 I recognize that it is Member Statements. Member Statements. I recognize the member from University of Russia. Thank you, Speaker. Erin Clifford and her partner, John, both work from home full-time. Their daughters, Addison and Cara, attend Montrose Public School. During remote emergency learning, Addison, a grade one student, struggled to keep up with her class. It has been heartbreaking for the family to watch Addison's confidence disappear as she falls further behind. Erin and John have done their best to support Addison, but it has been impossible to keep up with the demands of work, childcare and learning at home. If schools don't reopen full-time in September, Erin is considering leaving her job at the University of Toronto to ensure Addison gets the one-on-one support she needs. This story, Erin, Addison, Cara and John's story is happening all across Ontario. If school does not reopen in September, there are working mothers, especially working mothers who are going to be losing their job. There are parents who are at their wits end. They are frustrated, they are exhausted, they are worried, and they don't know what they're going to do if school doesn't safely reopen in September. Now, this government has put forward a work-it-out-yourselfs-bored plan with no real funding commitment and no real support for school boards to allow them to return teachers and kids safely. That is not a plan that is an abdication of responsibility. Parents, teachers, kids, they want this government to come up with a real plan, a real fully-funded plan that will get kids to return to school safely. Please do that. Members' statements? I recognise Member from Down Valley North. Thank you, Madam Speaker. When we see instances of racial discrimination and hatred toward Chinese-Canadian during the pandemic, like the disturbing video of a shopper at the Missoka store last week, it is hurtful and offensive to us all as Canadians. The victim of the racial abuse I referred to was told to go back to China simply because he asked a patron to wear a mask. In response to the racial slur, the victim proudly and clearly stated, I am Canadian. Speaker, I, too, am Canadian. There are several hundred thousand Ontarians, people just like me, Canadians of Chinese descent who proudly call Canada home and contribute richly to our economy and culture. During the pandemic, Chinese-Canadian united and organised to help people from all different backgrounds out of the goodies of their hearts. They kindly donated PPE, food and money while also promoting and foreign health and safety guidelines to protect others. They acted in the true Ontario spirit as proud Canadians. Speaker, here I call all for all Canadians to stand together to denounce racism and show the world what it means to be a Canadian just like the victim stated. We are Canadian. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member Statements, Member for Thunder Bay Atticoken. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, last week I had the pleasure to meet with a group of early childhood educators, the Thunder Bay ECE Unite Group. What a great group of dedicated and devoted women. This group is concerned with this government's lack of concrete plan for childcare. And so am I. Kim Keevey, an early childhood educator, told me our before and after school care is licensed for 30 children and according to the ministry we now can only take 10 people. So there's eight children and two educators. That means there's 22 children that do not have care. We were already in a crisis in Thunder Bay with childcare with years long as a list and now post-COVID were worse. Despite the government's announcements of a sustainability plan for childcare, childcare operators have not received concrete funding agreements. Throughout the pandemic this government didn't communicate critical changes to rules around funding to ensure the continued payment of staff. They also did not consult with the centres on a safe reopening strategy or provide funding to help centres adjust to the new safety requirements. This government needs to stop paying lip service to the importance of childcare and start actually supporting them so that they can keep their staff and avoid massive debts. A safe reopening of Ontario will not be possible without a clear plan for childcare. Member statements. Member for Oakville North Burlington. Speaker, parents in my constituency of Oakville North Burlington are very concerned that too many young people have taken up vaping. Since January we've held two roundtable meetings that included Halton's medical officer of health. These participants at these roundtables expressed their concerns to me and asked for all levels of government to take action. A 2019 CAMH survey found that vaping youth by youth has almost doubled in two years. Almost a quarter of students in grades 7 to 12 have tried a vaping product in the past year and one in eight students were vaping weekly or daily. And 83% of users aged 15 to 19 report using fruit or candy-flavoured vapes. These numbers are alarming to me and to parents. Our government heard the concerns of parents and we took swift action. As of July 1st, the Ontario government has restricted the retail sale of the most flavoured vapour products and those with high nicotine concentrations to specialty vape stores and licensed cannabis retail stores. And specialty vape stores now must ensure that any indoor displays and promotions of vapour products are not visible from outside these stores. Those who break the rules could face fines between 4,000 to $150,000. Vaping is a serious risk to the health of our young people and it's important that parents find out more about the dangers of vaping and make sure their teens have all the facts. Member statements to Member for Waterloo. Thank you very much. Throughout most of the pandemic we've seen a disproportionate impact on women. Women are more likely to work in caring jobs as nurses, PSWs, early childhood educators, midwives or in the retailer service sector. All of these women are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, putting them and their families health in jeopardy. Women also make 78 cents on the dollar when compared to men for racialized and indigenous women, it's even less. And whether there is a global pandemic or not women always disproportionately bear the greater responsibility for childcare. So yesterday when the government announced that in a few days time much of the province would be moving to Stage 3 across the province were left with lots of questions. What about my health and safety at work? What am I going to do about childcare this summer? How can I go back to work full-time if my kids only go back to school part-time this fall? Lots of questions with few answers from the government. The government announced that childcare will be allowed to reopen at 90% capacity as of July 27th. Why 90%? Is that threshold safe? Has the government provided extra support for PCEs and childcare centers for PPE? No, they have not. Before any of these reopenings happen questions need to be answered. Women and parents deserve answers and they need support. Our health and indeed our economic recovery depends on it. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Next we have the member for Ottawa South. Thank you very much Speaker. Speaker, Ontario's children need to be back in school full-time in the fall. This must be our collective priority. It's not just important for our kids education, their development, their mental health. It's a cornerstone of our economic recovery. Getting kids back to school full-time enables parents and caregivers to get back to work to fully participate in the workforce in Ontario's economy. This is especially true for women who more often than not have been carrying the freight with our children out of school. For many of their careers have been disproportionately impacted. Speaker, just like we did in our hospitals at the beginning of this pandemic, we need to invest more in our schools. We need more educators, more supports, extra spaces for children to learn so we can keep our class sizes smaller and safer. We must also ensure that local public health units have the resources and the tools they need when our schools open up. And just like in health care, the government needs to establish a command table that includes parents, student, school boards, teachers' federation and public health. Speaker, our party has put forward an action plan to invest in our schools. Simply put, it's the most important thing we can do for our families and for our economic recovery. Thank you, Speaker. Member Statements. The Member for Richmond Hill. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, we all recognize that, other than our health and safety, COVID-19 has heavily impacted our economy. I had organized town hall Zoom meetings since April and continued until June to support businesses in Richmond Hill. I am grateful that MPP Stanchill, Minister Leche and Minister Pratmeet Sakaria joined me in Zoom meetings with businesses and families working with them on their challenges. I also joined Recovery Richmond Hill Task Force, working with the City of Richmond Hill and Richmond Hill Board of Trade, as well as Markham Richmond Hill and Vaughan Chinese Business Association. Working together, we identified programs and strategies to assist them to realign their operations and re-establish normal business. We provided individual support and hosted a series of seminars to prepare them on handling their challenges. It is really encouraging to see some Richmond Hill businesses, cooperation, they also stepped up to support the community with PPEs and other materials. What a difference it made during these difficult times. Today, when I visit the local businesses to promote the shop local program, I am touched by the positive attitude, determination and willingness to put extra time to make up for the challenges caused by COVID-19. I know our economy is on its path to recovery. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Statements. Member for Tamiskimi and Cochrane. Thank you, Speaker. We are going through never-before-seen times with COVID-19 and some parts of the province face different problems than others. And I'd like to focus on a unique problem that one of our towns is facing right now, Kirkland Lake. And they are facing a lot of problems with black bears. And black bears haven't heard about physical or social distancing. In Kirkland Lake, there's actually a Facebook group where they keep live track of where the bears are going. Now, if this was happening in a town in southern Ontario, this would be provincial, perhaps national news. But it's just another day in northern Ontario. Just another day. Keep your kids inside. Just another day. Could you imagine in southern Ontario if there were bears roaming around and they were told, keep your kids inside? Bear-wise suggests. Now, the bears are hungry. We're not anti-bear. And M&R is doing what it could with the budget it has. But keep in mind the differences in this province. There are huge issues in this province with COVID-19. But there are parts of this province who have to wonder if there's a bear outside the door on a regular basis. We have to look at all our issues. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Member Statements. The Member for Carlton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Saman and Charlie Lokuwa-Duge, a father and son who fled civil strife at Sri Lanka two years ago and bought the East and West Diner Enrichment, donated commercial grade disinfecting products to the Ottawa Police Service's Leetrim station. Ross and Manatek, an organization supporting rural seniors, has, among other things, been providing transportation for essential medical appointments, delivering frozen meals and offering grocery deliveries. Allen Ryan, president of the Stitsville Business Association, teamed up with Ross and Corleen Bradley to provide gift cards, lunches, dinners, and more to the Ottawa Police Service Huntmar Station, Ottawa Fire Services Station 46, Ottawa Paramedic Services, and staff at local pharmacies, retirement residences, and grocery stores. Manatek Village Community Association started a community Facebook page that, among other things, helped single-parent families or healthcare workers who may not have time to shop, coordinating with the Kiwanis Club of Manatek who created a community pandemic volunteers list. Greeley and Metcalf Lines Club partnered together pledging $5,000 to a matching funds campaign of all other donations to the Osgoode Care Centre. John Stacey, owner of Stagra Automotive in Greeley, donated funds for a special staff meal at the Osgoode Care Centre. Gary Creppen donated N95 masks to the Osgoode Care Centre. Ron Miller, owner of Millers Farm Market and Garden Centre in Manatek, bought a meal for every single resident at Highfield Apartments in Manatek. The list goes on and on, Mr. Speaker, and unfortunately I don't have enough time, everyone in Carleton, who stepped up to make a difference during the COVID-19 pandemic. You're an inspiration to everyone. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member for Etobicoke Lakeshore. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And today I rise to bring attention to an important, charitable, non-for-profit community centre in Etobicoke Lakeshore, the Franklin Horner Community Centre. Franklin Horner is a home and host of variety of programs, services and meeting space for community organisations, groups and individual members. They welcome groups of individuals of all ages and multitude of activities for all. But just like everyone here, they had to reinvent themselves during this unprecedented time. Last week I had the pleasure of joining their dedicated team as they kicked off their new weekly meal service for seniors called Food for Far Away Friends. It's a program to get seniors out of their homes if they feel safe to do so. Hot meals can be picked up at the centre or delivered to individuals' homes. And they also have a tent set up outside called the Big Top Café where you can enjoy some snacks and drinks and a social-distant conversation with a new friend or an old friend. Franklin Horner Community Centre offers recreational leisure activities including health education, fitness, an amazing woodworking room, day trips, crafts, art and congregate dining for our seniors. And I had the opportunity to visit this centre early this year with the Minister of Seniors Accessibility, Minister Cho, where he participated in an exercise program and shared some fun stories. I would like to thank Laura Latham, the Executive Director and her team for the amazing work that they're doing in South Etobicoke and looking after the mental wellness of our seniors. That concludes the time we have for member statements this morning.