 Members' statements? The Member for Nicobelt. Thank you, Speaker. Although I was a little bit disappointed we did not return to the legislature in September, it did allow me to spend more time in Nicobelt, which I love. I attended the USW Labor Day event, then went to Gogama. Gogama had a big fire. They were asked to declare a state of emergency, but because they were in LSB they were not allowed to do this, and now they're stuck. Also went to Metogamy First Nation. Metogamy First Nations would like to expand, but it is not easy to move the boundaries of a First Nation. Then I took part in the Dona Speed Field rowing event. She's a longtime volunteer with the Northern Water Sports Centre, and then I had the pleasure to attend the Lockerbie Legion, unveiling of their incredibly beautiful new senate tab. Looking forward to Remembrance Day. This is just, just beautiful. I'm also excited to share some upcoming event. Wild and Cross Country will be celebrating the grand opening of their brand new gazebo, which means that you will be able to change and be outside at the same time, makes it way easier with COVID. The opening takes place on Saturday, October 30th at noon, as part of the club ski swap in Open House. There's many activities coming up. The National Coaching Certificate Program, the Ontario Cups, all of this takes place at the Wild and Cross Country Club. If you've never been there, please drop in. It is just beautiful. You love it whether you go biking, snowshoeing or cross country skiing. Come over, Speaker. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the Member for Richmond Hill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We often come across leaders selflessly giving to the community, but they have not been recognized enough. Thanks to Kerry Merck for introducing the Portrait of Off-Giving to honour these leaders. Partnering with York Region, leaders are nominated and selected for awards. They openly recognise with a reception and photographic exhibit to capture each recipient with a personalised portrait and story of selfless giving. 2021 marks 12 years of celebration to the leaders in our community. I am proud for the four recipients from Richmond Hill. Rach Saffey, he received the Lifetime Achievement Distinction. Rach founded the York Region Indian Seniors Club in 2006 and had been working tirelessly in the community. Shannon Godward, she received the Honourable Distinction for Fire Service. Not only does she protect us, she sets a great example through her service. Domainer Elvin Mills received honorary distinction for their dedicated service to seniors. Thank you to our leaders and we are very proud of them. Thank you, Karen, for such a great initiative. It inspires our community. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the Member for Waterloo. Thank you very much. I recently met with the Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario, a provincial not-for-profit organisation that is sounding the alarm on the urgent issues impacting the safety and security of older adults in Ontario. Ontario seniors have experienced new and unimaginable levels of isolation during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, from isolation to neglect to physical abuse and financial fraud. In Ontario alone, EAPO's Senior Safety Line reported a 250% increase in elder abuse calls in 2020, almost 1,000 cases. EAPO has six main calls to action. Apply an elder abuse prevention lens and invest in prevention strategies when fixing elder care and they would like to see their pre-pandemic funding reinstated. Protect the financial well-being and fraud prevention for older adults in Ontario. Support a network of regional and local elder abuse prevention. Demand a seniors' care transfer from the federal government. Achieve funding stability to support programming for elder abuse prevention. And enhance accountability by naming a provincial advocate or ombudsman that reports directly to the legislature. Of note, our colleague in Kitchener Centre has introduced legislation that would create a seniors' advocate who would be an independent officer in the legislature to fulfil this call to action. I hope that all members of this legislature will listen to these important calls to action and work together to address the rapid rise in incidents of elder abuse across Ontario. And I would like to sincerely thank the elder abuse prevention in Ontario group for doing important work to keep elders safe. Thank you. Member Statements, the Member for Carleton. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, communities such as Finlay Creek and Sitzville are rapidly developing in my riding of Carleton. Currently, Catholic students in Finlay Creek are being bused to schools and surrounding areas because there's no Catholic elementary school in the community. Ecole secondaire, Catholic school. This school stands out for their sports, arts and business dreams. CIEL creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership opens doors for students to adapt and develop in a fast-paced changing world. A goal of mine is to see more schools built in Carleton in order to support the growing population of young families. Building the first Catholic elementary school in Finlay Creek and expanding Ecole secondaire, Catholic, Paul de Marais would alleviate the pressure on the surrounding schools in these communities. On October 5th, I released two petitions. The first petition is for our government to approve funding to build the first Catholic elementary school in Finlay Creek. The second petition is for the approval to fund a critical student expansion of secondaire, Catholic, Paul de Marais in Stitsfeld. One of the reasons I ran for office is because I wanted to see more schools built in Carleton. I have already successfully secured funding to build four brand new schools. I've had several meetings with the school boards and with the minister to discuss the need for schools to support an expanding student population. I encourage everyone to visit my website and sign these petitions at goldiempp.ca. Thank you. Member statements? The member for Timmons. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. We will all know as members of this assembly, small businesses across this province have been really having a hard time adjusting to what's happened in this pandemic. It's been tough for them on all kinds of levels and that has really taken a toll on their bottom line. That's why we under Andrew Horvath and New Democrats have been calling on this government in order to increase the amount of funding available to the small business community so that they're able to adjust to what's happened to them. Some of them have had to take on additional expense as a result of screening, which is a good thing. Businesses in my community, as yours, understand why this is necessary, but there is a certain amount of cost associated to it and their traffic is down. They don't have the amount of business that they had before, especially with some of the limits that have been imposed on them. So that's why the Chamber of Commerce of the City of Timmons has been asking us to ask the government in order to be able to increase the funding available to small businesses. These businesses are the backbone to our community. I think we all understand that and we need to make sure that we provide them with the support that's necessary to allow them to get through this particular phase of the pandemic. Hopefully we're going to be out of this in a not too distant future, but we want to make sure when we come out on the other side that the members of the Timmons Chamber of Commerce, those small businesses in our town that work so hard are going to be there in order to benefit from the rebound that will happen at the end of this pandemic. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements. The Member for York Centre. Thank you, Speaker. What's happening in the province of Ontario and Canada and what's been happening for the last 19 months is unthinkable. Nurses, first responders and workers from every field are being fired for refusing to undergo a medical procedure. The government is dictating how many people we may host at our homes and which customers we may or may not serve in our businesses. We're forced to show ideas, scan a QR code to sit down for a bowl of soup at Tim Hortons. I submit that if government subjects us to these extreme measures then we must insist that it does so on a basis of a fair narrative. COVID is very serious respiratory virus. It can be very dangerous to some folks, mainly those with serious comorbidities, particularly diabetes. COVID is real and serious, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't objectively look at the data and craft public policy that's based on a fair narrative. On October 15th, Statistics Canada published its COVID Excess Mortality Analysis for 2020. Over 80% of COVID related deaths were in long-term care homes, where on average, statistically, residents are in their last year of life. 90% of deaths between March to July 2020 were among patients with at least one serious pre-existing condition, mostly dementia. Every death is tragic and every life is precious, but it doesn't mean that we should redesign our lives and bodily autonomy, privacy, and mobility when we know where the risk is. Government must protect long-term care homes and build hospital capacity, but end the alarmism, end the fear-mongering, and end the false narrative. I'm asking the government, own up to the narrative, leave Ontarians alone, and end this nightmare. The next member's statement. The member for Stormont-Dundas, South Glen-Gerry. Thank you, Speaker. We have everyone here to join us in celebrating Ontario Dental Hygienist Week, which runs next week from October 17th to the 23rd. The growing evidence linking oral health to overall health highlights the importance of access to oral health, including regular dental and dental hygiene check-ups. Dental hygienists have a distinctive clinical role in preventing gum disease and tooth decay, making a significant contribution to a person's well-being and overall health. Dental hygienists not only clean teeth, but they provide professional assessments that include oral cancer screening, treatment planning, individual oral care evaluations, customized preventative home care programs, and lastly they offer advice on other health areas such as nutrition and smoking cessation. As regulated healthcare professionals, dental hygienists follow stringent rules and standards set by the regulatory college, ensuring the public service receives safe and ongoing comprehensive oral care at all times, including during a pandemic. The Ontario Dental Hygienist Association supports oral health care initiatives provided by the Ontario government, including the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program, which ensures Ontarians in need of support have access to oral health care services. Again, I want to wish the Ontario Dental Hygienist all the best during Ontario Dental Hygiene Week, and thank them for all their valuable contribution to the health care system in Ontario. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the Member for Essex. Thank you very much, Speaker. As members would know, October is Community Support Month in the province of Ontario. Community support centres support over 1 million Ontarians each year, including seniors and people with disabilities. They help clients live independently in their own homes and communities for as long as possible, and reduce the burden of families, family caregivers, and the burden on our health care system. Speaker, as Ontario's population ages, community support services will become even more important. So it is my honour today to give a real big shout-out to the Essex Community Service Centre, led by my good friend Tracy Bailey, incredible leadership there. Also, Denise Cassidy, who has pivoted the organisation through COVID to provide virtual care and support for residents. Samantha Hughes, who is the CareLink coordinator. Carly Wood, who is changing lives with diabetic foot care, giving people freedom and comfort. And Murray Tofflemeyer, who is the landlord of the facility, but is also an incredible corporate sponsor, has made incredible donations to the Community Support Centre. There are also over 300 volunteers that on a weekly, annual basis, donate their time and volunteer their time to make that organisation work. Speaker, we are so better off for having the Community Support Centre in Lakeshore and Essex County, and I know across the province and members' communities too as well. We want to recognise them all today, give them a great big thank you, and thanks for making our communities better and healthier place today. Thank you very much. Member Statements. The Member for Berry Innisfil. Thank you, Speaker. October marks Small Business Week, and this government from day one has always had the backs of small businesses. We started off by lowering the small business tax, and we went on to support these businesses during the global pandemic with programmes like the Small Business Grant and, of course, the Digital Main Street. And I just heard over this past week when I talked to Kevin Guy from the first aid in CPR training who benefited from the Digital Main Street programme, and I also want to thank him for all his work and all the things that he's doing in his business. Our downtown businesses via the BIA, Downtown BIA, have also benefited from the Digital Main Street programme. But this is also a week to commemorate the great entrepreneurship that is our communities, and I'm so honoured to live in a represented community that is so dedicated to supporting our entrepreneurs. In fact, Berry is home to the Accelerate Summit, which is Central Ontario's premier business event to attract hundreds and thousands of entrepreneurs. This year, it's the 8th annual virtual Accelerate Summit. It's being run by Georgian's Henry Burnick Entrepreneurship Centre. So thank you, Sarah Betham, for all your work on that summit. And it's done in partnership with InvestBerry, which is co-sponsored by Small Business Centre, GrowVantage, South Georgian Bay Small Business Entrepreneurship Centre, Berry Chamber of Commerce, and InvestBerry, and Invest InnisfillingU. Speaker, this is really an example of the great might that is our small businesses in Berry. And so this week, if you can, please support your small businesses, whether it's Deb and Ralph at Forka Plate, Rob Saunders at Cove Café, whether it's Wild Wings and Berry, or Jennifer Dwyer at the House Skrill. Please support your small businesses. Thank you. Member Statements. Member for Perth Wellington. Thank you, Speaker. Meredith Snyder was a long-time Perth County Councillor and former Perth County warden. He passed in June of this year. Myrt was a lifelong resident of the Wallace Ward in North Perth, where he owned and operated a family farm. He truly was a dedicated and hard-working family man, farmer, and public servant. In fact, his time as an elected official spent 39 years. He served on municipal councils, including 10 as Wallace Township Reeve, 18 as Perth County Councillor, and two as Perth County warden. I sat next to him during my time on North Perth Council. Myrt knew the importance of rural life. He knew firsthand how farmers contribute to Ontario's nutritional and economic well-being. It's no wonder that he was the champion of the agricultural sector. He demonstrated his commitment by serving on the Palmerston Agriculture Society, the Perth County Beef Farmers, and as an advisory councillor with the Ontario Cattlemen's Association. Residents of Perth County and those in the agriculture sector could not have asked for anyone more committed to their community. He represented them well. I wanted to extend our condolences to his family and all those who knew him and worked with him. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. That concludes our member's statements for this morning.