 It is now time for Member Statements to the Member from Kitchener, Conestoga. Yes, thank you Speaker. Speaker, I stand today on behalf of Ontarians and Kitchener-Wardler residents outraged by the shameful anti-Blackberry petition presented by the Liberal Member for Etobicoke North. While Blackberry's trail blazing as the leader in secure mobile communications has meant all G7 governments have become Blackberry customers, the Member has suggested Blackberry use, quote, is handicapping, retarding and penalizing MPPs. The Member's choice of words is regrettable, offensive, and quite frankly, he should know better. Speaker, MPP smartphones are paid for by Ontario taxpayers, and given rampant privacy and security concerns, Ontarians expect their parliamentarians to utilize the most secure workspace available. As we know, with more security approvals than any other, the most secure workspace is provided by Blackberry. Frankly, if the Member wants the latest Apple apps or Snapchat with friends, he can do it on his own dime. Perhaps he should ask President Obama or the Department of National Defence if their use of Blackberry is, quote, handicapping and retarding their work. Shame on the Member for his misguided attack. Is this the win government's plan for building Ontario up by tearing down a Canadian institution employing 4,700 Ontarians? As the MPP for Warloo Region, I am standing today to register my disgust. I encourage the Liberal Member from Kitchener's Centre to join me in standing up on behalf of her community to better inform her colleagues of Blackberry's importance and prevent this type of offensive, reckless, and sensitive attack. Thank you. Member, a statement from Parkdale High Park. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Everybody probably knows already about the incredible Polish Festival that takes place in my riding every year in September. On the same weekend, we have the Ukrainian Festival on Bloor Street. The Polish Festival is the largest of its kind anywhere in North America, and the Ukrainian one of the largest of its kind anywhere in North America. Literally, millions of people come to both, and up until 2013 it got stable funding from its government. As of 2013, the win government cut the funding by 50% for our Roswell Polish Festival, which, as you can imagine, really cripples their ability to organise. Not only did they cut the funding by 50% there and 20% for the Ukrainian Festival, but there's no guarantees going forward after 2013 that they'll even get that. There is no more stable funding for our festivals. This is shocking, Mr Speaker. I think it's shocking for our Polish and Ukrainian residents, and by the way, they know, and they're angry, that going forward cannot count on anything from the win government. And I just have to say that it's a sad day. We still welcome you to the Polish and Ukrainian festivals, which, despite the Liberal government, will take place and will be successful, but I can tell you that they're doing it under duress. So please restore the funding to our Polish Festival on Roswells. Please restore the funding to our Ukrainian Festival on Bloor. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you, Member State, and Member from Beech's East York. Well, thank you, Speaker. Speaker on May 1st, an inspiring community leader from my fantastic riding of Beech's East York, she retired from Toronto East General Hospital after 25 years of dedicated service. Teresa Vassilopoulos both resides and works in my riding and started her career at Toronto East General as a member of the hospital's communication department. 18 years ago, she then moved over to the hospital's fundraising arm and has served as the president of the foundation ever since. Surrounded by a remarkable team of physicians, staff, volunteers, and board members, Teresa has seen firsthand the evolution of the Toronto East General Hospital from a small residential community hospital into one of Canada's leading hospitals for innovation, quality, and fiscal management. Teresa was at the forefront of the fundraising campaign that has raised over $60 million from Toronto East General's new 38,000 square foot patient care tower. Recalled the Ken and Marilyn Thompson Patient Care Center, it will enable the delivery of efficient, accessible, high quality patient care. And Teresa has also been at the lead of several other very important advancements, including the fundraising for a urology robot, which has propelled the local hospital into a leadership role in robotic surgery for prostate operations. Another significant achievement due to Teresa's fundraising efforts is the hospital's progression into becoming a regional center for lung cancer surgeries. So I would also be remiss if I did not mention that the outgoing hospital president, Ron Deavitt, and I look forward this Friday to meeting the new CEO, Sarah Downey. And this afternoon, Speaker, I will be participating in the happy days at McDonald's in my writing with the proceeds going at Teresa's arranged suggestion to the Toronto East General Hospital. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. I'm the safest member from Nipissing. Thank you, Speaker. I rise today to discuss a very serious situation in my writing of Nipissing regarding the shortage of family doctors. In fact, the president of the North Bay Regional Health Center is on record saying it has reached a crisis level and that attracting family practitioners is a huge concern. Speaker, it's estimated the North Bay area is short at least 10 doctors, meaning 12,000 patients are without a family physician right now. That's more than 20% of the city's population. I would ask the health minister to envision what it would be like if a million patients in Toronto didn't have a family doctor because that's the ratio we're talking about here. This crisis isn't manufactured or anecdotal. The North Bay and District Health Unit notes that 20% increase in the number of calls from people concerned about finding a family doctor in 2014 as compared to 2013. Given this, it's disappointing to learn the province just recently barred new family physicians from joining team-based models of care, such as the family health teams in the community of their choice. Speaker, the Mayor of North Bay, among others, have proposed having all of Northeastern Ontario from Sudbury to Moussinee declared an under-serviced region of the province. It's an idea I think needs consideration. I ask the minister to recognize the severity of the situation and commit to immediate action. Thank you. Member State, Mr. Member from Kitchener Waterloo. I'd like to take a moment to recognize an important announcement made by Sustainable Waterloo Region last Thursday at their sixth annual evening of recognition. Sustainable Waterloo Region, a not-for-profit, is headquartered in Waterloo. It grew out of a business project at Wilford Laurier University from 2008. Their aim is to collaboratively advance the sustainability of organizations across Waterloo Region by helping them to reduce their carbon footprints. They also run the Regional Carbon Initiative. This is a project which is about helping organizations set and achieve their own carbon emission reduction targets. So Sustainable Waterloo provides an online tool for measuring participating groups' carbon emissions. And they organize educational forums and workshops for peer-to-peer learning about how to reduce emissions. And finally, they work to provide as much public recognition as possible for those companies that are leaders and that are successful in reducing emissions. This collaborative model employed by Sustainable Waterloo Region is both innovative and successful because it utilizes organizations and companies' own interests in becoming more sustainable. Last week, Sustainable Waterloo Region made an important announcement that the newest member of the Regional Carbon Initiative is the Waterloo Region District School Board. We are all very excited about the announcement and I want to congratulate Sustainable Waterloo Region's Executive Director Tova Davidson for her continued leadership. Congratulations to the Waterloo Region District School Board and to Sustainable Waterloo Region. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Mr. Member of State, Mr. Member from Sixer and Central. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some positive news from my community that I'd like to share with you. That's great news. From Waterloo Region, this past weekend it was such a pleasure joining municipal and federal leaders in the region of Waterloo, the Grand River Conservation Authority and nearly 500 environmentally concerned residents for this year's Waterloo Earth Day. Since 1970, Earth Day has catalyzed communities around the globe to take action on climate change and to get active in local climate change initiatives. In our neighborhood, we celebrated the spirit of Earth Day by planting trees, meeting woodland animals, building birdhouses and hearing from local experts on nature exploration, water wisdom and living locally. This free community event focused on learning about our environment and the native flora and fauna in our region through hands-on educational activities. We know the vital importance of life-giving trees for a sustainable environment and a healthy population. With the planting of every new tree, we are mitigating the damaging effects of carbon pollution and I got a chance to plant a few trees myself. That is why I was also proud to bring greetings this year on behalf of the province, especially on the heels of our new political strategy on dealing with climate change. And it was gratifying to hear support from many people who were there on this very ambitious plan. So to those who took part in Waterloo Earth Day, kudos to you for securing the legacy that we leave for future Ontarians. Thank you. Thank you for the member. Thank you for mentioning Stormont Dundas in South Glengarry. Thank you, Speaker. Over the course of last weekend, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce hosted this annual meeting at the NAV Centre in Cormor. Stormont Dundas in South Glengarry proved once again to be a wonderful region to host a large event, impressing guests with excellent facilities, great attractions, and a welcoming community. Representatives of the Ontario business community brought important messages to all three party leaders. And our interim leader, the member from Simcoe Gray, listened. Ontario is built on our skilled workforce and entrepreneurial drive. Ontario Chamber of Commerce members know that in order to thrive, this province needs ambitious workers and successful employers. Current policies pursued by this government stifle both. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce opposes initiatives that kills jobs and punishes success, such as the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, the proposed cap and trade carbon pricing system, artificially inflated energy prices, and other experiments carried out by this government over the past decade that have resulted in hundreds of thousands of Ontarians unable to find work or retrain. Entrepreneurs need a welcoming and competitive environment in order to thrive and have the confidence to invest in their people and their businesses. As legislators, we must foster a culture of success, rather than just scraping by that this current government is offering. At the Cornwall AGM, we saw the builders of Ontario's prosperity come together and we will remain committed like V.C. Caucus to make prosperity a reality. Thank you. The member's statements, the member from New Market Aurora. Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm delighted to stand today in the house to recognize an outstanding organization in my writing of New Market Aurora. For the past 25 years, the Aurora Food Pantry has provided food to those in need. The clients who seek help at the Aurora Food Pantry do so because they face a dire situation. For many, it's an unexpected illness, an accident or loss of income because of a crisis which forces them to choose between paying for groceries, rent or utilities. For 25 years, the Aurora Food Pantry has provided food assistance to individuals and families during these times of need. Mr. Speaker, in 2014, the pantry helped feed more than 6,000 people in need of support, not only in Aurora, but in surrounding communities. The Aurora Food Pantry is able to provide this crucial service to our community due to the dedication of its volunteers who are the backbone of this organization. The organization was founded by Lorna Rumini in the basement of Aurora's first Baptist Church. Sadly, Lorna died this past fall, but I was able to meet her family and thank them for her dedication at the group's 25th anniversary this past Monday. Mr. Speaker, it takes a lot of people, all of them volunteers, to make a food pantry a success and I'd like to thank each and every one of them. Through conversations I've had with this pantry and others across the province, Mr. Speaker, it's clear that we strongly agree on one thing. The government's community and business must continue to work closely to put food pantries out of business. Ultimately, that would be the greatest tribute to Lorna and the volunteers at the pantry. Thank you. Thank you. A member from Brampton Springdale. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I will have the pleasure of attending the 40th anniversary celebrations of Father C.W. Sullivan School in my writing of Brampton Springdale. It is a momentous occasion and I'm honored to have the opportunity to share and attribute for a man whose legacy continues to inspire. Mr. Speaker, Father C.W. Sullivan was born on February 9th, 1901 at St. Paul's Parish in Toronto. Father Sullivan was a strong advocate for Catholic education. He spent his entire academic life being educated in the Catholic school system, including a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Philosophy from St. Michael's College. In 1940, he would join the army as a chaplain only to eventually end up in the battle areas of World War II. In 1943, he was on a ship when it was torpedoed off the coast of North Africa. He was lucky to have been saved by an Olympic swimmer who happened to be in the water with him. Mr. Speaker, after a much-deserved holiday, he decided to once again take up service when he returned to Brampton in 1946 and was appointed pastor of St. Mary's. He would continue to serve the community from 1946 to 1972, a period of 48 years before his retirement. In 1975, Father C.W. Sullivan's school was built to pay a tribute to Father Sullivan. Sadly, he passed away short while after in 1977. Mr. Speaker, over the past 40 years, Brampton has seen a lot of growth, and with that growth, Father C.W. Sullivan's school has been there to support Catholic families with their educational needs. Today, his legacy lives on through the school as it continues to inspire young minds to pursue their dreams and improve not only their lives, but also the lives of others. Thank you. Thank you. Thank all members for their statements.