 It's now time for our members' statements. I recognize the member for Waterloo. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. When the Ford government scrapped the cap and trade system, it scrapped a host of other programs that were vitally important to all of our communities. That's how funding for the Ontario Municipal Community Cycling Program was gone just like that. Modern cycling infrastructure allows people to make healthier choices, and it saves lives by keeping cyclists safe. Just this year, six people have died in Ontario all while riding their bikes. Only yesterday, a six-year-old girl and her father had too close of a call while riding their bikes together in Uptown Waterloo, my riding. The young girl went to go around what looked like a parked truck in the bike line when it was suddenly pulled forward and then down to the road scaring her. Afterwards, she said, Dad, it wasn't my fault. The guy came in. This is a six-year-old girl who is put at risk because our cities still are not being built for people but for cars. In Uptown Waterloo, there is no barrier between the road and the bike lane. In fact, the bike lane looks quite similar to parking spaces in downtown Kitchener. While building better infrastructure and a change of attitude about who deserves to use our streets, this will continue to happen. Cities need funding for this infrastructure. The provincial government should be a leader in protecting its citizens. But in the case of protecting cyclists, they've shown no leadership. It's time for a more thoughtful and inclusive approach to building our cities. Our children deserve it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member statements? Member for Peterborough, Coortha. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm rising to celebrate the 70th anniversary of George and Audrey Reed, two people who live in my riding. Originally from Wales, they were married in Swansea. After World War II, they relocated to Anasmore, where George built the house that they currently live in. George is 91, and Audrey will be 90 later on this year. George is someone that we owe a great debt of gratitude to. He served in the merchant navy during World War II on the SS Stamwell. The Stamwell sank a ship at the entrance of the harbor that held German U-boats, temporarily blocking those U-boats from entering battle. George also ferried craft, landing craft, of British, Canadian and American soldiers to the beaches of Normandy. During the D-Day invasion, he was involved in Comno, the combined operation merchant navy order, essentially a special services force that was involved in the preparations of D-Day. Mr. Speaker, we have someone as part of my riding that is truly a Canadian hero, and I'm very proud to say that he is someone I've met and is one of my friends. Thank you. Member statements? Member for? Thank you. Hi, Speaker. I'm Sal Mamakwaf, Member for Kuwait Nuq. And over the last few sessions, I've heard a lot of government for the people. And I'm from Northern Ontario. I have 27 flying communities, mostly First Nations. And when I speak about Kuwait Nuq, these are the people of the north. And sometimes the system that's there makes us we get forgotten within the system of Ontario. And I know when we talk about housing, you know, the infrastructure, the lack of housing, the overcrowding whereby, you know, sometimes four families are living in the two bedroom. When we talk about access to clean water, I have one community in my riding that has 23 years of water boil advisories. When we talk about equity, when we talk about equality, you know, when we talk about government for the people, what is it for my people as well? So when we talk about access to proper police services, are we part of Ontario? Are we part of this great province of Ontario? When we talk about our First Nations people, thank you. The Member for Mrs. Agamon. Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker. Today I'd like to talk about something very dear to my heart and a promise I made repeatedly even before I was nominated as a candidate. In my riding of Mrs. Agamon, the youth unemployment rate is approximately 25% and 28% of youth in Malton feel excluded and are not involved in any extracurricular activities. I hope these figures are higher than the city average. When I started my campaign, I promised to work on these issues. Mrs. Speaker, my office has already started the process. We have already reached out to the local councillors, started working with them and hired a youth coordinator whose role will be dedicated to solving such youth challenges within the communities I represent. Mrs. Speaker, I'm so proud to be part of the government, where in just over a week we have done so much that we echoed multiple times promise made, promise kept. So proud to say that not only we are delivering results in this house by hiring the youth coordinator, we have proven even at the riding level we are delivering those results. Our Mrs. Agamon Youth Council is another notable example of promise made, promise kept. In couple years, I pledge to stand before you again with the data confirming the success of our efforts and commitment to youth of Mrs. Agamon. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Member for Algoma Manitoulin. Well, good afternoon, Mr. Speaker. And I want to let you know that robotics is alive and well in Algoma Manitoulin. The students of our school districts were in a competition in Louisville, Canada, in the World Championship and 400, the 400 best students of 42 different countries were in this competition. To get there, they were in a competition, a national competition, KT Mason among them placed ranked 8th in the junior division and the Luke Dallard team in their division. I would like to congratulate them. Ones that lead our students and never are they recognized more than in this way. The teacher is Chris Merra from Wasi Abim with Quimacong High School teacher who was recognized just recently by the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence for Putting First Nations students on the map in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. These students in only their fourth year, their fourth year, Mr. Speaker, were recognized for their robotics skills and team accomplishment in qualifying for the quarterfinals and winning the highest rookie seed and rookie inspiration award at the first robotics competition. Now, these students participate in the design, manufacturing and coding. Again, I want to go back to the teacher, Mr. Chris Merra. A teacher is never compensated, never recognized in their lifetime in regards to the work and the effort and the heart that they put into their school and their efforts with their students. It's only after, if they're so fortunate, to meet up with one of their students in a coffee shop where a student will walk up to them and say, you know what? You made a difference in my life. You know what? You influenced me. You know what? Because of you. I'm a science. I'm a mathematics. I'm a doctor. I'm a lawyer today. Teachers are priceless in our society, and we should be recognizing them more and giving them the tools to inspire our children. Members, statements. Members from Mississauga Street. Sir, this past Friday, July 20th and Saturday, July 21st, Mississauga was home to the eighth annual Bollywood Monster Mashup, one of the largest South Asian events in Canada. The event brought over 80,000 guests to our Mississauga downtown core at Celebration Square. The two days of festivities celebrate South Asian arts and culture, food and entertainment. The benefits to our community extend far beyond two days. The festival directly creates many long-term, full-time positions, 30 full-time seasonal positions for youth, hires over 200 artists and performers, and provides community service opportunities for over 300 volunteers every year. It also generates millions of dollars in visitor spending and supports dozens of local Mississauga businesses. I was pleased to attend the Bollywood Monster Mashup with my colleagues from Mississauga Lakeshore and Mississauga Erin Mills, and provide greetings from our premier, Doug Ford, who we hope will attend next year with all of our MPPs. Mr. Speaker, events like this don't come together without countless hours of hard work, and today I am pleased to welcome the organizers, Vikas Kohli, Seema Sessha, the infamous Randy Prasad and Upeke Jen to the Members' Gallery. The determination of you and your team has paid off, and your contributions to our community have made Mississauga and Ontario a whole, better place to live, work and play. Thank you. Thank you. Members' statements. Member for Barry Enceville. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Anne and Larry Kel, who are with us here today for my writing, are always looking for ways to help put their community first, and there's no better example than what happened on the afternoon on July 20th, when a fire broke out on the farm off Shore Acres Rive in Innesville. That afternoon, as a grass fire was being pushed across four acres of field, Larry Kel took action into his own hands. Mr. Speaker, help was on its way. He requested his farm staff deliver him the largest tractor of the fleet with his discs they owned. And then he climbed in, Mr. Speaker, into this massive six-year-old, 350 horsepower tractor. And you know what Larry did, Mr. Speaker? Larry headed straight for the fire, right into the blaze of the action. And within seconds, he was able to tame this fire, which had the ability to damage a lot of the parts of the community. And he would not stop for 90 minutes to destroy this fierce fire. At the same time, because of his actions, the first responders were able to concentrate on the tree line. Mr. Speaker, this is a great example of our first responders working with their community hand in hand. I want everyone in this house to honor the brave acts of Larry Kel and his heroic actions. Thank you, Larry, for saving our community. Thank you. Member statements? Member for Nickelbelt. Thank you, Speaker. And it is my pleasure to share with the House an issue happening in all of our small and rural hospitals. The small and rural hospitals are the one that serves most of the people in my writing in the rural area and in the northern area. They were promised a 2% increase on their budget, Speaker. Unfortunately, they continue to receive the same amount of what they were receiving in the previous year, although they have signed accountability agreement that clearly showed that they have submitted a budget that showed 2% increase, but they are not getting this. Another problem is that you will remember, Speaker, that they are $20 million going into small and rural hospital for the innovation funds. Those funds also comes with contracts that the hospital work on those projects. Unfortunately, this money is also not flowing. I have had the pleasure to ask the Minister of Health for help on this issue. I am hoping that help will come soon because we have close to 50 local hospitals right now that are wondering if the agreements that they have signed with the government will be honored or if they will all be looking at the deficit budget. Thank you, Speaker. Member Statements, the Member for Richmond Hill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a number of local cultural events across Richmond Hill. I attended the Muslims It Fair celebrated by the Muslims community, the Summer Festival at Times Square where the Chinese cultural dances and food. The highlight came, though, when I attended the celebration of the peace run on Sunday at the park of the Vishu Temple. The peace run is a global torch relay that promotes universal peace. Since its inception in 1987, the run has covered over 150 countries. The torch has been carried over 632,000 kilometers. The peace run does not seek to raise money or highlight any political case or cause, but simply strives to create goodwill among peoples of all nations. Mr. Speaker, in light of the violence in Toronto, I am uplifted to see such harmony and such strength among our various cultural and religious group. It is important that our communities remain strong and connected together regardless of our differences. Coming together as a community just does that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That concludes the time we have available for member statements. Reports by committees.