 We are now moving to member statements and I recognize the member for Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke. Thank you Speaker. Last Saturday I had the honor of attending a gala dinner in recognition of the 15th anniversary of Hospice Renfrew. It was a wonderful evening that presented the opportunity to honor and recognize not only those who have worked at Hospice Renfrew but those who have volunteered as well. A scrumptious meal was served and Board Chair Gerald Tracy as well as other members of the Board took their turns at the podium offering their thoughts and personal stories about what Hospice Renfrew means to them. Almost 20 years ago the original Board Chair Jim McKilligan sought my support in lobbying the government for a six-bed hospice and Renfrew. Once that approval was granted it was amazing and gratifying to see the community come together raising the necessary funds through gifts and donations in kind that sought open its doors in 2008. Over the past 15 years Renfrew Hospice has proven to be an absolutely tremendous service for end-of-life care delivered in a way that only can be provided in a hospice setting. I know of countless families whose loved ones have experienced their last days in the caring, compassionate hands of the people of Hospice Renfrew. In our changing demographics it is clear that end-of-life care delivered in hospice will be needed more now than ever as baby boomers become their residents. Our government recognizes this and is providing funding to hospices at levels never seen in the past. Congratulations to all at Hospice Renfrew and I look forward to closely working with you to achieve continued excellence in delivering what only hospice can. Thank you. Further statements? I recognize the member for London West. Thank you very much Speaker. I rise today with sadness to share the devastating loss of the Black Walnut Cafe which was destroyed in a fire on Sunday in my riding of London West. Located in a historic 145-year-old building, the Black Walnut Cafe has been an anchor in London's treasured Old South neighbourhood since 2011. Owners Ed and Mandy Etheridge are known for their dedication to the community and their commitment to maintaining the heritage feeling of the building. Local residents and Londoners have gathered at this neighbourhood gem for years. For coffee, light lunches and my personal favourite oatmeal and date scones. Many thanks to London firefighters who responded immediately when the fire broke out at 1.30 a.m. on Sunday morning, fought the blaze for over eight hours and conducted search and rescue to confirm the building was unoccupied. These brave men and women ensured everyone was safe. While luckily no one was hurt, the structural and roof damage were too substantial and the building could not be saved. With overwhelming support from across our city, Ed and Mandy are determined to rebuild this beloved institution and are working to relocate their staff to Black Walnut's two other locations in the meantime. I echo comments of the Old South community organisation. The entire community stands with Ed and Mandy as they plan for the next evolution of the Black Walnut Cafe. Thank you, Speaker. For the member's statements, I recognise the member for Newmarket Aurora. Thank you, Speaker. I am proud to say that Ontarians experiencing or at risk of homelessness will be getting a hand up from our government to be better connected with emergency and transitional housing, including in my community of Newmarket Aurora. Last Tuesday I had the privilege of being at regional headquarters in Newmarket to announce that the regional municipality of York will be receiving more than 36.7 million in 2023-24 under the homelessness prevention program. I am thrilled to say that this represents a 76% increase in annual funding. The boost in this funding is part of the initiative that we are taking to tackle homelessness head on and provide support for Ontario's most vulnerable by including an additional 202 million annually in homelessness prevention programs in our 2023 budget, building a strong Ontario. This allocation will allow York Region and local support of housing service managers the flexibility to allocate funding where it is most needed, including capital projects. I'd like to thank regional chairman Wayne Emerson, commissioner of community and health services Catherine Chislett and the entire leadership team for their continued support of our community's well-being. I'd also like to thank the member of Thorin Hill and the member of Markham Thorin Hill for joining me last Tuesday. Thank you. Thank you. Member statements. The member for Nickel Belt. Thank you, Speaker. The Norden Health Travel Grant was set up to ease the financial burden on the Norrners having to travel down south for medical reasons. As it currently exists, the Norden Health Travel Grant is leaving many Norden patient in a vulnerable situation unable to access the care that they need. You see, Speaker, a patient needs to have the money up front to travel to see a medical specialist down south. And then they wait for weeks or months later to get reimbursed. They low-income patients cannot afford those upfront costs. And so the door to treatment for them is shut. There is a list on the Ministry of Health website with 17 agencies in Nickel Belt who the minister says provide upfront funding to those in need. So my Ola Pinter and Sophie called each and every one of them. If you are a member of a First Nation, if you're on Ontario Work or Ontario Disability Support Program or a child registered with Easterseal, there's a bit of help for you. But for most people, there is no help available. Minister, this is wrong. People should not have to come to see me desperate for care but not able to afford a bus ticket to Toronto to get the care they need. It's clear Ontario needs an emergency fund available to the people of the north facing these circumstances because what we have now does not work. Thank you very much. Member Statements. Member for Carlton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's with a heavy heart I rise to date to share some very sad news from the writing of Carlton. The last remaining member of the two-man team that covered local news across the writing of Carlton for nearly half a century has passed away. John Brummel, longtime community activist and photojournalist, passed away peacefully in his home on March 18, 2023. John Brummel was a very devoted to his wife Rosemary, daughter Debra and son-in-law A.J., as well as to his family, friends and his community. As an active volunteer in the community, John was a member of the Goldburn Historical Society, Goldburn Horticultural Society and a director with the Richmond Agricultural Society, just to name a few. His lifelong contribution as a volunteer was his commitment to making our communities a wonderful place to live. John received a City of Ottawa City Builders Award in 2017 because of his incredible success at bringing the community together through his involvement and love of photography. The 80-year-old Stitzfeld resident was a familiar face around town, with many of his friends, family and members of the community fondly recalling his ready grin and joyful laugh. Wherever news was breaking or the community was holding an event, no matter how humble the occasion, we all looked forward to a visit from John Brummel or his colleague John Curry, who passed away last year on February 5, 2022. With John's passing, it's truly the end of an era for the community. I would like to pass along my deepest condolences to John's wife Rosemary, his daughter Debra and son-in-law A.J., his family, friends as well as to everyone in the community. May he rest in peace and may he always serve as a reminder to the rest of us about the importance of community journalism. Thank you. Member statements. The member for St. Catherine. I rise as a proud member of St. Catherine's community, celebrating the incredible volunteers that make our community so dynamic and so inclusive. There are so many organizations with so many great volunteers, however today, I would like to acknowledge the March of Dimes during volunteer work in Ontario. The March of Dimes will be hosting their 37th annual volunteer appreciation event in St. Catherine's. This will be the first time since the pandemic that they have been able to host this event. 29 volunteers will be celebrating, ranging from 2020 to the present. These extraordinary individuals embody the spirit of self-wisdom, compassion and unwavering dedication to make a positive impact in the lives of others. March of Dimes has been a beacon of hope for individuals with disability and their families for many years. That is the tireless efforts of our volunteers that have fueled this organization's success. However, their impact does not stop there. Our March of Dimes volunteers are not only leaders in our community but also champions of change. They advocate the accessibility, inclusion, equality and their unwavering voice has helped shape policies to raise awareness about the rights and needs of individuals with disabilities. Let us express our heartfelt appreciation for their tireless efforts and let us be inspired by their example as we strive to create more inclusive and vibrant communities in Ontario. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Statements. The Member for Kitchener, Conestovio. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I was pleased to join the Premier last week as we announced a seven and a half million dollar investment to help build a state of the art innovation arena with the University of Waterloo in downtown Kitchener. It has been an honour to work with the fine folks at the University of Waterloo in the City of Kitchener to see this project come to fruition. The new 35 million dollar facility will be a hub for innovation in Ontario's life sciences sector. Why is this important Mr. Speaker? First, breakthroughs in health care will enhance the quality of life for our residents here in Ontario. Second, it will attract additional investment to create great jobs and see startups grow but it goes beyond this single facility speaker. The region of Waterloo is home to an innovation ecosystem. Dr. Vivek Goel, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Waterloo said and I quote Mr. Speaker, the innovation arena will play a crucial role in expanding the impact and scope of the University of Waterloo's flagship incubator velocity Mr. Speaker. Our government is committed to supporting incubators across the province and these investments will fast track the discovery, development and commercialization of made in Ontario research. Our message to innovators is clear from start to scale. We are here with you every step of the way. Thank you very much. The next member's statement, Member for Kingston and the Islands. Thank you, Speaker. Picture this. Late afternoon people are lined up in the cold one on crutches outside a family medicine clinic. This is reality in Kingston and these people have a family doctor. They're just lining up for the after hours clinic. Kingston had about 25,000 people without a family doctor as documented in the 2020 Kingston region physician review report and now six doctors are retiring in May after trying unsuccessfully to find younger ones to take over. That's another 10,000 people without a family doctor and as my office confirmed by phoning every clinic there's only one walking clinic left in all of Kingston. Kingstonians are scared. Our families are scrambling to find a new family doctor. Some people have literally phoned every doctor in Kingston. People don't know where they're going to get their refills for restricted drugs. They're losing well-baby checkups. They're managing chronic conditions on their own. They're losing follow-ups after hospital and specialist care. They're standing in hospital hallways waiting for outpatient clinics to triage them. As the government decides how to handle the primary care crisis I must remind Minister Jones that the situation in Kingston is particularly acute. We need family doctors in Kingston. It should be designated a high-need community. Thank you. Member Statements, the member for Essex. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have more great news from the riding of Essex. In Essex we have two really super builders. They are Rosati Group and Jones Realty. They are putting up a 74-unit apartment building in the town of Amisburg, which is my hometown. That might not be a big building for a city like Toronto, but for Amisburg it is a big building. And it's going to let 74 families stay in the town of Amisburg and live and work in the town of Amisburg. Or if you want to downsize, you're going to be able to stay in the town of Amisburg and live in the town of Amisburg. And that's good news for people who want to live, work, and stay in the town of Amisburg. And so I want to encourage great builders like Jones Realty and Rosati Construction to keep doing the great jobs that they're doing and encourage the Associate Minister of Housing and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing on their crusade to build 1.5 million homes in the province of Ontario, because people in Ontario should stay in Ontario and have it home in Ontario. Thank you. Thank you. Member Stavens, the member for Oxford. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a great Canadian and Taiwanese hero, Dr. George Leslie McCoy. This year would mark his 179th birthday. And all these years later, he's still remembered and celebrated in both Canada and Taiwan. George Leslie McCoy was born and raised near Embrill in Oxford County as a young Presbyterian missionary. McCoy traveled to Formosso, now known as Taiwan, and founded a mission in the town of Tansui. While on the first mission, he fell in love with the island and its people embracing it as his adopted homeland. He married a local Formosian named many, started a family there, and set about helping people in any way he could, including practicing dentistry as a method of outreach. During his almost 30 years on the island, he built several schools, including the First School for Girls and Oxford College and a hospital. He advocated for women's rights, public medical care, and fought against discrimination. Today, McCoy's legacy lives on in the schools that he founded, the cutting edge Taiwanese health care system, and strong friendships between Taiwan and Ontario. In fact, Oxford County is now twinned with Tansui District. I know that the black bearded librarian, as McCay was often called, would be proud of the vibrant pluralistic democracy that Taiwan is today. May we continue to share a special bond and advance the values he championed. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. That concludes our member statements for this morning.