 it's therefore time for member statements the member from Nipissing thank you and good afternoon speaker I rise today to bring attention to a situation affecting people from all over Ontario including my home riding of Nipissing members of local 2073 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees are just one of the 24 Canadian Hearing Society offices that have been on strike since May 6th or March 6th across Ontario nearly 36,000 people use the important services provided by the Canadian Hearing Society I visited the members and had opportunity to speak to someone who has been directly impacted by the strike I first met him when I was in the mayor's office and on this particular visit to the line he explained to me through his sign language interpreter the potential uncertainty he has faced with each day the strike continues imagine if this gentleman who I might add is completely deaf is rushed to the hospital and is unable to communicate with his doctor in an emergency the absence of the interpreter and the his inability to communicate in this case could prove to be potentially fatal it's a situation that can be easily avoided speaker and should be avoided I'm urging the government to reach out and provide any assistance they can to bring an end to this to the strike thank you speaker thank you further member statements the member from Windsor to come see the speaker I want to send out best wishes today to a friend of mine who's been in a serious car accident everyone at to come see and every legionaire in Windsor and Essex County knows land upi senior he's led the color party on parade from legion branch 261 into come see for more than 30 years and speaker lennas 91 earlier this month he was on his way to visit his wife in a nursing home and was in a bad car accident he went through a stop sign and collided with another vehicle fortunately the young lady driving the other car wasn't seriously injured lenn ended up with a broken neck broken ribs clavicle sternum and some internal bleeding he was in guarded condition at the icu for a while but he surprised his doctors he's up and walking around although with a cervical collar lenn thinks he's well enough to go home but he's still facing six to eight weeks of rehab before he can be released speaker lenn was in the army for a short while until they found out just how young he was but he got even with the army he joined the air force and he served between 42 and 46 we all know him speaker for his big handlebar mustache let me correct that speaker because of that cervical collar someone in the hospital shaved off that mustache speaker we're all hoping we'll see lennon parade again leading the tecumseh highlanders color party best wishes for that and speaker best wishes for the young lady who was treated and released after that accident as well we'll still make him a member of the mustache caucus just to make sure that you're aware of that that's a hairy situation further members team is the member from ottawa all the all mr speaker it's a pleasure for me to raise to recognize the work of the innuent children's center in ottawa in my writing hundred children and youth go to that center and provide they cast services and also provide services to adults who wish to return to schools and not many people understand the largest number of innuent outside of nunavut and we thank them for their contribution this center offers provide various services support and also most importantly cultural education initiative among others at the study of inuktituk the child care program is very popular and we now know that they need additional space to really serve the population better the center supports a family approach with an holistic support toward them and allow them to fully participate in our society so congratulations felicitations to the innuent children's center in ottawa vany thank you very much speaker i'm pleased to rise today and discuss ALS awareness and the adaptive connect ALS foundation hemiotrophic lateral sclerosis disease also known as lugaric disease is a rare affliction that gradually paralyzes people when the brain is no longer able to communicate with the muscles in the body over time these muscles break down leaving patients unable to walk talk eat swallow breathe or breathe on their own sadly there's no effective treatments for ALS and no cure and approximately 80 of people with ALS die within two to five years of being diagnosed ALS patients can find hope in the adaptive connect ALS foundation the foundation's mission is to fundraise in an effort to advance stem cell research that will hopefully unlock a cure for ALS adaptive connect was founded by jeff perot who also suffers from ALS and is run by ALS patients a hundred percent of the funds they raise goes directly to research no overhead the ALS adaptive connect have a plan to accelerate the approval of stem cell clinical trials and ALS patients and they hope to begin earlier this year this group is championing the federal legislation right to try at this act if enacted would allow ALS patients or any other patients with a terminal illness the right to try unapproved potentially lifesaving treatments in attempt to improve their condition or expend their time left with loved ones speaker i'd like to tell you about a constituent mind kim lewis kim was diagnosed with ALS a few years ago but as a director of the foundation she is currently working hard in elgin raising awareness for funds for research into ALS and improve the quality of life ALS patients just last week i attended the elmer strikes out ALS fundraiser in central elgin organized by kim and her husband spencer i was incredibly moved by the story shared that night i want to thank kim jeff perot the adaptive connect ALS foundation for the continued hard work in increasing awareness around ALS and working towards a cure thank you thank you mr speaker mr speaker recent reports indicate this government was aware a year ago that the vast majority of ontarians were opposed the sale of the public electricity system here ontario the problem is that this private privatization discussion isn't limited to the province more and more we're hearing discussions around privatization at all levels of government whether there were discussions with respect to the sale of toronto hydro here in this municipality or federally we're now hearing discussions around the privatization of airports and the infrastructure bank which is essentially a veiled attempt at ensuring that all future infrastructure bills are privatized in the future now the issue is that the profit motive while not a problem in a vast number of sectors is an issue when it comes to public services and public infrastructure the reason is mr speaker when it comes to these services if you increase costs if you increase prices it might mean better profits but it might reduce access and profit should never be the motive for public services and infrastructure where the motive should be access quality accessibility and affordability when it comes to our health care our education system when it comes to public transit we need to ensure that everyone has access to these services and they have access to quality services and that's why it's so important so fundamentally important that we ensure that all of our public services and infrastructure remain public thank you very much the member from brampton west thank you very much mr speaker it's a great honor to rise in the house today to speak about the very auspicious occasion of basaki and the sea character month april is a month of great significance to the sea community during this month seeks all across the world celebrate basaki which marks the creation of kalsa and the seek faith in ontario april is also seek heritage month we will be celebrating seek heritage month here at queen's park the seek community the the seek community will be celebrating the seek heritage month all across ontario in many different ways 2017 is also the year of the 350th anniversary of the 10th seek guru guru gubin sing ji he was a spiritual master warrior poet and a philosopher he introduced the five articles of faith that seeks wear and adhere to at all times the principle of equality in Sikhism regardless of one's caste or gender or color was institutionalized by guru gubin sing ji his message to the world is very relevant today canada is home to five to over 500 000 Sikhs half of which live in ontario Sikhs across ontario have made important contributions to ontario's social economic political and cultural fabric i invite all members of this house to learn more about the seek faith and to join the seek community in celebrating basaki and the seek heritage month thank you very much mr speaker thank you for your member statements the member from lampton ken middle section well thank you very much speaker i'm pleased to welcome the multi employer benefit plan council of canada to queen's park today they are a non-profit organization that represents the interests of multi employer plans and they're here today to raise awareness about what that means for workers employed in industries typified by small companies or a mobile workforce such as construction hospitality or transportation to name a few it can be difficult to maintain consistent benefits or to plan effectively for retirement by bringing together large numbers of small employers multi employer plan support workers and their families with a private sector solution as our economy and the nature of employment continues to evolve and as we consider legislative changes related to labor and employment it's important that we're aware of the diverse circumstances of workers as well as the private sector initiatives that are emerging or already exist in our province so i'm pleased the multi employer benefit plan council is here to raise awareness about the unique interests of the workers they cover and to give us some insight into multi employer plans the table of stakeholders can be crowded when it comes to labor issues but it's important that a strong diversity of voices is heard they will be holding a reception in the dining room tonight and i encourage all members to attend and to learn more about their important work thank you thank you further member segments the member from encaster dundas flamberl and westdale thanks mr speaker today ontario is leading by example to deliver the next generation of queen technology solutions to help the world fight and adapt to climate change as our good mayor fred eisenberger of the city of hamill and shared with us earlier this week as we toured our local lead build harry howell arena quote communities are implementing a number of programs for both homeowners and organizations to address climate change adaptation in fact our region continues to meet targets for reducing energy usage speaker we all have a role to play in the fight against climate change leadership shown by the city of hamilton as well as their partner organizations both private and public are helping to lead that fight municipalities such as hamilton and burlington are important partners in the fight against climate change our government's climate change action plan provides funding in addition to the already announced 92 million through the green investment fund to improve energy efficiency in social housing apartments and energy retrofits the climate change action plan and cap and trade program are the backbone of ontario's strategy to cut greenhouse gas pollution to 15 below 1990 levels we're at it we're going to stick with it it's a very important task one we cannot fail at thank you thank you further member statements the member from furth wellington thank you mr speaker matthew wakum grew up in st mary's and is deeply involved with the st john ambulance and leo and lines clubs in fact at 23 years old matthew has volunteered over 15 000 hours with these organizations earlier this month he was awarded the sovereign's medal for volunteers by governor general david johnson it was well reserved but matthew is not doing it for an award or recognition he's doing it for the right reasons his comments to the stratford beacon herald reveal his humble attitude it's nice to get recognized but definitely not necessary you're going out there for a purpose not just to collect hours i think we can all learn something about the spirit of service and helping our neighbor from this remarkable young man it speaks well of him and it speaks well of the spirit of service that is alive and well in perth wellington thank you mr speaker thank you i thank all members for their statements it's there