 Moving on to Member's Statements, I bet to inform the House that the following document has been tabled. A report entitled Expanditure Monitor 2023-2024, Q3 from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario. Member's Statement, I recognise the Member from Leeds-Granville. Today I rise to recognise International Women's Day on Friday, March 8th and want to reflect on an exciting day in my riding of Leeds-Granville we had last month. Our region is rich with women entrepreneurship and that was evident on Monday, February 12th when I welcomed the Associate Minister of Women's Social and Economic Opportunity, the Honourable Charmaine Williams, the 10th Ministerial Visit to My Riding Since Labor Day. The visit began with an informative women in business and entrepreneurship and skills development roundtable discussion. The meeting was very successful with 16 women leaders across our region sharing very meaningful feedback as women in business. We followed that up the same day. The Minister and I toured our riding presenting congratulatory scrolls to five women-owned businesses. We were welcomed by Lynn Libos at Echo Clothing, Cynthia Peters at Maison-Maitland, Brenda Visser at Flowers of the Field, Jenny Stotz at Tandem Unified Wellness and Kathy Lewis at the Bobbley Cafe where we enjoyed a delicious soup and sandwich. I'm so grateful for the women who make a difference in Leeds-Granville and communities across Ontario through their skilled work, their resiliency and their leadership. Happy International Women's Day. Member's Statement, the Member for Toronto Centre. Thank you, Speaker. Today marks 150 days since the start of the war on Gaza. We grieve with everyone hurting from the senseless violence unfolding in the Middle East. We grieve every innocent civilian life loss. Instead of seeing the freeing of hostages and the capture of Hamas, we have witnessed the brutal massacre of over 30,000 Palestinians and the wounding of over 71,000 civilians and the collective punishment of Gaza by the Israeli government. While we condemn October 7th attacks, the International Court of Justices' interim measures to prevent genocide cannot wait. This issue might be international, but our local communities' grief knows nothing of borders or jurisdictions. I hope that this House and all members can reach out to their federal representatives and all Ontarians can do the same and urge them to support the NDP motion scheduled for debate on March 18th that calls on the government to, among many things, demand an immediate ceasefire in the release of all hostages as the NDP has called for since October 11th, suspend all military trade and technology with Israel, and increase efforts to stop the illegal trade of arms to Hamas. As April is too far away, immediately reinstate funding to UNRWA and support the independent investigation, demand unimpeded humanitarian aid to Gaza, advocate for an end to the decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories, and work towards a two-state solution. Never again means never again for everyone. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. This past Saturday I had the honour of serving as a judge at the New Market Lions Club Effective Speaking Contest. The Lions Club is a network of community-minded volunteers who continue to live up to their motto, We Serve. The Effective Speaking Contest is the largest bilingual contest of its kind in Canada. The goal is to promote competitive speaking to stimulate independent thinking among students. I was asked to judge the speakers of the French portion of the contest. Juniors grades 4 to 6 and Intermediate grades 7 to 9. Students delivered a prepared speech followed by an intermediate student presenting an impromptu speech. Topics range from the importance of teaching history to animal companionship to the impromptu speeches on who they admire the most and the impacts of social media. Criteria for assessment included subject selection and organisation of material, how the student kept the interest of the crowd, the delivery of that speech, etc. Congratulations to the intermediate French speaker Riley and the junior French speaker Rami for their outstanding speeches, earning first place accolades. They will go on to compete in the regional contest and perhaps to the provincial contest this May. Congratulations to all the volunteers. Members statements? A member from the Schegelach James Bay. Not a week goes by without people in my writing coming to see me to talk about the Northern Travel Grant in the last year when the Hearst neonatal unit was lacking an obstetrician and several women had to then be redirected to the Kappus Kissing Clinic that also had no space. They were then sent elsewhere. They had to deliver three hours from their home. How can we help these women? The government, with this travel grant, gives people a certain maximum and it's not a realistic price. Find me a hotel that somebody can pay for this grant. That's just one example among hundreds. In Kappus Kissing there is a huge waiting list for doctors, for family doctors, about half of the population and the travel grant only applies if one is going to see a specialist when the government, the government needs to improve this grant to truly support Northerners, but rather instead they decided to play politics and abandon these people. If only the Minister of Health could go up north and see that it's a two-tier system, maybe then the Minister would push the government to change the conditions of this travel grant. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member statements? The Member for Kitchener, Conestoga. Well thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I want to talk to you a little bit today about nosies. A notice of security interests commonly referred to as a nosy are a tool similar to a lien that can be placed on the land registry system by a business or personal property without the individual's knowledge. This nosy placed on the title of the home creates an encumbrance on the title that they must clear before they sell or refinance their home. Scammers target vulnerable people and can leave them with massive debt. This is an issue right across the province, but Waterloo Regional Police have been dealing with it for years. Detective Adam Stover who's here joining us today, who I've had the pleasure of discussing this issue with, is an expert on the subject. Over the past few years these scams have evolved Mr. Speaker. A recent CTV News article stated Kitchener resident Ian Craig has seven nosies on his property totaling more than $150,000. He's fighting to make sure that others aren't scammed too. Ian said in the article, this is not right. For people who have invested in their homes, that somebody comes along and puts a nosy on it for more than half of it. The way they can take advantage of people is just disgusting. This is why we need protection. Speaker, it's not right and that's why we are fighting back. The Ministry of Public and Business Service delivery recently ran consultations to get to the bottom of this issue. I want to thank the Minister of Waterloo Regional Police, PA Riddell and the entire team at the Ministry for their hard work. Let's stop this unscrupulous practice. Let's say no to nosies. Member Statements, the member for London Fanshawe. Thank you Speaker. Today I would like to use my platform to amplify the concerns expressed by those in the child care sector regarding issues attracting and retaining staff and early childhood educators. I share these concerns on behalf of child care providers across the province, but specifically one child care provider in my community. They are losing 15 ECE graduates of Fanshawe College because they are leaving Ontario. They are relocating to take advantage of a better immigration pathways for ECEs and other provinces. The loss of these workers directly impacts the care and education of 120 preschoolers who would benefit from their expertise. Without immediate action we risk compromising the quality of early childhood education in our communities and hindering the future success of our children. The Ontario immigrant nominee program serves as a gateway for individuals with the skills and experience that our economy needs to obtain permanent residency in Ontario. We must recognize and take proactive measures to retain and attract skilled professionals to this vital sector. I call upon the Minister of Labor, Ministers of Labor, Immigration, Training, Skills Development, Education and College of Universities to address this urgent matter by implementing a comprehensive provincial immigration pathway tailored explicitly to early childhood educators. Investing in our educators and prioritizing quality of early childhood education is not only essential for the well-being of our children but also for the prosperity and success of our province as a whole. Together let's work to create a more equitable and prosperous future for all Ontarians. Thank you very much. Member statements, the member for Markham, Thorn Hill. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with the heavy heart full of sadness. We mourn the loss of truly remarkable leader. Brian Malroni was a visionary and principal Prime Minister of Canada. He dedicated his life pursuing Canada, national interest and humanitarian issue worldwide. Mr. Speaker, when I came to Canada in 1983, I was inspired by Prime Minister Malroni and what represented to people like me coming from a war-torn country. His compassion, his leadership and his dedication to freedom, democracy and social justice improved the life of millions of people around the world. He was a truly a dynamic leader for Canada, a transformative force for positive change. During the 1983 program against the Tamil people during the Civil War, thousands of Tamils came to Canada seeking asylum and better place to live. Prime Minister Malroni first strong pressure not to accept such refugees. As a man of principle and strong moral conviction, he simply replied that Canada is not in the business to turning away refugees. Prime Minister Malroni didn't sigh away from international pressure either. Despite the opposition he faced from his allies, Prime Minister Malroni's support of Nelson Mandela against anti-apathite government of South Africa helped bring about end of the ugly regime. He was always committed to do the right thing, not the popular thing. Mr. Speaker, leaders are never born, they are made. Prime Minister Malroni's spirit burns bright that will light the world forever. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Member's statements, the member for Don Valley East. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to discuss an issue affecting many of my constituents in Don Valley East, dem evictions. Dem evictions occur when under existing regulations landlords evict their tenants to demolish and rebuild. Under the current government's lack of oversight and tenant protections this often leaves tenants with nowhere to go and if they can ever return it's a significantly higher rent. This is the case for tenants of 10 different buildings in my riding. These tenants have a limited safety net under current regulations predicated on something called rent gaps payments. In this developers can pay the rent gap between a tenants current rate and in most cases the CMHC's 2022 average rate for a similar apartment. The problem though is rents have skyrocketed since 2022 meaning the present rate is entirely insufficient for my constituents. At 48 Grenoble Drive a low rise apartment in Flemington Park the rent gap payment falls $1,500 short of competitive pricing. That's not right. My community is made up of new immigrants, seniors, people dependent on fixed incomes. These buildings represent stability in troubled waters. We need more housing but we've got to protect tenants and lighten their loads so they're not left high and dry. That means fixing rent gap payments ensuring tenants have the right to return and making sure that no tenant is ever left behind as we fight to ensure everyone in this province has access to affordable housing. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member for Peterborough Court. Thank you Speaker. On March 1st I had the pleasure of introducing a brand new form of hockey to Peterborough. Volt hockey is played using specially designed power wheel chairs. The stick blade is attached to the front of the chair and a big wiffle ball is used for the puck. It's played on a basketball court with pond hockey style nets. I was first introduced to it by Karen Stintz from Variety Village when I attended the North American Championships. I had the opportunity to speak to a family from Boston whose daughter was a quadriplegic. Their daughter was able to play volt hockey because the controls were adapted to work with the movement of her head. Her parents told me they never thought she'd be able to play a team sport and yet here she was at the North American Championships. They described it as life-altering. I knew instantly that I needed to find a way to bring this to my community. Speaker we worked with Variety Village, Five Counties Children's Center, the YMCA Eastern Ontario, the Quartha Comets, community alternatives, and the Council for People with Disabilities to create the team. The final hurdle was the startup funds. But Speaker, Saundra Sukumaran, Deanna Hayes, Peter Lemelin and Glenn White from the under-the-lock hockey tournament, the tournament I founded and chaired for 10 years, agreed to donate all of the proceeds from Canada's most inclusive hockey event to start volt hockey. Thank you to everyone who helped bring this vision to help kids with disabilities play Canada's favorite game. Thank you. Member Statements, Member Ford, Eglinton Lawrence. Thank you, State Day, a global annual holiday drawing attention to women's human rights. But this year it's hard to celebrate. On October 7th, Hamas terrorists made systematic sexual assault and barbaric sexualized torture and violence a weapon of war and the evidence has been available from that moment. The terrorists broadcast their depraved actions. The world saw the footage of multiple women being carried away on vehicles with telltale, bloodied sweatpants and many bodies that speak were recovered. On November 14th, a young woman reported to international media that hiding in the bushes she witnessed a horrific gang rape, mutilation and murder, corroborating physical evidence of this assault was found at the scene. After that report there was no excuse for any women's or international group to equivocate and yet many have been shamefully silent or worse. According to the Me Too movement we're supposed to believe all women who testify about sexual violence but this year we learned that apparently for some that does not apply to Jewish or Israeli women. This week a UN report found evidence of sexual violence by Hamas on October 7th that was conflict related and there are indications that sexual violence continues to be carried out against those still being held hostage by that group which includes 14 Israeli women. On October 7th, 2023 in its aftermath we're marking a very dark period in the history of the international women's right movement as women in Israel have been betrayed by many. Women's bodies are not a battleground on which to wage war. There's no excuse for sexual assault. It cannot be contextualized. There is no yes but when it comes to rape. Now more than ever women need to stand together to support all women because they are human beings. Thank you. That concludes our member statements for this morning.