 It's now time for Member Statements, the Member from Haliburton, Corritha Lakes, Brock. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This week is Tourism Week in Canada. From Sunday, May 31st to Saturday, June 6th, the tourism industry is celebrating in every province across the country, and Ontario is no exception. With the summer season set to begin, I know our tourism operators are busy preparing to welcome visitors from around the world to our great province. According to the World Travel and Tourism Organization, tourism is growing globally at a rate of 5% per year. Here in Ontario, we need to strive to keep pace with that rate of growth. Tourism is a vitally important industry for Ontario's economy, as it represents 149,000 businesses, more than 305,000 employees, and brings in 28 billion each year in receipts. The tourism industry touches every right across Ontario, including my own of course of Haliburton, Corritha Lakes, Brock, where it helps drive the local economy. For every additional $1 million of visitor spending in Ontario, the provincial economy yields 13 new jobs, $845,000 in GDP, and $173,000 in provincial tax revenues. This week, the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario is meeting with industry representatives to talk about ways in which they can continue to grow Ontario's tourism sector beyond the $22 billion in visitor spending it currently receives, and increase the number of international visitors that choose to make Ontario their destination of choice. On behalf of Ontario's tourism industry, we invite you to join us in celebrating Tourism Week in Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Members, same as the member from Parkdale, my partner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I stand here in honour of Jimmy Velgakis. You don't know that you know Jimmy, but he's the elderly Greek gentleman who's out front of Queen's Park every day for a few hours, and he's on a hunger strike. This is his third hunger strike. He's an injured worker, has been since the 90s, worked for the city. Very first one, we got a commitment from WSIB to open his case for just to have a hearing. He's not asking for a ruling, just a hearing. Never happened. Second hunger strike, I did with him. We together went without food for 10 days. That was in 2013. Again, we got a promise from WSIB that they would open a tribunal for him. Again, nothing came of it. Now he's back again. Today is injured workers' day, so I'm saying this in honour of Jimmy and also in honour of all injured workers, and all he's asking for is justice. He knows he can't control the outcome of the tribunal. He just wants his day in court. He just wants justice to be done. So we're calling on the city, because they were his employer, to help this process. And of course, yet again, calling on WSIB to do the right thing, the humane thing, give this elderly Greek gentleman his day in court while he's still with us. And again, I would encourage all members here to say hello to Jimmy. He's out there and he will be out there until he gets justice. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm pleased to rise in the House this afternoon to speak about my riding of Etobicoe Lakeshore, where we're very fortunate to be a waterfront community, and many of my residents are great stewards of Lake Ontario. And today, Mr. Speaker, this beautiful waterfront sanctuary boasts a diversity of environments – wetlands, woods, shoreline and meadows – that provide food, habitat and protection to many plants and animal species, including fish, painted turtles, beavers, and of course birds. Mr. Speaker, recently I was fortunate to visit the sixth annual Spring Bird Festival in Sam Smith Park. The City of Toronto in partnership with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, the Humber Arboretum, Citizens Concert for the Future of Etobicoe Waterfront, and Friends of Sam Smith Park, organized this annual free public festival to create awareness about the importance of bird habitats. It's a wonderful family event which boasted hourly birded guided bird walks, children's activities, bird nesting box workshops, displays, and bird viewing stations with telescopes. Mr. Speaker, Toronto has been referred to as a songbird superhighway because at the height of the spring bird migration, 5 to 10 million birds pass over Toronto in a single night. Mr. Speaker, I invite everyone in this house and all my constituents to enjoy bird watching along Etobicoe's waterfront this summer and to join my community at next year's Spring Bird Festival in Etobicoe Lakeshore. Thank you. Member statements. The Member from Wellington, Alton Hill. Mr. Speaker, the licensing and approvals process for new pits and quarries continues to be controversial in Ontario today. Hereby residents are often concerned about the impact that a proposed quarry or gravel pit will have on their groundwater, the environment, and property values, as well as the impact the gravel trucks will have on their local roads and infrastructure. Local municipalities often have no choice but to spend hundreds of thousands of rate payers dollars responding to these applications. They rightly question the huge cost of dealing with applications, including appeals to the Ontario Municipal Board. However, the reality is that if we're going to build anything in Ontario, whether it's schools, hospitals, roads or bridges, we need the aggregate that is extracted from pits and quarries. On April 22, I wrote to the Minister of Natural Resources urging him to update the Aggregate Resources Act and strike the right balance between our need for resource extraction and our concomitant need to protect our environment. In my letter, I wrote that the approvals process should be scientifically based, open, and transparent, should ensure that people have a meaningful say, and that the adjudication of disputes is independent, impartial, and not cost prohibitive. I also outlined a number of suggestions that I believe can improve the process following up on many of the recommendations made almost two years ago by the Standing Committee on General Government in its review of the Aggregate Resources Act. This is an important issue for many people in Wellington, Halton Hills, and I urge the Minister to carefully review my letter and tell this House when he will proceed with the changes he's promised consistent with the recommendations of the Standing Committee. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. First, I'd like to remember students. Remember from home. Thank you, Speaker. It's an honour to stand on behalf of New Democrats and our leader, Andrew Horvath, to recognise 32nd Injured Workers' Day in Ontario. I want to start by saying I wish we didn't have to commemorate this day and that I didn't feel that we have to quantify the raw data, but that's important. According to WSIB's own data on the job, fatalities have increased by 40% over the last five years, and we could be doing more and better. The grim reality is, Speaker, that more than 80 workers die in traumatic workplace accidents, 300 more workers each year die in even slower death as a result of occupational illness, and over 200,000 are maimed or injured on the job. The reality is the Liberal government is not doing enough for workers. WSIB has found to be publicly underreporting its numbers, specifically covering up 1,150 fatalities lost over the last nine years. This is the agency tasked with compensating workplace victims, and yet it's trying to erase a third of all those lives lost. That is unacceptable, a blatant injustice for the families. In the words of Justice Meredith, the founder of our workers' compensation system, our standard must be one of full justice, not half measures. The Dean's report, the Arthur report, are sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust. On behalf of NDP and new Democrats across the province, I reaffirm our commitment to fighting for workers across the province of Ontario. Thank you for being a member of CABAC, a member from Cambridge. Thank you, Speaker. Last Saturday, May 30th, I participated in a third annual run-along event in my community of Cambridge. It was at last year's run that I met the organizer, Susan Tremblet. Run-along was created by her inspirational daughter, Kayla Baker, at age 14. Kayla's dream had always been to run, but she was unable to because she was waiting for a double lung transplant. At age two, Kayla was diagnosed with cancer. She was treated with chemotherapy and surgery to remove the tumour. Kayla became a young ambassador for the Sick Kids Foundation, appearing in a fundraising video. Unfortunately, Kayla developed pulmonary fibrosis as a consequence of the chemotherapy, and she needed to wear an oxygen mask all the time while awaiting her lung transplant. Kayla captured the hearts of our entire community as she raised awareness of the importance of organ donation. The Green Ribbon campaign was in support of Kayla, was a sight to see. Thousands of green ribbons adorned trees, poles and homes in Cambridge. Kayla received her left lung transplant in April 2013, and sadly, after a long battle and inspiring journey, she passed away at age 15 on January 1, 2014. Her mother, Susan, was support from the Ontario Lung Association, be a donor.ca and the run-along committee keep Kayla's dream alive by bringing awareness about organ donation and raising thousands of dollars for the Sick Kids Hospital, leaving an indelible mark on those of us who walk and run in Kayla's memory. Thank you. Thank you for your numbers. Stand by the member from Perth, Wellington. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to highlight some of the most standing business initiatives happening in Perth, Wellington. In Wellington, several communities have collaborated to launch the Renew North Wellington program. The town of Minow, the township of Mableton, and the township of Wellington North have launched this downtown revitalization program, which will partner new business with empty storefronts. This program will help entrepreneurs get exposure and grow their businesses by providing low-cost access to a storefront location. Renew North Wellington has the added benefits of stimulating employment, generating economic activity, and invigorating their downtowns, making them more desirable to visit, shop, dine, and invest in. I would like to recognize everyone involved in this program, including the municipalities, the Chambers of Commerce, and the Mount Forest Business Improvement Association. The county of Perth has another exciting new initiative to attract entrepreneurs and businesses to our area. They've launched a new video series featuring local employers doing interesting and innovative things in their businesses and talking about what it takes to grow. These videos will help raise the profile of Perth County, showcasing it as a place that is truly cultivating opportunity. I want to congratulate everyone involved in this project, including the county of Perth and the Perth County Visitors Association. I welcome you all to visit Perth Wellington and see for yourselves our outstanding business talent. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Further member statements? The member from Mississauga Streets. Thank you, Speaker. This year Mississauga's vibrant cultural diversity was on display in May at the Carousaga Festival of Cultures for 2015. What began in 1986, with just 10 countries hosting pavilions, has grown to 30 pavilions displaying one of the world's most culturally diverse cities right in our city of Mississauga. Always a non-profit volunteer organization, Carousaga celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. The festival has become Mississauga's annual premier cultural event, the largest of its kind in Ontario and second largest in all of Canada. Visitors attending this year's event could sample signature food items from more than 72 countries. Your 2015 Carousaga passport allowed visitors to document each pavilion that they visited. I began my annual journey, as usual, at the Portuguese Cultural Centre of Mississauga in Streetsville for the opening and the same evening I also visited the Chinese, Canadian, Turkish, Croatian, African, Korean, Pakistani and Filipino pavilions to name just a few. The three-day event featured many cultural performances, authentic international cuisine and evocative cultural displays that showcase the multicultural diversity across Mississauga. A must-attend event in Mississauga, Carousaga offers a glimpse into global diversity without ever leaving the comforts of our city. Thank you, Speaker. I do. Further statements to members from Ottawa or Lyon. Merci, Monsieur le Président. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Francophone youth of Orléans and Ottawa are involved in their schools and to be recognized for it. Il est tellement important que notre... It's so important that our youth would get involved in the schools and show that they can write. And I'm extremely proud about the initiative by the Express newspaper in Ottawa that had a gala in May. More than 300 articles were written by young people from Francophone schools. And also, you have $5,000 that were given. And the winners were Anne-Linda Cassé, school Beatrice des Lages, Connel Cabaret of the Garnel School, the Silver Pen, a candid fluency of Lages, got the Golden Pen and Rosalie LeMay. And also, a student from Beatrice des Lages had the highest distinction that the big pen. I would like to end by mentioning that I'm extremely proud of the results for the school year 2013 and 2014 when the students from the French schools get their diplomas for about 72%. Congratulations to all the people who participated. Congratulations to the school boards. I thank all members for their statements. It's now time for...