 Members' statements. The Member for Niagara Center. Thank you, Speaker. I'm honored to rise in the House today to deliver my first member's statement. And I'd like to take a moment to say congratulations to the Speaker on his election. It's a privilege to be here to represent the people of Niagara Center, formerly Welland Riding, who have entrusted their faith in me to advocate for them here at Queen's Park. I am humbled by the opportunity to carry on the NDP legacy in Welland, Port Coburn, Thorold, and South St. Catharines, following in the very large footsteps of Mel Swart, Peter Cormos, and Cindy Forrester. With hard work, dedication, and the mentorship of my colleagues and predecessors, I trust their faith will not be misplaced. I'm very happy, Mr. Speaker, to introduce in this Legislature one of Ontario's favorite festivals, Canal Days in Port Coburn. Canal Days is a marine heritage festival hosted by the Port Coburn Historical and Marine Museum. Celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. Every year, Canal Days has become more popular and is now a four-day event hosting over 400,000 visitors, with vendors, buskers, food merchants, live entertainment, and one of the best firework displays in Ontario. Come Sail on the Empire Sandy, one of the many tall ships, gathered at the mouth of the Welland Canal, and experience Ontario's largest outdoor classic car and international kite show. Mr. Speaker, we invite everyone to the beautiful lakeside city of Port Coburn this August 3rd to 6th for this incredible holiday weekend. Thank you. Statements. Member for Brantford, Brandt. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to pay tribute today to Brantford Brandt's very own Bob Nixon. Robert Fletcher Nixon was born on July 17th, 1928, and on Tuesday of this past week, he turned 90 years old. Mr. Nixon is the former leader of the Ontario Liberal Party and former Member of Provincial Parliament serving the people of Brant Haldeman. Bob is the son of former Premier of Ontario, Harry Nixon. He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in a 1962 by-election following his father's death. The younger Nixon was elected leader of the Ontario Liberal Party in 1967 and led them through three provincial elections. The first two where the Liberals retained their standing as the second largest party and official opposition in the Legislature. Nixon resigned as party leader in 1976 and was succeeded by Stuart Smith after a leadership convention. Mr. Nixon remained a prominent member of the Liberal Caucus after standing down from the party leadership, including two stints as interim opposition leader and served as Provincial Treasurer and Deputy Premier in the Government of David Peterson from 1985 to 1990. After leaving politics, he took a term as the official agent for Ontario in the United Kingdom and then served as a chair of Atomic Energy Canada. Truly, Bob is a great Ontarian and a great Canadian, but I don't say all that this, Mr. Speaker, to give honour to a family that held the same seat from 1919 to 1991 or to list Bob's accomplishments, rather, since he has become a patient in my practice, Bob has become a friend and mentor. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Statements, Member for Kitchener Centre. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the election, I had the pleasure of meeting one of my constituents in Kitchener Centre who had me make her a promise. She asked me if I would work alongside my colleagues to change the culture of the discourse that's happening right here in the House. She was upset about the fighting and the anger and the animosity, and so I would like to use this moment to honour that. I'm going to do that, though, by being very clear about the kinds of things that have been happening right here in the last few days that I've been here. One of those things is actually racism. The way that racism operates under normal circumstances, people usually think that what the issue is is that it's an individual who is racist, but based on my experiences, it's not that. It's about systems. It's about laws and decisions and regulations that we make that perpetuate a myth of neutrality when they're actually harming particular people, particular people more than others. The reason that the NDP stands up against carding is because carding has been found to harm black, brown and indigenous people more than others. As a consequence, it is our job, it is our duty to our residents to stand straight, to stand firm and to stand tall and say no. There are other ways that we can make use of the police, and I think that we have to do that as part of our challenge. Thank you. Member Statements, Member Goldfeld. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and my congratulations to you. I know you weren't in the house when I gave my inaugural speech on Monday, so my congratulations. Next Thursday, July 26th, we'll mark the start of four rounds of play of golf for the 109th Canadian Open Tournament. Once again, the Glen Abbey golf course has the pleasure of hosting the Canadian Open in Oakville. The Open is a rallying point for Canadian golf and an opportunity for Canada's top golf talent to challenge the world's best. Glen Abbey is so much more than just a golf course. The course was designed by the world-famous golfer Jack Nicklaus in his first solo design. History has been made there. One of Tiger Woods' best shots of all time occurred on the 18th hole of Glen Abbey in the Canadian Open in 2000. It was a 216-yard shot out of a bunker over a pond that clinched the Canadian Open for Woods that year. And the course is also home to the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and the head office for Golf Canada. The Canadian Open is one of Canada's greatest sporting events and the tournament attracts tourists from all around the world. The Open is the third oldest tournament on the PGA Tour and was recently named the most fan-friendly on the PGA Tour. Oakville is truly fortunate to host this world-class Open and I hope that everybody here has the opportunity to visit Oakville and visit this great event. Children and youth under the age of 17 have complimentary admission. And as the member from Oakville, my humble suggestion to the PGA players is that they do remember to bring a second pair of pants in case they get a hole in one. Thank you. Member's statements. Member for Windsor West. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I asked the Conservative Government about their plans for Ontario's automotive sector. I asked why they had not once mentioned the auto sector in their election plan or in their thrown speech. I don't understand why the Conservatives want to cancel the Jobs and Prosperity Fund which contributed millions in necessary investments to Windsor's auto sector supporting jobs and our local economy. Over 200 business owners, local representatives and industry executives met in Windsor yesterday to discuss the tariffs that President Trump is threatening to impose on our auto sector. Tariffs that undoubtedly would decimate our economy and the livelihoods of the people in Windsor. And despite this lemming threat, just four days ago the Conservatives fired Ontario's Trade Representative in Washington. What that says to me and my constituents is that this Conservative Government is not prioritizing our economy and our workers and my constituents are rightly concerned that this Government won't fight for them in the way they need them to during this uncertain time. We need to continue to hold the Conservative Government's feet to the fire and let them know loudly and clearly there's so much better. We need them to fight fiercely for our jobs and we need them to develop a comprehensive auto strategy to guarantee the future prosperity of the industry. Windsorites and Ontarians deserve nothing less from their Government. Thank you. Member's statements. Member for Scarborough Guildwood. Thank you Speaker. It's my pleasure to rise in this House and invite everyone to the Guild Festival Theatre. Guild Park is a special place for my writing of Scarborough Guildwood. A park, a top, the Scarborough Bluffs where nature, art, culture, heritage and the rich history of Scarborough are on full display. The Guild Festival Theatre has enhanced this experience through their modern take on classical theatre productions since 2011. I attended the opening night show of Shaw's Pig Malian along with many members of the community. All three levels of Government were present demonstrating the importance of the art and culture to Scarborough. The Guild Festival Theatre is the only one of its kind in Canada. It is a point where nature and culture meet and where past and present come together. The Guild Festival Theatre has become a pathway for vocational and educational opportunities for young artists. This would not be possible without the strong vision of the founders of the Guild of All Arts, Rosa Spencer Clark. And of course we know our former Premier Bill Davis visited Guild Park and were hosted by the Clarks. As well as the ongoing hard work and dedication of the volunteers and those who serve on the board, Janet Heiss, Janet Lambert Mont-Mauri, John Mason, Friends of Guild Park and Garden and the artistic director Jamie Robinson and of course the rest of the Guild Festival Theatre team. It's time to re-establish the Guild for a new age. I encourage the province to recognize the historic significance of Guild Park and please visit the performance of Pygmalion. It runs until August the 12th and I know you'll enjoy it. Thank you. Member Statements, Member for Cohen Health. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and last week it was kind of monumental. We had a meeting with the Mayor of Markham, Mayor Frank Scar pity and for four years I was the Mayor of Markham region and I was joined with the members for Richmond Hill, Markham Stovel, Markham Unionville and Markham Florin Hill because we all either border Markham or we represent parts of Markham and of course all the PC, all the members now of York Region for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario are PC members so I'm going to have a lot of company and hopefully we're going to make the rounds and meet some of the other mayors as well. And to the city of Markham, specifically getting the young subway further north, freight train traffic, increased freight train traffic coming through the region and of specific importance and what I wanted to share with all of you here today is that Markham is a really strong economic player in Ontario. In fact I just wanted to share with you in terms of Canada's high-tech capital and you know we have that high-tech corridor from Kitchener, Waterloo, to Markham. Markham has 1500 tech firms with 37,000 tech employees whereas the GTA has 11,700 tech firms, I think that's 14,000 it's hard to read this, with 286,000 employees and Kitchener, Waterloo has 500 tech firms with 23,200 employees. So you see that Markham is a really strong economic player in Ontario and I'm looking forward to representing their interests here at the legislature. Thank you to the members for Humber River Black Creek. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I congratulate you and all members on your election to this prestigious house. I would also like to thank my family, friends, team and the great people of Humber River Black Creek. It is an honour and a dream to represent my lifelong home. Within Humber River Black Creek is the Jane and Finch community where I grew up. It is a place where over 100 languages are spoken and spoken to none. It's a place of active young people, eager students and caring teachers thriving businesses and brilliant entrepreneurs. We are a community of hardworking parents, educated professionals, inspired artists, amazing athletes, active seniors and passionate activists. We have beautiful naturalised areas and parks and annual events and festivals where families gather and children play. Yesterday, however, there was great disappointment that a government minister named my community only to describe it as a place of crime as he dodged a question from my esteemed colleague MPP Kevin Yard who was calling for an end to the discriminatory practice of police carding. Unfortunately the stigmatisation is nothing new to Jane and Finch but it is especially hurtful and callous to hear it in this house. Words spoken here carry great weight and as such must be weighed carefully. Rather it is important to be representative here last night to read a mean-spirited and insensitive statement. Jane and Finch and Humber River Black Creek deserve better than this. Member statements? Member for Simcoe North. Thank you. It's a privilege to pay tribute to a local World War II hero, Mr. Frank Edward Graham. Mr. Graham passed away July 13th just shy of 96 years old. He had so many wonderful accomplishments it's difficult to mention them all in the first Canadian Survey Corps Royal Canadian Artillery Regiment. He enlisted because it was the right thing to do in 1941. He saw action 42 through 45 in Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. He was wounded in the early spring of 45 and was sent to England to recover and eventually home to Toronto and finally residing in Midland, Ontario. He became Mr. Veteran Markelo after having travelled to Holland with many Canadian veterans at the Dutch Parliament to help celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands in 1990. In 2010, it was announced that it would be the last invitation to veterans to celebrate Holland's Liberation. Mr. Graham expressed his concern about keeping the memories of war alive so the children wouldn't forget. Your event, Oplet, Chair of Welcome Back Veterans Committee, took it to heart and the following year came to Canada to celebrate Mr. Graham's birthday and announced that his group would be celebrating the Liberation Tour in Holland. He was also organizing the Frank Graham Cycle Liberation Tour, a 10-day bicycle trip from Juneau Beach to Markelo for Dutch and Canadian students. There were two more tours in 2015 and 2017. Last year, the Dutch Government announced the Frank Graham Tulip, the colour of a poppy. He will be sadly missed by his wife and family, our community and the branch 80 Legion family, even the Dutch Government. Mr. Speaker, I was prepared to discuss the activities and great achievements that my constituents are working towards today. However, I must speak about a horrific and tragic event that occurred in a Mississauga Community Centre parking lot on Sunday, July 15, where a husband was viciously beaten and his wife Diana was also assaulted in front of their two young children, a friend, Fuad Yusid, who tried to intervene was also attacked. Yesterday, I visited the family at St. Michael's Hospital, where Mr. Muhammad Abu Marzouk had just regained consciousness and is bravely fighting for recovery. With great courage, his wife and children remain strong. Thanks to the work of police and first responders for addressing this incident urgently and professionally, also thanks to the witnesses, the two alleged attackers were apprehended and this horrific incident is now being investigated as a hate crime. Mr. Speaker, I believe I speak on behalf of all parliamentarians when I say that hate will not be accepted in this society and that we must continue to work collectively in order to eradicate hate and intolerance in all forms within our beautiful province and country. Thank you. That concludes the time we have available for member statements. Reports by committees.