It is my pleasure to welcome Windsor Professional Firefighters: Kris Matton, Shay Currie and Jeff Goldthorpe. I look forward to meeting with them later in my office. I want to welcome them to Queen’s Park.

I’d like to wish a sincere welcome to so many from Windsor and Essex county. From the Windsor Professional Firefighters Association, Kris Matton, Jeff Goldthorpe and Shay Currie; from the Windsor-Essex County Association of Realtors, Maggie Chen, Mark Lalovich, Elica Berry and Krista Gionet. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I would like to welcome Greg Bostajian, honorary consul of Lebanon in Toronto, and Manal Saaidoun, head of the consular department. I would like to invite all the members for the Lebanese flag raising in front of the Parliament after 12:15, marking the Lebanese Independence Day and the Lebanese Heritage Month. They will be cutting cake in my office, 262.

I’m pleased to introduce members of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance. We have Vivian Chiem from Wilfred Laurier, Julian Mollot-Hill from Queen’s University, Angelique Dack from Ontario Tech U and Zarreen Brown and Simi Olufowobi from Laurentian University. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I’m pleased to introduce board members from the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses: Melanie Ducharme from Pavilion Women’s Centre in Haileybury; Jessie Rodger from Anova in London; Jyoti Singh from Nellie’s Shelter in Toronto; Erin Baydak from Chrysalis House in Ottawa; Tessa Mcfadzean from Good Shepherd centres; Sly Castaldi from Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis; Jennifer Chamberlin from New Starts for Women, Red Lake; Carla Neto from Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke; as well as OAITH members Marlene Ham, Amber Wardell, Lauren Hancock and Sherece Taffe. Welcome to the House.

Speaker, it’s Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe’s birthday today. Happy birthday, Reg.

This morning, I met with Kristine Galvan, Melany Palacios, Jasmine Bates, Navjot Singh, Shanell Roye, Azi Afousi, Kimberly Almeida and Delaney. They are from the College Student Alliance and IGNITE student association.

I also had the privilege of meeting with Simi Olufowobi and Zarreen Brown, who are president and vice-president at the Laurentian University student association.

And of course, today is heart and stroke day, and I’m happy to welcome Liz Scanlon, April Sabit and Anne Lago. Welcome to your House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to wear purple scarves in recognition of the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses Wrapped in Courage campaign to end violence against women.

Durham Tourism, in partnership with the Durham Economic Task Force, are encouraging the community to shop local this holiday season during the shop in Durham celebration. This celebration highlights the region’s vibrant and diverse business community, serving as a reminder to support local businesses during the season of gift-giving and beyond. The region’s eight local area municipalities are home to a wide variety of small businesses with unique finds for all of your gift-giving needs, from home decor and artisan markets to fashion boutiques and vintage clothing stores.

By shopping locally, residents help to play a part in creating local jobs and strengthening the region’s economy and helping to strengthen our small business community as well. Speaker, when you spend your dollars locally, you’re helping local business owners continue to do the work they love: providing unique experiences, services and products to the community.

I understand the member for Eglinton–Lawrence has a point of order.

Also, they are joined by staff Laura Mayer, Nikki van Oirschot, Marla Monague and Arianna Fitchett.

Welcome to Queen’s Park today. We are delighted to have you here.

Applause.

Today is the Ontario Professional Firefighters lobby day. I had the privilege of meeting with Rob D’Amico from Local 288 this morning. I’d also like to welcome all of the members from Hamilton who are here for the OAITH Wrapped in Courage day. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I also want to welcome the outstanding student leaders who are here this morning from the College Student Alliance and the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance. They held a breakfast reception this morning and I know many MPPs are excited about the opportunity to meet with them.

In addition, I want to welcome the fierce and tireless advocates from OAITH who are here today, and special shout-out to two Londoners: Emily Poirier is the VP finance for OUSA and also the VP external affairs for the Western USC. She’s here today. And of course, Jessie Rodger, who is the executive director of Anova, a gender-based violence shelter and sexual assault centre in London. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

As parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health, it’s my honour to introduce Maggie Fox, Brady Carballo-Hambleton, Lesley James and Orli Joseph who are also here from Heart and Stroke today. They’re holding their advocacy day, and I invite everyone to come to the meeting this evening to talk to them.

I, too, am having a meeting today with the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association—members Steven D’Aloisio and John Blair. Thank you very much to all the firefighters in the House. You all run in when most of us would run out. Thank you for keeping us safe.

I’d also like to thank the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance student leaders Alyssa Hall from Brock U; Anthony Coulter from Trent U; Jazzlyn Abbott, McMaster U; Maria Farooq from Western U; and Victoria Mills from Queen’s University. I’m looking forward to chatting with you all later today.

It’s my honour to introduce Lorris Herenda, chief executive officer of the Yellow Brick House, where they have shelters protecting vulnerable women throughout Ontario, including one in my riding.

I’d like to give a very warm welcome to members of the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association, and a special welcome to the fire-fighters from the Toronto Professional Fire Fighters’ Association that I met with this morning: James Wenger, John Blair and John MacLachlan.

It is my privilege to introduce members of the Council of Canadian Innovators who are visiting Queen’s Park today for a number of roundtables. The Council of Canadian Innovators is a member-based organization reshaping how governments across Canada think about innovation policy and supporting homegrown entrepreneurs to drive our growing economy.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome members from the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance: Emily Poirier, Sam Brown, Rory Norris and Megan Spenler.

I’d also like to welcome OAITH board members Melanie Ducharme; Jessie Rodger from Anova in London; Jyoti Singh; Erin Baydak; Tessa McFadzean; Sly Castaldi; Jennifer Chamberlin; Carla Neto; as well as OAITH staff Marlene Ham, Amber Wardell, Lauren Hancock and Sherece Taffe.

I’d also like to welcome member from the London St. Thomas Association of Realtors, Chad Lovell and Jack Lane, as well as the London Professional Fire Fighters Association. That’s a lot.

I’d like to welcome two great women here today: Yasmine Youssef, executive director of the Nisa Foundation; and Shiba Anjum, also a program director for the Nisa Foundation. Welcome to Queen’s Park.