The committee met at 0900 in committee room 2.

Subcommittee report

The Chair (Ms. Goldie Ghamari): Good morning, members. I’d like to call this meeting of the Standing Committee on Justice Policy to order.

As always, please wait to be recognized by myself before speaking. All questions and comments will need to go through the Chair.

On the agenda is committee business. Are there any motions? MPP Dixon.

Ms. Jess Dixon: Your subcommittee on committee business met on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, to consider the method of proceeding on the committee’s study on intimate partner violence, and recommends the following:

(1) That the committee’s work related to this study be conducted in phases.

(2) That the committee initially conduct a first phase of this study comprised of meetings at Queen’s Park or elsewhere in Ontario for at least five days but not more than 10 days on days to be agreed upon by the subcommittee during the scheduled adjournment of the House from 10 a.m. until 12 noon and from 1:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. for the purpose of hearing input from invited expert witnesses and organizations.

(3) That, in setting the committee meeting dates for phase 1, the Clerk shall canvass members of the committee for their availability over the summer adjournment of the House and the subcommittee on committee business shall take the responses into consideration.

(4) That, during the phase 1 committee meetings, expert witnesses or organization representatives shall be invited to appear individually either in person or virtually for 30 minutes each, with 10 minutes allotted to an opening statement and 20 minutes allotted to question and answer with seven and a half minutes for the official opposition, seven and a half minutes for the government, and five minutes for the independent member of the committee.

(5) That for phase 1, the subcommittee shall prepare a list of witnesses to invite which shall be agreed upon by both members of the subcommittee by Tuesday, June 25, 2024, and that the members of the subcommittee be permitted to submit additional prioritized lists of further witnesses which may be invited if time permits and that invitations from these additional lists be issued by the Clerk evenly between the two lists.

(6) That the subcommittee on committee business be permitted to set topic areas for these meetings or portions of these meetings and give direction to the Clerk on grouping of witnesses invited to participate in this part of the study.

(7) That all expert witnesses and representatives from relevant organizations appearing before the committee be requested to provide written submissions to the Clerk at least one week prior to their scheduled hearing date.

(8) That the subcommittee shall provide a written guideline to all invited witnesses, informing the scope and focus of both their written and oral submissions. The guideline will be drafted in advance and approved by the subcommittee. While intended to provide clarity and direction, witnesses are not limited by these guidelines and will be encouraged to address any relevant aspect pertaining to intimate partner violence or gender-based violence within their expertise or organizational purview.

(9) That at the conclusion of phase 1, legislative research prepare a summary of oral and written submissions based on phase 1 of the study.

(10) That phase 2 of the study, to begin in September, be comprised of the testimony of invited ministers and that phase 3 of the study be comprised of the testimony of individuals affected by intimate partner or gender-based violence, and that the committee agree to enter closed session at the request of any witness during phase 3 of the study.

(11) That the Clerk, in consultation with the subcommittee, begin advertising on the Ontario parliamentary channel, the Legislative Assembly’s website, Cision, as well as newspapers of record and local news media throughout the province seeking individuals affected by intimate partner violence and gender-based violence to appear before the committee for phase 3 of the study.

(12) That phase 3 of the study, to begin in October, be comprised of meetings throughout the province to be recommended to the committee by the subcommittee at a later date and that advertisements related to phase 3 of the study shall reference that the committee has agreed to enter closed session at the request of any witness in order to protect that witness’s identity or confidentiality of information they desire to share.

(13) That one staff representative of the government members of the committee and one staff representative of the official opposition members of the committee be permitted to attend any closed-session meetings of the committee in relation to this study and to review any documents distributed in or in relation to closed-session meetings. These staff representatives shall be designated by the respective subcommittee members acting in relation to this study.

(14) That legislative research be permitted to attend any closed-session meetings of the committee in relation to this study for the purposes of summarizing anonymized and relevant information for inclusion in the committee’s reports but shall exercise a high degree of caution when preparing reports to safeguard the identity of witnesses who appear in the closed-session meetings.

(15) That the subcommittee on committee business be directed to report back to the committee with a work plan for phase 2 of the study at the conclusion of phase 1.

I move adoption of the subcommittee report.

The Chair (Ms. Goldie Ghamari): MPP Dixon has moved adoption of the subcommittee report. Is there any further discussion? MPP Wong-Tam.

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: Thank you to MPP Dixon for moving this motion. I just want to thank her, as well as yourself, Chair, for your active participation, your leadership in getting us this far.

Obviously, the official opposition is supportive of ensuring that we have the most robust action plan possible when addressing intimate partner violence, especially in Ontario. I think we all recognize that it is an epidemic. It’s important for us to bring in the community of voices and stakeholders, as well as subject matter experts, for us to address the system deficiencies that exist and how do we all work together to keep Ontarians safe and healthy.

I just wanted to submit my comments to thank everybody, including those in the Standing Committee on Justice Policy. We are going to be working together quite closely throughout the summer, and I know that the summer plans did not include subcommittee work. It’s my first time participating in a subcommittee; I look forward to learning with all of you.

And also a thank you to the staff, because I know you’ll be with us throughout the summer.

The Chair (Ms. Goldie Ghamari): Further debate? Are members prepared to vote? MPP Dixon has moved adoption of the subcommittee report. All those in favour? All those opposed? I declare the motion carried.

Seeing as there is no additional business, the committee is now adjourned. Thank you very much.

The committee adjourned at 0905.

STANDING COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE POLICY

Chair / Présidente

Ms. Goldie Ghamari (Carleton PC)

Vice-Chair / Vice-Président

Mr. Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong ND)

Mr. Will Bouma (Brantford–Brant PC)

Mr. Lorne Coe (Whitby PC)

Ms. Jess Dixon (Kitchener South–Hespeler / Kitchener-Sud–Hespeler PC)

Ms. Goldie Ghamari (Carleton PC)

Mr. Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong ND)

Mr. Michael Mantha (Algoma–Manitoulin IND)

Mr. Graham McGregor (Brampton North / Brampton-Nord PC)

Mr. Brian Riddell (Cambridge PC)

Mr. Brian Saunderson (Simcoe–Grey PC)

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam (Toronto Centre / Toronto-Centre ND)

Clerk / Greffière

Ms. Thushitha Kobikrishna

Staff / Personnel

Ms. Heather Conklin, research officer,
Research Services

Mr. Andrew McNaught, research officer,
Research Services