 That is now time for Member's Statements and the first Member to make a statement. This morning is the Member from Lecheguac, James Bay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a French-speaking Ontario, I would like to acknowledge the month of Francophonie. It is time to celebrate, to party together, to celebrate the linguistic diversity for the Francontarian community. It is time to think and to reaffirm our engagement towards the French-speaking community. We will continue to improve our services in French. We will guarantee the return of the French services and we will guarantee school from kindergarten until high school and university. And we will give to French language the place that it deserves in the Ontarian history. But we also need to pay attention to the fact that if we don't pay attention, things may change with the conservative government. We have seen the reduction of publications in French. And this has left thousands of French speakers without the information in their chosen language. We have seen radio and newspapers in French that have disappeared and we could not have all the access to French-speaking language that we needed. We need to celebrate the importance of French language. And we need to respect our linguistic importance. And we need to pay attention to the fact that in this Francophonie month, we will see French language flourish. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Speaker. There we go. Thank you, Speaker. I rise in the House today to acknowledge a wonderful event which took place in Brantford this past Saturday. I was able to participate in the coldest night of the year walk with my family. Across Canada, tens of thousands of Canadians stepped out into the cold February evening and walked to raise awareness and funds for those in our community struggling with homelessness, hunger and abuse. And I just have to take a second to say thank you to former member here, Phil Gillies, who organizes our team every single year. What is unique about this fundraiser is that funds raised are focused on services at a local level. In my writing of Brantford-Brant, we walked for the Why Not Youth Center. This organization works with high risk youth in our community to stabilize their lives, build skills and provide a sense of community and belonging with the overarching goal of preventing homelessness. In a one-month span, Why Not sees 750 to 1,000 visits from local teens in need. More than $50,000 was raised on Saturday and will assist this organization in empowering our local youth. Nationwide coldest night of the year raised over $11 million. I will end with the objective of the coldest night of the year as it provides an excellent summary. Each step we take brings someone closer to safety, health and home. As together, we raise funds for organizations whose commitment and work transforms people's lives. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member for Thunder Bay Attic-Holken. Thank you, Speaker. Thunder Bay and Attic-Holken are home to three excellent hospitals doing excellent work caring for our communities. These include the Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre, St. Joseph's Care Group and the Attic-Holken General Hospital. Thank you to them for all the work they do. I also want to thank all the healthcare workers throughout my riding and Northwestern Ontario who provide care and healing to so many residents. Today though, I want to highlight that our healthcare system and our healthcare workers need our help. Many Ontarians are waiting for surgery. There is a major backlog. Our province and our region has a shortage of nurses and doctors. Emergency room staff are in crisis. Healthcare workers are exhausted after two years of a pandemic. And recently, the Ontario Health Coalition raised the alarm about private operators potentially running hospitals in Ontario. I am very opposed to this. Privatization would be the worst possible policy for our hospital and healthcare sector. Every dollar wasted on private profit is a dollar not spent on public health care. All of us have a right to public health care rather than privatizing Ontarians need pharmacare and dental care. We need to expand our system and improve it with public health care investment. We need to be paying our nurses and personal support workers more. And working to end staff shortages, everyone in this province deserves access to universal, non-profit and public health care. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member for Sarnia-Lampton. Speaker and privilege to be here today with you. It's my pleasure to rise in the legislature today and update the House on a very important investment in Sarnia-Lampton by this Government of Ontario. On February 1st, 2022, with my great pleasure, 2022, with my great pleasure to join the Premier, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions to announce investing over $12 million in a new Permanent Mental Health and Addictions Hub at Blue Outer Health in Sarnia-Lampton. Blue Outer Health's new Community Addictions Hub will include a permanent 24-bed facility, 10 withdrawal management beds, 8 observation beds, and 6 stabilization beds. In addition, it will include clinical space for programs, treatments, all existing Blue Outer Health addiction, outpatient services, and consultation with allied health partners. After more than 15 years of advocacy by so many in my community, I couldn't be more proud in our Government for investing in such an important resource to the people of Sarnia-Lampton. This new Mental Health and Addictions Hub will benefit so many individuals in our community who are starting with the disease of addiction. Thank you to all the members of the community who participated in helping this dream become a reality. This is another example of how the Government of Ontario is working with communities across the province to find solutions to big problems and delivering on our commitment and hallway healthcare. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to sharing future updates with this House on this exciting new facility in the weeks and months ahead. Thank you. Member Stavins, the Member for Hamilton West, and Caster Dundas. Thank you, Speaker. Under the watch of this Government, over 4,000 senior citizens died in long-term care homes during the pandemic. We must never forget them. And we must never forget people like Innis Ingram who stood up to protect them. During a horrific outbreak at a long-term care residence, Innis chained himself to a tree outside the home to bring attention and help to his mom and to all the seniors who were confined and suffering in unimaginable circumstances. Innis died too young this past year. I was lucky to have met him. He was big-hearted, fearless, and kind. I salute his bravery and mourn his short life. To his family, his two wonderful children, may his memory be a blessing to you. The lack of action to fix systemic problems in the home care and long-term care sector following these tragic deaths is unforgivable. We continue to see a profit-driven, underfunded long-term care system. We should be fighting for a system where every dollar goes directly to residence care, not to corporate profits. Home care is in crisis. Seniors are receiving below-standard care from overwork and underpaid home care nurses and PSWs. We should be fighting for quality home care to give seniors the help they need to stay in their homes longer. Like Innis, we should all be fighting to protect our loved ones to ensure that our seniors receive the care that they have earned. Our parents and our grandparents deserve the very best. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Next, we have the member for Glengarry, Prescott Russell. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In this chamber, but if there's one thing on which we're united, it's our commitment to the principles of democracy, freedom, and respect for the rule of law. Last week, Russia began an unprovoked, full-scale, further invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Ukrainians are fighting bravely. Yes, they're fighting for their freedom and homeland, but they're also fighting for us. This invasion is not only an attack against Ukraine, but it is an attack against democracy and against the international rules, against the rules that are going to protect all of us. This is a terrible threat against democracy, for Europe, for our allies, and for our security. It is important that we do all we can in order to guarantee that Putin does not win and that we can help Ukraine. We want to show solidarity towards Ukrainian people, glory to Ukraine. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Next, we have the member for Oxford. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while current circumstances may divide us, the Beijing Olympics 2022 brought Canada together to cheer on our athletes and celebrate their accomplishments. Canada brought home 26 medals, four gold, eight silver, and 14 bronze. This is a statement of their hard work, dedication, and passion for their respective sports. I stand here today in the Legislative to say a special congratulations to a neighbor and a gold medal of Olympian, Fouldens, Ella Shelton. Ella is 24 years old and a member of the Canadian women's hockey team. Ella played defense in all seven hockey games, including the gold medal game against the United States. She recorded three assists in her first Olympic appearance. Congratulations again to Ella and Team Canada for an exceptional gold win for women's hockey. As we turn our attention to the Beijing Paralympics, which starts this Friday, March the 4th, Oxford is also proud of Garrett Riley, a participant in the men's Parahockey team. Garrett's passion for hockey started at an early age, with great resiliency and determination. Garrett switched to ice hockey after a cancer diagnosis 11 years ago and a leg amputation in 2017. Five months ago, while playing para-ice hockey, Garrett took a hard hit, which resulted in a compound leg fracture. However, he has not let that slow him down. With surgery, rehabilitation, and training, he is still slated to play in Beijing on the men's para-hockey team. Ella Shelton and Garrett Riley, I want to thank you both for representing Canada and Oxford at the 2022 Olympics and inspiring future athletes to strive for their goals. Next, the member for Toronto, Dan Ford. Speaker, this month the clock runs out on a billion dollars in childcare funding that the federal government is willing to provide to Ontario families. By the end of this month, a billion dollars that would have been available to provide $10 per day childcare will no longer be available. Families in my riding are spending in the thousands of dollars a month to provide care for their children. In many cases, as much as they're paying for mortgage and rent. They need relief, they need it now. At the same time, childcare workers are pushed to the limit with low wages. They need a deal as well. If you Google the words Ontario and childcare, you come up with pages of results with common headlines. Daycare deal near. We're almost there. We have it within reach. And those are the January headlines. At the same time, Speaker, we still don't have a deal. People don't have the relief that they need. Speaker, I call on the Premier to take decisive action now with a comprehensive plan on the table, nail down an agreement and give families a break. Don't wait. Don't stall. Get it done. I'm going to ask the House to come to order. Order. Order. The next statement, the member for Bruce Gray, Owen Sound. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize the recent launch of the Community Fundraising Campaign for the new Markdale Hospital. After many, many years of inaction from the previous government, our government stepped up and committed to building a new hospital in Markdale. Construction has begun and the community has thrilled that our government came through for them. Like with any new hospital construction, the community has a responsibility to fundraise 10 to 15% of the cost of the project. I can say that Markdale and the surrounding communities are up to this task. Mr. Speaker, in October the Centre Gray Health Services Foundation launched its Together in Care campaign with the goal of raising a total of $12.5 million for the new hospital. Planning for this new hospital has been underway for many, many years and the foundation has already raised $6.8 million for the project. The current campaign must raise $5.7 million and I have no doubt they will be successful in this endeavor. The community's commitment to this project is already on display the day the campaign launched. Ice River Springs has committed $500,000 to the project. The Rotary Club of Markdale committed $300,000. The local Kinsman Club $100,000 and Mr. Speaker the local hospital auxiliary has also pledged $650,000 to this important cause. Mr. Speaker, I have no doubt that the entire community will rally and make sure this campaign is a big success. I encourage all local residents to contribute what they can to this important cause. Every dollar counts and will go a long way towards ensuring our excellent healthcare system continues to serve our community in future. I look forward to the future when the historic project will be launched. I have no doubt that the $1,000 square foot hospital is complete and open and the together in care campaign will play a major role in that milestone. Thank you, Speaker. Member statements. Order. The Member for Tsmiskamingtokford. Thank you, Speaker. There was recently an article in one of our local papers. She is living in Werner and the article was about how once in a while, in fact quite often the home care nurse that she has the approval for doesn't show up. Now due to the article and some other work from other people, that situation is much better right now. But it is emblematic of what's happening across, and I specifically, I'm going to talk about Northern Rural Ontario that often people who have approval for home care, they're not there. And we know what happens when home care isn't there, their condition deteriorates, the people's condition deteriorates and where they want to spend their lives they can't and they end up either in the hospital or in long-term care and they don't need to be there. Home care workers and nurses are the lowest paid, they're the bottom rung of the ladder, you want to fix this system, pay them, pay them what they're worth, you can't recruit people without paying them a salary that's actually going to be a career. That concludes our member's statements for this morning and I have a few.