 However it is time for a member statement and I recognize the member from Niagara Falls. You're early. You're early. Thank you Mr. Speaker and I apologize for for that but I had to get my glasses. I rise today to tell the Premier that he must deal with COVID COVID waste times in Niagara. We have outbreaks in nine schools. We have worried parents, teachers, grandparents and kids in Niagara families can't get COVID tests for days and when they can they are forced to wait hours before getting tested. One family with a six-year-old called for a test on Tuesday and didn't hear back until Friday. On the day that the child did the test they waited four hours and they needed to leave repeatedly to make a washroom break. Imagine that experience for a six-year-old. These are kids who don't understand COVID or testing and are scared. They miss school and they wait in their car the entire day for a test that may or may not happen. Stories like this occur before the closure of our drive-through testing facility which often had line-ups at 6 a.m. despite opening at 9. When COVID cases start rising we have very little time to get the virus under control. We know that in a week cases can spiral out of control and begin to overwhelm our hospitals. Frontline workers are trying their hardest but they just can't keep up. We can address these issues head-on. We must have easier and quicker access to testing in Niagara. To the Premier I say this, look at what's happening testing in Niagara and get the needed resources there immediately. With the proper resources in place this process can be quick and easier for our children and their families. Parents will need less time off work and above all will give the people the information they need to keep our community safe. Mr. Speaker people will out sick days to cover missed days from work and kids missing school. Can't wait a week for testing. It's not reasonable. It's not safe. The Conservative government must support our frontline workers release funding support. Thank you. Members statements. The member for Mississauga Mall. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to acknowledge that we are meeting on treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the new credit traditionally inhabited by indigenous people as settler. I am grateful for the opportunity to meet here and we like to say thank you. Thank you for all the generation of people who have taken care of this land for thousands of years. Mr. Speaker I rise today to acknowledge or ensure day recognized on September 30th the day inspired by Phyllis Jack Webst who in 1973 at the age of six attended her first day of school in Williams Lake BC wearing a brand new orange shirt gifted by her grandmother. When she arrived at the school Phyllis knew orange shirt was stripped and taken away from her something she never wore again. Phyllis has courageously spoken about the devastating impact this action had on her dignity and self-worth and how it made her feel as if her existence did not matter. Today Mr. Speaker I'm wearing an orange shirt to become the part of reconciliation journey acknowledging the painful truth of the long lasting multi-generational impact of the residential school system on the indigenous communities. As we move forward together on the path of reconciliation I urge all Ontarians to honor survivors like Phyllis and their families who have bravely shared their experiences and to commit to learning more about the legacy of the residential residential school system in Canada. We need to acknowledge Mr. Speaker every child matters. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you. A member for Nickel Belt. Thank you Speaker. My constituent Mrs. Covington is the mother of two young children Paige and Ethan. Both of her children have special needs and have individual education plan with their schools in my in Hanmer in my writing. Since August Mrs. Covington has been trying to get answer from administrators from principals from health professional about how to keep her children individual education plan with online learning. Unfortunately all she's getting is frustrated and confused. Speaker Mrs. Covington is a good mother who wants her children to succeed and she is deaf. The challenges that she faces on a daily basis are unbelievable. Her son is not motivated to learn online. Many online tools do not have close captioning leaving her and her son to try to sign to each other word that he has not even learned yet. Keeping her son with ADHD engaged in online learning is causing a lot of family friction. It is the moralizing speaker. Her daughter Paige is slowly losing her hearing. A teacher wearing a mask give her online classes that did not work. She could not read lips and words were all muffled. Therefore she moved to in-class learning but yet the amplification system that she need is not available. So most days she leaves school with a stress headache. Speaker our public education system is the great equalizer. Our schools need the resources during the pandemic and always to meet the educational needs of those two children and all children with special needs. Thank you Speaker. Thank you very much. Member statements and member for Durham. Thank you Speaker. On September 18th I had the pleasure of joining the Minister of Infrastructure who's also the member for Halliburton, Cork, the lakes and Brock along with the member for Whitby and the member for Pickering Uxbridge in Oshawa to announce more than $126 million in joint federal, provincial and regional funding for 11 public transit projects that will modernize and improve public transit and active transportation in Durham region. Here's where some of that funding is going Speaker. Implementation of a 10 kilometer north south bus rapid transit corridor through Oshawa that will run along Simcoe Street from Royal Street north to Highway 407. The project will include eight new conventional buses, new bus shelters and traffic signal upgrades that will improve service reliability along the transit corridor. Construction of bus rapid transit lanes with active transportation corridors are also happening on Kingston Road in Ajax, Dundas Street in Whitby and downtown Oshawa including new cycling lanes and multi-use paths to connect to transit stations. Improvement to bus stop infrastructure safety and accessibility across the region is also happening including adding more lighting which matters for those most vulnerable in our community when they're standing there waiting for their bus. The replacement of older vehicles with 11 conventional buses with new hybrid electric vehicles, 13 conventional buses and 16 mini buses as well as the purchase of two additional articulated buses for the bus rapid transit fleet. Together these investments will provide for residents with more frequent accessible and reliable bus service. Thank you Speaker. Thank you very much. Next we have the member for Ottawa Center. Thank you Speaker. Last weekend our office held a virtual town hall on social assistance and it was a disturbing event. I'm going to ask all my fellow colleagues here listening to this to just be wary I'm about to talk about some challenging things and if anybody is watching this at home with small children I invite you to ask them to tune out. With that warning speaker what we heard from far too many people who participate in our town hall was that people with disabilities are living in such abject conditions that many have applied for medical assistance in dying. Christina Ranieri the Executive Director of Ability First Ottawa, a many decorated person who works with over 300 clients and formed us that over a hundred of people she works with have made this application. I'm raising this today to ring an alarm bell with my colleagues in this house because folks have been living alone, socially isolated, many without access to the appropriate medications, many living in constant pain. I invite us to think about what it's like to live without powered equipment that's necessary to live our lives whether it be a chair or oxygen tanks. I imagine all of us to ask what it's like to have a one hundred dollar a month benefit now out of their monthly income when they were living already deeply below poverty. Speaker the member for Windsor West and I have a meeting later today with an advocacy organization on this issue. I invite the government to immediately reinstate that $100 a month and help folks who are absolutely struggling. We have to do it as a province. Member statements the member for Lanark Frontenac Kingston. Speaker this past Saturday I joined with MP Scott Reed and Mayor Fennec the the mayor of the town of Perth along with hundreds of our other residents and visitors to pay tribute to many of the veterans from Perth with the inaugural unveiling of the pathway of heroes. 101 banners commemorating our veterans are now being displayed hung on the street lamps of downtown Perth. The following is the address that I delivered to that large assembly of people. I'll be brief because the actions of those we celebrate today speak much louder than any words that I could possibly deliver. Today we honor those who volunteered to take a stand against tyranny and defended our principles of freedom justice and democracy. Those we remember today held a strong belief that even with our differences we have much more in common and that the society we built together is better than any alternative and worth defending. Courage is not the absence of fear it is doing what you know is right despite your fears. We honor their courage today lest we forget. Thank you. Member statements the member for Perth Wellington. Thank you Speaker. Speaker Perth Wellington is home to so many accomplished young people. Julie Nottabomber is one of them she is an open water swimmer. Julia recently became the youngest person ever to swim across Lake Erie. This is a remarkable achievement. She spent months preparing for this 20 kilometer swim. Her training included swimming five times a week in open water and practicing in her parents unheated pool in the colder months. Julia successfully completed her swim on August 30th her 14th birthday. Julia's athletic accomplishments are just part of the story. Speaker she used this once in a lifetime opportunity for something more. Julia wanted to this event to double as a fundraiser for the Make a Wish Foundation which works to fulfill the wishes of critically ill children. Speaker Julia raised over $27,000. Julia congratulations on your achievements and thank you for inspiring all of us young and old to use our talents to benefit others. Thank you Speaker. Thank you very much. The member for Kiwetnod. Speaker rise today to recognize Orange Shirt Day. We observe this day to raise awareness of the impacts of Indian residential schools in our communities. We acknowledge the survivors and the ones that did not survive. Phyllis Webstad an elder now in Williams Lake BC inspired Orange Shirt Day. She was six years old on her first day of residential school in 1973 before she left home. Her grandmother dressed her in an orange shirt. She said and I quote when I got to school they took my clothes including the orange shirt. I never saw it again. She continued the color orange has always reminded me of the day how no one cared and how I felt I was nothing worth nothing. All of us little children were crying and no one cared end quote. Indian residential schools were a creation of government colonial policies using the churches. They took away our way of life our language from generations of our children. They neglected us. They sexually abused us. They murdered us. Through these schools Canada attempted to commit genocide against indigenous peoples. This genocide exists in the complacency of governments today. Our people pay in full Mr. Speaker for this inaction with their health and with their lives. Governments can and must do better but today I'm grateful for those who survived and who thrived and I'm thankful for the ongoing strength and resilience of our people. Mr. Miigwech. Thank you. Members statements the member for Mississauga East Cooksville. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. As you know I represent the great writing of Mississauga East Cooksville where I have lived for almost 20 years. My writing is a place where my kids were born and are growing up and where my parents are living out their golden years. The community where I live has been performing exception exceptionally in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Throughout the last six months I have witnessed tremendous kindness and generosity from individuals families businesses and community groups. People came together to collect donation of money food and PPE for those who needed it most. They took the time to stay home isolate and socially distance to combat the rise in cases earlier this year and did their best to get us all through the first wave and into phase three of our recovery. I want to thank the residents of Mississauga East Cooksville community and all the communities across Ontario for doing their part to stop the spread of COVID-19. Please don't forget to download install and activate the COVID alert app on your phone wear your mask keep your distance wash your hands and get your flu shot. Ontarians have shown remarkable resilience and commitment to supporting each other this year. I know we can continue to show one another just how much we can accomplish when we work together. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member Statements the member for Markham Unionville. Thank you Mr. Speaker. World Vision is a global relief development and advocacy organization that aims to support and empower kids families and communities to rise out of poverty and tackled injustice. Today World Vision with the support of volunteers are helping more than four million children in nearly 100 countries. I'm proud to say that I have been a volunteer for World Vision for over three decades and currently sponsoring six kids. This organization has a special place in my heart. Mr. Speaker six kilometers is the average distance a woman or a child in the developing world will walk for water and too often the water obtained is not clean to drink and may cause illness even death. This year 2020 global 6k aims to fund clean water projects in the Mankow region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mr. Speaker I want to thank everyone who attend and participate in World Vision's Markham Unionville walk for clean water fundraising event. Following the health protocols and in combination with four teams Billy Pang and friends Grace Chinese Gospel Church of North York MC Mu Tai Academy and Conditioning and Wesley Marie and Winnie Zumba dance we fundraised over 10,000 to support clean water projects for kids last Saturday. Let's continue to change lives one day at a time. Thank you Mr. Speaker. That concludes our member statements for this morning.