 Therefore, it's time for members' statements. The member from Perth, Wellington. Thank you, speaker. Speaker, thou knowest, it is common, all lives that must die, passing through nature to eternity. Speaker, today I rise to mark the 400th anniversary of the passing of one of the greatest playwrights, William Shakespeare. The Bard of Avon is best known for his collection of around 40 plays. To this day, they are some of the most commonly performed plays. Shakespeare was born around April 23rd, 1564, and led a life as an actor and writer. I'm sure that everyone in this house has studied his plays, which is a testament to the power of his work. It's believed that Shakespeare passed away around April 23rd, 1616, though no record of his death exists. We do know that his funeral was on April 25th, 1616. Shakespeare was a man of wealth and fame during his lifetime, but has become revered since his death. My writing of Perth, Wellington is home to one of the most prominent arts festivals, the Stratford Festival. The Stratford Festival is internationally renowned for its productions, many of which are Shakespearean plays. 400 years after his death, audiences flocked to Stratford to watch Shakespeare's work come to life. The Festival is the center of economic activity in Stratford, a 2010 conference board of Canada study found that the festival generates the economic activity of $139 million, tax revenue of $75 million, and 2,957 full-time jobs. I invite everyone to visit Stratford this summer and celebrate Shakespeare's legacy with a performance from Beth, as you like it, or Breath of Kings. Thank you. Well done. Thank you. Thank you to the members of the audience. Thank you, Speaker. We Are Oshawa is a group of community activists and advocates who engage community members on important issues. Recently, they organized a 15 and fairness rally and created a clever obstacle course in my constituency office parking lot called The Amazing Race to the Bottom. Speaker, I'll tell you, I am always up for a challenge, but the race to the bottom is not one that people win. It started with a childcare juggle, and it turns out I'm not any good at juggling. I had to run the race to pay the rent, but kept running into sick day setbacks. When it came to the Unpaid Bills Balancing Act and the Unpaid Internship Wobble, I barely managed to get by and just made it over the student debt high jump. It got really tricky when I had to lift and carry the weight of the necessities of life and had to figure out how to carry what is most important, food, rent, or paying my bills. While I ran the race, Mr. Moneybags shouted unhelpful encouragement at me like, try harder. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and change your attitude, change your life. Speaker, I finished The Amazing Race to the Bottom and crossed the poverty line, but nobody won. In real life, these obstacles aren't fun. They are heartbreaking and insurmountable. New Democrats support a $15 an hour minimum wage. Hardworking Ontarians deserve to earn a fair living wage for their time in their work. They deserve benefits, sick leave, and strong services in a fair society where they are not forced to race to the bottom, but instead can set their sights on a bright future for themselves and for their children. Thank you. Thank you for the member statements. The member from Trinity Spadina. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize some outstanding community partners in my writing of Trinity Spadina. Over the last week, organizations across Trinity Spadina have stepped up to the task when it comes to cleaning up communities and environmental protection. Beginning on Earth Day, April the 22nd, residents of Trinity Spadina begin cleaning and beautifying our neighborhoods and the community. Thanks to community leaders like Stax Scatting Court, the Entertainment District BIA, City Place Residence Association, and the Litter and Glitter Committee, and the Annex Residence Association, just to name a few. Trinity Spadina is ready for the summer. Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to have so many amazing organizations in my community. I would especially like to recognize and thank the volunteers that came out to these community cleanups. It is their dedication and commitment to our and our children's community and environment that is truly inspiring. I, along with the rest of my writing, am extremely proud of the organizations and volunteers for their hard work, and I know, honestly, it's taking place across this province. Thank you for, I want to say to them, thank you for helping make Trinity Spadina a beautiful place to live and raise a family. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank you for the number of servicemembers from Oxford. Mr. Speaker, every child in Ontario deserves an opportunity to succeed. No parent should have to hear that the government has given up on their child, but that's what parents like Laura Donkers has been told. Her son, Lawson, is six, and he has autism. After only four months of intensive behavior therapy this spring, they received the letter saying he was being transitioned out. As his mother said, I waited six years for him to call me mom. Do you know what it's like to wonder if your child knows who you are or your name? I do. Now Kathleen wants to take that away from us. That's not right. Mr. Speaker, it is not right. The government should not be giving up on children just because they are six years old, especially those who have spent years on the waitlist. He was six when he started IBI, but already Lawson has learned to wash his hands, how to dress, and is learning how to use the toilet. Imagine how much he could learn in the two years of therapy his parents were promised. Instead, the government has chosen to cut off services for kids like Lawson just because of their age. The need for help doesn't stop at six. These children deserve a chance for the future. I'm asking the government to give Lawson and all children like him a chance. Give them the IBI therapy that they need. As Laura Donker said, please don't let Kathleen Nguyen leave behind a generation of children. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Member from Nicobelt. Thank you, Speaker. I rise today to draw attention to a serious issue in the municipality of French River in the south end of my riding. Three years ago, the Ministry Area Maintenance Contractor was replacing a culvert on Highway 64. They inadvertently put up signage to detour traffic onto Golf Course Road rather than Highway 607 as they had intended. This mistake happens during half load season, which, according to the engineer, makes this mistake by the empty contractor caused $344,000 in damage to Golf Course Road. For the last three years, representatives from the French River Area have reached out repeatedly to the Ministry of Transportation on this issue. To no avail, Speaker. When they are not ignored, they are offered a measly sum of $25,000. That's seven cents on the dollar. The Ministry itself has stated, and I quote, a review of the detour configuration did identify irregularities in our half load signage for Highway 607. After three years, Golf Course Road is still not fixed and getting worse. The good people of the French River, all 2,500 of them, are stuck with this large bill for a mistake done by the Ministry of Transportation. When will the Ministry take its responsibility and pay for the damage done to Golf Course Road? Construction season is upon us, time is of essence. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you for your member, students, the member from Fumble and Quinty West. Well, thank you, Speaker. Speaker, the craft beverage industry in Northumberland, Quinty West, is thriving. The beverage producers of Northumberland County believe strongly in community and in the fellowship of the industry. They are unique, Speaker, in their cooperative nature. On Wednesday of last week, some of the breweries, sideways, hop growers and masters of the region came together in a collaborative effort to create a truly local beer while celebrating a spirit of unity. Participants held a kickoff event, a William Street beer company in Coburg to start production of truly local beer made by local professional using entirely local ingredients. In fact, this beer will be fully comprised of ingredients grown within 75 kilometers of breweries. This includes local barley, hops, apples and honey. Contributors include Church Key Brewery of Camelford, Empire Cider of Covington, William Street Beer Company of Coburg, Bickel Farm Valley Hops of Port Hope, Barn Owl Malls of Stirling and Pleasant Valley Hops of Hillier. Speaker, this unique brew should be ready in about four weeks. I am extremely proud of these folks and the initiatives they have taken to promote the use of local ingredients. It is a wonderful idea and I encourage growth, sustainability and reinvestment in a local economy. Perhaps one day it may be chosen as the official craft beer of the legislature, Speaker. But until then, I encourage all members to stop into any local participating breweries in Northumberland. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Thank you, Member of Statements. The Member for Bruce Gray, Owen Sound. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to bring attention to school closures in my riding of Bruce Gray, Owen Sound. The Blue Water District School Board has recently completed an accommodation review during which parents and community partners were asked to comment on upgrading two Owen Sound high schools to a grade seven to 12. I'd like to also add that this review was done under the government's new fast track rule, whereas the process was shortened to 10 weeks from the previous seven months. The outcome is discerning to many people in the community. Two weeks after the comment created ended, the board surprised the parents and students of OSCVI by announcing it would close their 16-year-old school and move all high school students into the 57-year-old West Hill High School, putting that school at over capacity. The board plans to renovate the OSCVI to create an elementary super school with more than a thousand students. The City of Owen Sound and County of Gray, together with the OSCVI alumni, students and their parents, have made a plea to the Minister of Education to step in and review the process, provide a one-year moratorium on the decision and allow the community and students and stakeholders to consult on the proposal to close OSCVI. To this end, they've gathered 2,100 signatures on a petition which I hope to present today. For reference, that's about 10% of the population of the City of Owen Sound. This is a very contentious and divisive issue that is literally tearing our communities apart. The people are feeling devastated by what's transpired. I trust that this government is paying attention to the impact of forcing boards to fast-track school closures due to reduced funding as a result of their waste and mismanagement of the province's finances. I also trust they will take this opportunity to review funding formulas that do not work in rural Ontario. Our students deserve better. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good save. Thank you. For the member same as the member from a tropical north. Thank you, Speaker. I have the privilege to recognize an extraordinary group of men and women serving the province of Ontario, and that is, of course, Ontario's medical doctors. My first speaker is declared to be Doctors Day in Ontario, and I recognize my colleague, the MPP for Richmond Hill, the Honourable Rosa Meridi, for bringing this forward. It was his private members' bill in 2011 that proclaimed this. Speaker, since 2003, the number of physicians in Ontario has increased by over 5,600, 26.3%. During the same time, the population grew by 10.6%. This means that because of our investments, the ratio of physicians for every 10,000 Ontarians increased from 17.5 to 20. Our government speaker is committed to making sure the people of Ontario have the right care of the right time in the right place. We have moved forward on a number of initiatives that ensure a stable physician supply, improve retention, and enhance the distribution of physicians across Ontario. As a physician, parliamentarian myself, as well as parliamentary assistant to the Premier, I'm, of course, proud to be part of world-class healthcare system that we have established right here in Ontario. And I would particularly, Speaker, with your permission, like to recognize an inspiring physician who I know is watching right now, Dr. Cadre, the elder, Dr. Moussard Cadre, who has been practicing as an obstetrician and gynecologist in the province of Ontario for the last four key five years. Thank you, Ma. She's also, by the way, Speaker and Chair, most recently a meeting, in fact, at the Ontario Medical Association of the Section of Clinical Hypnosis Medical Interest Group. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Member Samus, the member from the Atopical Center. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise, Speaker, to speak to an important issue in my riding of Atopical Center, as well as across Ontario. Every month I hold a senior advisory group meeting, and at these meetings, Speaker, I hear about the many issues that impact seniors. One of the issues that I hear about the most is the issue of door-to-door sales. Through speaking with my constituents, I learned that Ontarians, particularly vulnerable individuals, such as seniors, continue to receive unwanted sales offers at their doors. These marketers often use misleading and aggressive high-pressure sales tactics to entice people into contracts that take advantage of consumers. Under the guise of saving consumers' money, many dishonest salespeople dupe consumers into contracts that are more expensive than the industry standards, have harsh cancellation fees, provide inferior products and services that don't work or that don't perform as advertised. While this is an issue that cuts across all ages, it's alarming to me to see how often door-to-door sellers target those who may be more vulnerable. And that is why today I will be introducing a private member's bill. The bill being tabled today is the culmination of months of consultation and research within my riding and with province-wide stakeholders. If passed, the bill will ban the sale, lease, or rent of air conditioners, water heaters, furnaces, and water treatment devices. It would also allow the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services to add more products to the list if necessary. I have heard from too many senior speaker and concerned constituents who have been taken advantage of by coercive and misleading salespeople right in their own doorsteps, right in their own home. It is beyond reprehensible that some organizations of a business that makes money taking advantage of vulnerable people, we must take action to protect Ontarians and end this predatory practice. Thank you. Thank you. Thank all members for their statements. It's now time for reports by...