EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill proclaims the third Monday in March in each year as COVID-19 Memorial Day.

Bill 66 2021

An Act to proclaim COVID-19 Memorial Day

Preamble

Since the Ontario Government declared a state of emergency on March 17, 2020 in response to the growing threat of COVID-19, the lives of Ontarians have fundamentally changed. After watching the pandemic unfold around them, Ontarians stepped up to do their civic duty by staying indoors, wearing masks and getting tested, all in service to the public’s health.

Over 100,000 Ontarians have been infected during this pandemic and thousands have died. COVID-19 Memorial Day, observed on the third Monday in March in each year, will be a time to acknowledge and recognize the toll COVID-19 has had on the people of Ontario and will especially be a time to honour the lives that have been lost.

This day will be a time for standing with grieving families whose loved ones have succumbed to the virus, often having to suffer alone. It will be a time to pay homage to the incredible sacrifices that Ontarians have made to keep each other safe. It will be a time when we honour frontline, healthcare and essential workers who laid their health and wellness on the line in service to Ontarians. It will be a time when we thank volunteers and family caregivers who stepped up to support their communities and loved ones. We will honour their courage in the face of risk, their resilience to carry on, and their trauma of working through a deadly virus.

COVID-19 Memorial Day will also be a time to reflect on how to protect Ontario’s most vulnerable populations, particularly seniors and racialized communities who make up an outsized percentage of COVID-19 infections and deaths. Everyone who has died as a result of this pandemic will be remembered, including the disproportionate number who lived and worked in long-term care homes.

We will honour them every year on the third Monday in March in each year.

Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

COVID-19 Memorial Day

1 The third Monday in March in each year is proclaimed as COVID-19 Memorial Day.

Commencement

2 This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

3 The short title of this Act is the COVID-19 Memorial Day Act, 2021.