Debbie Bruce

I am so sorry for what you and your boys have endured. You tried to save Paul’s life. Your children were home when he was murdered. You describe losing the ability to return to a profession devoted to saving others. Those consequences deserve to be at the centre of this discussion. This is why I keep raising lived experience. Last night’s discussion about prevention, rehabilitation and the purpose of incarceration cannot be separated from what you have described. The law matters. Research matters. But quoting a textbook is very different from living with the aftermath of a murder. Homicide investigators, past and present, myself included, have those knocks at the door permanently embedded in memory. You do not forget a family’s reaction when you tell them someone they love has been murdered. Those memories do not go away. And even then, we carry the memory of delivering that news; the families carry the reality of it for the rest of their lives. Responding to those concerns with “According to the textbook” or “Here’s the court’s decision, read it” does little to move the conversation forward. A judgment explains the court’s reasoning. It does not, by itself, answer concerns about whether the system adequately recognizes victims’ suffering, protects the public or maintains their confidence. Those concerns deserve engagement, not simply a reading assignment. When I speak of “rainbows and unicorns,” I mean the comforting assumption that rehabilitation will succeed, that another chance will be safe, and that families will somehow rebuild what was taken. Rehabilitation can happen. It cannot simply be presumed, and rebuilding a life does not mean repairing an irreversible loss. Prevention deserves resources. Accountability and public protection deserve equal seriousness. Victims become an afterthought when the conversation focuses so heavily on the offender’s future that the family’s future barely receives a mention. Your boys’ shattered sense of safety matters. Your lost career matters. Paul’s life matters. You matter. The Jennifer Neville-Lakes of this world matter. There is room to discuss second chances. But that discussion must never forget who has been denied one. Paul gets no second chance at life. Your boys get no second chance at the childhood they should have had. You may build a future, but you cannot get back the life you shared with him. The people convicted and imprisoned for these murders are responsible for the lives they took and the devastation they caused. Full stop.

As a stage IV cancer survivor, I know what it's like to sit in a cancer ward next to people who are afraid of what comes next. Our healthcare system should keep us healthy, not offer us euthanasia.

Please see statement from Alvin Tedjo below

🚨 9 FIRE TRUCKS OUT OF SERVICE TODAY 🚨 Nine trucks are out of service in #Mississauga today due to staffing shortages. How is this considered safe? Fewer trucks. Fewer resources. More pressure on the crews still in service. At what point does this become unacceptable?