 Time for member statements, then I guess it's the member from Brampton East Thank you, sir Govir like many but Ramtonians is an essential worker who lives at home with his wife his kids and his parents One day his dad was complaining about a cough. He's a healthy guy with no underlying health issues But just be safe Govir dropped his dad off at the hospital He didn't know but that would be the last time we'd ever see his dad His dad died from COVID-19 His story is the story of Brampton. We are a city of essential workers who don't have the privilege to work from home Is that our fault? We are a city of workers who literally risk their lives every day Moving our economy and trucking and in factories so that others can work from home. Is that our fault now? Bramtonians are being told that we're to blame for the spread of COVID-19 in our city Well, are we to blame for the fact that we're a city of over six hundred thousand people with only one hospital? Are we to blame for the fact that our health care system is broken and this conservative government just like the liberals before them Have decided to do nothing. Are we to blame for the fact that this conservative government has voted? No to a 15-student class-sized cap and the resulting COVID-19 outbreak in our schools Are we to blame for the fact that this conservative government has abandoned Brampton during a pandemic? Well, I won't I won't stay. I would want to stand up for Brampton because I love this city Our city deserves better. We deserve more than one hospital We deserve a health care system that works and we're a city of fighters We're gonna keep on fighting until we get the support that we need so Brampton could beat the COVID-19 pandemic Thank you the member for Niagara West Thank you very much Speaker last Thursday Minister Phillips and I had the privilege of hearing directly from small business owners in Niagara West in a virtual Town Hall organized by three of our local chambers of commerce Minister Phillips highlighted how measures in the 2020 Ontario budget are directly helping Niagara's job creators and across the province are helping Ensure that we have a strong economy by lowering electricity prices Providing property tax relief cutting red tape and supporting in-demand trades through training and upgrading skills The minister and I heard from local several local business owners as they stress the importance of reducing business education tax rates Supports for new businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs Promoting our local grape and wine industry and addressing Ontario's job-killing electricity prices Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be part of a team including Premier Doug Ford and the Minister of Finance who understand the challenge Challenge is facing job creators almost 98% of employer businesses in Canada are small businesses And Ontario has the highest number of small businesses in the country Small businesses are the engine of our economy and vital to our recovery from COVID-19 and the future prosperity of our province I want to thank Rebecca Shelley executive director of the Grinsby and district Chamber of Commerce and a mirror Executive director of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and Denise Potter executive director of the West Lincoln Chamber of Commerce for hosting last Thursday's virtual Town Hall and for all the hard work local chambers due to support small businesses in our region our action plan to Protect support and recover is further proof that our government stands side-to-side with small business owners in Agra and across the province Remember for Hamilton West and Caster Dundas Thanks, mr. Speaker last week we held a town hall on long-term care in Hamilton West and Caster Dundas And I want to thank everyone for participating and for sharing your stories and your concerns about what's happening to the workers and To our residents living in long-term care Imagine our conversation was very similar to ones that are taking place at kitchen tables across Ontario as people continue to worry about Residents and our seniors in long-term care. We talked about the awful lessons We all learned during the first wave the shocking Canadian Armed Forces report the need for full-time well-paid PSW's the need to mandate and to fund a minimum of four hours of hands-on care and Evidence that tells us residents in for-profit long-term care homes are four times more likely to die than those in publicly funded homes We all agreed that urgent action was needed before we lost more lives We listened to the Premier and minister Fullerton say all the right words while we waited for action But we now know without a shadow of a doubt that those were empty words Because instead of action to protect our seniors the Premier rushed through bill 218 This is a terrible bill that will protect for-profit long-term care Corporations from any liability or accountability for death during the first wave and now for deaths that are happening in the second wave Instead of protection for residents in long-term care This government is protecting for-profit long-term care corporations instead of an iron ring around our loved ones The Premier is putting an iron ring around bad operators in long-term care This is a cold blooded bill and the Premier and the Minister of long-term care should be ashamed of themselves Thank you very much member statements the member for Markham union Thank You mr. Speaker this month I attended the union Villa long-term cares fiftieth anniversary celebration For 15 years the wonderful facility staff and volunteers have given Outstanding care to their residents through kindness love and respect throughout this pandemic They continue to find innovative and safe ways to entertain and ensure as residents are connected to their family and community I want to congratulate union Villa long-term care for this memorable milestone Mr. Speaker our government is committed to serve and protect long-term care residents Staff and visitors. That's why the next five years our government is investing 1.75 billion in long-term care homes and Introduce a red redesigned funding model that will help build and modernize care homes and deliver the government's commitment to create 30,000 long-term care beds for over 10 years To help seniors on long-term care wait lists our government launched the community paramedicine for long-term care program in five communities across the province This five million program will leverage the skills of paramedic and Practitioners and provide seniors on the wait lists assess health care 24-7 and in-home testing procedures Mr. Speaker our senior built our province and our government is committed to taking every measure and actions possible to support them now and Beyond thank you Thank you member statements the member for Hamilton Mountain. Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker today I want to recognize Pat Saunders a trailblazer and longtime community activists in my city of Hamilton Pat recently celebrated her 90th birthday, and I want to wish her a very happy birthday Pat has contributed to more than 60 years of community services in the area of women's well-being Civic engagement mental health and heritage her list of accomplishments is long She helped found the first woman center and helped create the woman of distinction awards She was a founding member of the Canadian Mental Health Association Hamilton branch And helped establish a mental health clinic to serve our community She was the first woman chair of the Hamilton Wentworth police service board and she is still very active in local history and heritage groups She has saved historical buildings from demolition and moved to the city of Hamilton to better recognize local historical figures in 2019 Pat was inducted into the Hamilton gallery of distinction for her Substantial and lasting impact on our city on her 90th birthday Pat wore a t-shirt that read the first 90 years of Childhood are always the hardest that is Pat's spirit. She is a spitfire Happy birthday Pat and thank you for all of your hard work that you have done and Continue to do to make Hamilton a better place to live for us all happy birthday Thank you very much the member member statements the member for Ottawa Vanie Thank You mr. Speaker It is my pleasure to rise today to honor the long service and courage of Lieutenant General Richard Romer Many times decorated veteran with decades of service in the Canadian Armed Force Having enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force at the age of 18 Lieutenant General Romer served as a fighter reconnaissance pilot during the Second World War He took part in the D-Day operation in Normandy and served in Holland Belgium and Germany completing a hundred and thirty five mission tour of operations in November of 1944 and was awarded the distinguished flying cross a lawyer of aviation and commercial litigation and as far as I know Apparently still practices author Historian Recurator and friend of the Royal Family Lieutenant General Romer is one of the most highly decorated Canadians ever He remains an active member of the community and he also helped to create the Veterans Memorial here at Queen's Park Lieutenant General Romer now 96 years old Continues to be a strong advocate for veterans and faithfully Participates each year in Remembrance Day Ceremonies I wanted to take the time today to recognize the remarkable contribution that is made to this province to this country To our military. Thank you Lieutenant General Romer for your many years of distinguished service Thank you very much member statements the member for Durham Thank you speaker on Friday I had the privilege of joining our Minister of Energy Northern Development and Mines and Ontario power generation at the Darlington nuclear Generating station in Clarington for some very exciting news OPG announced that they are resuming planning activities to host an on-grid small modular reactor for future nuclear power generation at Darlington Speaker earlier this year. I was pleased to table motion 91 in the Ontario legislature a motion to include nuclear energy and the development of small Modular reactors as a clean energy option in its environment climate change and clean energy planning and policies Friday's announcement is a step towards that vision a step towards our clean energy future Climate change is a challenge facing us all this global challenge requires serious solutions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions In Ontario and across the globe Nuclear power is one of those solutions Because of nuclear power Ontario has one of the cleanest electricity grids in the world Nuclear energy is clean energy and speaker now is the time to commit and we recognize it to including clean reliable Nuclear technology in our clean energy future for the next generation in Ontario and around the world Thank you Member statements member statements You ready? Member for London Fanshawe. Thank you speaker You know, it's a very very important situation that we're facing with COVID-19 and the second wave coming up And it's specifically around long-term care homes That we have seen that it hasn't gotten better and the government lacked the planning for the second wave There was many lessons learned in the first wave that we could have adopted For an example having the right PPEs making sure that every home had access to the PPEs that they needed Making sure that PSWs had full-time jobs where they were only able to work in one location so that they wouldn't be spreading it from place to place Making sure that PSW jobs were were a living wage So, you know respecting the work that they did but not only that because if we had those things in place Like the time to care bill where we had four hours of direct hands-on care We would have saved lives our loved ones our grandparents our grandparents who built this province who raised us They deserve so much better. That's what's been happening right now And it's it's it's true the government has known this for a long time successive governments have known us for for so many years We have not acted when we're supposed to now We have an opportunity and the government's announced in 2025 that they're gonna have an average of four hours of care That isn't what's needed from report after report Expert after expert it needs to be four hours of minimum direct hands-on care And that's why I asked this government again to pass my bill time to care. Thank you speaker Thank you Member statements the member for Whitby. Yes. Thank you speaker. I'm pleased to Rise today, but an exciting research related to early detection of COVID-19 and wastewater As identified last week in the provincial budget wastewater testing can be a crucial component in preparing for future waves of COVID Researcher speaker from Ontario Tech University's Faculty of Science are working with Durham Region Public Health Department The Regional Works Department and other key partners to collect and test dozens of untreated sewage samples weekly From multiple Walter pollution control plants across Durham Speaker this wastewater monitoring will provide reliable data for potential infections within a particular area in some cases between Five and ten days before residents start to show infection symptoms providing community health officials with new tools to protect the public Speaker not only does this research have broad applications across communities By understanding can be specifically targeted to long-term care homes Eventually to improve the protection of our seniors I'm proud speaker to inform the legislature about this vital work in Durham Region led by Ontario Tech University To protect material during this pandemic and put two potential future. Thank you Thank you very much member statements Member statements the time for member statements has expired