 It is now time for members' statements. I recognize the member for Ottawa Centre. Thank you, Speaker. This morning I want to address the troubling development for people with disabilities in Ontario, specifically for recipients of the Ontario Disability Support Program. Two weeks ago this government announced a pilot project to privatize employment services for ODSP recipients in Hamilton, Niagara, Peel and Muskoka, Co-Orthas. Stop the clock. I recognize that we have new standing orders that we're still getting used to them, but I would ask that all members will keep their voices to a lower level so that we can hear the member who has the floor. And again, I'll return to the member for Ottawa Centre, continue where you were at, please, and restart the clock. In other countries where ODSP employment services have been privatized, including the United Kingdom and Australia, the results have been disastrous for people with disabilities. In the United Kingdom, a French corporation called ATOP Corporation was given a contract to conduct work capability assessments, determining whether or not people with disabilities were fit for employment. Between 2011 to 2014, over 2,000 people with disabilities in the United Kingdom died after their benefits were ended because they failed work capability assessments. ATOP Corporation profited handsomely off of the misery and humiliation of people with disabilities. Speaker in Ontario, we cannot go down this road. The 500,000 people who are living on ODSP are already living on miserly low incomes, legislated by decades of governments in this province. If we want their dignity to be upheld, if the job of this place is to protect the most vulnerable people in our province, we cannot condone the privatization of employment services for the Ontario disability support group around where better than this speaker. Let's stop. Thank you very much. Next statement, the member for York Centre. Thank you, Speaker. Today I'd like to recognize and tell the House about a very special non-profit constituent. Operating since 1985 and located in my writing of York Centre, Second Harvest is the largest food rescue organization in Canada. It works across the supply chain from farm to retail to capture surplus food before it ends up in landfill. Last year Second Harvest recovered more than 15 million pounds of nutritious, unsold food focusing on protein, dairy and produce. They rescue food before it becomes waste and are distributed to approximately 1,100 food banks and social organizations across the GTA. With help from hundreds of companies, foundations and the community at large, they rescue enough food to provide over 43,000 meals a day. Since 1985 it is estimated that Second Harvest rescued and delivered more than 155 million pounds of food. Their vision is no waste, no hunger. Their mission is to grow an efficient food recovery network to feed folks in need while reducing the environmental impact of avoidable food waste. I'm proud to partner up with Second Harvest to save more food and feed more people. Last year I introduced the management of Second Harvest to one of my favorite ministers, the Minister of Agriculture, in the hopes of bringing gaps, bridged gaps between Ontario's farmers and Second Harvest. In September of last year I was delighted to announce a Trillium grant in the amount of $150,000. The grant will enable Second Harvest to purchase an additional truck and deliver more food to people in need. I'm sincerely grateful to the great people at Second Harvest for their tireless work for our community. I also invite all members of the House to approach me with any ... Thank you very much. The next statement. The next statement, member from Nicobal. Thank you, Speaker. Today my colleague from Parkdale High Park and York Southwestern will introduce a bill to declare the first Monday in March as Black Mental Health Day. Black Ontarians are resilient. They are strong. They are survivors. They have and continue to make significant contributions to our province across all sectors including politics, education, business and sports. Unfortunately, entrench pervasive systemic racism has resulted in their continued experiences of discrimination. Black Ontarians face discrimination in racism almost every single day of their lives, be it in our schools, in our hospitals or on our street. This constant micro trauma is really hard on one's mental health. Black Ontarians, the NDP caucus, others like myself, call on this government to introduce three actions. First, declare the first Monday in March as Black Mental Health Day in Ontario. Second, mandate the collection of race-based data by healthcare providers. We must collect and publicly report health outcome based on race and ethnicity to drive improvement and accountability. And third, fund culturally-appropriate community-based health services to improve health outcomes. We can do this by scaling up good investment like Taibu CHC. Speaker, I think we can do this. By next year, Ontario will recognize Black Mental Health Day, will collect race-based data and have culturally-appropriate services. Thank you very much. Member Statements and Member for Whitby. Thank you, Speaker. Last Friday, I had the pleasure of being at the Ability Centre in Whitby, where the Minister for Scenes and Accessibility, the Honorable Raymond Cho, announced the second area of focus under the Advancing Accessibility in Ontario framework. Speaker, the government is leading by example in this role as policymaker, service provider and employer, and Minister Cho's announcement to affirm that commitment. Working with the Ministry of Infrastructure to establish effective criteria, not only will provincial projects be required to satisfy accessibility standards, they will also be evaluated. Based on whether they exceed minimum standards and accessibility guidelines, universal design principles and Speaker provide innovative solutions to increase accessibility. What's clear, Speaker, is that the government is committed to protecting what matters most, and this means removing barriers in Ontario so that we can empower all those with disabilities. It's crucial, Speaker, that we set a strong example, like our Honorable Member, of moving accessibility forward to make a positive difference in the daily lives of people with disabilities. Thank you, Speaker. The next statement, the Member for Windsor to come see. Speaker, we just celebrated Black History Month and then Windsor, our public board, did a wonderful thing. They named a new school after the first black man ever elected as a school trustee in our area. He was James L. Dunn. Back in 1883, we had three schools. One for the white Protestants, one for the Catholics, and one for the colored kids. The colored school was a much of one compared to the other two, so Mr. Dunn tried to enroll his daughter in the white one. They wouldn't take her. He appealed to the school board. They turned him down. He took them to court. His case was dismissed. So he ran for the school board and was elected. He served four terms, and then he was elected to City Council. Our schools were desegregated in 1888, thanks in part to James L. Dunn. The new school is actually being built in his old neighborhood. James was the son of former slaves. He started as a clerk in a varnish factory. He did well. He ended up owning that factory. He became a paint supplier to companies such as Massey Harris. Along the way, he served as a Justice of the Peace and was a founding member of the colored masons in Windsor. It was only 41 when he died in 1889. He had the largest funeral ever seen in Windsor up to that point. I hope the school's future students will channel his spirit and in his honor continue to fight against any black racism wherever they encounter it along life's highway. Thank you. Member Statements, the member for Don Valley West. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've lived with my family in the community of North Toronto since 1982 and in that time I've witnessed the transformation of North Toronto neighborhoods. One of the persistent issues in my political career has been the controls on that intensification of population. I have worked with local councillors, residents and rate payers associations like FONTR, the Federation of North Toronto Residents Association, Sarah, South Eglinton Ratepayers and Residents Association and now the Republic Residents Association to monitor and work to support reasonable development without destroying neighborhoods. In fact, it was this experience that helped to inform my commitment to reform the Ontario Municipal Board which happened twice under the previous Liberal government. Sadly, the reforms that dispensed with the OMB and replaced it with the local planning appeals tribunal under our government which gave greater control to local councils to determine the development footprint and their jurisdictions have been reversed by the current government. They've retained the name of the LPAT but have undermined the central purpose of the reforms. Developers are very happy with these changes because once again they'll be able to essentially ignore the quality of life, the infrastructure and the safety concerns of residents. Mr. Speaker, we would be happy to welcome the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to come to talk to the people who are actually concerned about these issues about the changes to development charges, about the changes to the community development charges, Mr. Speaker, community benefits charges and we welcome him and I hope that this time if he comes he will actually talk to the residents who are concerned about these issues. The member for Chatham Kent Leamington. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As pleased to address the luncheon banquet on Sunday, March 1st for this past year's Chatham Kent Home James Ride Program. During the past December festive season, Home James and its over 90 volunteers provided rides to over 1,600 people so that no one drove home impaired from alcohol or drugs. Their slogan is, make us your last call. Back in 1999, I was the chair for Operation Red Knolls. That was 20 years ago. And Speaker, if you recall, that was the year leading up to, yes, Y2K. As chair, my goal on that New Year's Eve was to ensure that my volunteers remain safe in case of a technology meltdown. But as we all know, fortunately that meltdown didn't come to pass. Special thanks to OPP Sergeant Chris Hoag, Jody Hoag, CK Police Chief Gary Kahn, their executive team and to all volunteers and sponsors for making this past year once again a huge success. This past Christmas season saw over 526 rides provided and over 16,000 kilometers driven while providing a safe ride home to the previously mentioned 1,600 people. This is Home James' eighth year of operation in CK and I know there'll be many more as the communities in Chatham can't grow under our great government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member for London West. Thank you, Speaker. Recently I met with Hassan Sabahalagi, the CEO of Yellow London Taxi as well as several other London taxi drivers. With less than 30 days' notice and without any explanation these drivers saw their insurance premiums almost double last fall. Yellow London Taxi is not alone. Across the province cab drivers who operate on slim margins already and work up to 18 hours a day just to scrape by are seeing steep premium increases. Many are older immigrant drivers who worry they will not be able to find other jobs if they can no longer afford insurance. Some have been forced out by the unilateral cancellation of their coverage. Speaker, an estimated 1,200 families in London and tens of thousands more across Ontario rely on taxi cab industry employment. Ontario residents and visitors count on taxis for affordable, reliable transportation. That's why the Financial Services Commission called attention to sky-high taxi insurance six years ago, recommending that a committee be struck to solve this problem. That recommendation has been ignored, first by the Liberals and now by the Conservatives. Recent catastrophic insurance increases the urgency of addressing this issue has never been greater. Speaker, taxis are already heavily regulated when it comes to rates, equipment and how they operate. Why is this government hanging them out to dry when it comes to their insurance? Thank you, Speaker. Member for Brantford Branch. Thank you, Speaker. I'm pleased to rise today to speak about and raise awareness for an important event that recently occurred in Brantford. On February 22nd, teams of people from the City of Brantford, the County of Brant and beyond came together for the annual coldest night of the year charity walk in Brantford. Every year, people from across the community walk to raise money for causes which support people suffering from hunger, homelessness and neglect in our community. This year was no different with the event seeing excellent participation and support. 25 teams and about 175 walkers participated in the walk and collectively raised over $30,000. This year, prosaids from the event went to the Why Not Youth Center which serves disadvantaged youth in the downtown core of our city. The money raised from the coldest night of the year will go towards the programming of the youth center for homeless and at-risk youth. They assist these young people by providing food and clothing, helping them learn life and job skills and much more. I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the organizers of the walk and the congratulations for another successful year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member statements. Member for Niagara West. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. When we think about audiologists and speech language pathologists, we might think about hearing loss or stuttering or other speech impediments. But the work of these healthcare professionals is so much broader. In fact, it's much more than you think. Every day in schools, treatment centers, hospitals and private practice, Ontario's speech language pathologists and audiologists are helping people of all ages overcome a broad range of disorders and challenges so that they can thrive socially, academically and professionally. The term speech language pathologists can be a mouthful. I'm not trying to be funny, but when you learn all the areas they touch, they are deserving of a long title. Speaking, language, literacy, cognitive communication, feeding and swallowing, all call for an SLP. Audiologists address not just hearing, but also balance. And studies show that hearing aid can slow the progression and impact of dementia. Like the symptoms, the causes can be many. It can be something you're born with or caused by injury, illness or aging. It's safe to say that almost all of us or someone we care about will at some point in our life need the services of an SLP or audiologist. Speaker, I ask our MPPs to join me in welcoming to the Ontario Legislature the Ontario Association of Speech Language Pathologists and audiologists today, because they do so much more than you think. Welcome. Thank you very much. That concludes our member statements for this morning.