It is my honour to welcome Ms. Varathaledchumy Shanmuganathan amma to the Ontario Legislature today. At the age of 87, Varatha amma has earned the distinction of being the oldest person to graduate with a master’s degree from York University and is one of the oldest women to earn a graduate degree in all of Canada. To add, Mr. Speaker, this is her second master’s degree.

She began her academic journey at the University of Madras in India, where she completed her undergraduate degree. She later also earned a diploma in education from the University of Ceylon. She earned her first master’s from the University of London when she was in her fifties. She immigrated to Canada in 2004 and decided to make her dream come true when she learned that York University offers Canadian seniors over the age of 60 with waived tuition fees.

Despite the pandemic and the challenges it posed to learning, she persevered, put the difficulties aside and powered through it all.

Mr. Speaker, this woman who is sitting in front of us today in the Legislature is an inspiration to us all. To all the young people who are just beginning their academic careers, she reminds us that learning is a lifelong journey. I want to congratulate Varatha amma for her lifelong commitment to education.

As we come to the end of the Canadian football season, I want to congratulate and recognize the dominance of Orléans football clubs at all ages and levels this year.

First, I’d like to congratulate the Tigers from St. Matthew Catholic High School. From what looked like would be a missed season due to a lack of equipment, the Tigers rallied and won the tier 1 Ottawa varsity football championship. Ranked inside the top 20 in the province, the Tigers are looking to roar their way into an OFSAA title next Wednesday in Guelph.

In community football, I’d like to recognize the utter dominance of the Cumberland Panthers Football Club. The Panthers led the way in creating a vibrant division for U18 women and girls to experience tackle football this year, and they won the inaugural provincial title, defeating York.

On the boys’ side, the Panthers took home city titles in three of four age groups. The U12 Mosquitos went undefeated, also winning the fall provincial title, defeating the Vaughan Rebels. And to top it all off, Mr. Speaker, former Cumberland Panther Kurleigh Gittens Jr. put the cherry on top of a breakout season in the CFL, winning the Grey Cup last weekend with the Toronto Argonauts.

I’d like to thank all of the coaches, trainers, team managers, photographers, referees, moms and dads and everyone else who volunteers to make Orléans football the hotbed that it has become. Congratulations to all the boys and girls on their hard work and success. I look forward to seeing you on the gridiron again next spring.

I am excited to share some of the many wonderful events in Markham–Unionville. In October, I was delighted to celebrate CEFS Centre’s Harvest Festival and Victoria Square United Church’s 190th anniversary. I also celebrated the grand openings of Agora Prep Learning Centre and Brown Academy. Thank you for investing in our students in Markham–Unionville.

On behalf of the Premier and MTCS, I attended and was proud to announce our government’s $74,000 support towards the DanceSport Grand Prix competition that took place in Markham–Unionville.

In November, I joined with my Hindu community and friends to celebrate Hindu Heritage Month. I was happy to share friendship and memories with the Toronto True Light Alumni Association as they celebrated their school’s 150th anniversary in Hong Kong.

Organized by the Markham District Veterans Association, I joined their Remembrance Day service and paid tribute to our veterans. I also laid a wreath at the Crosby cenotaph. Thank you to the many residents who came together to honour our heroes for their bravery and sacrifices.

Mr. Speaker, safety has always been one of our government’s top priorities. That’s why I hosted a crime prevention round table for our Markham–Unionville residents. Thanks to our law enforcement partners at YRP, we have learned so much about crime prevention and will continue to watch out for our neighbours.

Last Friday, about 40 residents from Markham–Unionville took a Queen’s Park tour. They admired the unique architecture and experienced and explored Ontario’s Parliament. I thank our government for this beautiful structure and the hard-working officials who ensure that Ontario is operating efficiently.

I would like to acknowledge and thank the local chambers of commerce in my riding of Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock. Chambers of commerce staff provide various methods of assistance, guidance and support to our local businesses and not-for-profit organizations. They help with things like networking, assistance in advertising and promotion, and community support.

I have had the distinct pleasure of attending in-person award ceremonies recently for two of my local chambers, the Lindsay and District Chamber of Commerce, which represents approximately 330 businesses, and the Haliburton Highlands Chamber of Commerce, which represents approximately 270 businesses. On November 10, the Lindsay and District Chamber of Commerce held their awards of excellence event. This event celebrated many individuals and businesses from the area, recognizing, for example, the Employer of the Year award, the Tourism Excellence award and the New Business of the Year award. The Haliburton Highlands Chamber of Commerce held its business and community achievement award ceremony this past Saturday, November 19. This event recognized community leaders, with the Highlander of the Year, the Young Professional award and the Innovation and Creativity award, just to name a few.

I would like to congratulate the nominees and winners and, in particular, the many young, innovative and creative entrepreneurs I met. Truly, thank you to the chamber staff for their continued contribution to help businesses be successful and continue to thrive during these uncertain times. Everyone in the community benefits from their support. Keep up the great work.

In 2018, when I was a new mayor in Loyalist township, I had the opportunity to work with a gentleman by the name of John, who’s been a local developer in that area for more than 40 years. In my community, there’s a large number of seniors, many of whom have been living in the same bungalows since the 1960s or 1970s and are reaching an age when they’re looking to move to something less labour-intensive. Unfortunately, there are very few spaces for seniors to move into and still stay in their own communities. In fact, there have been no small format and purpose-built units developed in more than 40 years. I’m told that this is a fairly common situation across the small towns in rural Ontario.

At the time, the average price of one of these bungalows was selling for about $300,000 in early 2019. So, with that information, the developer designed a community of 56 units, or, more precisely, 14 fourplexes, with each unit over 1,000 square feet, single-storey, modern HVAC, ensuite laundry and modern appliances. The complex would be condominium and so the external structures of those homes, the yard and snow maintenance, would be taken care of, and they were selling for less than the average price of the homes they were moving out of. This has been a great success.

The private developer continues to build a range of housing, including purpose-built rental and middle income, and he tells me that his greatest challenge with these projects has to do with the red tape, the bureaucratic delays and the administrative uncertainty in both the cost and duration of these permitting processes.

I can tell you that with the new initiatives proposed by this government, this will get better and the people who build the homes, the people who actually make our homes, will be further motivated to build more homes that we need in our community.

I’d like to welcome Roger Bouma and Travis Hoover from the real estate association to Queen’s Park.

I’d like to welcome, no stranger to this place, a good friend of mine from the Durham Region Association of Realtors, Travis Hoover, also a big fan of Premier Ford’s. Welcome to Queen’s Park, Travis.

From the beautiful riding of Essex, a pillar of the community: She just received the Order of Ontario last night. Please welcome to the Legislature Ms. Elise Harding-Davis.

I’d like to welcome my good friend Larry Gibson, who’s a business owner of the Fort Erie golf course, and it’s his first time to question period. Welcome to Queen’s Park, my friend.

I would like to welcome the honorary consul general of the Republic of Lebanon, Mr. Greg Bostajian; the head of executives of the consular team, Manal Saidoun; and one of the consular team, Roy Yehia. I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate them for the independence day of Lebanon. Today there will be a flag-raising and there will be a reception after that. You are all welcome to join, please.

I would like to welcome my long-suffering partner of 30 years, Jordan Berger. He’s joining us today in the members’ gallery.

I’d like to recognize my friends from the London St. Thomas Association of Realtors, Bill Madder, Jack Lane and Adam Miller, and a special shout-out to Adam’s mother, Cheryl Miller, a long-time friend and municipal politician in London.

My colleague from Niagara Centre and myself would like to welcome Teena Kindt and her special team of colleagues from the Alzheimer Society of Niagara. Welcome to Queen’s Park. We’re looking forward to a meeting with you after question period.

Speaker, it is an absolute pleasure of mine to welcome WoodGreen community services, who serve close to 40,000 people each year across 40 different locations, with over 75 programs and services that tackle the social determinants of health. We have here with us today Ansley Dawson, Qazi Hasan, Sarah Ibrahim, Eric Mariglia, Alexandra Goth, Sonya Goldman, Naureen Choudhry, Talia Fine, Amenah Abusara, Amanda Hadida and Danielle Maillet. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

We have three guests from the Sudbury real estate association: Tanya Vanden Berg, Tyler Peroni and Ashley Sauvé. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

We also have a member of the Sudbury Alzheimer Society, Stephanie Leclair, who is here with us, and Dr. Sharon Cohen from the Toronto Memory Program. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I’m going to recognize the Minister for Seniors and Accessibility, who, I understand, has a point of order.

Members will please rise.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

I also want to welcome our Lebanese friends who are here today. Ottawa Centre is home to a proud Lebanese community. It’s great to see you here today. I’ll see you at the flag-raising.

I want to recognize Jordan Berger, a good friend of mine, who is here today.

I also want to say thank you to the people from the Good Roads group who will be meeting with many of us today and have a reception later tonight. I look forward to seeing colleagues there.

If you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to wear forget-me-not pins in support of Alzheimer’s awareness.

Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for a moment of silence so we may recognize the five members of the Colorado 2SLGBTQIA+ community and allies who were killed last Saturday night, hours before the Transgender Day of Remembrance on Sunday, by a hate-filled shooter inside a nightclub described as a safe haven for LGTBQ community members in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Their names are Daniel Aston, Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh and Derrick Rump.

Seventeen others were also wounded in this attack against queer, trans and non-binary communities and their families.

We must all remember that violence against any 2SLGBTQIA+ community member is felt across borders. May we stand today in a moment of silence for all victims of transphobia, homophobia and biphobia everywhere, always.