Oakville North-Burlington Newsletter December 12, 2025
December 13, 2025
“Our government has completed second reading of our Keeping Criminals Behind Bars Act, 2025, legislation that aims to hold offenders accountable, support victims and strengthen public safety. The act includes tougher measures to crack down on dangerous driving and tighten bail requirements to protect communities. The government will also enhance safety protocols in adult correctional institutions and explore making information in the Ontario Sex Offender and Trafficker Registry publicly available. Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said these changes prioritize public safety and address violent repeat offenders. The legislation would require full cash bail deposits and improve digital tools to track non-compliance, alongside major investments to expand correctional capacity”.—MPP Effie Triantafilopoulos
Burlington Parade Brought Holiday Magic to Life
Christmas magic filled the air at this year’s Burlington Santa Claus Parade. It was wonderful to walk in the parade alongside MPP Natalie Pierre and my volunteers, and to see our community come together to kick off the holiday season. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all. Wishing everyone warmth, joy, and time with loved ones as we celebrate the season together. May the spirit of the holidays bring peace and happiness to every home. Click here to watch the video
Toy Drive Brings Joy to Children Across Ontario
The spirit of the season was on full display at the Salvation Army’s annual Toy Drive.
I joined Premier Doug Ford and many of my fellow MPP colleagues to help support families in need during the holiday season!
Thanks to the Salvation Army, volunteers, and donors whose generosity helps ensure children across Ontario can experience joy and warmth this holiday season.
A Powerful Evening With West End Mums
What an incredible evening celebrating culture, community, and the remarkable women who lead the way at the 2025 Nigerian Mums Gala.
Thank you to West End Mums for bringing together so many inspiring women and families. Your work continues to uplift Nigerian Canadians across our region by creating spaces for connection, empowerment, and belonging.
My sincere thanks to Chichi Okiche and the entire organizing team, as well as all the partners, sponsors, vendors, and guests who made the evening such a success. Your dedication strengthens our community and ensures every family feels supported.
Wishing Nigerian families across Oakville North–Burlington a joyful holiday season. I look forward to continuing our collaboration in the year ahead and celebrating many more milestones together.
St. Andrew’s Hosted a Beautiful Holiday Concert
It was an inspiring afternoon at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church for the Masterworks of Oakville Chorus and Orchestra performance of Handel’s Messiah.
Thank you to the organizers for bringing this beloved Christmas tradition to our community, and to the outstanding vocalists, chorus members, and musicians whose talent filled the church with beauty and joy.
Congratulations to everyone involved on a magnificent performance.
Queen’s Park Weekly Update
This Thursday marked the final day of sitting this Session and we will resume with the start of our next session in the new year . This Session alone we passed 11 Government Bills, 6 Private Members Public Bills, 7 Private Members’ Motions and 15 Private Members’ Private Bills. Plus, we held 55 Committee Meetings.
Rest assured, MPPs will still be busy – Committees will still convene, I will be spending more time in the community in my Oakville office. I am a member of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs and we have begun our Pre-Budget Consultations and you can visit here to view which cities it will be traveling to throughout January 2026.
Bill 75, Keeping Criminals Behind Bars Act, 2025
This week, we completed the 2nd reading of Bill 75, the Keeping Criminals Behind Bars Act, 2025 entered – and Members have now completed – 2nd Reading. As a reminder, this Bill will, if passed, hold offenders accountable, support victims of crime and strengthen public safety. It also establishes the new Constable Joe MacDonald Public Safety Officers’ Survivors Scholarship Fund to provide support to the families of firefighters and other public safety officers who lose their lives or are seriously injured in the line of duty. In the Members’ Gallery for 2nd Reading was Mark Baxter, President of the Police Association of Ontario and Vice President Jeremy Inglis, Deputy Fire Chief of Oakville Fire. I greeted them with the Solicitor General following debate. here).
Bill 72, Buy Ontario Act, 2025
The Buy Ontario Act entered 3rd Reading has now received Royal Assent. As a reminder, the Buy Ontario Act is about protecting workers and businesses by prioritizing Ontario goods and services in public procurement. The Buy Ontario Act, 2025, will ensure your tax dollars support Ontario jobs and products.
Bill 46, Protect Ontario by Cutting Red Tape Act, 2025
Following 3rd Reading of Bill 46, Members passed this Bill this week. This Bill has now received Royal Assent. As a reminder, Bill 46 will aggressively cut red tape across dozens of laws, making it easier for businesses and citizens to deal with government — saving time, reducing costs, and unlocking growth.
Also in the Legislature this week:
Member’s Statement I rose in the Legislature on December 9th to pay tribute to Burlington’s Victoria Mboko, Canada’s # 1 ranked singles tennis (and #18 in the Women’s Tennis Association) who was recently given the Key to the City by the Mayor of Burlington. Victoria is not only an extraordinary athlete, but a role model whose achievements inspire young people across our community and beyond to pursue their own dreams in sport, academics, or any path they choose. She also serves as a powerful testament to the powerful role sports play in shaping young women. Member’s Statement here.
The Standing Committee on Justice Policy released its Report on Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence in the Province of Ontario this week.
This report takes a comprehensive, multi-sector look at IPV in Ontario. It draws on dozens of hearings, with survivors, front-line workers, experts, and service providers and lays out a broad strategy across prevention, justice reform, victim supports, data/oversight, and community-based services.
Rather than treating IPV as isolated incidents, the report treats it as a systemic social issue — one requiring long-term, coordinated, province-wide solutions.
Importantly, the Report emphasizes that long-term, systemic investment and cross-ministry coordination are needed if Ontario is to meaningfully reduce and respond to IPV.
Key Highlights — Why This Report Matters
Prevention-first focus: The report dedicates a large portion to education, youth supports, parenting and early-intervention programs (e.g. school-based curricula, early childhood/child care, parental support, mental health outreach) — recognizing that preventing violence before it starts is critical.
Holistic support for survivors: It outlines enhancements to victim-supports including better access to trauma-informed care, housing support, legal and safety services, and supports for children and families — reflecting a modern, survivor-centered, wraparound approach.
Justice system reforms & risk prevention: The report includes recommendations around mandatory charging, improved risk-assessment tools, modernized bail and monitoring, stronger protection orders and civil-legal remedies (e.g. “right-to-know” or disclosure protocols), and reforms to family courts to better protect survivors.
Integrated, coordinated systems: Recognizing that IPV overlaps with health, housing, social services, child welfare, Indigenous justice, newcomer supports — the report argues for an “integrated violence prevention and response network,” including better data collection, inter-ministry collaboration, stable funding, and community hubs to avoid fragmented services.
Focus on Culturally Responsive Programs: The report calls for culturally responsive programs and recognizes that IPV and sexual violence disproportionally affect marginalized communities (Indigenous people, newcomers, racialized folks, rural/remote populations). It recommends tailoring interventions accordingly.
And we can’t end without adding this:
Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli shared some investment highlights.
In just five days last week, our government attracted over $1 billion in investments from five companies, who are creating 770 new, good-paying jobs and supporting more than 850 existing workers. These investments are more important than ever! As we continue to face of global economic uncertainty, we’re building an economy that is competitive and resilient, that protects jobs and strengthens our supply chains.
From our world-class workers to our abundance of natural resources, Ontario has what the world needs. By attracting investments from global companies in critical sectors like the life-sciences, artificial intelligence, food and beverage manufacturing, and critical minerals, we’re proud to be delivering on our plan to protect Ontario.
Welcoming Oakville Town Council to Queen’s Park
It was a pleasure to join Minister Todd McCarthy, Minister Rob Flack, and my colleague Stephen Crawford in welcoming Oakville Town Council to Queen’s Park to discuss the proposed Midtown development.
Collaboration across all levels of government is essential to advancing our shared priorities and ensuring success for everyone.
Frontline Voices at Queen’s Park
Proud to meet with Ontario Fire Chiefs President Jeremy Inglis, the Deputy Fire Chief of Oakville Fire, and other first responders at Queen’s Park for the second reading of the Keeping Criminals Behind Bars Act. Michael Kerzner, Solicitor General of Ontario, and I had the opportunity to hear directly from these frontline teams about the importance of public safety. This legislation aims to strengthen our justice system by keeping dangerous and repeat offenders accountable and supporting our communities.
Students from Dr. David R. Williams Visited Queen’s Park
It was a pleasure to have met with 40 students from Dr. David R. Williams Public School at Queen’s Park for a tour, Q&A, and a photo on the historic Grand Staircase.
School visits were a highlight of my job—I was always inspired by their curiosity and thoughtful questions. Since being elected, our government had continued strengthening education by building new schools, expanding classroom supports, and investing in repairs across the province.
Just the week before, I had spoken about Bill 33, Supporting Children and Students Act, 2025, which was designed to strengthen the support systems students relied on by improving access to mental-health resources, enhancing special education services, modernizing school safety measures, and ensuring families received the help they needed.
It was about giving every child in Ontario the chance to succeed.
Thank you to the students and staff for such an engaging visit.
CARP Advocacy Seniors Day at Queen’s Park
I was honoured to have spoken at CARP Advocacy Seniors Day at Queen’s Park alongside dedicated advocates like Anthony Quinn and Moses Znaimer. CARP’s leadership and commitment to ensuring Ontario seniors could age with dignity, independence, and security remained invaluable.
Our government shared this commitment. Since 2018, we had made historic investments to strengthen care for seniors, from building more than 60,000 new and upgraded long-term care beds and delivering four hours of care per resident per day, to transforming home and community supports through a true Home-First approach.
We had expanded the GAINS program so that 100,000 more low-income seniors received financial support, and indexed benefits to inflation to help keep pace with rising costs. We continued to invest in Seniors Active Living Centres, home care, accessibility improvements, and programs that helped older adults stay healthy, active, and connected.
Proud Moment for Munns Public School Student
Congratulations to Munns Public School’s Julian from Oakville North–Burlington on completing a successful term as a Legislative Page this week. It’s a wonderful achievement and a great way to learn about our provincial Parliament. If you are interested in becoming a Page, please visit the Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s website for details.
Film Ontario
I was honoured to have met with representatives of Film Ontario, including Alistair Hepburn, Executive Director of ACTRA National.
As the Parliamentary Assistant for the Minister of Tourism, Gaming and Culture, I could not have been prouder of the incredible momentum behind Ontario’s screen industry. Over 45,000 people worked in film, TV, and digital media here, and nearly $3 billion in production spending kept our economy humming.
Thanks to stable, refundable tax credits like the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit and Ontario Production Services Tax Credit, Ontario remained a world-class place to create. That benefited not only our crew, cast, and studios, but also local shops, restaurants, and communities across the province.
We were proud to support this thriving sector and looked forward to more stories and job opportunities being written here in Ontario.
Ontario Expanding Access to Culturally Appropriate Long-Term Care
The Ontario government is expanding access to care aligned with religious, ethnic and linguistic needs for residents at 30 additional long-term care homes across the province, while still prioritizing applicants with the greatest needs on waiting lists. This expansion is part of the government’s plan to protect Ontario by investing in public services and ensuring long-term care residents get the quality of care and quality of life they need and deserve.
Learn more: Ontario Expanding Access to Culturally Appropriate Long-Term Care
Ontario Advancing Work on Highway 413
Our government is making historic investments in highway infrastructure to get drivers in the GTA and Ontario out of gridlock,” said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation. “Building Highway 413 will help protect Ontario against U.S. tariffs and global economic uncertainty by improving the movement of people and goods and keeping more than 6,000 workers on the job during construction.
Learn more: Ontario Advancing Work on Highway 413
Ontario Science Centre Opening Interim Location at Harbourfront Centre by Summer 2026
By establishing the Ontario Science Centre’s interim location at the Harbourfront Centre, we’re helping Ontario families access world-class science programming even as we continue building a new, expanded and state-of-the-art Ontario Science Centre just steps away at Ontario Place,” said Stan Cho, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming. “This move will help the Science Centre continue its mission of creating lasting memories with friends and family and nurturing a lifelong love of science, all while contributing to the vibrancy of Toronto’s waterfront.
Learn more: Ontario Science Centre Opening Interim Location at Harbourfront Centre by Summer 2026
Ontario Building New Emergency Preparedness and Response Headquarters, Future Home of Ontario Corps
This new command centre will help us protect communities across Ontario with faster, more coordinated responses whenever emergencies happen, ensuring help gets to the people who need it most,” said Premier Doug Ford. “With a modern home for Ontario Corps, we’re making sure these volunteers and everyday heroes have the tools they need to carry out their critical operations and keep people safe.
Learn more: Ontario Building New Emergency Preparedness and Response Headquarters, Future Home of Ontario Corps
The 5th Annual Griswold Awards are officially OPEN!
It’s time to bring out the lights, wreaths, inflatables, and holiday magic, nominations for the 2025 Griswold Awards are now open!
Each year, Oakville North–Burlington residents celebrate the season by recognizing the most festive, creative, and joy-filled holiday displays in our neighbourhoods. Whether it’s a beautifully lit porch or a full “Griswold-level” spectacular, we want to see it!
Nominate a home that brightened your street (or your own!) using the link below: Click here