 It's now time for Member Stavis, the Member from Heliburne, North L.A. Scott. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm very pleased to rise today to recognize the appointment of Rhonda Barnett as chair of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, which is Canada's largest trade and industry and association and the voice of more than 10,000 leading companies nationwide. I'm especially proud because Rhonda is a constituent of mine who hails from the village of Bethany and who helped found local company Steelworks Design in 2002. Rhonda was announced as chair of the CME last Thursday, setting a milestone for the organization as the first woman ever to hold the role. As chair of the CME, Rhonda expressed her commitment to advancing the involvement of women in manufacturing, strengthening our small and medium-sized businesses, and also her hope that her role will have an impact locally. Through her involvement in the Corridor Manufacturers Association, she plans to connect the two boards to advance manufacturing in the Peterborough area. Under Rhonda's leadership, I have no doubt that the CME will be well-positioned to meet its goal of doubling the wealth of manufacturing in Canada. Finally, I'd also like to take this opportunity to commend the CME for their work engaging women in their national board. I was pleased to learn that about 25% of their directors are women and that the board wants to see that number grow to 40%. So congratulations to Rhonda and the CME on this important milestone and best wishes for continued success in the years to come. Thank you for the member statements from Oshawa. Thank you Speaker. My community is an active community and one that strives to be not only inclusive but accessible. I attended and spoke at the Durham Region Accessibility Forum held recently. It was such a great event both in terms of purpose and participation. Many of our community and disability advocates were there and it was an event about partnerships and community support for fairness and equity. The event was held at the Ability Centre in Whitby which is a phenomenal example of what access can look like. The physical design is inviting and accessible to all but so too was the conversation. Advocates Catherine and Scott Bremner organized the event with their team and it was a privilege to learn from David Lepofsky the accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Chair. Speaker, as you know we have a goal in Ontario to be fully accessible by the year 2025. Members across the legislature from all parties supported that goal and committed to it. Well Speaker we are not on track to achieve it and we should be. Our communities are stronger and more engaged when more people can access our businesses, community spaces, centres for learning and the workforce. We have the accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act or AODA and it is a solid piece of legislation that was supported by all parties in this house. Unfortunately the act doesn't have the strength of our convictions. It doesn't have the teeth it deserves to make the kind of difference it needs to to ensure all Ontarians can access and equitably participate in their communities. I challenge all of us to recommit to reaching our shared goal of a fully accessible Ontario by 2024 or 2025. Let's get back on track. Thank you. Pretty member of the members of St Catherine's Chief Government with. On November 12th I visited the home of a wonderful organization in St Catherine's known as Start Me Up Niagara which provides assistance to vulnerable individuals including the homeless in our community. We were there to celebrate the grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to improve the building. On this occasion Susan Venditti, the Executive Director, presented me with a framed poem written by one of their clients Sam Manella. It reads as follows and refers to Remembrance Day. Let their names shine forever across the passage of time and generations beyond the great horizon and night's sad hour. Remember with a flower the poppy stained with the blood of the brave for it is our lives they did save for they left their lives down the sunlit pass to mark the tragic way with courage and valor. Never a new generation will forget to respect and protect all epitaphs like the great monument at Vimy Ridge. It took a century to design and create the monument echoes brave voices if you listen carefully especially during a strong crosswind a timeless priceless piece reaching out into the sky. How fitting for soldiers once saw the sky fall fall in their dreams and aspirations but those dreams became a reality for all of us. Thank you brave women and men. We will all remember and salute you. Thank you for the member status the member from Bruce Gray. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Chapman's ice cream has been served up sweet victory after beating out nine other countries to scoop up three of five international awards in Spain. Its premium caramel saucy spots earned the best ice cream award while its super saucy spots sandwiched took the most innovative title. Last year Chapman's premium Canadian collection oatmeal stick witch cookie won the most innovative ice cream award from an international association of independent ice cream manufacturers. With that Chapman's has successfully solidified its place as one of the most enterprising independent ice cream manufacturers in the world. Although Chapman's has grown substantially since it opened in 1973 the family is still firmly rooted in the community and deeply loyal to its 525 employees. Last year they donated one million dollars to the residential hospice of Bruce Gray. Recently there are praise for standing up for rural schools. Vice President Ashley Chapman said the company is willing to put its money where its mouth is and buy the school in Markdale as its closure will be devastating to the community and to the business including the negative spin-off effect on the agriculture industry and dairy farmers in the region. From whipping up winning ice cream recipes to serving up recipes to save local schools the Chapman family has never been one to shy away from a challenge Mr. Speaker. In 2009 this family business burned to the ground leaving hundreds of people out of work. Imagine the resolve it took to rebuild. But within seven weeks Chapman's was producing its first brick of ice cream aptly named Phoenix. Within a year and a half they had real big rebuilt bigger and better than ever and that is Chapman's recipe for success Mr. Speaker. I invite the House to join me in congratulating them on their congress. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Last Friday I had the honor and the privilege of attending a number of remembered state ceremonies in my writing and I'm sure many of my colleagues did the same. These ceremonies are always put on by our local legions. The legions of Naggar Lake, Naggar Falls, Ridgeway, Stevensville, Chippewa, Fort Erie and across the province our organizations have incredible respect for. My father was a veteran and our local legion was a center of my mom and my dad's social life. I've seen firsthand the incredible service legions offered to our veterans in our community and I know that without those services whether it's the fish fries that help cover the costs or just simply the fact to have someone to talk to more of our veterans would be struggling. Unfortunately Mr. Speaker there are very serious problems facing legions in Ontario. Legions in Naggar tell me they're struggling to pay their hydro bills just like so many others who can't can't live in my writing and across the province they simply can't afford to keep paying for this government's mistake. In some cases the bills have gone up thousands of dollars. You have to sell a lot of beer to cover that. Mr. Speaker the legions of our great province offer vital services to our men and women who have served this country. They focus on remembering those who gave their lives for freedom and they're looking after the needs of our veterans their dependents and those that are serving in the Canadian Forces. If the province fails these legions then they're failing veterans who rely on the services they provide. The province must make this right. They must immediately halt the sale of Hydro One and take emergency action to reduce hydro rates. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Today across the world we are recognizing premature babies with World Prematurety Day and with me today I have the executive director of the Canadian Premature Babies Foundation Kate Robson and with Kate is a board member Jennifer Crespi. Welcome to Queen's Park. World Prematurety Day is recognized around the world on November 17th to raise awareness about the prevalence of preterm births. The health issues and struggles preterm babies in their family's face and to look at what measures can be taken to minimize the risk of preterm birth. Premature birth is the leading cause I'm sure the members will be interested in hearing this it's the leading cause of infant deaths in Canada. That's a serious serious issue. One in 12 babies are born prematurely in Canada 15 million worldwide. A baby who is born prematurely is likely to develop lifelong diseases that may affect the heart, kidney, lungs, intestines and the immune system of the baby. So those babies who survive being born premature without complications are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. So there are efforts to try and bring more resources to premature babies and today we try to bring that light so that we can reduce the number of preterm births in Canada and it's about time we do. Thank you. Thank you so the member sends the member from Whitby Oshawa. Thank you Speaker. I rise to speak on financial literacy as the official opposition critic for advanced education and skills development. I and the other members of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Caucus want students to succeed in school and beyond and that's why it's important to provide them with a strong understanding of financial management before they graduate high school and that's why my colleague the MPP for Nipissing recently introduced the Financial Literacy for Students Act. There's no doubt speaker that the financial realities that we face as Interians indicate that there's a lot of stake in educating young students to be financially prudent and these are important life skills for the future leaders of Ontario communities but speaker half of Ontario's grade six students are failing to meet the provincial standards for mathematics. We need to become global leaders in graduating students who are not only well versed in mathematics and languages but in personal finance as well. Speaker when we invest in people we empower people to invest in themselves. Thank you speaker. Thank you. Further member statements? The member from Windsor West. Thank you speaker as always it is my pleasure to rise on behalf of my constituents of Windsor West. This November we once again recognize Diabetes Awareness Month across Ontario. As a new democratic spokesperson for education I want to focus on students living with diabetes and their experience at Ontario schools. All students in Ontario have the right to participate fully in school without the fear of being excluded stigmatized or discriminated against. Unfortunately for many students with diabetes in Ontario this isn't always the case. One in 300 children have type one diabetes and access to supports for these children in school varies widely across Ontario from one school to the next. Some students receive great support while others may be left out of school activities like field trips because our schools simply do not have the resources to address their needs. In fact some parents have had to quit their jobs or take weeks off at the beginning of each new school year to prevent emergencies and ensure their child's daily management needs are met. Poor management of blood glucose levels could seriously affect academic performance as well as the overall health. Children with diabetes need immediate supports to ensure that there is consistent access to the resources they need to stay safe and these students must have the opportunity to excel both inside and outside the classroom. I hope that the government will follow the leadership of these organizations like the Canadian Diabetes Association and the Canadian Pediatric Society. I hope that the government will follow their leadership and address the needs of school-aged children living with diabetes as a priority before the start of the next school year. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today is World Pancreatic Cancer Day and Canadian Awareness of Pancreatic Cancer is extremely low so most people learn about pancreatic cancer when they first get a diagnosis and I just learned recently of a friend of mine Rick, a really wonderful guy, a wonderful person in our community who's received that diagnosis, his wife Jenny called to say that this had happened and that today was World Pancreatic Cancer Day and she asked me to say a few words about World Pancreatic Cancer Day but I'd also like to say to Jenny and Rick that we send you all the strength that we can as you face this challenge. It's a big challenge and you know it's often referred to as a silent disease. It grows undetected until later stages. It's the seventh most common cause of cancer related death in men and women and but early diagnosis is the key and patients who are diagnosed in time for surgery have a much higher likelihood of surviving and I just I want to say again to Rick and to Jenny and your family and and to all your friends we send you all the strength that we can as you face this challenge. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Thank you. I thank all members for their statements.