 excuse me unfortunately the time for debate has expired however when this bill is brought back into the legislature you will have time remaining to finish your debate as well as for questions and responses but it's now time for member statements and I recognize a member from Toronto St. Paul yesterday the government announced their 2021 budget and the Premier's Finance Minister said quote it's clear we're sparing no expense to defeat COVID-19 this is not the case conservatives are cutting supports during the pandemic nowhere in this budget mentions provincial paid sick days and there is no new funding to make schools COVID safe as I speak classes in St. Paul's are in isolation sent home paying the price for a cheap government where is income for our individual theater visual dance musicians and other creative workers who have lost work due to COVID local fashion designers who have had to stop production many comedians aren't laughing anymore Toronto has the largest number of artists of any city in Ontario and this government expects them to survive on hope hope does not pay the bills what about injured workers are people in St. Paul's on ODS poverty and OW are suffering rates must increase they weren't even mentioned yesterday in the speech aging adults are facing evictions and this government's grants for small businesses well many in St. Paul's can't even qualify a conservative budget that ignores the childcare crisis our demands for supportive housing and provincial direct funding for survivors flowing now not years from now removes any chance of women's participation in paid labour speaker St. Paul's has put this government on notice your time thank you for their member statement a member from Oakville North Burlington thank you good morning thank you speaker today is a special day for people of Hellenic descent in Ontario and for Helene's around the world March 25th marks the bicentennial of the independence of Greece on this day in 1821 the people of Greece rose up against the Ottoman Empire in a revolution that gained them their independence after centuries of living under Ottoman despotism Greece the enlightened land that gave birth to democracy reclaimed its liberty and was a free nation once again I am proud that my bill to proclaim March as Hellenic Heritage Month was passed by our government the first and only jurisdiction in Canada to do so we are proud of our history and the gift of democracy our ancestors gave to the world the bicentennial marks the restoration of liberty to the land where Pericles or rated to the people of Athens to the land where Alexander was tutored at the foot of Aristotle to the land where where Helene stood for liberty at Marathon Salamis and Thermopylae where they rose up in 1821 with the cry Eleftheria Ethanatos liberty or death and the land that shouted or she know to the armies of the fascist invaders in 1941 while Greece is free all nations can dream of freedom Zito Yelada Zito a canadas long live Greece long live Canada thank you very much for the members David I recognize a member from University Rose down COVID-19 has thrown our education and child care sector into crisis there are COVID cases in nearly 20% of Ontario's schools yet still no adequate mass testing women and it's mostly women are quitting or being fired from their jobs because they can't look after kids and work at the same time stripping 30 years of gains to address workplace sexism child care providers especially are in crisis and they're closing down in record numbers and teachers are getting sick on the job because this government is not doing enough to protect their health and sadly very sadly kids are struggling with mental health I want to acknowledge and recognize the parents who have reached out to me to share heartbreaking stories of their kids who are suffering and the loss of children and teenagers to suicide and now we get yesterday's budget does yesterday's budget provide more support to parents kids and teachers no it doesn't there's cuts there's no commitment to lower class sizes to help us tackle COVID there's no commitment to continue funding to provide support for COVID there is no real funding for affordable childcare there's a lot of promises about increasing childcare spaces but these promises are false because this government is doing nothing to help the childcare centres right now who are going under and going bankrupt if this was our budget we'd have more support for schools and childcare more support for our kids and more support for education workers and families that is the right path forward we're in member statements I'm going to ask members to quiet down so that I can hear the member who has the floor the member for Aurora or bridges Richmond Hill thanks very much speaker speaker last Friday I had the pleasure of gathering with members of the Persian community here in Ontario to host my annual Norus celebration and of course virtually this year speaking Norus is an ancient celebration that dates back to 3000 years ago and although it's commonly known as Persian New Year Norus is celebrated by millions of people in dozens of countries around the world including China Ukraine Israel Afghanistan and many more speaker no matter where you're from during Norus you'll always find yourself in warm gatherings amongst family and friends now I should note speaker that Norus isn't celebrated as a day on its own like all grand festivities there's a lead up to Norus and a winding down I know what you're thinking speaker they sure know how to party and you're absolutely correct speaker the entire Norus season kicks off with trash and the Suri the Wednesday before Norus and it is celebrated by jumping over bond fires yes speaker you heard me right on fire this fire jumping symbolizes the renewal of one spirit and the purification of one soul before the start of the new year after charge on the Suri you spend the days leading up to Norus shopping for food dessert gifts and most important decorations for the have seen table speaker on Norus Eve family and friends gather around the have seen table which is an arrangement of seven different symbolic items each starting with the letter s and each with its own unique meaning sprouting grass the symbol of rebirth and growth coins representing wealth and prosperity high and sin flowers or some or son bowl representing spring sumac representing sunshine vinegar the symbol of patience apple the symbol of beauty garlic the symbol of health and medicine now speaker Norus means new day and it serves as a reminder about the importance of harmony between life and nature a symbol of renewal and a fresh start and on this new day let us embrace the spirit of new beginnings by joyously looking forward to this new year I'd like to wish everyone celebrating Norus here in Ontario and around the world a happy healthy and prosperous new year nor is it on peruse had risen to Norus member statements the member for Parkdale High Park. Thank you speaker. Since the pandemic began Canadians of Asian heritage have experienced a dramatic increase in racist attacks from verbal abuse to online harassment to physical assault just last week a young Asian man had an egg thrown at him as he left work not very far from Queens Park a young Asian woman was shouted at and called Corona as she crossed the street on Bloor another was harassed on the TTC and told to go back to where she came from speaker this happened to people I know they are our friends our neighbours our community members Canadians of Asian heritage are facing these types of aggressions every day it took the murder of eight people in Atlanta and the brutal violence against our elders for anti Asian racism to get the attention it needs but anti Asian racism did not start with the pandemic Canada has a long history of anti Asian racism from keeping the yellow man out to Japanese internment camps to the Komagata Maru incidents to the Chinese head tax we cannot forget this racist history and we cannot allow racism of any form against anyone speaker we have been silent on anti Asian racism for far too long silence is no longer an option I call on all of us to speak up against anti Asian racism thank you thank you Mr. Speaker late last week our government announced a historic investment of 933 million in long-term care projects throughout Ontario this funding is in addition to the 1.75 billion already airmarked towards the modernization of our long-term care sector the funding supports the delivery of 30,000 much-needed long-term care spaces across the province over the next 10 years with the addition of this new funding Ontario now has approximately 20,000 just over 20,000 new and just around 16,000 redevelopment spaces in the development pipeline in my riding mr. Speaker Tyndale seniors village is being allocated 73 new spaces and 151 upgraded spaces the project will result in a 224 bed home through the construction of a new building in Mississauga I recently spoke with the team at Tyndale and they are thrilled to be able to move into this next phase of providing care for people of Mississauga East Cokesville speaker we know that the number of individuals and families in Mississauga who will require access to long-term care is expected to rise over the next decade these 224 new or upgraded beds will make a significant difference in providing that access to those who need it so that our vulnerable seniors can get the care they need when they need it thank you mr. Speaker thank you member statements the member for Sudbury thank you speaker speaker in 2018 a Siberian said something to me that's been stuck in my head ever since they said we need to fix long-term care because the workers there are family well my family's not there think about that those workers are family when my family's not there during COVID-19 the shortcomings of long-term care have been magnified and there's a lot to fix and I want us to start with psw's personal support workers at a conversation with Darla Fissette she's a home care psw speaker and she told me some psw's make as little as $15 an hour Darla cares for 10 to 12 clients a day she was take the bus but because of COVID-19 the bus schedules change and it doesn't feel as safe and so she walks to those clients Tracy Rettiger used to be a home care psw snow long-term psw she loved home care but had to get out of because of the cost she said she had changed her brakes every three months she had monthly oil changes she had higher insurance than everybody else and other yearly maintenance fees I want to remind everybody that some psw's make as little as $15 an hour people often say there's a shortage of psw's but there's not there's a there's a shortage of people there's no shortage of people who want to be psw's are trained to be stopped to be psw's is a shortage of good paying jobs for psw's speaker on Tuesday at table bill 266 to support workers pay act to address this bill 266 is an opportunity to permanently raise that wage floor for personal support workers in any sector and we'll also ensure that you aren't paying out of pocket for the travel expenses from going from client to climate we have pandemic pay speaker of pandemic pay ends pandemic pay only applies to some psw's and those workers are my family when my family's not there member statements the member for Scarborough Guildwood thank you speaker it's a pleasure to rise on behalf of my constituents in Scarborough Guildwood and I would like to recognize an outstanding individual Ms. Dora Skeen born in 1910 she turned 110 in December migrating to Canada from Jamaica in 1980 she has lived in Scarborough ever since a force of nature who still lives independently Dora is a true inspiration to all of us it gave me great pleasure to be present for Ms. Dora's vaccination as she received the COVID-19 Pfizer buy-in-tech vaccine at her home on March the 16th by the Scarborough Health Network and the Scarborough Center for Healthy Communities Ms. Dora is also an important example of how essential it is for all members of the community to receive the COVID vaccine the fact that Dora is still able to live independently and spend time with her family at 110 years old is a real testament her safe and consistent following consistent guidelines has kept her safe vaccine hesitancy is an issue that for too many is deeply rooted in a history of racism and this needs to be addressed it is also an issue that is rooted in the spread of misinformation I want to underline the fact that all hesitancy related to COVID-19 is a public health concern and impacts our pandemic response for the most vulnerable citizen speaker so we should all take inspiration for Ms. Dora who is in her hundredth and eleventh year and make sure that this trusted and safe vaccine is given to all when they are offered there are numerous private conversations taking place in the house and I'm going to ask members to quiet down so I can hear the member who has the floor next we have the member for Mississauga Erin Mills thank you Mr. Speaker the health and safety is a concern of every Ontarian and as well as our government specially during pandemic that's why our government approved the Trillium Health Partners expansion project in Credit Valley Hospital in 2019 as well as a newly approved construction of inpatient care tower in Trillium Queens Way site and completely rebuilt of Mississauga Hospital in 2021 budget as part of our government promised to add 30k long term care spaces in Ontario over the last two years Mississauga alone got 192 beds in Shilligal Village 220 beds in Trillium Health Partners 320 beds in India's community you young you hung and Trillium Health Partners 128 to event Franca 224 to tidal senior village a total of 1,084 needed long-term care beds just in Mississauga approximately double what the previous government allocated for long-term beds for the whole Ontario in four years our government also values importance of worship and faith especially in this tough times that's why it was my pleasure to support our governing decision to update the framework to permit places of worship to operate at 15% capacity and easing their restriction on outdoor dining and batteries this will allow residents residents of feel region who have been in lockdown for several months is to practice their faith safely and enjoy outdoor activities giving this much awaited pleasant warm weather that being said we are easing restrictions very cautiously while we would all like to be open we have to listen to the advice of our health professionals and simply cannot go against medical advice our government is determined to place Ontario in the best recovery and we will do whatever it is necessary you are all in this together thank you thank you very much the member for Brampton West thank you so much mr. Speaker Brampton is always ignored Brampton remains underfunded Brampton is never given a priority Brampton doesn't get its fair share mr. Speaker these were the perceptions that were prevailing in the hurts and minds of people across Brampton until 2018 those perceptions are now history yesterday was a historic day mr. Speaker in the city of Brampton in 2018 when this government was formed under the leadership of Premier Ford we were working to improving the health care infrastructure in the city of Brampton which was neglected for too long and I'm honored to share the great news that Premier and this government announced a second hospital in the city of Brampton to serve Bramptonians better I'm also delighted to share that to support the long-term care needs of the Bramptonians city provinces working with Ryerson University and funding them and working with them to build a new medical school in the city of Brampton and mr. Speaker there's so much more to Brampton support saga Brampton also received two new long-term care centers colonelic sick long-term care center and in this community long-term care center which will bring 352 new beds to support to address the long-term care needs in the city of Brampton on behalf of my dad's I would like to thank Premier Ford Minister of Health and Minister of Finance for giving Brampton its due share which was neglected for too long thank you mr. Speaker I've got to make an announcement first I beg to inform the house that I've laid upon the table a request by the member for Peterborough Corritha mr. Smith to the Honourable J David Wake integrity Commissioner for an opinion pursuant to section 30 of the members integrity act 1994 and whether the member for Waterloo Ms. Fife has contravene the act or Ontario Parliamentary Convention I beg to inform the house that I've laid upon the table a request by the member for Orléans mr. Blay to the Honourable J David Wake integrity Commissioner for an opinion pursuant to standing order 30 of the members integrity act 1994 and whether the member for Willowdale mr. Chow has contravene the act or parliamentary convention and I think the member for Oakville North Erlington has a point of order thank you thank you mr. Speaker as we all know this month of March is Hellenic Heritage Month that also happens to be the bicentenary of Greece's independence after 200 years so I'd like to ask all members of the House for unanimous consent so that we may all wear the Hellenic Heritage Month pin we're seeking unanimous consent of the house to allow members to wear the Hellenic Heritage Month pin agreed agreed the leader of the official opposition has a point of order thank you Speaker I seek unanimous consent to for the House rather to observe a moment of silence to pay tribute to the 154 Ontarians who have succumbed to COVID-19 since Thursday March 11 here the opposition is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to observe a moment silence to pay tribute to the 154 Ontarians who succumbed to COVID-19 since March 11th agreed agreed members will please rise members may take their seats