 It is now time for Member Statements, but we will make sure that you are able to resume debate in the future. I recognize a member from Kingston and the Islands. Thank you very much, Speaker. This past Monday was National Housing Day, and yet tragically on Monday night, Mercury dropped to minus 12 with an unprecedented number of Kingstonians sleeping rough. The crisis is growing daily, and we are not being presented with adequate solutions from this government. National Housing Registries have 8 to 10 year wait lists. A more appropriate term might not be wait lists, but wish lists. Affordability barely exists. Rent for a one bedroom in Kingston costs nearly twice what the allowance is on social assistance. And for those who are employed, their employment often does not cover their rent, let alone the essentials that they need. The reality is that we are asking people to live on an impossible amount, and so they are stumbling. Worked with a missed bill, then a utility cut off, then an eviction. Housing is one of the main social determinants of health. Study after study confirms this. One of the leading hospital networks in Canada has taken the unprecedented step of establishing supportive housing for historically marginalized groups who are frequent users of hospital services. Research suggests that the net annual cost of a homeless person with mental illness can run into the hundreds of thousands. Approximately 230 individuals represent over 15,000 visits to Toronto's University Health Network's emergency departments because they lack access to more appropriate support. This paradigm cannot continue, Speaker. We must break the cycle before it is impossible to do so. Thank you. I recognize a member from Mississauga Lake Shore. Thank you, Speaker. Last month I had the privilege to join the Premier and Mayor Hazel McCallion to announce of a significant donation from Christina and Annemarie Keneff and their family to the Trillium Health Partners to help support the redevelopment and the expansion of the Mississauga Hospital. This donation honours and builds on the great legacy of their father, Dr. Ignaf Keneff, and they made the announcement on his 95th birthday. When Dr. Keneff came to Canada as a young immigrant from Bulgaria in 1951, he had no family, no friends, and spoke very little English. He spent his only $5 to take a taxi from Union Station to Mississauga, where he learned to trade, went to work, and construction, built the homes for other new Canadians in Mississauga Lake Shore. In 1955, only four years after he arrived to Canada, Dr. Keneff pledged against his future earnings to give $2,000 to support the construction of the first Mississauga Hospital where I was born and my two sons were born. This was the largest gift by an individual at the time, 20 times higher than the second largest donation, and it was the only, the first, and many. As his daughter, Christina, said, our father embodied the spirit of giving throughout his life. In my member's statement last year, I said, Dr. Keneff's legacy and the Ontario spirit would live on, and it does in his daughters. And I would ask all members to please join me in recognising the entire Keneff family for the incredible generosity and the support for the Mississauga Hospital. Thank you. Thank you. I recognise a member from Parkdale High Park. Killed Bill 124. This is what nurses have been asking for from the Ford Government. Nurses have always been heroes, but these past two years, we've relied on them more than ever. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses have suited up in protective gear, showed up every day to work, walked into our hospitals, despite harassment, despite protests, to the front lines. They have worked nonstop for two years now, ignoring their own exhaustion, suppressing their own fear, so they could tend to us, hold our loved one's hands when we couldn't, stroke our loved one's head as we said goodbye from afar. Imagine the worry they have felt, terrified of bringing the virus home to their family members. How long was it that they couldn't hug their own children, where some were separated from their family because they couldn't risk going home at all? They have paid with their health, their well-being, some with their lives. And what does the Premier do in return? He keeps their wages suppressed. Bill 124 caps nurses' wage increases at 1%, which is way below inflation. And when wages don't increase at least by inflation, it's a wage cut. Wage suppression is not how you treat healthcare heroes. Many nurses are leaving the profession because they are fed up. We cannot afford to lose these heroes now. I urge the Premier to do the right thing. Repeal Bill 124. Thank you. I recognize a member from Mississauga Centre. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, being a female parliamentarian is a job that can be disproportionately difficult when compared to our male colleagues. I was reminded of this fact this past weekend on social media when anonymous bots came out in full force replying to my tweet wishing the Premier a happy birthday. One interaction in particular was troubling, where a user using an anonymous account calling himself a father and an educator nonetheless made a sexist comment about me making an insinuation about my support for the Premier that was so vulgar that I don't dare to repeat it in this esteemed place of democracy. Unfortunately, Speaker, I know that when it comes to sexist slurs made towards female parliamentarians, my experience is not the exception. My fellow female colleagues can attest to the fact that it is a rule. Speaker, people say to take these interactions with a grain of salt, but this event reminded me how vulnerable I am solely because I am a girl. And we wonder why so many of our daughters, our sisters, our mothers and our wives are reluctant to enter into politics or even enter male-dominated fields. Speaker, November is a solemn reminder that way too many women face hardships and challenges each and every day in Ontario. But I know that we, working together, must and can do better when it comes to gender equality and even more so treating each other with basic respect and decency. By working together, we can eliminate these attitudes and elevate each other. Thank you very much, Speaker. Thank you. I recognize a member from Quetnum. Amiguita, Speaker, the violent dispossession of First Nations people from the land for the purpose of resource development is a foundation Canada was built upon. On November 18th, dozens of heavily armed RCMP officers raided the Kidman checkpoint in British Columbia. Wet Soet and land defenders and their supporters have been controlling access to this road to stop coastal gas link from drilling under Wet Senkwa, their sacred headwaters. Fifteen people were arrested on November 18th in an evasion of Kidimton Yinta, including Wet Soet and elders, legal observers and two journalists. The Wet Soet and hereditary chiefs represent a governance system that predates colonization and the Indian Act, which was created an attempt to outlaw indigenous peoples from our lands. The Wet Soet and have continued to exercise their unbroken, unextinguished and unseated right to govern and occupy their lands by continuing and empowering the clan-based system governance to this day. Under Wet Soet and law, clans have a responsibility and a right to control their territories. We are obligated to protect the ways of life for future generations that come after us. All eyes on Wet Soet and Miigwech. Member Statements, the member for Durham. Thank you, Speaker. November is Woman Abuse Prevention Month. Today I'm wearing purple as a symbol of the courage it takes a woman to leave her abuser. However, the courage of a woman is not enough. It takes the support of an entire community. This year, the wrapped in courage campaign is not selling purple scarves. They are mobilizing violence against women's shelters across Ontario to remind everyone that now more than ever, violence continues to be the greatest inequality rights issue for women and girls. I want to thank Bethesda House, a women's shelter for women fleeing abuse in Bowmanville, for the work they do every single day of the year to support women fleeing devastating and sometimes life-threatening situations. We know that over the course of the pandemic, when we've asked Ontarians to stay home, that home is not a safe place for everyone. I want to thank all the shelters across the province who have worked to continue to provide a safe place for women fleeing violence over the course of the pandemic as well as the agencies that provide legal support, like Luke's Place in Durham Region, that have so generously stepped up during the pandemic to take calls from women fleeing abuse across the province. Finally, I want to thank the Durham Region Police and Victim Services of Durham Region who are critical partners in the fight to end violence against women. To join the fight, go to wrapped in courage.ca. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Stavins, the Member for Perry Sound, Moscow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to celebrate the Township of Archipelago, which was awarded with the Peter J. Marshall Innovation Award for innovation in providing public services at this year's AMO Conference. The Archipelago has demonstrated amazing innovation and collaboration in order to protect local species such as turtles and states with its tail of a thousand turtles project. This began as a road rehabilitation project, but the Township quickly identified an opportunity to engage local partners to protect species at risk. What resulted was a collaboration between the local community, George and Bay Biosphere, Shawnega First Nation, and Hall Construction to protect eggs and s that may have otherwise been destroyed. The actions of the Archipelago and their community partners have resulted in the collection of more than a thousand eggs and with the release of more than one thousand snake and turtle hatchlings. It is extremely impressive that the tail of a thousand turtles project was not only cost-neutral, but the road construction was completed on schedule, all the while implementing new environmental policy. The Archipelago has demonstrated the ability to fulfill infrastructure upgrades and pursue development projects while ensuring local species are protected and environmental due diligence is included in the planning process. The construction crew participated in species at risk training and resulted in an increased personal investment by the crew in protecting local reptiles. I congratulate Reeve Burt Liverance and everyone at the Township of Archipelago on this initiative to protect wildlife and I encourage other municipalities to follow their example. Thank you. Thank you. Member Statements, the member for Timmons. Well thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Many of us will know in this assembly because we often talk to constituents on the phone in person by email that life has become much more unaffordable. It is really getting difficult for a lot of people to try to make ends meet. You look at what's happening when it comes to the price of groceries, you look at what's happening to the price of materials, when it comes to any work that you have to do in your home, you take a look at the price of gas when it comes to the gas that you put inside your vehicle. Everything is going up and life is getting much much more unaffordable as time goes by. You know we listen to the government talk about how great of a job they're doing but the reality is that for the average person at home the reality is is that they ask themselves this question. How am I comparing today then? I was three and a half years or four years ago and the measure to that is they're doing not any better, they're doing worse. Our wages have not gone up, they've been essentially stagnant over the last period of time. The minimum wage was first frozen by the government if it had not been frozen we'd probably be around 60 and a half dollars per hour today and the cost of everything is going up so people can little afford the things that are the basic necessities that they need to be able to get by. So this government has failed on the point of making life more affordable and we as new democrats will continue pushing in that direction in order to try to deal with some of the things that can be done. Thank you very much. Member statements. The member from Mrs. Saga Mol. Thank you Mr. Speaker. The world we live in today is changing rapidly. COVID-19 has further transformed our lives especially our jobs and the way we work. Many workers have faced unemployment, underemployment and have to rethink their career paths. To support workers these tough times Ontario government is investing an additional 85 million dollars to expand Ontario's second career program for workers including self-employed individuals, gig workers, youth, newcomer and the individual with disabilities. Through the expanded program workers attain the skill to match in-demand jobs and receive up to 28,000 dollars to cover cost for tuition, training, books, transportation and 500 dollars to cover the cost of living expenses. Second career will also help job seekers to retain and reenter the workforce quickly with programs that take 52 weeks or less to complete. It will connect workers with well-paying jobs in Ontario's rapidly growing sectors including advanced manufacturing, life sciences and ICT. To apply please contact your local employment services agency or speak to an employment counselor by booking an appointment at ontario.ca at second career. I encourage resident Mrs. Saga Molton to take advantage of this program and contact appeals of careers assessment services, achieve or family services appeal to complete the application or call our office. Speaker we have 300,000 unfilled jobs in Ontario, let's support our workers and together let's build a prosperous Ontario. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much that concludes our member statements for this morning.