 introductions. It's now time for Member Statements. The Member for Malgen, Middlesex, London. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to rise today to highlight May as Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month. Excuse me, MS affects three times as many women as men. It's the most common neurological disease among young Canadians, typically affecting those between ages 15 to 40. Close to 100,000 Canadians are living with MS. MS occurs when the insulating covers of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged, resulting in physical, mental and psychiatric problems. Patients' lives are seriously affected. Symptoms can include double vision, blindness and one eye, muscle weakness, trouble with sensation, or coordination. As of today, there is no cure for MS. There are, however, treatments, medications, and physical therapy available to assist those who are suffering with this chronic disease. Government needs to work to reduce the bureaucracy that is limiting access to these new medications that is treating MS. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada for their leadership and their advancements to finding a cure and enabling those affected by MS to help enhance their quality of life. As previously mentioned, MS affects three times as many women as men, which is why WAMS was created. WAMS stands for Woman Against Multiple Sclerosis and has been an extremely successful advocate over the past decade. The red carnation is the symbol of MS. The Society of Canada runs the carnation campaign, which helps assist with donations to fight to end MS. I encourage all Ontarians to participate in the MS walks in the communities and get involved to help spread the word to increase awareness surrounding multiple sclerosis. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Speaker, let me tell you about a bike ride that's taking place. It started in Windsor last Wednesday. It'll end here at the legislature this Wednesday. The injured workers, Richard Houda and Peter Page, are making a trip along with injured workers advocate, Alan Jones. Their route is a grueling 600 kilometers. They have been meeting with injured workers along the way. They've made stops in Chatham, Wallisburg, Sarnia, London, Branford, St. Catharines. They'll be in Hamilton at four o'clock today at the Workers' Monument at City Hall. Tomorrow they'll be stopping in Mississauga. And on Wednesday, injured workers' day, Speaker, if you haven't made lunch plans yet, join them outside in the lawn for pizza before they're joined by other injured workers for a rally at the Ministry of Labor. And the purpose behind the ride is to raise awareness of the many issues involving workers' compensation in our province. On a final note, Speaker, we lost a fierce advocate for the working class last week in Tecumseh. George Lebut was 94. He was one of the leaders of the Ford strike in Windsor in 1945. The UAW was out for 99 days. That strike led to the Rand formula in Ontario. If you belong to a union, you pay union dues. George Lebut was a labor historian. His garage is a museum to labor history. And Speaker, he was also a former town counselor in Tecumseh and a veteran of the Second World War. God bless you, George Lebut. Thank you. Any member's statements? Further member's statements? The member from Lampdon-Kent, Middlesex? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. A letter dated July 28, 2015, from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and written to the President and CEO of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance has only recently been made public. The letter recognizes the outstanding emergency department performance that was achieved at Sydenham District Hospital. Within its own category of hospital, the wait times in the emergency department at Sydenham District Hospital were reduced more than any others in the province. Unfortunately, this hospital, which is efficiently delivering vital care in my riding, is under threat of closure. Wallisburg-Walpool Island Health Coalition recently conducted a survey that asked thousands of respondents whether Ontario's government must act to stop the closure of Sydenham District Hospital's emergency department and restore funding, services, and staff to meet the community's needs for care. The result was a unanimous and resounding yes. I wish to extend my congratulations to the doctors and nurses of the emergency department at Sydenham District Hospital and to assure the people of Wallisburg, North Kent, South Lampdon, and Wallpoo Island that I will continue to work to ensure this standard of care is there for them. The emergency department is critical and the 24-hour, seven-day-a-week, fully-functional emergency department in Wallisburg must be kept open. Thank you. Very nice. Thank you. Further member statements? The member from Essex. I often rise in this legislature to speak about great things and people in my riding today. Unfortunately, it isn't the case. Today, I must rise again to bring to attention this government's failure and half-measures and broken promises that have had a negative impact on the people in my riding and many of those who travel through our riding. The government's failure to complete the widening of Highway 3 between the town of Essex and the town of Lehmonton continues to be a public safety issue and people, unfortunately, are dying on this road speaker just in the last 30 days and last month we've had two multi-vehicle fatalities, two separate incidences on that very stretch of road speaker. My predecessor, Bruce Kozier, many of the members who are in here today sat with my predecessor, Bruce Kozier, dedicated his entire career to the expansion and widening of that highway. It is aptly named after Bruce because of his efforts. Unfortunately, this government has stalled at the third phase, the final phase that would stretch from Essex to Lehmonton widening that not only for commerce, not only for commuters, but for the safety of the individuals that are on that road. Speaker, it is our belief that the government is dragging their heels on this project, but we can't understand why because it is a government project. It is a promise that they made to our community some 10 years ago. We would like to see it finished. We call on the government and plur on the Minister of Transportation to fulfill his promise, finish what Bruce Kozier started, get the funds flowing to our community, ensure that the public can travel safely down that corridor from Lehmonton to Essex and to Windsor, and we can ensure that the road is feasible and safe for all the commuters. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Well, last week, as you know, it was a constituency week for members, and I took the opportunity to visit a number of schools in Kitchener Centre, including Courtland Avenue Public School, West Heights, St. Marks, and St. Paul's Catholic Elementary Schools. I had the chance to speak to five different classes in this whirlwind tour, all taking place in one day, and it was a wonderful way to meet so many bright young students who ranged from grade two up to grade eight, and they were very interested in the political process. They asked a lot of really great questions, such as, what's a typical day like for you as an MPP? Is there a lot of stress on your job? And of course, the inevitable question, how much money do you make? And I was happy to answer all of those questions. A couple of the great five classes who were part of the tour are taking the unit in government. They were able to identify the various levels of government. They clearly understood all of the different literally, provincially, and municipally. And I asked each class if there was any message that they wanted me to deliver back to Queen's Park. One young man by the name of Hank said that he wanted me to tell the Premier that he thought she was doing a great job, so I promised him that I would do that. And I encourage all students to stay politically engaged and to come and visit us here at Queen's Park. It's their legislature. And also consider serving our page program like the young people who are here. So hopefully we'll be seeing these bright young faces in the near future here at Queen's Park. Thank you. Thank you. Further members of statements. The members from Haldeman, Norfolk. In a few six months we commence celebration of not only Canada's 150 birthday, but also the 225th anniversary of the founding of Ontario. Of course, plans are afoot and I encourage all to get involved. Some projects large and small to mark these milestones in our society. The Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the British colony into two governments. West of the Ottawa River became upper Canada, now Ontario, with its first parliament meeting in Newark. Now Niagara on the lake on September 17th, 1792 and the first parliament was opened by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, reading the speech from the throne. July 1st, 1867 75 years after Ontario's legislature first met, church bells rang and 4 million people celebrated the creation of Dominion to Canada. In a few short weeks we celebrate Canada Day, the original Dominion Day to mark Confederation in locally both Caledonia. Port Dover have gigantic parades attended by thousands. In fact Port Dover has been hosting its Cala Thumpian Parade every year since 1867. Some claim it's the longest running Canada Day Parade in the country. Canada says Patrenio will kick off much of where a lot of this began in my writing in the historic village of Vittoria. So I encourage all, let's get involved for 2017. Thank you for the member from Durham. Thank you speaker. It's always a pleasure to rise in the house and celebrate the achievements of constituents from the great riding of Durham. I recently heard some very good news about one of our highly successful youth sports teams. The Durham attack under 14 infinity girls. Volleyball team has been dominating tournaments both in Ontario and the United States so far this year. Their recent successes including winning gold in their division in the East National Championship in Ottawa just a few weeks ago and winning bronze at the President's Day Cup in Dayton, Ohio back in February. Since 1992 the Durham attack team has been one of Canada's premier volleyball clubs. This team is dedicated to teaching its young athletes the skills they need to be successful and enough the volleyball court by developing character through excellence. The team's success is a testament to all the young people and all of the young people can do when they're supported in an environment of empowerment, encouragement and fair play. Congratulations to everyone on the team and congratulations to the coaches and other people of the community that supported that supports all of our sports teams. Thank you speaker. Thank you. Mr. Speaker having had the honour to serve as the minister of transportation and also the minister responsible for service interior. The service service interior provides I am very much aware of that. Having served on the tree board for many years I do understand sometimes we need to make tough and difficult decisions however we must make all those decisions in the best interest of the people of interior. The people of interior cannot be served by reducing services and especially for the most needy and deserving people in the society. In addition we need to make service reduction decisions only after consultation with the affected communities. There are also specific service interior centre which are not only important for the service they provide but also very vital for the business community around them. Once such service interior centre is located at Bastille Mall in my Saga. The ministry has decided to close Mr. Speaker. This service interior centre attacks consumers to the mall which supports the other small business entrepreneurs in the shopping centre. This reality has led to a rise in business for small businesses business owners in the mall due to the service interior centre's presence in that mall. Without the service interior Bastille mall will be put under tremendous strain for the and the existence of this mall in the central neighbourhood. I would like to ask the ministry to reconsider this decision and the government to make sure that the people that they serve are protected and the community and the mall is protected as well. Thank you. Thank you for their member statements. The member from York centre. I am proud to rise today to recognize the work of the Russian Canadian community. The RCCAS was founded in 1950 as a nonprofit organization and has run entirely by volunteers. The foundation exists for the benefit of the Russian Canadian community by providing the means and facilities necessary for the actualization and cultural development of the community. In all of its activities and undertaking the foundation is guided by ideals that incorporate affirmation of cultural identity and principles its mission is to promote and maintain rich Russian cultural traditions and help new immigrants integrate into the Canadian way of life. Yesterday was the grand opening of Russian house Toronto in my writing of York centre at the Earl Bells park. The house was founded to provide much needed facilities for fostering the preservation and promotion of Russian culture, traditions and language the space will be used for concerts, lectures, dancing and other activities to serve the more than 118,000 Russians living in the greater Toronto area. English events will also take place to help showcase Russian culture. Cultural centres like the Russian house Toronto are essential to building community, educating and protecting diversity and truly grateful to all those involved whose dedication and hard work resulted in the establishment of such an important and rewarding cultural space. I thank all members for their statements. It's now time