 It is now time for Member Statements, the Member for Scarborough, South West. Thank you, Speaker. It is my absolute honour and privilege to stand here today and recognise February 21st International Mother Language Day. Here in Ontario and around the world, we celebrate today to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity. For all of us, language is a part of our identity, a part of our development, a part of our culture. It connects us to our roots. While today is marked as a celebration around the world, its roots are in Bangladesh. And as the first Bangladeshi Canadian elected in public office in this country, today is a day I hold close to my heart. In 1952, students took to the streets of Dhaka to protect their right to speak and preserve their mother language, facing brutal violence where many lost their lives. We must remember their sacrifice and the sacrifice of many throughout the years to protect their mother languages. This movement to protect language rights is also critical in our province, especially as we stand with our Francophone and Indigenous communities who continue to fight the increasing threat to their mother languages. We cannot forget the cruel legacy of Regulation 17 and residential schools, tools used by our own governments to suppress mother language rights. We must recommit ourselves to true reconciliation every single day. As we celebrate International Mother Language Day, let's come together and build a better future, one where everyone's mother language is protected and celebrated. Thank you, Speaker. Member Statements, the Member for Atobico Center. I want to thank the Member Opposite. We're speaking about the same thing today, but I will commence my remarks. Every year since 2000, International Mother Language Day has been observed on February 21st. I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge this day for promoting linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. Many of you will recall prior to the break, I presented a motion to recognize the International Languages Program provided by the Toronto Catholic District School Board. I fully support the study of international languages, and I thank all the members of the House for their support. We know that learning languages is incredibly healthy for brain development of young children, but it goes beyond that. Mother languages are fundamental. In preserving, developing are various heritages. They provide us with an identity, communication, social integration and cultural diversity. I truly enjoyed listening to other members share their stories about languages in the House. Languages open the doors of opportunity. They keep traditions alive, provoke memories, and my favorite is the unique modes of thinking and expression within cultures. We must make progress in mother tongue based multilingual education and understand its importance, particularly in early schooling, so that we can ensure that multilingual societies exist for future generations to come. Thank you. The member for Toronto Centre, Rosie Rosden. I took over 10 years for the subway extension to reach York University. One would expect the 50,000 people who work and study at the university would be delighted by the subway's arrival. But over 17,000 are so angry that they signed a petition demanding transit improvements. Here's what's wrong. Go buses and York region buses used to travel to the centre of York University but are now being diverted to Pioneer Village and the Highway 407 subway stop, which is forcing commuters to make a very unpleasant choice. They have to pay two fares where originally they paid one, or they have to walk up to three kilometres to get into the centre of York University. I believe this is very heartless and thoughtless transit planning. It is an injustice to force transit riders who are already paying some of the highest fares in Canada to pay up to a thousand dollars more a year just to ride a subway stop they didn't have to ride before. It's an injustice to further lengthen the travel that students and workers have to have to have even longer commutes to do that unnecessary second trip. And it is cruel to force low income people with mobility difficulties to choose between spending money they don't have or walking up to three kilometres on icy sidewalks. This government likes to say it's York University's fault that the buses are not going to York University campus. I have a letter from York University saying they want the buses to come back. So please fix this issue, bring the buses back, bring in proper fare integration so riders don't have to pay twice and properly fund transit systems so riders including York University students and workers can get to work affordably. Thank you. Member Statements, the member from Mississauga Center. Merci Monsieur le Président. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Last night I had the pleasure to meet the students of the Francophonie Assembly School. We are proud as a government to support Francophone students and to welcome them here at Queen's Park so that they can understand what a parliamentarian means in Ontario. It's very nice to see young people participate in the parliamentary system and to think and to promote our French identity here in Canada. As a member of the association, I understand all of the contributions that the youth provide to their communities. I was very enthused by all of their ideas and I'm very confident that they will be able to accomplish great things in the future. I am very proud to say that I will represent our province when I will be going to Vietnam and participate in a delegation. And I hope that I'll be able to use my role in order to promote the participation of women in the political life. This brings together women from different backgrounds and this international forum allows the people from across the world to participate in this forum and to share ideas and to strike a better balance between the sexes in political life. Thank you. Member Statements. The member for Niagara Falls. Hey Mr. Speaker. Thank you. I'd like to rise today and talk about healthcare. Over the winter break I posted a video to Facebook asking for residents to tell me what they thought about the government's leaked document potentially privatizing parts for healthcare system. The video reached over and think about this, half a million people. Thousands took the time to comment, share and engage with the video and one thing was very clear. Mr. Ford, this message is directly from the constituents who tasked me to be the voice in this legislature. We say no to healthcare privatization. We believe in a medical care system that publicly funded and publicly delivered based on health needs, not on the size of one's credit card. Mr. Speaker, I spent my entire adult life speaking out against privatization of healthcare and I'm not about to stop now. From diagnostic scans to dental care to private parking lots and gouge residents at times of emergency, enough is enough. It's time, it's time about expanding our public healthcare system, not selling it off. Mr. Speaker, I said it before, I'll say it again, healthcare is a crisis across this province. People are waiting in hallways for hours. They're being rushed out of hospitals. Those who need mental health supports aren't getting it. From frontline workers are doing everything they can. So right now in our province, instead of focusing on tax breaks for corporations, rule back health and safety measures to protect workers, let's focus on putting public darling into healthcare. Instead of spending money on major government announcements and appointments, let's fix healthcare. We can do this in Niagara Falls tomorrow, Mr. Speaker. By moving forward our hospital project, putting shovels in the ground, we can do that. We can put local people to work, local businesses and provide decent public healthcare at a reasonable time for our residents. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Members statements, a member for Guelph. Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker. One of the many things I love about Guelph is that it is an inclusive, caring community that welcomes and supports and embraces newcomers. An important annual community event that fosters inclusivity and community connections is the building bridges events hosted by the Muslim Society of Guelph every January. MSOG President Mohammed Said and his wife, Sarah Said, the board and volunteers do a wonderful job of bringing people of diverse face and backgrounds together to honor community leaders and to strengthen bonds of friendship. So at a time where some in Canada want to divide us with anti-immigrant sentiment, Islamophobia and other forms of hate, the Muslim Society of Guelph works hard to bring people together. We are stronger when we embrace and celebrate our diversity, when we stand united to build inclusive, caring, sustainable communities. I wish every MPP and every Ontarian could experience the Building Bridges event, and I want to thank the Muslim Society of Guelph for bringing it to our community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Member statements, a member for King Vaughn. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for today to recognize February's Black History Month. Mr. Speaker, I was tremendously proud to host my first Black History Month reception in my office in the writing of King Vaughn with so many leaders in nonprofit and business in our community who are making a difference. And I'm proud to stand in recognition of the contributions that Canadians of African and Caribbean descent have made to this country for since our Confederation. It is great Canadians like Lincoln Alexander, a pioneer, a veteran, someone who served his country, the first Black Member of Parliament, the first Black Minister of the Crown, the first Black Lieutenant Governor appointed by a Conservative, he was a Conservative. It is men and women like Viola Desmond and others who have left a legacy on our country, the fabric of our country and who continue to make a difference. In my local writing, Sharnet Williams, the Executive Director of the Vaughn African Caribbean Association has been a tremendous asset in making sure other communities within Vaughn understand the sacrifice and the contribution of this community. The fourth largest community in Vaughn is the Black community and I'm proud to stand with them to recognize their contribution. I'm proud to celebrate their history and I'm proud to say, Mr. Speaker, that on this side of the house, joining all members of this Parliament, that we stand proudly to recognize the measurable contributions these people are making, the Black communities making this country every single day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member Stavins, the Member for Kitchener Centre. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've written a letter to the government. Dear government, I want to believe that you are committed to reconciliation with First Peoples. But in October, when I rose to celebrate the amazing work of the healing of the seven generations in my writing of Kitchener Centre, I was having trouble seeing how your commitment was linked to real action. That's what reconciliation requires. It's true. Healing of the seven generations provides brilliant programming, some of which is paid for by the Ontario Trillium Foundation funding. But they have to do this because Ontario, their provincial partner, has not stepped in to address food insecurity, poverty, cultural sensitivity that's needed to treat First Peoples as people in Ontario. And last week, while I was at Queen's Park hosting Black leaders from across Ontario alongside the members of the NDP's official Black Caucus, healing of the seven generations was welcoming guests to their first Peoples Healing and Wellness Conference entitled We All Pull Together. So with the name to promote real healing, dear government, I'm putting my question out there with great sincerity. How can we heal the relationship between First Peoples and settlers on the land when the people of Cat Lake First Nation are suffering? How can we heal the relationship between First Peoples and any level of government when the people of Cat Lake are watching the provincial and federal governments fight about who should be responsible and who should step in? Fighting while people are literally dying because they live in conditions that we have to name as they are, environmental racism. Dear government, it's time to do better. Ontario's watching. Thank you. Member statements, member for Etobicoke Lake Shore. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. I want to tell this house about a gentleman I met named Edward Stafford, a retired veteran who lives in Etobicoke Lake Shore. I had the pleasure of visiting Mr. Stafford on his 98th birthday and he has served five years in the Canadian military during the Second World War. Chuper Ed Stafford was one of 93,000 soldiers who fought in the campaign to liberate Italy during the war. Nearly 6,000 soldiers paid the ultimate price during this campaign. Ed Stafford's story is one of bravery and courage. He served, fought and survived so that others can live. His contribution, along with that of thousands of other Canadians, was instrumental in victory for the Allied forces. Last month, Ed was honoured by the Peace Through Valor campaign, which works to recognise bravery and sacrifice of those who fought in the Italian campaign during World War II. Ed received a replica monument depicting Ortona, the Italian town liberated from Nazi rule in 1943, thanks to the Canadian First Infantry Division. You can see the full size monument for yourself outside Toronto City Hall, just a short walk south from this legislature. Here in Canada we are free and at peace in this amazing country because of his bravery and sacrifice. We owe a debt of gratitude to Chuper Ed Stafford and those who fought alongside him. Thank you. Member Statements. The member for Peterborough Coortha. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to talk about two events that happened in my riding during the break that we had. On February 1st, it was the 10th annual Polar Fest in Selwyn Township. Selwyn Township, for those of you who don't know, is part of my riding that I love to refer to as God's country because that is really where God would come to vacation. At Polar Fest, we had our opening ceremonies on the Friday night and it was great to be down at the beach watching the fireworks over the lake. On February 3rd, we hosted a polar bear dip. I had the pleasure of being one of the judges for it. This year's competition was, or this year's theme, was dipping to hockey. And the winner of the polar bear dip was a young lady who dressed up as a Toronto Maple Leaf player, held the Stanley Cup above her head as she jumped into that freezing cold water. There's probably some other images that people could have about the Stanley Cup being won by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Finally, on February the 16th, for Family Day, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters hosted an ice fishing event on Shmong Lake. It was a fabulous event that was attended by not only myself, Minister Yakubuski and MPP Gila Marto. We had more than 1,100 people come out to enjoy that. I had the pleasure of meeting two families, one from Colombia and one from Mexico. Neither had seen winter and thought that this was fabulous and we're looking forward to coming back to Peterborough, specifically to God's country one more time. Ludes our Member Statements this afternoon.