 It's now time for a member's statements. I recognize the member for London Fanshawe. Thank you Speaker. Speaker I rise today on behalf of my constituents of London Fanshawe because I want to bring their voices forward during the pandemic and what they're what they're saying and contacting our office about. One thing the Ford government has been saying is that our central workers, frontline healthcare workers are heroes and they are our heroes. They are dedicated, they're committed and they're strong and they put their lives on the line every day to look after our society. You know the grocery stores are loved ones. The whole gamut of how the world is working is because of essential workers and frontline healthcare workers and what I hear from specifically from healthcare workers is the announcement that was made on April 24th. They're very grateful for that but they wanted to know why not have that now announcement be back to when the emergency order was called. There are workers at PSW that contacted my office. She's home sick from the pandemic from COVID-19 and she doesn't get the pandemic pay so that's another hole in announcing it on the 24th. The other piece of that is I get calls from PSW's for agency workers and they're saying you know we're doing the same work as everybody else but we're not categorized in the pandemic pay so I just asked this government from what I've been hearing in London Fanshawe from my constituents and I'm sure they've heard it too to reconsider that and include all healthcare workers and heroes that keep us going through the pandemic. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member statements. The member for Chatham Kent Leamington. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. On May 16th, 2020 a miracle took place in my writing of Chatham Kent. People from all corners of the writing took part in what they may have may have been the most paramount display of community we have ever seen. It all started with an idea by Chatham Kent residents West Thompson and James Rasmussen after hearing of the shortages at our local food banks and the amount of new people and families seeking food donations. They came up with the idea they called the May 16th miracle. The idea spread rapidly throughout our community and roughly 5,500 people volunteered for the event. The idea was to have local residents leave non perishable food items and gift cards on their front porch driveways or doorsteps. These items were then collected by volunteers going door to door in every Chatham Kent neighborhood. Chatham Kent residents and businesses did not disappoint Mr. Speaker. Signs were hand painted and they were set up around the community with the words May 16th miracle and pretty soon many businesses donated thousands of dollars and manpower to the cause. No stone was left unturned. There were over 50 drop off spots in rural areas to ensure everyone was able to donate and participate. In the end so many food items were collected that Chatham Kent has unofficially broken the Guinness world record for the most amount of food items collected at over 678,000 pounds. Our local food banks will be stocked for months and so I'm so proud of Chatham Kent. We have truly exemplified what we call hashtag Ontario spirit is all about. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member statements. The member for Windsor to come see. Thank you, Speaker. Good morning. I know you value the work of our frontline medical personnel down in Windsor and Essex County. We have a long tradition of honoring our nurses for 13 years. The RNAO has selected a nurse who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession as well as to the local community. They received the lowest fairly nurse of the year award. Well this year, the year of COVID-19. The award has a new wrinkle. Instead of recognizing just one nurse, the lowest fairly 2020 nurse of the year award goes to each and every one of the people practicing nursing in Windsor and Essex County. The registered nurses, the nurse practitioners, the registered practical nurses and the nursing students are all being recognized this year. Our nurses have demonstrated a commitment to our community through excellence in their delivery of patient care. Speaker, as you know, this has been a time of great stress, anxiety and concern day in and day out. Our nurses have demonstrated great compassion, professionalism and true leadership within the medical community. They have shown great courage in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. They've done it in our hospitals, our clinics and our nursing homes as well as in home care, physicians' offices and at our local public health units. This is not to downplay in any way the contributions of every healthcare professional helping us through this epidemic, this crisis. And thank you to each and every one of you. But hats off to the registered nursing association of Ontario, the RNAO for recognizing the service that our nurses are providing. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member for Niagara West. Thank you, Speaker. I rise today to express my gratitude to local nurses, doctors and frontline care workers as well as essential workers in many different sectors across Niagara West, including healthcare providers at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Grimsby and the St. Catherine site of Health Niagara for their extraordinary dedication and commitment as we continue to work together to protect the health and well-being of Ontarians against COVID-19. I want to echo the sentiments of the hundreds of signs and homemade banners on front lines and porches across my writing. Thank you and stay strong. During this pandemic, we have seen community leaders and local residents also step up to serve others, whether volunteering through spark Ontario, providing PPE to local hospitals or donating non perishable food items to food banks. We have seen the true Ontario together spirit in Niagara West. And I stand in this chamber to highlight just a few outstanding efforts in my writing during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Grimsby downtown improvement area teamed up with woodworkers unite in town of Grimsby to make available hundreds of face shields for local businesses. Clean works in Beamsville developed a federally approved process to sanitize and reuse and 95 masks. Dylan small batch distillers in Beamsville was among the first producing hand sanitizer and disinfectant for thousands of frontline care workers across the province. Stampack and Smithville providing warehouse space and logistical support for the West Lincoln community care. The Faut Hill Legion has been preparing thousands of meals for isolated seniors and local residents generously have participated in food drives for open arms mission in Wayne Fleet. Speaker, as we continue to face the challenges of COVID-19, I'm amazed and grateful to see how this outbreak has shown the people of Ontario are ready and willing to love their neighbour as themselves. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Member statements. The member for Sudbury. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, as our economy reopens, Ontarians return to work, worker safety must remain a top priority. Throughout this pandemic, we've heard numerous instances of workers not having access to the equipment and the PPE they need to stay safe at work. And tragically, many of these frontline workers have become sick and in some cases lost their lives due to inadequate protections from COVID-19. Recently, I've been hearing from workers who are worried about their safety as returned to work, worried because the government's workplace guidelines are completely optional. I'm hearing from employer speaker worried because the government's workplace guidelines are too vague for their specific circumstances. Speaker, the government must take a proactive approach. Ontario needs to strike a workplace safety readiness committee. This committee will be composed of safety professionals working with representatives from both labour and business. The workplace safety readiness committee would help identify hazards to ensure that all workplaces have the tools and PPE they need to follow public health advice and the precautionary principle. The workplace safety readiness committee would provide strong recommendations to ensure a safe transition back to a fully functioning economy. We all know, Speaker, that when workers are properly protected from COVID-19, everyone in Ontario will become safer as well. This government must step up and put workplace safety first. They can prevent a second devastating wave of COVID-19 cases by striking a Made in Ontario Workplace Safety Readiness Committee today. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Members statements to member for Guelph. Speaker, I love downtown Guelph. I love the character, vibrancy and vitality that independent local businesses provide our communities and neighborhoods all over this province. And I don't want our downtown to become ghost towns because of COVID-19. June 1st is less than a week away. Rent is due and over half of Ontario's small businesses will not be able to pay their rent and 47% say that their landlord will not apply for emergency rent assistance, which opens today. The neighborhood group operates five restaurants in Guelph, Waterloo region. They hope to celebrate their 30th anniversary next month. They've been awarded the Independent Restaurant of the Year Award. They employ over 150 people and are certified living wage employer. They've raised over a million dollars for charities. Two of their landlords are working with them and two of their landlords are threatening to lock them out. Losing these businesses would be devastating to our community, their workers and the farmers who supply them. 80% of their food comes from local Ontario farmers. They, like local businesses all across Ontario, need the premier to bring in a temporary ban on commercial rent evictions now. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Members statements to member for Mississauga East Cokesville. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, the people of Ontario have shown their Ontario spirit by going above and beyond to help and uplift those who need it most. I wanted to highlight some of the people, businesses and organizations in my riding of Mississauga East Cokesville doing this wonderful and inspiring work. The Vietnamese community at Saigon Park had organized a PPE drive among local businesses and raised $10,000 for the Mississauga Food Bank. Flato Developments donated much needed and appreciated PPE to long term care facilities in my riding so the folks working and living there would get that extra protection. Grasshopper Energy donated $50,000 to the Mississauga Food Bank. Global Medics donated $650 of food to the Mississauga Food Bank as well. Mr Speaker, throughout Ramadan, several Muslim community groups came together to host Ramadan iftar drive-through dinners for those in need. They prepared meals for our front line heroes, delivered groceries and prescriptions to our seniors and most importantly raised much needed funds for our local hospital. Mr Speaker, I want to say thank you to everyone who has donated, organized, prepared meals and supplies, who has made calls and arranged for services and donation. The Ontario spirit is strong and I believe that together we will come out of this crisis stronger than ever. Thank you and God bless each of you. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Last week, I am honored to say my son Jonathan Lindell received a promotion. He is now petty officer first class with the Canadian Navy. As I reflect on contributions of all our military men and women, I opened an email from the local Legion in St. Catherine's that sent chills down my spine. The local Legion has a revenue loss of close to $30,000 because they have to shut down because of this pandemic. Their hope for support through insurance was denied. It was not just denied for their Legion. It was denied for every Legion across Ontario, across this province. Legion survive off community based events. They are all at risk of losing so much right now because of COVID-19 pandemic. Veterans and seniors and legions need our help. It's a harsh reality to face, but with utilities and insurance costs and thousands of dollars now, just like all of us across the aisle and here, we honor our veterans with ceremonies and gratitude while also valuing their sacrifice. I would like to see this assembly honor them in another way by taking action. We need a utility payment freeze and create programs to offset insurance costs for our legions in Ontario. One day my son will be a veteran and I refuse to leave him a province that ignored supporting our veterans when they needed the support the most. They least, the least we can do is show our veterans how much they mean to us by taking action and providing critical, critical financial support today. Thank you. Member Statements, the member for Ottawa West and Appians. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is wonderful to rise again in this chamber during these extraordinary times. Over the past number of weeks, we have seen countless examples of people going above and beyond to support their communities. In my hometown of Ottawa, this has certainly been the case. Our frontline health care and emergency response workers have been selflessly working to care for our most vulnerable and respond to those in need. Our charities have been hard at work filling the gaps and providing the necessary services to support individuals and families across the city. And our businesses are stepping forward to demonstrate what the Premier has called the Ontario spirit. I'd like to take a moment today, Mr. Speaker, to recognize just one of those businesses who has demonstrated that Ontario spirit. Gabriel's Pizza has been a staple in Ottawa since 1977. Helmed by George Hannah, Gabriel's has always recognized that they have a role to play, not just as a business, but also as a community leader. At the onset of the pandemic, the Gabriel's family stepped forward to support the community. Over the past two months, they have donated around 5,000 meals to deserving workers and frontline support workers and charities right across the city. I was honoured to have the chance to deliver a large number of these meals. We brought delicious lasagnas and pizzas to the teams at Chio and the Queensway Carleton Hospital, to the folks at some of our long-term care and retirement residents, and to the hard working volunteers at the Caldwell Centre. I know that these donations meant the world to these workers. On behalf of the people of Ottawa, I would like to extend a warm thank you to the Gabriel's Pizza team and all of their workers for their generosity. Members' statements? The member for Barry Innisfil. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am proud to serve the residents of Barry Innisfil. Barry Innisfil is a community that has each other's back. For example, Bonnie Barth and Sonia De Silva are an example of women in Innisfil who stepped up to bring hope, love and care to our seniors. When Bonnie saw the images of seniors on the news isolated by COVID-19 pandemic, she wanted to do something about it. So, Bonnie came up with a caring card campaign, asking residents to write greeting cards that she would deliver to residents and staff brightening up their day. Her plan was to collect the cards, sanitize them at home for several days, and then deliver them to the lakeside retirement home in Alcona. It's an idea that has inspired the whole community. In fact, it's inspired the students at Nantire Shores Secondary School who got involved, as well as Councillor Kenneth Fowler and his son Gabe, who built a card, a caring cards mailbox at the Innisfil Community Church, which of course received the blessing of Pastor Howard Courtney. The hope is that all residents are going to be able to fill this mailbox with cards to brighten the days of our seniors. And in fact, Mr. Speaker, even before that mailbox was set up, Bonnie received 22 cards dropped off at her home. Thank you Bonnie and Sonia for uplifting our community to show that seniors and lakeside retirement home live in a community that cares, loves for them. This is the interior spirit. Thank you very much.