 It's now time for Member Statements. Member for Kiwetanol. Miigwetsa Speaker, next week is Treaty Recognition Week. Schools across Ontario will recognise and learn more about treaties. Treaties matter to all Ontarians. They are more than just historic documents and we are all treaty partners. As partners we need to think about the ongoing relationships between First Nations and the government. We have to recognise the colonial system that in place puts First Nations in a perpetual crisis. This is systemic racism, discrimination and inequality. But if you go back in our history and think about the intent of the treaties, they were meant to share the wealth of the land. Example is Ontario and Canada are signatories to Treaty No. 9. Treaty No. 9 allowed governments to prosper from the resources opened up to them through the agreement. First Nations have not shared the same benefits from these resources. This is why treaty knowledge in Ontario is important. The government should recognise the treaties by committing to improve the quality of life for First Nations people in Ontario. Part of this can be done through the passing of my private members bill to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Ontario. I hope you all join me in acknowledging treaties that recognition week next week. Our people have been here for generations. We are here today. We will be here tomorrow. Work with us by honouring the treaties. Miigwech. Member Statements. The Member for Milton. Thank you. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, after his own battle with kidney failure, Milton's own Mitch Gerber started treating people on his street with an elaborate Halloween display. Since 2013, this has really taken off. Not only is Mitch providing Halloween excitement, but he has raised over $40,000 for the Kidney Foundation, Mr Speaker. I am proud to see our community rally around Mitch to support the Halloween display year after year. In addition to Mitch's Halloween display for 10 years now, Town Councilor Rick DeLorenzo has organized the highly anticipated Milton Haunted House each and every year. With all proceeds going to the Milton District Hospital Foundation, the Milton Haunted House has raised $12,000 this year alone, Mr Speaker. It takes an army of volunteers to put on an event every year, 100 of them to be exact. I would like to thank Councilor DeLorenzo and many volunteers for entertaining and treating our community and for raising an impressive $110,000 to date, Mr Speaker. Mitch and Rick are doing a spectacular job, Mr Speaker. Job in Milton, and I would ask all of my colleagues on behalf of all of my constituents in Milton to applaud their efforts. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Members statements? Members for Hamilton East Stony Creek. Thank you, Speaker. I want to take the time this afternoon to implore the government of this province to take action on matter that has recently led to an unthinkable tragedy in my constituency. As we speak, children from all levels of our education system are facing harassment from their peers. Bullying is not a rite of passage for our youth. Bullying is a physical and mental abuse and online. Bullying takes many forms, and those who experience it have lifelong scars and fears to overcome. While most students graduate and move on from terrible bullying experience, some are denied the chance to grow up and move on. Sadly, this was the case of 14-year-old Devin Brachy Selvy from Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School in my home riding. After weeks of intense and escalating bullying, Devin was stabbed and killed by his tormentors on October 7th in the presence of his mother. Thousands of people are asking how did this happen and what our leaders are going to do about it. As leaders, it is our responsibility to respond to the cries for help when bullying and violence occurs in our schools. Need-jerk reactions and looking for someone to blame is not constructive. We need a joint effort by all levels of government and society as a whole to solve the serious issues. We must establish a real process where students can feel safe coming forward with their concerns. They have to know that concrete action will be taken to resolve this situation. My community and the rest of the world has seen what can happen if we ignore the problem of bullying in our schools. We have the opportunity to prevent another tragedy and to improve the lives of thousands of tormented students in our schools. It's time to take action now. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This year marks the 550th birthday anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikh religion and advocate for unity, peace, hard work and community giving. Around the world, occasion will be celebrated through events, exhibitions, prayers and in many unique ways. One such example is done by the organizations like EcoSix which is a global organization established in 2009 by Dr. Rajwan Singh. Guru Nanak Dev Ji taught us that humans must be in harmony with the Earth and all of God's creation. It is our purpose. Air is the Guru. Water is the Father. And the Earth is the Great Mother. Taking inspiration from this, EcoSix Canada has pledged to plant 55,000 trees across the country with the global aim of planting 1 million trees by 2021. EcoSix leverages Guru Ji's teaching to promote positive living for all humanity and caring for our environment. Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to participate at EcoSix Canada's first tree planting held in the great riding of Mississauga Malton where 200 trees were planted. It was such a great way to spend a Saturday morning in the service of our community. I'd like to encourage my colleagues in the house to join EcoSix events in their writings which they can found that the details can be found at www.eco6.ca I'd like to recognize Rup Siddhu, the president of EcoSix for doing this. This is the very best of Guru Ji's teaching and great way to honor Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Thank you so much. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Remember for Thunder Bay Attical. Thank you Speaker. I had the opportunity to meet with many constituents over the last five months and I attended a lot. I heard about long-term care challenges, hospital gridlock, emergency room nightmares, concerns of parents of children with autism, cuts to legal aid and all the effects of the opioid crisis. Some were desperate for help and others had good ideas on how to help. One experience stands out. The Simpson Street Neighborhood Meeting I attended earlier this month. I was in the last neighborhood, multicultural and I grew up in it. Everyday citizens organized to bring their concerns forward. I listened to a long line of passionate people speak about street crime, derelict drug houses, garbage and needles in the street. People do not feel safe in their own community. They know Toronto and Ottawa gangs have infiltrated the area and increased levels of violence and police services are stretched. But not one cent of the $214 million of federal guns and gang funding has reached Thunder Bay. People at the meeting focused on solutions so they could feel safer in their community. They understood that support must be in place though there are opportunities for everyone. I'm so proud of the organizing work my constituents are doing and I urge the government to do so. Thank you. Member statements and member for Simcoe Gray. I'd like to read an important email I received this week from my constituent Sasha Hoyen from Tottenham. I've been working with Sasha and her husband Jamie LaRocque for over a year concerning coverage for cystic fibrosis medications for their two young sons. Sasha's letter reads, hello again Jim, this was a big week for the CF community around the world but unfortunately we are getting the FDA announced the approval of a new triple therapy gene modulator this week. I can't describe how left out so many of us Canadians feel knowing we are still fighting for Arkambi which is now becoming ancient to the rest of the world. As well England, one of those countries the Ministry of Health always compares us to when defending their stance on Arkambi just signed a deal with Vertex and are providing public access for all gene modulators as well as future therapies. We are now officially one of the only developed countries in the world to not provide these medications to our patients. Why our children are suffering when the west of the world is celebrating is just incomprehensible, especially with a government that wants to end hallway medicine and save money. CF patients are literally taking up hospital beds and needing costly procedures when there is a medication that could prevent that. Mr. Speaker, as you know this is the exact same issue I raised in this legislature five years ago in a constituent, Maddie Vanstone. While the medication Maddie needed was eventually funded for her, the root of the problem was never addressed. Five years later, here we are again. Ontario needs to develop a rare drug strategy to fix this issue and in the meantime, Ontario needs to help those in need now by negotiating with drug companies like Vertex for these lifesaving cystic fibrosis drugs. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements, member for Peterborough Coortha. Thank you Mr. Speaker. On Saturday, September 14th, I had the great honour of taking part in one of my favourite events held in my riding at Peterborough Coortha. It was the second annual Down Syndrome Awareness Walk, also known as the Buddy Walk. For those of you who aren't aware of this event, let me describe it to you. The walk is used to raise awareness about Down Syndrome, raise money to support those families with a Down Syndrome loved one, and a great person can enjoy an inclusive day. Our walking route was from Lakefield's Isabella Morris Park down Queen Street to Albert Street and then back up Queen Street to return to the park. A total of 2.2 kilometres. Each participant was given a white Buddy Walk t-shirt. Now why a white t-shirt, you ask? Well, at the stations every 400 metres we had paint. And participants were splashed with various colours of paint as they were going through the route. People in blue, red, green, gold and purple rainbow shirts after the walk spent the rest of the afternoon singing, dancing and playing in the park. This year it was only our second year but we raised more than $26,000 for Down Syndrome. We had almost 500 participants take part. And for me, one of the most exciting parts of this event, we had 39 VIPs. For me, that's valiant, impressive participants. Speaker, it was a wonderful experience again this year. I look forward to taking part again next year and I can't thank the organisers enough for all of their hard work and the awareness that they raised. Thank you very much. Member Statements. Member for Brampton East. Thank you, Speaker. In the past weeks, voters' lists were used so people could go door to door to engage Canadians in the very cornerstone of our democracy. Our right to vote. But now imagine, if our elected officials gave those voter lists to violent mobs so they could go door to door to identify minorities so they could be systematically targeted and killed. So women could be raped and men have tires placed around their neck, be doused in kerosene and set on fire. That is precisely what happened to the Sikh community in Delhi and throughout India in 1984. Indian elected officials who had a duty to represent their communities, to protect them, were the ones who provided the mobs with the voters' lists, with the kerosene and directing them in carrying out a campaign of genocide against the Sikh people. These individuals used their privilege, their resources and their position of power to murder thousands of Sikhs and displace thousands more. This November marks 35 years since this genocide. 35 years of trauma and pain. 35 years and still we have not received the justice that we deserve. But we will continue our fight for justice. They may have bloodied our bodies but they could never kill our spirit. Lest we forget. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you very much, Member Statements. Member for Brantford, Brandt. Thank you, Speaker. It's an honor and rise to speak about an exciting event taking place in my riding. Tomorrow is November 1st. The Kindred Spirits Artisans of Paris will be hosting the 28th annual Christmas in Paris at the Paris Fairgrounds. Christmas in Paris is a unique event held in the small community of Paris in the County of Brant. Over the course of the weekend, all manner of artisans, crafts people and thousands of visitors gather together to sell their wares. Celebrate the local culture and herald in the holiday season. You will find a large and varied assortment of artwork and crafts ranging from acrylic paintings to rustic decor and much, much more. All of these are handcrafted and original and are made by participants who are all members of the Kindred Spirits Artisans. Christmas in Paris is an excellent example of the vibrant and growing art scene in the County of Brant. Proceeds from the event's admission will go to help support the arts and art education to encourage continuing artistic development in Paris. The 28th annual Christmas in Paris will be running Friday from 6 to 9, Saturday from 9.30 to 5.30 and Sunday from 9.30 to 4.30 Admission is only $2 for adults and children under 12 are free. I would encourage everyone who is able to attend to do so and experience one of the great cultural events in the County of Brant. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Member Statements. The Member for Etobicoke, Lake Shore. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to share good news that our government is increasing apprenticeship opportunities and transforming training services. Technology is changing Ontario's economy and we have to help the skilled trades keep up, Mr. Speaker. About one in five new jobs in Ontario over the next five years will be in the trades related occupations. We know that we have talented workers in Ontario and that providing the right training will make it easier to match talent with good jobs. Help us grow the manufacturing sector and ensure Ontario is truly open for business. May the 29th, 2019, we passed the Modernizing the Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Act 2019, which provides the new legislative framework needed to update skills trades and apprenticeship systems. On September the 23rd, the Minister of Colleges, Universities announced that Adam Melnick and Andrew Pryzner have been appointed as new training and skills advisors for the next two years. Mr. Melnick and Mr. Pryzner have been working in the industry and stakeholders and provided recommendations to the minister to modernize the skilled trades and apprentice system. Mr. Speaker, we are living up to our promise and we want to encourage employers to increase participation and to promote the skilled trades as a desirable career path. Thank you. Thank you very much. That concludes our member statements for this afternoon.