I would like to thank Lorraine Rocheleau from Alba in my riding for this petition.

“911 Everywhere in Ontario....

“Whereas when we face an emergency we all know to dial 911 for help; and

“Whereas access to emergency services through 911 is not available in all regions of Ontario but most Ontarians believe that it is; and

“Whereas many Ontarians have discovered that 911 was not available while they faced an emergency; and

“Whereas all Ontarians expect and deserve access to 911 service, throughout our province;

They “petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To provide 911 emergency response everywhere in Ontario by land line or cellphone.”

I support this petition, will my affix my name to it and give it to my good page Claire to bring to the Clerk.

It’s my honour to present the following petition. It reads:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Haliburton Highlands Health Services board of directors has, without consultation with the affected stakeholders, announced the permanent closure of the emergency department located in the municipality of Minden Hills, Ontario, effective June 1, 2023;

“We, the undersigned, petition that a moratorium of this decision be implemented by the Ministries of Health and Long-Term Care immediately for a period of a minimum of one year to allow for consultations with all affected stakeholders to occur.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature and deliver it with page Senna to the Clerks.

I have a petition here.

“To Raise Social Assistance Rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and far from adequate to cover the rising costs of food and rent: $733 for individuals on OW and $1,227 for ODSP;

“Whereas an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, signed by over 230 organizations, recommends that social assistance rates be doubled for both Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP);

“Whereas the recent small budget increase of 5% for ODSP still leaves these citizens below the poverty line, both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates are struggling to live in this time of alarming inflation;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized in its CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to double social assistance rates for OW and ODSP.”

I agree with this petition, will affix my name and give it to page Mackenzie to bring to the table.

I’m very pleased, as the critic for infrastructure for the party, to read this petition.

“911 Everywhere in Ontario.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas when we face an emergency we all know to dial 911 for help; and

“Whereas access to emergency services through 911 is not available in all regions of Ontario but most Ontarians believe that it is; and

“Whereas many Ontarians have discovered that 911 was not available while they faced an emergency; and

“Whereas all Ontarians expect and deserve access to 911 service, throughout our province;

“We the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To provide 911 emergency response everywhere in Ontario by land line or cellphone.”

Of course, I support this petition. I will affix my signature and send it to the table with Akshitha.

I want to thank my constituents who’ve been collecting these petitions at the Guelph Farmers’ Market. It’s a petition to protect the greenbelt.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Premier has persistently promised over the past four years not to develop the greenbelt; and

“Whereas the Premier has plans to build the Highway 413 that would pave over 400 acres of the greenbelt, and over 2,000 acres of class 1 and class 2 farmland; and

“Whereas the government refuses to repeal Bill 23 and halt their destructive pro-sprawl agenda; and

“Whereas the government now has plans to open up over 7,400 acres of the greenbelt to pro-sprawl developers;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To instruct the Ontario government to immediately halt all plans to develop the greenbelt and commit to cancelling Highway 413, and to instead invest in livable and affordable communities connected by transit that protect the nature that protects us, the farmland that feeds us and mitigates climate pollution.”

I support this petition, will sign it and ask page Sophie to bring it to the table.

This petition is entitled “Protect the Greenbelt: Repeal Bill 23.” I want to thank the people from Kitchener and Elmira for collecting the signatures.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Bill 23 will remove protected land from the greenbelt, allowing wealthy developers to profit by bulldozing over 7,000 acres of farmland;

“Whereas green spaces and farmland are what we rely on to grow food, support natural habitats, prevent flooding, and mitigate future climate disasters;

“Whereas Ontario loses” 319 “acres of farmland daily to development;

“Whereas the government’s Housing Affordability Task Force found there are plenty of places to build homes without destroying the greenbelt, showcasing that Bill 23 was never about housing but about making the rich richer;

“Whereas the power of conservation authorities will be taken away, weakening environmental protections, and preventing future development;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately repeal Bill 23, stop all plans to further remove protected land from the greenbelt....”

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature and give it to page Leonard.