Today is Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day. Over a million Canadians are living with heart valve disease. Cardiologists have described this as the next epidemic of heart disease. It is easy to dismiss the symptoms as normal signs of aging, or, in my case, the effect of working 12-hour shifts at Ford Motor Co. But my wife knew it was something more.

I had a physical, including a simple stethoscope check. When the doctor listened to my heart, he heard a murmur. Fortunately, when valve disease is detected early, treatment is effective. Twelve years ago, I had an aorta valve replaced with a mechanical valve. Today, I’m living a normal, healthy life.

Some patients can have valves repaired and, increasingly, the surgery is minimally invasive. Unfortunately, based on a recent Heart Hub survey, only 3% of Canadians over 60 are aware of the most common type of heart valve disease and only 26% of Canadians had a stethoscope check within the past year.

Improving public awareness is critical, and that’s why days like today are important. Later today, I will be introducing a private member’s bill that would proclaim February 22 as Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day, and I’d like to invite all members to join us in room 247 after question period. Cardiologists from around the province are here today, and you can learn more about heart valve disease and get a free stethoscope check. It saved my life. It could save yours.

Last Tuesday, I had the pleasure of attending the launch of La’ad Canada’s Who Are the Jews? travelling exhibit, along with city councillor James Pasternak, La’ad Canada’s director of advocacy Sam Eskenasi, and representatives of Hasbara Canada. We joined Bruno Pileggi and others at the headquarters of the Toronto Catholic District School Board in the neighbouring riding of Willowdale for the launch of this new exhibit.

The Jewish people have been around for millennia. Unfortunately, anti-Semitic incidents have also happened throughout history, and they’ve recently been on the rise again, including, sadly, here in Ontario and Toronto. In 2018, La’ad Canada commissioned a survey of Canadians to gauge their understanding of Jews and Judaism. The results unfortunately revealed that Canadians have little knowledge about the Jewish people and, more concerningly, that much of the information people thought they knew about the Jews was either false or based on anti-Semitic tropes.

When the cause of anti-Semitism is misinformation, or no information at all, the solution begins with gaining knowledge, and that is an understanding of who the Jews are. Exhibition visitors here will learn about where they come from, who they are, their connections to the land of Israel and how anti-Semitism differs from other forms of racism. Also, visitors can “ask a Jew anything” and they will answer the question. Someone is on hand to do that.

The exhibit is funded through our Anti-Racism and Anti-Hate Grant Program. It’s a perfect example of how education will fix racism and anti-Semitism. I encourage all school boards to adopt this exhibit and have it go through their schools.

I was very excited to attend the grand opening of House of Friendship’s new shelter care facility just over a month ago. Our government provided over $10 million in funding to help purchase and operate a former hotel site and convert it into a new 100-bed emergency shelter. But it goes beyond shelter space, Speaker. It includes around-the-clock on-site staff as well as health and housing supports, which is very important. I want to quote Jessica Bondy, the director of housing services at House of Friendship: “Having those services and supports right on site for people who are struggling with homelessness goes an incredibly long way to helping them improve.”

I’ve been a big advocate for this project for the last few years since it came across my desk, and I want to thank all the volunteers; the staff—everybody that’s helped make this happen—John Neufeld, the executive director of House of Friendship; and of course, the fantastic team led by Minister Clark with municipal affairs and housing and all of the staff there that have helped see this come to fruition. It’s a very big project. I was glad to see the member for Waterloo there as well for the grand opening.

This is something the whole community can get behind, a great non-partisan project, and it was really great to be part of it.

Everyone in Ottawa knows that there’s a need for a new interprovincial crossing in the national capital. Thousands of semi trucks travel through the heart of the downtown every day, putting pedestrians at risk and creating an environment that is not conducive to a modern capital city. And this is not a new problem.

Going as far back as the Gréber plan from the 1940s, the National Capital Commission has studied options for a new interprovincial bridge over and over again. And for decades, every study ever done has said that a new bridge on the east side of Ottawa should be built over Kettle Island, which would connect Highway 50 at Montée Paiement in Gatineau to a corridor leading to the 417 in Ottawa.

The most recent study from 2020, which builds on the previous study from 2009, concludes that the Kettle Island corridor would be the least costly of the three proposed routes, would attract the most truck traffic and public transit, offer the most manageable environmental effects and provide the biggest boost in terms of economic development. Instead of making this decision, the National Capital Commission continues to drag the process out, leaving in limbo thousands of concerned residents in Orléans and other communities in Ottawa. These ongoing processes have been time-consuming, expensive and generate enormous anxiety for residents.

It’s time for the NCC to get it done. Kettle or kill it.

Ontarians deserve better health care. There was a recent report that showed that ERs have been closed across Ontario 158 times over the past year. It’s absolutely inexcusable, and this government’s actions have worsened that crisis. Bill 124, which illegally caps health care workers’ wages at 1% over the last four years has made them feel completely unappreciated and driven health care workers out of the system.

Now this government has introduced legislation to privatize our public health care system, to transfer our tax dollars and our health care workers from the public system into a private, for-profit system. This is only going to worsen the crisis that we are already facing in health care. Ontarians deserve health care. They deserve health care when they need it.

This government is playing an ideological game. All of the people who are waiting in emergency rooms, all of the people who are waiting for hip surgeries and knee surgeries: Know that your suffering is part of this government’s ideological goal of privatizing the system. And if you think that you’re going to be better cared for in that private, for-profit system, just look at the Armed Forces report on long-term care during the pandemic and see how poorly the private, for-profit system created by the previous Conservative government treated seniors in our province.

I’ve got a couple of introductions this morning. First, I want to welcome Cole Gorham, who is with the model Parliament today up in the visitors’ gallery, from the Windsor area.

I also wanted to note how much of a privilege it is for me to introduce members of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association here to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. They have a delegation here today, and I would like to introduce a few of their Windsor members: Greg Monforton, Jennifer Bezaire and Joanna Sweet. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

It’s my honour to welcome students from my alma mater, Western University, for University Students’ Council’s Women In House initiative program, where young women shadow an MPP and participate in professional development sessions to explore the world of politics and empower them to pursue leadership. I’d like to welcome Jessica Look, VP of external affairs; Cameron Cawston, VP of student support and programming; Keemia Abbaszadeh, VP of communications and public affairs; Melissa Kamphuis; Anaum Farishta; Anushka Goswami; Iris Jong; Jessica Kim; Jiya Sahni; Lara Suleiman; Michelle Wodchis-Johnson; Sara-Emilie Clark; Sofia Ouslis; Tamsen Long; and Abirame Pannerthasan. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I wanted to introduce three young people: first of all, our page, Yonglin Su, from R.G. Sinclair elementary school in my riding. I want to welcome her to Queen’s Park, and I look forward to seeing her and working with her in the House over the next couple of weeks.

A couple of model parliamentarians—Ayden Layng, from Kingston; and Kidane Singer, from Belleville—are here and I want to welcome them.

I would like to welcome Emma Ouellette and Paula Ocampo who are here from the Western University Women In House program. It’s a pleasure to meet you and have you here.

I just wanted to welcome to the Legislature today Cindy Zhu from my riding of Eglinton–Lawrence, who is here for the model Parliament.

Today I would like to welcome Heart Valve Voice Canada and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. As well, I would like to welcome, from the Trial Lawyers Association, Sonia Nijjar.

I would like to welcome, from the model Parliament, two students from the fantastic riding of Carleton: Sharaphaajan Sivapalan and Manahil Bhojani. I know they’re somewhere in the gallery. I look forward to meeting them later today. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I want to join colleagues who have welcomed the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, especially Laurie Tucker from Ottawa. It’s nice to see you here.

I would like to introduce students from the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy: Kate Todd, Napas Thein, Armaan Sahgal, Anton Babak and Dasha Bielik. I would also like to introduce two ladies from Western University who I get the honour of having for the Women In House day: Abi Pannerthasan and Jessica Kim.

Good morning, Speaker, and everyone. I would like to welcome some model Parliament students from beautiful Beaches–East York. That’s Wolfgang Wai-hahn, Quinlan Chang and Romée Looman. I hope you find your time here scintillating.

I want to introduce Aisha Mahmoud, Tiya Patel, Stephanie De Castro and Naomi Musa. All are here with the Ontario Student Trustees’ Association. We appreciate their leadership in Ontario.

I’d like to welcome model parliamentarian Esma Muhammed from Orléans, where the sun rises on the nation’s capital.

I would like to welcome Cole Gorham from my riding. Go, Mustangs!

I, too, want to welcome all the students from across Ontario here today, but I would be remiss if I didn’t give an extra-special welcome and maybe a little tad of embarrassment to the member from Kitchener-Conestoga in the gallery up here. Some of you may remember him as page Jaxon, but he’s back for a second time: Jaxon Harris.