 It's now time for Member's Statements, the Member for Hamilton East, Stony Creek. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, I would like to wish my constituents and the people of Ontario a very happy holiday season and a wonderful and prosperous new year, a special shout out to my colleagues in the House. I would like also to thank the Speaker for doing his best to keep the lid on this House during a very tough session. We should all take time this festive season of the year to remember the less fortunate, no child should go without a toy under the tree, no seniors should be left alone. If someone is in trouble, they should get the help they need, people who require the basics should be able to go to the local food bank and get what they require. It is the duty of all of us, all Ontarians, to make sure those shelves are full all year round. I'd also like to thank organizations like the United Way, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross and many other charitable organizations year in and year out are there for everyone in our great country. I believe Canadians are generous, thoughtful and have kind hearts. This is proven every day by the millions of volunteers who give their time to make Canada a little better place. Thank you to all the veterans, our women and men of our armed forces, police, firefighters, paramedics, nurses, doctors who watch over us all year round. We are all fortunate to live in this great country. Thank you, Speaker. Member Statements and Member for Flambrough-Blandbrook. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's my pleasure to rise today to recognize our government for its efforts to increase access to natural gas in rural and northern Ontario. Now we've heard from people right across Ontario who say that natural gas expansion is critical to growing their businesses, to creating jobs and to simply competing. This new program will encourage more private gas distributors to partner with communities to develop projects that expand access to affordable and efficient natural gas. It will benefit rural residents in my riding of Flambrough-Blandbrook and throughout the province by keeping natural gas costs low at no additional cost to taxpayers. Natural gas is more affordable than electricity, oil or propane. Switching to natural gas can save an average residential customer as much as $2,500 a year. This builds on the government's work to stand up for the people of Ontario by removing the carbon tax from natural gas bills, saving families about $80 a year in small businesses to $85. Expanding natural gas service will make Ontario communities more attractive. This is part of our government's plan to bring quality jobs back to Ontario and to send a clear message that Ontario truly is open for business. Member Statements and Member for Thunder Bay, Atacocan. Thank you, Speaker. Before I begin my statement, I want to acknowledge the national day of remembrance and action on violence against women. On this date in 1989, the lives of 14 women were cut painfully short in Montreal, and we must never forget those who died. Speaker, last summer, the closure of Thunder Bay Generating Station was announced. This government talks a lot about creating jobs, but this will mean a loss of good local jobs. In Thunder Bay, we need more jobs, not less. This government endlessly repeats talking points about stopping waste, but this decision means that all the past investment in the generating station will be wasted. This government also says it will develop natural resources in the Northwest. When these resources come online, they'll need electricity, but the generating station won't be there. There are plenty of alternate uses for the facility instead of closing it. Since it gives off a significant amount of heat, it could be used for other industries such as local greenhouses to grow food. Finally, the generating station uses biomass pellets, and the production of these pellets is already advanced in the North, closing the station undermines that industry. To squander a public asset is a shame. It's penny-wise and pound-foolish. This government should save the generating station, not shut it down. Thank you. Member for Berry Springwater, Oral and the Country. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we've heard from our great minister of culture, tourism and sports say in this house, the arts and culture businesses in Ontario are significant. They contribute 4% of our GDP. I also hope others in the area are familiar with the arts and cultures and sport in their area. I expect they are. Ontario artists remind us who we are, and they show people all over the world, some of our values, our landscapes. The business owners, they work for us, and they draw others to Ontario to visit and spend money, and they bring their business, and they make a life here because of it. The least we can do is consume their work. So as we head into Christmas, Mr. Speaker, the amount of sales that these artists rely on are important. And whether it be in the art world or whether it be in the sport world, I have three ski hills in my riding, Snow Valley, Horseshoe Valley and Mount St. Louis Moonstone. If you know somebody who is hard to buy for, buy something consumable, buy something that they can use, buy them a ski pass or a piece of art or jewelry that's made locally, it's really important that we support local, that we shop local, and that we support the artists who are an expression of the creativity of those in Ontario. They play such an important role to make sure, we play an important role as consumers to make sure that those businesses survive, Mr. Speaker. And I look forward to visiting my local craft shows throughout the holiday season and buying and from the store downstairs as well, which is filled with local merchandise. I encourage people to go down there and buy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and have a wonderful Christmas. Member Statements, the Member for Toronto's Centre. Thank you, Speaker. Today, I'd like to tell you about my friend Kyla. She just celebrated her 30th birthday, and some of her family members are here in the Legislature today, and I'd like to welcome them, Speaker. Our world is darker today than it was two weeks ago, because two weeks ago, we lost Kyla to an overdose. Kyla never had a plan, and she didn't have a schedule. But instead of a plan, she always had an adventure. One that often strayed off the beaten path, one that was fearless, and one that taught the people around her how to be brave. Kyla was the kind of person who would blow into your life like a hurricane, and before she gusted off on her next adventure, she would always leave you with a story. Speaker, it's not lost on me that we lost Kyla at the same time that overdose prevention sites across Ontario continue to fight for the very existence. These sites saved lives. But the new criteria that this government has put forward is overly strict and puts many of these sites in my writing at risk of losing their funding. To every member on the government bench, I don't want any of you to tell me or Kyla's family how sorry you are. I ask you, do not let Kyla become another statistic to you while you continue to ignore the epidemic of overdose deaths in this province. Thank you. Member statements. The member for Peterborough, Coortha. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our police officers deal with a lot of difficult situations on a daily basis. But yesterday, they got to do something that was a lot more fun. It was the 12th annual cop shop in my writing of Peterborough, Coortha. Peterborough police teamed up with Lansdowne Place Mall. Officers are paired with 24 local elementary school students for a day of Christmas shopping cheer. This event began in 2005 when Constable Leander LeVasseur formed a partnership with Lansdowne Mall to give elementary school children a chance to do some Christmas shopping. They're selected based on need, volunteerism, and academic achievement. Each year, kids are picked up from their schools in limousine, taken to Lansdowne Place, where they're met by the officers who become their personal shoppers for the day. They have breakfast with their new officer friends. Lansdowne Place generously donates a $200 gift card to each child for shopping. They arrive with a list of gifts, and most of them have a map of the stores that they want to go to to buy all the things that they want to get for their friends. In addition, the stores in the mall give the kids a discount on the things that they buy. Purchases are wrapped and taken by mall staff and volunteers from the community. Then the day is capped off by lunch with Santa and their police officer. Then they're taken back to their school in the limousine. Each child is also given a new winter coat. I'd like to thank Lansdowne Place Mall and the Peterborough Police Service for another successful Christmas cop shop and everything that they do in our community. Thank you. Member Statens, member for Essex. Thank you very much, Speaker. I'm honored to take a couple minutes today to talk about superheroes. We all know about Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Spider-Man, all of them great superheroes in their own right. We know their stories of superhuman strength and sophisticated gadgetry and unflinching morals. Today, however, I want to talk about another superhero that you may not have heard of, but was every bit as heroic as anything you'd find on the pages of Marvel or DC Comics. Mace Man burst onto the scenes in Windsor and Estes County in 2015. His mission wasn't to fight crime in the street, Speaker. His mission was to fight childhood cancer. Mace Man's civilian identity is Mason Macri. Mason was diagnosed with cancer when he was just two years old. With the help and guidance of his parents, Chantel and Ian, Mason inspired our entire community to join his fight. On June the 7th, 2016, Mason sadly succumbed to his cancer. But cancer, Speaker, did not win. Mason's legacy lives on in the thousands of people he inspired and the foundation created in his name. The Fight Like Mason Foundation raises awareness and funds for research and to help inspire young cancer patients with superhero-themed IV poles. I would encourage everyone to go to the Fight Like Mason website or Facebook page to get involved, donate, and most importantly, read Mason's story and, like I have, be inspired. I want to thank Ian and Chantel for sharing Mason with us on behalf of the thousands of superhero sidekicks around Estes County and the rest of the province. We thank you and send our love to the Macri's and to you, Mason. Members statements and members for King Vaughn. Thank you, Speaker. I rise today, Speaker, to recognize some incredible constituents or organizations and events taking place in the writing of King Vaughn. And I want to start by recognizing and thanking the dear friend of mine, Linda Papps, who served for 24 years in the township of King, who retired just a few days ago. I want to congratulate the newly sworn in councils from both King and Vaughn for their commitment to public service. I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate other community activists and leaders, the Schomburg Red Wings, the Adam Hockey team, recently qualified for the Silver Sick Tournament, North America's largest youth hockey tournament. Very excited about the Red Wings success. The Trees of Giving fundraiser in King at the museum is giving funds towards Kings for Refugee Organization, supporting various compassionate individuals in need. The Lazio Federation of Ontario made a historic $25,000 contribution to Hospice Vaughn that is working to provide compassionate care for those at the end of life. And finally, I want to congratulate Maria Castro, Michael DeGaspere, Altaf Stationwala, and Robert Charles Wilson, all of whom received the Order of Vaughn, which is the city's highest civic honor. Colleagues, please join me in recognizing and thanking these incredible people, these wonderful organizations, and thank them for enriching the lives of our community in King Vaughn. Thank you. Member statements. Member for Whitby. Thank you, Speaker. I'm pleased to announce a new partnership force between Moonded Warriors Canada and the Whitby Fire and Emergency Services. Moonded Warriors Canada Speaker, as you will know, has a mission to honor and support ill and injured members of armed forces, first responders and their families, provides a wide range of programs and services for those with operational stress injuries, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Now, Speaker, through this partnership, Moonded Warriors will offer training to Whitby Fire in order to ensure that its members are healthy and able to perform as they do each day. Programs will include group therapy, animal assistive therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, resiliency training, education, and skills transition. Speaker, this partnership will improve and valuable in ensuring that another layer of first rate mental health care is in place in Durham region. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. That concludes our member statements this afternoon.