 Therefore, it is now time for Members' Statements, the Member from Nipissing. Thank you very much, Speaker. At the pre-budget consultations in recent weeks, one thing became painfully clear. This government's policies and decisions are hurting Ontarians. A deliberate choice has been made to cut health care and lay off nurses by the hundreds. As a result, all three parties heard stories about patients collapsing on their front steps after being discharged from care too early. At the hearings, it's worth noting that 30 times violence was referred to, mostly in connection to health care and corrections workers. At North Bay Regional Health Centre, this government has cut 350 frontline health care workers, including 100 nurses. One nurse was recently fired after the violence issue was addressed publicly. I spoke at a rally in front of my office last week and pledged to bring this issue to Queen's Park. I asked the government today to expedite the review of her grievance. The Premier, meanwhile, needs to realize many of these professionals subject to workplace violence are women, yet the cuts continue. This is happening today in Kathleen Wynne's, Ontario, because the government can't manage our finances and spends on self-interest. These health care cuts must stop. Thank you, Mr Speaker. When Constable Garda took his own life and made front-page news of the star, this was hardly an isolated incident. Ten first responders since January 1st have committed suicide with PTSD. This is under the direct watch of this government, who has had a bill before it for seven years. Mr Speaker, seven years, four tablings, and one second reading in 2014. All this government had to do was to take that bill to committee. They had wanted to amend it. They could have, because quite frankly, Mr Speaker, if this government does not see post-traumatic stress disorder for first responders as a workplace injury, how then can they be expected to be taken seriously by employers, by the public, by anyone else? The first aspect of prevention is to recognize the disease as such. This is a disorder. It takes the lives of tens, almost 100 actually in the last three years, and it affects thousands. It can be prevented, but sometimes it won't be prevented. We know this from our military, and now we know it from those who run into trauma when we run out. So I plead and implore on behalf of tens of thousands of first responders in this province that this government act directly to make post-traumatic stress disorder a workplace injury. It was promised in November, now it's being promised in February. We say, do it now. Thank you very much, Speaker. On Family Day, our Mississauga Muslim community held its fifth Family Day walk-a-thon. Past walk-a-thons have supported our Trillium Health Partners Foundation. This year, proceeds from the donations made to the Islamic Circle of North America, or IKNA, were dedicated to helping settle a group of Syrian families. Some years ago, a group of leaders from IKNA set out to contribute to the broader Mississauga community. I introduced them to the leaders of our hospital's foundation. Our Muslim community set itself a goal of raising a quarter million dollars to assist the hospital within five years. They exceeded that fundraising goal ahead of schedule, not uncommon in Mississauga. It is not hard to put together a group to walk for charity in the good weather. Our Muslim community picked the winter's coldest weekend for an outdoor event and still attracted hundreds of people. Thanks to organizer Arif Jahangiri, all the many volunteers and all our neighbors for their work and their donations, Mississauga is doing for new Canadians of Syrian origin what former generations of Canadians did for newcomers of Scottish, Irish, Chinese, Sikh, German, Italian, Greek, Hungarian and Vietnamese origins and so many others as well. It's not just the right thing to do, Speaker. It's the Canadian thing to do. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to recognize February is Black History Month. Black History Month is a special occasion for all of us to show our appreciation for the many achievements of people with African heritage in Ontario. As you know, my writing of Bruce Gray's own sound commemorates Black History with Emancipation Day, which we celebrate every August 1st in Owensound and have done so since 1862, making it the longest running event on this continent. Owensound was the northernmost refuge for the slaves fleeing from the southern states. The village of Sydenham was the last terminal of the railroad and many escaped slaves settled here, finding work and raising families. The Emancipation Festival organizer Blaine Courtney and the festival's heritage interpretation coordinator and Gray Roots manager, Petal Furnace, are busy working on the 2016 festival in an effort to continue to commemorate the abolition of slavery and to celebrate those individuals and groups who made the Underground Railroad journey possible. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of joining my colleague in Wellington-Halton Hills MPP, Ted Arnett, to watch a proclamation of the Black History Month's Act at Queen's Park. As you know, the Wellington-Halton Hills member was instrumental in helping to pass a bill to recognize January 21st as Lincoln Alexander Day in Ontario. In honour of Alexander, who was the first elected to the House of Commons as a progressive conservative in 1968, becoming Canada's first black member of Parliament in Ottawa and Canada's first black federal cabinet minister in 79. And just earlier this month, our party leader and my caucus colleagues hosted a very successful reception here at Queen's Park to kick off our Black History Month recognition. I would encourage all members and their families to visit Owensound on Emancipation Day, to visit our Black History Cairn built 10 years ago after Councillor Peter Lemon and Benita Johnson de Mataze, a local artist, author and descendant of an escaped slave, partnered up with several organizations to help commemorate early black settlers. Thank you. Member of Statements, the member from Canary Rear River. Thank you, Speaker. Ontarians were excited to hear about this government's prioritization of transportation infrastructure. Northerners in particular listened with keen interest as small northern communities grapple with hundreds of millions of dollars of road, bridge and other infrastructure renewal, gridlock, which in the north means closed or impassable highways without alternate routes and the lack of public transportation both within and between our communities. Simply put, getting around in the north is time consuming, difficult and expensive, which is why Northerners were looking forward to the badly needed transportation infrastructure promised by this government. But it seems that the north has been left out of the Premier's plans. Instead, we've seen a set of double standards, delayed funds, inaction and mismanagement when it comes to the very basic infrastructure in the north. The reality in the north is that this government promised to fund programs such as Connecting Links and the Small Communities Funds, but has failed to deliver. Intercommunity transportation is government funded and tax exempt in the south, but in the case of the Northlander is taxed and expected to be self-sustaining in the northeast and non-existent in the northwest. Travelling our roads in winter is a crapshoot because of shoddy highway maintenance, and the government knows this because Ontarians, MPPs and the Auditor General have been saying so for years, and yet this government has still not addressed the problem. Speaker, in this government's last budget, we saw a plan to defer investment in transportation infrastructure in the north. Will we see a firm commitment to the north this year? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge an important organization in Judy Spadina and in Ontario. The Council of Ontario Universities and their team of university researchers. The research teams here today are part of a large initiative entitled Research Matters, which is finding new ways to better the lives of every Ontario. University researchers work behind the scenes, steadily progressing towards ambitious new ideas that improve public policy and private practice, advancing technology, foster healthier, happier and more prosperous society, and build communities. I'm privileged to have so many great students and researchers in my writing of Judy Spadina. Their work at U of T, OCAD University, Ryerson University have no doubt made a positive impact on the lives of Ontarians. I would also like to acknowledge the past president of the Council, Ms. Bonnie Patterson. Thank you to Bonnie for your dedication to Ontario's post-secondary system. And thank you to the research teams for joining us today. I invite all members of this House to join them this evening at their reception in room 228 to learn more about their important work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This Saturday, February 20th, the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program will be hosting its annual Dream Auction in Guelph in support of its 16th class. Established in 1984, the ELP program is an executive development program for men and women who are interested in broadening their horizons and expanding their networks to help shape the future of rural communities across this province and the agri-food sectors of Ontario. At its core, the program seeks to expand leadership skills, increase participants' knowledge of the agri-food system and rural Ontario, and enhance perspectives on critical issues in the industry by immersing them in study topics such as marketing and economics, environmental impacts and globalization, as well as the dynamics of change. This year's participants represent a broad spectrum of agri-food organizations and rural community groups from bear-crop science to grain farmers of Ontario to 4-H Ontario. In particular, I would like to extend special recognition to two participants in this year's class from the writing of Here in Bruce, Rebecca Miller of Auburn and Emily Morrison of Lucknow. Proceeds from events such as the Dream Auction coming up this Saturday are vital in supporting the participants and they are used to assist with things such as tuition fees and opportunities to participate in study tours across North America and internationally as well. As a past participant myself in class six, to be exact, I would like to encourage people to track the learning opportunities associated with this program. It's second to none. Thank you very much. Thank you. The member for Kingston and the Islands. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For half of all Canadians say that they are a family member have needed blood or blood products, yet less than 4% of eligible Canadians donate blood. Blood and blood products are a critical part of everyday medical care including major surgeries, medical procedures, cancer treatments and managing disease. One donation can save three lives. There is no substitute for blood and we desperately need more people to donate. This Valentine's Day with the support of my amazing community, my staff and the Kingston branch of the Canadian blood services, I held a what's your type event to help individuals find out their blood type, ask any questions that they might have about donating blood and sign up donors for our blood drive next week, this week. We were so fortunate to have past donors and recipients join us to share their stories about the difference blood donation made in their lives and usually it was the difference in between life and death. I would also like to acknowledge Barbara Bell who has a rare blood type and hadn't donated in a while but meant to and Joanne Curry who came on behalf of her daughter Mackenzie Curry who has received 27 blood transfusions to treat her leukemia. Mr. Speaker, I encourage everyone here to consider becoming a blood donor and to help spread awareness about the importance of blood donation in their communities. You never know you or a loved one may need it one day. The gift of life is in you to give. Thank you. Merci. Miigwetch. Thank you for the member's statements, the member from the topical north. Merci Monsieur le Président, aujourd'hui j'ai le today. It's a pleasure to inform of a great celebration at the general hospital in Etobicoke with four more floors. We will increase the size of the hospital including the seven following elements, emergency room second, intensive care, critical care, maternity care, surgery, cardio care and neurodiagnostic care. Just four-story addition will actually quadruple the footprint not necessarily the carbon footprint but the footprint of the Etobicoke general hospital with a number of new services that I've just outlined, cardiorespiratory diagnostic unit, neurodiagnostic services and for example my constituents in Etobicoke north should they for example require evaluation for angina, chest pain that may be of cardiac origin they'll be able to perform these tests on site at state-of-the-art facilities. Similarly, many folks require assessments for memory loss for potential dementia, Alzheimer's and so on and this new addition will also house an absolutely state-of-the-art neurodiagnostic services. So health care is on the move in Etobicoke north speaker. Thank all members for their statements I will now