 Member statements. The Member for Richmond Hill. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Silver bells are ringing. Christmas trees are up. Shoppers busy with presents. But I can't help but thinking of our non-profit organisations during this time of the year. We all know that most of them have a hard time during the past two years. Pandemic has affected them with challenges in getting volunteers and, most importantly, donations. They were not able to run fundraising galas over the past two years. I have heard from many CEOs of the non-profit organisations that they are struggling. It is sad to hear that some of them have to cut their programs, while others cut staff or simply pay less to their staff even though they have to work twice as hard. This year, February, we held a non-profit sector appreciation week. It will be held again this week on the week of February 13, 2023. However, our appreciation that should be shown not only just once a year. May I invite everyone to take action to demonstrate your support. Please donate to a non-profit organisation of your choice. Send them a card to show your appreciation. This will go a long way. Now, it's a good time. Any donation made before December 31st, you will receive a donation receipt in time for your tax return. And I wish you all a Merry Christmas. Thank you. Member Statements. The Member for Hamilton Mountain. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. The holiday season is supposed to be a joyful season. But for far too many, it serves as a reminder that they're struggling to make ends meet to put food on the table. We have a lot of great organisations working in Hamilton to support people faced with food insecurity, but the situation is becoming dire. Hamilton Food Share says an estimated 11,000 households will likely reach out at Christmas alone. This will be the largest number in the program's history. Food for Kids, a food relief program for children, has been forced to implement a triage system to make sure that the most at-risk children are still getting food because of the rising food costs. The program delivers food to roughly 1,400 students across 75 schools in Hamilton every week. Food for Kids is doing a great service to our community, but this year has been hard. Director Kathy Hahn shared on 900CHML earlier this week that they are seeing more requests than they ever have and that they've had to start a wait list. Programs like Hamilton Food Share and Food for Kids are filling the gap for this government, but they won't be able to fill it for too much longer. Community programs cannot be the backbone of the food insecurity crisis. Families are going hungry. This holiday season, I'm asking the Premier and his government to think of these families, think of these children who are on wait list for food and do something about it. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member for Scarborough Waging Court. Good morning, Mr. Speaker. Speaker, the Lovers Scarborough campaign was launched in January to draw attention to the health inequities in Scarborough and to change the statistic that though Scarborough has 25% of Toronto's population, its hospitals receive only 1% of donations. Thanks to the support of donors and the support by our government's historic investment in Scarborough's infrastructure and healthcare, the campaign has been incredibly successful. As a result, the Scarborough Health Network, SHM Foundation, has now raised the original $100 million goal to $200 million. To date, over $130 million has been raised. The funds will help meet a number of needs within the SHM, including the redevelopment of its emergency department, facilities and programs for people with chronic kidney disease, improved mental health care, and the new North Pine Diagnostic Imaging Department at SHM General. As a result of the successful fundraising, the SHM Foundation is planning the next phase of the campaign. It will include investment in teaching and research, establishing centres of excellence through the SHM and raising local support towards the redevelopment of Birchmont Hospital. Our government announced over $1 billion in support of the Birchmont Project in April. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Premier Ford for his ongoing support of SHM and helping us secure donations of $75 million from the Orlando Group. Mr. Speaker, I stand committed to unequivocally support Birchmont Grace Hospital and SHM to deliver the exceptional and compassionate care they continue to provide to residents of the Scarborough Aging Court. I urge everyone to join this worthy initiative and help the Scarborough residents get the care they deserve. I would like also to mention here the contribution of my colleagues in Scarborough, Minister Raymond Cho, MPP Vijay Tanagar Salam and MPP David Smith for their hard work on behalf of the residents of Scarborough. And Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and Happy Taipongal and Happy Lunar New Year, the Year of the Rabbit to all residents of Scarborough. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the Member for Thunder Bay Superior North. Mr. Speaker, in Thunder Bay there are 42 methadone and suboxone clinics, an amazingly high number for a population of about 90,000. And because most of these are for profit, people are kept dependent for years on end on what are meant to be transitional drugs. Workers' mental health and addictions workers are advocating for increased capacity in publicly funded, publicly run treatment centers because they offer far better health outcomes and cost savings. They are also advocating for mobile crisis response teams supported by ongoing operating funds so that communities can count on these crucial services. These workers also recognize that systemic racism leads to high levels of mental distress amongst racialized people along with their over-incarceration. For this reason, mental health court diversion programs need to be developed, implemented and promoted. Being homeless and poor causes significant mental and physical harm. Supportive housing with 24-hour staff care needs to be expanded and OW and ODSP rates must be increased so that people have the help they need to move on to permanent housing. Finally, in support of the mental and physical well-being of the workers providing these crucial services, Bill 124 must be rescinded. Thank you. The member for Hastings, Lenox and Addington. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm very pleased today to rise on behalf of the people of Hastings, Lenox and Addington. As we move closer to the holidays, many of us will be participating in a time-honored family tradition of hunting for the perfect Christmas tree. As Christmas tree farming is a significant part of the forestry in Ontario, I'm so very pleased to encourage people to get out to these farms and enjoy their time collecting the perfect tree. The Christmas tree industry in Ontario employs thousands of workers in farming, transportation and retail sectors, and each year more than one million fresh farm-grown Christmas trees are purchased here in Ontario, and the same number of seedlings are planted for future harvest. Ontario Christmas trees are all-natural, biodegradable, and many municipalities mulch them after Christmas. Our tree farms are carbon sponges and oxygen creators. Each acre of Christmas tree farm produces enough oxygen for 18 people every day. It takes six to eight years for trees to come to maturity, so the math tells us with over 8,000 acres of Christmas tree farms in this province, Christmas trees provide more than 420 million person days of oxygen. That's quite an awesome Christmas gift these trees give us. In my riding, the Scudamatta tree farm near Flinton, and Carroll's Christmas tree farm in Napa-nee, and across Ontario there are over 400 Christmas tree farms. So I hope everyone gets out and enjoys finding just that right tree for their family. Please always remember to keep your tree watered and safe from any fire risk. And while I'm at it, Mr. Speaker, I would like to wish all the members of this house, the legislative and political staff, and everyone watching this broadcast, a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Thank you. The next member's statement, the member for Tomiskaming Cochran. Thank you, Speaker. We all remember the year 2000. Y2K never happened, but something monumental did happen for the NDP. That was the year that Kevin Medes started working as a Consistence Assistant. Kevin started working for the House Leader and WIP's office, once again for the NDP, under Peter Cormos. Peter Cormos was an incredibly intelligent man, but he believed in tough love as teaching. And one of the reasons why Kevin is the great expert on house rules and on procedure is it is a bittersweet day for us in the NDP, because this may be Kevin Medes' last day sitting in that chair. And there are many people in this house who are in the precinct who have never been able to stand on this floor, who have had a great impact for the benefit of the people of Ontario. Kevin Medes is one of those people. On our side, Kevin Medes has had a greater impact as one person than I would say any of us. I agree. On behalf of our caucus, and I believe of all the people in this precinct, I would like to thank Kevin. He's one of my personal closest friends, and it has been an honour to work with you, and I hope to work with you in any capacity in the future. Thank you, Kevin. Thank you. Member Statements. Member for Bruce Gray Owen Sound. Thank you, Speaker. And good morning, members. Last Saturday evening, I had the pleasure of being in Markdale to attend the first screening of a documentary hosted by the Friends of South Gray Museum called No Bed of Roses. It was a story about the first woman ever elected to the House of Commons and to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Agnes McPhail. Agnes McPhail was born in March of 1890 and raised on a farm in Protentonship in Gray County. She graduated in 1910 with a teacher certificate. She applied for five positions and was accepted to all five. Ms. McPhail became active politically, joining the United Farm Women of Ontario. She sought the nomination for the Progressive Party of Canada in the Electoral District of Gray, southeast, against ten men, and beat them all. Then she was elected in 1921 as the first female MP in Canadian history. In 1943, Agnes McPhail was elected here to the Legislative Assembly. It's one of the first two women elected to the Ontario Legislature. You can see her picture near the east doors of this beautiful building. Ms. McPhail was eager to see more women in politics. As she explained, most women think politics isn't ladylike. Well, I'm no lady, I'm a human being. Agnes McPhail appears on the Canada 150 edition of our $10 note as the first woman other than a sovereign to have a permanent spot on the Canadian currency. Speaker, Agnes McPhail broke down the barriers. Thinking of the road she had to travel as a woman to be elected in 1921 truly amazes me. Thank you, Agnes, for who you were, for all you did. You are an inspiration to all of us every day. Thank you, Speaker. The member for Kingston and the Islands. Thank you, Speaker. It was said of the blitz that a rich person driving their fancy car through the streets of London was as damaging as a German bomb. And you can understand that. Why would you put your heart and soul into the war effort when a privileged few did not? When we face a social crisis, when we need team spirit to work together, we'll find it if people believe that society is just and offers equal opportunity. We do face multiple crises. Unaffordable homes, no family doctor, overcrowded hospitals, labor shortages, rising mortgage payments, mental health and addictions, education disruption, international conflicts, and overshadowing it all climate change. So now, conservatives having promised over and over not to touch the people's green belt told by their own task force that it was not needed for housing. They have withdrawn green belt land for development to benefit their political donors. Instead of getting housing built with as-of-right zoning in the green belt, it looks like as-of-donation zoning. It's the government helping some people profit at the expense of everybody else. The worst thing about this is not just that it's bad housing policy or bad environmental policy. It's the corrosive effect as in our sense of fairness. Our faith that the government is for the people. It's eroding our willingness to consider shared sacrifices, eroding our willingness to work together. We've got to reverse that to tackle today's greatest challenges. I gave the member a few extra seconds because he has interrupted while he was presenting his member statement. Order. Member statements. The member for Brampton West. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet and chat with Lillel Ruffinian, the manager of the only Canadian blood services location in Brampton. As I spoke to Lillel, she educated me on the importance of donating plasma and how it can help make all the difference for those in need. Plasma is a protein-rich liquid that is found in our blood and is used to help treat a number of illnesses and injuries. Plasma treatment is currently being used to treat illnesses such as cancer, nervous system disorders, organ transplants, bleeding disorders, and many more. The plasma that is collected by the Canadian blood services is used for fractionation, which means that your donated plasma will be manufactured into 50 life-saving medications and will be distributed to 730 hospitals and clinics across the country. Speaker, the wonderful part of donating plasma is that you can donate your plasma every seven days and international students who can only donate their blood after they have been in Canada for at least three years can donate their plasma after 21 days. I strongly encourage all of my colleagues and the residents of Ontario to donate their plasma to make all the difference for Canadians in need. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member Statements. The Member for Durham. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to advise the members of this house that important representatives from the Bowmanville Hospital Foundation are sitting in the members' gallery today. The Bowmanville Hospital Foundation is a key stakeholder in my riding of Durham. Through innovative and collaborative partnerships with families, governments, charities, and businesses in Durham Region, the Foundation fosters a culture of community-based philanthropy to reach its campaign and strategic goals of raising funds for its capital costs towards the redevelopment and expansion of the Bowmanville Hospital. Last month, Mr. Speaker, the Bowmanville Hospital Foundation held its annual Gallup, delayed after three years, and at that gala, over $374,000 was raised to help the Foundation support its Phase II initiative. Many of the generous donors that have partnered with the Bowmanville Hospital Foundation include the Regional Municipality of Durham, the Municipality of Clarington, the Halman and Family Foundation, the Kemp family, St. Mary's Cement, Steve Hennessey and family, Tyler Smith, the Association of Hospital Volunteers at Bowmanville, Edmund and Sylvia of Van Heeverbeek, and the Urso family Canadian Tire Bowmanville. On behalf of this Chamber, I would like to congratulate and welcome CEO Frank Sarazano and manager of major gifts and plan giving, Ms. Bethany Dayton. They are present in the gallery today. I salute them for their dedication and commitment to the Foundation and I also give a shout out who could not be with us today, Board Chair Peter Hobb and Chief Development Officer Maria Petrie. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. That concludes our Member's Statements for this morning. I'm going to now ask