In my riding, we have a number of exceptional and award-winning musicians, and one of those individuals is Melissa Knott, more commonly known as Missy.

I first met Missy when we were organizing the Special Hockey International tournament in Peterborough. Missy was already well known in the area as a singer and had released a number of albums at that point. She volunteered to sing the national anthems for us at the opening ceremonies, with teams from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Not only is Missy an artist, but she’s also a music producer. Her production company, Wild Rice Records, is focused on helping Indigenous artists succeed. Missy is also an advocate in our community, helping to spread the word about various causes. One of those causes has been to spread the word about the tragic death of one of her friends, Cileana Taylor, a young lady from Curve Lake First Nation. All of this is to say that Missy is active in the arts, in the Indigenous community and as a spokesperson.

Speaker, I am so proud to announce my friend Missy Knott has been appointed to the Ontario Arts Council. She’s the first member of Curve Lake First Nation to ever be appointed to the OAC. Her experiences as an artist, as a music producer and as an Indigenous role model will serve her well in this capacity. She’ll provide an invaluable voice at the table and will be someone other Indigenous artists can look up to as an example for success.

Congratulations, Missy. We’re all very proud of you.

I want to thank my colleague from Richmond Hill for the great question and all the great work that she does in her riding.

Speaker, our government’s investments in the Student Nutrition Program and the First Nations Student Nutrition Program have been instrumental in ensuring that students across Ontario have access to healthy and nutritious meals. Earlier this year, our government invested an additional $1.1 million into these programs. And just the other week, alongside the Minister of Education, we announced an additional investment of $5 million in funding, bringing the total provincial funding to $38 million this year. These investments will help us deliver almost 90 million nutritious meals and snacks to students, ensuring that they have the energy and focus they need to excel in their education.

We’ll continue to deliver this vital service to students who depend on it, because—I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it again—students may be a portion of our population; they’re 100%—

I would like to thank Colin and Hélène Pick, from Capreol in my riding, for this petition.

“Make PSW a Career.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas there has been a shortage of personal support workers ... in long-term care and home care in Ontario for many years” now;

“Whereas Ontario’s personal support workers are overworked, underpaid and underappreciated, leading to many of them leaving the profession;

“Whereas the lack of PSWs has created a crisis in” long-term care, “a broken home care system, and poor-quality care for” long-term-care home “residents and home care clients;

They “petition the Legislative Assembly ... as follows:

“Tell Premier Ford to act now to make PSW jobs a career, with” permanent “full-time employment, good wages, paid sick days, benefits, a pension plan and a manageable workload in order to respect the important work of PSWs and improve patient care.”

I support this petition, will affix my name to it and ask Sachkaur to bring it to the Clerk.

“Improve Ontario’s Children and Youth Mental Health Services.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas children and youth across Ontario experience mental health and addiction issues that impact their lives and the lives of those around them;

“Whereas the demand for community child and youth mental health services is increasing, in Sudbury-Nickel Belt, 50% of them are waiting over six months and 20% of them for longer than a year for services;

They “petition the Legislative Assembly ... to tell the Ford government to properly and equitably fund community children’s mental health services immediately to improve access to timely services for children, youth and families in our communities.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and ask my good page Fallon to bring it to the Clerk.