 It is now time for Member Statements and I recognize the Member for Toronto St. Paul's. Thank you Speaker, I am honoured to rise today on behalf of Toronto St. Paul's. I want to say thank you to all of our essential workers, all of our healthcare workers who have been doing the best job they can, a good job under very very strange circumstances. I want to speak particularly today about our small businesses in St. Paul's. I'm thinking Little Jamaica, Oakwood and Vaughan, St. Clair West, Young and Eglinton. Mr Speaker, our businesses are, they are crying for help, they are desperate for help from this provincial government. I'm hearing from owner after owner, entrepreneur, women business owners, black business owners that the federal program is just not working. And what they need is rent relief, you know, they need direct support, St. Paul's, we need direct support to our small businesses, not necessarily loans and deferrals. Those may help a bit, but they're certainly not helping the majority of folks who need help. We also want to say as NDP, official opposition, as the black caucus that it is crucial that our black business owners be at the table. And we support the call for a black economic and community leadership network. And we hope that's something that your government will implement. Thank you. Thank you. Member Stavins, the member for Willowdale. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. It's an honour to rise in the House today, especially given the extraordinary challenges we face. And we should all remember what a privilege it is to represent the voices of those in our communities. This morning, Speaker, I want to take a moment to recognise volunteers in my community who are joining the fight against COVID-19. As members of this House will remember, Willowdale suffered a terrible attack on Young Street in April of 2018. In the aftermath of that tragedy, a group of neighbours formed a group called We Love Willowdale, a volunteer organisation to support the victims and their families and help bring the community together to heal. In the face of this pandemic, We Love Willowdale has launched the Willowdale COVID Response Network, a group of 80 volunteers and counting who grocery shop for seniors, drop off medication and other essentials for those in need, or simply provide a friendly, comforting voice on the phone to those feeling lonely and isolated. The group recently took a call from an elderly lady who was in tears because she was too scared to go to the grocery store. When talking to this neighbour, the volunteers discovered that what she really needed was food bank support. Within the hour, volunteers had donated items from their very own kitchens, Mr Speaker, for immediate delivery and connected her with the support she needs going forward. These neighbours, helping neighbours, are one of the many reasons I'm so proud to represent the people of Willowdale. I'm inspired every day by their compassion, their selflessness and their continued strength to come together in the community when it's needed most. We must all, too, come together to fight this pandemic, fight for our communities. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you. Member Statements, the Member for Kingston and the Islands. On April 3rd, the government suspended parts of Ontario's environmental Bill of Rights. Although the COVID-19 pandemic must merit a robust response, it doesn't warrant undermining Ontario's, Ontario's ability to engage safely. The suspension is an unnecessary overreach that undermines accountability. Projects and decisions that are environmentally harmful may now be pushed through without notice, even if they are not related to COVID-19. This is far reaching. It exempts any steps, including making or revoking environmental laws from public scrutiny. It exempts ministries from having to consider the environmental impacts of their decisions. And for the duration of the suspension, Ontario residents, including Indigenous communities, have no way to participate in decisions that affect their well-being. And worst of all, Speaker, it is unnecessary. The ERB already contained the tools to allow for a robust response to COVID-19. In it, it said, if in the minister's opinion, sections on consultation need not apply if the delay in giving notice to the public and allowing time for public response or in considering the responses will result in danger to the safety or health of any person, harm or serious risk of harm to the environment, or injury or damage or serious risk of injury or damage to any property. But suspending the consultations could cause this exact harm to Ontarians. Why didn't the government simply invoke the exemptions built into the bill? Thank you. Member Statements, the member for Milton. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during this COVID-19, Milton has demonstrated once again that we care for and look out for one another. Speaker, our community with the help of Milton Chamber of Commerce immediately went to work by creating a micro PPP online portal which matches non-medical PPE suppliers with frontline workers who need it the most. Milton organized thousands drop-off of food hampers through meals on meals and haltings food for thought. We organized more volunteers to pick up prescription and groceries for our seniors, Mr. Speaker. One of my constituents, Ryan, got right to work at the beginning by purchasing a number of 3D printers, installed them in his house and started printing, Mr. Speaker. In the first 30 days of printing, Ryan and his team made over 2,000 face shields and almost 4,000 ear savers. These were delivered to 26 different hospitals, long-term care facilities, EMS workers and other frontline workers. Well done, Ryan. Speaker, our town of Milton has been one of the fastest growing communities for a number of years, adding on average 5,000 homes each year, Mr. Speaker. It's times like this that we demonstrate that while our population is growing fast, our sensitive community continues to grow even faster. Well done, Milton, we're all in this together and together we will beat it. Thank you, Member Statements, Member for University Rosedale. Thank you, Speaker. COVID-19 has spread through the homeless shelters, retirement homes and long-term care homes of my riding of University Rosedale. Our most vulnerable have been hit worst and first. Monchong Retirement Home for the Age at 97 Darcy Street has been the hardest hit. I talked to Helen Lee, Chair of Monchong's Family Council in April 20. She was frantic. Her grandmother, Foon Hailem, lived in Monchong and she was scared for her life because she had contracted COVID-19. Helen described the dire situation in Monchong of the 49 residents who'd tested positive and the 12 people who had already died. She told me of the staff shortages because Monchong had already lost 80% of its staff and how in some evenings there were just two workers who were servicing the entire building. She told me of Monchong's repeated requests from the Ministry for Personal Protective Equipment because there were shortages. Foon Hailem died of COVID-19 on Friday evening on April 24. Foon Hailem was a leading advocate for Chinese Canadians. She fought for reparations for the 81,000 Chinese Canadians who were impacted by the Exclusion Act and the $500 head tax that kept her apart from her family for 33 years until 1959. After 20 years of activism, Foon Hailem secured an apology from Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister in 2006. Foon Hailem, thank you for what you've given our city and our country. Your legacy is recognized. Your work will be remembered. Member Stevens, the member for Lanark Frontenac Kingston. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, both in this House and publicly, I have commended to government House Leader and the Premier for their collaboration working with opposition members and independents to find a way forward through these challenging times. The state of emergency was put in place as a temporary measure and gave the executive branch the authority to address the pandemic while this House was going into recess and we were surrounded with uncertainty. Those circumstances have changed. The members of this House were elected to be decision makers and to represent their constituents. The time has come to return to that. Continuing under the state of emergency is unwarranted while the House is in session and able to meet, discuss and debate the many important decisions that we have been called upon to make. Sir John A. MacDonald once said, Parliament is a grand inquest with the right to inquire into anything and everything. It's time we return to that spirit, one of inquiry, discussion and accountability. Speaker, it's time for the government to end the broad and universal and unilateral powers we granted the executive in March under the state of emergency and allow this House to make decisions in the spirit of collaboration and healthy debate as is intended in a free society. Thank you. Thank you very much, Member Statements, the Member for Kitchener, Conestoga. Thank you, Speaker. It's a pleasure to see you and also my colleagues here in the House today. It's nice to be back here working together. Like many of you, I've spent countless hours speaking with constituents and businesses about the unique struggles they're facing due to COVID-19. And my message to them is that the province will stop at nothing to get them through these tough times. This crisis has proven that when we work together, the Ontario spirit prevails. This is definitely true in Waterloo Region where people have gone above and beyond help. From local restaurants like Never Enough Time in Elmira delivering meals for our frontline healthcare heroes to the volunteers picking up essentials for seniors, our sense of community has grown stronger in the face of this crisis. I'm inspired by the dozens of local businesses that have answered the call to help. Distilleries like Murphy's Law have retooled their production to make hand sanitizer. St. Jacobs Quilt Company is sowing gowns for healthcare workers across Southern Ontario. And companies who specialize in 3D printing are manufacturing face shields, including Kitchener's InkSmith, whose Canadian shield has been shipped to hospitals across the province. And to the people who continue to practice physical distancing every day, thank you for doing your part to stop the spread of COVID-19. If we continue to work together and show our Ontario spirit, I know we will emerge from this crisis stronger than ever. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member for Hamilton West and Caster Dunnus. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all know that we are going through an unprecedented health crisis, but we're also going through an economic crisis that none of us has seen in our lifetime. We're seeing devastating job loss and unemployment levels we've never heard of. And unfortunately, we're learning a lot of hard lessons. Many of the fault lines, the shortcomings of our economy are coming to the surface. And these are problems that we can never turn away from again. We could never again turn away from how our seniors are being treated in long-term care and how our PSWs who care for them now have part-time jobs, minimum wage and no benefits. And we also now see that grocery store workers, the staff that work in not-for-profits, these are our frontline workers, these are our unsung heroes. We've seen recent job numbers that are staggering and we've also seen how these job numbers are not impacting us all equally. Women bear the brunt of these job losses and members of the racialized community as well. So now that we see how our economy has treated Ontarians unequally, let's not go back there. Let's do better. Let's never again treat our seniors like profit centers. Let's recognize frontline workers with decent job, decent pay and benefits and let's ensure that protecting our environment is that central piece of our economic recovery. Let's build a new economy that doesn't leave anyone behind. And so Mr. Speaker, I can't think of a more poignant time to remind everyone of the inspiration and the vision of Tommy Douglas when he encouraged all of us by saying, courage, my friends, it's not too late to build a better world. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member Stavens, the member for Barry and Isidore. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today is the first Provincial Day of Action on litter in Ontario. It's a historic day, Mr. Speaker. This is a day to bring attention to the impacts of waste in our community and to find practical ways that we can take action to prevent, reduce and divert waste at home and in our daily lives. And as we continue to fight the spread of COVID-19, we are seeing firsthand the difference that individual actions can take. We're all in this together and we all can take actions in our own hands. And we've seen how it all starts at home in our individual communities and the roles that we can take to make a difference. So when you're shopping around for your essential goods, things like protective masks or gloves, remember, please do not litter them. I've heard from countless community members and store owners that their parking lots and their communities are now covered with these supplies. And as we aim to protect ourselves in this pandemic, we also have to remember, we have an environment to protect as well. So today on the Ontario Action on Litter Day, I urge everyone to do something to prevent litter in their communities and in their homes. Of course, we were planning to do a province-wide day today across every single community to pick up litter, but we are going to be delaying this until October. So in the meantime, I encourage you to reach out to your communities and advocate. Do not litter. Thank you. Member Statements, the member for Oakville. Yeah, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And it's a pleasure to be back at the house here today. These are difficult days for Ontario and the world. The COVID-19 pandemic is a unique threat, a challenge we have not seen in recent memory. COVID-19 does not discriminate. It affects everyone regardless of background. Yet there has been an awakened sense of powerful spirit of duty, sacrifice, and volunteerism that unites us all together. During these times, our frontline workers are the true heroes. They include the doctors, nurses, personal support workers, paramedics, law enforcement, grocery workers, truck drivers, and many more. Their personal sacrifice to help our communities is something we cannot forget nor ignore. They are a shining beacon of our collective efforts. I would like to highlight a few examples of individuals and organizations who have stepped up in the Oakville community to help our community. Oakville resident Kathy Butts donated 550 pounds of food for the Kerr Street mission. The Oakville Rotary Club is helping vulnerable students, Returno Italian Restaurant is cooking food for families in need. Film.ca is hosting community collection efforts for food and protective equipment, and Grasshopper Energy has donated thousands of face masks to our Oakville hospital and local health professionals. In addition, I would like to thank the many residents of Oakville who have also stepped up to the plate to support our food banks and frontline workers. This pandemic is a monumental challenge to our province, but I know there is light at the end of the tunnel. Our efforts have been resolute and effective thus far. We are all in this together. Thank you. Thank you very much. I understand the-