 It is now time for Member of the State and Member of the State from Bruce Graham and Simon. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased to rise today to recognize the Myalgic and Cephalomyelitis Association of Materials MEAO being the acronym. They are with us today to mark May 12th as the official awareness day for myalgic and cephalomyelitis, fibromyalgia, and multiple chemical sensitivities which are chronic, complex, environmentally linked illnesses that afflict over 500,000 people in Ontario. As I said in my statement last fall, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care received a business case proposal for the Intrural Centre of Excellence and Environmental Health back in 2013. The point of establishing such a centre of excellence is to provide the hundreds of thousands of interns afflicted with these illnesses with the appropriate care and treatment they deserve, which would in the long run improve our health care system. To date, the Ministry has not given approval to this business case proposal, although it has recognized the business case proposal and announced a task force on environmental health. As funding of these illnesses is almost non-existent, I urge the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to get moving on the task force that will deliver a system of care to ensure that effective and appropriate services are given to the hundreds of thousands of Ontario patients who suffer from these chronic, complex, environmentally linked illnesses. I'd like to thank the Association for their excellent advocacy work for Ontarians living with myalgic and cephalomyelitis and associated illnesses. We look forward to receiving the Health Minister's update with regard to this approval of this proposal. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you, Speaker. It's an honour to rise today as the NDP critic for Labour to speak once again to the countless workers in our province forced to take severe job action because of the Liberal government's austerity cuts, especially in education and health care. Because of the government's desire to strip collective agreements to reduce teachers' ability to use their professional judgment and to remove caps on class sizes, we know that almost a million students and 73,000 teachers were affected by strike action this week. In my own writing of well-in, members of OPSU 294 have been on strike since April 10. The CCC, responsible for contracting to the for-profit care partners, has not set a peep nor has the government about ensuring transparency and accountability for the private agencies these nurses are working for and ensuring quality patient care. Crown holdings workers here in Toronto, working for one of the largest manufacturer of food and beverage containers, has been on strike since September 2013. Because of massive concessions demanded by the workers, Crown has refused to negotiate a fair settlement, has instead hired scab replacement workers to prolong the dispute and try and break the strike. The government's announced a special inquiry. When is that going to happen? I stand in solidarity with these workers across our province, our educators, our nurses and Crown holding workers and urge this government to take the necessary steps to ensure that labour laws are strengthened so workers in this province are treated with the respect and the dignity that they deserve. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, May 18, we will be celebrating International Museum Day and this year's theme, Museum for a Sustainable Society. I want to take this opportunity to recognize and thank the Ontario Museum Association, some of who are at Queen's Park today. This year's theme recognizes the role of museums in raising public awareness specifically about the need for a society that is less wasteful, more cooperative and uses resources in a way that respects living systems. En tant que francophile, je me rejois de la... As a Francophile, I am very happy to recognize 400 years of French presence in Ontario and Francophone communities have played and continue to play a very important role for Ontario. The collection deserves special mention. The 400 collection do cat somtiem featuring artifacts and documents from museums across the province. This collection tells the story of the people, the places, the institutions that make our Francophone heritage. Tourism heritage and culture come together in Ontario's museums. It has a significant impact on the social and economic vitality of our province, attracting more than 3 million national and international visitors to Ontario each year. Thank you all for preserving our cultural heritage, for telling our stories, and for fostering historical understanding. Merci, miigwech. Thank you, miigwech. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm very sorry to have occasion to rise once more to extend condolences to the people of Nipel and their friends and family around the world. After the devastating earthquake on April 25th, which took the lives of over 8,000 people in Nipel and northern India, another strong earthquake shook the region today, resulting in more destruction and dozens of fatalities. This magnitude, 7.3 earthquake, was followed by at least six strong aftershocks which were felt as far away as Delhi, the Indian capital, and Deka, the capital of Bangladesh. On behalf of the Ontario PC Party and our leader, Patrick Brown, I extend heartfelt condolences to the Nepalese and Indian communities in Ontario and all those who have been affected by this terrible tragedy. Thousands of people living in that region are sleeping outside tonight, afraid to return to their homes for fear they'll collapse. And workers are renewing their courageous efforts to rescue survivors, help the injured, and distribute aid to families who have been left with nothing. It's really devastation beyond what we can imagine here in Ontario. I think we are all deeply saddened that people who have already endured so much should be faced with further tragedy and they will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers. Thank you. Good afternoon, speaker. Here's the latest newscast from the Windsor area. Pardon the pun, but it is a change of habit. The Ursul and Sisters have donated $300,000 to the Windsor Symphony. The nuns founded a music school in Windsor back in 1915. The Ursul and Order shifted their focus to social work more than 20 years ago. The money meant to honor the nuns who taught at the music school will go into the symphony's permanent endowment fund. Last month, the Toldo Foundation put half a million into that fund. It was matched by the federal government. So, maestro, play on. Speaker, as you know, the Ontario government is cutting back on the money available for Hollywood productions. But Hollywood was in Windsor last weekend for the DVD launch of the locally shot film The Birder. A portion of the proceeds for the evening will go to the Ojibwe Nature Centre. The film is a revenge comedy that tells the tale of a rivalry for the job of head of ornthology at a local park. Well, here at Queens Park, Speaker, as you sat there in your perch, keep an eye on some of the strange birds on the other side of the aisle like to ruffle your feathers from time to time. And here's a shout-out to the paramedics, Tricia Russo and Chris Kerwin. They won first place at the Advanced Care Division at the annual paramedics competition held in Durham recently. They regretted on how well they handled emergencies such as earthquakes and a patient with no vital signs which, from time to time for short periods, we'll give you a round here. That's the new speaker back to you in the anchor. I will editorialize there are members on all sides that ruffle my feathers. Member from Halton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm pleased to rise today and tell you about a great day I had with friends, family and neighbours recently as we worked together to give Halton a little spring cleaning. It was a wonderful day of planting trees, digging gardens, raking leaves and picking up litter. Hundreds of people came out to do their part to get Halton green. Mr. Speaker, it was energizing to see so many people come out to participate in Milton Good Neighbours Day, Halton EcoFest and Conservation Halton's Trees for Watershed Health. It was great to see firsthand Halton residents come out to keep our communities green and beautiful. Friends and neighbours came out and pitched in to make sure we protect Halton's natural beauty. It's a reminder of the great things we can accomplish when we all work together. It also allows us to take a step back from our busy lives and gain an appreciation of the fragile relationship we have with our environment. Our region is growing quickly, but Halton residents are committed to keeping our natural beauty intact. Mr. Speaker, when people come together like this, it makes communities stronger. It brings neighbours closer and it helps us all to build a better future for everyone. We all have a responsibility to preserve and protect Ontario's natural beauty. That's why days like this are so important. I look forward to doing it all again next year. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to start my statement today with a quote from Dr. Ved Tan Dan of the Ontario Medical Association. The provincial government's new cuts will drive new physicians out of Ontario and hurt patient care. Family physicians are being barred from joining team-based models of care like family health teams in the community of their choice. Such team-based practices are the model students and residents are being trained in and the model that will allow them to provide best quality of care. More than 500 family medicine residents are set to graduate in Ontario this June and their plans to join a family health team are now in limbo, he says. The fact is, Ontario is failing doctors and especially failing patients in new and alarming ways in rural Ontario. This government's placed new restrictions on doctors who are recent graduates from joining family health teams. Family health teams have been a key tool in improving health care delivery in the province. Last week, Hastings County Council supported a resolution by the OMA to oppose this change to join family health teams. As Hastings County warden Rick Phillips stated, you should be encouraging stuff. You shouldn't be eliminating things when it comes to health care delivery in Ontario. The problem is this government has right now is that it's seeing debt start to grow at such a rate that it can't afford to provide the services that Ontarians need. It's now cutting corners and hurting those services. We need to support our family health teams. We need to provide those opportunities for new doctors and we need to make decisions to protect health care in this province. Thank you. Member of statements. Do we have this right? Member from Ajax Pickering. Member from Ajax Pickering. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's my pleasure to speak on behalf of International Awareness Day for myelgic encephalomilitis, my fibromyalgia and multiple chemical sensities. I am very pleased once again this year to sponsor the myelgic encephalomilitis Association Ontario. MEAO is the acronym who are here today to mark May 12th as the official awareness day for myelgic encephalomilitis, fibromyalgia and multiple chemical sensities which are three chronic, complex and environmentally linked illnesses which afflict over 560,000 Ontarians. I've had the pleasure of sponsoring this association many times over the last several years for their very extremely worthy cause. MEAO supports the hundreds of thousands of patients in Ontario who have complex chronic environmentally linked illnesses. As pointed out numerous times over the years, these patients experience systematic barriers to getting the healthcare they need because diagnosis and treatment of these very serious conditions are seriously lacking in Ontario. A year and a half ago, MEAO together with the Association of Ontario Health Centres submitted a business case proposal for the Ontario Centre of Excellence and Environmental Health to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. The important part is that the Ministry and the Premier have given recognition to the business case proposal and announced a task force on environmental health. We urge the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to move quickly to implement the task force that has been... from York Southwest. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today with a heavy heart because Omni News, the little engine that could, has been derailed. Allow me to explain. Last Thursday, Rogers Media announced that Omni's TV three remaining daily locally produced language newscast and all its diversity programming were immediately and permanently cancelled and viewers were not informed. Tent Rogers, a Canadian media pioneer whom I had the privilege of working with at Omni would have been shocked and appalled to hear that his little engine that could, that's what he nicknamed Omni because of its success was being effectively dismantled. In 1986, he had the foresight to buy CFMT, what later became Omni, from its founder Daniel Nootsy. Ted knew that Canada's increasing multi-cultural population would need to access information in their own language to integrate well, grow and contribute to Canada. Under Ted's tutelage and funding Omni thrived and grew to broadcast in 32 different languages and produced five daily language local newscasts. The working model which he championed and nourished, notwithstanding the naysayers, became a content-driven profitable media operation. Ted died in 2008 and since then Omni programs and budgets were set in 2012, in 2013 and now Thursday's final blow. Mr. Speaker, in light of this announcement, I invite all concerned in all communities to come together and let it be known that we object to the dismantling of the little engine that could. We all came to Canada from somewhere else. It helps us belong, access to information to third languages an essential part of our multi-cultural... Thank you. I thank all members for their statements. It's time for reports.