 The time for debate has expired is now time for member statements and I look over to the member from Scarborough Southwest. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker throughout the past four months I have talked to dozens of health work health care workers including personal support workers who have been working in long-term care homes and senior residences during the pandemic. Over and over again I hear the mosque while taking care of our most vulnerable seniors how do they protect themselves and their families from contracting the virus but this government does not have an answer. Vigita a PSW who got sick with COVID-19 at her job and didn't get a hotel room learned that her husband's lungs were failing due to the side effects of the virus because he also caught the virus. He spent eight days in ICU fighting for his life Mr. Speaker. Two weeks later Vigita took her 10-year-old son to sick kids because he was diagnosed with multi-organ inflammation and Kawasaki disease. He received blood transfusion and is now taking 25 different medications and fighting for his life. Mr. Speaker not only has the virus changed this family's life forever the poor conditions of our homes actually impacted this family's this family and their family members forever. Mr. Speaker Vigita like many other PSWs who work in our province received zero support from this government. What will this government do to protect the lives of those who sacrificed so much for us to save all of us and people in this province. What will this government do. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the member statement. The member from Kitchener, Stoga. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Ontario is home to some of the finest manufacturers who produce world-renowned products right here in our backyard. Last week I was very pleased to hear that our Premier and government would be using the Ontario Together Fund to support the Canadian manufacturers and exporters Ontario made program. Not only do our manufacturers produce world-class goods they also employ over 700,000 hard-working men and women across this province and when we buy Ontario made products we're supporting these jobs and getting more people back to work during these tough times Mr. Speaker. In Kitchener, Conestoga we have incredible manufacturers producing goods that are sold all across the country and around the world. Like Ontario Drive and Gear who has been making the Argo all-terrain vehicle for over 58 years and is headquartered in New Hamburg or AMI Attachments a leading manufacturer of attachments for excavators, backhose and construction equipment that is all produced in Wellesley Township and shipped across Canada and the United States. We also have plenty of food processors with companies like Dare Foods, Pillars Meats, Weston Bakery's and Grand River Foods all producing in Waterloo Region and I'd be remiss Mr. Speaker not to mention one of the largest apple growers in Canada, Martin's Family Fruit Farm who has production facilities in Wellesley Township. I'm very proud to represent a riding and a region with so many incredible Ontario made products. When we support our manufacturing we support the hard-working people on the production floor. Many of them are friends and family and neighbors. So I encourage everyone to go out and check out supportontariomade.ca and look for the Ontario Made logo when they are in the store. Thank you Speaker. Further member statement, the member from Beaches East York. Beaches East York and around the province are anxious. We need a plan for back to school that ensures that parents can keep working, kids can be educated in a classroom that is safe and everybody can stay healthy. Parents are still exhausted from trying to work and educate their kids under lockdown conditions. We know that homeschooling didn't work for all families and online learning doesn't work for all kids. It especially doesn't work for kids with special needs and no parent should have to choose between their child's education and their health. No parent should have to choose between their ability to maintain their job and their children's education or health and safety. Right now the government has no viable plan. What we do have is an education, childcare and economic disaster in the making. If schools and daycares are to open safely, we need we're going to need more space, smaller classes and more teachers and childcare workers. We're going to need buses with room for kids to spread out safely. We need touch free sinks and soap dispensers. We need to consider the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on black, indigenous and other racialized families. We need meaningful investments in education and childcare to ensure that kids don't lose a year of education and parents can continue to work. School starts in six weeks. This is urgent. The health and education of our kids, the well being of parents in Ontario and our economy all depend upon it. Thank you. That's further member statement. I recognize a member from Mississauga East Cooksville. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to speak today about how inspired I am by the perseverance of local businesses in my writing of Mississauga East Cooksville. We know that many businesses have struggled and the food service industry has been especially hit hard by the limitations of the lockdown and not being able to serve the public in their usual way with in-person dining. However, throughout the past few months I have heard how many restaurants have rearranged their service to continue to serve their communities through curbside and delivery services. For example, a local neighborhood bistro, Arcady, have been operating their hot table style service for a curbside takeout throughout the lockdown. Once Mississauga arrived at phase two, it was very encouraging to see restaurants start to figure out patio spaces and expand their services more fully once again. Before the crisis, my team and I enjoyed visiting a village taste at Rockwood Mall across from our office. This local dining restaurant is known for their delicious South Asian lunch buffet. I'm so glad to see that restaurants have recently opened up new patio spaces in Mississauga East Cooksville and will be serving meals again throughout the summer. With or without a patio, local restaurants like all small businesses deserve our support and I encourage everyone who is able to continue to support them. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Speaker, and I have a letter that was sent from Aleksandra Stavanovich in Oshawa. June 1, 2020, the Music Hall Concert Theater in Oshawa announced its forced closing. The many folks of the Durham community specifically in my hometown of Oshawa are utterly devastated that this music venue, a second home for many of us, had no choice but to close its doors due to a lack of financial assistance during these dire times. When I moved here, I fell in love with how caring people were for the local music industry. The music scene in Oshawa was tied to a primary place, that being the Music Hall Concert Theater. As big as this local music industry was, it still seemed so small, so closely connected and passionately driven by authentic people. The Music Hall Concert Theater was a space not only for larger Canadian artists to sell out, but most importantly, a space for our local grassroots artists to have the opportunity and essentially the chance to perform for our music-supported community. Artists are not the only people who relied on the space in the community that was promised to be found at Oshawa's music venue. I can tell you firsthand, I met the most hardworking individuals that dedicated their last ounce of energy to ensure that a wonderful show could be put on for this community. I ask you to please acknowledge the hundreds of people who are losing the simple possibility of a chance in their goals and the thousands of people who will no longer know where to turn when times get difficult in the music and the community. It was the only thing that provided reassurance and made sense. Speaker, the owners, Ed and Maggie, maybe cultivated a space where burgeoning Canadian artists and established fan favorites could find an audience in the Durham region. We thank them and we will miss them. For the member's statements, the member from Ottawa himself. Speaker, with COVID-19, we essentially had a lockdown in our hospitals, our long-term care homes, our group homes, our retirement homes. And while that was necessary in the short term, we need a better plan. BCE, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec have developed a plan for essential caregivers. And although Ontario this morning has extended that in long-term care, which is encouraging, there are still challenges that exist for essential caregivers. COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon. And essential caregivers are of critical importance to the health and well-being of patients in hospitals, residents in long-term care and group homes and retirement homes. They are an extra set of eyes and ears for those who at times can't advocate for themselves. They feed. They bathe. They accompany their loved ones. They watch medication. They are an essential part of our healthcare system and should be treated as such. A visitor policy does not address essential caregivers. The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement has put forward seven key steps to reintegrate essential caregivers into hospitals. I encourage the government to look at that and adopt that. Speaker, essential caregivers are a priority. They're not only a priority for families and for loved ones, they should be a priority for government. They support our healthcare system. They're a key part. And I encourage the government to take action. Further member statement, the member from Whitby. Thank you, Speaker. Ontario Shore Centre for Mental Health Services and Wounded Warriors Canada recently announced a new collaborative program to meet the growing mental health needs of first responders in the region of Durham. Speaker, first responder, SIST, offers a number of virtual and in-person prevention and treatment services for individuals and couples based on trauma therapy, immediate crisis support, resiliency training and cognitive behavioral and process therapies. This anticipated speaker that the program will support approximately 20 first responders through its first year of operation. Speaker, why is this service so critical? Well, Canadian research looking at operational stress injuries among first responders suggests that they are much more likely to develop mental health disorder than the general population. As well, Speaker, first responders experience post-traumatic stress injuries and critical incidence stress at twice the level of the general public. Speaker, first responder, SIST, is a significant step forward in helping first responders and their families as we work together towards developing a comprehensive province-wide program to better serve the unique needs of our first responders. Thank you. Further member statement, the member from Windsor, to come see. Speaker, last week, after 27 years, we at Chrysler ended the third shift of the minivan plant in Windsor. This comes with the loss of 1,400 jobs plus the collateral damage of more jobs lost in the local feeder plants. Many more jobs will be lost in the stores, restaurants and businesses that these auto workers were once regular customers. Every year, workers at the minivan plant would raise more than a million dollars for the United Way. I'm told that amount was the highest collected for the United Way in any one workplace in all of Canada. And the United Way is just one of local charities that these auto workers so generously supported. Speaker, for years, we in the NDP and our friends in the labor movement have called for a national auto manufacturing strategy that would attract new investment to Ontario. This would protect our existing manufacturing workforce and lead to the possibility of more well-paying jobs in the future. We've seen what's happened in Oshawa with GM. Ontario can afford to give up on a manufacturing base. Speaker, the Premier will be in the Windsor area soon to get a haircut. Will he meet with the company and the union to discuss the ways and means of securing another product for that plant? And will he promise to play a role in creating a national automotive manufacturing strategy? After COVID, we need a real plan to stimulate our economy and automotive jobs should be a major part of that investment. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Over the past several months, hundreds if not thousands of Ontarians have volunteered to ensure that their family, their friends and their communities have had access to free fabric face masks. These masks have allowed Ontarians to more safely engage in activities that require close proximity gathering like grocery shopping. It has also helped take away demand for medical masks that have been vital for our frontline healthcare workers. There has been a group in my hometown of Ottawa that has been making and giving away thousands of these masks, each of them contributing in different ways. Amongst others, we have seen many retirees and on the other side of the spectrum, high school students volunteering their time to their this important cause. They have all demonstrated the Ontario spirit. I would like to thank everyone across Ontario that has been helping to keep Ontario safe. You have made an important impact on your community. Last week, members of my staff delivered thank you notes to many of these volunteers across Ottawa. If I had the time, Mr Speaker, I would recognize each and every one of them in this chamber, but to suffice to say thank you for everything you have done to make our community a safer place during these extraordinary times. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you. Member Statements, the member for Milton. Thank you. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Proud to rise and recognize and thank the Milton Chamber of Commerce. That has been supporting businesses in Milton since 1888. Their leadership and community focus has been paramount during this pandemic. Shortly after the pandemic hit, the team at Chamber of Commerce got to work on a local PPE procurement portal. This portal connected local suppliers of non-medical PPE and people and businesses who needed it. The portal has been able to connect many, many businesses and community organizations with non-medical PPE, much of which was donated. Some of the organization that benefited from this portal include, Mr Speaker, the Bob Rumble Center of Excellence for the Deaf, Milton Community Resource Center, Milton's Meals on Wheels, Halton Women's Place, and many, many more. Mr Speaker, my team and I are proud to have been able to support the creation of this portal and glad to have been able to help connect local suppliers with local businesses. We know businesses need support now more than ever. Thank you to Scott McKemmon and his whole team at the Milton Chamber of Commerce for doing everything that's needed and going above and beyond and providing true leadership during this difficult time. We are in this together, Mr Speaker, and we need to support our businesses together. Thank you. Thank you very much. That concludes our member's statements this morning.