 It is now time for members statements the member from Perth Wellington. Thank you speaker in Perth Wellington We have so many dedicated volunteers and generous residents who work hard to make Christmas a time for everyone everyone can celebrate It's impossible to name them all in the time. I have but I want to recognize a few In Stratford Ruth and Richard Niner have an organized the to Stratford with love love dinner for 27 years Together with volunteers they serve Christmas dinner to 700 people in St. Mary's in Listerwell the Perth County OPP and the Salvation Army partner for this annual stuff a cruiser event They collect toys and sports equipment for kids to open on Christmas morning Across our riding including Arthur Harrison Drayton Mount Forest and Palmerston Hamper's full of food and gifts are distributed to families service clubs and food banks work together to bring cheer to all families In Mitchell the Christmas kettle campaign supports the Mitchell and district food bank and provides families with food and clothing Christmas kettles can be found in communities across the province and Yesterday Justin Bieber held a benefit show with all proceeds going to support the Stratford house of blessing. I Would like to thank I would like to thank all of our community agencies and all those who give generously To make Christmas a time that all families can come together and celebrate I encourage anyone who is interested in spreading some Christmas cheer to contact a charitable organization in their community Made this generous spirit last all year long for my family to yours. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas Thank you very much speaker speaker first responders in my riding of Essex Always answer the call while many of us are running away from danger We asked them to run headfirst into it. They keep our roads safe. They pull us from burning buildings They stabilize us and provide us first aid while speedily transporting us to hospitals all in a day's work speaker They also contribute greatly to our communities on their own time They identify a need or a cause and move in to fill that need Essex OPP Constable Joe Malosh is spearheading Santa's cause for kids in partnership with Essex fire and rescue They've been gathering toys and Essex with the help of local businesses for the last 13 years I would encourage everyone to help out Joe and in this great cause to make sure that every kid In Essex has a few toys under the tree this year donations can be made at the Essex party and discount home home hardware stores in Essex Harrow and McGregor Ken LaPay and Sun's trucking the Dollar Tree Red Apple and Ken not Ford in Essex also have drop boxes toys can also be dropped off at Essex fire stations number one and number two in Guesto speaker I want to thank Joe and all of his colleagues wish them all a Merry Christmas speaker while we have the opportunity to highlight What first responders do for us? Let's let's imagine and let's let's see if we can help them They've been asking for quite some time recognition for post-traumatic stress disorder There's a bill on the docket here bill number two It would be it would recognize the strain and the post-traumatic stress that they encounter every day all in a day's work We can wish them and grant them a wonderful Christmas gift By by passing that bill bill to and ensuring that our first responders are treated fairly given the resources that they need in Their line of duty. Thank you speaker Thank you Well, thank you speaker speaker It's indeed my honor to share some exciting news taking place in my writing next week speaker the town of coberg will co-host the 2015 world junior a challenge hockey tournament with the town of would be With pre-tournament exhibition games held locally in Wellington and 20 West The world junior a challenge is an annual international ice hockey tournament That showcases junior a level players under 20 years old The 16 featuring this year's tournament are from the US Czech Republic Russia Switzerland in Canada which has two squads Canada East and Canada West speaker Mr. Speaker this will mark the first time since the inception of the tournament 2006 that will be hosted in Ontario this will provide an economic boost to local business and tourism Both in Durham and Northumberland region. It's great news for hockey enthusiasts across Ontario It creates a wonderful opportunity to showcase our hockey towns to the international hockey community mr. Speaker I'd like to thank world junior a challenge and chair and former MPP Jerry Willett and junior hockey league Governors mark mercy of the Cobra Cougars and Scotland scurry of the Whitby Fury for all their hard work The 2015 tournament will take place December 31st or 19th, and I encourage all Ontarians to come out and cheer our Canadian players Thank You speaker Thanks, Speaker it's with a heavy heart that I rise on behalf of everyone in North Grenville to pay tribute to To Harry Pratt Harry had a heart so big a soul a soul so full of generosity and compassion That they became the foundation on which so much of what's great in Kempville was built to those who knew him and loved him He was mr. Kempville a devoted husband and father who built a successful career in real estate Harry was taken from us far too early on Sunday after a short battle with pancreatic cancer And he fought that terrible disease long enough to see his beloved daughter married the day before The ceremony was held at the Kempville district hospital, which always had such a special place in Harry's big heart He was a true champion for that hospital Not only as a fundraiser But in using his leadership to make it one of the finest small town hospitals in Ontario Speaker that's how it was with Harry many people raise funds to build things But bricks and mortar weren't enough for Harry Pratt He wanted to build organizations by inspiring those around him to think big and to be great And that's why the impact of Harry Pratt's life Isn't measured by the dollars that he raised his legacy is the lives he changed today and Tomorrow because of the stronger more resilient community he built We all owe it to Harry his wonderful wife Sheila and their entire family who shared so much of him with us To keep building on the remarkable legacy. He entrusted to us. Thank you very much Remember statements the member from to miss gimme Cochran Speaker the residents of northeast Ontario continue the question this government's actions regarding the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission and the service It provides the northerners as you may recall this government Canceled our passenger train our only passenger train promising in return enhanced bus service yet it took Yet it took a call to the Ontario Human Rights Commission to actually force this government to provide those enhanced buses since then it's Embarked on a modernization Transformation so it's closed bus stations now It's canceled bus services and its latest buzzword is meaningful change and as part of that meaningful change It's locked out 200 workers for a month yet in this very house the Minister of Labor said that we have the best mediators in the country The workers have asked for mediation The government is in full control of this situation the ONTC is a commission under the government What the workers are wanting to know and what the people of northeastern Ontario want to know To the Minister of Northern Development Mines and to the Premier what exactly does meaningful change? Mean it certainly doesn't mean Merry Christmas. Thank you Thank you, Mr. Speaker want to share with the house that I was delighted to visit the Royal York Road United Church last month For an informative networking breakfast and to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of eculink Satobico a local ecumenical group that focuses on social justice Eculink Satobico is made up of representatives from 10 different churches in a Tobico Lakeshore with approximately 4,000 parishioners The outreach committees of these churches realized some time ago the need for local churches to cooperate Coordinate and inform each other of events and activities as they develop the participants realized that they shared concerns about Social issues facing our community and subsequently eculinks has often contacted local politicians From all levels of government to advise them on these concerns eculinks meets regularly and it is hosted a number of political Town halls and they've been very supportive. Mr. Speaker of the province's poverty reduction strategy in my Meetings with them. We've talked about amongst other things our long-term affordable housing strategy and best practices for housing and homelessness And with the recent situation in Syria eculinks current efforts are being directed towards refugee Resettlement in a Tobico Lakeshore I want to congratulate the 4,000 parishioners and the 10 churches the makeup the eculinks network and wish them a happy 10th anniversary Thank you for their member students the member from Oxford. Mr. Speaker I rise today because the of the impact the government's health care cuts are having on my constituents I've heard from many constituents who've had their surgery scheduled But are now being told that they have to wait many many months Into the new fiscal year because there is no money for the surgeries These are not numbers these are people who are facing a terrible situation because of these delays People like the senior whose cataract surgery has been postponed until four months after her driving retest People like the adult with lifelong development disability who was waiting for cataract surgery to help improve his vision and balance People who are in constant pain waiting for hip surgery according to the local paper There are 30 people waiting to have hip surgery at Woodstock Hospital with some already waiting for two years The impact of cataract and hip surgery is life-changing all these people should be receiving their surgery as scheduled But instead for Christmas they received the devastating news that they need to wait many months because the government has mismanaged the budget Helping these people in planning the health care system properly should be the government's priority Instead they have wasted millions billions and are now cutting it from health care that people depend on I asked the government to stop making up Making up for their mismanagement by cutting the services that people need and for Christmas Give my constituents the news they deserve that there will be no more devastating delays for these life changing surgeries Thank you very much. Thank you for the member statements the member from Etobicoke North So the president thank you, mr. Speaker We're in good news speaker from the great riding of Etobicoke North. I've spoken from this chair about the hospital expansion about the eight stations of the LRT I'd now like to inform my colleagues and through you to the people of Ontario of the 75 million dollar expansion in partnership with infrastructure Ontario at Humber College of the North Campus It's an extraordinary new facility speaker. I've had the privilege of touring parts of it We're talking about a new library gallery student showcase A new school of liberal arts and sciences an international center office for student success and engagement Registrar's office administration enhanced student services peer tutoring mentoring test centers and career advisories This speaker will house or I'll offer space for approximately 2200 students to study at any single time and perhaps more if they bundle up on a single chair as students tend to do on occasion And it's an extraordinary and I would say even Architectural gift along to the educational sphere along with the educational sphere to the great riding of Etobicoke North It is one more sign speaker of the extraordinary Commitment that this government is making under the premier wins leadership to enhancing opportunity education and prosperity Further members statements the member from Davenport So thank you, Mr. Speaker and I rise today to extend my sincerest Thank you to all those that participated in the my community is united Standing together with our neighbors event at the Islamic Info and DeWaugh Center last Saturday my riding of Davenport I would especially like to thank the organizers of this event Joe Abbey Colberg Director of faith in the city and Imam Shabir Ali of the Islamic Information DeWaugh Center for opening up his doors to the Community the event was attended by hundreds of people including individual individuals faith leaders Organizations and elected officials from Davenport and across the GTA as we all know in the past few weeks We have seen an increase in hate crimes targeting the Muslim communities in Toronto and across our province It was within this disturbing and unsettling context that I very proudly stood together with my colleagues neighbors and fellow Ontarians at the Islamic Information DeWaugh Center in Davenport Together we stood in strong support of unity and inclusivity as well as to reaffirm our commitment across our all community and Government levels to working to build a hate-free society as an elected official as a Canadian I condemn all forms of violence here at home and especially those targeting places of worship and members of the Muslim community these highly disturbing acts of hatred and racism have no place in our province and go against the Canadian values of inclusivity and diversity Being welcoming open and inclusive makes us who we are as Canadians and what makes this country in this province the greatest in the world to live in Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. I thank all members for their statements