 member statements the member for London West thank you speaker speaker COVID-19 has exposed long-standing systemic problems in Ontario's long-term care homes including the deep reliance on family caregivers to meet residents needs the visitation restrictions have been incredibly difficult for anxious family members and often detrimental to the health of their loved ones the lifting of the restrictions however has raised other concerns among London West constituents and Bigelow wrote that the requirement for a clean COVID test in the last two weeks is just ridiculous if I have no symptoms the test won't say I have the virus and I could just pick it up the next day Tammy Goddard told me her parents were effectively imprisoned since mid-march in their room in a retirement home but we can now take them out bring them back within 12 hours and who knows where we may take them or if I or anyone that sees them wears their mask long-term care home resident Nancy who hasn't seen her family since March 7th said I feel that being 88 years old does not give me too much longer to enjoy my family I'm afraid they will hold off on in-home visits until all the homes are out of quarantine which seems very unfair in this weather I can't go outside because of a bad heart speaker family caregivers deserve visitation guidelines that keep their loved ones safe but that also recognize the essential contribution caregivers make to resident health and well-being thank you speaker thank you member statements the member for Scarborough Rouge Park thank you mr. Speaker throughout these unprecedented times our government has tapped up and shown that it will always fight for and protect the people of Ontario small businesses have been hit the hardest but economic impacts of COVID-19 this is especially true in my riding of Scarborough Rouge Park I recently had the pleasure of hosting a virtual roundtable with small business owners in Scarborough Rouge Park alongside Minister of Finance Rod Phillips and a surprise appearance from Premier Ford we discussed the challenges small businesses are facing and what our government plans to do to help them I also had the opportunity to visit small businesses in Scarborough Rouge Park our local business owners such as Rosa's Pasta Highland Creek Med Spa amigos Fratelli Village Pizzeria River Rows Barbershop and many others are working hard to implement and follow necessary precautions to reopen safely I want to thank the residents of Scarborough Rouge Park in our in for supporting the local businesses in our riding during this difficult time shop local shop safe shop confident thank you member for Brampton Center good morning thank you speaker it's an honor to rise here today speaker on July 6th mayors and chairs from Ontario from across Ontario represented by the Association of municipalities of Ontario the mayors and regional chairs of Ontario and the large urban mayors caucus of Ontario met to discuss the COVID-19 financial emergency municipalities across this province have been hit hard by the pandemic to protect municipal services we need immediate provincial and federal support to cover lost revenue and the additional costs caused by COVID-19 this call for action by Ontario municipalities is part of a national effort led by the Federation of Canadian municipalities to secure at least ten billion dollars in emergency relief for Canadian municipalities to be funded speaker by the federal and provincial governments but yet we have to hear from the federal government and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing on whether he's going to deliver on this commitment speaker time for a commitment is running out now halfway through the budget year municipalities have no choice but to consider plans to budget the balance budget balance their budget sorry by raising property taxes user fees and charges or cutting services difficult conversations about cost savings and reductions are taking place at council meetings across this province supports to children's family and supports reducing or canceling transit services staffing adjustments these are all cuts that are on the table speaker this province needs to step up when will this minister commit to providing the funding that municipalities are in dire need of thank you remember for Mr. Saga Malton thank you mr. speaker mr. speaker some moments leave a deep mark in our life on Saturday the night of June 20th I got a call from mr. Imthiyaj of Malton must is regarding 62 years old mr. Ijar Chaudhary who tragically died in a police-involved incident we all can agree that any death in our community is a tragedy these incidents have shaken the families and my community and it is clear that more needs to be done peal police with CMHA has mobile crisis this rapid response team these teams respond to the emergency calls where mental health concerns are identified and assist individuals in distress a crisis worker with the special trained police officer provide on an on-site assessment to individual experiencing a mental health crisis I can call on the peal police service board for working collaboratively with the government to expand these type of proven successful programs that will support these those experiencing a mental health crisis including the mobile crisis rapid response teams in peal region I want to convey my heartfelt thanks to Malton must it for financially supporting the family Jamal must it for donating ten thousand dollars and to the whole community for coming together and donating over 128 thousand dollars through GoFundMe to support the family these recent tragedies remind us that more work needs to be done and there is an urgent need for a constructive dialogue thank you mr. Speaker thank you the next statement the member for Davenport thank you mr. Speaker today it is a real pleasure to rise to pay tribute to the people community organizations and small businesses in my writing of Davenport who have gone above and beyond to help us get through the COVID-19 pandemic we have had competing mutual aid groups and care pods spring up to organize help street by street Davenport mutual aid Davenport helps and the cluster at West neighborhood house have been connecting people with food supports PPE and running errands an incredible model that I know will be with us long after the virus sistering shifted location and their entire model to serve a population in desperate need and local businesses have stepped up to nosotalio on blue blue or west has provided free groceries to seniors in isolation sugo in Bloordale delivered food to families in crisis it took a Mexican restaurant on st. Clarence awkward served hundreds of free meals free of charge to frontline workers and those who had lost their jobs and when Casa dos Osores heard about six families in need through working women community center they quickly organized a food drive to help them out a brigo center had extra gloves they donated them to the folks at Oasis Community Center speaker these are just a few of the many inspiring stories of compassion and solidarity that have helped us get through this difficult time I am so proud of my community to all of Davenport's pandemic heroes from the frontline health care and essential workers to the neighbors who banged a pot or lent a hand thank you thank you the next statement the member for Glen Gary Prescott Russell thank you mr. President at Glen Gary Prescott Russell we always have things to celebrate and the pandemic is not going to change this on July 1st a hundred twenty-three Canadians received medals from our general governor and I'm very proud to say that many of my many of my of my writers are on the list the captain Jack Gagne received a medal for his volunteering job and for his help for military families Eve Bertrand received the medal for merit for his work with international optimist Jonathan Pitch Denver received the cross for a merit service and his mother also received a medal I'm very proud of them our community are well known as the best places to live in Canada and it's thanks to our people people like Jack Eve's Jonathan and Tina the first time physically and the second time when your name is no longer remembered I want Tina to know that Jonathan Pit will never be forgotten thank you Tina for giving us this precious gift that has touched us all in a very special way our butterfly child thank you mr. President thank you very much the next statement the member for Whitby thank you speaker over the next 12 years Whitby is set to be one of the fastest growing municipalities in Durham region and as a result we need to ensure that supports are in place for everyone in the community to thrive with the plan expansion speaker of the Oshawa Clinic group to Whitby in 2024 Whitby residents will have better access to the right care at the right time and in the right place this new facility speaker will be a one-stop convenience for the majority of non-acute health care needs and open 364 days of the year as the member provincial parliament for Whitby I'm proud that this clinic is the largest group practice in Canada it will connect both specialists and family physicians speaker I'd like to thank Transportation Minister Carolyn Marouni and Associate Minister King of Surma for the GTA for helping to release the land for the clinic thank you minister and and Minister Elliott for her leadership on the connecting people to home and community care act and the difference it will make in the lives of patients and families in the town of Whitby thank you speaker thank you very much member for Toronto Danforth thank you speaker speaker there's huge anxiety and growing anger amongst Ontario's parents particularly women that school and childcare will not be there for them and their children come this fall through the height of the pandemic I was calling into my writing I would talk to families where either both parents were essential workers both were working at home or a mixture they were looking after their children at home and they were stressed to the max speaker on top of all of those stresses they didn't know if childcare or school would be there for them and their families when they were called back to work and right now it looks like it's not there childcare centres can't figure out how to make the finances work if they have to have fewer children in the centre for health reasons less than two months to go before schools reopen we don't have a solid plan and one of the substantial options on the table is a hybrid where children go to school half the time without childcare without full-time schooling parents can't return to work and speaker what that will mean most of the time is that women will not be returning to work and that's a disaster for them personally and for this society we're not in the 1950s women are not expendable fund childcare so they are viable take the necessary steps in staffing and space to make sure that students can go back to school full-time don't abandon parents thank you remember for Barry in a spill thank you it is my privilege to serve the people of Barry in a spill in this legislature and I'm really proud to serve this year marks the 200th anniversary of the town of Innisfil yes minister mr. Speaker the town of Innisfil is older than the Dominion of Canada in 1820 the first European settlers to Innisfil were the Houston family who came by way of the Holland River and beautiful Lake Simcoe to settle in what is now Big Bay Point the famous location of Davidson's restaurant and I know our deputy mayor Dan Davidson really wishes you could celebrate this coming year soon after that though mr. Speaker John and George Warnock and John Clayton led the through their work led to the creation of not only Highway 11 but also what is now known as Young Street their pioneering spirit demonstrated that the you know alling accomplishments and while the land that they settled was not was fertile these families did not have to overcome they had to overcome many unforgiving challenges to survive day to day when I think of everything these settlers live through and the everyday conveniences which we enjoy today they lived without I'm inspired by the tenacity and and and they're able to overcome challenges on this day we celebrate the 100th birthday of Innisfil so for me to all of the Innisfil residents have a happy birthday remember our great history those that came before us and of course the present presence of our indigenous peoples in Innisfil happy birthday Innisfil thank you member statements the member for Cambridge thank you very much mr. Speaker good morning mr. Speaker our government recently gave business owners and workers another tool to increase their confidence so that they can get back to work safely and like I said during the many consultations I held in my writing of Cambridge employers and workers know their workplaces best I also heard that a guidance document would be helpful in preparation for reopening which is why we introduced the first ever Ontario general workplace guidance document this guide will help employers protect their employees and others from the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace the guide comes of the template that they can fill in to develop a unique COVID-19 safety plan that caters to the needs of their workplace our materials help them identify risks determine a safety plan and communicate the actions being taken to others in the workplace in addition to our workplace safety guide we have released over 130 sector specific guidance documents to help support employers and workers mr. Speaker the health and safety of workers and others is our highest priority our government is committed to protecting the people of Ontario and supporting businesses during these unprecedented times our workplace safety guide will help Ontario move forward from this crisis and safely reopen thank you mr. Speaker that concludes our member statements for this morning