 time for member statements I recognize the member on a point of order seeking unanimous consent for myself and the member for the peon to where the challenger baseball jerseys in respect of the team that is here today in the gallery her is asking for unanimous consent to where the baseball jerseys agreed and agreed agreed member statements I recognize a member from Brampton Center thank you good morning speaker it's great to be back in the legislature and rise on behalf of the good people of Brampton Center over the winter break I met with many organizations the Peel Regional police educators youth and parents all shared many concerns about the lack of health care services in our city and impacts the two youth that are experiencing mental health the health care emergency in Brampton is not just about building a new hospital speaker we need our fair share of all health care services to ensure that Peel and Brampton can thrive years of neglect under the Liberal government coupled with conservative cuts to mental health funding have left children in Brampton waiting longer than ever for critical mental health supports young people are waiting in crisis speaker in Peel and Brampton on average some are waiting 737 days for mental health supports can you imagine being a young child in the state of emergency and being told that you need to wait in a hallway for hours and hours on end in order to get the help you need imagine being a parent grieving loss of your child because the systems that were supposed to be there to protect your child failed to protect them every step of the way speaker every single day I hear these stories these are young people who come up to me at events their parents my cousins my brother's best friend these are not numbers on a wait list these are real families speaker these are students some of them as young as nine years old desperately seeking supports they deserve better and Ontario's children cannot wait any longer member statements the member for Stormont Dundas South Glen Gary thank you speaker speaker as the government works to re-establish Ontario as the economic engine of Canada we are mindful that positive change is best achieved with the help of our dedicated informed residents they bring a wealth of experience and knowledge in their fields and communities that they love and represent at the Roman conference mid-January met with about 25 delegations from across the province including five representing my riding in Stormont Dundas and South Glen Gary on February 3rd in Bondville the Honourable Ernie Hartman Minister of Ag Culture food and rural affairs was on hand to discuss bill 156 security from trans trespass and protecting food safety act with close to 30 farmers transportation owners operators and concerned citizens on February 5th we held two separate round table sessions in Cornwall with municipal fairer municipal government representatives and members of the public finally I welcome MPP Randy Pettipies the Parliamentary Assistant to Minister Hartman to discuss ways the government can improve rural economic development speaker we heard a common message from this group of concerned Ontarians while residents are very happy with the progress made over the last two years there it was clear that much is left to be done so in closing I would like to thank everyone for participation and have forwarded their important feedback to the 2020 budget thank you speaker thank you member statements the member for St. Catharines thank you speaker housing and affordable living is the major issue of concern in St. Catharines each community across Ontario celebrates when we get 20 to 40 units of affordable housing and we should it's important work yet in St. Catharines we are in the midst of a rental crisis that undoes all the work on affordable housing I'm hearing about this more and more since this government removed protections for rent controls over a year ago in fact in St. Catharines it is not uncommon to hear about entire buildings of a hundred and more units having an entire new set of renters over a few years I consider it like whole buildings of affordable housing being wiped out silently and quickly the victims are real people like my constituent Rose Baker roses in 95 year old who has lived in the same apartment for over 40 years however residents like Rose are particularly vulnerable to eviction and harassment if she were to vacate her apartment the rent for her unit would nearly double this government has insensitized landlords to aggressively find ways to evict a rent of victims as a result of eliminating rent control so what can Rose do she can either become educated on her rights or she can be chased out of her own home this is not right I am helping educate members in my community the Niagara legal clinic is helping defend their rights now we need this government to move on rent control to protect people like Rose until that point this government can never honor thank you very much thank you Mr. Speaker last fall the financial accountability office reported wait list for long-term care beds will peak this year more than 4,500 people are on a wait list in Mississauga we have 20% fewer long-term care bed per capita than the provincial average yet between 2011 and 2018 as the numbers of Ontarians over 75 grew by 75% the number of long-term care beds grew by less than 1% that's why our government is creating 15,000 long-term care beds over five years recently I joined the minister of long-term care the president of the Trillium health partners Michelle de Manuel and the chair of Hart House Hospice care and priests at the groundbreaking for a brand new health care center in South Sheridan Park corporate center in Mississauga Lature Speaker this new center will include 2,220 long-term care beds and 10 beds residential hospice for the first of its kind in Mississauga this shows the direction we're moving in towards a truly modern connected health care system that nurtures the close partnerships between the hospital the home community and the palliative care provider and ensures that the partnership receives the high quality care that we deserve member statements member for Davenport thank you mr. Speaker good morning during the winter constituency break I hosted two separate community forums on housing and tenant issues in my writing to say that this is an important issue for the residents of Davenport port would really be an understatement it is condition critical at our meetings we heard more stories of evictions tenant associations seeing a significant uptick in the phenomenon of renovations and when they are not being forced out by questionable eviction tactics those tenants are being squeezed out by multiple repeated above guideline increases year after year 5% one year 3% the next 4% the next seniors seeing their rent increasing by 15% over just a few years tenants are dealing with long overdue maintenance to their units because they're too afraid their request for help will result in more rent increases or worse the simple truth mr. Speaker is that last tenant protections create an opportunity for unscrupulous landlords and profit driven rental companies to take advantage of people and thanks to this government they have fewer tools to be able to defend themselves the good news is that residents in our community forums were ready to act they're forming new tenant groups they're sharing resources now it's time for the government to back them up with effective and predictable protections today protections like real rent control and a rent registry so that tenants know how much their homes were priced at in the past these are young working families these are seniors these are moms and dads and kids and grandparents we can't allow our cities to become places that are simply an enclave for the very wealthy we must work to continue to create opportunities for people to live and grow without fear thank you thank you very much member statements the member for auto law so thank you very much mr. Speaker and you might not know it but it's kindness week in Ontario folks yeah so kindness week and the solicitor general will be aware of this and so with the member from nickel belt is an initiative that was started by my colleague yasser nakvi and it was a motion passed here in the legislature with the support of all parties and so it's it's a great initiative was started by kind Ottawa and rabbi boke that spoke to yasser and now it's blossomed into something much bigger so last friday i was fortunate to go to the launch event in a core village for kindness week in Ottawa and kind Ottawa is a movement with the goal of encouraging others to choose to be kind this year's theme is united for all it's a wonderful initiative that helps shape more compassionate and inclusive communities so you know speaker i was a volunteer in palliative care and i got way more out of it than i ever put into it and i learned one thing is that the things that are most important at the end are generally very small at the end of life and the things that are important the end of life are reaction things are important right now so simple things like a smile and acknowledging another person is there listening being present are all acts of kindness so speaker i encourage everybody to remember this i know we'll remember it for question period and uh because it makes a big difference and i want to thank everyone with the caring and sharing exchange in Ottawa for leading this initiative and the kindness week chair thank you very much thank you member statements the member for Whitby speaker when elected the government inherited a precarious economic situation people in the province were working harder for less while the province itself faced a 15 billion dollar deficit and the vital services and terrians deserve were letting them down particularly health care the health care system was broken speaker hospitals were overcrowded and reaching a breaking point but speaker the government's fault economic statement demonstrated that it could be fiscally responsible while still making life-altering investments and priority programs recently speaker i uh hosted minister fullerton the minister of long-term care as she announced that whippies fairview lodge would be receiving funding for a new 26 bed unit providing support for patients with behavioral challenges speaker helping patients access care faster is one way to relieve hospital capacity pressures thank you speaker member statements the member for Toronto Danforth so far from the sun so hard to be seen thank you speaker everyone in this chamber knows that we need transit in this city and we need it now everybody knows that we need we need transit we can afford and we need transit that works in our communities and people in my riding in the north of that riding in east york down in the south riverside leslie bill south riverdale are facing disruption and long-term pain from bad design of transit yesterday the minister of transportation brought forward some big changes to the axe that will affect transit planning here here she turned upside down the carpenter saying carpenter say measure twice cut once no no we're going to start cutting and digging and then we're going to assess what the environmental impact is that that is a recipe for cost overruns schedule delays and disruption of communities that's not necessary order speaker there are also changes to the expropriation stop the clock i apologize to the member for Toronto Danforth the house will come to order and allow the member to present his statement i again i recognize the member for Toronto Danforth to conclude his statement start the clock thank you speaker i also want to say that the changes with regard to expropriation are hugely problematic governments corporations all kinds of human-led organizations make mistakes and the ability of people to have a public hearing to point out that those mistakes is being eliminated this is wrong the next statement the member for peter burrow coertha thank you mr speaker it gives me a great deal of pleasure today to rise in the house to talk about challenger baseball for those of you who have never heard of it challenger baseball provides an opportunity for children teens and adults with cognitive and developmental life challenges to take part in one of Canada's most popular summer games baseball the peter burrow chapter of challenger baseball began in April 2016 through the hard work of a gentleman named bernie danes that first summer saw 14 players of different abilities take part in their own league at turner park and peter burrow in just four seasons challenger baseball and peter burrow has grown by an astonishing 500 percent we're looking forward to another great year this year with pitchers and catchers now reporting for spring training this is the perfect time to talk about the boys and girls of summer as baseball has been referred to the start of spring training is an inspiration that good weather is on its way the players from challenger baseball provide a different and a greater inspiration for all of us today i have the honor of hosting the very first challenger baseball team to represent canada at the little league world series these exceptional athletes from peter burrow traveled to williamsport pennsylvania last summer to represent canada on the world stage it's my absolute honor to welcome them here to queen's park today member statements the member for kitschner cona stoga thank you mr speaker it's a pleasure to rise today and share with the legislature and investment our government is making in my community to address the looming skilled trade shortage recently my colleagues from kitschner south hespler came and cambridge joined me and the minister of labor training and skills development the honorable member from lambton kent middle sex at cona stoga college together we announced mr speaker are you ready nine point two million dollars in funding that will help create over six thousand apprenticeship spaces in cona stoga college mr speaker every day in our region alone there are over 18 thousand vacant jobs ready to be filled by workers that are simply just not there that's why the investment is so important this funding will introduce more people to the skilled trades and help them bridge a gap between the skills they have and the skills employers need this is an excellent opportunity for employers to find the talent they're looking for mr speaker careers in the skilled trades are exciting and lucrative and we need more people to understand that the opportunities are out there i know that we will all be better off when labor business and government work together to address this looming crisis thank you mr speaker