 It's now time for Member's Statements. Member for Moschigewok, James Bay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was wondering what I was going to say in my Member's Statement regarding all of that which is happening in the Francophone world, so I can't not speak about it. We have seen the Conservatives' true colors this week. I had the opportunity to speak to various people throughout the province regarding Francophone life. We are very disappointed that our rights aren't being respected, our constitutional rights. We gave the government the opportunity to do the right thing to support a motion for the French Language Services Commissioner and for the French Language University. This is a slap in the face of the Francophone community. This weekend, more than 5,000 Francophones will protest. This is our right. This is the place in this province. I want to re-establish our place and there are certain people who don't support us like the Conservative Party. You had the opportunity to do the right thing and to recognize Franco-Antarians. I was very disappointed that my Premier said in English even though and we see their true colors with respect to Francophones in Ontario. Thank you. Member's Statements. Member for Richmond Hill. Thank you. Mr Speaker, I attended the 26th anniversary Inauguration Gala for the Scarborough York Region Chinese Business Association last week. I was impressed by how they filled a room with business leaders and politicians from all three levels of government. They are one of four associations making up the Confederation of Chinese Business Association. I served on the sister association in Richmond Hill for over 20 years and was the past president. The mission is to support businesses, especially we organize networking meetings for Chinese businesses to integrate into the mainstream. We help build relations with all three levels of government. We work with economic development to organize seminars on business development, financial management, crime control, security and much more. The Chinese Business Association have an effective trade bridge for Canada and China, helping Ontario to grow in economic development as we supporting the growth in Ontario. Ontario is open for business, Mr Speaker, through these kind of work. Thank you. Thank you. Member for Oshawa. Thank you, Speaker. Oshawa has a long and impressive 140-year history of automotive excellence. I toured our award-winning state-of-the-art facility on the day GM Canada was celebrating its 100th anniversary. There were cars and trucks and a bright future on the line, and that was only three weeks ago. For 100 years, our community has had a strong relationship with GM. We have nurtured the spirit of innovation and an automotive dream for a century. GM has been a part of our city's foundation, but GM didn't build Oshawa. Oshawa built GM. On Sunday night, my community was blindsided by devastating news. GM Canada has decided to stop investing in Oshawa and has said it will not allocate product to be built beyond December 2019. This is not what our community deserves, but we are told it is all we're going to get. We are talking about thousands of good jobs, jobs that pay for homes and car payments and family and school costs, with benefits to cover medications and dentists and with pensions and security. We are talking about tens of thousands of supporting and connected jobs in the supply chain. Some of those have benefits, most of them won't have pensions, and all of them are in jeopardy if GM abandoned Oshawa. These are the kind of jobs we want to create, but here we have thousands of them already here, and this government won't fight to keep them. On the day of the announcement, after one phone call with the company, this Premier threw in the towel and said there was nothing he could do. What he could do is stand alongside us. The workers and the community of Oshawa believe there is always something to fight for. We don't know how this will turn out, but Oshawa is worth the fight. Thank you. For Etobicoke Lakeshore. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the writing of Etobicoke Lakeshore, my writing, we've had some really important guests visit us over the last few months. We've had Minister Yakibuske there twice, Minister Clark there to talk about the Mimico GO station and to announce a partnership to improve station building and create a new housing development around the station. Over the summer, we had the Minister of Finance and even the Premier joining us in the writing to announce Buckebier Challenge with the local Etobicoke Brewery. But I think that we can all agree that even more well-known and anticipated guests will be making a special one-year appearance in Etobicoke Lakeshore this Saturday. Mr. Speaker, Santa Claus is coming to the Lakeshore. The Etobicoke Santa Claus parade now in its 27th year is happening on December the 1st, and I'm told that Santa himself will be taking time out of his busy schedule to march in the parade. The Lakeshore Village and Long Branch BIAs have been working hard all year to make this parade even the biggest and best yet. And I'm looking to participate in the parade, and if I'm lucky, a chance to see the big man himself. And to make sure all the constituents in my writing are on his nice list for Christmas this year. The member from Waterloo. Thank you very much. I had the pleasure of recently visiting East Village Animal Hospital's Kitchener location. They provide an essential service in my community, low-cost veterinary services for pets cared for by low-income individuals and non-profit animal rescue groups. East Village operates under non-profit principles, yet for nearly two decades veterinary clinics across the province have been unable to obtain charitable status due to regulations in the Business Corporations Act and the Veterinarians Act. East Village and organizations like it want to change that. They're asking the government to allow vet clinics like theirs to register as charities under these two acts. This is a solution that will not financially impact the province. It's just the right thing to do, Speaker. It will help animal hospitals like East Village who care for the pets of individuals who are living in poverty, those coping with mental illness and with disabilities and, of course, our seniors. Pet ownership has been shown to reduce strain on the health care system by reducing physician visits and reducing the prevalence of mental illness. A team led at the Canadian Mental Health Association shared this about a client who required inpatient treatment. When the client found out that the East Village Animal Hospital could help, it gave her an incredible amount of hope when she needed it most. As legislators, we should be doing all that we can to assist groups like the East Village Animal Hospital to be the best that they can be. I look forward to supporting East Village Animal Hospital in their journey of receiving charitable status in the province of Ontario. It is just the right thing to do. Member statements. The member for Scarborough, Guildwood. Thank you, Speaker. I'm pleased to rise in this house and speak on behalf of the Ontario Child Advocate. Queen's Park earlier today stood Anna May Troy, Bailey, Elsbeth, and hundreds of children and adults who were on the front lawns to hear the stories of the youth, vulnerable youth in this province, where a system is not working for them. And for the first time, they felt listened to under the Ontario Child Advocate. These stories were heart-wrenching. I urge the Conservative government to reinstate the independent child advocate and to protect Ontario's youth. I want to say thank you to Erwin Elman, who has been serving ably in this office for over a decade. The Conservative government's first chance to explain to Ontarians what their plan was for the future of this province contained the most damaging cuts to the independent officers that we've ever seen. And included in these cuts is the Ontario Child Advocate. The Child Advocate listens to vulnerable children, to those children who need the most help. And this is a ruthless act to save money. The voice of Indigenous youth, LGBTQ youth, Black youth, youth in children's aid societies, special needs youth, youth with disabilities, must be heard in this province. And I ask the government to rethink its decision to close this office. Member Statements, the member for Northumberland, Peter Burrow South. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, I had the great opportunity to attend the fishability dinner in Beaudley. Fishability was founded in 2008. It's a fishing club for children, youth, and adults with any disability. But it's so much more. It's an inclusive group that helps really break down barriers. They show everyone in our community that with a little effort, time, and commitment, anything is possible. Or as they say, making the impossible possible. Now I have to actually credit my dog Max for first introducing me to this remarkable group when we were at Brighton Apple Fest. He got pulled away to some of the treats young Vicki Hillier who is with the fishability group was selling. And I've got to say, a big thank you to Vicki, to her family, to Debbie and Keith Hillier who are working, and to all the people who volunteer their time to make fishability dinner a success. Thank you for bringing my attention to the important cause. Thank you for giving me a deeper understanding of the challenges those with disabilities face. And so that we in this place, in this legislature, can make Ontario more inclusive, break down barriers so that everybody can have the opportunities you fight so hard for the young men and women in our community to have. So thank you very much for the fishability dinner. Thank you. Thank you. Member for Nickel Belt. Thank you, Speaker. I would like to share a message from my constituent, Chantal Chartrain, who lives in Cape Reel. She wrote, and I quote, I'm writing to you to express my concerns about the current wait time for autism spectrum disorder diagnostic services and program. She goes on to write, I am a special needs mother to two amazing children, nine years old Emily and three years old Valerie. Both have been diagnosed with developmental issues. Valerie is severely delayed in all areas of her life. She has been receiving speech and language therapy since 2017. It took 12 months before her physiotherapy could start. And she was told that she will finally start occupational therapy in January of 2019. She finds that she is fortunate because since she's been receiving therapy, she was nonverbal before. Now she's doing way better. After Valerie receives her diagnostic, she asks, what are the next steps? They recommended ABA therapy. But there's a minimum three year wait list for her to start. Emily will be six years old. When you're three years old, a three year wait list is a lifetime. This is not an exception, Speaker. It is the norm for the families in Nicobalt. We want this government to realize that those kids' lives depend on them doing the right thing. Make sure that the services that the children on the spectrum disorder needs are available to all, including the people of Nicobalt. Thank you, Speaker. Members statements? The member for Durham. Thank you, Speaker. I rise today to again voice my disappointment with the recent decision of General Motors to close the Oshawa assembly plant. We've made cars in Oshawa for more than a century. And thousands of my constituents, their friends, their family, work at GM or have worked at GM in the past. I want to let the people of Oshawa and Durham know the affected workers and their families. I stand with you. And I will continue to stand up for you. While GM has made clear that they're abandoning skilled workers and a region that has stood by them in good times and bad, Oshawa and Durham are resilient. And together, we will get through this. I want to also let the people of Durham know that our government for the people will work day and night to bring good paying jobs back to the region. Years of economic mismanagement has hurt innocent families. And we as legislators must do everything we can to create the economic conditions that will open Oshawa and Ontario for business once again. I stand shoulder to shoulder with our Premier and my Durham Progressive Conservative colleagues in this legislature, promising you, we will do just that. Thank you. Member Statements. The member for Perry Sound, Muscova. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to thank the community groups and local businesses that come together across my riding to bring Santa Clause to our communities in the form of the Santa Clause parades and through gift drives. In Huntsbone Bracebridge, the Santa Clause parades are organized by the local Rotary Clubs. In Perry Sound by the Optimist Club and in Graveners Balla and Port Carling by the Chamber of Commerce. Local Lions Clubs organize the parades in Mac Tier and Baysville. The Sundridge and Berks Falls parades are organized by the municipality. Local businesses put a great deal of work into these parades, including Kimberley Clark, which has been building Santa's Float for the Huntsville Parade for more than 20 years. But how much fun is it to see Santa on Christmas morning if there aren't any presents under the tree? I also want to thank all the businesses, groups and individuals that collect, donate and deliver gifts and other supports to those who might not otherwise have anything to open come Christmas. There are too many groups to list them all, but I do want to make special mention of the Salvation Army and all of our local food banks who work to support people in need both at Christmas and year round. Whether these groups are collecting toys for children, gifts for adults or food for families, I want them to know their efforts are appreciated not only by the recipients, but by the whole community. I'm looking forward to delivering some shoe boxes to the Muskoka Shoebox Project in time for the deadline this weekend, and I encourage anyone else who is able to donate to any of these gift drives to do so. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Good. Thank you very much. This concludes our member's statements this afternoon. Reports by committees. I recognize the member for Burlington.