 Therefore, it's time for our member's statements, the member from Oxford. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm pleased to rise today and recognize World Water Day. It's a good opportunity to recognize the importance of protecting our environment and the vital resources we depend on, especially water. I've often raised these concerns in this legislative but a proposal that would put our water at risk. The proposal is to locate a landfill in Beechville on fractured limestone near the Thames River and close to the town of Ingersoll's main well. I also want to take this opportunity to remind the Minister of the Environment and the members of the legislature about the bill I introduced, which would give municipalities the authority to approve the location of landfills in their community, which the government killed by proroguing the legislature. I will be reintroducing the bill later today. The municipalities across Ontario could be forced to accept landfills. They don't have a real say despite the significant impact on their communities. Mr. Speaker, nearly 30 municipalities have passed resolutions asking for this authority, and further 150 leaders have signed petitions demanding the right and are in the process of passing similar motions in their own councils. Municipalities are demanding the right to have a say on landfills that affect their communities. We respect local governments and the people who elected them. So we believe municipalities deserve landfill authority, approval authority, especially when their water supply is at risk. So today, as we celebrate World Water Day, I want to remind the government of the importance of protecting our groundwater and ensuring that our drinking water is not put at risk. Thank you very much for allowing me to make this statement. Member Siemens, the member from Windsor to come see me. Thank you, Speaker. And by the way, your young page from Brat, Tatiana, so she really enjoyed your lunch today. And she actually thinks you're a nice guy. All the young. Actually, Speaker, I have a couple of awards to speak about today. And first, thank you for sponsoring your annual Speaker's Book Awards. Congratulations to this year's winners, especially Carolyn Smarts-Frost for her book, Steal Away Home, about slavery and the Underground Railroad. I was overjoyed this year when three writers from Windsor were honored. My friend, Patrick Broad, is a lawyer with the City of Windsor. He has written extensively about our history, and his latest book is Border City's Powerhouse, The Rise of Windsor, 1901 to 1945. It's published by Biblioasis, a local firm I have mentioned several times in this house, especially around the Giller Prize. Cheryl Collier is a professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Windsor. Chi and Jonathan Mallory have written the Politics of Ontario, the first comprehensive book in Ontario's politics, government and public policy since 1997. And our third author with Windsor roots is Sean McCallough. His latest book is Frontier City, Toronto on the Verge of Greatness. Sean grew up in Windsor, his mom still lives in my writing. These days, he makes his living as a writer in Toronto, concentrating on issues of urban planning and is a co-founder of Spacing Magazine. And Speaker Windsor will be recognized on Monday for its work on the journey to become an age-friendly community. These communities are characterized by accessible and inclusive environments, both physical and social, that enable seniors to live independent, healthy, active, safe, and socially connected lives. The award will be presented on Monday at the inaugural age-friendly symposium put on by the Minister of Senior Affairs. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. The Minister is the member from Etobicoke Center. Thanks very much, Speaker. Speaker, many parents in my writing of Etobicoke Center have expressed their concerns about the proposed boundary changes for Catholic high schools in our community. Currently three Catholic high schools in Etobicoke, Michael Power, Bishop Allen, and Father John Redmond are over capacity. And to relieve pressures on these three schools, the Catholic School Board has proposed new catchment boundaries. If implemented, the proposal would result in children graduating from elementary schools in Etobicoke and my community being forced to attend schools outside the Etobicoke area, while schools in Etobicoke would be occupied by students from outside the community. This is unacceptable to me, because there is currently enough room in those three high schools to accommodate all students graduating from elementary schools in my community in Etobicoke. That is why I have been advocating with the Catholic School Board for a revised boundary proposal that would ensure local students from our community have priority access to our local high schools. I've also been a strong advocate for an additional Catholic high school in Etobicoke to ease the pressure on these three crowded schools. Scarlett Heights Entrepreneurial Academy is a public high school owned by the TDSB, which will be closing its doors at the end of this school year. And I've been advocating with the TDSB and the Catholic School Board that the TDSB seller leads the property to the Catholic School Board as soon as possible. This would ensure that Scarlett Heights becomes a Catholic school, and this could be done as soon as possible. This is to me a common sense solution speaker that would keep the property in public hands, preserve the school and property for use by the surrounding community. But most importantly, it would add a Catholic high school in Etobicoke and ease pressures on the currently crowded high schools so that parents in our community who have children graduate from elementary schools can send their students to schools in our community in Etobicoke. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Further members. Same as the member from Carlton, Mississippi Mills. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I will table a private member's bill that will amend the Insurance Act. It will allow life insurance policy owners to use their policy as collateral to obtain a loan. This will give life insurance policy owners the freedom to use their life insurance policy the same as any other property they might own. Property such as land, buildings, stocks, or bonds. All these properties can be used as collateral to obtain loans. This is a fundamental right of a property owner. It is a right that is currently denied. Restoring this right will help anyone who has a life insurance policy. It will especially help senior citizens. Many seniors are struggling to make ends meet because of high bills and cuts to senior services. Creating this access to their property, their wealth, their cash will help many seniors to live without worry, without having to impose on their families, and without having to depend on government. They will have the pride of independence. They will be able to live with dignity. It is time to give seniors the freedom to use their wealth the way they want. Thank you. Further member statements? The member from Thorne Hill. Thank you very much. I'm going to be moving forward with the private members bill in just a few moments and I just want to talk a little bit about it in the time that I have for a statement. It's an act to require the establishment of a careers in medicine advisory committee and we're joined today by some wonderful women who are in medical school students and some of them are still here with us today and I just want to add to some of the remarks that we discussed this morning in our press conference. One is that the taxpayers are footing the bill to help train many of our medical students. They're burdened with debt and the taxpayers are contributing very valuable taxpayer dollars in order to train our medical school students. How is it possible, Mr. Speaker, that we have so many medical school students who are unable to match in the province of Ontario? More needs to be done and that's why I'm moving forward with the private members bill. I want to just mention that I have not forgotten and I believe that many of us have not forgotten Dr. Robert Chu whose voice really did fall on deaf ears and I really want to speak for him today because he took his life after not matching two years in a row for a residency program. And it's all very nice to offer counseling and resiliency training to our students who don't match but that's just a bandaid, Mr. Speaker, we can do so much more. So for speaking on Dr. Robert Chu's behalf, as well as all the medical school students who did not match in the first round, we know there's a second round, but unfortunately the international medical school students are able to put their names forward for that round, so more needs to be done. It is a crisis. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Speaker. And just a short couple of weeks ago, we had the mining gurus of the globe coming in and gather over at the convention center here in Toronto. The prospectors and developers Association of Canada came in to talk about mining, the experiences that they have, the investment, the equipment. It was an exciting time and I spent a very good portion of that week with them. However, regretfully, I couldn't spend the entire week with them. I had another mining project, Mr. Speaker, and the mining project was over at Sick Kids, believe it or not. I had my crew with Darla Hennessey and Howie Hennessey, along with Mum and Dad, which was Thomas and Jesse. And we were opening up veins, but there weren't gold veins, Mr. Speaker. What I seen was a miracle that happened over at Sick Kids. We opened up the vein to let blood flow to a little boy's heart is what we did. And his little boy's heart, his name is Elijah. Elijah has been blessing the community of Elliott Lake as a miracle boy for a very long time since Christmas. Standing there, looking at him and just looking at the struggles and the battle. And we call him the little bean. I refer to him as a little warrior. But it is amazing what has happened there. That little guy has inspired an entire community. And you know what? We always look up to the skies in order to have our prayers answered. But when you look up to that sky, also in the skyline here in Toronto, you're going to see Sick Kids. And that's where miracles happen. Thank you for the number of statements. The members from Mississauga, Arendelle. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a privilege to speak in the legislature today about a dedicated young man from my writing of Mississauga, Arendelle, who is the recipient of the 2017 Lincoln M. Alexander Award. Mr. Adam Lake exemplified the sort of qualities that interior needs in his featured community leaders. He's passionate about his community and the challenges they face while also being earnest in all of his endeavors. Organizations such as the LGBTQ youth hotline, Black Out, African in partnership against AIDS, Black Cap, and the Peel HIV AIDS Network have all benefited from his intelligence, passion, and dedicated activism. It is also very impressive to know that at such a young age, Mr. Lake has already co-founded a non-profit organization called Books Breaking Barriers. This organization helps to empower Canadian prison inmates through the love of reading. I had the pleasure of meeting Adam in my office. He's a very impressive young man and has a very bright future ahead of him. Once again, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Adam Lake for his dedication to helping create a more equal world and helping inspire people and others to do the same. Adam, you are a fully deserving recipient of 2017 Lincoln M. Alexander Award. And we thank you for your dedication. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for your member status, the member from Whitby, Osho. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. I'm pleased to rise and speak about Durham Hospice. As I've long been guided, Speaker, by the belief that how we care for each other at the end of life is as important as the beginning of our lives. Therefore, I'm pleased to lend my support to Comfort Care Compassion, a $15 million capital fundraising campaign, Speaker, to support the construction of two new residential hospices in Durham Region and bring as much needed resource to our community. It's a five-bed site in Clarington and a Ted-bed site in Whitby, Speaker, which will provide free and meaningful care in a supportive, flexible and home-like environment. I'm highly impressed, Speaker, by the compassionate individuals from the Region of Durham, practitioners, volunteers, administrators, and community leaders from all levels of government lending their time to the Hospice fundraising campaign. Their passions and focus provides a solid foundation for the work that still needs to be done to reach the $15 million target. After all, Speaker, Hospice is about caring, not curing. And the time to care is in the Region of Durham, is now. I'll close with a quote, Speaker, from the Chinese philosopher Lao Tu. Once said that life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you for the member's statements. The member from Barrie. Speaker, I wish to congratulate the retired teachers of Ontario on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. The RTO is a diverse organization representing retirees from the public, French, and Catholic school system, and its mission is to improve the lives of its members and seniors in general. To this end, the RTO Foundation supports research into healthy aging, including finding a chair in the geriatric medicine at the University of Toronto's Medical School. The Foundation also supports worthwhile community projects in Ontario and around the world, as well as provides scholarships for higher education. Additionally, the RTO provides other important services for its members, including an insurance plan, pension support, and social activities. For example, District 34 of the RTO, which represents former teachers in York Region, organizes annual trips to the theatre, horse racing, and a golf tournament in support of the RTO Foundation. I know Janice Knapp, President of Simcoe Unit 17, works very hard on behalf of her members as well. In fact, the members of District 34 are hosting a celebration this afternoon in honour of their 50th anniversary, complete with a trivia contest and music from 1968. As a teacher myself, I wish to congratulate the RTO on 50 excellent years and thank them for the service to the community in all of Ontario. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that there are several people in this legislature that in the future may be members of RTO. Thank you. I already am. All right, final members, statements to the member from York Simcoe. Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I'm pleased to be able to rise today and add a little more to the International Women's Day. Earlier this month, we celebrated International Women's Day and today I want to acknowledge two special women in Ontario's history who have each blazed their unique trail in their respective fields. It was on this day in 1884, Elizabeth Laurie Smelly was born in what was then Port Arthur. Today we know as Thunder Bay. After serving as a nurse in World War I, she became the chief superintendent of the Victorian Order of Nurses in Canada and a colonel in the Canadian Army in World War II. She was the first woman in the Canadian Armed Forces to ever achieve this rank. Years later in 1928, Eileen Volick of Hamilton became the first Canadian woman to obtain a pilot's license. Each of these remarkable women achieved great heights at a time when it was not the norm, nor even something many would have considered. We are lucky to live in a time where a girl can set goals and where goals can be achieved. It is because of, in part, the women like Elizabeth and Eileen. Thank you. And they... Thank you. All members for their statements. It's therefore time for reports by committees.