 Now time for members statements the member from here on Bruce. Mr. Speaker I rise today to recognize May as the official Lime Awareness Month And yesterday I was pleased to join several people from across this province as we came to Gaby together Excuse me to rally the government to get to business and bring in an action plan to address Lyme disease in Ontario And I would take like to take this moment as well to commend my colleagues first of all my colleague from Haldeman North Oak on his private members bill an act to require a provincial framework and action plan concerning vector-borne and zoonotic disease act 2014 and I'd also like to thank the member from a goma manitoulin his passion and his commitment to his Constituent suffering from Lyme disease is second to none as well And I'm pleased to stand with them, but we can't stop at just a rally We I myself have a number of individuals in my riding who are struggling with this horrible disease and its Stabilitating speaker. I also just a few weeks ago attended the Huron Perth Trappers Association meeting and at that meeting I met a gentleman from Berry who too is suffering from Lyme disease and We can't spin our wheels any longer speaker. We need an action plan now so while I recognize the government supports and Moving forward on Lyme disease. I hope again We have a realistic timeline so that we can get into action and address this disease that is Haunting and causing so many people a lot of stress and heartache and then I want to share with you that I Asked this government to put partisan colors aside and implement a strategy in Ontario because it's for the likes of Doris and Lynn and Julie and Marie and Joe. I stand on their shoulders and sincerely ask for action now Thank you members. Thank you, Mr. Member for Marshall. Thank you, Mr. Speaker today here at Queens Park was the annual Correction ceremony of remembrance. It was a memoir. Excuse me It was a memorial ceremony for us to remember each and every corrections officer who has died in the line of service It was a chance for us to pay respect to those who have given their lives to keep the peace and to help keep people safe It will always be important to remember it is also important to appreciate the corrections officers who serve now While we pay respect to those who have served before them We must look at the present state of our system and ensure that corrections officers are respected today Every day officers across the province are faced with overcrowding Understaffing and very real very dangerous health and safety issues that must be addressed Issues ranging from lack of appropriate safety equipment to mental health challenges create tensions and unsafe working Conditions fewer resources and more layers of challenges create more opportunities for something to go terribly wrong Corrections peace officers do so much to keep us safe I asked this government is the province doing everything necessary to keep them safe I was privileged to stand as the NDP critic for community safety and correctional services with officers at the memorial And I hope that on our watch We will never see new names added to the list of those who have given their lives in the line of service in my role I will work to make officers safer because I know that every day they do the same for our province. Thank you, mr. Thank you, mr. Speaker Member statements, of course are an opportunity for us to talk about our home writings to our own constituents in the people of Ontario and the update I want to give you from Kitchener Center my writing Actually is connected to the writing of willowdale, which is represented by our Aboriginal Affairs Minister This is where I was born and raised and where my parents still live now This Sunday is Mother's Day and many of us will be honoring our mothers and thanking them for their hard work Their dedication and their sacrifices and they teach us so many things My mother Antonietta verneel was born in a village in southern Italy during the depression She survived war as a child and then like thousands of others She moved to Canada as a young parent in search of a better life for her family Parents are our first teachers my mother taught me and my two older sisters the value of putting in a hard day's work How to grow tomatoes in the backyard how to make homemade pasta and yokey and tomato sauce and never to put up with an injustice There were things that she could not teach us like how to speak English because she didn't know herself and she was never able to help us with our schoolwork because She would have her over us though insisting that we do our homework and she also insisted We do our chores and not complain about it mr. Speaker the mothers of this province and all of Canada Wherever they come from are our teachers our guardians and our lifelong supporters to my mother and all the others I say happy Mother's Day Thank you speaker, please join me in congratulating Connor Ross of Bolton for my writing of Dufferin Callaghan Connor was the first winner of the first day Sorry Connor was the winner of the first ever music money Monday anthem search His song we are one was selected and performed in elementary schools across Canada as part of music Monday Music Monday is the single largest event dedicated to raising awareness for music education Connor song was selected from over 200 entries including songs by professionals other Notable Canadians who've written songs for music Monday include Chris Hadfield Serena Ryder and Ed Robertson from the bear naked Ladies Connor is now part of this illustrious group There are some great messages in Connor song including how music can serve as a tool to help transform And or save lives for those with mental illness Connor was pleased that his song was selected to be performed across the country However, he was a bit disappointed that his own school Mayfield secondary couldn't participate Since the school is closed as a result of the teacher strike to quote Connor He states it's a little bit of a bummer that no one could even go to the school that day if they wanted to But this is mainly for elementary schools anyway, so thank goodness. They weren't on strike yet Once again, I'd like to congratulate Connor Ross for this amazing achievement and wish him all the best in his career in music Thank you Thank you speaker It's an honor to rise today as the NDP critic for labor to speak to Workers who are left with no choice but to take action because of those liberal governments continued cuts Especially in education and health care Teachers and nurses have flooded my inbox on monday almost a million students And 73 000 teachers will be affected by strike action next week as a continued result of education cuts seen by This government's budget The minister of education claimed today that she and boards were not notified of the details of the etfo strike For monday when in fact those details were received three days ago Constituents are angry about this liberal government wanting to strip collective agreements reduce teachers ability to use their professional judgments And to remove Caps to class sizes worse There's been nothing but indifference by this government's response to these disputes in my own writing of well and health care workers Nurses members of opsu local 294 have been on strike for more than a month now The ccac responsible for contracting to the for-profit care partners Has not Set a peep nor has the government about ensuring transparency and accountability For for-profit agencies who are actually These nurses are working for despite i've raised this three times in the legislature today I stand to highlight the plight of educator educators of frontline workers who have been left with no choice But to take strike action because of this liberal government's failures Thank you Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker. I'm pleased to rise today and give special recognition to two really great organizations doing incredible work in halton Oak Park neighborhood center and the community youth in action network are two organizations that have made significant contributions To so many people's lives They offer key community support programs and they're committed to improving education and increasing community engagement for our young people They recently received grants from the ontario trillium foundation And i paid a visit recently to see the positive influence of these two groups firsthand Well, let me tell you from the moment i walked into that center It was clear that the trillium grants were a huge help It allowed oak park to complete some much needed renovations But more importantly it gave the community youth in action network the resources that they needed to expand their staff And develop new programming During my visit i got to tour the oak park facility speak with staff and teen volunteers and even take part in some flower pot art projects It was a lot of fun Watching the smiles on those young people's faces I could really see how important it was for them to know that there are people out there who support them and care for them When we help our young people to connect better with their neighborhoods We all win I can't think of two groups more worthy of this vital funding And i'm proud that the ontario trillium foundation continues to support such important community building organizations Thank you so much. Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Members from foreign health Thank you, mr. Speaker just this week on tuesday. I was there for the opening Customer appreciation evening for concord food center and it's interesting But where I live in thorn hell we have what we know as our little deluxe Jam of a grocery store with what we believe is the best fruits and vegetables in the gta I'm not going to get into arguments with some of the agriculture colleagues here But uh people have actually said to me who live in downtown, toronto Where do you live and I tell them where I live and they say oh my goodness you live right near concord food center So it's obviously got a far-reaching network of customers Well, we were there celebrating the newly renovated premises. It's absolutely stunning I recommend everybody to pay us a visit up in thorn hell Joe greco was there who's the owner his managers terry crook shank and rena virgilio And joe's daughter danielle was there with her natural holistic and nutritious Little snacks made out of seeds and nuts and she uses maple syrup to sweeten it. It's absolutely fantastic Sylvanna and Bianca Bianca's the daughter were there from cannoli queen's pastry giving out samples Alyssa ridder was giving out Alyssa was giving out ridder chocolates. I don't believe her last name is ridder Ralph eisenberg was serving cake from roca cakes and camille marcotte Who's the designer of the new premises was there as well? So they had every reason to be happy and the customers are thrilled But unfortunately there are still plans to bring a rapid way down center street and bathers in thorn hill And we're all very concerned about our local businesses. Thank you, mr. Speaker Yeah Thank you, mr. Speaker on may 2nd berlington celebrated canada netherlands friendship day Burlington has a strong and vital dutch community whose members continue to contribute significantly to the vitality and prosperity of our city In 2010 the former member for kitchener waterloo who was of dutch descent Introduced to private members bill declaring may as dutch heritage month. It passed and is now law We had the pleasure of welcoming former MPP and minister elizabeth wittmere to burlington last saturday This year's celebration was particularly special as it marked the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the netherlands by canadian armed forces I'm proud to say that my father humick man was part of that liberating force His regiments crest hangs proudly in apple dorn city hall What made saturday equally special is that we also celebrated the 10th anniversary of the city of burlington's twinning with the city of apple Dorn I had the pleasure of visiting apple dorn in 2007 with members of our city council and our Mundialization committee also part of city hall People like charles minkin who chairs the apple dorn subcommittee were there on saturday and he organized the event At city hall on that day. We heard the beautiful performances from the deo gloria choir Visiting from irk the netherlands alexander public school band and the royal canadian legion brand 60 color guard Finally, we were all touched by the story shared by students at lester b pierce in high school Led by teacher judith jenis on a recent trip to apple dorn Students conducted research on a fallen soldier buried in the holton canadian war cemetery Part of this meaningful initiative sees the students sharing that story Which is then stored in a permanent collection on display at holton It was an extremely meaningful celebration And i would like to thank all of those who played a role in organizing this year's canada netherland friendship day To them. I say don't give up. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Thank you Thank you, speaker today I rise as a government mpp from waterloo region to talk about a tech giant in the region Blackberry is a prime example of an ontario success story Of innovators in a new industry and as a homegrown company that today employs over 4500 workers across ontario Many of those speaker who live and work in the waterloo region in my hometown of cambridge Blackberry is known around the world and rightly so as a leader in the smartphone industry Their enterprise and security software are second to none Blackberry was on the leading edge of the the technology and it sector explosion in waterloo region Which still benefits the waterloo region economy and indeed ontario's economy It's one of the reason why the ontario government Has been one of the largest purchasers of blackberry products in the world something i'm extremely proud of Since smart phone became a ubiquitous I have only ever used backberry will only ever use backberry and in fact I can say with confidence now speaker. I have three of them I encourage all four waterloo region mpps to avoid negative messages at the expense of a valued waterloo region business And speak with pride about our homegrown blackberry who continue to contribute and give back immeasurably to our community Thank you. Thank you