 It is now time for Member Statements. I recognize the Member for London North Centre. Speaker, Alzheimer's disease and dementia steal memories and take loved ones away much too early. One quarter million Ontarians live with this disease which cannot be prevented or cured. A number which will double in 20 years. It's clear that the best place for these folks is at home with support from great organizations such as Alzheimer's Society Southwest Partners. Supporting individuals with dementia is the right thing to do, but it also saves money. Dementia costs our healthcare system and caregivers billions of dollars per year and is only set to increase. Every day in Ontario, thousands of patients sit in ALC beds while they wait for a spot and long-term care. Care partners, the family members and loved ones of those who live with dementia are the unsung heroes whose efforts hold up our precious healthcare system. A staggering 70% of home care in Ontario is provided by care partners. If we don't help those who care for others, they could end up being patients themselves. I urge the government to implement the Alzheimer's Society's fiscally prudent and thoughtful budget requests to support individuals with dementia and their families by investing in at-home services and expanding innovative models to divert people living with dementia from ER rooms. The most precious resource we have is time. Time spent with our loved ones. A solid investment in dementia care will keep our loved ones with us, at home, where they belong. Thank you. Right on. Member statements, the member for Carlton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's with a heavy heart that I rise in the House today. On February 5th, 2022, Mr. John Curry, a staple in the Stitsville, Richmond and Ottawa Valley communities passed away. John was a fountain of knowledge. He was smart, funny, and he always had so much charisma. He was willing to give his time to his community and the many organizations he was a part of. John was a dedicated editor and publisher of the Ottawa Community Voice Stitsville, Richmond. He would often be seen at community events ready to report with his camera and notepad in his pocket. He was a proud journalist, historian, a storyteller, and a friend to many. John also served as a board of the trustee with the Ottawa Catholic School Board for over 20 years. And his last project with the school board was assisting me in helping to build the first public Catholic elementary school in Finlay Creek. John will always be remembered as a gentleman who loved his community and spread positivity wherever he went. He was passionate about celebrating the youth of the community, always ready to report on celebrations, birthdays, and graduations. Throughout his many decades of service, John touched the lives of so many people in Stitsville, Richmond, and the surrounding communities in the Ottawa Valley. He was a role model and an inspiration to many. John had made an incredible impact on the community he had met, including myself. He was always so warm and humble with quick wit and humor. John, you will be missed dearly. We were blessed to have you. You were and will always be an icon and made our community better. Thank you for all you have done. You will forever remain in our hearts and memories. Rest in peace. Thank you very much. The next member is the member for York Southwestern. Thank you, Speaker. I rise today to once again speak on behalf of the decent and hardworking community of York Southwestern. I'm honoured to have the opportunity to recognise February as a Black History Month and our province and our country has a long-rich history of Black excellence, one that is too often ignored. For generations, Black Canadians have been contributing to the political, cultural and economic fabric of our society. There are so many examples of Black excellence in our community, from leaders and community organisations doing tremendous work to the mothers and fathers and grandparents and helping to raise a family and instill good community values of helping others and standing up against injustice. As youth opportunities critic for the official opposition, I meet young people across the province on a regular basis. I'm so inspired by how they know their Black history and how they have the energy and commitment to try to do their best for themselves and their community, often when it is not easy to do so. Black History Month is a reminder that we need to know our past and to be aware that often nothing changes without us lifting our voices. The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu left us with these words to reflect on. There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. The next statement, the member for Markham Thornhill. Yes. Cixia. Cixia, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate this time to express my sincere wishes in what was a wonderful 15-day lunar Chinese New Year. Even though across all Markham, Markham Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, the Chinese holiday has ends and roots in China. It is one of the most celebrated festivals in the world. It is also an annual opportunity to celebrate the harvest, worship, hoard, and seek the good crops in the coming years. This time it was not just a New Year celebration, but it was a time for renewal and new beginning. You all know the pain of this pandemic as loss and sorrow. I have seen our Chinese community for their resilience, perseverance, and generosity, including our frontline workers who continue to play a vital role in our community. During this challenging time, COVID-19 has also brought another hardship to the Asian community in the face of discrimination. The Ontario government has made a racial equity a top priority, and everyone deserves to be treated with the dignity. Diversity always has been a strength of the beautiful city of Markham, this province, and this entire country. Our communities in Markham rose together, celebrate the New Year with their families, some virtually and some with family, many of our businesses like Pacific Mall, TT Supermarket, Chips and Community, they celebrated with the food and friends embracing this ancient tradition which is considered the good business equity. Healthier, prosperous, and more optimistic people with the strength, hope, and fortune, and joy. From my family to all your families, we continue to wish you all the happy Lunar New Year. Honger, Pa Choi. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Thank you. The deputy to Nicol Bell. Thank you, Speaker. Ontario Community Support Association released the latest stats. 26% of nurses and 14% of PSW position in home and community care are vacant. In my community, that means that a young lady with a severe infection, she lives 40 minutes away from the hospital, does not drive, but she must find a ride to the hospital three times a day for the next 14 days because they cannot find a nurse to come to her house. Mrs. Rock from Whitefish is partially blind, has had multiple amputation, she qualifies and is supposed to get home care daily. In December, she was only getting care twice, maybe three times a week. Now she goes five days at a time with no help at all. Mrs. Rock needs care daily. Her cries for help are really hard to listen to, Speaker. After two weeks in hospital, Jennifer in North Durham was released from Markham Southfield Hospital. 30 minutes into her drive home, she was told that there were no nurses to provide home care. She had to turn around and be re-admitted into the hospital. According to Dr. Hamilton in London, there is a record number of palliative care patient through emergency visit and admission because there are no nurses to care for them in the community. Our home care system is broken. It fails more people every single day. Let's bring pay parity to the home care workers at a first step to ease this crisis. Thank you, Speaker. Member for Ottawa, Vanny. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think everyone in this legislature will understand where I'm coming from when I say that my city has gone through incredible torment and fear for more than three weeks. The media has widely reported on the symbols of hate and obvious disrespect by these occupiers, not only for the authority, but for the right of people to live peacefully. But what the media didn't get to see is the hundreds of emails and calls I've been getting from Ottawa Vanny residents. Residents who have faced abused, harassments and constant hate for wearing a mask. Residents stressed out by the loud horns and their quality of life affected by the diesel fumes. Residents that have not been able to go support their local restaurants or favorite small businesses because they've been closed because of this occupation. From the start of this protest, the premier has been absent. On the last weekend of January, indoor dining, gyms, retailers, shopping malls, and cinemas could reopen. But one of the most vibrant economic and tourism sector of Ottawa was forced to remain closed. Not for an additional weekend or an additional few days, but for more than 24 days. Mr. Speaker, it was not lost on anyone in my writing in downtown Ottawa that the important measures that were needed to help didn't get the attention of the premier before the situation became problematic at the Ambassador Bridge. Mr. Speaker, residents in Ottawa feel that this government has failed them, and I agree. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member Statements, member for Ottawa West-Napien. Thank you, Speaker. I rise today to pay tribute to a group that often goes uncelebrated. My constituency team in Ottawa, West-Napien. Over the past several months, my constituency team has been hard at work running dozens of pop-up clinics around my writing to print off wallet-sized vaccination QR codes for folks in the writing that need it, whether it be seniors that might not have a phone, vulnerable groups that needed some support, or just every day run-of-the-mill residents that wanted to have access to that QR code in their wallet. We were able to provide this service, and at the end of this process, we printed off over 4,500 QR code cards across our writing, a tremendous feat. We ran these pop-up clinics around the writing, whether it was at seniors' homes, condos, apartments, the Carlington Community Health Centre, the Napien Museum, or Carlingwood Mall. We were there, and my team was hard at work getting this job done. And so, Speaker, today I would like to recognize my amazing constituency staff, Pam Crawford, Brandon Purcell, David Gibbons, and Braden DeBalker. Thank you for your tremendously hard work, and a big shout-out to three volunteers who helped us along the way, Marilyn Trudell, Shona Fitzgerald, and a special volunteer, my mother, Janine Roberts. So, to all of those that helped made it possible, and to all those that came out to our QR code clinics, thank you so much. Thank you, Speaker. Member for Scarborough, Southwest. Thank you, Speaker. The cost of living in Ontario is at an all-time high. The past two years have deeply impacted the financial security and income of many in our communities, especially seniors, young people, those working minimum wage jobs, folks with disabilities, and many more. With the skyrocketing price of basic necessities like rent, groceries, electricity, Mr. Speaker, we are looking at an affordability crisis. I have heard from many in my community. Some families with two incomes were missing just one or two paychecks due to isolation or illness has made it impossible to buy their usual amount of groceries. So many in my community have lost days of work and income during this pandemic and have faced similar or worse reality. While the price of day-to-day items have gone up unbelievably. Just in the last year, the price of cooking oil has gone up over 40%. Gas is over 34%. Meat, close to 15%. Speaker, with inflation being at 5.2% and the average income and support payments remaining unadjusted to the cost of living, those already struggling continue to fall through the crux in our system. And yet, this government is providing little to no hope. Despite the extraordinary circumstances, record high inflation and public health crisis, they fail to prioritize issues of affordability, high fare wages, concerns of tenants and small landlords, families looking to buy their first homes in our province, or even a young person simply trying to get started. Mr. Speaker, Ontario's affordability crisis is making it impossible for people to make a living in this province. We need urgent action from our government to help Ontarians and protect the future of our province. Thank you, Speaker. Member statements? The Member for Mississauga, Erin Mills. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government has been working tirelessly since 2018 to build Ontario and protect what matters, the most for the people of Ontario. Just two weeks ago, I was with the active minister of long-term care announcing new 128 long-term care beds in Mississauga with the Church of the Virgin Mary and Saint Athanasius. And I want to thank Bishop Meena and Father Engels for their service and their vision to serve the community in Mississauga. This is the first facility that will serve Arab, Egyptians, and Coptic Residency in their own native Arabic language in Ontario. Mr. Speaker, in Mississauga alone, we have budgeted and approved 1,880 long-term care beds by adding 1,251 new beds and upgrading another 629 beds in Mississauga. We will increase access to a modern long-term care, kavasti, we will reduce weightless and we will ease hospital kavasti brochures that has been neglected for years, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, after 14 years of neglect and careless management from the previous Liberal government, the vast two Liberals administration has only built 611 net new beds in all of Ontario. Liberals have failed Ontarians and they have put Ontario in a vulnerable position. On this side of the house, we continue to work for all Ontarians and building an inclusive, equitable and a public healthcare system reducing whole-way healthcare. Mr. Speaker, I promise made, promise kept. That concludes our member statements for this morning. Very pleased to inform the house that Paige Tanisha Hussain from the Riding of Scarborough Southwest is one of today's page captains. We have with us today at Queens Park, her father, Abdullah Hussain and her brother, Tamine Hussain. Also, we are joined today by the parent of our other page captain, Zane McKinnon from the Riding of Waterloo, his father, Don McKinnon. Welcome to the legislative assembly of Ontario. We're delighted to have you here. Let's still recognize the government house leader on a point of order. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If you seek it, you'll find unanimous consent to allow members to make statements in remembrance for the late Mrs. Eileen Carroll with five minutes allotted to Her Majesty's government, five minutes allotted to Her Majesty's loyal opposition and five minutes allotted to the independent members as a group. Government house leader is seeking the unanimous consent of the house to allow members to make statements in remembrance of the late Mrs. Eileen Carroll with five minutes allotted to Her Majesty's government, five minutes allotted to Her Majesty's loyal opposition and five minutes allotted to the independent members as a group. Agreed? Agreed. Agreed. I'll recognize the attorney general. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's an honor to be able to pay tribute to a remarkable parliamentarian, the Honorable Eileen Carroll. Our community in Barrie, our province and our nation lost her on April 19th, 2020. And I'd like to extend greetings to Kevin Carroll, her husband and her two children, Joanna and Danielle, who are watching today. Kevin and Eileen Carroll married in 1968 and they are very accomplished separately and even more so together. I'll talk about Eileen Carroll's formal record so that you hear it and it's captured and answered. But the story of this halagonian born in 1944 needs context so you understand the presence she had before she came to Queens Park. She didn't take a traditional path to this place. In fact, she didn't take traditional paths to most places. She was a woman of firsts. Eileen was the first woman to graduate from St. Mary's University in Halifax. She was the first federal member of parliament from Barrie to become a cabinet minister. And she was the first federal cabinet minister to become a provincial cabinet minister. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Born in recent Halifax, Eileen had maritime charm. She was welcoming, friendly, smart, driven and she was a fierce competitor. My fondest memory of Eileen was when she was accompanying Kevin to a law conference. Kevin was past president of both the Ontario and Canadian Bar Associations at the time. We were at a small dinner at someone's home in Niagara in the lake. We were at the small dinner. Here was this very accomplished woman, engaging me as a young volunteer. And she knew my politics as I'd been in campaigns that she was involved in and not on the same side. But that didn't matter to her. She was engaging. She was sharing ideas as if we were equals and we very clearly were not. That humbleness and inclusiveness are reflective of her character. But Eileen was also a competitor. Patrick Brown, who ran against her twice, spoke from personal experience in 2020 when he said this. Quote, she was probably the toughest opponent I ever faced. I thought that 2004 and 2006 elections were like nothing I'd ever gone through. End quote. Miss Carol was a federal member of parliament for three terms and a city councilor before that. Her roles as a federal MP included parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs between 2001 and 2003, and then minister of international cooperation between 2003 and 2006. Eileen Carroll was then a member of provincial parliament from 2007 to 2011 and served as minister of culture and minister responsible for seniors during three of those four years with Premier McGinty's government. She won provincially because she built a federal provincial big red machine, she called it. And she attracted all the heavyweights of the Liberal Party to the riding several times, including the Premier. Eileen was a liberal red force in a county of blue. In 1995, she took Joe Tascona's seat on council when he became an MPP. And years later, she would take a seat in the provincial legislature after a very hotly contested election. Her perspective on provincial versus federal politics was this and everyone here will relate. Provincially, it's an entire different world, way more different than I anticipated, but greater opportunities to impact more quickly the course of activities. You're closer to the ground. Good decisions get felt quickly and bad ones come back to haunt you. And again, Patrick Brown summed it up. Quote, she was not someone to be underestimated. I also admire that she was well connected in the city and had deep roots and a lot of respect across partisan lines. You see, Eileen saw herself as a policy wonk and she was engaged in many issues of the day. She counted among her local accomplishments, the Lake Simcoe Airport, Georgian College, Simcoe Muscogee Regional Cancer Center and reestablishing the GO Train to Barrie. Those are just some of the things that she was very active in and made happen. She was in the middle of issues like cultural and performing arts centers in Barrie and as minister responsible, she had a lot to say. And that debate continues to this day. Her riding at one time was Barrie Simcoe Bradford. Today, that spans three ridings. Minister Malrunis, P.A. Andrea Cangins and mine. She was immersed in the Innisfil boundary issues and the growth pressures of our time. And upon her death, the newspapers reported Eileen Carroll resigned from public life in 2011. I think it's more accurate to say she resigned from elected public life. She continued to be engaged in the Barrie community with Hospice Simcoe Habitat for Humanity, the David Busby Center, the Barrie Public Library, Gray and Simcoe Foresters, among many other things. She was part of our community. She was part of our fabric. She was before she was elected and she certainly was afterwards. I saw her most recently at the installation of the honorary colonel, Rene Van Kessel and the 16th Wing Borden. Eileen was there adding gravitas to yet another occasion. The honorable Eileen Carroll will be remembered for her extensive public service, a one of class, grace, depth and character. Thank you. I'll recognize next the member for Nicol Belt. Thank you, Speaker. I want to offer my condolences to Mrs. Carroll's family who are watching today. Her husband, Kevin, her children, her grandchildren, all her friends and everyone who knew her. Mrs. Carroll and I were elected to the Ontario Legislature for the first time in the October 2007 election. Back in 2007, I sat on this side of the house at about in the middle of the house, third row and she sat kind of same but second row. So we looked at one another quite a bit. She was sworn in as Minister of Culture and she was also responsible for Minister of, responsible for seniors affair and I was the critic for seniors affair for our party. From the first time I met her, I liked her. It was in the spring of 2008 when I crossed the aisle for the first time to go and sat beside her and I started telling her about a complicated case of elder abuse that I had been made aware of as she was Minister for seniors. I started telling her and then she put her hand on my arm and gesture me to stop. I could see tears in her eyes as she turned to face me. I stopped talking, she took a deep breath and said, what can I do to help? This is who she was. She was there to serve the people of Ontario with integrity and this is what she did. I had many other conversations with Eileen over the four years that she was at Queen's Park. She was always in a good mood, willing to listen and willing to help the people of Ontario. As I got to know her better, we had conversations about healthcare projects in Barrie. Royal Victoria Hospital had just hired a new CEO, Mrs. Janice Scott. I knew Janice Scott very well. She used to work at Laurentian Hospital and her and I had worked together. Eileen was keenly interested in the expansion of the Royal Victoria Hospital as well as the development of a new cancer treatment center for Barrie. Before being elected, I worked in healthcare. I was working at Laurentian Hospital when they build our cancer treatment center in Sudbury. So we had a lot to talk about. Eileen stayed very interested and kept a keen eye on this project as well as help bring them to success as much as she could. I must extend my congratulations to her and to everyone involved. From the very first temporary radiation site in Barrie's hospital to doubling the size of the hospital and opening up a full cancer treatment center, Eileen and I had many conversations on this project and I know that she did everything that she could to help them along, to push them along. Aside from the many work related conversation, it was another reason I admire Eileen. I liked the way she stood. I liked the way she walked, the way she moved. I liked her posture. It did not take long speaker before she shared with me her keen interest in ballet. Her body positioning, her movement were an integral training of the ballerina training that she had taken. She had the strength to move gracefully and I admired her in her. I know a whole lot more about ballet than I did before I met her. I can tell you that much speaker. I would say that her strength in movement was also obvious in the way that she behaved as a minister and as a politician representing Barrie. She was strong. She was smart. She was knowledgeable and she was funny. It was really hard to have a conversation with her that did not end up with a few good laughs. She had a great sense of humor and in a place like Queen's Park where infighting makes the front page of the paper, it's having and keeping a good sense of humor is something that requires effort and she made those effort. I know that there is a lot to say about the millions of dollars that she was responsible for as the Ontario Minister of Culture. We saw big change at the Royal Ontario Museum at the Art Gallery of Ontario as well as many smaller visual arts centre and performing arts centre around our province during the two years that she was Minister of Culture. We did not always see eye to eye those speaker and if you check the answer, you will see that minister Carol and I have exchanged during questions period on issues where we did not agree at all. A lot of it had to do with regulating of retirement homes. The Liberals had made a promise that they were going to regulate retirement homes. She was a minister responsible for seniors affair and nothing was moving. But I can tell you, it didn't matter how many time I stood in this house and asked her about seniors issue. She was always polite. She was always respectful. I pulled one of the many questions and answers on that subject and realized that she always started her answers the same way by saying, I am delighted to reply to my colleague from across the way. And then she would go on to her response which I did not agree with at all. But at least she always started in a very polite and respectful way. After she was relieved from her ministerial duty, she became a member of public accounts committee where I was also a member. I got to know her even better than once she was no longer a minister through the work of public accounts. In a place hyperpartisan like Queen's Park, I thought I would try to show a side of this MPP, a side of Eileen Carroll that most people would not know. When I think about her, I remember her smile. I remember her laugh. I remember the gracious ways that she moves. I was very surprised and saddened to hear about her passing shortly after the pandemic started. I'm glad we got to spend a few minutes to talk about her today. To the people of Barrie, I can assure you that she tried her best to bring positive changes to your community. She loved her community and dedicated a lot of time, effort and energy to making it better. To her family and friends, thank you for sharing her with us. She was a good politician. She was an effective member of parliament and she was a great minister. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you very much. Next, I'll recognize the member for Don Valley West. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I'm really honored to join my colleagues from Nickel Belt and Barrie Springwater in honoring Eileen Carroll today and paying tribute to her. When I learned that we had lost Eileen in 2020, I wrote that she was a feisty, funny, smart woman. And her political supporters in opposition alike saw her in that way, fierce, feisty and principled and really funny. She was a funny woman. Eileen served the people of Barrie and the area at all three levels of government. I got to know her in Dalton McGinty's cabinet where she served as minister of culture. She loved serving the people of her community and she loved the cut and thrust of policy discussion. That was where she was at her best. And she understood more than most of us that the decisions made by elected officials are important no matter what level of government they are serving at. She really understood that. Margaret Eileen O'Leary was born in 1944 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1965, she was the first woman to graduate from St. Mary's University in Halifax. Now, that fact reads like a smooth victory. But for those of us who were young women in 1965, what I read between the lines is that she put up with a lot of discrimination and I'll say nonsense in order to preserve the decorum of the house in that male bastion. So, she was pretty much preparing for her political life, Mr. Speaker. As a young woman, Eileen ventured far from home. She volunteered in Algeria, worked for the Canadian International Development Agency, but she came home. She married Kevin Carroll in 1968 and they lived in Barrie with their children, Joanna and Daniel and Eileen ran her own small business before she entered politics as she was raising her kids. Her love for the music and lyrics of Stan Rogers might be a clue to what Mayor Jeff Layman of Barrie called her maritime belief in community. All those trials and tribulations at sea and still the beauty of a song. Eileen's staffers described working for her as a quest for fun. Lisa Clements never knew when her boss was going to break into French, not to be pretentious, but just because écouté or doucement were the better words. John Michael Poon remembers that life and all the good things in it were delicious to Eileen and that word went way beyond food for her. Emma Wakeland who was her candidate aide on her first federal campaign in 1997, divulged that they would tell their campaign manager that they had to book an hour every morning for mass and instead they would go for ice cream and just catch a moment to talk and get away from the campaign every morning. While at the same time she was teaching Emma to drive a stick shift throughout the campaign. Linda Murtha, longtime friend and associate described her integrity as unquestionable. She just wanted to do the right thing. Eileen Carroll was passionate, loving and she was all in. I benefited from her enthusiastic commitment during my leadership campaign but I was just one of many women who felt the warmth of her support in public life. The most interesting people in life I think are unpredictable and we never knew exactly how Eileen was going to put us all on notice but whether the issue was the protection of Lake Simcoe, funding for libraries or women living in poverty. We all knew where she stood. We all knew she cared. Her zest for life, for the well-being of the people she served and the state of our democracy were never in doubt. On behalf of one part of Eileen's liberal family we thank Kevin, Joanna and Daniel and Eileen's beloved grandchildren for all the time you shared this woman. You loved so much with all of us. We loved her too and she's sorely missed. The member for Guelph. Speaker, I'm honored to rise today to pay tribute to the honorable Eileen Carroll, former liberal MPP and cabinet minister for her distinguished service. Ms. Carroll's accomplishments are truly extraordinary. Born in 1944, as a member noted, she was the first woman to graduate from St. Mary's University. And throughout her life she became a leader, a community builder, a volunteer extraordinaire, a city counselor, a member of both the federal and provincial cabinets and yes, served in the legislative assembly of Ontario. She inspired women to enter politics and she knew that women could rise to the highest heights of politics such as the member from Don Valley West and other colleagues. Barry Mayor, Jeff Lehman, and I quote said that she very quietly sometimes worked tirelessly for marginalized residents in Barry and causes that were very close to her heart in the city. While Ms. Carroll obviously enjoyed the cut and thrust of politics as a policy wonk, if I could say that, she understood that sometimes it's those quiet accomplishments that truly make a difference in your constituents' lives. So I wanna say thank you to Ms. Carroll's family. I wanna offer you my condolences and let you know that the province of Ontario and the country of Canada are better because of Eileen Carroll's service. Thank you, Speaker. And I thank the members for their presentations. As together, we give thanks for the life and public service of Mrs. Eileen Carroll. You member for Ottawa South has a point of order? All right. Thank you very much, Speaker. Just a quick point of order. I just wanna welcome, I know we don't have guests in the gallery but the members from SCIU and the CUPI are here today to deliver some postcards. They can't get in, but they're here and wanna welcome them to Queen's Park even though they can't hear me. Thank you very much.