I rise today to pay tribute to a dear friend, Colleen Wake. As the youngest of six siblings, she was lovingly referred to by her family as the baby sister. Her sons, Alex and Collin, along with her family, are deeply saddened by the loss of their beloved mother and sister.

Colleen joined Kinsmen London club in 1996. She immediately took on roles of leadership in public speaking, was elected to an executive level and then as a governor. Under her leadership, the district 1 team launched Portraits of Honour. As well, the Kin team received the Decew-Phee district award for outstanding leadership and administration.

In 2022, she received the Kin lifetime membership.

Beyond her volunteer work, Colleen was an NDP supporter. Colleen worked at CAMI automotive. At work, she learned sign language to support a colleague with hearing challenges to demonstrate her dedication to her co-workers. Her many accomplishments reflected her heart, her hard work, intelligence and fun-loving spirit.

Despite her leadership qualities, Colleen always said she wouldn’t run for politics. She would tell me, “I can’t put up with that stuff.” Our thing was going to movie nights, and that was filled with laughter. I always bought a noisy bag of licorice candy to open during the movie because she would shush me, and that was a joke between us.

If she knew I was making this statement about her, she’d say, “Don’t make a big deal about me.” And I would say to her, “You meant so much to everyone you connected with, and you changed lives without even knowing. Your kindness and willingness to help others and your relentless honesty, whether we wanted to hear it or not, made a difference.”

Colleen never gave up on people and never gave up on love. Rest in peace, my dear friend.

I commend our government’s efforts to integrate youth into skilled trades amid high unemployment and labour shortages. This is a big game-changer to Scarborough Centre youth.

Significant enhancements to the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, supported by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development and the Ministry of Education—we’ve launched 68 new pre-apprenticeship programs for 2024-25, now engaging over 1,700 participants, with women comprising 30% of the skilled trades labour force.

We have also expanded the apprenticeship program to include recruiters across 800 schools and introduced a mandatory technological education credit for high school graduates, beginning in September 2024.

Our Premier; the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development; the Minister of Education; various unions; community partners have been instrumental in achieving this. Now, 1.3 million people work in skilled trades, with over $1.5 billion invested since 2020.

After the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill knew that victory over Germany would only be achieved with a future invasion of continental Europe. After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declaration of war by the United States against the Axis powers, that invasion and the planning of it became a reality.

The attack, code-named Operation Overlord, began on June 6, 1944. Approximately 150,000 Allied troops landed or parachuted into the invasion area on D-Day, including 14,000 Canadians on Juno Beach. It was the largest seaborne invasion ever attempted in history.

After securing the beaches at a great cost, the Normandy campaign began. As the Americans battled on the western end of the front and struggled to take the prized port city of Cherbourg, the British and Canadians waged war around the Norman capital city of Caen. My father was one of those soldiers.

The Normandy campaign finally ended on the 21st of August 1944, with Canadians playing an important role in the closing of the Falaise gap. After D-Day, more than two million soldiers landed in France, ensuring an Allied victory and the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Tomorrow, we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Let us all take time to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and also those who came home to build the great country we know today, securing the freedoms that we sometimes take for granted, but are ever grateful for.

Lest we forget.

Last week, I joined the residents of Ottawa–Vanier as they kicked off the summer with festivities across the riding. I attended the popular summer fest in Beacon Hill alongside Mayor Sutcliffe, MP Fortier, city councillor Tim Tierney and community association presidents Heather Scott and Jeff Kaluski. Everyone enjoyed the weather, the activities, the free hot dogs and, of course, the traditional cake, which I had fun serving.

At the Beechwood Market summer opening, I connected with neighbours and bought local goods, witnessing vibrant community spirit.

The VeloFest in Vanier, hosted by Club Optimiste, was again a hit this year with several families winning brand-new bicycles. A special thanks to Club Optimiste for their constant contributions to our community.

The wonderful lobster dinner organized by the Club Richelieu was also very successful. Several volunteers and students from l’école élémentaire publique Le Prélude tended to all the guests, and the band performance by the school was simply a delight.

June will continue to be busy with AGMs, graduation ceremonies, fundraising events, tea parties and so much more. As we are nearing the end of our parliamentary session, I want to wish to all my colleagues here in the House a great summer in your respective communities.

I want to welcome some friends from Helmets to Hardhats here to Queen’s Park today: James Hogarth, who is also a great advocate for the construction sector. And also, I think—my eyes, Speaker; I’m getting up there. But Darryl Cathcart, I think, is here as well. Thank you for being here and thank you for being such a strong voice for military veterans and their families.

I would like to welcome my summer intern, Tamileni Vijay, from Scarborough–Rouge Park.

Also, I would also like to welcome Supothanam Jeyakumar, my operations adviser, and also would like to welcome Filipinos in the 6ix and Carlos to the chamber. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Good morning, everyone. I’d like to introduce my new intern for the summer. Her name is magnificent Mikaela Taylor, and she’s actually from Scarborough–Guildwood, so I’m borrowing her. Welcome to your House.

I want to welcome Filipinos in the 6ix to Queen’s Park, to your House. I also want to say congratulations on a wonderful Filipino Heritage Hoop Fest. Congratulations.

They are making their way in. They are paramedics and dispatchers from all over Ontario, from Thunder Bay to Kingston to all over, making their way into the Legislative Assembly. Welcome to your House. Paramedics are very important to all of us.

Welcome to the House, Carlos Cabaneros from the Filipinos in the 6ix organization, who is hosting today’s Filipino Heritage Month event in room 228 at 5 p.m. You’re all welcome to attend.

Please welcome Carlos Cabaneros to your House.

That concludes our members’ statements for this morning.

Good morning. I have the pleasure of welcoming former pages Monica and Michelle Crawford, who are here to see their sister Farah Crawford.

Today, I rise to recognize a very special anniversary in my riding of Leeds–Grenville–Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes. This past Saturday, Toniata Public School celebrated their 60th anniversary and I was pleased to attend the celebration with the current students, staff, faculty and alumni. There were 13 special speakers that shared remarks and memories, including Hugh Bates, who was the very first principal at that school in 1964. He also opened the school’s time capsule.

Speaker, I was even more thrilled to attend the celebration with two of my grandchildren, Mila and Georgy, who are proud Toniata Tigers. My wife, Deanna, and I were very proud that, in addition to Mila and Georgy, all five of our children attended this amazing school.

Speaker, the celebration was emotional, knowing that it’s Toniata’s final anniversary. At the end of the school year, Toniata will merge with Commonwealth Public School to form the brand new Swift Waters Elementary in Brockville, a state-of-the-art facility that will open its doors in September.

I want to congratulate Toniata’s principal Tania Stover and all the staff there for this amazing milestone in your history. I want to thank you for all the great things you do for our kids and our communities. I felt really privileged to be able to represent it.

Happy anniversary, Toniata Public School.

I have the privilege of welcoming to the Legislature today five members from the member for Hamilton East–Stoney Creek’s constituency office, people who are working tirelessly on behalf of those constituents in Hamilton East–Stoney Creek. We have Julian Pecchia, Jane Neal, Tony Lemma, Kenya Maughn and John Gillis. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I’m really proud to welcome my family again to Queen’s Park: my wife Aleksandra, my son Aleksandar and my son Ilija. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

It’s always a pleasure to introduce our parents, the people who took care of us. It’s an absolute pleasure to welcome Puneet Sharma, Sheelu Sharma and Sheelu Sharma’s parents, Satya Naryan Sharma and Lad Sharma, for their first time to Queen’s Park. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I would like to thank my husband, Albert Wai, for 45 years of happy marriage. Happy anniversary, Albert.

I want to introduce Warren and Ramona Ehlert, who are with us today: the parents of our page Tristan Ehlert, who is from King–Vaughan. Welcome to the Legislature.

I also would like to welcome two distinct individuals from the Youth Association for Academics, Athletics and Character Education, Devon Jones and Marina Nguyen, who are with us. This amazing organization, founded at Jane and Finch, supports young education in inspiring them to pursue their dreams. Thank you, and welcome to Queen’s Park.

I just want to wish our colleague Jeff Burch a very happy 39th birthday.