 member statements to recognize the member from Muskegawatt, James Bay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Despite what the government says, access to legal services in French in Ontario, it's more of an illusion than a reality. Last week, I was informed that the Court of Social Aid does not have earrings in French in the Capuchin case in the Capuchin region. According to the legal clinic for the great north recently, the tribunal does not have enough resources to serve the Francophone community. Mr. Speaker, the French language service is supposed to ensure that services offered by the government in regions that are designated and the Capuchin case in regions is designated by the law, where there are government offices, French services must be offered. And there's lots of people that have waited for too long to have their rights. And the legal clinic had a complaint with the French language services, the French language commission, the former commissioner nor the Doug Ford government, for ensure that the law is applied. I asked the Minister of Francophone Affairs to take care of all files, including those outside the big centres. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member statements, the member for Markham Union Bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As many of us may know, on February 8th, the Chinese, Tibetan, Vietnamese and Korean community gathered to celebrate the end of the Lunar New Year, as we welcome the year of the Golden Red. Before I continue, it's important to note that red is perceived as quite differently in Chinese culture. The red is held with high regards as considered to be quick-witted, resourceful, viscital, and more importantly, kind. Anyone born in this year should be proud to be a red, including myself. Mr. Speaker, on February 8th, Mr. Bob Soraya and I host a successful Lunar New Year celebration in our writing during the year of the red. I was filled with immersed joy as with many members of our community come out and celebrate even though back home, their country is working hard to contain coronavirus. To those impacted, applaud and admire your strength and your ability to overcome adversity. Our community will continue to stay united and stand with you as we continue to combat the coronavirus. Its events such as that bring our community together while celebrating the strength that our province finds through diversity. A special thanks to the member, Lindsay Park-Royne Cole, Deputy Mayor of Markham and City Councilors, to come out to celebrate the year of the red with the community of Markham Unionville. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member Statements, the member for Niagara Centre. Thank you, Speaker. I rise today to speak on behalf of 97-year-old Paul LePont, who lives in a small, shared fourth room floor in a hospital bed at the Welland County General Hospital. Paul and his family are desperately trying to get him placed into the Francophone long-term care home in my riding, Foyer Richelieu. Paul and his family wrote a letter that was shared widely in Niagara. He was told he can no longer return to his retirement home as he requires more care than they can provide. His family has been told by the province he might face as much as five more years on the waiting list he joined in late 2018. Paul has a message for this government. Our government needs to build more nursing homes. They need to take care of their elderly. We were all once very active members of society. We worked hard all our lives and paid our fair share into society. When contacted by media, the member from Niagara West stated that over the next decade, Niagara will get 300 new beds. Speaker, the wait list for long-term care in my riding is almost 3,000. The 96 beds for Foyer Richelieu included in that number were promised in 2007 by the Liberals. Seniors like Paul are stuck in the hospital with no alternative options. Niagara has the second largest aging population in the province. I urge this government to treat this crisis with the urgency that it deserves. As Paul told me when I met with him at the Welland Hospital, today's seniors are being treated as the forgotten generation. Thank you. The member for Kitchener, Conestoga. Well, thank you, Speaker. It is with tremendous honor that I rise today to highlight the great steps our government has taken towards combating wildfires in Australia. The impacts of these fires have had on Australian families and the environment is absolutely heartbreaking, Mr. Speaker. Over 18 million hectares of Australian countryside were engulfed in flames last year. These flames consumed roughly 2,800 homes, displacing countless families. And it's not only Australia's human population that has felt the effects of these fires either. Millions of animals are to have reported to die over the past year as a result. Ontario or Australia needs Ontario's help, Mr. Speaker, and I'm proud to say that we have their back. Since December 3rd, 35 fire management personnel from Ontario have traveled to assist Australia in their forest fighting efforts. These fire management personnel range from operations and logistics chiefs to helicopter based managers. I would encourage everyone to keep the people of Australia and their thoughts during this different difficult time. And in this vein on a lighter note, Mr. Speaker, our family has recently added a new addition, a bearded dragon, a native species to Australia, and we have affectionately named her Bondi. She now shares a name with one of Australia's most popular destinations, Bondi Beach, which I have had the pleasure of visiting, Mr. Speaker. Australia is truly a treasure and I'm proud of our work is our government is doing to support them. Thank you, Speaker. The member for Oshawa. I want to read part of a letter from Leslie Sharer, a mom from Newcastle to the Premier. Dear Mr. Premier, tonight I had to call 911 because my 12 year old son with autism ran away from home. He ran into traffic. My 12 year old son wanted to die. Now I know from your path that you aren't a big fan of people with ASD. May I remind you of your own words, quote, my heart goes out to kids with autism, but no one told me that believing the house end quote, disgusting. Yes, but they are your words, sir. Let me tell you something, Mr. Premier. My son is one of the sweetest, most imaginative and loving people in this world. He is bright and he is caring and he makes the world better by being in it. He thinks in ways you can't imagine and his memory is extraordinary. He is inventive and generous. He has good days and he has bad days and tonight was the worst he's ever had. You see, Mr. Premier, my son is out of routine. He missed several days of school last week because his teachers are busy fighting for his future. But Mr. Premier, you are so busy making cuts to education, mental health services and autism supports in my son's school that you are literally cutting every service that my child needs to succeed. You are cutting the supports he needs in school to learn not only the curriculum, but also the most important thing, how to live. You're cutting the supports that help teach him social skills and how to be a productive member of society. Your cuts to special education, planned increased class sizes and mandatory e-learning are quite literally stealing my son's future. And while his teachers are fighting for these things, my son is mentally falling apart and I blame you. Members' statements? The member for Don Valley East. Well, thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. Today is pink shirt day and I'm so happy to be here today in the legislature and see so many of my colleagues wearing pink. We know that in 2007 in Nova Scotia there were two young people, David and Travis, who stood up for a fellow classmate who was being bullied for wearing pink. And you know, I was proud to be part of a government, Mr. Speaker, that brought forward the Accepting Schools Act in 2012. It was the first of its kind of legislation in Canada to protect students. And I just want to say, you know, considering it's, it is pink shirt day and it's an expression of anti-bullying today. I have a young person who's actually joining me, Nate Manis. And I hope we can all put on a very good show and demonstration that we can work together. And thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Speaker. Member for Northumberland, Peterborough South. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Providing compassionate end-of-life care is the right thing to do. And hospice beds that do this are critical to addressing the challenges facing our health care system. I'm pleased to announce, Mr. Speaker, that on February 6th, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health joined me, MPP Lindsey Park, MPP Lauren Coe, for an announcement of $800,000 in additional one-time capital funding to support the construction of four additional beds at Durham Hospice Clarington. With the recent announcement of these four beds, Ontario is investing a total of $1.8 million in capital funding to support the construction of nine beds. This expanded hospice bed coverage, through this coverage, our government's ensuring that Durham Hospice Clarington will be able to provide even more residents with the compassionate end-of-life care that they deserve. I'd like to congratulate the entire Durham Hospice Clarington team for their work to make this a reality. Board of Directors, Melodies, Arkus, Guy May, Terry Hofkirchner, Reverend Deb Foster, Kirk Kemp, Debbie Lodge, Anita Mazzaro, Rod MacArthur, Marlene McCall, Jill Richardson, Marion Timmermans, Willy Woo, and the entire team. All residents and family, Mr. Speaker, deserve access to dignified end-of-life care that respect the wishes of patients and their loved ones. I'm pleased to say in Clarington region, that's happening. Thank you very much. The member for Niagara Falls. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, the Premier told us that he won't stop his vicious cuts to education system. He claims that parents are telling him they agree with him to support their kids' education being slashed, but the Premier won't show us any proof of any of these messages. So I asked the people of Niagara what they think and it turned out that their message is a lot different than the Premier's. Instead, they overwhelmingly said no to firing thousands of teachers. No to Alabama-filled e-learning. No to cutting services for children with special needs. No to slashing funding for children with autism. Further decreasing their school supports. And no to increased class sizes. In some cases, as many as 35 kids in class. And these parents aren't alone. If the PC party hadn't been hiding inside the Scotiabank on Saturday in Niagara Falls, they would have seen 5,000 people. The largest labour demonstration in Niagara's history, standing shoulder to shoulder with every education worker across the product. As they say no to cuts to education and our children's future. I come from a background in bargaining and I can tell you very clearly 98 percent of all negotiations and in collective agreements. The parents of Niagara, the 5,000 supporters who came to Niagara Falls from all over Ontario are wondering, why is this government in the 2 percent that can't get a deal done when 98 percent of collective agreements settle without a strike? Thank you very much. Members' statements, the member for Ottawa-West Napaian. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to highlight a great moment for Ontario Francophony. This morning, the Minister for Francophone Affairs, as well as the Minister for Colleges and University, was on site with other dignitaries to show where the new Francophone University in Ontario would be. It is a brick and mortar space as well as a virtual learning space that respects the 21st centuries and will be very important for the economic development of Francophones in Ontario and elsewhere. This project would not have come to light without the leadership and work, and tireless work of the Minister for Francophone Affairs, who has worked closely for 16 months with Diane Adam and her team so that this dream could be a reality. With the support of the Premier and the Minister of Colleges and University, our government finally set up this project that is so important to Francophones in Ontario. That is something that the Liberals were unable to do and refused to do for 15 years. This university now has a place where it can be set up and this is only the start for the positive measures that will be put in place by our government for Francophones in Ontario. Congratulations to everyone who has been working on this project. Thank you. Member statements? The member for Mississauga Lakeshore. Speaker, our government has been working hard since day one to make Ontario open for jobs. While the previous government lost over 300,000 manufacturing jobs, we've created the conditions for over 307 new jobs since June 2018. Thank you to the actions taken by our government. Ontario is once again the economic engine of Canada. In fact, Speaker, demand for talent is so strong that more than 200,000 jobs are going unfilled every day. However, while there are many jobs without people, there are also people without jobs. This is because of the previous government's poor taxpayers' dollars into employment services that delivered incredibly poor results. In fact, the Auditor General concluded that only 14% of job seekers were finding work in the field that they were trained for. Speaker, this is unacceptable. While the opposition defends the status quo, our government has launched an open and comprehensive process to select the best manager for employment services beginning in three communities, including mine of the region of Peele. These managers will drive by the only result that matters, people finding long-term and stable employment in quality jobs. Speaker, jobs give people the sense of dignity and I am proud that we're doing everything we can to help people succeed. Thank you.