 introductions, it's now time for a member's statements. The member from Nipissing. Thank you speaker. I rise today to honour the heroes of the Battle of Monte Cassino. The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle of Rome, was one of the most important campaigns of the Second World War. Marked by outstanding military achievement in appalling conditions, the battles of Monte Cassino opened the road to Rome and the beginning of the end for German occupation of Italy. On May 18, 1944, Allied forces, including Canadians, and the Polish Corps, led by General Władysław Anders, pushed onto Monte Cassino and raised their flag over the 1400-year-old Benedictine Abbey. In commemoration of this sacrifice, the Italian and Polish communities have come together to create a replica of the war memorial, the display from Monte Cassino Hill in Italy. The replica contains 12 panels with photographs and writing in English, Polish and Italian, describing the victory by Allied forces and will be featured this month at Toronto City Hall, Parliament Hill and here at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Today, with veterans, members of the Italian and Polish communities who are here with us at Queen's Park, we commemorate the heroes of the Battle of Monte Cassino for their immense bravery and sacrifice. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you, Speaker. It's my pleasure to rise today on behalf of my community of Windsor West on the first day of Nursing Week in Ontario. Our dedicated and professional nurses are critical to delivering the quality healthcare people living in this province know and deserve. Today, I'm joined by some of these caregivers from my riding and I thank them for taking the time to come to Queen's Park. While our frontline healthcare workers work hard every day to ensure our families stay healthy, the Liberal government's underfunding of hospitals continues to make their jobs more difficult. This year, Windsor Regional Hospital announced that 169 nursing positions will be eliminated. This is the equivalent to the loss of 330,000 hours of hands-on RN patient care per year. Aspiring nurses may be forced to seek out employment in the U.S., costing us our next generation of trained and dedicated caregivers in Ontario. These cuts will have a real impact on people in their most vulnerable moments. Speaker, hospitals must not be forced to make decisions based on dollars and deficits. Nearly 10,000 caregivers, healthcare recipients and families in Windsor and Essex County signed a petition calling for an end to these short-sighted hospital cuts. Enough is enough. It's time for this government to listen. New Democrats know nurses are vital to making sure families and seniors in Windsor and across Ontario get quality healthcare they can count on. It's time for this government to recognize the value of our nurses in delivering patient care and commit to a moratorium on nursing cuts. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Please remember statements. The member from Kingston and the Islands. Mr. Speaker, earlier today we gathered to remember one of the most important campaigns of the Second World War, the Battle of Monte Cassino. Many allied troops perished, including some members of my family, or sustained injuries during this long and difficult military campaign. On the final push for Monte Cassino, 923 brave heroes of the famed Polish Second Corp lost their lives and thousands more were wounded. Polish visitors always lay red and white flowers at these heroes' final resting place, the Polish Army Cemetery at the top of Monte Cassino. The memorial's inscription reads, For our freedom and yours, we, soldiers of Poland, give our soul to God, our life to the soul of Italy, our hearts to Poland. Mr. Speaker, this is the 72nd anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino, and we were honored to join the President of the Canadian Polish Congress, Ms. Teresa Berozowski, the Vice President of the National Congress of Italian Canadians, the Consul-General of Republic of Poland, Gregorz Morawski, and the Consul-General of Italy, Giuseppe Pastorelli, to recognize their amazing work to create the display named For our freedom and yours, here at Queen's Park. Today is made even more special as Polish President Andrzej Duda is visiting the GTA and our nation's capital. Mr. Speaker, today let us remember and honor the sacrifices of the brave and patriotic men who served during this campaign, as well as our veterans and military personnel who uphold our democracy and our values. Merci. Thank you. Further member statements from members from here on, Bruce? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Last week, the town of Godridge, Noan, internationally as the prettiest town in Canada, hosted the 2016 Ontario Small Urban Municipalities Conference. Running from May 4th to 6th this year's theme was, are you prepared? And featured speakers such as famed tornado hunter Greg Johnson, and he was a big hit with the group in attendance in Godridge last week. Also on hand was Gary McNamara, President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, who highlighted some of the challenges facing our rural and small urban municipalities. Central to his message was the disconnect that seems to exist in the government here at Queen's Park with respect to smaller municipalities. These municipalities don't always have the resources that larger urban centres do in order to tackle red tape surrounding projects such as grant applications, development funding, or even lobbying. He pointed to the fact that the government is currently more concerned with the projects for cities and large urban centres such as Rapid Transit, but I would suggest, Speaker, whereas in smaller municipalities, bridges and roads are oftentimes the only lifeline available to build up local economies and they're equally as important. Projects such as bridges can be costly upwards of several million dollars and raising the money to get matching federal and provincial funding is difficult with a smaller population. I'd like my colleagues on the other side of the house to keep that in mind when they are looking for new projects to invest to build Ontario up. Congratulations to the planning committee, the Mayor Kevin Morrison, and I look forward to next year's conference as well. Thank you. Further member statements? The member from Toronto dead for. Thank you Speaker. Speaker, families in Ontario face a child care crisis. Too few spots, unaffordable rates, a huge financial burden on families. Speaker, because parents are desperate, they register on multiple child care lists in their communities. Since they often have to pay to register, this becomes an additional burden on these families. A number of parents in the east end of Toronto have come together to address this issue. At the beginning of April, the Minister of Education committed to changing regulations to protect parents from these fees and to ensure waiting lists are administered fairly. Speaker, as of today, there has been no presentation, no public statement that in fact this change is coming forward. Last week I introduced a private members bill at the request of the parents to take on the issue. Speaker, I urge the Minister to bring forward regulations to actually deal with the waiting list expense and fairness issue. Failing that, my hope is that the government will take on this private members bill, take on this legislation and move the issue forward. I think that families, children, the child care system deserve no less. Thank you Speaker. Further member statements? The member from Etovico Lakeshore. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I'm pleased to rise today to share with the House about the sixth annual Lakeshore International Film Festival. Last Friday and Saturday night, this event took place in my riding of Etovico Lakeshore at the Assembly Hall, where filmmakers, both local ones and from around the world, were invited to submit their wonderful short films. This event, which has been organised for the last six years by Michelle Nolden and Chris Sharca, and as the emcee, as the renowned movie critic Chris Rouse, is a wonderful event that brings together filmmakers from around the world and a great cultural event in my community of Etovico Lakeshore that attracts people from across the GTA as well. These wonderful filmmakers create stories that aren't the Hollywood blockbusters but are important short stories that tell us about the lives and cultures of people from around the world. This wonderful event demonstrates the great cultural vibrancy in my community and in the City of Toronto and Ontario. Ontario continues to be the number one film and TV production place in Canada, and the third in North America. And events like this cement our standing internationally as one of the cities for film around the globe. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Further members, thank you, Mr. Member from Elgin, Middlesex, London. Thank you very much, Speaker. Speaker, I'm proud to stand here today on behalf of the PC Caucus and Leader Patrick Brown on the first day of National Nursing Week. National Nursing Week first came into being in 1985 when the second week of May was officially proclaimed National Nursing Week in Canada in an effort to recognize the dedication and achievements of the nursing profession. This year's theme is nurses with you every step of the way. Speaker, nurses do build strong connections with the people, families and communities they care for. Ontario is blessed with dedicated RNs, NPs and RPMs, all of whom work hard to do what's best for their patients. Due to the ongoing mismanagement of the healthcare system though from this government, our system is being rationed. We have seen years of frozen hospital budgets which has led to many nurses being fired. RNs, NPs and RPMs all have a role to be played in our healthcare system. Their role should be based on an expanded scope of practice, not on budget shortfalls due to the incompetence of this government. I invite all MPPs to partake in RNAOs, take your MPP to work a day that has been ongoing for the past 16 years. Once again, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the nurses across Ontario for their hard work and dedication to our parents and patients. Our nurses go well beyond their duty despite year after year being forced to do more with less. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the member of students, the member from Mrs. Sager Brampton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are all touched by the unfortunate devastation that unfolded in Fort McMurray over the past week. My heart goes out to those who have lost their homes and means of livelihood. The pictures coming from the scene are scary and sad to watch. The plight of more than 80,000 people who fled is beyond imagination. The danger to the well-being of those on the front line, including brave firefighters, is clear. Fortunately, Canadians are coming together to support their fellow Canadians. It is encouraging that the federal government is matching donations. Even a group of Syrian refugees in Calgary is raising funds to help their new friends. I applaud the Ontario Sixth and Gurdwara Council and the Ontario Gurdwara Committee for fundraising in support of the people of Fort McMurray. I want to thank our Premier for her leadership in sending 100 firefighters from Ontario to assist. Mr. Speaker, let's all pray for those who caught in the grip of this natural disaster and open our hearts and wallets to help them in their time of dire need. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for your member's statements. The member from Glengarry Press at Russell. Thank you very much, Speaker. Last Friday, I had the distinct pleasure of being able to attend the Russell Agricultural Society's 13th annual Ladies' Night event, the sold-out evening in Paris dinner and auction in my riding at Glengarry Press got Russell. Speaker, over the last 13 years, the Russell Agricultural Society's Ladies' Night events have gone on to raise more than $340,000 for a wide variety of charities doing amazing work, including but not limited to the Canadian Cancer Society, Cystic Fibrosis, Juvenile Diabetes, Make-A-Wish Foundation, ALS Canada, and this year, Speaker, over 500 individuals raised $30,000 through silent and live auctions and donations for the ALS Heimer Society, the Société ALS Heimer Society. Since 1983, Speaker, the ALS Heimer Society has been committed to raising awareness and moving forward with the goal of finding a cure, as well as continuing the vital effort of improving the quality of life for many Ontarians living with ALS Heimers and other dementias, and I applaud the society for the great work that they do in our communities. Additionally, this year's event helped raise funds for the victims of Fort McMurray Wildfire in order to help alleviate the burden of the ongoing tragedy in Alberta. Today, I am highlighting the invaluable charitable work done by the Russell Agricultural Society, as well as to extend a very gracious thank you to the honoured guests and the many volunteers who selflessly donated their time to the efforts to this event and the very important causes. It was a pleasure for me to participate again this year and I'd like to send out a special thanks to the co-chairs, Judy McFall and Lynn Ruchon, and also a good friend, Suzanne Perez Campbell, and their team for their outstanding dedication and service to their community speaker.