 It's time for member statements. I recognize the members of the sector. Thank you, Speaker. Ontario was a world leader when we created our first comprehensive no-fault workers' compensation system, Speaker. However, under WSIB, Ontario covers fewer workplaces than any other province in Canada. Employees who work in group homes, banking and insurance, health care and social assistance, as well as professional, scientific and technical services are not covered by WSIB. This leaves over 1 million workers in Ontario with no WSIB protection in the event of a workplace illness or injury. It's disproportionately impacting women, racialized or marginalized workers. And recently, Speaker, I spoke with Jacqueline Haynes, who's been ringing the bell on this issue for years. Specifically, Jacqueline is fighting for WSIB coverage for developmental service workers. Jacqueline's work was at DSW for over 23 years. DSWs work with vulnerable individuals who have developmental, physical or mental health challenges. It's an extremely important job. And although the job can be satisfying, it comes with a high risk of injury, including repetitive strain injuries and injuries caused by violence. The WSIB operational review report recommends that WSIB and the Conservative government extend mandatory coverage to developmental support workers and those working in residential care facilities. This recommendation should be implemented. The Speaker, it shouldn't stop there. All workers on chair deserve the right to what is fair. 100% of Ontario's workers deserve no fault compensation for workplace injuries, illnesses, and disease. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you very much. Member statements? Member for Flamborough-Glanbrook. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise this morning to congratulate Heddle Shipyards in my hometown of Hamilton on signing a long-term contract with Vancouver-based C-SPAN to manufacture ship components. Over the next decade, Heddle will be C-SPAN's main supplier for ladders, gratings, and handrails for two Navy Joint support ships. All of the ship components will bear the Ontario-made label. The work will create high-skilled, well-paying year-round jobs for Heddles Hamilton, St. Catharines, and Thunder Bay facilities. And it will generate tens of millions of dollars in economic activity. This contract, Mr. Speaker, will create jobs across Ontario's advanced manufacturing supply chain and generate the potential for additional opportunities at Heddle for supplying larger ship modules in the future. This investment is a tremendous opportunity for workers and it will help revitalize the province's shipbuilding industry. It means that Ontario Shipyards will play an increasingly significant role in the national shipbuilding strategy. Mr. Speaker, our Premier has written a letter to the Prime Minister supporting Heddle and C-SPAN's bid to build the Polar Icebreaker, the next flagship for the Canadian Coast Guard. The Heddles Shipyards contract reinforces Hamilton's position as a critical transportation hub sitting at the crossroads of trade and commerce for the province and for the country. It confirms that Ontario has one of the best advanced manufacturing sectors in the world and it proves that the steps our government has taken to make the province more attractive to business and manufacturers like Heddles Shipyards is creating an environment for investment, job creation and economic recovery. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the Member for Oshawa. Thank you, Speaker. I stood in this house not long ago to stand up for provincially significant wetlands and for Duffins Creek, a beautiful but more importantly a vital and necessary wetland in the Durham region. Again, I'm asking this ambitious Premier to stop wrecking the environment, knock it off with the MZOs which allow the Minister to override local planning rules and run roughshod over environmental protections, stop weakening conservation authorities. This government has been inundated with calls to stop their attacks on conservation authorities and attack they snuck into the budget bill 229 and Schedule 6. The provinces Greenbelt Council has asked this government to stop moving on MZOs and to remove Schedule 6. The Canadian Environmental Law Association recommends Schedule 6 be withdrawn and instead recommends that government support conservation authorities. And from a November letter to the Premier sent by the Chiefs of Ontario, Ontario Regional Chief Roseanne Archibald writes, quote, we are all treaty people. Duffins Creek protected wetlands which has been granted a Minister's Zoning Order to fast track development happens to be located within the traditional and treaty lands of the Williams and Pre-Confederation treaties. Granting an MZO to bypass public participation and due process to rezone the Duffins Creek wetland complex would be incredibly short-sighted, undemocratic and an infringement of Section 35 in treaty rights. The increased use of MZOs by this government is a disturbing abuse of power, especially when applied to override environmental protections, end quote. Speaker, voices from across the province are loudly telling this government to stop attacking the lands, the green space, the wetlands and the water. We will never be able to undo the terrible damage this government is hell-bent on doing and their private interest priorities are destroying our province. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the Member for Whitby. Thank you, Speaker. Late last week, the government announced it's providing over $2 million to support Ontario's 47 small business enterprise centres led by the Business Advisory Centre Durham located in Whitby to create a new small business COVID-19 recovery network. This network, Speaker, will enhance the capacity of all SBECs across the province to expand their services, supporting businesses throughout Ontario. Speaker, led by Whitby Theresa Shaver, the Executive Director of the Business Advisory Centre Durham, the network will be one central portal where businesses can access digital tools and training, connect with mentors and industry experts and get information on government programs to help them navigate COVID-19 and beyond. Speaker, throughout this network, up to approximately 100,000 small businesses in Ontario can be reached. Speaker, as you know, small businesses are the backbone of Ontario's economy and they're making extraordinary sacrifices to keep their employees safe, their customers confident and their communities strong like Whitby during this tough time. This new program, located in Whitby, builds on the government's commitment to be in a corner of small businesses and previous actions, including our main street recovery plan. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the Member for Windsor West. Thank you, Speaker. Today, I'd like to speak about Schedule 6, the Bill 229, the Conservative Government's Budget Bill. Many of my constituents have contacted me and government members to express their serious concerns with Schedule 6, which is the latest effort by the forward government to undermine environmental protections in Ontario by weakening the power of conservation authorities to protect our communities from issues like flooding, while favouring private developers. It will narrow the powers of conservation authorities and will allow developers to bypass them by going straight to the Ministry for Approvals to build on a floodplain or pave over a wetland. This is a huge concern for Windsor-Essex region, in particular. Last year, Premier Ford chose to revoke the provincially significant wetland status of the South Cameron Woodlot in my riding in Windsor. Revoking this status opens the door for potential development of 50 acres of the woodlot, a wetland that is critical to flood mitigation. This is despite the fact that before this Premier shuttered the office of the Environmental Commissioner, the Commissioner reported that, quote, even a wetland as small as two hectares can retain water runoff from an area 70 times its size buffering against flooding, end quote. In a region where we have seen devastating flooding numerous times in the last few years, this news came as a shock and raised serious concerns about the disappearance of natural habitats and endangered species. It is this disregard to our environment that my constituents and I are incredibly concerned about and we fear will increase with Schedule 6. I am asking this conservative government to, for once, put aside their deep pocket private developer friends who only care is to make billions, to stand with the families in their communities and mine who cannot afford to lose their homes and belongings to devastating floods sometimes numerous times, stand up for endangered species and natural habitats that are so crucial to the environment and strike out Schedule 6.229. Thank you. Member Statements, member for Glen Gary, Prescott Russell. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since it's one of my last member statements, I would like to thank each one of you in this chamber and all in this building that support in our parliamentary work in the House. It's not obvious since our work is that we have to be here in person and to come and add our constituents and so on. Despite all the stress and the anxiety, I think we worked in a constructive way with real collaboration because in only three months, two of my proposals were passed by the government and so that shows that we can and should continue debating and working together. Contrarians counter on us more than that. On helping people outside this building, our constituents that we often forget that it's the people working in this building that essentially make it all happen. And so I want to thank every single person in this chamber, members, House clerks, interpreters, my most important, security, administration, political staff, the work you do is indispensable at the best of times and now during these extremely challenging times, I truly have no words for how grateful I am. So thank you. You have to do that. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member for Oakville. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and it's an honour to rise today to discuss the importance of shopping local as Christmas and the holiday season approaches we are looking and we're looking for the perfect gift. Shopping local has never been more important than this year. In every part of Ontario, our small businesses have been hit hard by COVID-19 and we need to give back to them. Since they have given so much to our communities. In Oakville, we have tremendous BIAs and local businesses who need our support. Recently, Lakeshore Road in downtown Oakville has been reopened and rejuvenated by the Oakville Town Council with street construction and a streetscaping project. Walking through the downtown Oakville BIA, you can find great businesses like Copsbred, Seasons Oakville and Barrington's. My constituency office is located right in the herd of the Kerr Street Village and I frequent many businesses within that community. In this area, there is Sandwich Society, Justino's Pizza and the Wolbin. Additionally, on December 4th, the Kerr Street BIA will be hosting a virtual tree lighting ceremony which I encourage everyone to attend. My riding is also proud to have the Bronte BIA. In the Bronte BIA, we have great shops and restaurants such as Lakeview Living, Plank, Restro Bar and El Sparrow. These are just a few of the select amazing local businesses that will welcome you in Oakville. Whether you're looking for a great meal, the perfect gift, my riding of Oakville has everything. Small local businesses are often family-owned and they are the backbone of our communities and they need our support this year more than ever. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member Statements. Member for Spadina Fortner. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've been speaking with dozens of business owners over the past couple of weeks and they are wondering why small business owners are bearing the economic brunt of the pandemic. They need more relief measures. Arturo owns the Milago restaurant and Zeeshan, who owns the Non-Inch High restaurants, are incredibly successful entrepreneurs in Tron's very tough restaurant business, but they are struggling. Aaron Binder owns a tour company in the distillery and Louis Christel, who owns the banknote restaurants. They say that Digital Main Street and the $1,000 PPE are not enough and deferring taxes is not helping. It's creating a mountain of debt that business owners can't pay off. They also talked about the unfairness towards small business owners. JM Ghent, the fourth generation owner of Curry's Art Supplies, has a 10,000 square foot store and he's asking why is the government allowing big box stores to open and he can't even have three customers in his massive store. Tony Louie, the president of the Chinatown BIA says they let the big box stores open and make billions of dollars, meanwhile the Main Street businesses can't survive. The conservative and one business owner says the conservative government is forcing the little people out of the game and then the big corporations can have more. It's not only unfair that this government is not providing the supports that these businesses need to survive. If this government continues to let them collapse, we will all suffer because it will take years for our economy to recover. To the government, please listen to these business owners. Don't just provide some support, provide them with what they need to survive the pandemic. Thank you. Thank you, Member Statements, the Member for Mississauga Lakeshore. Thank you, Speaker. A month ago, my private members bill, the Life Settlement and Loan Act passed second reading. For almost a century now, Ontario seniors have been blocked for accessing the fair market value of their life insurance policy. If passed, Bill 219 would modernize Ontario's Insurance Act and give our seniors the same options seniors have for decades in Quebec, Europe, the UK, US and Japan. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has called or written to express their support over the last month. Speaker, this includes Professor Steve Poulver of York University, Peter Martin, a fellow at the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and even Michael Strain, the CEO of Life Insurance Company, the Grand Orange Lodge of British Americas. He's seen many policy holders become stressed financially and the cash to surrender value just isn't enough to really help them. Based on his experience being able to access equity in their life insurance policy that is built up over many decades of premium payments through a well run secondary market would be one of the most consumer friendly options available. On the other hand, to continue to deny consumers access to the valuable asset they funded for years at a time when many of them desperately needed is simply not appropriate. Speaker, I couldn't agree more and I'm looking forward to public hearings on this bill in the early year. Thank you. Thank you very much. The next member statement, the member for Kitchener Contestoga. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to share some exciting news with the seniors in my riding, especially those in Wilmot Township. Our government is moving forward with an expansion of the Nithview Community, a long-term care home in New Hamburg operated by Tri-County Mennonite Homes. This expansion will include 95 new beds and will modernize 97 beds, creating a 192-bed home on the existing campus of care. Speaker, we know that the previous government neglected long-term care. In 10 years, they only built, get this, 611 new beds across the entire province, meaning seniors in my riding have been left to languish on growing wait lists. Getting more long-term care beds in Waterloo Region is one of my top priorities and our government has been making progress. In addition to the expansion of the Nithview Community, alongside the member for Kitchener South Hesbler, I announced an additional $41 million for three projects in Waterloo Region. Our government's new funding model, which will get beds built faster, is benefiting Schlagel Villages Winston Park, People Care AR Gowdy, and Cambridge Country Manor. All together, these four projects will bring almost 600 new and upgraded beds to the Region of Waterloo. I'd like to thank our Minister of Long-Term Care for her commitment to ensuring our seniors can get the high-quality care that they deserve closer to their families and loved ones by building 30,000 new long-term care beds over the next 10 years. I hope to have the opportunity to share more good news with my constituents very soon. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you very much. That concludes our member statements. The member for Glen Gary Prescott Russell has informed me she has a point of order she would like to raise at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm seeking unanimous consent that orders for the second and third reading of Bill 236 enacting respective food and beverage delivery fees be immediately called, and the questions now be put without debate and amendment so that there are no further delays and small businesses can get immediate relief from price gouging on delivery fees. Yes. The member for Timmons wishes to speak to the point of order. I recognize the member for Timmons. Mr. Speaker, we would be glad to have a very quick debate at second reading just to put on the records five minutes each party in order to get this into committee and to make sure that this bill actually applies to all businesses in Ontario, and if she could amend it that way, it would be amenable. The member for Glen Gary Prescott Russell is seeking unanimous consent of the House that orders for second and third reading of Bill 236 enact in respect of food and beverage delivery fees be immediately called, and the questions be now put without debate and amendment. Agreed? No. Heard an O. Let's go, five minutes each to set it to committee.