I apologize to the member from London West, but it is now time for members’ statements.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

After a lengthy battle with the federal government over environmental assessments, we’re finally one step closer to getting it done and building the much-needed Highway 413.

Speaker, Halton, Peel and York regions are all set to grow at incredible speed. Our government is saying yes to building the roads and highways that will keep our communities thriving and moving.

We see first-hand the frustrations of individuals struggling to make it home to see their family or missing important moments while stuck in congestion. With gridlock costing our economy over $11 billion every year, it has never been more important to build this new highway.

Highway 413 will save drivers up to 30 minutes each way on their commute, and that’s one hour per day and five hours per week in people’s schedules. The relief will be the difference between sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic and spending quality time with your family and your loved ones at home.

In addition to reducing time on the road for drivers, Highway 413 will link growing regions, enhance accessibility to housing and employment opportunities and attract the future of the automotive industry here in Ontario.

Our government, under Premier Ford’s leadership, is committed to getting it done. In the coming months, we’ll continue to move ahead and get shovels in the ground as part of our plan to build Ontario by expanding highways and public transit to fight congestion, create jobs and prepare for the massive population growth that’s coming in the next 30 years.

We’re getting it done. We’re building Highway 413.

On Saturday, I was at the Earth Day cleanup in Liberty Village, and I was talking to a couple who had a little three-year-old girl. I said to the three-year-old girl, “Hey, you’ve got a firefighter’s hat on, and there’s a fire truck over there. Is that your fire truck?” She looked at me, and she looked at the fire truck, and then she said, “Yeah.”

I want to thank the Liberty Village Residents Association, TPS division 14 and the firefighters for coming out and cleaning up Liberty Village.

I also want to thank the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association and Friends of Berczy Park, the Garment District Neighbourhood Association, the Waterfront BIA, the Toronto Island Shoreline Cleanup and A Greener Future for organizing Earth Day cleanups across Spadina–Fort York. You’ve made our riding a little bit greener and a little bit cleaner over the weekend.

I also want to note that on Earth Day, Ontario Place for All released a study that showed that the mega spa on the waterfront is estimated to emit 100,000 tonnes of carbon, and a similar Therme spa in Manchester is estimated to consume the same amount of gas per hour as 3,000 homes in a year, the same amount of electricity per hour as 7,000 homes in a year, the same amount of water per day as 5,000 homes in a year.

As we enter this climate emergency, building a tax-subsidized, giant glass-dome mega spa on a bird migration route without an environmental assessment is an environmental disaster. So we are asking the government, in the spirit of Earth Day, cancel the mega spa on the waterfront.

Private, for-profit agency staff in health care cost our province nearly $1 billion last year. That’s the reality of how broken our health care system has become under this Conservative government. As we watch the government take front-line health care workers to court to suppress their wages, it’s not hard to imagine why this province is struggling to find and retain staff.

In Niagara, we’ve learned that these costs have exploded. After attempts to get the information directly from Niagara Health, we learned the details of nursing agency costs through our legislative library research team. In 2019-20, Niagara Health spent approximately $1,400 on nursing agency staff. In 2023, Niagara Health spent approximately $2 million on agency nurses. That’s a drastic change in only a few years. Niagara Health reported a $12-million deficit last year.

The government must invest in stabilizing staffing, recruit full-time staff, and we must all fight the privatization of our health care system. Private, for-profit health care services will further reduce staffing resources and cost Ontarians more—and maybe even their lives.

Let’s invest in front-line staff, respect our health care workers and support publicly funded, publicly delivered, not-for-profit health care in the province of Ontario.

The Canadian Cancer Survivor Network is at Queen’s Park this afternoon for its annual reception. The network provides those faced with a cancer diagnosis and their family members and friends with educational tools and a place to have their voices heard in planning and implementing treatment. It’s a collaborative effort, Speaker, involving a range of community partners all working together to promote the very best standard of care and support.

At the reception, I’m going to share information about the cancer treatment centre at Lakeridge Health in Oshawa and programs and services provided by Hearth Place Cancer Support Centre in Durham region.

Speaker, as reluctant as I was in 2006, prior to the municipal election—and, to some extent, now—to speak about my cancer diagnosis and subsequent recovery, I do so this morning to emphasize the importance of the Canadian Cancer Survivor Network to the lives of so many in Whitby and other parts of the region of Durham, and thousands of other people across Ontario.

To my colleagues here this morning, please join me at this reception to learn more about cancer care.

Last week, I had the great pleasure to announce that our government is investing $47.2 million to build two new elementary schools in my riding of Thornhill.

These schools are going to be built in an area known as the VMC, also known as the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. This is the fastest-growing community, the VMC: Two new schools—Catholic, public—one roof, creating 1,134 new student spaces and 49 new child care spaces. This new emerging area is a transit community linked with easy access to the GTA, a vibrant area that’s already home to a beautiful YMCA, a library and so many local businesses. This school will be a much-needed and strong addition for the families in the VMC, no doubt.

As a mother who has also sat on school council for so many years, I know first-hand how important it is to have a solid education, including back-to-basics, hands-on learning, including STEM and after-school opportunities—all of this closer to home. This is part of our government’s plan to support the new school construction and expansion to existing schools, including child care spaces. Our new school strategy involves prioritizing shovel-ready projects, working with school boards to speed up construction through design standardization.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Minister of Education for his leadership on this project, and I will continue to work alongside my community partners and government to support these critical investments for our children’s future.

Last Friday, my riding, my team and I lost a good friend, Mr. Don Morin. Don advocated for workers’ rights before and after his retirement from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

Don strongly believed in the NDP as the best choice for the working people of Ontario. Don was the president of the NDP Nickel Belt riding association in 2007, when I was first elected, and he continued as my president until 2015. We called him Best Prez Ever due to this constant involvement whenever and wherever he could help, whether it was putting up signs, bringing T-shirts, hats, snacks, tools. Whatever was needed, Don was always happy to help.

He also helped support my predecessor, Ms. Shelley Martel, while she was in office.

During the last election, he was really active with my team, pointing out all of the sign locations where NDPs had put up signs. He knew the size of it, the locations of it. He would grab the sledgehammer and start nailing the sign just like he had done for the last five decades. But that was against his wife’s instruction; there was supposed to be no sledgehammer for Don, because he was 81 years old at the time.

Don leaves behind his smiling wife, Diane, two sons and three grandkids. He was extremely proud of his family and what they have achieved.

Thank you for sharing Don with us. We’ve learned so much from him, and I can assure you his lessons will not be forgotten. I will miss you, Don.

Today, April 24, Armenians in Ontario, in Canada and all over the world will observe the 109th anniversary of the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire.

On the night of April 24, 1915, the Ottoman authorities gathered Armenian intellectuals, members of Parliament, clergy, teachers, writers, civic and political leaders and marched them to the concentration camps for slaughter.

The Armenian genocide claimed the lives of one and a half million and over one million Greeks. Among the victims were my great-grandparents on my Armenian grandfather’s side and my maternal Greek grandmother’s side. Who would have thought that one day the grandson of survivors of two genocides would be serving as a Canadian citizenship judge and be elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario? This is the promise of Canada to the persecuted people of the world.

In March 1980, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario recognized the Armenian genocide. On April 24, 1986, the Premier of Ontario declared April 24 as Armenian Memorial Day in Ontario.

Finally, in his annual commemoration statement, Premier Doug Ford stated, “Today, we remember the strength and bravery of the Armenian people and honour the memory of those who perished during this dark chapter in human history. In remembering, we ensure that present and future generations reject hatred, intolerance and injustice in all its forms.”

Mr. Speaker—

We all know the world is a crazy place right now, and we all know in our communities we’ve seen the rise of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all forms of hate. We also know in our communities there are people trying to build bridges.

So, last week, when all four party leaders agreed that allowing the kaffiyeh was a good thing in this Legislature, that was building a bridge. That was rare. It was unanimity.

And when we couldn’t achieve that in here, I heard from thousands of people—thousands of people—who were disappointed, discouraged and some of them hurt. And I also said to a colleague here who felt the same way last week, “Don’t worry. It will be fixed by Monday.” It’s Wednesday. It’s not fixed.

Our job is to bring people together here, to be leaders, to build bridges. I think it’s important that we do that, and I would like all of my colleagues to consider just how important that is in each and every one of our communities. I encourage the government to bring forward a substantive motion in that regard.

Trudy Sachowski, the executive member of the board of health for the Northwestern Health Unit, joins us today in the gallery. I appreciate her advocacy. She’s a real champ for northwestern Ontario.

I’d like to welcome the Dairy Farmers of Ontario here today, especially my constituent Steve Runnalls, and invite you all to their reception this evening.

I too would like to welcome the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, and in particular chair Mark Hamel, who hails from Elmwood, Ontario, and Roger Boerson, who represents the dairy farmers in Huron and Perth counties.

I would like to join the member opposite in inviting everyone to the reception later this evening, hosted by the Dairy Farmers of Ontario. And I promise you, there might be some really good curds for everybody.

Good morning, colleagues. I’d like to welcome Alina Cameron, Tony Stravato, Kate Dudley-Logue, Bruce McIntosh and the many families from the Ontario Autism Coalition who are here for their advocacy day. Welcome to Queen’s Park and I look forward to meeting with them.

As we come together to recognize Autism Awareness Month, I am compelled to share the profound impact of our recent attendance at the opening ceremony. It was a poignant reminder of the importance of raising awareness and fostering support for individuals on the autism spectrum.

In reflecting on this event, I cannot help but draw from my own personal experiences. Before assuming my role as MPP for Richmond Hill, I had the privilege of serving special-needs children within my community. I vividly recall the early years, when I nurtured these young minds as they embarked on their journey, often starting at the age of five or six. Today, as they stand on the threshold of adolescence, I am humbled by the progress that they have made and the individuals that they have become.

Our commitment to autism awareness is not merely a gesture, it is a testament to our culture and collective responsibility to foster understanding and inclusivity. Let us continue to champion initiatives that celebrate neurodiversity and ensure every individual has the opportunity to thrive.

Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity to wish my colleague from Cambridge, Brian Riddell, a very happy birthday today.

I’d like to welcome my new intern, Josh Green, who’s up there in the gallery, to Queen’s Park.

Later today, I’ll be welcoming students from Whitney Public School in my riding—their first visit to Queen’s Park. I’m looking forward to meeting with them. But what is really remarkable is that I actually spent one day as a supply teacher at Whitney Public School many years ago—

Interjections.

I’d like to welcome Sudershan Lohana, who’s an MBA student from Windsor. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Two visitors: Spencer and Lucas Fair. They’re Canucks fans, so on behalf of the government: Go, Leafs, go.