemented by the regulations made under the part. At the end of the day, we want to make sure that somebody is not shackled to a debt that they were coerced into incurring. That’s the point. We will work expeditiously and with dispatch and we will be on the side of a vulnerable person who should not have been coerced in the first place.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Thank you, sir. New question, please.

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Mme Lucille Collard

Do you have any details about the evidence that survivors will actually be required to provide? How will you ensure that the regulations do not inadvertently re-create an excessively high evidentiary threshold?

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

To the question, please.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

This is something that will be developed as part of the regulations and this is something that we will have to have studied. But at the end of the day, the point is the same: If a person has been coerced into debt, this is unfortunate; this is not right. That’s why we’re coming forward and I hope the member opposite will support it because it’s important. We want to make sure that, if a vulnerable person has been coerced into debt, they have relief. This is what this does.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Thank you, sir. New question, please.

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Mme Lucille Collard

I want to make the emphasis on the implementation. I’ve been pretty much harassing the Attorney General for the last three years to implement those measures so that survivors can have access to the mechanism to unload this burden from their shoulders. Because you need to imagine that those vulnerable people who have been forced into debts that were not of their own are dealing with this, are being harassed themselves by creditors to get the money paid. Like you said, it is unacceptable, but we need to make sure that they get access to the mechanism. So I do hope that you will act swiftly in implementing these measures. I just want to quickly speak to the fact that Bill 119 makes designated organizations central to the process so a survivor generally cannot simply initiate the adjudication process independently. Designated organizations and eligible referring organizations become important gateways. Minister, designated organizations will now carry significant responsibility for reviewing coerced debts and supporting survivors through this process.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

One minute remaining for questions.

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Mme Lucille Collard

So how many organizations do you expect to designate? How will they be distributed geographically across Ontario? What funding will be available? And will you have services in French as well?

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

To the question, please. Thank you.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

I think the member’s comments were fair. We will consider the number of organizations—and, yes, we are a province that is bilingual. This is something that we will have to do and this is something that we will do to make sure that we have both English- and French-speaking organizations that can assist the vulnerable people who have been coerced into debt.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Thank you very much for the response. Madame Collard, you’ve got 12 seconds.

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Mme Lucille Collard

I’m just going to leave that question with you, then. Will you consider also people who have already paid their debts? Because they’ve been waiting; they’ve been promised that measure for the last three years and—

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Thank you very much. I am moving now to the government side. MPP Allsopp, please.

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Mr. Tyler Allsopp

Thank you, Solicitor General, for being with us this morning. I want to start, before I ask you my question about strengthening community safety, by offering my thanks on behalf of everyone in Belleville and the Bay of Quinte for your office and for your support following the horrific anti-Semitic attacks on the Sons of Jacob synagogue a few weeks ago. Not only were you able to spend a couple of days with us—and your office as well—but it meant a lot to our local Jewish community; to our local police and community officers Mike McCurdy and Jeff Smith, who are still recovering; and to local leadership as well that you were there and that your office was there supporting us through what was an unprecedented attack for us. So thank you very much for being there, sir. Bill 119, Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act, 2026, reflects the government’s ongoing efforts to respond to concerns raised by communities about crime, public disorder, illegal drugs and victimization. Many Ontarians are looking for practical measures that will help law enforcement and public safety partners address emerging threats while maintaining public confidence in the justice system. Through this legislation, the government is proposing a number of new tools and authorities intended to improve safety outcomes across our province. Could the Solicitor General please outline the overarching objectives of Bill 119 and explain how its various components work together to make Ontario communities safer for families, for businesses and for our vulnerable residents?

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

To the question, sir, please.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

To my friend from the Bay of Quinte, thank you for your leadership in the last few weeks in what was a very difficult, difficult time. When we look at the fact that what could have happened at the Sons of Jacob was a massacre of incredible proportion, it was through nothing short of the incredible work of the Belleville Police Service, the community and divine intervention that things did not unfold into a massacre. I think Bill 119 talks about the risks that communities face every day, whether it be standing on the side of an innocent individual and a community; whether it combats further human trafficking and harassment; whether it sends a message—don’t use our province to make illegal drugs; whether it means holding people responsible, like landlords; whether it sends a message to people on public transit—don’t behave badly because we are a law-abiding community. Bill 119 is another example of a government led by Premier Ford that has prioritized our public safety and has gone to a place that no other government has gone prior in its seriousness, its tone and its action.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

New question: MPP Ciriello, please.

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MPP Monica Ciriello

Thank you, Minister. I’m incredibly proud of the work that our government has done to ensure that Ontario remains to be recognized as a leader when it comes to human trafficking. I must say that’s no doubt due to your leadership as Solicitor General. I hear it in my home riding of Hamilton Mountain; I hear it across the province wherever I am, the incredible work that you are doing in leading this. We know with human trafficking, there’s always more to do. We want to ensure that survivors are supported to take steps when they rebuild their lives. One of the measures proposed in Bill 119 would strengthen protections for victims who are coerced into taking on those debts. This recognizes a long-term financial harm that trafficking survivors often face even if they have escaped their traffickers. Could you expand and perhaps explain how the bill’s debt protection measures are going to continue or would assist survivors of human trafficking?

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

To the question.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

To my friend from Hamilton, our government is strengthening the response to coerced debt and to support survivors. Yes, it’s true—and the member knows this; these discussions have been around the floor of the Legislature for a very long time—we want to make sure that we find the missing pieces of the link. This is also a MAG co-opted conversation, and I want to acknowledge my colleague the Attorney General. We have to look at the fact that people who are survivors of human trafficking may have been coerced to incur debt, and this is absolutely of great concern. The whole premise behind what we want to do in Bill 119 is include organizations that will help work alongside the victims and find a pathway forward where they can get relief. It’s something that I think is personal to all of us. I feel that now more than ever, our government must find the missing links that we need to finish this puzzle and put it into action, and that’s what we’re going to do.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

New question, please. MPP Gualtieri: You have one minute left for this question and a response.

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MPP Silvia Gualtieri

I am pleased today to address the Honourable Minister Kerzner and the Deputy Solicitor General Mario Di Tommaso, also working alongside the ministry and all the ministry staff. I am proud to be with this ministry, because we stress and promote the fundamental rights and safety and justice for all, and the pride and the respect that we have for our first responders. So, Minister, communities across Ontario continue to experience the devastating impacts of illicit drugs and criminal networks responsible for their production and distribution. Law enforcement agencies have indicated that access to equipment such as pill presses and precursor chemicals plays an important role in the illegal drug trade. Bill 119 proposes new restrictions and enforcement tools aimed at disrupting these activities before harmful substances reach Ontarians. Could the Solicitor General elaborate on how the proposed measures targeting pill presses, precursor chemicals—

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Excuse me. The one minute has elapsed. We’re starting our second round of questions with the official opposition, and we’re going to start with MPP Wong-Tam. Good morning.

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MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam

Good morning, and thank you to the Solicitor General for being here today. Solicitor General, in your previous reply to MPP Stevens, you suggested that the transit police could direct someone or ask someone to stop consuming the illegal substance if they’re doing so on transit. Beyond the polite request or even a direction to stop consuming those drugs on public transit, what other authorities or powers have you granted those officers?

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

To the question.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

I would ask our Deputy Solicitor General to elaborate further.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Deputy, please. Thank you.

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Mr. Mario Di Tommaso

Although those powers are not part of Bill 119, in the past what this government has decided to do through legislation is ensure that the special constables that are employed for the purposes of enforcing transit—for example, the special constables at the TTC—do have the ability to take enforcement action when it comes to the use of drugs on subway cars in order to keep the public safe.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Thank you for the response. New question, please.

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MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam

Thank you very much, and thank you for the clarification that there is nothing in Bill 119 that gives those transit police more powers to enforce illicit drug use on public transit. I want to just follow up regarding an issue that was touched upon by MPP Stevens, and that is regarding the new powers that the Solicitor General will be granting himself in Bill 119. This is specifically the power to issue a binding directive to police service boards to set certain priorities that will then have to be written into the local police board’s strategic plan. Does the Solicitor General believe he doesn’t have enough power over local police service boards right now?

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Solicitor General, to the question please.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

I believe some police service boards across our province have been disingenuous. We’ve had situations—and we have it now, just before province-wide municipal elections, where candidates have come forward to say, “Vote for me. I’ll teach the police a lesson. I’ll cut their budgets if you elect me. I will do this. I will do that.” What we want to make sure of is, for the hard-working board members that have served on police service boards, that there is a better alignment of the provincial priorities. I think that’s important. Because remember, it’s not to direct a police service; it is to make sure that their strategic plan is in alignment with provincial priorities. I gave examples, Mr. Chair. If that is fighting to get more drugs off our street, to combatting hate—

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MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam

Sorry—

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Thank you, Solicitor General. New question, please.

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MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam

Yes, thank you very much. Solicitor General, which specific police service boards do you believe are disingenuous in their comments with the public? Can you be specific?

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

To the question.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

No, Mr. Chair, I will simply say that over the history of a board’s life, through the life of our province, there have been board members on police boards at different times and places that have not aligned the priorities of their board to the priorities of the government of the day. This is just saying, “Okay, we are going to align it.” I’ll give you an example. If we have, as in Toronto, a tremendous rise of hate and protest, then the focus of the board must include, in their strategic plan, a way of providing the resources for the public order unit. They have done that, as an example. But there may be a time and place where that does not happen. This is allowing the minister of the day to make sure that the priorities of the government are communicated to the board for their strategic plan.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Thank you, sir, for that response. New question, please.

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MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam

Thank you very much, Solicitor General. I think that the issue that you are raising in Toronto, I believe—because you wrote a letter to the Toronto police chief, Myron Demkiw, as well as the police service board, back in December 2025. You criticized them and cited that they lacked enforcement regarding hate-motivated offences. You cited that that they did not move quickly enough on intimidation or harassment tactics during certain protests. The police service leadership, as well as the chair, pushed back against your criticism and your letter. They noted that officers had already managed over 800 demonstrations, leading to 500 arrests and over 1,000 criminal charges over a two-year period, and that they’re operating under legal thresholds and that the charter also has some purview over here, obviously a broad-standing purview. The province of Ontario does not have a stand-alone anti-hate strategy. We have strategies regarding anti-racism; why does the province of Ontario not have a stand-alone anti-hate strategy?

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

To the question, please.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

Firstly, Mr. Chair, I stand by the letter I sent the chief. And, by the way, I’m very respectful to my chief. I’m very, very supportive of my chief and my police service here in Toronto—

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

One minute left. To the question.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

But we will evolve. We will continue to evolve. I think that aligning the provincial priorities to the strategic plan of a police service board is a good idea. We’re not telling them how to direct their chief or command leaders. We’re saying, “These are the concerns of our government.” To the member’s point, we will continue to evolve. We will continue to provide grants. We will continue to support the Community Safety and Policing Grant as a major funding mechanism to allow police services across the province—last year, it was over $200 million; it’s quite a bit higher than that to support our police services.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

You have 13 seconds left.

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MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam

The local police boards failing to comply with your directives, Minister—you can direct them. You can force them to sit in front of the inspector general—

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Thank you. Your time is elapsed. I’ll move now, please, for questions, to the third party. MPP McCrimmon, please.

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Mrs. Karen McCrimmon

Thank you to the minister for being here today. Bill 119 expands enforcement authority involving special constables and transit enforcement, but it also adjusts the SIU regime. Let’s start with this: How far do we go giving special constable powers before they are actually, effectively, becoming police officers?

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

To the question, please, sir.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

Special constables have a role to play, but they are not police officers. A police officer is somebody who goes to the Ontario Police College and is completing the basic constable training. However, as we have come forward with the CSPA, special constables actually have had different enhanced roles: to safeguard the scene of an accident, to assist in helping investigators preserve the evidence at a crime scene—so they continue to play important roles. But I’m sure my friend opposite and I really respect the OC Transpo and how hard the men and women work in Ottawa and in her community—that we have people on our transit, let’s face it, that behave badly. That’s not right. This will send a message that if you behave badly, then you will be asked to cease and desist, get off the train or the bus, and this is why it’s Metrolinx, OC Transpo and right here in Toronto. And this is what’s important.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

New question, please.

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Mrs. Karen McCrimmon

So we’re expanding arrest powers, enforcement powers and potentially allowing them to carry firearms, but they won’t have the effective public accountability and the protections that actually come with policing. I don’t understand—and then when you add to that the SIU changes, that a politician could decide to exempt certain officials from the SIU requirements, how are we actually helping civilian oversight of the police by doing these two things together?

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

Just to correct the member opposite, there is no contemplation right now that a special constable will be carrying a weapon. I would just want to clarify this. This was never talked about; that’s not the case. What we’re saying is that a special constable on transit will have additional instructions to ask a person to cease and desist, to call the authorities, to remove that individual from transit and to preserve the safety of the passengers who are on it. This does not speak about providing them weapons. To the SIU point, I’ll ask the Deputy Solicitor General to answer the member’s question on that.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Deputy Minister, please. Thank you.

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Mr. Mario Di Tommaso

One of the things that Bill 119 does is it also will expand the ability of the Special Investigations Unit to include other agencies under its umbrella. For example, it will have regulation-making authority to include other agencies such as the Niagara Parks special constable police to be able to come under the umbrella of the Special Investigations Unit and of the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency as well. So there’s additional regulation-making authority to bring other agencies under that oversight model as well.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

New question, please.

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Mrs. Karen McCrimmon

But the act actually allows politicians to exempt certain officials from the SIU oversight act. That’s what schedule 14 says. That’s something that I don’t think politicians should be making that decision on. Can you comment?

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Deputy Minister.

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Mr. Mario Di Tommaso

I don’t know whether or not “officials” is defined under Bill 119. I would have to get back to you. My apologies.

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Mrs. Karen McCrimmon

It’s not defined and I think that’s the danger.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

New question, please.

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Mrs. Karen McCrimmon

Right now, the Information and Privacy Commissioner called for amendments to Bill 119 to protect the rights that you addressed when you first spoke with us this morning. Will you be including those amendments in Bill 119?

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

Mr. Chair, we will continue to listen to the deliberations of this committee because there are deputations that are coming after me. We’re going to continue to read what they said, and we’ll let the committee do its work. This is a committee; it’s here to do its work.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

We have one minute remaining for questions. New question, please.

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Mrs. Karen McCrimmon

On October 1, you got a letter from the Information and Privacy Commissioner, so this should already have been committed. This should have already been discussed in the ministry so you should really have an answer for me. The second question, then, is drones. Can you point to me where in the bill it outlines restrictions on Chinese drones?

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

To the question please.

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Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

There’s no specific restrictions in this bill on Chinese drones. I spoke to a narrative that we want to ensure that we support our local innovators and entrepreneurs here in our province. We should be using Ontario products. That’s why we buy from Ontario. That’s why the directive from our government is support jobs in Ontario.

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The Chair (Mr. Lorne Coe)

Thank you, sir, for that response. We will move now to the government with MPP Darouze, please, sir.

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MPP George Darouze

Good morning, Chair, and thank you very much. Through you, Mr. Chair, on your special day, on your birthday—

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