 Yes, it's now time for Member Statements, the member from Wellington Hall of Wales. Mr Speaker, yesterday after question period I was very glad to tell the Minister of Health about the very successful walk or run for Georgetown Hospital, which my wife Lisa and I attended this past Sunday morning. This annual walk is a great community event, and this year raised $37,000 for the Georgetown Hospital. Our Georgetown Hospital Foundation staff and volunteers do an amazing job, and I especially want to acknowledge Jennifer McNally, the Foundation's manager for annual giving and special events. The money raised by the Foundation is spent to improve health care services through the purchase of medical equipment and enhancements to the hospital's programs and facilities. I try to attend the walk every year, and I was glad to see Halton Hills Regional Counselor, Jane Fogel, and Town Counselor John Hearst there as well. Since the Georgetown Hospital opened its doors in 1961, it's been a pillar in our community providing outstanding health care services to local residents. In 2011, I was glad to help secure a promise from the government of up to $2.6 million to support needed renovations at the hospital. In addition to the province's commitment, money raised in the community paid for most of the project. After working together, we now have a new emergency room, CT scanner, and upgrades to the diagnostic imaging department, better health care closer to home. Someday, we'll need a brand new Georgetown Hospital. It goes without saying that I would want to support whatever hospital redevelopment project our community submits to the ministry. I want to thank everyone involved. Working together, we make progress. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Further member statements? The member from Windsor West. Thank you, Speaker. It's my pleasure to stand in the house today to talk about a young lady. Now, I know it's not usually polite to talk about women's ages, but I'm going to guess that Maya is probably about 11 years old, and she's quite an exceptional young lady. Maya McHale is the founder of Maya's Friends, a group of 22 young girls, and occasionally they have a young fellow or two that come out and help who have raised funds to help those in need in my riding of Windsor West as well as across all of Windsor and Essex County. As a result of their yearly signature fundraising event, Maya's lemonade stand. Maya and her friends raised $3,288 as well as collecting hundreds of cans of food. They have donated the food and the canned goods and the money that they collected to the downtown mission, the Salvation Army, and the Windsor Youth Center, which we lovingly refer to as the WIC. They all benefit from the fundraising efforts and the generosity of Maya's friends. Also notable is the partnership between Maya's team and the Real Canadian Superstore. They are generously donate gift cards and food items at cost in order to maximize the efforts of Maya's friends and their number of low income or homeless residents of Windsor and Essex County. It is with great pride that I stand in the legislature and thank Maya and her team of friends for their continued efforts to make life a little bit easier for those living in poverty. Thank you. Member Sting, it's the member from Tumblin, 20 West. Well thank you, Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to be able to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues from all sides of the house for taking time out their busy schedule in supporting Tumblin, 20 West Day last Thursday. I was proud to showcase my riding to remind them of the exciting things going on in Eastern Ontario. Mr. Speaker, I tell you the day was a great success and I'm truly grateful for the support shown by all members and their staff who attended. I'd also like to thank the many businesses and organization who participated in showcasing only a small portion of the amazing things that Northumblin, 20 West has to offer. People like Betty Potter-Tarts, Burnham Family Markets, Northumblin County Economic Development Tourism, William Street Brewery, Quinty West Economic Development, City of Quinty West, Rachel Tarts, Wild Card Brewing Company, Kaley's Kale Chips, Habitat for your mind and Thumblin, Hote Goat, Empire Cheese, The Big Apple, Grills Origin, Mrs. B. Chocolates, Le Boucherre de France, Le Couture Salumi, Nestle Brighton Springs Quicker, Bakery's Tretin and Saputo Cheese Products. This is the third year we have hosted this event and I was very pleased with the participation from our community, which included folks from across the writing as well, the many different products displayed. I'm excited to make next year even a bigger and better event. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you, Speaker. I'd like to take a moment to recognize September as Big Brother Big Sister Month. For over a century, Big Brothers and Big Sisters have been helping Canadian children and youth reach their full potential by providing them with proper mentorship. Currently, Big Brothers and Big Sisters has more than 115 agencies in 1,000 communities across Canada that help more than 42,000 children. In Ontario, Big Brothers Big Sisters helps more than 21,000 children and youth across 500 communities. Mentoring has remarkably changed over the course of time from simply matching a role model in your life, whether it's a teacher, a friend or a family member. Now there are mentoring programs for groups that are designed for different needs, such as the importance of physical activity or eating healthy. Mentoring has profound benefits for a child, including helping a child stay in school, establish a confidence in their ability to do well in school, helping instill in children that school can be enjoyable and teaching the importance of doing well. Even with all of this great work, there are more than 8,000 children and youth in Ontario waiting for that mentoring opportunity. Every child deserves a role model in their life to instill confidence and reach their fullest potential. If you've ever had a role model in your life, you know the profound effect it can have. If you can, I encourage you to donate your time to become a big for Big Brothers Big Sisters and make a difference. Thank you. Thank you. Further member states, the member from Nickelbelt. Thank you, Speaker. Did you know that the OLG has locked out its workers over pension, Speaker? Since September 2019, September 19, Unifier workers working at Sudbury, Woodbine and Brantford were locked out by the OLG. They were locked out by the government. Why? Because those workers want to keep their pension. It's as simple as that. The government has promised that as slots were going to be privatized and give to privatized casino operator that they would have a pension, but they are not willing to say that they will have an opportunity to negotiate their pensions. So what does that mean? That means that Unifier employees that presently have and belong to the public service pension plan won't be allowed to continue into this pension plan. They will have to take whatever the private casino operator has to offer them. This is a shame, and it's pretty hard to believe that this is happening when we have a liberal government that goes out of its way to say that every worker in this province should have a pension plan. Not only do they say this, you cannot flip on any TV channel that you see those ads about the new Ontario retirement pension plan, but then you have a thousand workers that have a pension plan. All they want to do is to keep them when they get privatized, and what do they get? They get to walk the picket lines for the last two weeks. That's a shame. The government has to mandate them back to the negotiation table so they keep their pension plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Polycystic kidney disease, or PKD, is one of the most common life-threatening genetic diseases in the world. It currently affects 66,000 Canadians and over 12.5 million people worldwide, including people in my riding of the Tobacco Centre. There is no cure, Speaker. Last year I had the opportunity to talk to a doctor about the devastating effects of PKD, and what he said was to fight PKD. It's important that we raise awareness, that we raise money to find a cure, but that we also find ways to provide support to those who are suffering with PKD. One organization that has done so much work in helping to combat the disease is the PKD Foundation of Canada. The organization started out in a living room of an Oakville home in 1993 and now has chapters around the country. It raises awareness and funds for research and is awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in research grants. I was happy to join the PKD Foundation this past Sunday at Centennial Park in my riding of the Tobacco Centre for their annual walk for PKD. Since 2007 the event has raised almost $700,000, including $134,000 last year. The turnout for this year's walk was excellent, and I'm sure there was a great success. While at the event I had a chance to meet with the organization's hard-working team, including Executive Director Jeff Robertson and the rest of the organization's board, I'd like to congratulate them once again on the walk and for all the work that they do to help fight PKD and help those who are fighting PKD. It's with help of organizations like the PKD Foundation that we will do exactly what is needed, continue to raise awareness, raise funds to find a cure, and to support those who are suffering from PKD. Thanks to organizations like the PKD Foundation, we will defeat this disease one day once and for all. Thank you. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I'm pleased to share today with my fellow members that this year the Advancing Women Conference will be taking place in Toronto October 5th and 6th. This unique opportunity will focus on recognizing and advancing the role of women in agriculture. The Toronto Conference follows a similar event in western Canada, at which there were roughly 600 women in various agriculture food roles in attendance this year alone. The conference will feature keynote presentations from agricultural leaders, most of whom are women, on topics related to leadership development, finances, career development, community, communication and health. Most importantly, the conference will provide the tools needed to break down Ontario's agri-food glass ceiling by discussing the issues that specifically affect women in this province and across eastern Canada. This event next week in Toronto will also aim to include diverse perspectives from across the industry, from farm owners and operators to the agribusiness sector. This event will bring women together to discuss themes relevant to the agri-food sector as a whole. For instance, the Deputy Minister for the Minister of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs, Deb Stark, will be speaking about MUD, Mascara and other grand challenges. The Executive Director for the National Organization known as Farm Food Care, Crystal McKay, will be speaking about searching for unicorns, the Loch Ness Monster and work-life balance. Speaker, this will be a great event and with the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Ontario outreach program coming to this province on November 5th to 8th, as well as growing my agri-food jobs motion set to occur next week, I look forward to continuing promoting women in the agri-food sector. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate this opportunity to tell the House about an important milestone in my writing of New Market Aurora. Speaker, 25 years ago, a group of citizens from across Ontario concerned about the ecologically sensitive geography known as the Oak Ridge's Moraine came together to form an advocacy group called STORM, Save the Oak Ridge Moraine. Since 1989, STORM has worked tirelessly at the local and regional levels to ensure municipalities make planning decisions that respect the significance of the Moraine. This past Sunday, supporters gathered in Aurora to celebrate the 25th anniversary of STORM's founding, to celebrate the important contributions the group and its partner organizations have made, and to recognize 25 individuals for the work they've done on behalf of STORM and the Moraine. Speaker, in case anyone needs a refresher, the Oak Ridge's Moraine is a major landform unique to southern Ontario and extends 160 kilometres from the Niagara Scarpen in the west to the Trent River system in the east. Thirteen thousand years ago, as the glaciers began to retreat from southern Ontario, torrential flood channels developed beneath the melting ice-carrying sediments and dumping them into what became the Moraine. Speaker, one of the Moraine's most important functions is the water recharge and discharge area sustaining the health of many watersheds. It's accurately described as southern Ontario's rain barrel. I'm proud to say a good portion of my writing of New Market Aurora sits atop the Moraine and we're richer for it. Congratulations and thank you to STORM for the work it's done in preserving the Oak Ridge's Moraine. Thank you very much. From the member's statements, the member from Eglinton-Lords. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, September 28th, Michael Burgess, a remarkable Canadian, passed away in a Toronto hospice surrounded by friends and family. The 70-year-old Canadian, singer extraordinaire, had been battling cancer for years. Burgess is most fondly remembered for his role in Les Miserables, in which he played Jean Valjean in a more than 1,000 performances. I'm sure a lot of people here were there at the Toronto Royal Alexandria Theatre and toured across Canada. Burgess took the role across Canada on the first national tour of the production and also peered for the 10th anniversary concert to Royal Albert Hall in London. His other major performances include Mano La Mancha, Blood Brothers, and starring roles throughout Canada, the United States. I know I saw him in that incredible feature here in Toronto also. We all can never forget, for instance, when he sang O Canada and our national anthem at Leaf Games for many years. Burgess was also the first person to sing O Canada the World Series in 1992. Michael was born in Regina and spent his formative years in Toronto and went to St. Mike's Choir School just down the street here and later attended the University of Ottawa. Burgess married his fellow Les Miserables performer Susan Gilmore in 1994. We all sadly will miss this incredible voice and I know the Royal Alexander Theatre will dim their marquee lights this evening and we've lost an incredible Canadian whose heavenly voice we will surely miss but now he's singing up there with St. Peter. Rest in peace Michael Burgess.