 I am pleased to rise today to recognize the Mid-Autumn or Moon Festival, one of the most significant holidays for families of Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese heritage around the world. It is an occasion that is celebrated with family reunions and many great events across the province. This is time to get together with families, to light lanterns, share mooncakes and give thanks. It is also a time to celebrate the autumn harvest. As you know, my riding in Oxford has a special relationship with Taiwan since the days of George Leslie Mackay, who travelled there as a missionary in the late 1800s, so I want to take this opportunity to offer best wishes to them and everyone who is celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival today. I hope that they have the opportunity to celebrate with family and friends and that they have much to be thankful for this year. I also want to take this opportunity to thank them for all their contributions. On behalf of the PC Caucus and the people of Oxford, I want to wish them all the best and a happy Moon or Mid-Autumn Festival. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. From their member statements, the member from Hamilton, East Stony Creek. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, last month I wrote to the federal government, including Prime Minister Trudeau, about the situation at U.S. Steel Canada and the country's bankruptcy and solvency processes, which no longer fit their purpose. My letter was cosigned by several MPPs, by federal MPPs from the NDP and Conservative parties, and by the head of the United Steel Workers Local. In this letter, Speaker, we asked the federal government to establish a public inquiry into the restructuring and creditor protection process at U.S. Steel Canada. Yesterday, Speaker, Hamilton City Council endorsed this request. We also asked the federal government to initiate comprehensive reform of Canada's bankruptcy and solvency laws, including the replacement of the Antiquated Companies Creditor Arrangements Act with modern legislation that protects all stakeholders, including workers and retirees. Speaker, the manifest failures of this restructuring process have been devastating by tens of thousands of Ontarians. It's not the first time that Ontario workers and retirees have suffered because of inadequate protection in the restructuring process. And unless we see rapid, whole-scale reform, it will not be the last time we see this. I asked the provincial government to join MPPs, MPs, and the City of Hamilton and the United Steel Workers in our call for a bankruptcy and solvency process that puts Canadian workers and retirees first. We need immediate action to protect other Ontario workers, retirees, and communities from the same fate. And we need the provincial government on our side. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This Sunday, September 18th, is a second annual Terry-Fox Day in Ontario. Last June, the Legislature unanimously passed my private member's bill, the Terry-Fox Day Act, to designate the second Sunday after Labor Day as Terry-Fox Day. Terry-Fox Day serves as a yearly reminder that we must continue to spread Terry's message of courage, hope, and determination. The 36th annual Terry-Fox Run will take place across communities in Canada and around the world. This non-competitive event for individuals, families, and groups celebrates Terry's legacy and helps to keep his dream of finding a cure of cancer alive. Besides the annual Terry-Fox Run, thousands of students across Canada and around the world, including the students at my Terry-Fox School in my writing of Scarborough Agent Court, will participate not only in the annual Terry-Fox Run, but also organize various communities and fund-raising activities to support Terry-Fox Foundation. And I want to thank Principal Dean Malvern, his entire staff and students, for raising thousands of dollars every year to continue to honour Terry-Fox's commitment and his spirit in finding a cure for cancer. Mr Speaker, I'm looking forward to joining Councillor Ainslie this Sunday and the entire Scarborough team at the Cedarbroke Park. And I want to encourage all Ontarians this Sunday to reflect on the contribution of Terry-Fox to this great province, but also to the country called Canada. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you. In your manner of statements, the member from Bruce Gray-Own Sound. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I rise today to recognise two outstanding citizens from my writing of Bruce Gray-Own Sound. Long-time community builders, philanthropists and hospital supporters, Henry and Barb Lansank recently donated $1.5 million to the Hanover and District Hospital. The Lansank's very generous donation means that the local hospital will be getting a new CT scanner. This addition will not only improve care for patients in the region, but it will speed up access as patients at HDH will no longer need to be transported to another hospital for a diagnosis. Hospital President and CEO Katrina Wilson says the transportation savings can be redirected into additional patient support. She also says the Lansank's donation is the largest one in their hospital's history. And to quote her, it provides us with a rare and wonderful opportunity to provide even better healthcare to the citizens of Hanover and our surrounding catchment area. Mr Speaker, the Lansank family has a long track record of giving to the Hanover community where they have lived for 46 years. Barb was a long-standing Hanover hospital board governor and provided 24 years of volunteer service to the hospital. Her husband Henry says, and I quote, this is the perfect time for Barb and I to make a donation like this. Well, we can know patients are receiving the quality care they deserve. CT scans are a valuable diagnostic tool, Mr Speaker. They're able to detect some conditions that conventional X-rays cannot and are also useful for monitoring a patient's progress during or after treatment. I know the members of the legislature will join me in acknowledging this great contribution from the Lansank family to the Hanover community. Thank you, Lansank. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you. Further member Stings, member from Algoma Manitou. Well, thank you, Mr Speaker. On Saturday, September 17th, the Ontario Native Education Counseling Association will be unveiling the first monument to commemorate Charles Henry Bice, the most highly decorated indigenous soldier of the Second World War. Charlie Bice was born in Chapelle, a northern Ontario town located in my writing, Algoma Manitou. Bice spent time in residential schools and the residential school system, but he never forgot who he was, Mr Speaker. When it came time, Bice proudly answered the call to fight for civilization, much like his father had in World War I. His story of unimaginable bravery in 1945 is not well-known and deserves broader recognition. He served with the Lake Superior Regiment and was awarded the British Military Medal for leadership and bravery on the night of January 27th or January 20th, 1945 in Holland. Just a few weeks later, he earned the Distinguished Conduct Medal for extreme bravery in Hawkwall Forest Sector in Germany. The DCM is awarded for displays of magnificent courage and fighting spirit when faced with almost unsuperable odds. During World War II, only 162 Canadians were awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal, and reportedly only nine have ever received both the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Medal. In unique Canadian history, Charles Bice was not the only family member to demonstrate great valor. His father, Henry Bice, also received both medals in World War I. A father and son each receiving awards across two World War Wars. The unveiling will be this Saturday in Shablow at 1.30. Hope to see you all there. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure to rise today to recognize the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario's Family Forum as they celebrate their 25th anniversary this September. The Family Forum is believed to be one of the longest standing patient and hospital advisory committees in the world. It includes families from many different backgrounds, different diverse diagnoses and experiences that provide advice and guidance from a patient and family perspective to CHEO's administration, staff and health care professionals. Many improvements and initiatives that have helped develop are still part of patient and family life at CHEO. These include library resources for parents and children, family lounges where tired parents can relax, shower, make a phone call or do laundry, and the opportunity for a parent to stay with a child going to surgery until they fall asleep under anesthesia. Like many families in Ottawa, Linda and I and our children, and now our grandchildren have benefited from the work of the Family Forum. On behalf of our family and all families in Eastern Ontario, a special thank you to all members past and present. Your efforts have and continue to have made a big difference for all families served by CHEO. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the members, the members from Whitby Oslo. Thank you, Speaker. I rise to speak about the hospital merger and Durham region. The Scarborough West Durham expert panel's recommended merger of Lake Ridge Health and Ajax Pickering Hospitals created a host for reactions mostly quite negative. While the merger to keep all Durham hospitals under one healthcare umbrella is good in theory, it's apparent that very little planning for the financial fallout has occurred. In fact, Speaker, a wide disparity exists between the costs and the savings of the hospital merger. The cost of the Durham merger is approximately $18 million, a capital expenditure that will result in an anticipated $300,000 in the annual savings, Speaker. Does this merger benefit the patient? Will the residents of Durham region have better access to healthcare that they deserve? Speaker, the answer is no. There's going to be financial pain now for some potential relief when the province gets around to building a new hospital in Durham. At the end of the day, Speaker, there are no indications that the merger will provide better patient experience and access to care that they deserve. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you for your member status, the member for Etobicoke North. Thank you, Speaker. Because of the extraordinary work from the MPP for Etobicoke North, Speaker, I wanted to share with the House $1.7 billion of development money that is coming to this great riding. This is distributed in this tranche in three areas for the hospital, for transportation, and of course to the college. We have a $90 million facility at Humber College, an extraordinarily beautiful student facility. I invite you to tour it. We have eight new stops coming on the Finch LRT from Etobicoke North, from Humber College, Highway 27, Westmore, Martin Grove, Albion Stevenson, Kipling, Islington, Pearldale, Duncan Woods, Milvan, Weston, and so on. And on top of that, I'm most perhaps proud Speaker, being a physician, to share with the House the $358 million commitment that we've made to Etobicoke General, which will not only quadruple its footprint in the riding, but will lead to a larger state-of-the-art emergency department, critical care intensive care units, carter respiratory units, maternal newborn, specialized nursery, neuro-diagnostic services, and a whole lot more. Etobicoke North, Speaker, as you can see with these developments in the hospital sector, the transportation sector, the college sector, is on the move. And I'd like to thank my staff, in particular, for helping to orchestrate these many, many developments. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you for the member statements, the member from Thornhill. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I'm so excited this weekend. It is, once again, the Thornhill Village Festival. I hope you're all going to come out and celebrate with us. It's a beautiful area, and we've got a nice historic district, and in fact, the Society for the Preservation of the Historic District of Thornhill. They have a website, thornhillhistoric.org. There are volunteers. There's about 20 volunteers who organize the festival every year. This is the 40th anniversary of the festival, and they operate really with very little in grants. They make a lot of money from the booths and, you know, just people rent. I'll be having a booth there, so I hope people will come visit. I'll be walking over with my friends Esther and Harold, and we're going to be there with Peter Kent, the MP for Thornhill as well. There's going to be music, the Kings Royal Yorkers, a tea ceremony, children's activities, a petting zoo, magic show. The show froze, and last year they had fantastic singers, a beer garden, and the festival goes Saturday and Sunday. Sunday is really the music festival, and the beer garden is going to be there, and I want to remind everybody that beer is kosher, so you don't have to worry about that in Thornhill. It's a bit of a contentious issue. I'm going to mention that because on the Saturday, people are observing the Sabbath, but they are still often come out and walk around the festival and join in all the celebrations and see all the friends and neighbors. So we're predicting some great weather and some big smiles and lots of kids and lots of pets. Thanks for coming out. Thank you. I thank all members for their statements. It's now time for reports by committees.