 It's now time for Member Statements, and I recognize the Member for London Fanshop. Thank you, Speaker. When the world changed this year, the people in my community rose to the occasion in more ways than one. Those who could stayed home, stayed apart, and wore masks. And they are giving back to their communities. The Argal and Hamilton Road BIAs worked hand-in-hand with our valuable small business to support them through these incredibly trying times. Everyone did their part to keep each other safe. And I also want to highlight the good work of our two local heroes. Soon after settling in London, Aman Salim started volunteering with the London Newsom Mosque. During the pandemic, as the situation worsened for many less privileged families, Aman and her volunteers at the Caring Canadian Society put together a COVID relief campaign and started distributing supplies. Aman has spent close to 300 hours in the last six months with CCS providing door-to-door food hampers to hundreds of families and delivering thousands of PPE kits to shelters in London. Yodette Habitimarium-Kedani is currently a working as a PSW in London long-term care facility. During COVID, when family visits were restricted, the anxiety of not being able to meet their families led to a depression and even aggression amongst residents. Yodette and her colleagues, despite being short staff, went above and beyond their expected duties to take care of the personal and psychological needs of the residents at times working shifts over time to accommodate their needs. On behalf of my community, thank you to our local BIAs and Aman and Yodette for all the work that you do to lift our spirits up during this very trying times. Thank you very much. Member statements? The Member for Barry Innisville. Thank you, Speaker. I want to thank all the small businesses that have made the necessary sacrifices and taken the right steps to keep our community safe. Our small businesses are our neighbors. They employ our neighbors. It has not been an easy time for them, but they retooled, they pivoted, and they did what was needed to do to keep their customers safe while providing their services. As I visited many local businesses, I saw firsthand how our Barry and Innisville businesses are keeping everyone safe and doing everything they can to help their employees and their customers. In fact, I even took Santa along with me to many local businesses as part of the Barry Chamber of Commerce Santa tour. And I wanted to emphasize during this tour that this holiday season, we cannot forget to shop local and help our neighbors and our friends who are working and started many of these small businesses in Barry Innisville. They are businesses and people who are there to help our community in need. They sponsor our sports teams and our local charities. Now it's time we show them support more than ever. These are people like Gina and Rohan, who just opened on the men massage therapy and wellness during COVID. It's like Tracy and Renee for creative bean, where Renee overcame contacting COVID. It's like Deb and Ralph at Fork and Plate, John and Lynn at creative bean, Deb at Matt Hatter, Shalu and her family at Dose to Eats, Jennifer Hallidayhouse, Stephanie at Discount Granite, MJ at The One, Face and Body Spa, Aksana and Sergey at Kaleidoscope, Don Mucci at Life Squad, Olu and Titi, who also opened nine rounds and had a baby during COVID. I want to thank them and have a Merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah and thank you to all our frontline workers for keeping us safe. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member for Toronto, Danforth. Thank you Speaker. Speaker Ontario is looking at big fare hikes and deep service cuts for public transit in the year to come. Using fare box revenue and dropping revenue from the gas tax allocation threatened to damage our public transit systems across the province. Speaker, we can't let this happen. Large numbers of essential workers depend on transit to get to work. It's already risky, but more packed buses can only mean increased transmission of COVID. We need to support transit to keep our economy rolling and to avoid increasing pollution if we force people to switch over to travel by car. Ontario has to step up and support our transit systems to help control the spread of the pandemic and to protect our environment. The Ontario Public Transit Association is calling for more financial support for transit. People will be hurt by fare hikes and service cuts. Ontario has to step up and defend this vital service. Thank you. Member Statements, the member for Eglinton Lawrence. Thank you Speaker. As we approach the holiday season, I know that many in my community and many across Ontario are anxious and eager to support our small local retail stores. They keep our main streets vibrant, interesting and attractive for visitors. And I for one am trying to buy every present that I am purchasing at local community stores. But this year, and especially for those areas in lockdown, like in Toronto where my riding is, it may not be obvious exactly how a shopper can get what they're looking for at local small stores. It's a question I have even asked myself. And here's what I learned. Many stores are open for curbside pickup or delivery, and they're eager to serve people by phone or online. So this weekend, I took the opportunity to look up some phone numbers of some of the local stores, and I checked into what they're doing. And I spoke with one creative ladies fashion retailer on Eglinton who sends out an email newsletter to those on her list with fashion items for sale. Customers can phone or email to order an item in their size or preferred colour, and she delivers what she calls fashion in a bag, or the customer picks it up. So it's great to see and it works, and Eglinton Lawrence has some great local retail stores. I want to ask everyone, let's support our local retail stores by shopping online. The owners are making it easier for us to do every day. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member statements, the member for Brampton East. Thank you, Speaker. Brampton is my home. It's where I'm raising my family. It's one of the most dynamic and diverse cities in this country, full of essential workers who keep our province moving. But Brampton has been under-serviced and underfunded for years by liberal and conservative governments. Now in the NDP, we have been raising the alarm on our city's healthcare crisis for years. The fact that our city of over 600,000 people has only one hospital that is overcrowded and underfunded. But this conservative government has done nothing to fix our healthcare crisis. Now we find ourselves in a pandemic. And Brampton is a COVID-19 hotspot because this conservative government, just like the liberals before them, don't care about Brampton. It's not an accident. Inaction has consequences. And this conservative government is going to have to answer for the fact that they didn't stand up for Brampton. When conservative and liberal governments refuse to act, Brampton suffers. For months now, the NDP has been calling for a 15-student class-sized cap in our schools during a pandemic. But Premier Ford has refused to act. The consequence? We have seen countless outbreaks of COVID-19 throughout schools in Brampton. Will the Premier be apologizing to Brampton for refusing to act? Will the Premier be apologizing to Brampton for putting our families at risk and refusing to listen to the experts? Brampton is at risk. Our families are at risk. And our community deserves better. We deserve action to protect our families. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements to Member for Guelph. Thank you, Speaker. Today is Giving Tuesday, the world's largest generosity day to support people in need. I want to highlight an important campaign in my writing, Guelph Gives. Their campaign this year is Think Local, encouraging people to support local nonprofits and local businesses. As the second wave of COVID hits the hardest during the most important month of the year for retail sales and fundraising campaigns, it has never been more important to support local businesses and organizations. Small businesses have experienced a dramatic decline in revenue in order to protect people from COVID. They deserve our support. Charities and nonprofits have also experienced a dramatic loss of revenue. At the same time, they are experiencing increased demand for their vital services. A survey in Guelph, Wellington concluded that 53% of organizations have experienced reduced revenue from fundraising. The Ontario Nonprofit Network estimates that one in five nonprofits might close their doors before the end of the year. Speaker, we cannot allow this to happen. So I encourage everyone to think local and to give generously today. And I encourage the government to step up with direct supports for local businesses and nonprofits. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member for Peterborough, Coritha. Thank you, Speaker. Ashley Aik and the general manager for Coritha Food Chair approached me with an idea. Historically, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there's been a drop-off in donations at our local food banks. But the demand for their services doesn't go away. Ashley's idea was the winter is coming food drive. And when Ashley comes and asks for help, there's only one answer you can give. So, of course, I was all in. We chose five gates for food drives in Havlock, Bridge North, Lakefield, Buckhorn, and Apsley, with all the proceeds going back to the food banks in each of those communities. I want to give a special shout out to the member from Thornhill and the member from Willowdale, who both helped me during the Bridge North food drive. We also had some other special volunteers who braved the cold with me. Warden J. Murray-Jones, Mayor Andy Mitchell, Deputy Mayor Sherry Senes, Councillor Jerry Herron, sorry, Jerry Herron, Councillor Donna Ballantyne, Mayor Jim Martin, Deputy Mayor and my uncle, Dave Giro, Mayor Carolyn Amiot, Deputy Mayor Jim Whalen, Councillor Colin McClellan, and of course, the store owners themselves, John LePleg, Shriek Patel, Ian Bledsoe, Janice York, and Jeff Sayer. In total, Mr. Speaker, our communities donated the equivalent of an astounding $37,900 worth of food. This will stock those food banks all the way through until sometime in January. Thank you very much. Members' statements, the Member for Kiwet Nong. Miigwets, Speaker, as we all know, the journey of economic recovery in Ontario is going to be a long one. Our communities across Kiwet Nong are very rich, but maybe not in dollars, but in resources, Mr. Speaker. Resources that are extremely important to the overall economy recovery of this province. Communities like Red Lake contribute so much to the economy of Ontario and Canada. Over nine years, they've contributed $3.2 billion to the economy. The money earned from the mining, forestry, and other resources need to stay in the north and benefit our communities. Funds are needed for local services and infrastructure and other community improvements. Municipalities, such as Red Lake and Pickle Lake, have shovel-ready projects that are waiting on approvals. I also heard that help is needed. In Solicott, municipal revenues are down from the airport, which is one of the main hubs of the north with the flying communities. So they will need more assistance in the long-term care than they are getting now. And near falls, they are concerned about lost revenues. They are looking for to expand their revenue streams through the use of crown land within municipal boundaries. This way, Mr. Speaker, they can generate revenue without looking for government support. Speaker, delaying the growth of the municipalities in Kiwetno slows the economic growth for all Ontario. Miigwetch. Member Statements, the Member for Milton. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the Christmas season now here, so too is the Tigerjeet Sings Foundation annual miracle on Main Street in Milton. In partnership with the Halton Regional Police, Miracle on Main is a great tradition in Milton and a tremendous way to get in the holiday spirit. Thankfully, through the leadership of Milton's own wrestling legends, Tigerjeet Singh Sr. and his son Tiger Ali Singh Jr., the annual Miracle on Main Street will continue to support children and families in our community. This year, in a show of true leadership, the Tigerjeet Singh Foundation will be donating $30,000 to local schools and will be donating another $30,000 in support of local restaurants in Milton, Mr. Speaker. I am grateful this important tradition will continue this year, especially during COVID-19. For the last 11 years, Miracle on Main Street has raised much needed funds through donations and sponsorships for families, local charities and schools, along with purchasing thousands of toys for kids at McMaster Children's Hospital and sick kids. I would like to thank everyone involved for making this successful each and every year. And I want to thank Tigerjeet Singh Sr. and Tiger Ali Singh Jr. for their leadership and commitment in helping our community every year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements. The member for York Center. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the month of November coming to an end yesterday, I'd like to call much needed attention to men's mental health. Excuse me. May I start over? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the month of November coming to an end yesterday, I'd like to call much needed attention to men's mental health. There are approximately 4,000 suicides a year in Canada. Many happen during this time of year. Four out of every five suicides are committed by men. This is a national tragedy. Mental health professionals attribute this to the fact that it's generally difficult for men to admit mental health challenges. Men are less likely to seek help from family or friends. Men are less likely to speak to a doctor. We may feel embarrassed. We may not know what to say. We may not know who to talk to or worse. Think that there is no one to talk to, that no one would understand. But guys, let's talk about this for a minute. The November Foundation conducted a survey that found that eight out of 10 men found it helpful to talk about having a hard time. That makes sense because we can't fix it unless we acknowledge that something isn't right. And please, don't be afraid. Because I bet you that at your time of peril, someone out there wants you to call them. It may be a family member that loves you, a friend that needs you, a support worker that cares about you. Tell them, give them an opportunity to tell you how much they love you. Give yourself a chance. Give others the chance to give you a chance because you are precious and we need you here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. That concludes our member's statements for this morning.