 introductions it's now time for member statements the member from Leeds Grenville thank you speaker I rise in support of parents students and rural communities in a desperate fight to save their schools 10 schools in Leeds Grenville are among the 29 identified for closure by the upper Canada district school board hundreds more are at risk in communities across Ontario speaker this is not just about saving individual schools it's a fight for the future of rural education and the ability of students to learn close to where they live last week I wrote the Minister of Education and called on her to do two things restore the top-up funding they cut to put so many schools on the chopping block and suspend the rig process this government manipulated to allow boards to fast-track closures I've also asked the upper Canada trustees to support my request by resolution and to suspend their accommodation review I will not allow this government to sit on the sidelines as communities are thrown into turmoil no one disputes the need to discuss the future of education in a time of declining enrollment but we demand speaker a fair process let's take the target off schools and work with parents boards municipalities and MPPs from all parties to develop a long term solution if this government chooses to sit back and allow these schools to close it will be too late speaker if they value rural education they must act now thousands of parents and students await a response thank you speaker thank you Mr. Speaker a few things on issues of galvanized Ontarians like the plight of the young indigenous inmate Adam Capay Adam 23 years old has been in solitary confinement in an Ontario provincial prison for four years he's housed alone in a basement at the end of a long quarter in a cell sheathed in plexiglass the lights are on 24 hours a day he's they found him in fact to have memory orientation speech problems brought on by his prison conditions prison conditions by the way Mr. Speaker that are considered torture by the UN and others he's also legally innocent he was charged with first-degree murder in 2012 but he has not been tried the Supreme Court of Canada says that any delay between the laying of charges and the completion of trial longer than 30 months is a violation of an accused person's charter right to be tried within a reasonable time he's been held without trial for 52 months we give thanks to the prison guard who brought this plight to the attention of Ontario's chief human rights commissioner but it shouldn't have to take that Mr. Speaker this is egregious this makes us look terrible on a world stage this is terrible and the public demand is immediate it that the inhuman treatment of him be at that he be released from solitary given medical care by the end of this week not just for an interim period and that those who allowed this to happen be held to account thank you thank you for the members David's the member for Mississauga Brampton South Mr. Speaker I'm pleased to share with this house a much anticipated and exciting news on October 26 the constituents of my great writing of Mississauga and Brampton South and surrounding communities learned that our government will be bringing a university led post secondary site to Brampton this initiative by our government is significant as it will pave way for coming generations towards better and brighter future through higher learning the institution's main focus will be on science technology engineering arts and mathematics as interior moves towards a technology and knowledge based economy this institution will prepare students for jobs of today and jobs of tomorrow and offer them opportunities for training and skills development needed for leading sectors of our economy this institution will also address the needs of an underserved but fast growing population area and ensure that students find more educational opportunities closer to home Mr. Speaker Bramptonians are excited about our government's this initiative towards building dynamic and vibrant communities and great places to live work and study thank you Mr. Speaker thank you for the members that was the member Bruce Gray on sound thank you very much Mr. Speaker I rise today to offer congratulations and appreciation to Marilyn Morris her organizing committee and volunteers who ensured the 20th annual meford scarecrow invasion and family festival was a huge success in my riding of Bruce Gray own sound 300 scarecrow's took to the streets on the September 30th in celebration of the fall harvest and the town was decorated to the nines with scarecrow's hanging from every streetlight and pole in the community the OPP Golden Helmet motorcycle riders even had scarecrow's adorning their bikes during their performance since its inception in 1996 this family event has become a popular destination for locals and tourists and has received both community and provincial awards ranking as one of Ontario's top events all the hard work and dedication by the organizers the hundreds of volunteers the generosity of sponsors and the enthusiasm of the entire community is the reason why the scarecrow invasion and family festival has earned this recognition over the past 20 years in 2002 the scarecrow invasion tried to challenge the record for most scarecrow's in the Guinness Book of World Records meford created 2221 scarecrow's but the record was not achieved now in its 20th year the invasion has 300 volunteers dedicating over 3,000 hours Mr. Speaker I would also like to pay special tribute to a meford businessman who is honored for his role in starting the scarecrow invasion 20 years ago George Patopnik was one of the 60 to 70 guests attending the 20th anniversary of the scarecrow invasion and family festival in the gallery of meford Hall I invite the house to join me in congratulating Marilyn Morris George Patopnik and the entire meford community for ensuring the meford scarecrow invasion and family festival achieved top honors and wish them much continued success thank you for the member statements the member from London Fanshawe speaker I'm honored to speak today about a private project happening in my riding the program is called positive voice and it has been organized by the staff at the no key quay employment and education center in London Fanshawe the main philosophy of the program aims to provide a safe space for the mentorship and empowerment of urban aboriginal women the organizer achieve organizers achieve this through assisting aboriginal women in developing positive life narratives and positive community connections through the use of media and technologies the program helps to empower women participants as they transition into different educational or employment opportunities I recently visited the center and attended one of their sessions I was immediately impressed and captivated by the women I met and the enormous impact the program has in their lives the women I met came from different places and backgrounds they range in age from their early 20s to their early 50s to their 50s they had all overcome their own individual adversities but they all shared a common goal to succeed in the next chapter of their lives it was clear this program was helping them to do just that I would like to commend no key quay and the organizers of the positive voice program for providing women the opportunity to share their stories develop their skills and find the confidence in their abilities to succeed thank you speaker for their member statements the member from Davenport you mr. Speaker and I rise today to extend my congratulations and best wishes to Oslington Pentecostal Church for my writing of Davenport they'll be celebrating their 60th anniversary this weekend in particular I would like to congratulate the congregation who will be holding a fantastic celebration with a mass and a reception Osington Pentecostal Church is a member of the Canadian assemblies of God and our biblically-centered congregation of believers who come from a wide variety of nationalities and cultures yet they all share one thing in common they worship Jesus Christ the family congregation of the Osington Pentecostal Church was a part of the first Italian work in 1922 that was called Assemblea Cristiana under the combined leadership of Reverend Fernando Safuto and Reverend Luigi Polito in 1956 a group for the Assemblea Cristiana built and established the church that exists today located at 686 Osington Avenue in February 2003 Reverend David Quackenbosch joined Osington Pentecostal Church to shepherd the congregation today all sorts of people joined this church in prayer on Sundays and are currently going under renovations to the facility to accommodate and better service the members of the community and as the member of Provincial Parliament for Davenport I'm privileged to represent a number of very active and engaged constituents including the religious community of Osington Pentecostal Church and I want to thank them and the congregation for the commitment to our community thank you Mr. Speaker thank you very much mr. Speaker we're all wearing our poppies today and it's so wonderful to see Remembrance days next week and it's a sad and solemn time but it really brings the communities together I want to read a it's a poem but actually a song but I'm going to spare you my singing voice I know we're not allowed to sing here mr. Speaker it's by my niece Ella Gladstone Martin and it's called Don't Let Me Be Forgotten poppies don't grow on hidden graves am I the only only worth something when I can be brave we can't surrender less we regret we must remember less we forget don't let me be forgotten don't let me fall behind because there's no running from the battle waging inside my mind these wounds take time to heal before my scars can just scab and heal don't ask me why I do not know it's much too soon to say goodbye but you just stand there and watch me go don't let me be forgotten don't let me fall behind because there's no running from the battle waging inside my mind I put you first now aren't I worth just a bit of your time if you give me your hand I will give you mine don't let me be forgotten don't let me fall behind because there's no running from the battle waging in my mind so let's all remember today and next week which hopefully we're going to be bringing forward this week to have remembrance week as the schools often do commemorate things and the legions for the whole week of remembrance day let's remember let's not forget and let's remember also what they were fighting for our democracy thank you mr. and compliments to your niece further member statements the member from to miss me cockpit thank you speaker for the first time in my time in literature I'm going to quote a Toronto star headline mighty Ontario moose need our help to survive and as a representative of people who moose hunting as part of our culture I think moose hunters across the province no one wants the long-term survival of the moose more than the population who have hunting as part of their heritage and there's some things that the government and it's not all the government's fault but there's some things that the government could do immediately to help with this and it is it is a crisis the first thing is adequately fund the M&R because in my part of the world we have two conservation officers over 50 townships so you cannot manage a population wildlife population when your spread so thin the M&R has to take steps to actually make accurate counts of the moose unit 28 the most heavily hunted area there's supposed to be a count every three years and they did it over five years again if this is a crisis we need to spend the time and the money to do this right all moose all moose harvest it should be reported regardless of who harvest them and there's a kind of a funny line in here it says in some parts of the province moose used to be so plentiful that there's road signs warning against drivers hitting them I can assure you there's still moose because I hit one a month ago and I'd like to thank Frank and Evelyn Barassa for saving the meat and for cooking me some great meat pies thank you for their member statements the member from Eglinton Lawrence to give tribute to one of our longtime workers here staff support workers who's worked here for 20 years Joseph Galuzzo Joe I knew him when he used to own a grocery store at Scarlett Road in Eglinton did that with his brother for many years and he came on here to work in the precinct properties branch and he's one of the many incredible dedicated workers we have here who take care of our heating our cleaning our plumbing furniture move all set up we've got a real crew of dedicated professional support staff here at Queen's Park and Joe has been one of them and he's loved every day that he's been here as you run into Joe in the hallways he's always got a smile on his face he's always happy to work the only thing I mentioned about Joe too is that he along with the other staff workers here do the same work as the staff support workers at City Hall in Toronto down the road yet they make five to ten dollars less an hour than the same people doing the same work down the street and I think we should all be cognizant of that especially the Board of Internal Economy sure we've had a wage freeze here for seven years let's not write the freeze the wages of the workers and support staff it's about time we gave them a decent wage for the work they do as the workers get down the street thank you I have nothing but admiration for Joe as well and we wish him well in his retirement the member from Scarborough Rouge River on a point of order thank you mr. Speaker I'm very very happy to welcome students from my writing they are great five CD Farcassan Junior Public School and I hope all the students have a great experience at the Ontario Provincial Parliament in the house thank you mr. Speaker I thank all members for their statements therefore it's now time for reports by committees