 It is now time for Member Statements. I recognize the Member for London, Fanshawe. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, I first met with representatives from the University of Western Ontario faculty here at Queen's Park. And one of the main concerns was that they were wondering what the Ford government will cut next in the PSC sector. So they wrote a letter, and I'm going to read the letter out loud to the Minister. Dear Honourable Mary Lee Fullerton, at a time when Ontario's universities already received the lowest per student funding in Canada, the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association urges your government not to cut operating grants to universities in the upcoming budget. A decrease in funding to post-secondary institutions will have a negative impact on the quality of education needed to make Ontario competitive. Budget cuts will most certainly affect university faculty members with precarious employment, many whom work on short-term contracts that cannot be renewed when universities face budget cuts. Contract faculty are among Ontario's best university teachers. They are vital to the part of the high-quality education that our students deserve. Any further reduction in operating grants will leave our contract faculty colleagues, our universities, our communities, and indeed our province, further behind. We ask you not to cut operating grants and instead provide robust public funding for Ontario universities, which will only strengthen the quality of post-secondary education in our province. Can you commit to our request? We look forward to your response. Sincerely, Paul Bellevue, the President, and also Speaker, the UWOFA wants to meet with the Minister. So, Minister, can you meet with them yes or no? I hope you'll say yes when they contact your office. Thank you. Member statements? Member for Kitchener Conestoga. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On behalf of the constituents of Kitchener Conestoga and the residents of Waterloo Region, I would like to commend our government's rapid movement to build out public transit across Ontario. In particular, I wish to share Waterloo Region's excitement for the work that the Minister of Transportation and Metrolinx are doing in expanding GO-TRAIN service towards two-way all-day GO to and from Toronto. In meetings with the Minister and Metrolinx, the members for Kitchener South Hospital, Cambridge, and myself have been assured that improved negotiations with CN Rail and a new approach that leverages current infrastructure is producing real results years ahead of schedule. Let's review our government's accomplishments so far. Mr. Speaker, in September we added more car and seat capacity on the Kitchener GO line. In January, GO-TRAIN service was expanded by 25%, including a mid-afternoon train leaving Union Station at 3.35pm, resulting in now five morning trains to Toronto and five returning home to Waterloo Region in the evening. And on March 9, just in time for March break, Mr. Speaker, our government announced that kids under 12 can now ride free on trains and buses to and from their favourite activities, museums and parks. What great progress we are making already. It shows that our government takes economic development seriously and understands the vital role that infrastructure plays in generating sustainable growth. I am proud to be part of a government that realises the great importance that two-way all-day GO holds for Waterloo Region and this province. And I'm thrilled to say that we are going to have two-way all-day GO way ahead of schedule, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Member Statements and Member for York South-Western. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to speak about the young people of York South-Western. We are very fortunate to have some of the most educated young people in the world, with 20 world-class universities and 24 world-class colleges respectively. It is no surprise that many of them are Ontarians. Ontarians yang and all bright themselves in working to be the best they can be. We should be applauding them for that, Mr. Speaker. Instead, the Premier and his Conservative government are effectively turning their backs on young people and the aspirations for brighter future. According to Statistics Canada Ontarians, who had a high school diploma earned on average 44,948 per year, compared to 70,832 on average for those with bachelor's degree, with the Conservatives' latest cuts to colleges and universities and the cuts made to Ontarians student assistance program, many young people will not be able to pursue higher education. Mr. Speaker, not everyone is privileged enough to have families who can by-roll their education. In my riding of York South-Western, with an average household income of $69,954 per year, more often than not, a student have nowhere to turn, but an Ontario student assistance program. The young people of my riding are doing their best to improve their lot in life. Mr. Speaker, they should be commanded and supported. I implore this government to stop turning their backs on the students of York South-Western. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member Statements, the Member for Carlton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today marks the first day of spring. However, to millions of Iranians around the world, including myself, today is also noru, which translates into new spring. Norus originated over 3,000 years ago and is hundreds of years older than the great pyramid of Giza. In 2009, norus was inscribed on UNESCO's representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. And in 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 21 as International Norus Day. On norus, millions of Iranians from around the world in all walks of life, irrespective of religion, age, language, gender, race, ethnicity, or social status gathered together with family, friends, and loved ones to celebrate the new year. At its core, this 3,000-year-old celebration marks the rebirth of nature, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil. Norus represents much of what Iranian character, history, and culture are all about. According to historians, our modern-day norus celebrations were solidified during the reign of the Sasanid emperors, starting with Adishir I. Emperor Adishir and his descendants formed the last great Persian Empire before the advent of Islam. Norus is a secular celebration and has other joyful and interesting traditions. To everyone celebrating norus in Carlton, Ontario, and around the globe, I wish you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year. Hamihana Azizam, norus etan pirus, baharus etan norus. Thank you. The member for London Norse Centre. Speaker, I was a front-line teacher before politics and come from a family of teachers. Education is the future. Not every person in Ontario inherits a multimillion-dollar company. More students in a classroom means less direct time with the teacher and therefore less opportunity. The minister claims students will be more resilient in larger classes. What's next? Classes of 50, 60? Students are not like goats. This government claims will be no involuntary job losses. Catch that double negative? Look it up, government. Your voluntary decisions equal job losses. My brother, Sean, has been teaching with the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board for 12 years. He coached football for a long time and volunteers with his union, among other extracurriculars. Sean's board predicts 178 teachers will be redundant and lose their jobs. Well, the union predicts 225 teachers will be cut. Sean has taught for 12 years and may lose his job because of this government. Classes will be overwhelmed with upwards of 40 students, many in portables that are already bursting with 30 kids. Anyone thought of fire code yet? Violence in the classroom? This regressive conservative government rejects logic, ignores facts, disregards science and makes deliberate and voluntary decisions that hurt children. Speaker, my constituents keep asking me, why does this government hate children? I withdraw. The member for Children, Community and Social Services will come to order. The member for, sorry, the minister for Children, Community and Social Services will withdraw. It's drawn. Order. Order. We're still on member statements. Member statements. The member for Ottawa Senate. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are celebrating today with pride, the International Day of Francophone Affairs. The Francophone community always contributed in an important manner to the vitality of the Ontario society. Francophones from other places who chose to live in Ontario brings more wealth to its economic and cultural life. The Francophone community always played an important role in arts and in communities in Ontario. We know that bilingualism is fundamental for Ontario and it brings, it makes us a leader in that matter as a government. All the measures that we undertake must take into account the positive impact of the Francophones for all Ontarians. French is part of Ontario. French is spoken on five continents all over the world. The French language gave millions of words to other languages, including English. And it has a rich history for all Francophones all over the world. I'm inviting all Francophones and Francophiles to share their solidarity with the world Francophone, world by using French tweets, have a good International Francophone Day. Thank you, Mr. President. An initiative started by Charity to combat a big public health threat that not only threatens my writing, but other writings as well. The threat of alcohol addiction, a public safety issue that needs to be addressed and corrected. Experts contend the harm of alcohol can far exceed the overall cost of to life and society than any other in fact issues, disease, addiction or public safety issue. Mr. Speaker, as you know, any addiction is bad. Alcohol addiction can cause serious damage to individuals and the families. It can result in violence, dangerous accidents, health issues and even death. According to a report by Canadian Institute for Substance Use in 2014 alone, it accounted for $14.6 billion in healthcare, justice, system, last productivity and other direct costs. And alarming 40% of Ontarians drink over the Canadian low risk alcohol drinking guidelines. And that's alarming, Mr. Speaker. A team of volunteers from Drug Awareness Society of Toronto, some of them are here in the members gallery, have worked for years in alcohol addiction awareness and specially targeting the South Asian community. They're launching their annual alcohol free April challenge, giving a chance to the drinkers to take pause, engage in a healthy dialogue surrounding alcohol addiction and mental health. They'll be on various platforms over the last three years, Mr. Speaker. I have personally seen the positive impact of these initiative. I also took this challenge to bring awareness and promote change and I'm proud to say that I have been alcohol free ever since. I call upon everyone in the chamber to take the alcohol free challenge which happens to be at the same time as sick heritage month and spread the word and be the ambassador of positive change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member statements, the member for Windsor West. Thank you, Speaker. The Bruce Awad summer program is a program for school aged individuals between the ages of six and 21 years old with high needs autism spectrum disorders. The BASP has been running in Windsor and Essex County every summer since 1984. The BASP is the only program that offers specialized full day support during the summer for children with autism in the Windsor, Essex area. The program costs are funded through a number of sources including the Ministry of Education's focus on youth summer program. That funding allows Autism Services Inc. which administers the BASP to employ high school students. Those students have received specialized training and were able to gain employment experience and leadership skills. The problem is that the Ministry of Education has not told organizations like Ontario or Autism Services Inc. if they will be continuing the focus on youth grant this year. Due to high demand, Autism Services Inc. is already forced to put families on a one or two year wait list before accepting them into the program. They cannot afford to lose any funding. That's why today I'm calling on this conservative government to provide some clarity to Autism Services Inc. and organizations like them that provide such important programs regarding the focus on youth program. They need to be assured that the funding is coming so they can focus on delivering excellent programming for youth and high needs autism, youth with high needs autism this summer. And I want to point out that there's another program like this, Kaleidoscope, which is facing the same fate as this program if this government doesn't step up and actually fund them through the focus on youth. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member from Mississauga East Cooksville. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week, the world was shaken by the horrific and unprecedented act of terror that occurred in Christchurch, New Zealand. The loss of 50 innocent worshipers during one of the most sacred days of the week for a Muslim is unimaginable. This terrorist attack is an affront to the people of New Zealand and to the Muslim community around the world. I want to thank the first responders for helping during these tough times in Christchurch. I want to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues in this house for their outpour of support through these difficult times for the community. I would like to thank our police officers across the province for protecting mosques all around during our Friday prayers to make us feel safe and secure. There was no imminent threat in Ontario, but officers were there to show their support. We are very grateful. We must acknowledge that such acts of terror are never welcome, not here, not anywhere. The immense support that myself and the community has received is reassuring. It reassures me and the community that there is hope, love, and peace in the world. As Christopher Reeve said, when you choose hope, everything is possible. Violence and hatred is never the answer. This tragic attack brought us all together and made us all stronger, more united. To end off, I'll quote Martin Luther King, Jr. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member's statements. The member for Kitchener, South Espler. Mr. Speaker, last week Kitchener, Ontario, and Canada lost one of our great World War II veterans, Harry Watts. To truly highlight Mr. Watts' legacy, I would need hours in this legislature. But a few things that I can say that will show just how amazing he was. At his funeral, Harry was described as just as much of a humanitarian as a warrior. And that couldn't be more accurate. During his time as a dispatcher in World War II in Italy, it was because of his advocacy that children in need got new clothes made out of former Canadian uniforms and shoes that were made out of old tires. In more recent years, Harry was a huge supporter of national service dogs in Cambridge. And that's how my son, Kenner, and I had the first time privilege of meeting Harry for the first time. Kenner liked to call him the man with the big smile. Sir David Sofa with portraits of honour did a portrait of Harry and called him one of his best friends. He told me last week about how dedicated Harry was to helping troubled students and new Canadians. And of course he mentioned Harry's smile and his laugh, which he described as more of a chuckle. Although I only met Harry a few years ago through his advocacy work for service dog access rights, the last time I saw him, as I always did, I thanked him for his service. He held my hand that day, and he said to me, you know you always thank me. Well, Mr. Watts, Harry, I'd like to thank you again for your service to our country and for the impact that you've had on my life. You will never be forgotten. Thank you very much. Reports by committees.