 It's therefore it's time for Member Stevens, the member from Bruce Grey Owensound. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I rise to recognize Black History Month on behalf of my constituents in Bruce Grey Owensound. Black citizens have been part of Great County since the first non-native settlers arrived in the Northern Queens bush. Some of these early pioneers were born in Canada, while others had only recently escaped slavery in the Upper South. As the northernmost refuge for the slaves fleeing the southern states, Owensound and the village of Sydenham were the last terminal of the railroad where many of them escaped, eventually settling down to work and raise families. After a long and difficult journey to freedom, escaped slaves experienced continuing challenges. Insecurity and uncertainty in border cities often propelled people to move further north into Ontario, or what later would become Ontario. John Hall, one of Great County's most prominent early black citizens, was born in Amherstburg, Ontario, sometime in the late 1700s, who was captured as a young man during the War of 1812. Ultimately, Hall passed into slavery. After 13 years as a slave, he escaped by the underground railroad to Southern Ontario, later making his way to the Durham-Rocky-Sogging area in the 1840s. He then moved Owensound, living a long life there, where he was well known as Town Crier. Hall died in 1900. Robert Sutherland, Canada's first black lawyer, as well as a first known university student and graduate of color in Canada, was called to the bar in 1855. He practiced law at Walkerton and Bruce County for over two decades. A graduate of Queens University of his death in 1878, he left as a state to the university, which remains thankful to Sutherland as a benefactor at an important time in their early history. My writing has been commemorating black history with the Emancipation Festival, the longest-running Emancipation celebration in North America, and established pre-Confederation, pre-intero in 1862. I invite the members to join us in Owensound in the area and the Great Roots Museum and Archives in August 5th, when we will mark the 155th annual event. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. For the members saying this, for the members from Windsor West. Thank you, Speaker. It is my pleasure to rise today and speak about a very important topic, which is our public assets and our public services. I recently had an opportunity to visit an elementary school in my writing, along with Opsu members, and we went to the school to talk about their We Own It campaign, where they're talking about the importance of public services. So I'd like to start by thanking Rob Wilson, who is an organizer for Opsu, and he's the one that organized the event. Jordan McGrale, Amanda Peacot, Sue Fairweather, they're all organizers with Opsu. Jen Wilson, an educational assistant at Westgate Public School. Mark Roth, who is the vice principal at Westgate Public School, and Dabra Lafaret, the principal of Westgate Public School. Opsu had run a campaign where they went into Westgate Public School and gave the children an opportunity to color pictures and write about what they think is so important about our public services. And I won't have time to share most of what these kids have written, but they have stressed the importance of our police, our firefighters, our doctors, our nurses, our health care system as a whole. They talked about the importance of the education workers in our education system and respecting the education workers. And the one I really want to highlight was Gavin. Gavin wrote, I think hydro is most important because all food would go raw and it would also be dark. So Gavin is grade four, grade five, and he recognizes how important hydro is in this province. Thank you. Member Stevens. Member from Gavin. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the winter recess, I was able to join a number of NBPs from all sides of the house on a fact-finding mission to Israel, hosted by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, SEJA. A number of Huvuz members have joined us here today and are here in the gallery as well. Mr. Speaker, as you know, Ontario and Israel have always had a special friendship. In fact, just last year, the Premier traveled to Israel and other parts of the Middle East on a trade mission that resulted in 44 agreements and totaled over $180 million. On our trip, I had the opportunity to speak with some of the companies who were keen to find partners in Ontario and continue to strengthen the relationship that Ontario has with Israeli friends. Possibly the most moving portion of the trip for me was aside from visiting the Christian holy sites was the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum. It commemorates the truly horrific experience of the Jewish people during the Holocaust and the resolve that they showed to survive and emerge as a stronger people. The museum is a lasting reminder to their sacrifice and one we shall never forget. Over the course of our eight-day trip, we travel to Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Tel Aviv, seeing a variety of important cultural and historical landmarks. I want to extend thanks to our guide, Leanna Rothstein, who was able to provide context and explain the significance of the magnificent sites that we visited. I also want to thank Maddie Murai and Sarah Lefton from SEJA for their kind invitation to be part of this intense learning experience, as well as Rachel Kirchoff from CJPAC for taking the time to meet with us. I look forward to my next visit to Israel. Thank you. Thank you. For the member of State, the member from Elgin, Middlesex, London. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm pleased to rise today and congratulate DJ Kennington. DJ is a constituent of mine and a professional stock car driver. DJ is the first Canadian to drive in the Daytona 529 years. As I watched the race on Sunday, I was disheartened when he was caught in a 16-car wreck at the Daytona International Speedway. It was sudden, unexpected pile-up that knocked many other contention. Regardless of Sunday's results, DJ did make our constituency proud. Kennington was the first Canadian at the Great American Race since Trevor Boyce in the 1988, and went down as one of only eight Canadian drivers in history to date. Daytona 500 was Kennington's second master energy cup race of his life. The first was in Phoenix last November when he finished 35th. He's a veteran of the Xfinity series races and some camping world truck series contests. Most of Kennington's success has come at home at the NASCAR Pinty series, where he has won two national Canadian championships. We look forward to seeing DJ race again as part of the Pinty series at the Delaware Speedway on June 3rd. DJ, you have made our community proud, and I know that I, along with thousands of others across St. Thomas, Elgin County, and Canada, we're chairing you on Sunday afternoon. DJ, you have proven that you belong at the Daytona 500. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Senator Menner-Stavis, the member from Nicol Belt. Merci, Monsieur Bruse. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Very hard, but real example of what happened when the Ministry of Health freezes funding to our hospital for four years straight. What happened is that our hospital are forced to make some really hard decision in order to balance their budget. In Sudbury, the hospital had to make the difficult decision to outsource its laundry service right out of our region. What does that mean? Well, by the number, it means that 42 people will lose their job, 1.3 million in wages will be lost to our community, and overall economic impact to the city will be $6.5 million loss. Those are numbers, but what about the effect on people? The 42 laundry workers, mainly women, are on average in their late 40s or early 50. They are losing family sustaining jobs with benefits and pension. Sudbury has had one of the highest unemployment rates in the province for years now. The future job prospects for these women are bleak. Second, and just as importantly, is the relationship between the community and our hospital. Over 90% of residents said that they opposed this decision and want the jobs to remain local. This impact the perception residents have of the hospital, no matter how good the care is, fundraisings will be harder, and nothing good comes of that. I always thought the Ministry of Health was there to improve the health of the people in our community, but by their action, they have done just the opposite. The laundry workers in Sudbury are paying the price for ill-advised liberal policy. They are losing their livelihood, and that's wrong. Thank you. And the member statements from Kitchener Center. Thank you, Speaker. Recently, my constituency office team and I hosted our third annual Family Day Skate event at the Kitchener Auditorium, and the turnout speaker was beyond our expectations. We had about 500 people show up, and this year we tripled our cookie order, but still ran out. Many people told me that they've come to really appreciate this free event on Family Day. It's a chance to connect with family and friends, to get some exercise, and for some, it's a chance to feel Canadian. A woman in her 40s by the name of Dahlia from Columbia, she was there skating for the very first time, and she managed to stay vertical for most of the day. Syrian-born brothers Mohammed and Abraham were back again this year. These newcomers were sponsored by one of my neighbors. They were much steadier on the ice, and their English is really coming along. And, Speaker, I know how they feel. As the child of Italian immigrants at the age of eight, I begged my mother for a pair of skates, and she reluctantly agreed to buy me some used skates at a church rummage sale for a quarter, and I was able to join the neighborhood kids at a local outdoor rink. So enjoying a crisp winter day, learning how to glide on the ice was perhaps the first time that I truly felt Canadian. Speaker, it's activities like this that create lifelong memories, unite us as a community, and teach us the value of fitness. I was really proud to once again host such a successful event. I look forward to lacing up again next year, and I promise to anyone who is going to attend, we're gonna have enough cookies next year. Thank you. Thank you. For the member's name, it's the member from the needs committee. Thanks, Speaker. I rise on behalf of the village of Westport residents devastated. The village's Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund application was rejected. It's the second straight February. This government has denied funding essential to modernize Westport's failing wastewater treatment system. I can't emphasize enough how critical this project is, not only to the village's future, but to public health and the environment on the UNESCO World Heritage Rideau Canal Waterway. No other municipality of this size with fewer than 700 residents faces an infrastructure problem of this magnitude. Despite the village's small size, I'm so proud of how tall residents and council under Mayor Robin Jones have stood in facing this crisis. A Save Our Village campaign speaker was launched to fundraise for projects like arena upgrades and a new park. They raised more than $150,000, allowing council to focus tax dollars on its responsibility to this new wastewater facility. This incredible response shows Westport isn't sitting back waiting for someone else to fix the problem. They're doing their part, but can't complete a multi-million dollar project alone, nor should they be expected. Provincial infrastructure programs exist to ensure projects like this one can get done. And I call on the ministers of municipal affairs and agriculture, food and rural affairs to personally review this misguided decision, come to Westport, see what the residents have done, and step up to the point. Thank you. Good job. Member statements. The member from Brampton, West. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Brampton is one of the fastest growing cities in Canada. And as such, a growing city needs expansion in its essential services. Healthcare is at the top of the list. Several years ago, the William Postal Healthcare System opened the doors to a brand new Brampton Civic Hospital. Because of the rapid growth, Brampton Civic Hospital was under immense pressure for which reason we needed a new healthcare facility. Speaker, that is why on February 7th of this year, our government opened the doors to a new urgent care center at the Peel Memorial Center for Integrated Health and Wellness in My Riding of Brampton, West. This facility is staffed by trained physicians and healthcare professionals. The urgent care center is intended for non-life-threatening illnesses or injuries that don't require immediate surgery or an overnight stay. Good move. No referral or appointment is required. The urgent care center will ease the emergency room pressures at the Brampton Civic Hospital. This brand new facility is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., 365 days a year. This is a big boost for healthcare in our community. I look forward to this April when we finally open the doors to the brand new, for the grand opening of the entire facility. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Further member status, the member from here on Bruce? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I'd like to recognize another here in Bruce native, former member of provincial parliament, Janet Acker, who was raised in Exeter and has 100 appointees to the Order of Canada this year. The award was created in 1967 and is one of our nation's highest civilian honors, recognizing outstanding achievements, dedication to community and service to the nation. This year marks the 50th anniversary since the inception of the award, coinciding with Canada and Ontario's 150th and also the 100th anniversary of women earning the vote in Ontario. Janet is truly committed to public service, which is evident through her many great contributions to Ontario's political landscape, having served as the MPP for Durham West and Pickering Agex Bridge, excuse me, between 1995 and 2003. Her parliamentary service includes Minister of Community and Social Services, Minister of Education and Minister of Finance. She was instrumental in bringing about several pieces of education legislation that ensured our schools remain safe environments for students and promoted quality education practices. Utilizing her considerable expertise, she also presented a balanced budget designed to put our province on the path to prosperity and economic growth. In an article in the Agex News Advisor, the publication that serves her current home of Agex, she shared her thoughts on being selected as a recipient, saying, I'm excited, but I'm quite humble. Those are phenomenal people that they have on the list, but truly she belongs there. Congratulations, Janet, you are an inspiration and truly deserving of this honor. Thank you. Thank you. Thank all members for their statements. It is...