 Member statements? I recognize the Member for Niagara West. Niagara is a housing crisis and our government is taking full bold action to fix this. We're considering every possible option to get more homes built faster so that young families and newcomers in Niagara can find a home that meets their needs and their budget. Last year the people of Ontario reelected a PC government under the leadership of Premier Doug Ford with a mandate to get 1.5 million homes built over the next 10 years. And as hundreds of thousands of newcomers a year arrive in our province, we need to take action to ensure that there are homes being built for them and for all Ontarians. Bill 23 addresses Ontario's housing supply crisis. Those who say no to Bill 23 and building the new homes needed in our province must recognize the harmful cost of their opposition. The social harm of abandoning the future generations and millions of new Canadians to a housing crisis which has already impacted the social determinants of health like poverty, stability and mental health is something that we cannot accept. Bill 23 takes transformational action to solve the housing crisis. It gives young families and new Canadians the hope to achieve the dream of home ownership. It helps local charities and community organizations build affordable and not-for-profit housing by reducing development charges for these crucial builds. Speaker, our government is going to continue standing up for every young family in Ontario and Niagara hoping to get into the housing market. We're building more homes, creating more housing opportunities and ensuring every newcomer in young family in Ontario and Niagara can realize the dream of home ownership. Thank you. Member Statements, a member from London West. Thank you Speaker. Carol Brousseau is a retired London West senior who lives with her adult son on ODSP. They are one of many London West families struggling to afford skyrocketing natural gas bills. Carol doesn't know how she will afford to heat her home and worries she may have to leave retirement and find a job to avoid her utilities being cut off. Families like Carols are facing an affordability crisis like never before but this Premier seems more intent on allowing mega mansions to be built on the green belt than in helping people afford basic necessities like food, housing and utilities. This Premier's rubber stamping of gas rate increases has meant a doubling of Enbridge gas prices in the last two years and left families at the mercy of price gouging energy companies and volatile energy markets. The NDP stands with Ontarians in calling for immediate relief from the rising cost of natural gas. The government should be providing financial assistance to help people struggling to heat their homes. They should be bringing back and expanding rent control. They should be doubling social assistance rates. They should be taking on greedy corporations that are using the guise of inflation to gouge and they should be funding aggressive energy conservation programs that will help people stay warm and comfortable while cutting back on use. Will we see these measures in this year's provincial budget? Speaker, Londoners like Carol will be watching. Very much. The next member's statement, the member for Perth Wellington. Thank you, Speaker. It's my pleasure to rise in this place to recognize the Wellington Heights Seniors Girls volleyball team. For the first time in their history, the Seniors Girls volleyball team captured the District 4 championship. After losing the first set of the semifinal match against Norwell, the Wolverines battled back, taking the next three straight sets to win. They would go on to beat Westside Secondary in the final to take the District 4 Seniors Girls volleyball championship and earn a spot at the Kawasa Tournament. It's Monday morning. Kawasa, they made it all the way to the semifinals before losing a hard fought battle with Delhi District Secondary School. Ultimately placing third in the tournament. I want to personally congratulate the entire team on winning the District 4 Seniors Girls volleyball championship and making history. You should all be very proud of each other and your accomplishments and your showing at Kawasa. Thank you to Coach Kuhnsfeld and Coach Bernard for your supporting this amazing team on their journey. And thank you to the entire community for cheering on your Wolverines. Go Wolverines! Member Statements, the member for Hamilton West, Ancaster Dunbass. Thank you, Speaker. After two years of virtual campaigns, the Ancaster community food drive was back and better than ever. The food drive celebrated its 30 plus one year anniversary this past Saturday and the snowstorm did not slow anyone down. A community of more than 400 volunteers went door to door to collect donations and return to the Ancaster fairgrounds where a mountain of food was weighed, sorted and packed. The food was then loaded onto trucks to deliver to those fantastic agencies who provide emergency food services to the families and the most vulnerable in our community. Ancaster community services, Good Shepherd Centre, Hamilton Food Chair, Mission Services of Hamilton, Neighbor to Neighbor, St. Matthews House, the Salvation Army and Wesley Urban Ministries. We thank you for your service. It was a pleasure to be there with many, many volunteers, local businesses, service clubs, schools including players from the Ancaster Avalanche minor hockey team. And kudos once again to Jim Lopresti, Tom Ippolito, Jen Lucas, Betty Kobayashi and all the members of the community food drive committee. We know that the most wonderful magic happens when volunteers come together. It is the power of many hands uniting in a single purpose. And despite the significant snowfall, a collective effort brought the total food collected over the 31 years to 1,970,000 pounds. And we can count that the same time next year, the Ancaster Community Food Drive will hit their next milestone, which will be 2 million pounds of food donated. Thank you very much for your work. Member Statements, the member for Cambridge. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning I want to share with you a story about my riding. The city of Cambridge, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The city of Cambridge was established on January 1, 1973, when the former communities of Galt, Preston, Hesbler and Blair were amalgamated. Together we have grown to become one big caring city and community, along with some lifelong residents like myself clinging to our municipal roots. Yes, I am from Cambridge, but if you ask me I'll tell you I'm from Galt. And it's the same with people from Hesbler and Blair and Preston. It's constant and often comical theme of conversations that are still held to this day. Yes, 50 years later we still take pride in the geographical part of our city of what we grew up in. But we've come together to become a prosperous city with rich architectural heritage, walking trails that the envy of visitors and countless arts and cultural celebrations. Cambridge is one of the fastest growing and strongest economies in Canada. I am proud to say it is a popular destination for film productions such as Bitten, Murdoch Mysteries, The Handmaiden's Tale, and it's not uncommon to see film crews and well-known actors milling around one of the three downtown corridors, while fans line the streets for a glimpse of excitement. The 50th birthday celebration for Cambridge kicked off a winter levy at the City Hall last month that will continue throughout the year with art exhibitions, public events, photography contests, and restaurant promotions. If you haven't been to Cambridge, it's time you did. You'll be glad you did. Happy birthday, Cambridge. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Statements and Member for St. Catherine's. Thank you, Speaker. I rise today to commemorate International Women's Day. While there will be time to reflect on accomplishments of women, I want to make sure that we are all laser-focused on women's safety and women's health, especially as the provincial budget will be coming forward in a few weeks. I call on the members of this Chamber to press for real action to ensure women are prioritized in this budget. We are seven months removed from the Renfrew County inquest, which made 86 recommendations to the province to ensure we protect women and children against violence and femicide. Over half of those recommendations are without provincial response. Ontario can do better. We all know rising inflation and interest rates mean more gendered implications on quality of life, well-being and access to basic needs. Almost a year ago, my colleague responded to this by proposing that Ontario should offer universal contraception for women. Something British Columbia announced they will be doing in this year's budget. Ontario can do better. We can make a difference for women through this budget, ensuring the organisations that work to keep them safe are funded and women get the support they need. I would like to see us celebrate women's this week, not by looking backwards, but looking forward, by working together to ensure we create a budget in Ontario that makes women's health an economic priority. Thank you. Member Statements. The Member for Carlton. Mr Speaker, on Saturday, February 25th, I was pleased to host a farmer appreciation breakfast at the Richmond Memorial Community Centre in my riding of Carlton to recognise the hard work that farmers do in my riding to contribute to Ontario's success. Farmers feed families, farmers feed Ontario, and Carlton is home to some of our province's best. I was also pleased to host the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to the riding and discuss what our government is doing to get it done for farmers in Carlton and across Ontario. With the release of the Grow Ontario strategy, our government is strengthening the agri-food sector and ensuring an efficient, reliable, and responsible food supply network through new innovation. Our plan will also increase both the consumption and production of food grown and prepared in Ontario by 30%. Increase Ontario's food and beverage manufacturing GDP by 10% and boost Ontario's agri-food exports 8% annually by 2032. Moreover, just last week, our government negotiated a sustainable Canadian agricultural partnership for Ontario that will see upwards of $1.77 billion in support for the agri-food sector over the life of the agreement. Over 569 million will be invested in strategic initiatives, which is a 25% increase over the previous funding agreement. Mr. Speaker, our farmers play an invaluable role in this province. They are the reliable providers of so many different, safe, high-quality, and delicious foods that we all enjoy. Let's give our thanks to the hard-working farmers at Carlton and across this province. Thank you very much. Next Member's statement, the Member for Ottawa, Vanier. It is the month of Francophonie, and this week I had the opportunity to meet with an assembly of international women. Last week, I had the opportunity to work within a framework that was putting together two themes, Francophonie and women. It was actually a very interesting experience to be able to represent Ontario in this conference, where many countries like Ivory Coast, Niger, Romania, France, Belgium, New Caledonia, and Morocco, which was actually the host of this meeting. The very in-depth discussions that we had were actually very interesting and were about harassment, sex discrimination, gender discrimination, and the place of women within Parliament. Unfortunately, this is a reality everywhere in the world, and everywhere there are problems. Two weeks ago, actually, this assembly has voted for a bill, which was bill 41, which was adopted, and which is actually a bill that is aimed at helping women which are subject to discrimination and to problems. I hope all members of this assembly will do everything they can to be able to help this bill go forward. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Mr Saga, Erin Mills. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. On January 29th, Mr Saga residents and Ontarians throughout the province were devastated to learn the passing of our beloved former Mayor, Hazel MacKillian. She was a selfless and humble public servant, a fearless leader, a wise mentor, and a good friend to me. Mr Speaker, when Hazel MacKillian was elected Mayor in 1978, the vast majority of our writing of Erin Mills was farmland. Over the subsequent 36 years, the great hurricane Hazel oversaw a mass transformation of the city of Mississauga. She built homes and hospitals. She supported businesses and local communities, and as a member of the Coptic and Egyptian community, I would like to thank her for her tremendous support to all communities in Mississauga, and she never gave up on her vision for a bigger and better city. Even during her last weeks, Hazel MacKillian was fierce advocate for Ontarians, publicly supporting this government housing plan. On Thursday, I attended an announcement at Carded Valley Hospital in my writing the same hospital that Hazel opened in 1985. We were there to celebrate $75 million donation. Thank you to Blair Walk and the Orlando Corporation for supporting our vision of an accessible healthcare system. Mr Speaker, we owe it to the Mayor MacKillian Legacy to continue following her footsteps, investing in transit infrastructure such as Hazel MacKillian like, supporting the construction of more homes, attracting investments and businesses, and taking meaningful action to make life easier and more affordable to all Ontarians. On behalf of my constituency and some Saga-Erin Mills, I would like to thank the late Hazel MacKillian for her enduring services to our community and her family for sharing her with us. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Member for Simcoe Gray. Good morning, and thank you, Speaker. On February 28th, we celebrated Rare Disease Day in Ontario and internationally, and I want to recognize two hardworking constituents from my writing of Simcoe Gray, Beth and Maddie Vanstone from Beaton, Ontario. For over 10 years, Vanstones have been coming to Queen's Park advocating for people living with cystic fibrosis. Through their dedication, perseverance, and advocacy, our government was the first province in Canada to expand coverage for trikafta to include all Ontarians aged six and over through our publicly funded medical drug program. This transformational medication has built on the effectiveness of predecessor medications, our Canva and Colodeco, to improve the quality, health, and length of the lives of people afflicted with cystic fibrosis right here in Ontario. One in every 3,600 children born in Canada has cystic fibrosis, and there is still no cure. More than 4,300 Canadian children, youth and adults with cystic fibrosis attend specialized CF clinics today. I was happy to meet with Vanstone's last week with Rare Disease Day to discuss the need for a rare disease strategy in Ontario. I recognize there is more work to do, and I look forward to continuing working with Beth and Maddie and other stakeholders and the members of this House to ensure that light-staving medications for rare diseases are available to all Ontarians. Thank you. Thank you. Once again, I'll remind members that statements are to be 90 seconds in length.