 It is now time for our Member Statements. I recognize the Member for Toronto-St. Paul's. It is an honour to stand on behalf of our resilient Toronto-St. Paul's, but make no mistake. Our resilience must be met with this Government's action and resources. We cannot be taken for granted. I want to give a heartfelt thank you to our very own local community sheroes who created one to give TO. They and all of us in St. Paul's have shopped a local to support our small businesses. We've donated essentials, helped seniors, neighbours on ODSPOW who have run out of money between the cost of rent, food, meds and PPE. We've made phone calls to check in on the mental health of our loved ones. We've mailed letters to those without internet. Speaker, our resilience is waning. You cannot afford to get this lockdown wrong again. We have no more lives to spare. St. Paul's needs no evictions, residential or commercial, during the full duration of COVID-19. We need real rent relief. We need housing for people in St. Paul's experiencing homelessness, paid sick days for all workers who are sick so they can stay home. Women without children's speaker, also locked down in violence, need this Government's help too. We need the Premier to explain the sense behind our kids and caring adults crammed in schools while the message is for us to stay home. Speaker St. Paul's needs help, more help than I could ever list in a member's statement. We demand truth, transparency and clarity from this Government now. We are strong but we cannot do it alone. Thank you. Member Statements. Member for Chatham, Kent, Leamington. Thanks Speaker. A few months ago I spoke about the miracle which occurred in my writing. Chatham, Kent, Leamington, back on May 16th. Volunteers were able to collect over 678,000 pounds of food within just one day. Part of that miracle was that it was not only put together in just three weeks and with the help of a huge group of volunteers, food was collected in a matter of hours. And since there was so much it may have taken our writing a few days to sort through everything. But then another miracle happened. You see at this time of year normal charities that are usually open are struggling due to the lack rather of volunteers and COVID-19 precautions. This past Saturday my writing of Chatham, Kent was blessed with a new initiative. It's called The Gift. Similar to that of the miracle, people were encouraged to leave food and toy donations by their front door where volunteers following COVID-19 safety protocols went on to collect them. Many items were donated, we still do not have concrete number but volunteers are busy sorting and counting. Susan Fulmer from the Wheatley Food Bank spoke about how amazing Chatham, Kent residents are. She also mentioned that they received thousands of gifts on pallets of food all to prepare the Christmas hampers which will then help those in need with a little boost this year. You know again the organization such as the Chatham Goodfell Salvation Army as well as local Christmas hamper programs will be aided by this. You know it's fantastic to see a community volunteering at their own time to help the less fortunate so close to the holidays because of the gift I'm happy to say Merry Christmas. Thank you Speaker I want to speak to you and all the members of this House today regarding an urgent ongoing situation with the Niagara Health System and across the province of Ontario. Hospital staff for being sent home without pay when exposed to COVID-19. Executive Health and or this government has directed this change and hospitals can no longer do straight pay for staff directed by the employer to go into isolation. This practice is a marked departure from the province's direction during the first wave where staff in self-isolation would continue to receive their full pay. We've heard from frontline hospital staff who report that when being exposed to COVID-19 in line of duty they're sent home without pay when they self-report. Speaker this change has the potential for dangerous consequences in our community. This government often talks about the hard work done by frontline health care workers correctly calling them heroes yet the actions from the Ministry of Health now put them in an impossible situation. We know the vast majority of families in this province cannot afford to go without an entire paycheck. One can clearly see the difficult decision a worker would face to self-report possible exposure with the knowledge that doing so may mean your family cannot get by financially that month. Sending frontline workers home without pay shows flagrant disrespect for their work, livelihood and safety. Beyond the safety of the workers it creates a door for exposure in our hospitals and our communities. The OHA hospitals across Ontario and health care unions have asked the Ministry to restore hospital workers pay and make them whole when they are exposed to this deadly virus. We must reverse this threat to their work and financial stability and start treating them with the respect they deserve. Thank you. Member statements. The member for Stormont, Dundas, South Glen, Gary. Thank you Speaker. My arriving is blessed by many great community volunteers but none greater than Joan P. and Coleman McDonald. Joan Barton by many local standards was a foreigner to Whamstown, traveling there from Bankelkill in 1954 to teach at Charland High School. She met her husband to be Coleman McDonald and raised her three children Greer, Don and Krista on their bicentennial farm. The couple's model was faith, family and friends and their infectious love for enjoying a good time captured the spirit of Glen Gary County. As a teacher Joan P. helped produce musicals and events and incorporated her musical talents including 52 years as St. Mary's organist. As an active member of our local food grains bank Joan organized and produced the annual Irish stew musical. It was all about having fun and raising money for the township council. Joan also served on the Shalottenburg Township Council, the Whamstown Fair, the Northwestern and Loyalist Museum and the Friends of St. Raffles Ruins Committee for many years. Both Joan P. and Coleman were avid curlers organizing supporting the local Lancaster Club with enthusiasm and generous welcome for all members new and old helping generate activities such as their annual Boxing Day Bondsville. You're always welcomed by Joan P.'s big smile and a LeBat 50 and a lame joke from Coleman. Both Coleman and Joan were honored by their peers. Joan was inducted into the Gun Gary Music Hall of Fame and Coleman into the Gun Gary Sports Hall of Fame for Curly. They were leaders in their community where their lively energy and good work continued to inspire respect and fond memories. Joan passed away in 2009 and Coleman followed her this past spring, her June, both passing away in the historic Loyalist Home Farm. Great neighbors and friends, rest in peace, Joan P. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member for Davenport. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's a pleasure to speak, as always, on behalf of the great people of Davenport. As we have said many times in this house, the COVID pandemic is exposing existing gaps in income, insecurity and in access to supports. From the beginning of the pandemic, people receiving assistance through the Ontario Disability Support Program have been sounding the alarms, calling on the province to boost benefits during the pandemic, particularly for those who don't qualify for federal benefits. Mr. Speaker, everyone in this chamber is contented, I'm sure, by people with disabilities, many of whom have been house bound because of their vulnerability to more severe illnesses from COVID-19 and are having to pay more for everything from ordering groceries to transportation to personal protective equipment. Many of the people who have contacted me are desperate, deeply depressed, and as we know from recent media reports considering terrible ends. Simply put, it has been a nightmare, and now the government is putting salt on the wound, wasting $1.5 million to hire fraud investigators. This is money that could help people on ODSP, but instead the government has decided at the worst time for thousands of people in our province to focus on how many people they can kick off their very support in a pandemic. Mr. Speaker, when will the government live up to its responsibilities and respect the human rights and dignity of Ontarians living with disabilities? Thank you. Member Statements, the member for Ottawa, Vanier. Speaker, on November 10th, I launched a work group on housing, affordable housing. We decided to work together to find solutions knowing the housing crisis. The fact that there aren't enough places to live in Ottawa, Vanier, is a major problem, and it's been a problem for years. The problem is increasing. Many of our families with children are waiting for housing in Ottawa. This is a 15 percent increase from 2017. Nowadays, if you want to have access to a two-bedroom apartment, you have to work two full-time jobs. This is not affordable housing. The lack of adequate and affordable housing in Ontario is not an issue that we can put off any longer. It's not a partisan issue. It's a matter of human rights and human dignity. This pandemic makes us realize to what point we need to protect and help people from vulnerable communities. In Canada and in Ontario, a rich province, no human being should have to choose between food and housing. We need to do better. To join me and my colleagues at the City of Ottawa as we endeavor together to do everything possible to ensure that all Ontarians can have a place to call home. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the Member for Topical Lakeshore. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I rise today to honor the memories of the Ukrainian Canadians whose ancestors died in the genocide of Ukraine at the hands of the government of the Soviet Union in the early 30s. Starvation was a weapon of choice by the Soviet government against the Ukrainian people. This period in history is known as the Holdemar, a term derived from the Ukrainian words for hunger, hold, and extermination, more. This deliberate man-made famine took place from 1932 to 1933. Soviet leaders, Joseph Stalin, collectivized the agriculture sector and forced peasants to relinquish their land, personal property, and sometimes housing to collective farms. He also deported Kuax, wealthier peasants, as well as anyone who raised or resisted his policy of collectivization. Wheat and other grains were confiscated from farmers by the Communist government. Some of it was sold for export to fund Stalin's five-year plan. As a result, millions of innocent people starved to death. Twenty-eight thousand people died per day at the height of the Holdemar, 31 percent of whom were children under the age of ten. What makes this man-made genocide so shocking is that it took place during a time of peace and was not the result of a war or natural disaster, nor was there any provocation from the Ukrainian people. The Holdemar was denied, covered up, and then ignored by the world for over five decades. Now we recognize and remember what really happened. The fourth Saturday of November of each year has been designated as Ukrainian Famine and Genocide Memorial Day, Holdemore Day. This year, we will remember Holdemore on November 28th. On behalf of a large number of Ukrainian people living in my riding and throughout Canada, we will never forget the Holdemore. Thank you very much. Member for Brampton North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Senator Rice, on behalf of the great people of Brampton North, Peele and Toronto are now in a lockdown because this government tried to save a buck by cancelling public health measures too soon, ignoring public health advice, and refusing to expand COVID testing and contact tracing. We need direct, concrete financial help for businesses and workers impacted by this lockdown. This government was warned over and over again, Mr. Speaker, that this is where the province was headed if the premier continued to nix public health protections. He didn't invest in testing and contact tracing. He didn't invest in smaller class sizes. He didn't protect long-term care homes. Officials in Peele have previously said that there are some neighborhoods in the region that are seeing much higher positivity cases and rates than other areas of the province, specifically in Brampton North East. So it's not necessarily additional restrictions that we need. We need support and resources where COVID is spreading. In Brampton, our number one source of spread is in the industrial settings amongst industrial workers. In Brampton, we have the largest food processing and transportation logistics center in the country. They're all considered essential workers, so none of these individuals are going to stop working with the latest restrictions. What we need, Mr. Speaker, is an isolation center so that people can safely isolate. We need sick benefits for workers so that people with symptoms don't have to show up to work sick. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member for Mississauga Center. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As we begin National Hledomor Awareness Week, I joined with Ukrainians in Ontario, in Canada and around the world to remember the victims of the Hledomor, the Ukrainian genocide. Hledomor was a famine in which an estimated 2.5 to 7.5 millions of Ukrainians, many of whom were children, were targeted and intentionally and systematically starved to death between 1932 and 1933 by the communist dictator, Joseph Stalin. Soviet authorities confiscated all food grown by Ukrainian farmers. Although the harvest was rich, Ukrainian people were forbidden to touch it. Anyone, including children, caught taking even a stock could be executed. Special squads were dispatched to search homes and forcibly take all food, ensuring a mass starvation would ensue. These targeted and intentional crimes turned Europe's bread basket into a land of immeasurable human suffering. To add insult to injury, this genocidal famine was denied, ignored, and covered up throughout the 20th century. Despite decades of oppressive rule, Ukrainians refused to abandon their drive for freedom and independence. Speaker, I remember I was a staffer here at Queen's Park when we hosted a Hledomor Awareness Night with the PC Caucus. We heard narratives from speakers and survivors from the League of the Ukrainian Canadians, the Hledomor National Awareness Store, the Hledomor Research and Education Consortium, and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. Hearing these stories had a profound impact on me. So today, I join all members of this House in solemnly marking the anniversary of this crime against humanity. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member from Mississauga East, Cooksville. Thank you very much, Speaker. Today, Toronto and Peale entered lockdown to combat the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in problem areas. Once again, our frontline and essential service workers are being called upon to support the province so that the rest of us can stay home, isolate and reduce the spread of COVID-19. Speaker, the situation is complex and obviously less than ideal. But we must all do our part to ensure we get through this difficult time. I want to extend my sincerest thanks to the Ontario's frontline and essential service workers for their diligence and professionalism. I want to also call on all Ontarians to practice kindness and patience with one another. This pandemic continues to be a defining moment in Ontario's history. And I believe we can get through it if we all work together. Thank you very much, Speaker. Thank you very much. That concludes our member statements for this morning. I understand.