 Okay, it is now time for, members please, the member from Thornhill. Welcome, I'm the member for the Francophone Affairs, representative for the conservative caucus, and want to give you a little report. I went to the meetings for parliamentary affairs for women with my liberal colleague from the Thousand Islands. It was really something that was very interesting. It was in Italy in the month of February. I want also to mention there is a very big meeting this summer in July in Bern in Switzerland, not only for women but also for men, representing members from Francophone countries. Today, as we've heard, everyone is wearing red symbols because... And so we want to congratulate the Chinese New Year for all our visitors from China. And there are Vietnamese who speak French as well. So I want to say in Chinese, and there's a lot of celebrations today in Ontario, and even in Thornhill, which is my writing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I hope that we could speak a lot of French here in the legislature in Ontario. Thank you very much. Thank you, Speaker. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, mandating that our province be fully accessible by 2025. Last week, an independent report revealed that Trinity College Provost Mayo Moran confirmed at this government's rate we're nowhere reaching that target. The report reiterates what accessibility advocates, the AODA Alliance and supporters have been flagging for four years, confirming that in the last 10 years 1.8 million affected Ontarians who face barriers have not seen any significant improvement to services or access. Moran's report also echoes that OSSTF, OECTA and EFTO calls for the need to develop specific standards in the areas of education, health and residential housing. The Minister of Economic Development, Infrastructure and Employment responded, claiming we're already moving on some of these recommendations. I challenge this government to disclose what, when and how. If it was that serious about these recommendations and the report, it should have made the report accessible to start with when they first released it. Mr. Speaker, this report is a wake-up call to the government's leadership to stop dithering and to commit to making accessibility a priority by developing the standards and ensuring we're just not paying lip service to those people who need it most. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Speaker. In Davenport I visited, in December rather, I visited the Perth Avenue co-op, a great housing facility in my riding of Davenport. I met with residents of this vibrant community and had a roundtable discussion around affordable housing. An issue that came up was the end of the federal government's operating agreements with cooperatives and other housing providers. When these agreements conclude nearly 200,000 Canadian households depending on rent, gear to income housing assistance will be left out in the cold. Speaker, almost half of these are households in Ontario. The vast majority of these agreements including the contract with Perth Avenue will expire in 2020. The federal funding necessary to avert this crisis is modest. The Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada estimates that only $6 million over the next five years is required to maintain these co-op homes. Despite this, the federal government has been silent on this issue and has sat idly by as a number of these vital operating agreements have already expired. Mr. Speaker, I have already spoken to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing about this important issue and have urged the Prime Minister to take action. I want to lend my voice to this issue once more. Our federal partners need to make a commitment to continue providing these absolutely critical funds and this commitment needs to happen now. Thank you, Speaker. As temperatures hit new lows, I encourage snow-weary Ontarians to get out of the cold and into a car at the 42nd annual Canadian International Auto Show. The Troyham Automotive Dealers Association have put together another world-class show bringing more dynamic, interactive content than ever before along with the stunning display of over 1,000 cars and trucks ready to roll. The Canadian International Auto Show has a well-earned reputation as not only the most impressive, but also the largest consumer show of any kind in Canada with over 300,000 taking part in the annual tribute to metal and wheels. Get up close and personal with the latest models. Look to future concepts or gaze into history with prices, classics on display with more than 125 exhibitors and 40 automotive brands represented. There's a little something for everyone. Speaker, this year's theme, Life is in Motion, is about the way we live now connected at all times technologically in sync with not just our mobile devices and one another, but with our vehicles as well. And while the Tata is fueling our dreams, they're also raising money for Prostate Cancer Canada with the Rock the Road Raffle, which will see one lucky visitor drive off a 50-anniversary edition Mustang GTQ Coupe with $22,000 in custom modifications. So bundle up the family and head down to Metro Toronto Convention Center for a show that will get your motor running while raising money for an important cause. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Good to remember statement. Remember from Oshawa. Thank you, Speaker. Firefighters provide an invaluable service to our communities. As first responders, they keep us safe, they give us peace of mind, and they risk their lives in the service of others. In return, it is the government's responsibility to ensure that they are not unnecessarily put at risk. This afternoon, I will be sending a letter to the Liberal government about a tragic loss we experienced in our community in Durham earlier this month. On February 8th, Adam Brunt, a firefighter hopeful from Bowmanville, tragically lost his life during a cold water exercise, training exercise in Hanover. This was an accident, one that is currently under investigation, but there are many disturbing questions that must be answered about the lack of safety in the private safety training industry in Ontario. Private pre-training service courses, such as the one Adam was taking, are not regulated in our province. And sadly, Adam's loss is not an isolated incident in an industry in desperate need of regulation. Though these courses are technically optional, students are encouraged to take them to be competitive and hopefully get a job. The government has spoken at length about the importance of protecting our first responders, yet that same support isn't afforded to them as students. Instead, students are put in an environment where proper use of equipment and even the use of proper equipment isn't guaranteed, isn't regulated. I call on the government to take immediate action and commit to regulating the private safety training industry for firefighters. Firefighters dedicate their lives to keeping us safe, and now it is our turn to return the favour. Thank you. Speaker, I rise today to share the happiness of the celebration of the Lunar New Year. The Year of Gold. Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, communities in Ontario will be celebrating across the province today. Chinese New Year is a celebration of Chinese heritage and culture. Two things that are particularly interesting to me. And many in my writings of Tunisian Spadina. The Lunar New Year is the most important of the holidays of the Chinese community. It's unclear when the exact beginning of the New Year celebration in China was. Normally, it's said to start from the year and the religious ceremony during the Shang Dynasty, 1766 BC to 1122 BC. But interestingly, it was actually the Han Dynasty. Same spelling as my first name, as you noticed. 206 BC to 220. And that established the official day of the Chinese New Year. According to the tales and legends, the beginning of the Chinese New Year started with the fight against the mythical beast called year, or in Chinese Nian. Nian looks like an ox with a lion head and inhabits in the sea. At the night of the New Year's Eve, the year, or the Nian, will come out and harm people, animals, and properties. Later, people found out that the year fears the color red, fire, and loud sound, therefore, the firecrackers. So I want to invite everyone to celebrate the Chinese New Year, the Lunar New Year across the province. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Statement. Some members from the Halliburton Corps of Lakes brought. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to talk about the implementation of the new social assistance management system that occurred in November of last year. As it turns out, the new program which cost $240 million never worked. This computer snafu went from being called a minor glitch to a very serious problem in 24 hours. Confidential ministry documents show problems were identified in October 2013 and its implementation was delayed in March and again in July 2014. The government always knew there were problems. It's obvious that they weren't fixed and they went ahead with the program anyway. Now the program requires an additional $16 million and a third party advisor to tell us what frontline workers have been saying for months that SAMS, the acronym for the system does not work. This money could have been paid for a lot of food, heat, and hydro, dental appointments, and housing for our most vulnerable citizens. Now the ministry may choose to point the finger at the frontline staff, but it's a system that is broken. A process that used to take 21 days to turn around now takes months. I've heard of cases where it's taken four hours to update just a address change into the system because it keeps rejecting it. So frontline case workers now are so burdened by the system they're unable to meet with constituents, take calls, complete paperwork, and get the checks out on time. Municipalities where they manage Ontario Works have tried to step up to the plate, but the ministry needs to resolve the problem as soon as possible to support our most vulnerable citizens. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member statements. The member from SCAR, the member from Ottawa, the member from SCAR, arm wrestle, the member from SCAR, this page in court. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm pleased to rise today to recognize the Wong Association of Ontario. This morning, I had the pleasure of joining the Wong Hong-Ga Wan Sun Association, also known as Wong Association of Ontario, to celebrating the unveiling of a plaque from Heritage Toronto. The Wong Association has played an important part in the history of Toronto and Chinatown since the foundation in 1912, making it one of the oldest Chinese family associations in Canada. Wong has actually been in Canada since before the confederation. The journey to Canada was not an easy one for many Chinese Canadians who faced discriminations from the Chinese Exclusion Act and many hardships upon their arrival. Chinese family groups like the Wong Association were essential in helping new Chinese immigrant adjusted to life in Toronto. My own family also benefited by the support from the Wong Association. I recall my mother taking both my siblings and I to the Wong Association every weekend for settlement support. In 2011, the Wong Association was honored by the Governor General of Canada with their own family support in recognition of their indelible contributions to the development of our nation made by the Wongs for over the last 150 years. I want to thank the Wong Association of Ontario for inviting me to be part of the ceremony this morning and for joining us in the legislature this afternoon. I wish everyone celebrating Lunar New Year, happiness and prosperity. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Members, this is not an argument here. We're not going to start that one. The member from Ottawa is up. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Please rise today to speak about Carlton University in my hometown of Ottawa and to recognize Dr. Rente and all the leaders here from Carlton today. I look forward to meeting you later on this afternoon. In our highly competitive and increasingly knowledge based economy the skills students are learning to provide us that our province has to offer. Mr. Speaker I'm proud to say that two of our children Kirsten, my daughter and her son James are both graduates of Carlton and my father was worked at Carlton 40 years ago and if none of you have been to Carlton University it's a beautiful campus that's grown over 40 years bounded by the Rideau River and the canal. It's really quite spectacular. So Carlton also has a long standing reputation as a university that it has built a well deserved reputation as a leader in areas as diverse as public affairs, journalism engineering, high technology and international studies and we have a number of graduates in this legislature from Carlton. I know that the member from Kitchener Waterloo the minister of consumer and government consumer services the minister of tourism, the government house leader the member from Eglinton Lawrence are all graduates of Carlton University. So having said that I would like to thank the 228 between five and seven tonight to enjoy their hospitality and get a chance to let Carlton display the kind of great institution that it is. Thank you very much. I thank all members for their statements.