 Therefore, it is now time for members' statements, members' statements to the member from York Symptom. I am pleased to rise in the House today to speak about April 30th, Journey to Freedom Day. First, introduced two years ago in Canada by Senator No, Journey to Freedom Day is a day to commemorate the exodus of Vietnamese refugees and celebrates their acceptance into Canada 42 years ago. It is a day that acknowledges those refugees who were lost to illness, malfeasance, or the cruelty of the turbulent ocean. It is also a day with a deep sense of hope for those who became Canadian and a strong sense of pride for those who helped make that happen. It is an honour to have all MPPs for the second time wearing the scarves representing Vietnamese freedom and heritage. The scarf was designed based on the Vietnamese heritage and freedom flag, which symbolizes the enduring strength of the Vietnamese people. This Saturday, April 29th, we will be raising the freedom flag here at Queens Park, first time ever in a provincial latest. The community is very much looking forward to it. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues from all parties will join me in celebrating Journey to Freedom Day. Thank you. Thank you. For their members famous, the member from Windsor West. Thank you, Speaker. Workers at the Canadian Hearing Society are now entering their seventh week off the job, that seven weeks that people who are deaf or hard of hearing are not getting the support that they need to thrive. While this Liberal government constantly passes the buck on the responsibilities to protect workers and vulnerable populations, they have done nothing to rein in executive salaries at taxpayer-funded organisations. The CHS receives more than $20 million for services from the province each year. Unfortunately, a large portion of this has gone to exorbitant wage increases for top executives, including a 75% increase for the CEO in just three years. All the while, frontline staff, many of whom are deaf or hard of hearing themselves, haven't had a wage increase since their contract expired four years ago. They've gone four years without a contract before choosing to go on strike. Shameful. Speaker, it's time for this government to rein in CEO salaries, time for the Liberals to help the employer and the union through a third party to get these issues dealt with and let these workers get back to work serving a vulnerable community. Speaker, it's time for a fair contract now. Thank you. For their members famous, the member from Eglinton Marks. Thank you, Speaker. Later this afternoon, I'm going to be introducing a bill called the Innocent Persons Insurance Recovery Act. And this bill essentially tries to get rid of a punitive, very harmful clause that exists in everybody's insurance contract. And that is that if your partner or spouse burns down your house or does damage to your home or property, you as the spouse are not eligible to claim any award. So therefore, you are without compensation, even though you're a co-insured and you're the victim of a criminal act. Today with me, I had in the legislature, I had Terry Lynn Robinson from Collingwood who had her home burned down. She was denied insurance because of this exemption clause that exists in Ontario. I also had Wendy Socek from Mississauga. She was personally lit on fire by her husband tragically. Seven years ago, went to legal wrangling for seven years, was awarded zero compensation because she was on the claim and the policy with her husband. This has got to change. Ontario is one of the few provinces that allows this punitive clause. And hopefully my bill will be passed to get rid of this punishment that usually ends up being double victimization for victims of domestic abuse. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Members, same as the member from Nipissing. Thank you, Speaker. Many families and groups took buses to assemble here outside of Queens Park this afternoon. They brought attention to a situation affecting people from all over Ontario, including my home riding of Nipissing. School closures have devastating impacts on our communities and hurt the education of our youth. They decrease the overall quality and access to proper education in Ontario. The government's recently revised pupil accommodation review guideline is clearly flawed and needs to be immediately rewritten to accommodate smaller communities in Ontario. Last month the Ontario PC Party brought forward a motion to end the closures being carried out under these new guidelines. But instead the government chose not to listen and voted us down. They continue to try to balance their books on the backs of students. The closure of these schools is a short-term money-saving move that in the end does nothing but disenfranchise our young men and women. I'm calling again on the government to put an end to these closures and immediately enact a moratorium on school closures throughout Ontario. Speaker, if they don't in one year, one month and 11 days, Patrick Brown and the PC Party will. Absolutely. Thank you. Do you remember the statements from Tamis Kamee Cochran? Thank you, Speaker. Last Saturday I had the pleasure of spending a day at one of my favourite events and that's the Earlton Farm Show and that's where farmers from Northeastern Ontario gather and talk about, look at the latest equipment and talk about their operations and a lot of consumers come to their own farm show too. And last Saturday one of the biggest topics of discussion was supply management. Because of Donald Trump's comments regarding what he was, didn't his views on the Canadian dairy industry, and it came to my attention that a lot of people didn't understand basic facts about the Canadian dairy industry, both from a consumer perspective and from a producer perspective. From a consumer perspective, one thing that very few people know is that from the minute the milk comes from the cow to the time it's in the store, the temperature of that milk is always recorded, the temperature of the water to wash utensils is always recorded. Each load of milk is thoroughly tested for any contaminant. We have one of the safest supplies of milk in the world and that's something a lot of people don't know. From the producer's side I was surprised that a lot of, even producers don't know, that we dairy farmers pool their costs and they pool their markets. So if there is something going wrong in the market in one part of the country, everyone takes a hit through their quota. It's not one farm or 70 farms or 100 aren't jeopardized and that's something that's unique to our system and something that we have to work to protect. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. So the member status, the member from Durham. Thank you, Speaker. This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Black Business Professional Association's Heritage Room 35th Anniversary Celebration. The BBPA Heritage Room Awards is recognized as the most prestigious national award gala in the African-Canadian community. The awards are an annual celebration that pays tribute to outstanding and inspirational African-Canadians and was established in the memory of Heritage Room, an African-Canadian Olympic athlete, scholar and social advocate. It was an honor to have the Prime Minister, the Honorable Justin Trudeau, the keynote speaker accompanied by my colleague, the Honorable Mitzi Hunter. This year's theme was beyond excellence. The recipients received awards in the fields of academics, arts, athletics, leadership, business, entertainment, professional excellence, health science, social advocacy, technology and innovation, lifetime achievement, trailblazer, president, diversity, volunteer, public advocacy, youth achievement and community service. Each Heritage Room recipient was recognized for their individual unique accomplishments in their field of work. Olympian Andre de Grasse was among the 18 outstanding individuals that were honored at the ceremony. Mr. Speaker, it was such a wonderful opportunity to attend this award celebration on so many wonderful individuals who strive beyond excellence. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Thank you. Are there member-status? The member from Bruce Gray-Own Sound. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It seemed not long ago when this government, the Premier herself, pledged to be the education government and to build, not tear down schools and communities. What happened? After witnessing the loss of local schools and my riding in Bruce Gray-Own Sound and across our entire province, one thing is clear. This government doesn't care about the devastating consequences of their faulty education policies on the thousands of students who will be displaced and the communities will destroy as a result of school closures. According to the ministry's own documents, when they formed government in 2003, rural and tarot had 670 schools. But after succumbing to the fate of their waste and faulty funding formula, 300 of them have closed. That's a sweeping 40% cut and described by the school administrator at Chesley District Community School, Joni Lang, and I quote, as a quick sweep under the rug and 100 years of history, no more. The students who attend Chesley and the workers who are still employed there are calling the education ministers in action on mass school closures as cruel and insensitive. Many of them, including Tess and Malcolm Bainborough, were at Queen's Park today and spoke passionately in protest of this ministers and the Liberal government's failure to act to save rural schools. With 300 already gone and possibly 600 more schools doomed to fall across our province, the minister surely can't continue to support the shameful record. It's no secret, students will now spend more time being bussed around rural and tarot than engaging in valuable educational and extracurricular programs. I think it's horrific trade-off for students whom the education minister is trying to comfort with a promise that closures are compromised for their access to better school programming. Since the minister has the power and privilege to do the right thing, I sincerely hope she will one, put a moratorium on school closures, two, fix the funding formula, and three, reinstate the community impact component for future accommodation reviews. And if she won't, then she needs to take personal responsibility for the mass closures under her watch. Thank you, Speaker. Good afternoon, Madam Speaker. This is the member from Kingston and the Islands. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. According to the Canadian Blood Services, fewer than 400,000 Canadians actively donate blood. One in two Canadians can donate, however only one in 60 does. Despite not being able to donate myself, I wanted to change these figures and motivate my community to come out and give blood, so I adopted a blood clinic last week. The clinic was a great success and was 80% pre-booked thanks to the efforts of all who shared their support. I always want to encourage everyone, especially young males, to register in the one match to donate stem cells and check if you are registered. You should also check with beadowner.ca. Many thanks to Debbie Barfoot and her incredible team at our local chapter for their work in organizing this event and the life-saving services that they offer every single day. None of this success, however, would be possible without the support of our community's blood donors. Everyday heroes have saved countless lives by not only giving blood, but in their advocacy and volunteerism as well. So I want to thank everyone for making this day such an absolutely memorable event. And as Canadian Blood Services says, when you give blood, you are giving someone else another day and another chance. It is with this sentiment that I encourage everyone to support their local blood bank by rolling up your sleeves, raising awareness, and supporting your local chapter whenever you can. Thank you. Merci. Thank you for their member sings, member from Elgin Middle Sex London. Thank you very much, speaker. Speaker, I'm pleased to rise today to highlight the Ontario Dental Association's 150th anniversary. I'm also pleased to mention that in celebration of 150 years of the Ontario Dental Association, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario has proclaimed today, April 26th, officially to be known as Ontario Dentist Day. Speaker, it is interesting to note that Ontario was the first jurisdiction in the world to enact legislation to grant self-regulation for dentists. In fact, the industry was regulated in 1867, same year, of course, that Canada became a country thanks to a man named Dr. Barnabas Day. Dr. Day was one of the most respected dentists of his time who gathered his colleagues from across the province to ask Parliament to license their profession for the sake of patients' oral health care. Once the profession became licensed, the Code of Ethics was made, misleading ads were banned, there was education and public awareness campaigns on the benefits of oral health, and special care for the poor who were unable to afford care. The first dental school in Ontario opened in 1875. Since the Ontario Dental Association was created, dentists have been champions of oral health and patient advocates for over a century and a half. And I know our member from Leeds, General Steve Clark, has been the champion of dentists for all legislatures in this province. The Ontario Dental Association currently represents over 9,000 members, which is 9 tenths of all Ontario dentists. I'd like to thank the Ontario Dental Association and dentists who are here today from across the province who continue to advocate for sustainable access to oral health care. Thank you very much. Thank you. I thank all members for their comments and their statements. It's therefore time for reports by committees.