 It's now time for member's statements. Member for Toronto, Dan Forrest. Thank you, Speaker. Tenants, low-income tenants, are being driven out of their homes by predatory landlords. In the past month, I've met with people from three different apartment buildings in my riding who are enduring mass evictions. The landlords want to clear out the buildings, apparently do minor renovations, and then rent out the units at dramatically higher rents. Tenants now going for under $1,000 per month at 245 Logan are being advertised to future tenants at $2,300 per month. It's very clear what's happening here. Tenants, many of them seniors who have lived in their units for decades, paid the rent that allowed the landlord to make a decent profit and maintain the buildings are now being driven out so that new owners can make a fortune. Not only are their lives being upended so someone can make big bucks at their expense, but the units will be permanently unaffordable to people with low income after these changes are made. That's wrong. The Ford government needs to act now to protect tenants from these predatory practices. Member's statements. The member for Scarborough Rouge Park. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day is a special day every year where people across the globe hold events and gatherings to show their support for environmental protection. In Canada, our first official Earth Day was held in 1980 with the week-long ceremonies opened by Progressive Conservative MP Flora MacDonald. On Earth Day 2016, the landmark Paris Agreement was open for signatures where Canada agreed to a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emission by 2030. Thanks to the leadership of Minister Phillips, Ontario is on track to do our part. Earth Day this year will be no different with events around the world. In my writing of Scarborough Rouge Park, I am proud to say that I'm hosting a shoreline cleanup this weekend to keep our beaches beautiful and free of litter, so my constituents and all visitors can enjoy the stunning shore of Lake Ontario. I will also be attending a number of other cleanup events and Earth Day events, including the ones hosted by the CCRA Highland Creek Village Community Association, Friends of the Rouge Watershed and Green Canada. I hope we can all work together to keep Ontario beautiful and clean for generations to come. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you. Member Statements. Member for Ottawa Centre. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, on Wednesday of this week, April 10, disability rights leaders and activists will be converging on this building at Queen's Park because our office is hosting a town hall on accessibility. They're coming to share their wisdom and personal experiences so we can hear directly from those affected by inaccessibility and how we as a province can do better. All of us in this place received a wake-up call from the Honourable David Onley's report on the third review of the Accessibility of Ontarians with Disabilities Act. In searing language, Speaker, he told us about the agonizingly slow process Ontario is making towards full accessibility by 2025. I want a clip from the report. Mr. Onley says, every day in every community in Ontario, people with disabilities encounter formidable barriers to participation, and vast opportunities this province affords its residents its abled-bodied residents, as will be fulsomely described in the report. For most disabled persons, Ontario is not a place of opportunity, but one of countless dispiriting, soul-crushing barriers. Speaker, 1.9 million people with disabilities and their families are tired of waiting. This is a human rights issue, and we must act with greater urgency if we want to achieve greater accessibility. That's why we're opening up this place on Wednesday, to make sure that we can listen to people on the front lines. I invite my colleagues on all sides of the House to join us for that event in room 351 on the third floor. Let's commit ourselves to a province that's free from barriers so everybody can live their lives to the fullest. Thank you. Member Statements. The Member for Durham. Thank you, Speaker. I was disappointed to recently learn that the Canadian Women's Hockey League would be folding on May 1, 2019. This news is devastating for both players and fans of women's hockey. For those who don't know, this is the league that many of our Olympians play in between Olympic Games, and the competition in the league has been one of the foundations of the Canadian women's hockey team's continual top performance in the Olympic Games. Not only that, but the league also provides a venue for young female hockey players to attend and watch their role models play outside of just the Olympic Games once every four years. I remember being inspired by Sammy Jo Small, the women's team Canada goaltender when I attended Toronto Arrows Games as a kid. In Durham Region, I think of how many young Clarington Flames, Oshawa Lady Generals, Whitby Wolves, Durham West Lightning and North Durham Blades players have been inspired by their play. Many came out to a CWHL game hosted in Bowmanville this season. Sport is an important part of the cultural fabric of Ontario. Hockey in particular is something that brings Ontarians together regardless of ethnicity and background, uniting people behind a common love for the game. I want our incredible female athletes to know that I stand with them to fight for the continued success for our game. By coming together as a hockey community, we will keep these players on the ice. Thank you. Member Statements. Member for York Southwest. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise today to speak on the housing crisis taking place in my riding of York Southwest. Last week I held a town hall in my riding on housing to hear directly from the constituents. People are stuck and Toronto's housing support systems are bursting at the seams. I heard directly from constituents who have been waiting on the waiting list for affordable housing for more than seven years, whether they were young families, single mothers with children and those living with disabilities. The system chewed them up and spat them out for those who were fortunate enough to secure shelter while waiting for affordable housing constituents reported having to spend the majority of their income on housing. This is addition to having to live in overcrowded conditions due to prices restrained. With more than 100,000 households waiting to access 94,000 social housing units in Toronto, it is safe to say that we are experiencing a crisis again and again. I have been asked by constituents why this government isn't pushing more purpose-built rental units to build instead of condos that they will never be able to afford. After 15 years of neglect by the previous Liberals, the people of York Southwest are hurting and they know that this current Conservative government won't be of any help to them. It is making things worse. The people of York Southwest deserve better. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Member Statements, the Member for Guelph. Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is an honour to rise today on the inaugural Green Shirt Day. Today we thank Logan Boulet and Oregon donors across the country. Logan made the decision to be a donor just weeks before his passing in the tragic Humboldt Broncos bus crash. He has inspired thousands of Canadians to register as Oregon donors. I also today want to thank one of my constituents, Janet Parr. Janet is a community hero and organ donation champion who received the Trillium Gift of Life Network's 2018 Champion Award. A heart transplant recipient, Janet has made an outstanding difference in organ and tissue donations in Ontario. Janet along with Linda and Mike Willis have worked tirelessly to promote organ donations in our community. As a result, the number of registered organ donors in Guelph is far above the provincial average. And I want to thank Janet, Mike and Linda for the tremendous work they have done in our community. And I'm proud to say that I'm one of the 51,160 registered organ donors in Guelph. And I encourage everyone across Ontario and across the country to be an organ donor and visit BeaDonor.ca and sign up today. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the Member for Perth Wellington. Thank you Speaker. Today I rise in the Legislature to recognize the newest sports hero of Listwell in my writing of Perth Wellington. Yesterday Corey Connors won the Valero, Texas Open in his first PGA event. He has also punched his ticket to next week's Masters in Augusta, Georgia. Corey brought his A-game to the golf course on Sunday. He made three birdies in the final five holes shooting a 666. He was 20 under for the tournament. He is the first Monday qualifier to win on a PGA tour since 2010. This is also his first PGA tournament win. He will join only one other Canadian at next week's Masters, the great Mike Weir. Corey got his start putting and ball striking at the Listwell Golf Club. From a young age, we all saw his passion for the game. No matter the career highs or lows, he always remained positive. Corey is focused on doing his best and leaving it all on the course. His colleagues describe him as a smart, constituent, a smart, constant and committed golfer. His hard work and determination paid off yesterday in Texas. Congratulations to Corey and his biggest supporter, his wife Mallory. Both of you stole the hearts of Canadians yesterday. Listwell Ontario and Canada will be cheering you on at next week's Masters. Way to go, Corey. Member for Spadina, Fort York. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last Thursday I joined a few thousand students who are just some of the hundred thousand students who walked out to protest against cuts to our schools. Then on Saturday, I marched here at a rally where tens of thousands of students' parents and teachers were rallying for our public education system. As a teacher in 1997, I marched on Queens Park in a similar rally when conservative Premier Mike Harris launched an all-out assault on our schools. His goal was to create, in the words of the Conservative Minister of the Day, a useful crisis in order to open our schools for eventual privatization. He said that he would start discrediting our school system and launch an all-out verbal assault on teachers and students who were fighting to protect schools. Last week, the government started using the same rhetoric as the Conservatives used during the Harris years. The Premier called teachers and students' thugs and ponds, saying the system is broken, even though Ontario students are tied for first in reading, seventh for science, and in the top 25% in math and international scores. There is work to be done to improve our schools, but that's a continuous job and you don't improve our schools by cutting teachers out of them. Mike Harris cut one point, underfunded our public schools by $1.2 billion, and then launched a $700 million private school tax credit. It is the same privatization agenda that the parents and students and teachers who were marching last week understand is the agenda of this government, and they will fight to protect our school system. Thank you. Member for Haldeman Norfolk. It gives me great pleasure to congratulate Jason Gordy on his recent victory at the Special Olympic World Games in Abu Dhabi. Jason Gordy is a well-known and top-notch Special Olympics athlete from Norfolk County. For the past 25 years, Jason has represented my riding at Special Olympics events across Canada, initially as a swimmer, however, now at age 46, he's a bowler. Jason trained extremely hard to hone his bowling techniques, and finally, his training paid off. Gordy won gold in the Men's Lagos competition, a final score of 502 and 10-pin bowling at the Special Olympics World Games. Shirley Shaw, a Sympos Community Coordinator of Special Olympics, is quoted in the reformer. We were so excited he got gold. We are more than ecstatic that all of the extra training he put in has really paid off. Jason is a lovely young man and is very involved in the Special Olympics. Speaker, Jason Gordy is not only a bowling champion, he also plays golf, plays basketball, and he's a junior coach with the swim team. Gordy truly is an inspiration, and his contributions are greatly appreciated and respected. Thank you, and congratulations, Jason Gordy. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member from Milton. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the Fine Arts Society of Milton. I have started displaying local artists' paintings on the walls of my constituency office in an effort to showcase the talented individuals in my great writing of Milton. Mr. Speaker, everyone who comes through my constituency office can see the artwork now displayed on the walls and get to know the story of each painter. I will be rotating it every six weeks and look forward to highlighting many more talented artists moving forward. Mr. Speaker, just as the dining room at Queen's Park works to promote Ontario's artists, I am working to do the same in my constituency office to highlight our Miltonians. Mr. Speaker, the Fine Arts Society of Milton is a nonprofit organization that promotes fine art and artists in Milton and the surrounding area. The first painting that we're currently displaying were created by Christie Rutter from Campbell Road. They include paintings named Int of Blue, Greeting the Dawn, and Color Me Not. Mr. Speaker, I thank Christie and the Fine Arts Society of Milton for working with me to create this awesome program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. That concludes our time for Member Statements. Reports by committees.