 It's now time for member statements. Member from Elgin, Middlesex, London. Thank you very much, Speaker. Speaker, I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate a young Para Pan Am Games athlete for my riding, Gordy Michi. A proud member of the St. Thomas Jumbo Jet Switch, Gordy brought home several medals from the Toronto 215 Para Pan Am Games that were held this summer. Michi made Canada and our community proud when he won gold during the 100 meter men's backstroke. He went on to bring home silver in the 200 meter individual men's medley, bronze in the 200 meter men's freestyle, and concluded with another bronze in the 100 meter men's breaststroke. It's very impressive to see such determination and ambition in Gordy. What an honour it is to travel to one of our province's capitals to compete for our great country. On behalf of the residents of Elgin, Middlesex, London, I'd like to thank Gordy for all of his hard work and tireless training efforts that brought him to this incredible achievement. It is a privilege to represent Team Canada, and I hope Gordy's steadfast efforts will lead him to many more successes on the road to Rio 2016. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member Stevens, Member for Niagara Falls. Mr. Speaker, thank you. I could have gotten another one. Today, I'd be worried. I'd like to use my time today to offer my congratulations to the Forty Ray Race Track, their CEO, Jim Teebert, and the whole team for having another record-breaking year. Last year at the track, they had two days with over a million dollars in wagers, and that record was being broke again for 117 years. This year, they blew that out of the water. This year, they had six days with over one million dollars in wagers, including a day where they had nearly two million. But it's not just the betting numbers are up. The attendance of the track is up. Food sales are up. The number of programs sold at the track is up. Every area of the track is beating expectations. So from having the biggest year than anyone has ever seen at the Forty Ray Track, I'd like to offer Jim, his staff, and all the unionized workers, congratulations. But I can't speak both the Forty Ray Track while bringing up the slots. Not only has this government taken away the slots at the Forty Ray Track, they've also excluded them from the surrounding gaming zone costing hundreds of people jobs in my writing. Mr. Speaker, this is a track that year after year breaks its own records, and year after year exceeds its performance goals. But this government refuses to help the track and all the people who make a living out of it. Three years ago, the Premier committed to integrated horse racing with OLG, including gaming. Would you bring the slots back to Forty Ray? The race track has met their end of the bargain, but where has this government been? Forty Ray has seven racing days left. I would like to ask all the members. All the members here to come to the Forty Ray Track. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. On September the 16th, I had the honour of hosting the Canadian Cancer Survivors Network Reception here at Queen's Park. This is the second time I have hosted the reception, and what a great turnout. Thank you to everyone that came. As a survivor of cancer and a supporter of the Canadian Cancer Survivors Network, I know the importance of receptions and events like this that help raise awareness so that critical research could be done to help combat this disease. At the reception, we had the privilege to hear stories from three men who had survived prostate cancer. Their stories were enlightening and very emotional. I think of those of us who were present can agree that we all learned a lesson about how important our health is and how critical it can be to make sure that you have regular checkups with your doctor. My brother just last year was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I am happy to say his prognosis is good. Some people are not so fortunate. Canadian Cancer Survivors Network works to empower collaborative action by cancer patients, families and communities to identify and work to remove barriers to optimal care. They ensure that cancer survivors have access to education programs and have opportunities to have their voices heard in planning and implementing an optimal health care system. Once again, Speaker, I was very happy to host this reception, and I would like to thank Canadian Cancer Survivors Network for all the great work that they do. Thank you. Yes, well, thank you, Speaker. While it's always an honour to speak about the great folks in Waterloo Region, I'm especially proud after the summer sports season that saw so many of our young people achieve so much. I'll start with the New Hamburg Minjit Heat, who went 12-0 to win the gold at the under-18 men's Canadian Fast Pitch Championship in New Brunswick, defeating my seat-mate's Tweed team. Speaking of perfect record speaker, the Kitchener Panthers' seven-and-eight-year-old minor rookie baseball team came out about as close to perfection as you can get. The Panthers went 61-and-one this season, completing their dominance with a 13-5 victory over the Lease side to win the Ontario Baseball Association's Provincial Championships in Kitchener. On the soccer pitch, it was our under-14 Woolwich Wolfpack Girls rolling to victory at the Ontario Cup, defeating the Brampton Bram Rebels 3-0 in the final. Ontario Cup honours also went to under-16 Kitchener 99As, who dropped the King City Royals 3-2 after going into halftime down 2-1. Never count the people from Waterloo Region outspeaker. Best of luck to the Wolfpack and Kitchener as they head to the Canadian Championships in St. John's, Newfoundland and Surrey, B.C. Meantime, Kitchener and Waterloo United FC sit on top of their soccer world following a 4-3 defeat of the New York Red Bulls for the Professional Development League Championship. And I would be remiss, Speaker, if I didn't mention Kitchener's Mandy Bujold, who made us all so proud in taking home boxing gold at the Pan Am Games. We're proud of all of them and thank them for their championship efforts. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. I had the chance to visit some of our jails in our correctional facilities during our summer intercession and I look forward to continuing those visits. Our jails cannot be ignored. Our correctional officers, staff and nurses cannot be ignored. Our inmates cannot be ignored and we cannot continue this out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality. We cannot pretend that there isn't a crisis in corrections. Our correctional system is full of safety concerns for those who live and work in it. Chronic understaffing means that jails are on lockdowns more often than you can imagine. Constant overcrowding means that people sleep on mats on the floor. It means that infirmaries are being used as cells and not for care. Correctional officers and probation and parole officers are among our first and constant responders who deal with stress, threat, danger and trauma on a regular and ongoing basis. Jails should be a safe place to live and work. Mr. Speaker, here's just one example of something to address. Metal detectors don't pick up ceramic blades to our jails. So when is this government going to commit to safety and commit to scanners that will do the job? The more weapons, the more overcrowding, the more stress, the more danger for everyone living and working in the facilities. The less this government supports our system, the more it breaks down. Our shiny new jails, our P3 jails have been in the news for a number of reasons. Glass that breaks shouldn't be used in our jails. Locks that can be unlocked shouldn't be used in our jails. They should be used as weapons. This is a government that has allowed shortcuts to happen. So when are they going to support and address this crisis in corrections? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud the 2015 International Dry Stone Festival that was held on Amherst Island this last weekend. Mr. Speaker, Amherst Island holds the greatest concentration of historic dry stone walls and fences in Canada. Some are close to 200 years old and most were built by Irish settlers. The festival was a great success due to the passionate and tireless commitment of organizers Andrea Cross, Dry Stone Canada, Stonewall Association of Ireland and, of course, an army of volunteers and over 30 dry stone wallers from very far. Dry stone wallers are sculptors guided by nature's canvas. The 450 million-year-old blocks they coax and coerce into long-lasting art forms are reminders of our historical connections to the landscape. Mr. Speaker, the festival celebrated Irish heritage and will boost local tourism and the local economy through the creation of a new year-round attraction. Indeed, it is the world's first attempt to mimic the ancient mystical Mayan Celtic lunar stone calendars of early civilization. I will never forget the moment when we saw the sun break through the clouds and shine on a wall behind. Absolutely fantastic. Mr. Speaker, I am so proud of our government's support for the festival through a $73,000 tourism initiative grant. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize just a few of the many people I would like to recognize just a few of the many communities, church groups, service organizations, art organizations, businesses and individual citizens in Perth, Wellington who are coming together to assist in the Syrian refugee crisis. Those groups include the City of Stratford and the Stratford Festival. They have partnered to raise the funds necessary to sponsor several families from Syria and help them settle in the City of Stratford. They formed a steering committee for local city councillor, interested residents, members of the faith community and members of the council of churches. Together this committee has set out to raise $225,000 to help resettle a minimum of five families. I would like to also recognize the Mennonite Central Committee for its outstanding work on this issue. With their history and expertise in supporting refugees, it's no wonder Stratford is working on this issue. MCC will also be opening a gift registry where local residents can make donations. The Stratford Festival is also doing its part. The festival will be donating funds from a performance to the fundraising effort. They expect to raise $20,000 in the signal evening. I would encourage anyone interested in more information about this performance to contact the festival directly. Tomorrow a public information session will be held at Stratford City Auditorium at 7 p.m. Again, thank you to our community leaders and partners for coming together to support this important, worthy cause. Thank you. Thank you for your member statements. The member from Mississauga Streetsville. Speaker, Mississauga lost one of its most prominent business people, one of its biggest boosters, most recognizable faces and most liked neighbors in September. Ron Lenick, publisher of our newspaper Ron served 31 years as publisher of the Mississauga News. He left in 2008 to be a vice president of Torstar Corporation going on to become chief executive officer of Mississauga's Living Arts Centre in 2011. Reflecting the Canada that Ron helped build, he was born in post-war West Germany in a displaced persons camp. He came to Canada with his parents in 1949 at 3 years old, landing in Nova Scotia's famous Pier 21. Ron was married with two children and is survived by his wife of 45 years, Olga, daughter Trina, her husband Jason Christie and their daughter Madison and his son Terry and his wife, Taylor Williamson. There was scarcely a cause or a charity in Mississauga that Ron didn't support or help out with. Ron Lenick leaves a big legacy and always expressed the confidence and the issues of any size. We are a better city for having Ron Lenick among us in the city of Mississauga. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share news from the great riding of Mississauga Brempton South of the Credit Valley Trail. On September 11th, Friends of the Greenbelt announced $100,000 to help Credit Valley Conservation of a 110-kilometer trail that will stretch from Port Credit in Mississauga to Orangewell. Each year, Ontario invests $130 million to support over 80,000 kilometers of trails. Trails that link unique communities and green spaces encourage people of all ages to explore the natural environment and to be physically active. The Credit Valley Trail will also boost the local economy by drawing visitors and tourists. As parliamentary assistant to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, I know the trail will create a stronger connection between urbanites and their natural environment. Awareness of our natural surroundings leads to a better understanding of the human impact on the environment and of our undeniable role in climate change. Thank you Mr. Speaker.