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 organizations working in Hamilton to support people faced with food insecurity, but the situation is becoming dire.

Hamilton Food Share says an estimated 11,000 house-holds will likely reach out at Christmas alone. This will be the largest number in the program’s history.

Food4Kids, 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 rising food costs. This program delivers food to roughly 1,400 students across 75 schools in Hamilton every week. Food4Kids is doing a great service to our community, but this year has been hard. Director Cathy Haan shared on 900 CHML earlier this week that they are seeing more requests than they ever have and that they have had to start a wait-list.

Programs like Hamilton Food Share and Food4Kids 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-lists for food, and do something about it.

Silver bells are ringing, Christmas trees are up, shoppers are busy with presents, but I can’t help but think of our non-profit organizations during this time of the year. We all know that most of them have had a hard time during the past two years. The 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 non-profit organizations 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, in February, we held the Non-Profit Sector Appreciation Week. It will be held again on the week of February 13, 2023. However, our appreciation should not be shown only once a year. May I invite everyone to take action to demonstrate your support? Please donate to a non-profit organization of your choice. Send them a card to show your appreciation. This will go a long way. Now is a good time: Any donation made before December 31 will receive a donation receipt in time for your tax return.

I wish you all a merry Christmas.

Point of order.

In Thunder Bay, there are 42 methadone and suboxone clinics, an amazingly high number for a population of about 90,000. Because most of these are for-profit, people are kept dependent for years on end on what are meant to be transitional drugs.

OPSEU’s mental health and addictions workers are advocating for increased capacity in publicly funded, publicly run treatment centres, because they offer far better health outcomes and cost savings. They’re 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.

We all remember the year 2000. Y2K never happened, but something monumental did happen for the NDP. That was the year that Kevin Modeste started working as a constituency assistant for Frances Lankin.

In the year 2008, Kevin started working for the House leader and whip’s office—once again for the NDP—under Peter Kormos. Peter Kormos 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 Peter Kormos.

It is a bittersweet day for us in the NDP, because this may be Kevin Modeste’s last day sitting in that chair.

There are many people in the precinct who have never been able to stand on this floor but who have had a great impact for the benefit of the people of Ontario. Kevin Modeste is one of those people. On our side, Kevin Modeste has had a greater impact as one person than, I would say, any of us.

On behalf of all our caucus and, I believe, all the people in this precinct, I would like to thank Kevin. He’s one of my closest friends.

It has been an honour to work with you. I hope to work with you in any capacity in the future.

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 Grey 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 Macphail.

Agnes Macphail was born in March 1890, and she was raised on a farm in Proton township in Grey county. She graduated in 1910 with a teacher’s certificate. She applied for five positions and was accepted to all five.

Ms. Macphail became active politically, joining the United Farm Women of Ontario. She sought the nomina-tion for the Progressive Party of Canada in the electoral district of Grey Southeast against 10 men and beat them all.

Interjections.

Then she was elected in 1921, as the first female MP in Canadian history.

In 1943, Agnes Macphail was elected here, to the Legislative Assembly, as 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. Macphail was eager to see more women in politics. As she explained, “Most women think politics aren’t lady-like. Well, I’m no lady. I’m a human being.”

Agnes Macphail 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 Macphail 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 and for all you did. You are an inspiration to all of us every day.

I’m very pleased today to rise on behalf of the people of Hastings–Lennox and Addington.

As we move closer to the holidays, many of us will be participating in the time-honoured family tradition of hunting for the perfect Christmas tree. As Christmas tree farming is a significant part of the forestry industry 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 the farming, transportation and retail sectors. 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 harvests.

Ontario Christmas trees are all-natural and 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, there’s Skootamatta Tree Farm near Flinton and Carole’s Christmas Tree Farm in Napanee, 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, 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.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet and chat with Lilet Raffinan, the manager of the only Canadian Blood Services location in Brampton. As I spoke to Lilet, 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 that 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 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.

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 toward the redevelopment and expansion of the Bowmanville Hospital.

Last month, the Bowmanville Hospital Foundation held its annual gala, delayed after three years. At that gala, over $374,000 was raised to help the foundation support its phase 2 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 Halminen Family Foundation, the Kemp family, St. Marys Cement, Steve Hennessey and family, Tyler Smith, the Association of Hospital Volunteers-Bowmanville, Edmond and Sylvia Vanhaverbeke, and the Urso family/Canadian Tire, Bowmanville.

On behalf of this chamber, I would like to congratulate and welcome CEO Frank Cerisano and manager of major gifts and planned giving, Ms. Bethany Dainton. They are present in the gallery today. I salute them for their dedication and commitment to the foundation. I also give a shout-out to board chair Peter Hobb and chief development officer Maria Petri, who could not be with us today.

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. 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, labour shortages, rising mortgage payments, mental health and addictions issues, education disruption, international conflicts, and overshadowing it all, climate change.

Now, the Conservatives, having promised over and over to not touch the people’s greenbelt, told by their own task force that it was not needed for housing, have withdrawn greenbelt land for development to benefit their political donors. Instead of getting housing built with as-of-right zoning in the greenbelt, 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, it’s not just that it’s bad housing policy or bad environmental policy; it’s the corrosive effect—

Interjections.

Order.

Sadly, it is now time to say a word of thanks to our legislative pages. Our pages are smart, trustworthy and hard-working. They are indispensable to the effective functioning of the chamber, and we are very fortunate to have had them here.

To our pages: You depart having made many new friends, with a greater understanding of parliamentary democracy and memories that will last a lifetime. Each of you will go home and continue your studies, and no doubt will contribute to your communities, your province and your country in important ways. We expect great things from all of you. Maybe some of you will take your seats in this House as members or work here as staff someday. Who knows? We wish you all well.

Please join me in thanking our legislative pages.

Applause.

Applause.

I also want to introduce someone today—although he’s not new around the Legislature and he has already been introduced: Kevin Modeste, who has been working with the NDP caucus for 22 years. He must have started as a page to reach that milestone. He is attending, of course, his final question period today as a staff member.

We wish Mr. Modeste well as he moves on from Queen’s Park at the end of this year.

Today I would like to welcome, from Mississauga–Lakeshore, Bill and Muriel Chudiak.

Today’s page captain is Havana Thibodeau, and her parents, Richard Thibodeau and Betsabel Bello Thibo-deau, are joining us here in the gallery. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I have the pleasure of introducing a few guests today.

From my amazing team at the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, I have Doug Brewer, Tay Rubman, Matt Frola and Stefanie Mojsovski.

I would also like to introduce and welcome President Mohamed Lachemi from Toronto Metropolitan University. President Lachemi and Matt Baker are joining us today for royal assent of Bill 26, which officially changes the name from Ryerson to Toronto Metropolitan University.

Mohamed, thank you so much for your leadership in moving the university forward.

We have some folks here today from the Brampton Rotary Club. Please join me in welcoming president Uche Okugo and president-elect Badar Shamim.

I’d like to introduce two strong and sensational city-builders who are in the chamber for the first time: the ever-lovely Diane Blake and Liane Brossard. I extend a warm welcome to them.

I’d like to welcome members of the following groups: Grand(m)others Act To Save The Planet, Stop Sprawl HamOnt, Wellington Water Watchers, Greenbelt West Coalition, and Stop Sprawl Halton. They gathered on the front lawn this morning to defend the greenbelt.

I would like to welcome OPSEU’s mental health and addiction workers who are watching Queen’s Park from north Toronto, where they are meeting today.

We can’t see you here in front of us right now, but I want you to know that we do see you. We see the work that you do, and we appreciate it very much. We know how valuable it is.

My daughter is not here today, but it is her 10th birthday and she’s watching in her class, Ms. Vandermeer’s class, at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Ingleside, in my riding.