 Member Statements Member Statements The Member for Whitby Thank you Speaker, I am pleased to speak about Cordelia Clark-Julian the esteemed Chair of the Board of Trustees for Lake Richelle who has been recognized as one of the 100 accomplished Black Canadian women Cordelia's recognition showcases her excellence in leadership, not only as our Board Chair, but also in her commitment to inclusion diversity, equity, accessibility and anti-racism efforts within Lake Richelle Speaker Cordelia's journey is not just an individual triumph it reflects the collective support and mentorship she received along the way Since the Davis, the Lake Richelle's President and Chief Executive Officer rightly describes this achievement as a tremendous accomplishment and a wonderful moment for Lake Richelle Cordelia's dedication has played a pivotal role in helping Lake Richelle achieve its vision of one system best held As we look forward to the 2024 edition of the biannual book which features all of the 100 honorees Let me quote Cordelia My advice to Black women would be to never diminish the light within you as that is what makes you great So when someone tells you that you're too much they just know that your light is shining bright and they just need to get a pair of sunglasses Thank you Speaker Member Statements, the Member for Niagara Falls Thank you very much This past Saturday I attended the coldest night of the year of my community of Niagara Falls The coldest night of the year is a fundraiser for Project SHARE an organization that does incredible work in our community supporting food security housing help and healthy living On Saturday they raised $65,000 But their job is getting harder and harder We know we have a cost of living crisis across the province of Ontario In Niagara 20% or 1 in 5 households have food insecure Over 75,000 individuals in Niagara experience food insecurity When it comes to housing a person earning minimum wage in the province of Ontario needs to work hours to afford a two bedroom room We have several encampments throughout the region of Niagara experiencing homelessness In this last fiscal year Project SHARE served one one in eight residents in Niagara Falls As a province we must do more to tackle the affordability crisis We must get government back in the business of building affordable housing and bring back rent controls which this government took out We must increase social insurance and the practice of deeming and fund social services agencies appropriately Finally we must have the courage to take on corporate price gouging wherever we see fit By taking action we can make life more affordable for the residents of Ontario Thank you Member Statements, Member for Carlton Thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker on Friday March 8 I am hosting my annual Carlton Women's Day breakfast once again in Richmond International Women's Day is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women Each year this day serves as a powerful reminder of the progress made towards gender equality It also serves to remind us of the work that still needs to be done The theme for this year's International Women's Day is Inspire Inclusion It underscores the crucial role of inclusion in achieving gender equality It calls for action to break down barriers to challenge stereotypes and to create environments where all women are valued and respected Inspire Inclusion encourages everyone to recognize the unique perspectives and contributions of women from all walks of life including those from marginalized communities Thank you Mr. Speaker to give a shout out to the Iranian women and the Iranian men supporting them who won the 2022 Heroes of the Year award by Time magazine Standing up for women's rights around the world has never been as important as it is today That's why events on International Women's Day are so important and I truly hope all members get a chance to host or participate in an International Women's Day event in their riding of the words delivered by Gloria Steinem The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights Thank you Mr. Speaker as we say in Iran We're going to send out the communication Thank you Member Statements Workers scored a major victory when this government was forced to repeal the bill 124 which suppressed public sector workers wages after the courts ruled that it violated charter rights The courts stated because of the act organized public sector workers many of whom are women, racialized and low income earners have lost the ability to negotiate for better compensation or even better working conditions that do not have a monetary value Speaker now with our public health care and crisis, Ontarians must live with the consequences of bill 124 and see surgical services at the well and hospital reduced hours at the Port Cobra and Fort Erie urgent care centers we have a shortage of beds long wait times frequent 911 crises in EMS unacceptable offloading delays and health care workers fleeing the sector I've been meeting with frontline health care workers including PSW's and was shocked when some of them told me they were still fighting for their $3 an hour pandemic pay despite huge pay increases for managers in the public sector after wasting an untold amount of public dollars fighting frontline workers in court it's time to start fixing the disaster bill 124 created by ensuring health care workers are treated with dignity and receive fair competitive compensation for their work Thank you Speaker Member Statements Member for Brampton East Thank you very much Speaker I'm honored to rise today to talk about a few amazing outstanding individuals from my community of Brampton East and Brampton in general Speaker I'm honored to represent a community that's full of so much diverse talent time and time again Bramptonian showcase remarkable contributions in arts culture and sport Today I would like to recognize the outstanding achievement of two great Bramptonians Zeta Ali and Teijon Buchanan Zeta Ali is a dedicated music teacher at Sunnyview Middle School in Brampton East and will be heading to the Juno Awards on March 29th as she's been nominated for the Music Counts Teacher of the Year Award I'd like to extend my heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to Zeta for outstanding achievement and well-deserved recognition Speaker I would also like to recognize 24 year old Teijon Buchanan Teijon recently made history becoming the first Canadian player signing with a Series A club Inter Milan in January starting a soccer at the age of 8 in Brampton to the international stage served as a great example of talent and success Teijon Zeta and Teijon are a great example of individuals who contribute their talents to make Brampton a hub of creativity diversity and excellence Bramptonians continue to shine and impact the world leaving a legacy of achievement and inspiration for generations to come once again congratulations Zeta and Teijon on this well-deserved achievement thank you Member Statements Speaker we recently hosted a town hall in our riding in the Chinatown area and the top issue that came up was that people are losing their family doctor if you are 75 years old and you don't have a family doctor then your health could be at risk we decided to investigate the problem we did a review of the number of doctors in downtown Toronto who could provide service in Cantonese and Mandarin on the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario's website and we discovered a very concerning fact of the 24 doctors operating in downtown Toronto 80% of them have been practicing for 43 years or more which means that they are nearing or about to retire and that is what we are hearing in our community 5 doctors have just retired and there are 2 more that are about to retire and that means there are thousands of residents in Chinatown who have lost their family doctor this is not an issue that is unique to Chinatown we know that 2.2 million Ontarians do not have access to a family doctor and that number is expected to double in just 2 years our health care system depends on people having a primary care provider or a family doctor residents should not have to go to the emergency room at Toronto western just to get a prescription for antibiotics because there is nowhere else for them to go this is a message from Chinatown to Queens Park fix the family doctor shortage in Chinatown and across Ontario by investing in primary care thank you member statements the member for Oxford I rise today to speak to share a story of Bob Hayward an Oxford local and Canadian sports motorsports legend over 60 years ago Bob and his boat in the Supertest 3 had a winning streak that is unmatched to this day Bob was born and raised on his family chicken farm in emerald becoming interested in drag racing as a teenager his knowledge of racing engines led him to join the all Canadian Supertest Speedboat team in 1957 as their mechanic they were determined to end the 39 year American domination of the Hamsworth Cup an international speedboat competition to do so they needed the fastest speedboat around so they built Miss Supertest 3 they also needed the best driver so Bob was promoted to pilot together they won the Hamsworth Cup in 1959 and successfully defended the trophy for 1960-61 unfortunately Bob's life was tragically cut short while piloting the older Miss Supertest 2 in a race it flipped over at over 155 miles per hour he was 33 years old Bob and Miss Supertest have not been forgotten he was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame and Canada Post issued a stamp honoring Bob and his boat in celebration of Bob's achievement the Thistle Theatre in his hometown of emerald is also putting on a play about his life and racing career next month Bob was a quiet and humble man but it's safe to say that this Oxford underdog made a big impact in speedboat racing Thank you very much Member Statements the member for Ottawa Vanu Thank you Speaker Community organization play a crucial role in addressing social issues and inequalities whether it's offering food assistance mental health support education and rehabilitation programs or assistance to find housing these organizations work tirelessly to uplift the most vulnerable members of society addressing gaps in government services the Vanu Community Services Center the KELACS Montfort Renaissance the CAP Lower Town Community Resource Center St. Joe's Woman Center Saint-Respoir-Sophie Gloucester Emergency Food Cover all these organizations and many more play this important role in Ottawa Vanu I am however have described to me how the decreased funding they have seen over the last few years is threatening their very survival because of their deep roots in the community these organizations are uniquely positioned to develop and implement tailored solutions to local challenges in an efficient and cost effective manner by providing adequate financial support to these organizations to amplify their impact and achieve greater outcomes at a fraction of the cost so I beg the government to provide the financial support required to keep these entities alive and thriving thank you Mr. Speaker thank you very much member statements the member for Etobicoke Lakeshore once again speak on behalf of the beautiful community of Etobicoke Lakeshore recently I joined the Cultural Centre in my writing to celebrate Lozar the Year of the Wood Dragon the Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre has played a key role in nourishing the community's rich heritage through initiatives promoting Tibetan language and performing arts it brought great joy to spotlight their contribution during Lozar celebrations and reaffirmed my commitment to supporting efforts to improve the lives of over 5,000 Tibetan Canadians who call Ontario home many within the writing of Etobicoke Lakeshore it was an honor to recognize the work of Franklin Horner Community Centre Wood Green Franklin Horner Community Centre the Gene Tweed Centre and I cannot thank them enough for the workers and the volunteers for what they do every day to make our community stronger I recently also had the opportunity to tour Holy Angels Catholic School with Minister Leche and I'm so happy to report the new school which will accommodate 600 students with 88 childcare spaces is near completion with an anticipated opening of September of this year congratulations also some more great news that finally the Queensway Urgent Care Centre is opened and I know many of my residents have been asking for this and this expanded and renewed facility is open for service providing expert care and comfort to many in the writing it's a great time to live in South Etobicoke and the province of Ontario Member Statements, some member for Chatham Kent Leamington thank you speaker and good morning we know communities across Ontario are experiencing challenges with our housing supply our government is taking bold, decisive action to build more housing faster and improve the quality of life for everyone I'm so proud of my community for working together and demonstrating leadership because Chatham Kent, just like our legendary MLB Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins literally hit it out of the park exceeding a housing target by 554% last year On Friday I was honored to be joined by Minister Rob Flack and Chatham Kent Mayor Darren Caniff to celebrate our 522 new housing starts last year which unlocked $440,000 in funding through the Building Faster Fund our success is the direct result of the hard work and dedication of our home builders, trades professionals realtors and Chatham Kent Municipal Officials who together are building a wide range of homes for families and individuals across Chatham Kent and we're thrilled with our progress to date and excited for the future I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone involved and a special thanks to the team at Maple City Homes for hosting us on Friday at their beautiful show home Fortunately speaker, this is just the beginning and I'm grateful to be part of a government to create the conditions for success in home building, business industry and agriculture Thank you Thank you very much, that concludes our member statements for this morning The introduction of visitors