 for the Member's Statements. It's now time for Member's Statements. I recognize the Member for Mishkegawak James Bay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representatives of the Francophone Ontario teachers are with us this morning. Welcome to Queens Park. Member for Humber River, Black Creek. Thank you, Speaker. Educators have shaped our lives. They have taught us, took a personal interest in our success, pushed us to be our best selves. Their work goes far beyond the subject matter, and a terrible event last year in my community demonstrated the devotion our educators have for their students. On Friday, November 15, 2019, a fire erupted at 235 Gosford Boulevard, displacing hundreds and claiming a life. May he rest in peace. Our first responders, humanitarian and charitable organizations and many more rushed to help. Our school communities played a great role in helping students displaced by the fire by providing food, clothing, transportation, counseling, monetary donations and more. Of all the schools affected by the fire, St. Augustine Catholic School had the most impacted students. Their compassionate and dedicated principal, Rob DiLorenzo, stated that over $33,000 in gift card donations were collected by the greater TCDS community and went directly to the families of these students. Today in the galleries, I'm joined by two remarkable educators from James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School, where their impacted students were presented with clothing, food, furniture, transportation and of course an open door whenever they needed. These educators are Ms. Luisa Barone, a child and youth worker and Ms. Mina Adessa Salustria, a school social worker. Thank you, Luisa and Mina, for being there for your students and their time of need. We owe you in all schools a debt of gratitude. The work of our educators goes far beyond the classroom. They are there for our children in times of great need and they deserve our respect. They certainly have mine. Thank you. Member Statements, the member for Sarnia-Lampton. Good to see you, Speaker. Good to see you in the chair today. I rise again today to recognize the late Wilma McNeil, a community champion in Sarnia-Lampton who passed away recently at the age of 88. Everyone who is fortunate enough to interact with Wilma on a regular basis will miss her vibrant energy, great sense of humor and positive spirit. First and foremost, Wilma is a loving and devoted mother, grandmother and great grandmother who always put her family first no matter how many different projects and causes she was involved in. One of Wilma's most passionate projects was to have Remembrance Day restored as a statutory holiday in Ontario. A mission she worked on tirelessly for almost 30 years. During that time she collected countless signatures on petitions, championed her cause in the media and lobbied politicians of all stripes, including this one. In fact, less than a week before she passed, Wilma had a face-to-face meeting with my friend and colleague, the Honourable Monty McNaughton, Ontario's Minister of Labor, to discuss the idea of making November 11th a provincial holiday. Whatever the cause, Wilma's dedication and hard work were an inspiration for all of us on how to live our lives more harmoniously and make the world a better place for everyone. For her effort, she was recognized with the Lieutenant Governor's Community Volunteer Award, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award, among many others in the community. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the late Wilma McNeil for her many acts of selflessness and her lifetime of service to Sarnia Lampden. As Sarnia Lampden's Mike Bradley said, Mayor Mike Bradley said, following her passing, quote, you wish you had a thousand citizens like Wilma. Thank you very much. Member statements? Member for London West. Thank you, Speaker. I rise today to salute the 200,000 teachers and education workers who are taking a stand this Friday to protect Ontario students. I want to give a shout out to the many businesses in my community who recognize the importance of quality public education to a healthy economy. Businesses like Physio 360, which opened its doors to those on the picket line in Byron, and Shelby's Food Express, which delivered shawarma to the Kensal Park line. I want to thank the many London West families who are supporting education workers in their fight. For example, a parent of three school-aged children wrote to me that the cuts proposed by the Ontario government will turn what should be a point of pride for Ontarians, our solid public education system, into something that puts us to shame, that the government is willing to fight so hard against Ontario families is disgraceful. It is something we all see and won't forget. I want to thank the many students who know exactly what is at stake, including members of my own London West youth cabinet who have launched a petition campaign calling for a reversal of class size increases and an end to mandatory e-learning and for more supports for students with special needs. Speaker, it's time for this government to start listening to businesses, families and students. Negotiate a fair deal now, one that protects the quality of education in this province. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Please take your seats. Member Statements. The Member for Milton. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's always an honour and a pleasure to rise this in-house on behalf of my constituents. As everyone knows, yesterday was a family day, Mr. Speaker, and in my riding of Milton, my team and I organised an amazing free family skate at the Milton Sports Centre. Nice. And we had a tremendous, tremendous turnout, Mr. Speaker, where at one point we actually reached capacity and then we had lots of people waiting to get on the ice rink. And we had wonderful, wonderful young families, kids that came out for the free skate, enjoyed free cookies, even mini sticks, Mr. Speaker, as we all know, Milton is one of the fastest growing communities in the country and it's also very, very diverse. So anytime we get an opportunity to meet with constituents at community events and listen to their issues and concerns, it's extremely, extremely important to me. Another sort of a milestone in my community of Milton, Mr. Speaker, we were also able to proclaim February as the Black History Month in the town of Milton. I want to thank, of course, our mayor, all of my municipal elected colleagues, along with our federal member, who will all attend it and it's obviously a tremendous, tremendous honour to recognise and appreciate all of the contribution that the Black community has made, not just to Milton, the province of Ontario about our country. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. The member for Hamilton West and Caster Dundas. Thank you, Speaker. You know, a question that is on the minds of many Ontarians lately is who protects our water? In Hamilton, my residents are struggling with the aftermath of Sturgate, a massive spill, sewage spill, that contaminated Shadoke Creek in our beloved local wetland, Coots Paradise. This past week, outrage has turned to dismay with the news that a consultant's report has recommended to do nothing to clean up the mess. And the reason why? Because they conclude it will probably happen again. Hamiltonian John Vody writes that a Shadoke Creek fills up once with sewage, obey the law and clean it up. If it fills up again, clean it up again. And I couldn't agree more, Mr. Speaker. It's been shocking to learn how little input or control we as citizens have when it comes to protecting our water. And clearly, all levels of government have failed us. The Government of Ontario has a responsibility for real-time reporting to ensure that the public is informed of water contamination. And clean up and remediation should not be optional. The climate crisis is overwhelming our aging infrastructure and is contributing to the contamination of our waterways. We need Ontario to commit to investments in good, green infrastructure. We need to radically rethink our relationship with water. Water is a public resource. It's a common good. And it is our collective responsibility to protect it. Thank you very much. Member of Statements, the Member for Guelph. Thank you, Speaker. I rise with a heavy heart today to pay respect to Mario Rafalo, a security guard who has tragically killed while working at Guelph Central Station on January 15th. Last week, a vigil was held to honour his memory and to raise awareness about workplace safety. Every worker should come home at the end of the day. People talked about how Mario loved his family, cared for his father, and had a passion for horses. They also started a conversation about the intersection of homelessness, mental health and addiction and workplace safety. It's a difficult conversation, but an important one. When we fail to provide people with the care and services they need, it creates safety risks that are downloaded into public spaces and onto workers like Mario. We must move beyond thoughts and prayers by taking strong action on workplace safety and mental health services. That means more outreach workers and addiction counsellors, funding for mobile crisis intervention teams, and investments in supportive housing so that the most vulnerable have a safe and accessible place to live. Mario's death is a part of the human cost of not addressing the mental health crisis. To his family, friends and co-workers, I extend my sincere condolences. Thank you. Member Statements. The Member for Don Valley North. The Speaker. On February 4th, 2020, I visited Canada's biggest karaoke television enterprise, CATS-KTV, in my riding of Don Valley North. That is scheduled to open in two months. CATS-KTV has 15,000 square foot facilities. That boosts state-of-the-art game centre and features fantastic gymnasium and basketball court. Among their many sport, music and games attractions, it is bound to be a great entertainment centre and a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. Thanks to our government's open for business policy and its efforts to cut the red tape for enter entrepreneur and business operators. In these past 19 months, we have helped the business all over Ontario, which has resulted in the creation of more than 300,000 new jobs. This is good news for business and the economy, but it's also good news for those who are now gainfully employed. With our government's job creation strategy, innovative and solid new business enterprise like CATS-KTV, and so many others, now find themselves in the right place at the right time to grow and flourish. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the Member for Spadina for George. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This new session of the House is actually starting with yet another fiasco in our education system. I was speaking with a teacher candidate, Madeline, from Cambridge, who attends Brock University. And yesterday, she signed up on February 3 to write the math proficiency test, which she needs to finish in order to complete her requirements to become a teacher. She signed up on February 3. Last night, she checked her website, and thank goodness she did, because she's no longer registered to write the test today. She asked to write at some point in the future. She's on a wait list. This is a huge fiasco that's hitting students, teacher-colleagues, candidates across the province. I've been told that students in Thunder Bay were planning to drive seven and a half hours to their location today, and now have been put on a wait list, so they've had to put that on hold. The first principle of education is that you prepare students for success. But the preparation materials on this government's website state specifically the sample questions on this website are not intended to be used for practice and do not cover the full range of subcategories and pedagogy components which will be assessed in the math proficiency test. So the students, their tests have been canceled, they haven't got the preparation materials, and if they don't write the test on time, then they will not be able to graduate on time and they will not be able to start teaching positions in September. This government owes the teacher candidates of this province an apology. I realize it's the first day back and a lot of people are taking the opportunity to re-inquaint themselves with their friends and colleagues, but could we keep the noise level down so we can hear the statements? The next statement, the member for Richmond Hill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today is the 25th day of the first month of the Chinese New Year. Since the house was not sitting, we were not able to organize a Chinese New Year celebration. However, as the Chinese scene goes, it is never too late. Please accept the red packet that I have prepared for you. With many Chinese in the community in Richmond Hill, Chinese New Year is the most celebrated event for them. This year is the year of the red. People born in the red year are optimistic, energetic, and likable by all. Men born in the year of the red are clever and adapt quickly to new environment, while women are organized and place great value on the family. Allow me to bring greetings to all of you here. 恭喜你生体健康万事盛宜. I wish all of you good health and wishes come true. And everyone in the Legislative Assembly 万众一生国泰民安 meaning that we will be of one accord bringing prosperity to the country and peace to all men. Today is also the lunar birthday of my husband. Happy birthday, Albert. Thank you very much. Member Statements. Member Statements. The Member for Aurora, Oak Ridge's Richmond Hill. Thank you very much, Speaker and Colleagues. As you all know, on January 8th, our extended Canadian family had the tragic loss of 176 lives, including 57 of our own on-board Ukrainian Airlines Flight PS 752. Those 57 Canadians were our close friends and neighbours. They were good parents and young children. They were renowned engineers, doctors, and students. They had bright and promising futures. They had friends and family who will always love them. And they had hopes and dreams which will now go unfulfilled. But even in this time of great sadness, the strength and resilience of the Persian Canadian community has been remarkable, and the outpouring of love and support from our fellow Canadians has been truly heartwarming. Since the tragic day, there have been dozens of vigils and memorials attended by Canadians from every community and representatives from all parties and all levels of government came to stand in mourning and solidarity with the victims' families. I'd like to thank every member of this House who agreed with our community, and Premier Ford in particular, for announcing the scholarship fund in honour of the 57 Canadian victims. I appreciate his leadership and his friendship throughout this ordeal. I'd also like to thank Mohamed Faqih for sponsoring the Canada Strong Fundraising Initiative in support of the Canadians who lost loved ones. In the wake of the tragedy of Flight PS 752, we have shown the world what it means to be Canadian, and we will not rest until justice is served. On behalf of myself, the member of Carleton and every member of this House, we offer our deepest condolences to the families, friends and victims. May you find strength and comfort during this difficult time.