 It's now time for Member's statements. The Member for University goes down. I recently met workers from the Injured Workers Action Group. I met a lady called Alicia McAlef, who suffered a severe concussion from a workplace fall. Her doctor ruled her unable to work, but the WSIB denied her claim because a case worker with no medical knowledge of concussions ruled so. Alicia has now struggled to pay the bills and still suffers from PTSD and anxiety based on that incorrect denial of benefits. Her story is common. In 2016, doctors filed a complaint with the Ombudsman, arguing that WSIB systematically ignores the medical opinions of workers' own physicians. It's WSIB's job to help injured workers not deny their claims. But instead of reforming the WSIB, this government is taking us from bad to worse by cutting employer premiums to the WSIB by 30%. This will mean the WSIB will deny more valid workers' claims and hurt people like Alicia. We can do better. It's time to build safer workplaces so injuries don't happen in the first place, and it's time to ensure the WSIB does its job and provides financial support to injured workers who need it. Thank you very much. The member for Oakville North Burlington. Speaker, this week is rail safety week in Canada, and it is a good time to remember how important it is to teach both children and adults about the continuing need for safety. Rail lines and rail crossings are safe for drivers and pedestrians, but only if people respect their use, particularly at grade crossings. No one should try to race a train to a crossing, nor should anyone ignore grade crossings. You can stop if you have to, but by the time the train driver sees you, it's too late for the train to stop. I recently met with representatives of CN to learn about their work providing transportation services for businesses and for supporting our local communities. They know how vital rail safety is, and I was pleased to sign the rail safety pledge they promote with the safety group Operation Lifesaver. CN and others work with Operation Lifesaver on educational activities with more than 300,000 children and adults benefiting from their presentations every year. I commend groups like Operation Lifesaver and good corporate citizens like CN for promoting rail safety and teaching both adults and children how to keep themselves safe. Thank you. Thank you. The member for Niagara Falls. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to rise today and talk about a serious health and safety issue happening here in Ontario. It's about the health and safety of our correction officers. These women and men carry on an incredible, stressful and difficult job on a daily basis, but consistently underfunding of our correction system is putting them in danger. In the Niagara, we have the jail that is busting at the seams, and on the weekends it's worse. I've seen it myself. People in that jail don't go outside. There's 35 of them in a room in a dorm that's meant for 28, and sometimes they're being held in the room without washrooms. Situations like that, bad things are bound to happen. Mr. Speaker, you know what happened next? These people act out. Violence happens. Guards get hurt. Recently, a frontline officer was attacked with a broom handle. He needed eight staples in his head to close the wound. He survived. He's healing physical with his family, but things could have been much worse. Things still can be worse. Mr. Speaker, I've written to the minister, but I have yet to hear back. We need to take action immediately. We need to ensure our jails are proper funding so people going there on weekends aren't forced into cramped situation with violent offenders. We need to list the frontline staff and make sure they have the services and support they need. They're putting their safety on the line. They should be able to count on us. No worker in the province of Ontario should have to worry whether they're going to be able to go home at night and safe from work. That's our responsibility. It's time this government act to make that a reality. Thank you very much. Thank you. Member for Bruce Gray, Owen Sound. Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to acknowledge my guest star here in the members gallery now. Mr. Speaker, September is childhood and adolescent cancer awareness month in Ontario and globally. Along with my colleagues in the legislature, I'm wearing a gold ribbon awareness pin in support of the over 5,000 Ontario children. The pediatric oncology group of Ontario Pogo confirms will be diagnosed with cancer this decade. Even though 86% of children survive five years beyond diagnosis, cancer still remains the leading cause of non-communicable death for children. Ontario's finest nurses, doctors, dieticians, researchers, social workers, oncologists, non-profits, medical radio isotope producers, palliative care and family support foundations are here today. They're joined by my constituent and international awareness advocate Neil Rort and the family of the late Maggie Jenkins of Belmont, who have graciously supplied the pins we are wearing. The tireless and innovative efforts of our guests are a golden example that all of us can play a role in helping children with cancer. On August 31st, four-year-old Jordan Mechnerney of Berry opened the Toronto Stock Market. Jordan, who is in junior kindergarten today, is one of the most recent children supported by our healthcare system to receive CAR T cell therapy and immunotherapy advancement showing over 90% success in cancers such as Jordan's relapse, leukemia. Jordan was treated in Philadelphia, but we are pleased to report the same treatment is now available in Toronto at Sick Kids Hospital, where children can receive this life-saving treatment. Not all children are as fortunate as Jordan, sadly. Our researchers are poised to change this in many cases, and as government we must remain ever vigilant to create policy-aligning healthcare with the innovative and rapidly occurring medical breakthroughs so advances for our children can happen in the most expedient and safe environment possible. I wear my pin proudly today in memory of all children who have died from cancer, including constituents Haley Nuttle, Conor Higgins, Cassie Boucher, Candice Ebel Campbell, and Brennan Roark. And I respectfully ask all of us to commit to ensuring we give our children and youth every opportunity to grow, thrive, and live in a world free from cancer in all its forms. It is my hope, we'll soon, for the dream of my hero Terry Fox, find a cure, so that someday the hurting will stop. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member Stainless, a member for Ottawa Centre. Thank you, Speaker. Affordable housing and gentrification is an ongoing problem across this province, and today I rise to talk about Herringgate. This is a community we haven't talked about yet in the sitting of this legislature, and it's unfortunate, Speaker, because as a legal studies professor, I used to teach students about the legacy of Africaville, where hundreds of Black Nova Scotian residents were moved out of their residences in working-class Dartmouth in dump trucks. It's a legacy of shame. It's a racist way in which we relocated an entire community, and we're supposed to learn from our history. Unfortunately in South Ottawa, we're not. We have a situation right now that on September 30th, hundreds of families are going to be evicted from their homes in the south end of Ottawa, in a community that has had to pull together despite a landlord which has not upgraded its facilities, and they are appealing to us. They're appealing to this legislature to stand by them. There are 15 families that remain, and the property owner, Timber Creek, a $7.5 billion company based here in Ottawa, yesterday shut off the gas to those home speakers. They spent last night without heating and without the comfort of their homes. They have a legal campaign speaker. I encourage any of my friends in this house, anybody watching this campaign, to donate to their legal campaign. And I encourage the mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, to pick up the phone and help somebody other than wealthy developers in Ottawa, and help the residents of Herringgate make sure they get justice for their families. It matters in the City of Ottawa. Next, the member for York Centre. Thank you, Mr Speaker. With great pleasure, I rise to recognize the work of our guests in the legislature today, the friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. Today, over the lunch period, many of us visited the reception held by the FSWC and had an opportunity to learn about the important work they do. This non-profit human rights organization is committed to countering racism and anti-Semitism while promoting principles of tolerance, acceptance, and Canadian democratic values through advocacy and education. Their important work is guided by the words of Holocaust survivor and by the founder, Simon Wiesenthal. Quote, freedom is not a gift from heaven. One must fight for it every day. The friends from Simon Wiesenthal are working all across Ontario. They work with various communities. They provide Holocaust studies. They work with young offenders to give them a second chance. They inspire and empower Canadians to speak and support a freedom and democracy everywhere. And they're here to help educate. So the Holocaust or genocide never happened again. Never again. Not for the Jewish people, not for anyone. I'm pleased to support the great work that the friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre do and thank them for their efforts. Thank you. Next, the member for Spadina for York. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Yesterday, Mackay Bishop Jackson, a 15-year-old boy who lived in Regent Park, was shot and killed. He's the fourth child who's been killed in the city in this year. He's the 81st homicide victim in the city. Gun violence has hit epidemic proportions. For the past six years, I've been meeting with community members and asking people, people who the community members include mothers who've lost their children. And it also includes people who have been involved in gun violence in their youth and now are trying to prevent other people from following in their footsteps. And they all talk about poverty. You know, poverty is the root cause of gun violence. And any step that we take in this legislature to reduce violence or to reduce poverty will ultimately help us to reduce gun violence. And so there are some steps that I would ask this legislature to consider. One is increasing the Ontario Works benefits. That needs to go up. If it had kept paced with inflation over the past 20 years, it would now be over $1,000 for a single person, instead it's $700 per person. We have people living in destitution because of the policies and the legislation that we've passed or that this house has passed in the past. And we need to address it. If we are committed to ending gun violence, we must first commit to ending poverty in this province. Thank you. Member for Haldwin Norfolk. October 2nd through Thanksgiving is the Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show, following hard on the heels of the Caledonia Fair, which kicks off tonight and many other smaller fairs in our area. Not only is Norfolk, Ontario's oldest agricultural fair is ranked as one of the largest in Ontario. Up to 160,000 people attend, along with the C&E, the Royal and the Western Fair. Norfolk is ranked in the top 100 festivals and events in Ontario. The seven-day Norfolk Fair dates back to 1840, kicks off with schools competing for the crown of young Canada Day, cheerleading, hug-a-war, road races, home craft, art, all a part of a day creates so many memories of many generations. Throughout the week, younger students take part in what's called Discover Agriculture Passport, touring livestock, the poultry barns. They learn the fun answers to questions like, do chickens lay blue eggs? How do pigs keep cool? Of course, horses, large and small, are showing, jumping, racing down the track. The evenings round out with tractor poles, demolition derbies, monster trucks, country music, big time this year. George Canyon, Aaron Pritchett, the Hunter Brothers, Emerson Drive, Saturday is Warriors Day. I invite all to try and get down to, well, Caledonia tonight through the weekend, Norfolk Fair and take part in some true country and county hospitality. Thank you. Member Statements. The Member for Richmond Hill. As an immigrant who was born in Hong Kong, Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise in the house today to announce the upcoming 69th National Day of the People's Republic of China on October the 1st. I had the pleasure of attending a special reception last month to welcome the new Council General, Han Tao. We would also like to thank and acknowledge the former Council General, Mr. Han Wei, for his service. Tomorrow evening, I have the honour of having Council General host and celebrate the 69th Anniversary Gala in my riding Enrichment Hill. Dignitaries from all three levels of government will come together to celebrate. Mr. Speaker, since the founding of the People's Republic of China, 69 years ago, China is now one of the world's largest leading trade partners. In 2017, two-way trade between Ontario and China totaled over 46 billion. On Ontario, as Ontario is developing new global markets and drawing new businesses to Ontario, China will be an important market. On October 1st, on Monday, the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Organization will host a flag-raising ceremony with the provincial government and the Council General will be having it at the South Lawn Main Legislative Building in Queensborough at noon. I encourage all members to attend, and thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. That concludes our time for Member Statements, reports by committees. Thank you.