 I recognize the member from Carlton. Thank you Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, Lynn Raugh who lives in the village of Greeley in my riding of Carlton was living in the Philippines 10 years ago while her husband was working there on a contract. She was shown the San Pedro Laguna garbage dump site and a normage dump site with more than 1,000 families living in the dump with no water, no electricity and no opportunity. They are, as Lynn describes, the poorest of the poor. In 2014, Lynn co-founded the Home for Alternative Learning and Motivational Strategies School which provides an opportunity for impoverished children living in the San Pedro garbage dump site to go to school and to also have breakfast and lunch every day. Since moving back to the Carlton riding several years ago, Lynn has been working part-time at the Manitake LCBO. Every single dollar she has ever made at the LCBO has been donated to the Home for Alternative Learning and Motivational Strategies School and she continues to run the school from her home. She also takes a month's leave of absence without pay each year to go to the Philippines and to work at the school as a volunteer. Lynn, thank you for being an inspiration. Madam Speaker, Lynn is proof that there really are angels among us. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. Selflessness is service without thought of reward or recompense. This is the heart of kindness. As we enter the holiday season, we as legislators should reflect on kindness, goodness and what it means to be in this role and how we can best serve our communities. I'm reminded of the famous quotation, the measure of a society is how it treats its weakest members. Seniors raised us, built our communities, but this government has done scarce little to support those in their golden years and treat them with the utmost respect. CPP and OAS have not kept up with the cost of living and the meager increases under this government are nowhere near enough. Vacancy decontrol puts people at risk. In 2003, Premier Dalton McGinty promised tenants, we will get rid of vacancy decontrol which allows unlimited rent increases. Since then, we see more of the same willful neglect. Why is there ideological opposition to rent control and protecting tenants? Who does this blind adherence serve? Seniors, people living with disabilities, new Canadians, young people and those on a modest income are all at risk. Why won't this government help and serve them? Why privatize healthcare? There's tough talk about price gouging and HVAC scams, but there's no action. Social assistance rates are below the poverty line and food banks are at the risk of collapse from demand. Rather than writing letters, I hope this government will look inside this Christmas and reflect on who they truly serve. Thank you, Member Statement. Member Statement and Member from Oxford. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, Oxford has a long and proud history of baseball and softball. In fact, Beachville is home of the first documented game of baseball in North America, taking place on June 4, 1838. It was not Cooperstown, New York, as is commonly believed, it was in Oxford. One of Canada's best professional baseball players, Tip O'Neill, started his career playing in Woodstock as well. Called Canada's Babe Ruth, O'Neill was one of the star players in the early years of the sport. The baseball dominant Woodstock Southside Park is now named after him. Earlier this month, another chapter of the history was written when Woodstone and Brian Patton was introduced, was inducted into the Softball Canada's Hall of Fame. This honour only adds to his long list of accomplishments, including being a member of the International Softball Congress Hall and Woodstock Sports Hall of Fame. Brian started his softball career as a catcher, later becoming an outfielder for the Woodstock twins and tornadoes. In 1987, Brian made the jump to Team Canada's softball team, helping him to win gold four times at the Pan Am Games and three World Cup medals. He remained a member of the team for 17 years, eight of them as team captain. He also played for the Toronto Gators, where he was MVP and the top hitter for the team. Congratulations, Brian, for being named to Softball Canada's Hall of Fame and thank you for contributing for your contributions to softball in Oxford and Ontario. Thank you, Member Stateman. Member from Subway. Thank you very much, Speaker. This weekend was CTV Lions Children's Christmas Talk on 75th anniversary. That is 75 years of people giving back to the community. It's actually become a Northern tradition where people kick off their Christmas decorating period or they do their baking or as a tradition they volunteer or they perform, and most importantly, Speaker, they donate. This year they raised $337,615, which is a mouthful but a reflection of how much the community in Northern Ontario loves to give back. Logan is putting a Christmas smile on children's faces since 1949. You think about how many kids have a special Christmas because of it. Last year when I was volunteering, I answered the phone and a lady who was donating told me that when she was growing up the only gift she got as a child came from the CTV Lions Children's Christmas Talk on Speaker. Just imagine what that meant to her and the fact that for more than 20 years she's been donating and giving back, making sure that other kids have a special Christmas. I know it's a special time of the year. I've been very proud of as a Northern tradition. I want to thank CTV, I want to thank the Lions Club but most of all I want to thank the volunteers, the performers and everyone that comes together to ensure that these kids have a smile of Christmas time. Thank you Speaker. Thank you. Member Statement. The Member from Brampton East. Thank you Speaker. At the end of this month it'll conclude my first year here in the Ontario Legislature. It's an honour and privilege to represent the community of Brampton East and I'm pleased to be a part of a government that's finally delivering for the people of Brampton. Under Premier Ford's leadership, we're building a new second hospital for Brampton. We're building a new medical university led by the Toronto Metropolitan University. We're creating new jobs in Brampton such as the new magna plant that's being built on Mayfield Road in my riding of Brampton East. We're supporting drivers with the gas tax credit giving them 5.7 cents per litre. We're supporting our economy and we're continuing to build the largest transit expansion in Ontario's history speaker by supporting Brampton Transit developing the Queen Street Rapid Bus Transit route in my riding speaker. Our government shows its commitment to build the infrastructure that Brampton so desperately needs. We're building infrastructure. We're expanding existing highways such as 401, 410 and we're going to build Highway 413 to unlock all of that gridlock that people are stuck in traffic. We're the government that's going to get it done Speaker and this list is going to go on. Under this government Brampton will never again go left behind and I'd like to take a moment to thank my caucus colleagues for their support as well as my staff Anthony, Mamrie, Pinar, Harpinder, Jasmine and Navi for their hard work. Most importantly I'd like to thank the people of Brampton East for their tremendous support and trust and I'm honored to represent them here in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Speaker and with that this being my last member statement of the year I'd like to wish everybody a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy holidays and I hope you enjoy this holiday season with your loved ones and friends and have a great time. Thank you Speaker. Thank you Speaker. Hunger in Ottawa is reaching record levels. One in seven Ottawa residents is now food insecure. Ottawa food banks have been visited nearly half a million times this year alone the highest number of visits in their history. They have had to extend hours into evenings and weekends to accommodate people who are working full time and still need to use the food bank. People are calling desperate and hungry and being given an appointment in three weeks because that's the earliest available time slot. Seniors organizations are receiving phone calls from hungry seniors looking for free meal programs because their fixed incomes are no longer covering the cost of food. The school breakfast program provided by the Ottawa Network for Education is serving over 17,000 students every single day but it's still not enough to meet the demand. Nine new schools were added this year to the program but for the first time ever a wait list was created because there are more schools that want to join than there are resources to support them. We know what the solutions to hunger are but this government is too busy pretending they're helpless in the face of an affordability crisis to implement any of them. It's time to stop price gouging. Reinstate real rent control and fund and build not-for-profit deeply affordable housing. Increase Ontario works and ODSP. Raise the minimum wage. Crack down on wage theft. It's time for action. Not excuses. Thank you very much Member Statements. The Member for Etobicoke Lakeshore. Thank you Mr. Speaker and this weekend when excitement things were happening at Etobicoke Lakeshore it was an absolute pleasure to once again join the Etobicoke Lakeshore Santa Claus Parade that has been spreading holiday cheer since 1991. The parade sees a turnout of over 60,000 community members every year and this year was no less impressive. It was followed by a skate with Santa another holiday highlight amid music, games, hop beverages and lots of cookies. Community events like these are not possible without the fantastic volunteers who run them. I would also like to thank the Lakeshore BIA the Long Branch BIA and of course 22 division all the local organizations that ensured this year's holiday parade was fun and safe for everyone. This festive season I also want to recognize the anonymous unsung volunteers and donors in my riding are helping bringing joy to those who are struggling to everyone in my riding if you can donate to our local charity to ensure that a joyous spirit warms every home and heart this holiday season and speaker as we are coming to the end of 2023 I want to conclude by extending my best wishes to all the residents of Etobicoke Lakeshore and all the people of Ontario we wish them a joyous happy holiday prosperous season I also want to thank I know a lot of us in this legislature have lost our moms over this year so it's our first time having Christmas without them and I know there's a lot of colleagues out there so always please cherish the memories of our families and those who can't be with us this holiday season and a special thank you to Pastor Charlie who does God's work to make us smile and come to work every day Thank you Charlie Member Statements, the Member for Kingston and the Islands Thank you Mr. Speaker I am honored today that the Ontario Liberal Party has a new leader Bonnie Cromby I had the privilege of being one of five contestants in the leadership race during which we all travelled across the province and listened to people telling us about their struggles during a year long contest we proposed solutions, we challenged each other refined our ideas and now the Liberal team is more prepared than ever to tackle the cost of living, housing healthcare shortages, the climate crisis and hold the Conservative Government to account on these and many other issues Ontario Liberals have elected Bonnie Cromby who as Mayor understands the struggles that mayors in their municipalities face and has the experience of fighting the negligence interference and shady dealings of this Conservative Government I and my Liberal caucus colleagues look forward to working hard in support of Bonnie Cromby as she leads the Liberal Party to fight for the people of Ontario The next member's statement the member for Brantford branch Thank you and good morning Speaker I am honored to rise to recognize a group of remarkable students from the Brantford branch community This month the North Park Collegiate Student Anti-Racism Coalition was awarded a peace medal by the YMCA in the youth category The group began as a safe place and provided students a secure platform to report instances of racism around the school However, the Anti-Racism Coalition has evolved into a distinct group that includes students from many different backgrounds and grades who strive to educate their peers on different cultures The coalition also places an important emphasis on the celebration of unique cultures and it has organized fashion shows international food days anti-racism assemblies and unique drives Despite having 20 core members the coalition has interfaced with the multitude of students through its weekly meetings and has fostered a strong sense of community and inclusion at their school When speaking about the importance of the coalition Bumi Shah, one of the students who visited us here last week said something as simple as acknowledging Diwali the Hindu festival of lights as a celebration as meaningful to some as Christmas or Hanukkah can help students feel less isolated Speaker, I am proud to represent a writing that is home to such bright and talented youth and I'd like to say a big thank you to the members of the North Park Anti-Racism Coalition You are making Brantford-Brant proud Thank you, Speaker Member Statements, the Member for Kitchener South Hasbro In September, I attended on a ride along out of 51 Division with Toronto Police Service with Officer Jeff Goff Very shortly into that ride along responding, what ultimately became a death, the death of a very frail and elderly but much beloved patriarch of a family and I was sort of off in the corner while events were unfolding but what I witnessed was one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen It was managed by the firefighters, the paramedics and the police and as I watched these individuals manage the scene and work on this elderly gentleman and work with his family I saw something that I think will probably stick with me forever and what I noticed was this is something that for these first responders may have been the first in their call, the first in their night but for me it was something absolutely incredible The respect the honour, the diligence which was they worked was absolutely breathtaking and it struck me that this is just part of their job, this is the job that they do for the first responders and for me it was epic and for them it was business as usual it was absolutely my honour to invite them here today they're sitting over there, we have Officer Jeff Goff, Officer Chris Atwood Officer Julia Grant Paramedic Christian Vantalogen Paramedic David Rundle Paramedic Superintendent Michael Larson and not present but involved firefighter Joseph Longo and firefighter Zachary Miller Thank you so much for all of your service to Toronto and to our community at large Thank you so much That concludes our member's statements for this morning Introduction of visitors