 It is now time for Member's Statements. Member's Statements. Member's Statements. I recognize the Member for Ajax. Thank you, Speaker. Today I rise to recognize and applaud the remarkable achievements of Juliana and Ethan Huang, two amazing young people representing the constituency of Ajax. Last summer, Juliana and Ethan proudly represented Ajax and Canada at the Jiu Jitsu International Federation World Championship in Astana, Pakistan. Juliana secured gold for Canada under the female under 18 blue belt and up seven category. Earning the prestigious rank of number one in the world by the Jiu Jitsu International Foundation, a truly remarkable young lady with a great dedication to her sport. The amazing duo later showcased their skills at the 2023 Ontario Provincial Jiu Jitsu Championship, clinching double gold for each. For a total of four medals for Ajax. Speaker, their contributions extend beyond the realm of competition. Juliana and Ethan generously impart their expertise to the community through complementary and affordable training seminars for all age groups. Acting as mentors and instructors, they nurture the budding, tattling and inspire future champions. Speaker, participation in sports fosters not only physical well-being, but cultivates invaluable traits such as self-esteem, confidence and sportsmanship. I send my heartfelt congratulations to Juliana and Ethan for their well-deserved accolades and their continued success. Further member statements. I recognize the member for Thunder Bay, Superior North. Thank you, Speaker. Because of the advocacy of the Northwestern Ontario Women's Centre, the Thunder Bay Committee to End Woman Abuse, and the Nadmagoan Indigenous Domestic Violence Committee, on September 25, Thunder Bay City Council declared gender-based intimate partner violence an epidemic. The rates of gender-based violence and sexual assault in Northwestern Ontario are amongst the highest in the province. But in small northern communities, vast distances and sparse populations make it extremely difficult for women to access support. It's not possible to escape if there are no shelters where you live. And when funding is based on population numbers and not the geographic realities of the north, it's guaranteed women will have nowhere safe to go. The court system is also failing survivors. Because of court backlogs, plea-guard bargains are pushed, women are silenced and perpetrators are released. Femmicide, the killing of children, these still shock, yet they are only the extreme end of the everyday coercive control that keeps people living with abuse. We need the Conservative government to listen to survivors, provide sustainable funding, fix the court system, and act on all the recommendations of the Renfrew inquest, beginning with the first recommendation, declare gender-based violence as the epidemic it is. Miigwetch, merci, merci, and thank you. For the Member's statements, I recognize the Member for Mississauga-Moulton. Speaker, in any case, one in five Canadian experience are mental illness. Within these statistics lies the stories and the struggle of individuals with unique journey of mental health challenges by the age 40. One in two have or have had a mental illness. Each number represents a person, a story, and a struggle. In Ontario, 24,000 social workers tirelessly navigate mental health care, offering support in alleviating these struggles. Maya Inchlow once said, I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Thanks to the Ontario Association of Social Workers, the largest collective of mental health support workers with 9,000 members for exemplifying the compassion and the resilience by providing comfort and understanding to those in need. As we honour Social Work Week from March 4th to 10th, let's recognize the crucial role of social workers in Mississauga-Moulton and across the province, whether you are a social worker or have been touched by one. I invite you to explore this year's theme of Social Work Open Store at oasw.org. Let's remember with every open door, we pave the way for hope, healing, and a bright future and a brighter Ontario. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Further Member States, I recognize the member for Toronto State Halls. Thanks, Speaker. This week is Black Mental Health Week in Toronto. To quote BlackMentalHealthWeek.ca, Taibu Community Health Centre in partnership with the City of Toronto hosted the inaugural Black Mental Health Day in March of 2020, citing the Toronto Black Community's demand to end 400 years of oppression and the ongoing mental health impacts of present, systemic, and anti-Black racism in all settings. This year, Tropicana Community Services, Stride Serrano Delta Family Resource Centre, Black Health Alliance and Women's Health and Women's Hands are joining Taibu Community Health Centre to ensure more voices are heard. Heal in colour, the mental health benefits of representation, painting as therapy, Black Student Engagement Wellness Night, breaking down barriers to mental health in Black communities, Mental Health Law 101, managing through grieving and loss, tools to help Black families navigate the complexities of social services, social connections for seniors' mental health, Black men's mental health panel, and Black survivors' intersections of race and human trafficking are just a few of the courageous conversations programmed for this week. On Saturday night, you can check out when Sister Speaks spoken word showcase at St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Jane Mullet Theatre. Black Mental Health Week will have its closing ceremony in my community of Toronto, St. Paul's, at the Toronto Archives at 255 Spadina, or Spadina Road, and I invite all of you to join us. I want to take this opportunity to thank the City of Toronto's Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit. Thank you, Kemba, your team, community partners and advisors for your community hard work. It is my hope that this legislature will follow suit and declare this week formally as Black Mental Health Week across the province of Ontario, as so many of us have asked the legislature to do. Thank you. Further member statements. I recognize the member for Thornton Hill. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Tomorrow we celebrate International Women's Day and work towards a gender equal world, and I'm a proud member of a caucus that has 21 female members and eight female ministers. But sadly, as we celebrate our victories, we still live in a world where inequity and gender-based violence occurs. Human trafficking and intimate partner violence are realities in our community, and unfortunately these happen silently too close to home. After October 7th, we were shell-shocked by the brutality of the attack on Israel, an attack that used premeditated rape and sexual mutilation as weapons of war. These acts were made more painful and their existence was widely denied. And that denial was defeating and deafening. These women's voices were silenced. Their stories were not believed. Our government has zero tolerance for violence against women and children in all its forms, and we stand with the victims of violence. That's why this year we invested nearly 247 million to support victims and almost 29 million in violence prevention initiatives. The province is investing an overall of 1.4 billion over the next three years to end gender-based violence and support victims, and last year we invested 5.5 million in the Women's Economic Security Program to expand and increase training opportunities for low-income women to equip them with the skills, knowledge and experience to increase their financial security. Our government supports women. We believe in women. We listen to women. Thank you. Further member of students. I recognize the member for Parkdale High Park. Thank you, Speaker. Ontarians want an independent justice system. Judges who are fair. The Conservatives have appointed two former staffers of the Premier's office on the committee that selects judges. Staffers who remain in close communication with the government through their roles as lobbyists. When asked about it, Premier Ford said he wanted to appoint like-minded judges. And in the face of public pushback, what did the Premier do? He said he's going to double down, triple down, quadruple down, even quintuple down. This might sound funny, but this is a serious issue. He's a man on a mission. Conservatives always talk about how meritocracy is the way to go, but it appears as long as you are with the same mindset as the Premier, you're good to go. What happened to the fundamental principle of judges being neutral? Of the impartiality of the courts. A judge who bows down to political pressure would be in clear breach of their oath of office. Speaker, this is not only bad for the quality of the justice system, but also for the perception of fairness of the courts by the public. People will feel like they're being judged by Premier Ford. I think it's fair to say he's not a good judge. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. Before I start, I must say it was hard to get all my feelings out in 90 seconds. On February 29, 2024, Canada and the entire world took notice of the passing of the right Honourable Brian Mulroney, my favourite Prime Minister. First and foremost, my condolences go out to Caroline and her whole family. I went from watching Prime Minister Mulroney on the daily news with my father to hearing him speak to caucus in 2022. Talk about a pinch me moment. He truly made me realise the gravity of being elected and the importance of our roles as MPPs. The accolades are strong with too many to mention. Only some of the achievements are the Acid Rain Accord, NAFTA, and apartheid in Africa, ending apartheid in Africa. In my opinion, GST has set up Canada for prosperity. Our country would not be what we know today without it. As Prime Minister Mulroney stated, I'm guided by the same principle and stated in my maiden speech. If my kids don't approve of what I'm doing today when they get older, I know I could have done better. It has been 40 years since he first formed government and his work has proven the test of time. With Caroline following in his father's political footsteps and the success of the rest of the family, Mr Mulroney left a vast and long-standing legacy. Thank you to the Mulroney family for sharing your father with Canada. Mr Mulroney, thank you for your service and commitment to Canada and the world. Thank you very much. Member Statements. The Member for Don Valley West. Thank you, Speaker. As Muslim residents in Don Valley West and across Ontario, prepare for Ramadan, a sacred month when they fast from dawn to dusk, self-reflect, show gratitude and offer charity to those who are less fortunate. I would like to highlight two local organizations in my riding that are doing just that. Canadian Community Services Organization and the Thorncliffe Park Autism Support Network have organized their annual Ramadan food drive and free meal distribution to support those in need. As we navigate these challenging times, it's wonderful to see the generosity that's so present in Thorncliffe Park. I'd like to thank Masood Alam, Sharkla Sharapova, Azar Bokhari, Safudin Nazir Malik, Naji Zawari and Muhammad Ahmed Alam, who are here today in the gallery and all their volunteers and donors for their efforts to support those in need during Ramadan. I also want to acknowledge the contributions of those strong women who are working hard to make a difference on this day in advance of International Women's Day. Speaker, I've attended several CCSO food drives and seen the piles of meals Sharkla and her team distribute. It's wonderful to see people of all ages from teens to seniors giving back to everyone getting ready to observe Ramadan Mubarak. Thank you very much. Member States, the Member for Bruce Gray Owen Sound. Thank you Speaker. Colleagues, Tuesday morning I had the pleasure along with Ministers Todd Smith and Lisa Thompson of attending a great event of the Toronto Board of Trade at which Bruce Power presented its 2023 annual review and energy report. It was an excellent presentation and one of the terrific things the company is doing. Let me give you a few highlights. Operations at Bruce Power are going very well. Bruce Power is the largest operating nuclear power plant in the world. Amazing. To keep these great operations going the company is actively underway with its historic life extension program Ontario's largest private sector clean energy infrastructure project which will extend the life to 2064. Under this program, Unit 6 which powers more than 900,000 homes in Ontario was returned to service last fall on budget and ahead of schedule. And of course there's Bruce Power's exciting work with medical isotopes. For cancer patients medical isotope technologies and treatments allow for fewer hospital visits, shorter treatment durations and hospital stays and fewer side effects. They have the potential to revolutionize cancer care. Truly amazing. To CEO Mike Brenschek and the thousands of hardworking staff at Bruce Power, thank you for all you're doing to produce clean energy that will power Ontario now into the future and for your exciting work to beat cancer. This is legacy work and is truly appreciated by us all. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Statements. The Member for Perth, Wellington. Thank you, Speaker. It is a pleasure to rise today to highlight some recent announcements I was able to make on behalf of the Minister of Health in my riding of Perth, Wellington. Last month I was pleased to announce not one but two local family health teams would be receiving funding to expand primary care in our rural communities. All right. The Middiel-Mapleton family health team will receive over $560,000 to hire two additional nurse practitioners, an RPN and a medical receptionist. This funding will ensure additional 1,600 residents can access primary care closer to home. The list will wing them family health team will receive over $822,000 and expand primary care to serve an additional 2,000 residents. Speaker, it was truly historical day for our rural public health care sector. The province-wide investment of $90 million represents the first expansion of primary care in Ontario's history ever, Speaker. It is disappointing that the previous Liberal Government supported by the NDP had 15 years to expand primary care in rural Ontario and they chose not to, Speaker. In fact the current Liberal members and the current NDP members voted against our historic expansion, Speaker. Despite these obstacles the previous Liberal Government put in place we are rebuilding our public health care sector, Speaker. We are expanding medical school spots, nurse practitioner spots, we expanded clinical extra program Speaker, our government will continue to expand primary care. Thank you. That concludes our members' statements for this morning.