 yes therefore it is time for member statements the member from Prince Edward Hastings well thank you very much Mr. Speaker and we welcome our sick friends to the legislature again today I'm very pleased to be able to celebrate sick heritage month in Ontario in my four years as PC caucus outreach chair I've had the personal experience of getting to know firsthand the many contributions of Ontario's sick community many of those community members I now call close friends Canadians of sick heritage play a vital role in our society a few years ago mr. Speaker I had the opportunity to take my wife and my two daughters along with me to a good war in Brampton my family and I were given an education into the tenants of the sick faith and the value of sick culture we were welcomed in with open arms we had the opportunity to participate in their prayers and sample some food from the kitchen at the mission it was on that day I learned that a hungry person in the community is always given a meal from the kitchen of a sick temple they're open 24 hours a day the sick community is always there to help it doesn't matter if you're a member of the sick community or someone rolling in off the street that needs help April was specifically chosen for sick heritage month given its importance for six as it is April that sick Canadians celebrate the sake which marks the formalization of the call so and the sick articles of faith sick heritage month is an opportunity to remember celebrate and educate our future generations in society at large about the important role that sick Canadians are playing in communities across Ontario I look forward to joining many of my sick friends again next weekend as tens of thousands of six gather at Nogger curtains to walk from exhibition place to Nathan Phillips Square in downtown Toronto this coming Sunday and again the following weekend up in Malton as we celebrate the call today parade there Waheguru jica Waheguru jiki faté thank you the member from offshore thank you speaker April is be a donor month in support of organ and tissue donation in Ontario and as the first flowers bloom on the front lawn here at Queen's Park what better time than now to celebrate renewal and the gift of life speaker as I look around the room I imagine that many of our colleagues have been touched by organ donation just as so many families across Ontario have last year 1086 individuals in Ontario received a life-saving organ transplant 46 of which were children or youth that's over a thousand families that will get to continue to spend time with a loved one that they would otherwise have lost if it were not for the generosity of organ donors my family lost my aunt cat a few years ago unexpectedly and in the fact that she was an organ donor gave us something to focus on in a time of such senseless loss we were able to take heart in knowing that other families were so positively impacted by my aunt even after she was gone speaker one organ donor can save eight lives and when you factor in the family members friends co-workers and loved ones of those recipients you realize that a single donation can touch thousands it is our in our families time of loss it was comforting to know that my aunt had been able to give hope to so many others in their time of need for those families it meant a second chance so visit be a donor dot ca speak to your loved ones and consider registering like my aunt I am also an organ donor I ask that you join me thank you thank the speaker I like to stand here today to give praise to all of our Ontario farmers especially our tomato farmers as you know as a result of the catch-up wars that Ontario farmers are now planting in bigger numbers than they ever did before because there is a huge international demand for locally grown Ontario tomatoes and the member from Essex knows this full well that people care passionately about locally grown vegetables they care passionately about locally grown fruit they care passionately about local jobs and that's why everybody stood in their place and said we support local jobs we support the new expansion of catch a production in Ontario because it means more jobs more healthy local fruit and vegetables and as you know French's catch-up is now seeking to expand into a new bottling plant to meet the demand for catch-up and also primo foods that old venerable Italian company believe it or not Mr. Speaker is going to produce all Canadian catch-up so more jobs more catch-up more tomatoes everything is good on the farm in Ontario thank you thank you for the member status member from Dufferin Calladine thank you speaker I'm pleased to rise today to recognize April is be a donor month the time to celebrate organ and tissue donation and transplantation being a donor is an easy way for an individual to give back it truly is giving the gift of light to another one who needs it the most I want to take a moment to recognize the efforts of Ontario Lions Cubs across Ontario who are raising awareness for issue and tissue donor registration I also want to recognize the great work taking place at the Trillium gift of life life network who are working tirelessly to help give the gift of life last year Trillium gift of life network surpassed their registration goal by having more than 250,000 Ontarians registered now there are approximately 3.4 million Ontarians registered to be a donor but there is still a lot of work that can be done while there are 3.5 million Ontarians registered there are still approximately eight hundred eight point five million eligible Ontarians who have not every registration makes a difference one donor can save up to eight lives and enhance as many as seventy five through tissue donation there are still 1,600 Ontarians waiting for that gift of life and sadly one person dies every three days waiting for that transplant anyone 16 years of older with an Ontario health card can register to be a donor so please visit be a donor dot ca take the two minutes to register and give the gift of life but make sure you share your wishes with your family thank you thank you thank you today I want to thank a hundred community members environmental experts and academics who joined me for a biodiversity offsetting roundtable in my riding yesterday afternoon during a trade mission to China last fall the Premier signed an MOU for a China based company GR investments to develop on over 13 acres of provincially significant and protected wetlands in the Niagara region the majority of which fall in my riding to circumvent wetland conservation laws the government is proposing through a white paper a pilot project called bio diversity offsetting where wetlands destroyed in this process will be recreated elsewhere in principle it sounds good but the scientific evidence says otherwise worse it's getting the go-ahead from the Liberal government keen to see this pilot project for future investment by the Chinese in Ontario as a no net loss policy Mr. Speaker call it what you will we know that no net loss is another example of liberal jargon and my community is disturbed and troubled by the government's disregard for environmental priorities in my riding we know that no net loss will have disastrous impacts on our ecosystem to be clear development is an important part of the region's growth we value jobs development and we certainly value economic growth as legislators we have an obligation to make sure the pursuit of development is always balanced with the protection of our ecosystems especially those that are deemed provincially significant thank you thank you for the member statements the member from Barry the Speaker as this is the Trillium gift of life networks be a donor month I would like to take this opportunity to tell the story of Jocelyn Lee worthy from my riding of Barry who courageously volunteered to be a live organ organ donor at only 19 years old a member of Jocelyn's family fell very ill and potentially in need of a transplant while this person went on to make a full recovery on her own the idea of being a live donor was still in Jocelyn's mind in June she began volunteering at sick kids where she saw firsthand how illness impacted children and their families resolved to give a child a second chance she began her work up at Toronto General Hospital's living donor program after several months of screening and tests she finally was scheduled for surgery this past October to donate the left lobe of her liver she was not without fears but knowing what she was doing would help a child it made it worth it afterwards the doctor explained that her liver went to an infant and it worked beautifully Jocelyn has peace of mind knowing that she was able to change a family's life for the better speaker 85% of Ontarian support organ donor donations yet only 29% are actually registered over 1500 people in this province are currently currently waiting for an organ transplant it is both vital and easy to register at be a donor dot ca everyone should find the courage that Jocelyn found to be a donor thank you thank you for the member statements the member from Sonia London thank you Speaker April marks the unofficial beginning of the digging season in Canada such a rise today to recognize April as national dig safe month each digging season underground infrastructure such as natural gas lines electrical lines telecommunication lines are jeopardized or damaged because of the fair take a simple but important safety step having locates completed before starting an excavation project getting locates is now simpler than ever the Ontario one call system allows homeowners and contracts alike to click online or call for locates before they dig this quick but important step can prevent injuries avoid property damage and reduce the inconvenience of outages the provincial one call system was created by the Ontario in underground infrastructure notification act which I co-sponsor with my colleague the MPP from Hamilton East only feet the one call system is available Mr. Speaker to take locate request 24 hours a day seven days a week 365 days of the year already Ontario one call is taking over one million requests a year 700,000 by the web and over 300,000 by phone it takes on average five minutes to submit a request whether you do it by telephone or online Ontario one call is very easy to use an effective tool that is offered free of charge it takes a moment at the beginning of a project but it can help avoid big problems down the remote road remember call or click before you did I don't like having my cable cut either further members Davis the member from Brampton Springdale thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker arise today to celebrate the Harvest Festival of the Saki that which is also the founding of the sick community known as the Colsa and the basic sick belief that is represented by the phrase meaning one God sick is almost founded by the 10th guru city guru govind Singh ji in 1699 with the introduction of the punch guitar with five keys that are the five articles of faith that the Colsa six where at all times he prayed for equality truthfulness tolerance honesty brotherhood and respect for all sick is a major world religion which with origins that trace back to the 15th century granonik the AG had initially laid the foundation for a distinct community that started sick is a social revolution and faith faith based on principles of equality and social justice the sick community is based on fundamentals including faith unity and equality for all I personally believe in a valued fundamental of sick ism close to my heart save up engaging in self-service called save up it means selfless service completed as a community as a community action that is done for the goodwill and the benefit of others the concept of save up those more than all more than all of these things it is a true it's very essence of sick ism sick Canadians have lived in Ontario since the middle of the 20th century and represent a growing and dynamic population making significant contributions to the growth and prosperity of Ontario I'm proud to stand before you today as a sick Canadian and recognize the important contributions that sick Canadians have made to Ontario social economic political and cultural fabric April has been chosen as sick heritage month as it holds importance that we celebrate with sake this month provides an opportunity to remember celebrate and educate our future generations and society at a large about sick Canadians and the important role that they play in communities across Ontario the sick nation is a strong vibrant and diverse group and trusted amongst the core of Canada's current political framework this is a testament and to the sacrifice support and outreach of the sick nation thank you Mr. Speaker thank you very much Mr. Speaker today I rise to recognize the first anniversary of the meaning genocide on April the 24th 1915 the Ottoman Empire ordered the systematic massacre of thousands of minions in the historic home lands this ethnic cleansing of a minions during World War one is recognized as the first genocide of the 20th century recently Pope Francis referred to the meaning genocide as one of the three massive and unprecedented tragedies of the last century Canada has always taken an active role in supporting and meaning people during World War one Sarah Corny and Nova Scholar nurse helped to rescue over 5,000 Armenian orphans Ontario has a long history of supporting and meaning people beginning in 1920s by accepting 109 boys and 40 girls orphaned from the meaning genocide they're known as the Georgetown boys and girls recently to Ontario government except over 10,000 refugees into the province since 2014 the meaning community of Toronto has sponsored approximately 2300 Armenian refugees to Canada this past weekend Mr. Speaker represents from all levels of government attended the annual Armenian genocide commemoration organized by the meaning community centre of Toronto commemoration honour remember both the victims and survivors Mr. Speaker I want to thank that Armenian community for ensuring the memory of meaning genocide is shared with future generations on this annual remembrance we need to renew our resolve to stand united for truth justice and human rights both at home and abroad thank you Mr. Speaker thank you I thank all members for their statements