 Member's statement. The Member for Whitby. Thank you Speaker. The Chair of Government is investing an additional $202 million annually in the provinces homelessness prevention program and Indigenous supportive housing program. Now Speaker, this new funding builds on the Government's investment of nearly $4.4 billion over the past three years to grow and enhance community and supportive housing. As part of this funding the region of Durham will be receiving $18.6 million. This is an increased speaker of more than $7.1 million or about 62% over the last year. Durham Regional Chair John Henry who participated in a recent announcement made by Durham based Government members had just to say. This investment will help fund supportive housing programs, community outreach services and housing focus shelter programs, critical supports that address the needs of Durham region's vulnerable residents. Once again Speaker, Durham based Government MPPs standing up for residents in the region of Durham. Thank you Speaker. Thank you. Next Member's statement. The Member for Spadina, Fort York. Thank you Madam Speaker. The Ontario NDP Leader and I share the honour of representing Little Portugal in our writings. And this year the Portuguese Canadian community is celebrating the 70th year of immigration to Canada. On May 13th, 1953 the first Portuguese pioneers arrived in Canada from the Azores. In the 70 years since that first journey the dependence of those first pioneers have gone on to achieve greatness, building a strong and diverse Canada that Portuguese Canadians proudly call home. The future organizing committee of community leaders has been working hard for it to organize a year-long program to honour Portuguese pioneers. I would like to thank Matthew Correa for inviting me to the first event a celebratory luncheon last Sunday benefiting the Magellan Community Foundation. And I'd also like to thank Manuel Dacosta who is chairing the foundation to build a long-term care home for Portuguese seniors. This coming weekend on Saturday May 13th is the Canadian Portuguese Walk of Fame induction ceremony followed shortly afterward by the unveiling of a monument to the Portuguese pioneers. And this coming Sunday joined the Portuguese Festa at Nathan Phillips Square with food, music and performances by international recording artists Pedro Abrunosa and Barbara Banderra. Also coming up the due west festival in Little Portugal organized by Annabella Taborda and the board of the Little Portugal BIA and the highlight of the year is always the third will be this year's 35th annual That's 90 seconds. Thank you very much. Next member statement. The member for Thank you and good morning Madam Speaker. I want to take the opportunity this morning to recognize the work and the value volunteers bring to our communities. They make our communities stronger, more vibrant and more caring. The fact that volunteers offer their time and skills to support others is a testament to their kindness and their compassion. They give up themselves and don't expect anything in return. Let me speak for a moment about an amazing volunteer organization in my riding of Flambrough Glenbrook and that is the Rotary Club of Flambrough. This organization supports dozens of causes in the watered down Flambrough area. Everything from scholarships for students to Christmas baskets for seniors. This past weekend I spoke at the Rotary Club's Family Fund Run where all the funds raised supported food for kids in Flambrough. The Rotary Organization and so many other service clubs are made up of selfless volunteers. I also want to encourage the many organizations that benefit from the hard work of their volunteers to nominate all individuals in their communities for an Ontario Service Award to acknowledge those who go above and beyond for the service of others. And I want to offer my sincere gratitude to the tens of thousands of volunteers who every day make Ontario a better place to live. Thank you. It's member statement, the member for Ottawa Centre. Thank you speaker. Who makes politics happen? That's a question people often ask. And some folks assume that it's us who are building, arguing over policy, but people who've earned a seat in this place know differently. Behind us are volunteers and donors, families and friends. We may often get the limelight, but those are the folks speaker that build the stage. And my friend Don Smith who we lost last week before his 80th birthday, this guy's speaker was a first class stage building. But for me, he was a man of mystery because he rarely talked about himself. But Don was a guy who in his life had been a journalist, a city councillor in the great city of Thunder Bay and a long time assistant to a federal member of parliament. He was a guy focused on making relationships better. He was there for two life partners who died from degenerative diseases. He was loyal to them and he was loyal to all of us. And he was also fun. Don liked to square dance in waltz. He lived by a policy of eating a piece of chocolate a day and he was very active in his local towns and co-op. I will never forget Don. They rarely make people like him. But all of us know people like this in our community. So I want to today salute Don Smith to a life well lived, to a community well served. New Democrats are going to be remembering Don this Friday at 4.64 Metcalf Street at 6pm. If you know Don and you have a story to share come break red with us. Let's remember this extraordinary man and this extraordinary life. Rest in power my friend. Thank you. The next member statement, the member for Thorne Hill. Recently I joined minister Mulroney to announce that we are one step closer to getting shovels in the ground on the young north subway extension. The new subway extension is going to bring some much needed relief for not only Thorne Hill but the GTA and York region. Did you know that Thorne Hill was the original transit oriented community? So if we look back as early as the 19th century, Thorne Hill served as a critical juncture for its transportation and was the natural pit stop for travelers moving north. This included American loyalists who were fleeing American invasion during the war of 1812 and in 1885 Toronto's first commuter railway, the Metropolitan Radial Railway York Simcoe was open in Thorne Hill and stopped right there. So as a key stopping point for travelers Thorne Hill became a hub for social and economic activity and I'm so delighted that this historic legacy of Thorne Hill is able to continue through the young north subway extension. This project will undoubtedly bring local economies bolstered bring jobs and eliminate so many of the buses on Yonge Street helping reduce greenhouse emissions and congestion. And as a resident of the original transit oriented community I look forward to the new subway helping the people of Thorne Hill, Richmond Hill and future generations of those in York region. Get where they need to go faster and a more efficient way. Thank you. Thank you. Next member statement, the member for Windsor West. Thank you Speaker. Constituents in Windsor West and across the province are feeling unbearable financial pressure every single day. The cost of everything has gone up and this Conservative government does nothing to reign in corporations that are price gouging Ontarians. Families are feeling it at the grocery store, gas pump, heating bills, auto insurance, housing costs and more. Parents are juggling multiple jobs and still struggle to put food on the table. Kids are going to school hungry. Food bank usage across the province is at a record high and the number of people accessing food banks continues to climb. Recipients of social assistance can't keep up with the sharp rent increases or the cost of putting food on the table. People with disabilities are living far below the poverty line are getting pushed to deeper poverty because of government policy. The Conservatives choose to leave people living in legislated poverty and seniors on fixed incomes can't keep up with rising costs either. They are also increasingly accessing food banks. In Windsor residents are paying some of the highest auto and home insurance rates in the province yet this government won't address postal code discrimination in the insurance industry. Rental housing costs continue to sky rocketing because the Conservatives cut rent control. My constituents deserve a government that works hard to make life easier for them rather than implement policies that make life more difficult. My NDP colleagues and I will continue to fight for Ontarians to fight for better because better is possible. Thank you very much. Member's statements. The Member for Scarborough, Rouge Park. Mr. Speaker, me is the man of genocide remembrance for the Tamil community. As a young boy who survived the 21st century's most brutal genocide it is my honour to rise today to acknowledge Tamil genocide education week which will take place from May 12th to May 18th in Ontario, Canada and across the world. Bill 104 which I introduced in 2019 and was passed unanimously in this legislature in 2021 recognizing and marking the significance of educating of the Tamil genocide. The hype of genocide took place in May 2009 the Muli Waikal massacre. Tragically the Tamil people have faced systematic structural genocide since Sri Lanka's independence and it is still ongoing. Mr. Speaker, the recent events have revealed that the Sri Lankan state's targeted destruction of places of worship and place of significance to Tamil people accounts to cultural genocide. These temples have been family-dating temples to many of my constituents from Scarborough, Rouge Park and across Canada. Mr. Speaker, Tamil Canadians living in Ontario continue to experience the impacts of intergenerational trauma from the genocide making Tamil genocide education week act more important now than ever. On May 18th the Tamil community around the world will come together to commemorate Tamil genocide remembrance day. I encourage everyone to learn about the Tamil genocide and together we can say never again. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Member statements, the member for Sarnia Lampden. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Children in youth and care day in Ontario is just around the corner and I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of young people and their stories and experiences. This year forget-me-not campaign will highlight the stories of young people and their resilience in overcoming obstacles. Children in youth in Ontario's child welfare system deserve to be recognized and celebrated. This campaign is another way to remind local communities and government service providers that young Ontarians deserve to have critical supports in place which is why our government recently invested $170 million over the next few years for youth leading care through the new Ready, Set, Go program. Paper. Children in youth are the future of this great province and this country and we need to ensure that they are equipped with the tools they need to be successful. It is also important to recognize the hard work of all the children they exercise and their staff in particular a special shout out to my local Children's Aid Society of Sarnia Lampden led by their Executive Director Don Sleigel who will be with us later today. As part of the forget-me-not campaign the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Society and Children's Aid Foundation of Canada would like to invite all members to their reception today at 5pm in room 228. I hope to see you all there. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Member statements, the member for Remfrew, Nipissing Pender. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Today is Ontario's fourth annual day of action on litter. The sad reality is we should never have had to have a day of action on litter because littering is entirely preventable. Speaker, litter doesn't happen by accident. It only happens because someone chooses to drop a coffee cup along the sidewalk or toss a pop can out the window as they're traveling along a rural road. It doesn't happen without the conscious decision by someone to do so. Speaker, we can start by taking personal responsibility. Littering is one of those things that you might have already guessed I despise deeply. It's something that as little children we were taught not to do and something my wife Vicki and I have passed on to our children. I recall many times when our children would come home from school with candy wrappers in their pockets because the last thing they were going to do was drop that wrapper on the ground. Speaker, litter is not only a visible blight on this beautiful land we've been blessed with. It is very harmful to our environment and dangerous for pets that may consume it. However, it is gratifying to see concerted community efforts and litter pickup days all across Ontario this time of year to remove what has been deposited through the winter months. Having said that, it would be much better if it had never found its way onto our landscape at all. We should all make a pledge to take our individual and collective responsibility seriously because Ontario is not only ours to discover, it is ours to keep beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes our member's statements for this morning. Introduction of visitors.