 Therefore, it's time for members' statements. The member from Perry Sound, Ms. Cocoa. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to highlight the challenges facing Ontario's small and medium-sized hospitals, including those in my riding. Ms. Cocoa-Gonquan Healthcare, which runs the hospitals in Huntsville and Bracebridge, has long faced funding challenges. The residents of these communities are passionate defenders of their hospitals, and I support them in their call to maintain the two full-service hospitals. MAHC hospitals serve a huge area that runs from Berks Falls and Magneta One, South or Severn Bridge, and East Ogonquan Park. This area has a permanent population of 58,000, but in the summer that number more than doubles to 140,000. In 2016-17, MAHC dealt with 44,236 emergency visits, admitted 4,891 patients, performed 8,547 surgeries and scopes, and delivered 282 babies. Thanks to the 625 staff, 85 physicians, and 320 volunteers who make sure residents at East Perry Sound, Ms. Cocoa, get these services. But they need more funding to continue to provide top-notch medical services, and they need to know that funding is stable. Bracebridge Mayor Graydon Smith appeared at the Pre-Budget Consultation in Sudbury to advocate for more and stable funding for small and medium-sized hospitals. The people of Perry Sound, Ms. Cocoa, and other rural parts of Ontario deserve equal access to healthcare services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the member's statements. The member from Windsor West. Thank you, Speaker. Today I rise to pay tribute to a very special person, Howard McCurdy. Howard was Member of Parliament for Windsor-Walkerville from 1984 to 1993, the first Black NDP Member of Parliament, and the second-ever Black MP in Canada. An accomplished academic and civil rights advocate, Howard became the first Black tenured professor at a Canadian University during his time at Assumption College. He also founded The Guardian Club, a civil rights organization to fight racial discrimination in Windsor and was the founder and first president of the National Black Coalition of Canada. Howard is also credited with creating the name New Democratic Party at our founding convention in 1961. From as early as age 13, Howard worked hard to fulfill his vision of a just and equitable community, and for his incredible contributions, Howard was awarded the Queen's Silver Jubilee the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada. Windsor is a richly diverse city, and in part we have Howard to thank for that. His legacy lives on in the Black Canadian organizations and societies that have built up the foundation that Howard created. And as we come to the end of Black History Month in Canada, I want all of us to consider how Howard's contributions have shaped this province and this country, and how we can continue to work Howard's vision for a better Ontario and Canada. My sincere condolences to Howard's family and friends. His life has meant so much to the people of Ontario, and we will never forget his legacy. Thank you, Speaker. I'm pleased to rise and speak about a number of developments from my own riding at Tobacco North, whether we go from transport or health care, the free tuition, the minimum wage, the impact that it's having in my own riding. To begin with, we have a $2 billion Finch Light Rail Transit Development, which has eight stops. Custom design, Speaker, for my own riding. Eight, count them. They go from Humber College, Highway 27, Westmore, Martin Grove, Albion, Stevenson, Kipling, and Islington. On top of that, we're looking at a $400 million expansion of a Tobacco General Hospital part of the William Osler system, where we are quadrupling the floor space, the footprint of the hospital when the final build-out is happening. We're looking, Speaker, folks in my riding are particularly benefiting from the government's tuition grant. As you will know, folks making less than $50,000 annually are now offered two- and four-year college university tuition for free. And that's, of course, being a great, fantastic uptake with the North Campus of Humber College, which we also gave, by the way, a $90 million Student Center expansion. Folks are very much appreciative, Speaker, as well of the OHIP Plus Initiative, Pharmacare Initiative, where folks under kids and youth under the age of 25, medications are now absolutely free. Has even started that in January 1st, 2018 as a physician. In particular, I support these initiatives. More good news for Tobacco North, Speaker. Thank you. Thank you for the members' statements. The member from Perth, Wellington. Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker. Speaker, Corbin Smith is a student at Listwell District Secondary School and an exceptional sledge hockey athlete. Sledge hockey or para-ice hockey is a popular sport in the winter paralytic games. Players are strapped to a two-bladed sledge and move along the ice using sticks, with spikes on one end and a curved blade for shooting on the other. It's an amazing sport. Corbin, along with his teammates, will be heading to Pyeongchang this week to compete on Canada's official sledge hockey team. Corbin had an outstanding 2017. He participated in international tournaments, including the international para-ice hockey tournament in Torino, Italy and the World Para-ice Hockey Championships in South Korea. Team Canada won gold at both events. Most recently, he got drafted by the National Men's Sledge Hockey Paralympic Team. He will be leaving for South Korea this Wednesday to represent Canada at the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games. We are so excited for Corbin and the whole team. We wish them a safe journey to South Korea, and we will be cheering them on at Queen's Park. Go, Canada, go! Go, Canada, go! Good for the members' statements. The member from Nickel Belt. Thank you, Speaker. The most populated part of my writing is an area called Valley East. It is a growing area with a good mix of senior citizens, young families and everything in between. Like everyone else, I was quite surprised that Valley East Service Ontario location was abruptly closed on January 18th this year. When I inquired to the ministry, the response stated, and I quote, Service Ontario locations are privately owned and operated. The existing contract has ended. The government has started the process to select a new service provider. The Centre will reopen sometimes in 2018. Well, the people of Valley East are not taking this sitting down, Speaker. They want Service Ontario to reopen and they want it to be public, not private. They are writing to my office, they are signing petition, and they are demanding that this government open a public Service Ontario Centre to replace the privately managed one that closed. The people of Valley East know that public services should be provided by the government, not a private company that focuses on the bottom line. So I ask the government, will you answer the call of the good people of Valley East and open a public Service Ontario Centre in Valley East? Thank you, Speaker. Member from Mississauga Streets, Phil. Thank you, Speaker. One of our faith community landmarks in western Mississauga celebrated Black History Month with its usual flair. Our many friends at Praise Cathedral Worship Centre in Meadowvale invited me, Ward 9 Councillor Pat Saydo and Mayor Bonnie Cromby to join them in celebrating Black culture, values, traditions, and the contributions of our Black community in northwest Mississauga. Bishop Lennox, the Costa Walker, and his wife, Lady Doret, are our generous and gracious hosts in a faith community that has built one of Meadowvale's landmark churches and counts the breadth and diversity of its membership with a flag procession before each service. The loudest cheer is generally for the entrance of the Jamaica flag bearer. Black History Month is also an opportunity to reflect on our universal humanity and how much more brings us together as families in faith communities and as neighbors than sets us apart. In Black History Month, we join with our Black friends and neighbors to define in a dialogue where we are and where we are headed by looking at where we have been and what we can do to improve the way we move forward into a confident and to an egalitarian future. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Further member statements? The member from Barnhill? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And last week we had the United Ways Project, it's 211 Ontario, come to visit us here at Queen's Park. And part of what the discussion was, how can we raise more awareness, not enough people know, that they can dial 211 on their telephone or log on to www.211ontario.ca and get confidential non-emergency, telephone and online services and its information on government and community-based non-clinical healthcare and social services. And it really helps people navigate all the difficult, you know, resources that are available to them. It operates in over 100 languages and it's 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. I want to just also mention that there's a lot of services there in terms of government legal services, healthcare, homelessness, housing, income support, mental health and addictions, newcomer support, older adults, youth, Aboriginal abuse, assault, child and family services, community programs, disabilities, emergency crisis services, employment and training and food and francophones. And this is really value for our communities so I want to really commend Karen and her whole team that came out to Queen's Park last week to help us to help everybody in our constituencies. I'm looking forward to something that we can add on to our signatures on our emails to let people know of the great service that's being provided. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member from Etobicoke Center. Thanks very much Speaker. Speaker, today I rise to say thank you to a group of people and organizations that are making a difference in my community in Etobicoke Center every single day. Every day as MPPs we all hear from constituents who need our help and sometimes our staff can assist them directly but very often we actually connect them with other government or community service organizations that can help provide the support that our constituents need. Community agencies are often run and funded by volunteers. They provide assistance daily to our constituents including my own and they're fundamental to the quality of life in all our writings including mine on Etobicoke Center and although these organizations offer very valuable services many constituents are actually unaware of them and therefore can't always access the help that they need when they need it. We can all think of instances when constituents in our communities have reached out to our community to ask us for help or reached out to our offices to ask for help in finding local organizations that can support them and can address their challenges. So that is why this weekend I alongside my colleague Peter Milchin from Etobicoke Lakeshore organized the annual Government and Community Services Fair at Cloverdale Mall in Etobicoke. The fair created a space for over 100 exhibitors consisting of community service organizations and government agencies and we managed to attract thousands of people. Over 3,000 came to the event on Saturday and the fair allowed my constituents to learn more about these organizations and what they do. So I rise today to thank the 100 exhibitors not only for participating in the fair but for dedicating themselves to serving my constituents, making our community a better place to live and making a difference in Etobicoke Center every single day. Thank you Speaker. Thank you. Further member of statements? The member from Lampton Kent Middlesex. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. On Friday a state of emergency was declared in the area of Chatham Kent and Thamesville as the Thames River overflowed its banks causing flooding and damage to homes and businesses. Water levels rose quickly. While gas was shut off in the area and a voluntary evacuation was initiated, some families woke up on Saturday morning to find they were unable to leave their flooded homes. Fire crews, dive teams and EMS worked to rescue these folks and protect the community even as their own homes were endangered. Thankfully fire, police, paramedics, municipal officials and utility services worked incredibly well together to coordinate an efficient response. And it wasn't just the first responders who rose to the occasion. I've heard many stories now about volunteers turning up at fire stations offering to help with evacuations, stories of neighbors helping neighbors and people checking in on and assisting the elderly and vulnerable. These are close-knit communities that I know will continue to work together through the recovery. I've been in contact with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and his office and I hope he will continue to work with local officials to ensure that municipal services are quickly restored and that people affected by this flood are able to return to their homes with as little delay and difficulty as possible. Again, Speaker, I want to thank Mayor Hope, the first responders and volunteers. I don't think we could have hoped for a better response to this unfortunate situation. Thank you. Thank you. Thank all members for their statements. It's therefore time for reports by committees. The member from Bairie.