 Further introductions, it's now time for member statements. The member from Lampton, Kent, Middlesex. Well, thank you very much, Speaker, and Cung Hei Fat Choi. Last week's celebration of the Lunar New Year began for Canadians of Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese heritage. Myself and many of my colleagues in our caucus have had the opportunity to participate in festivities across the province. Mr. Speaker, it has been a real honor to be a part of celebrating the traditions of Chinese New Year, Seoul, and Teth. From the ringing of the peace bell to exchanging lucky red envelopes to visiting the New Year's markets, it has been a pleasure to welcome the year of the monkey. February in our great country isn't the warmest or brightest of times, and these celebrations bring a wonderful vibrancy and excitement to our communities. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean Canadians who are so welcoming and who contribute so much to our culture and economy here in Ontario. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Ontario PC Caucus and our leader, Patrick Brown, I offer my warmest wishes to everybody celebrating the Lunar New Year. I hope the year of the monkey will bring happiness, health, and prosperity for all. Cung Shee Fat Choi. Chuck Mun, Nam Moe. Shee Shee. Shee Shee. Thank you. For your member's statements, the member from Timmins, James Bates. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just want to make this comment to the government, both the Premier and the Minister of Energy, who should be keenly interested in this, and that is a price of gas. If you look at the price of the pump, as it relates to what it is at the barrel, there is clearly no connection. And depending on where you live in this province, the differences could be fairly great. For example, last week, the price on the leader, difference between Ottawa and Northern Ontario, was almost 30 cents a liter. Nobody's going to argue to me that that's the cost of transportation. I'll tell you what it is. It's the gas companies gouging the consumers and trying to get as much as they can out of consumers and getting away with it. And I just want to say to the Minister of Energy, and I want to say to the Premier directly, we have a responsibility as a province to deal with this. This is clearly gouging, pure and simple. This is not a question where they're just having a hard time trying to figure out what the price is. This is them wanting to gouge a public and being allowed to do it. We as provinces have the authority over energy, including the retail price of gas. And I just say to the government across the way, what we need to do is to tell these oil companies to get themselves back into line with what the price of the gas should be at the pump related to the price of the barrel. And if they're not prepared to do that by way of cajoling, well then we should do what we have the authority to do. And that is to regulate the gas industry once and for all. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as with the rest of my colleagues on both sides of the house, I very much value and enjoy the time that we get to spend outside of this chamber back in our constituencies. That's for sure. Meeting with folks, and visiting with organization, hearing their concerns and celebration for their achievement. Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, I was pleased to be able to visit an event, a St. Peter's Church in Colbert called Super Time. Wow, it's super time. This is a community organization event sponsored by NeighborLink, a partnership for local churches, which provides a hot bowl of soup and a sandwich, often prepared and donated by restaurants and volunteers throughout the community to support local resident needs. Parishioners with Parish North Stakes Nation are on hand to provide valuable advice and support such as foot care clinics, blood pressure and blood pressure checks. Oral hygiene specialists with the Northumberland Oral Health Coalition in partnership with the Halliburton-Cawartha primary health unit provide basic oral health care clinics for low income individuals in need for support and advice. I'd like to recognize Pat Weller for her vision and courage to start this program by recognizing the needs and reaching out to the community organization to get the ball rolling. Fran Richardson and Christina Niren for their professional service and contribution in the many other dedicated volunteers who serve faithfully five days a week. Mr. Speaker, it is the valuable effort of volunteers like this that truly make our communities a better place to live. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the member's statements, the member from Leeds-Brandon. Thanks, Speaker. I rise today with a message for the Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure. Like everyone I was shocked last week when his ministry denied the village of Westport a critical infrastructure grant. I can't emphasize enough the importance of Westport's application for funding to modernize its failing wastewater treatment system. Two years ago, this aging system caused 24 million leaders of affluent to be discharged into the UNESCO World Heritage designated Rideau Canal Waterway. This is the very definition of an urgent infrastructure project, one this government should be all over. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of this looming public health and environmental crisis could see why this funding was so imperative. How a government presented with such a comprehensive application supported by evidence, endorsed by local, federal and provincial officials could reject it as just, not just inexplicable, it's unacceptable. I have written to Minister Dugud asking him to reconsider this terrible decision and meet with me and Village Mayor Robin Jones at next week's Roma-Ogra Conference. In just over a year in office, Mayor Jones and her council have done a tremendous job addressing the crisis. Working under tight time frames, they put in a responsible plan in place, but with just such a small tax base, it's simply unreasonable to think the village can bear the cost of this project alone. Minister, I'm confident your review will show the evidence to support funding this project is overwhelming as we are for the environment and this village's future. Thank you, Speaker. The member from Nicol Pelt. Thank you very much, Speaker. On our first day back into the legislature, I wanna talk about winter road maintenance. At the north end of my riding are the community of Ivanhoe Lake and Foliet, both of them on Highway 101, that is kind of between Shaplow and Timmins. For some reason, some of Highway 101 is classified as a level two and some of them are classified as a level three. What does that mean? It means that anyone driving from Ivanhoe or Foliet to Shaplow or Timmins or vice versa will drive on clear pavement for a while and snow cover pavement for a while, then clear pavement again. This erratic highway cleaning pattern makes the trip really dangerous, but it gets worse, Speaker. Beautiful Gogaima, only three kilometers off of Highway 144. The snow plowing equipment is located in Gogaima for the 144, but the road that connects the community to Highway 144 does not get clean. Listen to this, Speaker. The snow plow drives at three kilometers with its plow up, then gets to 144 and puts its plow down. There is no high school in Gogaima. Every morning, the students do the one way, 112 kilometer trips to go to Timmins. And yes, you guessed it, Speaker. They start off on a road that is not plowed. Speaker, I don't know who dreams up those things, but they make no sense. They need to be fixed so that the people of Northern Ontario can feel secure on our highway. Thank you. Further member Stavis, the member from Tobacco Lakeshore. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and welcome back. This past Saturday, February 13th, I was honored to join over 1500 Tibetan Canadians and their friends for a celebration of the Tibetan New Year, Lhosa. The Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre in my riding of Etobicoke Lakeshore hosts all the important celebrations of the Tibetan Canadian community. And this time, an overflow crowd came together to celebrate the New Year. On February 9th, the Tibetan Year of the male fire monkey, 2143, was begun. And as is tradition, this brings a time of great joy and celebration in the Tibetan community. The year began with a three day festival that mixes sacred and secular practices, prayers, ceremonies, hanging prayer flags, sacred and folk dancing, and of course, party. It is the most widely celebrated of all the Tibetan festivals and represents the time for all things to be purified and renewed. And we're all pleased to receive greetings and blessings from His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, as he extended his Lhosa message to the Tibetan diaspora worldwide. His Holiness enjoined everyone to create the causes of happiness by leading lives that benefit others. Our Tibetan community is made up of thousands of hardworking people who seek to live the benevolent, peaceful lives that His Holiness teaches. And I extend to all Tibetans my wishes for Lhosa and Tashi Dalai. Thank you for the member statements. The member from Oxford. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the Lunar New Year, a major annual event for Chinese communities around the world. Sadly, as we begin this time of celebration, Taiwan experienced a large earthquake that caused significant damage. Just one day before the Lunar New Year's Eve on Saturday, February the 5th, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan and caused significant damage, including the collapse of a 17-story apartment building. The earthquake killed more than 100 people and injured hundreds more. I want to commend all the rescuers for their extraordinary efforts, especially their work to rescue those who were trapped when the building collapsed. Through their efforts, hundreds of people, including a number of children, were saved. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Taiwan and the families who have lost loved ones or have missing family members. We recognize the strength of the Taiwanese people and assure them that we will stand with them during their difficult times. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Further member statements? The member from Ottawa or Leone? Merci, Mr. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's such a great pleasure that I'm standing and rising today to recognize this week, kindness week. You know, we should be kind every day to each other, but it's a special moment every day, yes, every day. Rabbi Balka introduced in 2007 this notion and actually a year after, by the great member of Ottawa Centre, the motion passed in the house in 2008. And, you know, it's always the week after family day. And what's most important about kindness week is to recognize every single aspect of what human nature is all about. You know, we are generally a kind environment, a kind people, but sometimes we forget to say, you know, the nice things to each other. So I want to remind everyone in this house and across Ontario, Mr. Speaker, that this week's an important week. We also have a member here, a person who's sitting in the gallery, I think he was introduced a little bit earlier, Jeff Turner from Kind Canada, who's promoting the same concept, especially for Canada 150. So I want to recognize Mr. Turner for being here today. Thank you very much and thank you for all the work that you do for us in Ontario and across Canada. Claude Français. A quick word in French. Let's not forget to be nice towards others. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The member, Steve, it's the member from Cambridge. It is an honor for me to rise today on behalf of my constituents in Cambridge to pay tribute to Claudette Miller, who had a profound influence in establishing the city of Cambridge as a successful municipality. She passed away February 10th at the age of 81. Elected as mayor of Preston in 1969, she was Canada's youngest mayor at a time when few rim and ran for public office. She became the first mayor of Cambridge when Galt Preston and Hesbler amalgamated in 1973. A year later in 1974, Claudette Sean as an outstanding leader when she helped manage a major flood gaining national attention. In 1986, Miller successfully wooed Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada to Cambridge, which became an award-winning plant and major employer. And it was a very, very important step in securing our future. At her induction into the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame in 2015, she said that these two were her proudest accomplishments. She retired as a regional councillor in 2014. Tributes from friends and colleagues have been pouring in. She was known as a feisty, driven personality who was always working for the people of Cambridge and smashed through the glass ceiling as if it wasn't there. I will miss her incredibly sharp wit, her larger-than-life dynamic personality, and her strong mentorship and heritage and environmental issues. Claudette Miller leaves an incredible legacy. Truly, Cambridge has lost one of its greats. Thank all members for their statements. I beg your pardon.