 It is now time for Member's Statements. I recognize Member for Parkdale High Park. Thank you, Speaker. The homelessness crisis is worsening and campments are growing and it's taking a devastating toll on people and communities across this province. It's gotten so bad that in Toronto hospitals, cold weather ER visits by people experiencing homelessness skyrocketed by nearly 70% in the last few years. These are people who are in the waiting area of emergency departments. They don't need medical attention but they're there because they need a safe place to stay warm. There's nowhere else for them to go. The hospitals are becoming the shelters. What is also worrisome is that there are thousands more who are just a few hundred dollars away from losing their home and ending up on the streets. There is such an urgency on this issue that this government is so consumed with things like delivering a luxury spa. You've completely lost touch with reality. Your priorities are not what people need you to be working on. As we recess the House for the winter, I ask Conservative members to reflect on this and ask yourselves, are you up to the task? This is not a partisan statement. You have the opportunity. You have the power. You have the majority votes. We solve this problem. We know the solutions. Stop wasting time and energy on things that are not helping people and just do the right thing. Thank you. Member Statements. Member for Newmarket, Aurora. Thank you, Speaker. This morning I am dedicating my Member Statement to the life and service of Fire Chief Ian Lang of the Central York Fire Services who just passed away last week. After serving more than 34 years of service with Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services, Chief Lang joined Central York Fire Services in 2009 and was the Fire Chief right up to his very last day on this earth. For 48 years the Chief worked for the safety and well-being of our Newmarket and Aurora communities. I met Chief Lang in 2018. He always had that big smile and what a sense of humour. I recall chatting with the Chief on a tour of the new headquarters in Aurora. Shortly after its opening in 2022, he told me how back in the day we did not have all the equipment that they have today, Don. That always stuck with me as I thought of the Chief as a brave firefighter, a well-respected leader. He fostered a culture of courage and camaraderie amongst the firefighters. During the service recognition and recruit ceremonies he would look upon each of the firefighters with great pride like a father would for his child. I extend my sincere condolences to his wife, Deb. Thank you for sharing your firefighter with our community members. Without your support, Deb, the Chief would not have been able to make the difference that he made in serving Ontarians for a near half century. To the entire Central York Fire Services family, my condolences go out to each and every one of you. I believe his spirit will live on with you all. Chief, thank you for your service. Thank you very much. Member's statements? The Member for Scarborough, Southwest. Thank you, Speaker. Since October 7th, Israeli forces have dropped 50,000 tons of explosives on homes, hospitals, schools in Gaza. Yet we're always asked, did you condemn Hamas? Netanyahu says the war will continue until he achieves his goals. What goals can you achieve by bombing thousands and thousands of children, by starving and freezing people to death, by depriving innocent people of water and fuel? Babies in incubators died because their electricity was cut off. Yet we're still asked, did you condemn Hamas? So let me make it very clear, yes, we did. But where is the condemnation for killing over 15,000 innocent Palestinians? For forcing 1.8 million Palestinians out of their own homes? For the torture and humiliation of people in the western where there is no Hamas? Have we lost all our conscience? How can we condone the killing of innocent people? Speaker, Canada must call for an immediate ceasefire. As Secretary-General Agnes Kalamird of Amnesty International said, for 16 years, Israel's illegal blockade has made Gaza the world's biggest open-air prison. The international community must act now to prevent it from becoming a giant graveyard. Let's call for a ceasefire now. Member's statements. The member for Kitchener, Conestoga. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to pay tribute to a friend of the legislature. Jan Westcott will be stepping away from his role as President and CEO of Spirits Canada at the end of the year. Jan was here on Monday, along with the Green Farmers of Ontario, and it was a wonderful event, as always. I know that members from all sides of the House are proud to support Spirits Canada. Jan has been a champion for everyone involved in the grain-to-glass process, showing the importance of the spirit sector to our economy. Prior to these roles, he worked in advertising, the mining industry, and government. Through the 1980s, he served as President of the Canadian Wine Institute. In 1989, he became the founding CEO of the Brewer's of Ontario. He is the founding director of SmartServe. He has served on the boards of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Earth Day Canada, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, the Recycling Council of Ontario, and the Canada Safety Council. Jan currently serves on the boards of the Empire Club of Canada and chairs the board of directors for Halton Region Crime Stoppers. Jan, it has always been a pleasure to raise a glass with you, so let's raise one to your retirement. Thank you. Members' statements. The member for Hamilton Mountain. Thank you, Speaker. A special good morning to everyone here and in Hamilton Mountain. This Saturday, December 9th, I am honored to join Santa, his elves, and other special guests for our annual Santa Food Drive Parade. We will be in the Sunning Hill and Highview School neighbourhoods on the East Mountain between Upper Ottawa and Upper Gage. Leading the parade will be a firetruck and always so grateful for their participation and holiday spirit at every parade. Special guests will include mascots from the Hamilton Tiger Cat Stripes for Jeff C. Sparks and the Hamilton Cardinals very own Bernie R. Byrd. Children of all ages will want to enjoy the entertainment and all are welcome to join us on the route and spread good cheer. The parade will start at 11am and the route can be found on my social media pages. Now more than ever, we are seeing more and more families visiting and needing support. Food insecurity is at an all-time high and unfortunately donations are dropping drastically as food prices soar. So whether you live in the neighbourhood or are simply out and about, please consider dropping off a non-perishable food item. Together we will show our giving spirit to many families in Hamilton. Every donation truly counts and will make a difference in the lives of our neighbours and bring joy and hope during the holiday season. Wishing you and your family a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Thank you. The next member's statement, the member for Markham, Thornhill. Mr. Speaker, last week we have reached May a milestone on the young North Subway extension. I was happy to attend in the launch of the proposal process alongside the Minister of Transportation and my local regional colleagues. This extension is a critical infrastructure investment that will deliver much needed rapid transit to cities across the GTA. Cities like Markham and my riding of Markham Thornhill. When the young North Subway extension is complete, it will provide over 94,000 daily trips and will put nearly 30,000 more people within a 10 minutes walk to transit. It will create thousands of jobs during the construction and generate nearly 4 billion in economic benefits to the province. Mr. Speaker, improving infrastructure is a key part of our government promise to the people of Ontario. Our government has focused on creating and promoting transit oriented development within the communities like the Langstaff development in Markham. People in my riding have been waiting for tickets for the extension to be built. We are delivering on the promise we are getting shovel on the ground and building the infrastructure that the residents of Ontario and our economy need for the future. Speaker, I would like to thank you for your hard work and wish you everyone have a happy holiday. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements the Member for Algoma, Manitoulin Thank you Speaker and from my seat over the course of the last couple of weeks I would like to welcome to the minister of transportation talk about how safe our roads are in Northern Ontario. I want to give them some reality as far as what people are facing in Northern Ontario. We see extensive shutdown highway 17 between Hayden and Wawa shut down closed for 12 hours highway 17 closure between Sault Ste. Marie and Batchewana was lost in that area for 12 hours. White River resident killed in highway 17 crash overnight highway 17 crash claims lives of two teams that's the reality of what we're facing in Northern Ontario. Speaker, Good Rose was here and have provided reasonable prescription and treatment and remedy to improve the state of our roads across the province and it's time for this government to take the medicine. The medicine is road safety audits it's a basic principle of good healthcare Speaker, our roads were built 30 to 50 years ago and we need to consider the designs the width, the shoulders, the ditching and much much more acting on the recommendation and implementing road safety audits is just good medicines. Here's another headline speaker. Highway 17 reopens after crash near Iron Bridge and the headline a 29 year old horse and buggy driver was involved in the collision with the transport at Birch and the land camp road he succumbed to his injury. My heart my thoughts and prayers go out to the family and the community Speaker, we can do better we have to do better. Thank you very much. Member Statements the member for Thunder Bay Attic Hoken Thank you Speaker I'm very proud to rise today in celebration of our community leaders who have been hard at work to establish a youth wellness hub in Thunder Bay. Our community partners have worked together for many years to support youth and navigating service pathways especially during the challenging transitional period from child to adult. This August parent advocates and service provider representatives participated in associate minister Tabolo's round table visit to Thunder Bay where the concept of a youth wellness hub reemerged. Following that meeting I was privileged to meet with Diane Walker Jennifer Lawrence and Rob Dewick a parent advocate for the Jada project. Mr. Speaker, since that meeting this incredible group of people have mobilized our youth and community partners in a way that has impressed me significantly. The steering committee was immediately formed and the group set out engaging necessary stakeholders. On November 3rd a youth wellness hub community forum was held in Thunder Bay where 150 participants including 50 youth participated topics brought forward including the need for such things that integrated one-stop mental health and medical services and education support. The importance of peer mentorship was highlighted by youth caregivers and service providers. It is important to take a moment to recognize Carolyn Carl and Rob and LaMarie Louise Dewick. These parents have suffered the unthinkable lots of losing their child. Despite that pain and heartache they have chosen to be active ambassadors for the youth and families in our community and we honor them. Thank you Mr. Speaker and I would like to wish everybody a very merry Christmas. Happy holidays. Thank you very much. The next member's statement the member for Burlington. Earlier this week I had the opportunity to attend the center for skills development in Burlington alongside minister Williams minister Tangry and PA David Smith to launch a call for applications for the women's economic security program. Thanks to the women's economic security program more women have access to training skills training gaining the experience to embark on a career to good paying jobs in the trades. The center for skills development has provided their enhanced general carpentry program to women for over 20 years and has seen great success with over 300 participants securing sustainable financially rewarding and meaningful employment in the construction sector. Their 22 week program prepares participants to work in a variety of industries from residential builds to high end renovations. Other services at the center include one-on-one job search coaching, settlement services, link and ELT classes, academic upgrading and fully funded pre-apprenticeship skilled trade programs. Collectively the centers serve around 20,000 people in Halton region and Mississauga. Thank you to the center for skills development for delivering the programs breaking down barriers for women giving them the tools they need to earn bigger paychecks for themselves and their families. Next member's statement, the member for Hastings, Lennox and Addington. And my member's statement for today I intended to deliver a message encouraging everyone to shop locally and support their local economies but I was inspired by some of my colleagues on both sides of the house to take a slightly more artistic approach so with the help of my amazing staff may I present some advice from St. Nicholas To us the weeks before Christmas and all through the town the parents were shopping as flurries came down. Getting gifts for their children from local shopkeepers then shopping online as the snow just got deeper but a local business supports so many things from hockey to splash pads and so much in between from the shirts and the jerseys on local sports teams to the drug equipment just look at it clean. While enjoying the stores seeing people they know they are laughing and smiling with faces of glow. These local shopkeepers so friendly and warm also employ people with kids of their own so we ask you to choose them and choose your home city while enjoying the street scenes decorated so pretty. With the many supporters our stores are successful so Merry Christmas to all and to all so speaker I just need to take a moment to wish the very best of the season to all the residents of Hastings, Lenox and Addington to all my colleagues here in the house and the staff I wish you a very happy holiday season, joy, peace, laughter and rest. Thank you. That concludes our members statements for this morning