 It's now time for Member Statements to recognize the member for Algoma Manitoulin. Well, thank you, Speaker, and it's always a proud opportunity and a privilege to boast about the young individuals that are across my writing of Algoma Manitoulin. And just a couple of weeks ago, our leader, Andrew Horvath, stood in this House declaring a climate crisis as an emergency through a motion. We had this discussion, and it's thanks to individuals like Lauren Gordart and Jay Cress, who are great 12 students at Manitoulin Secondary School who responded to save the bees wildflower challenge. And they studied in regards to how the life and the habitat of these bees are having an impact on the economy, but also on the farming community. And just this week, thanks to a company, a forestry company that I came out of at one time, the ECOM, which I just visited this last weekend, they donated over 1,200 trees and all the schools in Blind River, which includes St. Mary's Catholic School, École Saint-Joseph, Blind River Public School, École Saint-Gondeige-en-Est-Nord, WC Eckett. They planted those trees along with Mayor and Council just this week. You know, it's amazing how our kids know and understand that there is a climate change. There is a crisis that is going on. And they will no longer ask for our assistance. They are going into action, and they are making the right choices in order to protect our environment. My hat goes off to all the students, and I look forward to joining you at where you planted your trees. Member Statements, the member from Mississauga East Cookstone. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I stand in this house to recognize the sacred month of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Muslim calendar. During this month, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset for 30 days, where we refrain from eating and drinking anything during our fast. With over half a million of Muslims just in Ontario alone, this month holds a great importance to us all. Not everyone is obligated to fast. There are exceptions for children, elderly, and infirm. Mr. Speaker, this month instills in us compassion and empathy for one another. It teaches us to be patient and caring. This month is means to practice patience, humbleness, and good virtues. It is also a means to refreshing one's spirituality. It helps one focus on the purpose of life and to reflect on oneself to help eliminate bad habits. Other than spiritual benefits, fasting is a way to refresh and detoxify our soul, body, and mind. Mr. Speaker, next week Muslims around the world will be celebrating Eid al-Fitr, which is a celebration that marks the end of Ramadan. It is a time when Muslims gather with family and friends to rejoice and reflect on the blessings of Ramadan. After a month of fasting, Eid is a great way to end of the blessed month. On behalf of Muslims of Ontario and Canada, I wish everyone a blessed Ramadan and an early Eid Mubarak. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Speaker. I rise to highlight a critical access to justice issue in all of our communities. I am referring to the elimination of legal service to vulnerable low-income tenants, employees injured workers, recipients of social assistance, all of whom come to our constituency office every day. The recent budget announcement cutting one-third of legal aid Ontario's budget will have a devastating impact on frontline service delivery by the province's 72 community legal clinics. Legal clinics like Hamilton Community Legal Clinic that serves my writing assist our constituents to preserve the basic essentials of life. I'm talking about keeping a roof over people's heads and some income for food on the table. Studies show that every dollar retracted from legal aid leads to a $3 to $5 increase in other areas of government expenditures such as homelessness, health, family breakdown and incarceration. The province must continue to see spending on legal aid as an investment in people and healthy society. The number of people served by legal aid Ontario has significantly increased in 2013 and an erroneous suggestion that services have declined has been inappropriately used as a reason to cut the funding. This must be corrected. I can attest that Hamilton Community Legal Clinic is an essential service for the vulnerable members of my community. I call on the AG and this government to make a commitment to access to justice and not reduce frontline service delivery by community legal clinics in this province. Member Statements, the Member for Carleton. Thank you Mr. Speaker. On Thursday May 15 I was proud to join Ontario's police officers including the exceptional men and women of the Ottawa Police Services as well as friends and colleagues from the Ottawa Police Association for the Police Association of Ontario's President's Awards Dinner at the Brook Street Hotel to celebrate Ontario Police Week. Police Week focuses on raising awareness and recognition of the work our police do to keep our communities safe. This year's theme proudly supporting our police highlighted the diversity of work done by Ontario's police services. At the gala, Ottawa's very own Constable Aaron Reichart won the Hero of the Year award for his bravery and quick response while in pursuit of a suspect during an active triple shooting incident at the Byward Market. Congratulations to Constable Reichart on your well deserved Hero of the Year award. It was truly an honour to meet you and I'm so thankful to know that you are keeping us safe. Then on Friday May 16 I joined Ottawa's longest serving patrol officer Constable Dave Stewart from the Huntmar Police Station in Stitsville for a six hour ride along in my riding of Carleton. Constable Stewart's commitment and dedication to serving the people of Carleton was very inspiring. When cars to Stitsville to North Gore Constable Stewart was greeted with smiles, hugs and thank yous. Thank you Constable Stewart for sharing your wisdom and knowledge with me not only on policing issues but also for introducing me to numerous constituents in the riding. Thank you to all the men and women of the Ottawa Police for all the hard work you do to keep us and our families safe. You're all heroes and we are lucky to have you in Ottawa to protect our backs. Thank you. Thank you. We have the member for Humber River Black Creek. Thank you very much Speaker. This week is Victims and Survivors of Crime week where we raise awareness of the issues faced by victims and survivors of crime as well as the services and laws to help them put the pieces of their lives back together. As I stand here in this prestigious chamber I would like to recognise the important work of individuals and organisations who support these victims and survivors. One such outstanding individual is Reverend Skystar and her organisation Out of Bounds Grief Support which has provided culturally responsive, compassionate and customised grief and trauma support and education for bereaved families in the Jane and Finch community and beyond for many years. On May 23rd of this year Out of Bounds hosted a Victims and Survivors Social where I heard the tragic story of Rochelle Lewis. In July 2017 Rochelle was celebrating her 28th birthday at a large family barbeque where she was shot in the back leaving her paralyzed from the waist down while two others were killed. Her mother Alma, a nursing assistant, used to work three jobs in order to make ends meet. Now because she is Rochelle's main caregiver she only works one. Her mother Alma, a nursing assistant and now her daughter's main caregiver has had to take out a second mortgage on her home due to lost wages and the cost of Rochelle's therapy. And while Rochelle's family and so many other survivors of crime struggle this conservative government has introduced legislation to eliminate the criminal injuries compensation board and slash support funds for pain and suffering by 80% with no real path ahead and even less hope for future victims. In the words of Alma this is not about politics this is about families. I'm calling on this government to stop this bad legislation and give these families the support they deserve. Thank you. Member Statements. Member for Don Valley West. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Later this afternoon I will stand in the legislature to introduce the United Church of Canada Act 2019 which will allow the United Church to move from a four to a three court administrative structure. This change has been debated and developed within the body of the United Church at the central and at the congregational levels. I've been a member of the United Church my entire life christened and married once at Richmond Hill United confirmed later and married again as an adult at Fairlawn United Church. The United Church formed in 1925 as a union of congregationalists, methodists and Presbyterians has always been a place of lively debate on social issues, social justice issues, a leader in ordaining women and members of the LGBT community and permitting same sex marriage. Even the formation of the church itself was hotly debated especially within the Presbyterian church where a minority of Presbyterians feared for their ongoing identity and autonomy. Prime Minister McKenzie King acknowledged at the time that and I quote the government itself is very much divided on this question unquote. At the Mutual Street Arena in Toronto that fractious debate came to an end in 1925. My own family member the diminutive Presbyterian Scotsman William Willie Watson was in attendance. My great great grandfather Willie over 90 years old was firmly opposed to Union and he came in from Adelaide, Ontario to voice his opposition. When he came home to my grandmother, his granddaughter's house Eva wins home in North Toronto to report on the meeting he was agitated because Union had passed but his personal angst was as he put it, Evie I think I stood up at the wrong time. So he had voted for Union when he was opposed. The bill I will introduce today will continue the tradition of the Ontario government playing a role in legitimizing and codifying administrative procedures and protections of an institution that has been a leading voice for social justice in Canada for almost a hundred years. I unlike my ancestor have benefited and believed in the mission and practice of the United Church of Canada and will take part in my local congregation as we go through this transition. Thank you. Member for Stormont Dundas, South Glen Gary. Thank you, Speaker. Last Friday I attended the Glen Gary Celtic Music Hall of Fame induction dinner and Mr. Speaker it was clear that the Celtic music and dance is alive and strong in Glen Gary County. First of all, I'd like to congratulate this year's inductees and their families Cahill, Cappuccino, a world-renowned bass drummer at home and in Scotland, the Klansman Band who was the entertainment of choice of weddings and parties in my youth, Bill Leiphan who as a young farmer formed the local tartans band and Gilbert Jung, a lifelong lifelong piper and director of bands for the Glen Gary Highland Games. Speaker, this is just one of the numerous Celtic events in my writing. Earlier this month the McLeod fiddlers showcased their young and old students. The cast of stars included my three-year-old granddaughter and in Ashley's mini music class where she was where they learned to fiddle and step dance at the same time. Ian and Ashley are just one of the many local instructors joining David McPhee fiddling classes, Gabriel Campbell Music, McCullough Dancers and McCathy Coleman Dance Group amongst others. And of course the Glen Gary Pipe Band teaches dozens of pipers and drummers every year. These new students join their teachers and peers at many concerts and festivals in Glen Gary County including the Glen Gary Highland Games and the Maxwell and Williamstown fairs. The Celtic music group organized their fiddlers day Kaley just a few weeks ago and of course their July Kaley's attract many entertainers and fans every week. So clearly Mr. Speaker, the Celtic culture is alive and well in Eastern Ontario. Thank you. The member for Kiwetnong. Amigut Mr. Speaker, today I would like to read an open letter to all Indigenous students graduating this spring and then this summer. Dear graduates, congratulations on completing your studies whether at elementary school, at high school, at college, or university. This is a great achievement not just for you but for your families and communities. We see the work that you put put in along your journey and we honor you. You may have had many things to overcome in your educational journey such as cultural learning differences, relocation, sometimes from flying locations, financial burdens, sometimes a lack of family support, and still you have made it here today. In the past education was a deliberate tool used systematically to extinguish who we are as people. You might have grandparents, great-grandparents who attended residential schools who would have been who would be very glad that education is now a tool for a tool that we use to build our culture not destroy it. I am proud of you today for taking your place among the long line of those who came before you, who overcame the great odds so that you could celebrate your graduation this year. We honor them. We also honor those who did not survive like the seven fallen feathers in Tenor Bay. Mr. Miigwech, as students for developing your potential for pushing through adversity and becoming who you are and who are you you're meant to be. I am excited to see that where you go in the next in the next journey. Miigwech. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the Member for Flamborough, Glenbrook. Thank you Mr. Speaker. In recent days there have been many stories in the news about the dispute between Canada and the Philippines over garbage with the government in the Philippines deciding to no longer take in Canada's garbage and to send some of it back to our shores. Speaker it's clear that something needs to be done in order to reduce the amount of items that we send to our landfills and this became quite evident to me when I was meeting with stakeholders in relation to my private members motion that passed in the legislature back in March. I was shocked to find out that North Americans threw out over 24 billion tons of clothing every year. I would like to take this opportunity to remind Ontarians that there are other ways of getting rid of old clothing including donating them to charities. These charities are then able to sell the used clothing and other household items and use the money raised to fund their work in the community. And I'm pleased that a number of charitable organizations have supported this initiative and I look forward to welcoming some of them to the legislature this Thursday. There will be an opportunity to have a photo taken with them on the grand staircase after question period. Speaker it is important that we take steps to clean up our environment so it is sustainable for our children for future generations. I am proud to be part of a government that understands this and I'd like to remind all members don't dump donate. Thank you. Member statements and member for Kitchener Conestoga. Well thank you Mr. Speaker and before I get into my member statement I just wanted to say a quick hello to Countryside Christian School. Mr. Speaker from Wellesley Township I just had the privilege of taking a picture with them on the grand staircase. So Mr. Speaker I'm happy to note that I have invited some local technology companies to participate in the technology round table that's focused on scale-ups at the Accelerator Center on May 31st. This event begins a series of round tables the next to be held at Communitech on June 14th with variable size technology companies in Waterloo Region to consult on red tape production which will promote economic development job creation and trade in our province. I'm responsible for the technology sector in our current ministry of economic development job creation and trade task force on red tape production. Our objective is to support the Ontario government's target to reduce red tape by 25 percent by the year 2020. Recommendations from this task force and on the technology sector specifically from these Waterloo Region round tables will be forwarded to the ministry for review. Each round table will allow participants to share their company's company's specific experiences with the government with government policy and processes in an informal setting. I look forward to hearing from a diverse range of companies and entrepreneurs and hope to share my experiences in the technology sector myself and as a small business owner. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much.