I move that the standing orders be amended as follows:

Standing order 24(a) is deleted and the following is substituted:

“Every member desiring to speak must rise in his or her place and address the Speaker, in either English, French or an Indigenous language spoken in Canada. If a member wishes to address the House in an Indigenous language, they shall, prior to taking their seat for the first time, notify the Clerk of the House of the language in which they intend to speak so the Speaker may arrange appropriate interpretation and translation capabilities.”

For 30 days following the adoption of this motion, standing order 24(a) is suspended and the following is substituted:

“Every member desiring to speak must rise in his or her place and address the Speaker, in either English, French or an Indigenous language spoken in Canada. If a member wishes to address the House in an Indigenous language, they shall notify the Clerk of the House of the language in which they intend to speak so the Speaker may arrange appropriate interpretation and translation capabilities.”

With that, I’ll turn over my time to the Minister of Indigenous Affairs.

Good morning. Let us pray.

Prayers.

Aanii. Boozhoo. Nindizhinikaaz Greg Rickford.

It’s a great morning for us here in this place, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the member from Kiiwetinoong for his enduring friendship over the past five years, and the House leader for taking the steps that, in my view, are long overdue.

Of course, French and English are described as the founding languages of this country, but anybody who lives in the vast and beautiful territory of northern Ontario, and especially northwestern Ontario—I’m joined by my neighbour, who lives 550 kilometres away. Like the member from Kiiwetinoong, the three ridings that we represent would easily be almost half the province in size. And there are districts beyond where, it goes without saying, that one of the most, if not the most predominant language spoken, is Ojibway, or a dialect thereof.

Mr. Speaker, I’ve had the extraordinary opportunity over the course of my adult professional life to live and work in northern Ontario, in northern Manitoba, in northern British Columbia, the territories and the Arctic Circle. I’ve marvelled at the rich heritage of the languages that are spoken there. They are first languages; English, of course, is second.

It has just been an extraordinary opportunity to, under the leadership of this Premier, take the important steps for reconciliation. We see parts of the Legislature adorned with things that symbolize the importance of First Nations people to our province and, indeed, to our country. There are rooms that give testament to the history—some of it good and some of it we wished had never happened, but it did. The steps of reconciliation compel us each and every day to take one more step forward in the relationship with First Nations people in this province.

There are over 400,000 Indigenous people living within the province of Ontario, and it represents roughly 3% of the population, all of whom have their own history, their unique cultural traditions, spiritual beliefs, languages and governance systems that continue to shape our province each and every day. Under the leadership of Premier Ford, we’ve created an extraordinary opportunity to meet regularly with First Nations leadership from across this province in the executive chamber, speaking with them nation to nation. Sometimes the conversations can be difficult. There is not always consensus or agreement.

What has evolved over the course of time, and I’ve really not seen it any other place, is the kind of respect that provides for clear representation, particularly Indigenous representation, in the Legislative Assembly writ large, but now, for the purposes of today, here in this Legislative Assembly.

The idea that the member for Kiiwetinoong could have family and friends and constituents who have come from afar—indeed, in my own riding of Kenora–Rainy River, Treaty 3 and parts beyond—to have them take their place in the gallery or here on the legislative floor and, with pride and honour, be able to speak their language. I hope one day that we have the opportunity to take our best shot at answering some of those questions, for those of us who neither speak it as a first or second language.

But this is an important step today. In sharing and discussing with the House leader today, who spent seven years with me in the other place, the House of Commons, we similarly watched as some—at least one or two I can think of—First Nations people came from afar—northern Quebec comes to mind—and did not and could not, as a matter of rule, speak their language to put a question or to take an answer.

Today represents that opportunity for us to embrace and celebrate a founding language of this country. I believe that in my heart, as I spent more than a decade living and working in predominantly Ojibway communities, much of it here in northern Ontario. It’s not an easy language to understand, but it is beautiful. It’s full of joy; it’s full of laughter. It deals with pain, but it’s spoken freely, and it’s a wonderful thing to be around.

Of course, I have some vocabulary in Ojibway—some of the bad words and many of the good words. As a nurse, I learned to understand when people were having certain kinds of aches or pains, and gauge the degree of seriousness. But what never left me was the joy and the comfort that was derived as I would sit with elders and they would speak in their first language, their traditional language, and laugh and share the stories of time immemorial here in North America.

We’ve taken important steps towards reconciliation. The province of Ontario has led the country in no uncertain terms when it comes to things like responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report, particularly when it comes to Indian residential schools. It isn’t just about the financial resources; in fact, it’s the support we’ve provided for programs and services that, every step of the way, endeavour to ensure that the darkest chapter in the history of this country, and, in so saying, in this province—that the Indian residential school legacy must be led by Indigenous people, First Nations people, in this province, with the support of their government, as they work through the painful process of reconciling that experience in their own culture and history.

Today’s message is that we are here for them, and that, beyond the symbolism, there is an effort each and every day by this government to ensure that First Nations people, who may take their place one day in greater numbers in this Legislature, have the opportunity to speak their language. Much of what we do in the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs, in fact, advances that meaningful reconciliation.

I’ve spoken a little bit about the painful legacy of Indian residential schools, but as we try each and every day to pivot to some of the more opportunity-based policies, I marvel at some of the First Nations people who work in our ministry, who are showing leadership in other ministries. It’s extraordinary to see and know that there are at least two First Nations people who lead ministries as deputy ministers in our government. I’m proud to call them friends. I’ve known them for a very long time. I appreciate the opportunity to celebrate their knowledge and their understanding as we make decisions to move forward respectfully in a true partnership with First Nations people, and now to have their voices and their languages, as it would be, across northern Ontario and, in fact, all along the Haldimand tract in southern Ontario, from Windsor to Hawkesbury.

It makes it so important to discuss this morning the fact that people will be able to rise in their first spoken Indigenous language. Because if you’ve ever tried to speak in your second language—and I’ve heard you make great efforts, Mr. Speaker, to work through French interventions—we spend a lot of time translating. I remember my friend in the House of Commons talking about this. They refer to themselves as interpreters because they like to spend and make great efforts to try to interpret the spirit and the intent of a language, but if you were born with it and if it was the first thing that you heard coming from your parents or your extended family, in your school, well, it just comes naturally to it.

I had the opportunity in my late twenties to take up French. I’d never studied it in grade school, but I found myself at a point in time in my career where I just needed a little break and thought I would do something fun, like move to Quebec City and learn how to speak French. You can read it from a book and you can take it from a teacher, but the best way to learn a language is to be able to be exposed to it, to hear it and to understand its important ties to its culture and heritage from where it has come.

I have no doubt that we will find interpreters to work in the booth in back of me here and provide an extraordinary opportunity for us to hear the beauty of the spoken languages of First Nations people from across this province. And with the hope that some day we may have a broader representation in this Legislature of First Nations people, we’ve got to start somewhere. I believe that, under the leadership of Premier Ford, our House leader here today and my colleagues in the government, this was an obvious and important step that we could and should take.

Mr. Speaker, we can talk about policies that we can support and introduce into our school system. As I’ve always said, for many of us, there is a clear lack of understanding of the importance of the history of First Nations people in the province of Ontario and its culture. I believe now, particularly over the past decade, we are beginning to see more and more of that celebration.

When I decide to go to Mississauga for as compelling an Indigenous First Nations celebration as could be there—as I might see them far more regularly in my own riding—I know that we are elevating the prominence, the importance of First Nations culture, heritage and language. I often see some of my friends, who I consider family, from the communities that I lived and worked in in northern Ontario down here doing their important work. In my own family, we have important ties to Six Nations of the Grand River. So perhaps, as I take my place and speak to this today, it’s maybe a bit easier for me to understand and appreciate the importance of what we’re doing here today.

This is no ordinary change in the standing orders. As we look and canvass across Legislatures in this country, the House of Commons, provinces and territories—of course, the territories, with a different format and forum for their Legislature, have adapted to the languages spoken in their places. But as Legislatures go, I appreciate that the House leader took a good hard look at the opportunity we could do to once again lead, to simplify the process, to not have to ask permission to speak your language, but just to simply give notice. In my mind, that a member of a First Nations community from this province would have the ability to speak their language and hopefully, in the presence of their family, in the presence of their friends, in the presence of their constituents, who have been here as long as anybody in the jurisdiction or boundary of Ontario, it would feel and celebrate the same thing that I think many of us take for granted when we rise from our chair and make our intervention, when we send out our message during question period or when we engage in lively and spirited debate; that at least one member of this Legislature—and as I have said before, hopefully more, can come in here, take their seat and rise with the knowledge that there’s no more asking for permission to speak your language. There are no more barriers here in this place for you to celebrate the long-standing history and culture that is, in fact, attached to languages.

I encourage all members of this Legislature, for those of you, and there should be many, who have First Nations communities in your ridings, to go back and tell those folks and celebrate. Encourage young people, as some of us do, to come in here as pages or to engage them in their political activity. Let them know that if they aspire to come to this place—sometimes we ask ourselves why we might do that, but in telling them and explaining to them, we would be able to say, “Oh, and by the way, it’s going to be extraordinary to think that you would be able to go to the Legislature, take your seat and rise and speak in your language.”

I’ll close with these final remarks, as this debate is uncommon—I don’t think that there are many times that we debate the kind of standing order that should and would bring the kind of unanimity amongst colleagues: that we have refreshed this place, that we are now enlightened that the languages spoken in this place, on this floor, are not vertical. They simply reflect the fact that, whether it’s French or English or a First Nations language, it can be spoken fluently here.

For that, I’m tremendously grateful for the urgings of the member for Kiiwetinoong; the leadership of our Premier; the work that we’re doing with First Nations communities across this province; the House leader in particular, who showed real initiative on this request; and humbly, as the Minister of Indigenous Affairs, to have the opportunity to speak on this important matter too.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Meegwetch.

Further debate?

Speaker, I don’t know what to feel. I don’t know what to say. But I am very honoured to be able to speak today on behalf of the people of Kiiwetinoong, on behalf of the people that were never allowed to speak their language in colonial institutions. I am proud to support this motion that will allow me to speak my language, Anishininiimowin, in this chamber whenever I choose.

Language is fundamental to our ways of life. It helps us to understand everything. But English is not my first language; it is Anishininiimowin. Anishininiimowin is the language of my people, and I am of my people. Anishininiimowin means “language of the people.” It literally means “human talk.” The English language serves all communication needs and purposes of the English-speaking society; our language, Anishininiimowin, does the same for our people.

Our language, Anishininiimowin, defines and informs who we are. In an engaging relationship with our environment, with our spirituality and physical, what it does is, it establishes our identities as people of the land. Our language, Anishininiimowin, enables us to express our values, our ways of life, our culture, our histories, our geography, our philosophy and our world view.

How important is our language? Our history has directly connected us to the land through place names; for example, where I come from, Mishamikoweesh, Mando Powitic, Aguskoshagahiigun and many others that I grew up learning. These names tell us the historic events that occurred in each of these places. If we lose our language, we lose all of our histories. Our people, the identities are directly connected to the land through place names, as I said: Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, the people of Big Trout Lake; Wahjushkonomiiwihniniiwuk, the people of Muskrat Dam. Again, if we lose our language, we lose our people’s identities.

Through our language, we pass on our culture and our traditions to our children. Hunting moose, hunting duck and geese all have their set of specialized words and phrases. One has to engage in all these activities in order to express and in order to share experiences with others.

Our language connects a person to our culture and traditions, and it is our culture and traditions that shape and define who we are as people of the land. For the individual First Nations person, it develops a sense of identity, cultural stability and cultural strength needed to meet today’s language.

I think it’s important to share some words—when the government devised and implemented its assimilation policy regarding First Nations people, regarding Indians, it recognized how important our language was in maintaining our identities. The government decided to remove the children from their language source and move them to far away places, to the Indian residential schools. There, they forbade the speaking of our languages, a method of taking the Indian out of the Indian.

The Ontario Ministry of Education recognized the importance of children learning in their first language. It has developed curriculum resource material for teaching our languages in classrooms. Our people are reclaiming ownership of our language. We have developed and implemented full immersion education in our community schools. We also have developed and established bilingual-bicultural education in our schools.

Again, language builds our sense of identity and self-esteem, learning and not knowing what it means to be Indigenous, or for me, to be Anisininew. It helps us to understand ceremony and traditional stories, and it supports our communities’ nationhood, safety and ability to govern. It is very powerful, and the language Anishininiimowin is very powerful.

As First Nations people, as Indigenous people, we not only hold language rights, but the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples says, “Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture.”

Speaker, I’ve been here serving the people of Kiiwetinoong in this House for almost six years. Here, in this building, the standing orders, up until today, have said, “Every member desiring to speak must rise in his or her place and address the Speaker, in either English or French.” If I did differently and spoke in my language, beyond a few words at the beginning or end, the Speaker would have to enforce this standing order. This has been a form of forced assimilation right here in this Legislature. So this is very monumental for me.

This is for the people that are not allowed to speak their language. This is for the people that have lost their language. I think there are always people—our ancestors are watching; our parents are watching. I see this very momentous change.

I want to say as well that this violence of trying to erase our languages should never have been done to us. In the summary report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission they talked about the banning of languages as one of the ways states engage in cultural genocide. In Canada, governments actively tried to deny First Nations peoples our rights to speak our languages. They did this systematically by forcing our children to go to Indian residential schools, where we would be punished if we tried to speak our languages. More than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children attended these schools.

I remember attending grade 9. I remember attending grade 10. I thought I was going to a school. It was a night school. I remember we would be punished if we spoke our language. I remember sitting in detention. I remember doing chores as punishment because of who I am, because of me speaking my language—how awful, eh? That’s the experience that we’ve had as people.

I want to read from the TRC summary report. I want to quote this: “In 1890, Indian commissioner Hayter Reed proposed, ‘At the most the native language is only to be used as a vehicle of teaching and should be discontinued as such as soon as practicable.’ English was to be the primary language of instruction.”

These racist and colonizing policies led to language loss. Rose Dorothy Charlie, a residential school survivor quoted in the report, said, “They took my language. They took it right out of my mouth. I never spoke it again.”

Punishments for speaking in their languages were severe. In many cases, children were physically abused for using the only language that they knew. The harm and the devastation this caused for our nations, our children and our families cannot be overstated. But children would keep on speaking it in secret. This is why so many of the languages survive today.

Just a few weeks ago, I spoke in the House about a news story about how First Nations youth were treated in for-profit care homes. In that news story, we heard that they were still being punished for speaking their languages.

The change being made here today should be a model and a beginning for more change to support and care for our languages and to respect our right to speak them. This isn’t just the right thing to do; it is about recognizing what is already our right to speak. Moving forward from the history and continued reality of colonial violence to Indigenous people is not possible without protecting our languages.

The right to use our languages, to revitalize them and pass them on to our next generation and to access education and media in our languages are part of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

I’m going to say in closing that I’m very honoured to be able to speak, in the coming months, my language. One of the things I want to do is I want to bring my mom here. My mom does not speak English, but I think sometime in May, I’m going to bring her down here, hopefully, to watch me speak my language, and there will be simultaneous translation.

Today, I’m very hopeful for the change, but not only—all of our people are trying to reconnect and speak in our languages, the younger generations for the elders, and I think this change to the standing orders will matter to the people living not just in Kiiwetinoong but in Ontario, many of whom understand Anishininiimowin, also known as Oji-Cree.

I think it’s important to note that our languages are living and continuing our ways of being, and it’s important that they are key to our health, they are key to our healing. Language is medicine.

Last month, I was in this gathering in Manitoba. Our First Nations in Kiiwetinoong joined with our relatives in Manitoba for their first Anisininew Inninuwag gathering, convened by the Anisininew Gathering of Nations. Probably 90%, 95% of the time, our language was spoken. It was just an amazing, amazing gathering. Our languages serve all our communication needs and purposes, as I said before.

I know I am the only person elected in this chamber who it will directly impact today, but the meaning goes far beyond me. This change should be a reminder to all institutions where people in positions of power prevent First Nations people from speaking our languages that in doing so, you commit colonial violence.

This change should be a starting point for more change here, but in other institutions as well. More efforts should be made to support Indigenous languages in schools across Ontario, as well as more funding for organizations running language revitalization programs. It is especially important for me that this change means the future Indigenous people who get elected as MPPs will not have to face this barrier and will be able to speak their own language from day one.

When I first got elected, this feather was given to me, Speaker. It was a gift from leaders of the Anishinabek Nation. I never shared this, but it’s just something I keep that I want to share with you. It’s dated July 13, 2018. About a month after I first got elected, they had a blessing ceremony for me in my home community. It says:

“Sol,

“In our old customs, an eagle feather is earned through the work it does for himself and his people.

“This eagle feather that is given to you is earned.

“This feather is part of a wing of an eagle, the wings work the hardest.

“This is to remind you that you must do the same for yourself and our people.

“Thank you for standing up and taking a role that is earned by hard work and love for your people.

“Chi-meegwetch!”

I’m just sharing that because I think this standing order change, for me to be able to speak my language, is very momentous for me. I’d like to thank my colleagues here but also across for standing with me to be able to do that. This is part of the journey. This is healing. This is wellness. This is hope. The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement, and this is one step towards it. Meegwetch.

Applause.

It’s an honour to have the opportunity to speak to this important and historic motion in the Legislature this morning.

When I was asked if I would like to speak to the motion, I said, of course, yes, but it wasn’t without a little bit of trepidation I have to admit, because both the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and, of course, our friend from Kiiwetinoong are much more well-versed in this issue than I, but are also both much better speakers than I am. So it was with a little bit of trepidation.

As someone who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s in the suburbs of Ottawa, I have to say that I was not exposed to people from our First Nations communities, to the issues that they have faced throughout our history and continue to face. I was not taught about these issues in school like probably most of us, or the education we did receive was from a very specific point of view that did not, I think, even begin to touch the true nature of the issues that our country has very recently started to confront. So it is coming from a very isolated and, admittedly, somewhat ignorant point of view that I try to do my best to learn about the issues that members of our First Nations communities continue to confront and the history they have dealt with, and that history continues to impact their communities to this day. While I am not at all well-versed in those issues and need to do much more work on myself and my own reflections to help move those issues forward, I am familiar with assimilation of a different culture here in Ontario and Canada.

Comme fier francophile et député d’Orléans, je connais les obstacles à la protection de la langue et de la culture minoritaire ici en Ontario.

Members of my own community have had to deal with the challenges and the obstacles of trying to protect their own culture, to protect their kids from assimilation, albeit in a much different form.

Mais la lutte contre l’assimilation, bien que sous une forme différente, est un combat auquel ma propre famille a été confronté, et qu’on a perdu.

My family lost our connection to its francophone heritage and history two or three generations ago, and so we have confronted our own challenge of assimilation and efforts to regain that connection. I’m very hopeful that efforts that the member for Kiiwetinoong and all of us are trying to push forward—this effort today from the government—will be a small step to ensuring that that stops as it relates to our First Nations people and that progress can be made to continue to protect their language and their culture.

Sol, there’s one thing I disagree with, with your statement. Near the end, you said that you will be the only member impacted by this motion today, and I disagree. I think we were all impacted by your speech, and I very much look forward to seeing you here with your mom. I hope you’ll let us know ahead of time so we can all be here. And thank you very much for your work on this.

No further business.

It’s always a pleasure to speak about the incredible diversity of businesses in my riding of Simcoe-Grey. Today, I’d like to speak about a start-up company that is developing cutting-edge technology to harvest critical minerals from the ocean floor in an environmentally sensitive way.

Speaker, our government is committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 30% from 2005 levels by 2030, and we’re currently 90% of the way to that target. But we won’t stop there; we will exceed that target, and we will grow our green economy at the same time.

The company I’d like to speak about is Impossible Metals, a company that just 11 months ago celebrated the opening of its Canadian headquarters in Collingwood. This month, I’m very proud to tell this House that Impossible Metals earned a spot on the prestigious Time magazine list of America’s top-250 green tech companies of 2024, coming in at 119.

Impossible Metals is developing an autonomous underwater vehicle that can pick up mineral-rich, deep-sea nodules while avoiding microfauna and marine life, with the goal of preserving biodiversity and habitat function. This autonomous underwater vehicle will be operating at depths of between one and four kilometres along the ocean floor.

I visited Simcoe native Jason Gillham at the Collingwood office last week, and he told me the team is in Florida as we speak. preparing to test their Eureka 1 prototype, and they plan to harvest nodules at a depth of one kilometre. If these tests are successful, they will begin the design and production of the full-scale autonomous underwater vehicle that will have the capacity to harvest and hold 100 kilograms of nodules from the ocean floor.

I want to congratulate the team at Impossible Metals on their remarkable achievements. There can be no doubt that, for this company, it is the ocean floor and not the sky that is the limit.

Further debate?

Mr. Calandra has moved government notice of motion number 23 relating to amendments to the standing orders. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

Motion agreed to.

Applause.

The House recessed from 0952 to 1015.

I want to congratulate Aysanabee, a talented musician from Sandy Lake First Nation and also from Kiiwetinoong, for winning two Juno awards this weekend, songwriter of the year and alternative album of the year, for his album Here and Now. He is the first Indigenous artist to win either award.

Sandy Lake is one of the Anisininew Nations who gathered at the Anisininew Inninuwag Mamawhitowin last month, where, in unity, a declaration was made that we are not Oji-Cree; we are the Anisininew Nation. They called upon all levels of government to respect and recognize us as Anisininew Peoples. We speak our language, Anishininiimowin. We are sovereign and hold rights to self-determination and stewardship over the lands. Our identity and our ways of life are unique.

Everyone should go and listen to Aysanabee’s first album, Watin. It was named after his grandfather, whose voice you can hear throughout the album. In the album’s first track, his grandfather spoke about being sent to an Indian residential school at eight years old, about how lonely he was and how he used to cry. He said, “I was wondering why I was sent here. And I didn’t know why—what did I do wrong?”

Aysanabee, meegwetch for bringing the voice of the Anisininew people to Canada. We are very proud of you.

Point of order.

Recently, I was proud to announce that five organizations in Mississauga–Lakeshore have just received almost $500,000 through the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s Resilient Communities Fund. This includes $99,000 for the Eagle Spirits of the Great Waters to support local events and workshops with Indigenous elders and traditional healers. Many of these are at the small arms building, where CreativeHub 1352 also received $26,000 for their arts, culture and heritage programs.

The Canadian Community Arts Initiative also received $71,000 for its programs and events, including the South Asian arts and heritage festival of Mississauga.

Finally, at a time when access to mental health support is so critical, I am proud to report that the Distress Centres of Greater Toronto received $100,000. Their highly trained volunteers provide emotional support to people in distress every day at their telephone helpline. This funding will help strengthen this coverage during the critical overnight hours.

Lastly, ISNA Canada received $200,000 for a new addictions support program to help work toward long-term recovery for some of the most vulnerable people.

Speaker, I want to congratulate all these incredible non-profits again, and I want to thank them for everything they do every day to support and protect our most vulnerable. On behalf of all the members, we appreciate everything you do here in Ontario.

Speaker, $10-a-day child care is under threat in this city and, I imagine, in this province. Recently, parents in my riding whose children attend Blossoming Minds child care were informed that, as of the beginning of September, $10-a-day child care wasn’t going to be offered by that centre. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of desperation on the part of parents. I’ve been contacted by people at Jackman daycare, I understand the YMCA and a variety of operators are finding that the current funding formula does not work, and that causes huge problems for those operators but even more profound problems for the parents and the children who are looking at complete disruption of their lives.

We’re in a situation where people are facing huge pressures around the cost of groceries, around the cost of housing. They do not need yet another headache—actually worse than a headache—huge disruption in their lives.

I’m calling on the Premier and the Minister of Education to take steps immediately to address the funding formula so that parents and children can have child care they can afford, so that people can continue to go to work and so that they can hopefully continue to try and keep their heads above water when it comes to cost of living.

Today is budget day, a day in Ontario that will impact and affect our communities, our workplaces and schools. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that our children will continue to be left on the sidelines again, with underfunding and underspending—funds which would make a difference and truly leave no child behind.

Children are our most valuable resource, and yet they are left to wait for services they need to thrive, services that if not accessed in a timely manner will affect their future and ours. These are the same children that must flourish to have the ability to be our future doctors, educators and, yes, adults—the same adults who will be left to care for us in our senior years.

Ensuring there is funding to support children with autism or any special need, funding for mental and physical health are all in critical need, extra supports in our schools to assist with the years lost due to COVID restrictions—meaningful, purposeful supports instead of empty promises and slogans.

Budgets are meant to be a lifeline, not a savings account. Today, more than ever, we need a budget that is focused on our children and youth. Let’s not lose sight of what needs to be fully funded for our valuable resource to grow and thrive, not just live and survive.

While today should be no surprise, I am hopeful and optimistic that this year’s provincial budget will have real investments for our future: our children.

Good morning and es salaam aleikum. The month of March is a very special month in my riding of Mississauga Centre as so many of my Muslim Canadian friends and neighbours are observing the holy month of Ramadan. The holy month of Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims worldwide. It is observed through acts such as fasting, undertaking acts of service and spending time in prayer and reflection.

Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam, and practitioners of the faith are called on by the Quran to “eat and drink until the whiteness of the day becomes distinct from the blackness of the night at dawn, then complete the fast until night.” The reason for fasting during Ramadan is to remind Muslims that all individuals are similarly needy upon the assistance of God and that there are less lucky individuals who need their assistance.

I want to speak about one young man. His name is Beberg Khan. He’s a staff member, part of the Kusendova team, and he has been on my team since 2022. He’s currently practising fasting as part of his religion. I’m just so proud to have Beberg as part of my team. Even during the election, which happened to be in May, he was door-knocking every single day, even at the same time as he was fasting. I’m so proud of the growth that he has achieved. There are many Muslims like that in my riding of Mississauga Centre. For me, as a Christian, it’s just so heartwarming to see that we can celebrate together in unity. That’s exactly what Ontario is about.

Thank you. Ramadan Mubarak.

I am pleased to speak today about the upcoming Bite of Brant event that will be taking place on April 9 and 10 in the county of Brant.

Bite of Brant is a deeply important initiative in the Brantford–Brant community that allows grade 5 students to connect with local farmers and gain an understanding and an appreciation for the amount of work that goes into producing the food that we enjoy every single day.

Last year, over 1,000 grade 5 students had the opportunity to press apples into cider, study planting seeds, compare input food costs, grind wheat to make flour, learn about careers in the agri-food industry, climb onto a tractor and get an up-close look at live farm animals.

Agriculture is the number one industry in the county of Brant. Bite of Brant ensures that students are able to engage with the farmers who are not only a vital part of Brant county’s economy and society but are also an essential part of Ontario’s prosperity.

I would like to extend a thank you to the volunteers and farmers who make Bite of Brant so engaging every single year. Last year, we had just under 130 volunteers who worked tirelessly to keep the event running smoothly.

I look forward to attending the 2024 edition of Bite of Brant on April 10.

Mr. Speaker, I rise here to address a crucial issue for the people of Ontario: Living here is more expensive than ever. People can’t afford to pay the rent or make their mortgage payments. Families can’t put food on the table, and more people in Scarborough are just living at the food banks. Homelessness is up, and there’s less good-paying jobs than ever before.

At the same time, business confidence is at an all-time low. There is a shortage of child care workers, who this government drove away by paying them pennies. For-profit nursing agencies are nickel-and-diming the taxpayers, and our universities and colleges are underfunded and slashing programs our children rely on.

Ontario is supposed to be a land of promise—this is why I migrated here—where anyone can succeed and live a prosperous life, but this government is spending millions on ads during the Super Bowl, on a parking lot for a spa and on lawyers as the RCMP investigates them because of the greenbelt scandal.

We deserve a government that will provide solutions. They deserve a government that will stand up for the people in Ontario.

That concludes our members’ statements for this morning.

Today, we are honoured to remember and pay tribute to a former member of the provincial Legislature, the late Mr. Daryl Kramp, who was the MPP for Hastings–Lennox and Addington during the 42nd Parliament. Joining us in the Speaker’s gallery are Mr. Kramp’s family and friends: his wife, Carol Ann Kramp; his daughters, Shelby Kramp Neuman, Dr. Kari Kramp and Taryl Kramp; his sons-in-law, Brad Phillips and Geordie Nelson; his grandchildren Ainsley Phillips, Henry Phillips and Ky Graham; and his friends and former staff, Gerry Baker, Jack Alexander, Frank Hendry, Don Bonter, Eric Brick, Bob Hadley, Connie Kennedy-Pearsall, Rob Pearsall, Denise Gray, Bill Daverne and Anita Ramski.

Also in the Speaker’s gallery are Steve Gilchrist, MPP for Scarborough East during the 36th and 37th Parliaments, and Bill Walker, MPP for Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound during the 40th, 41st and 42nd Parliaments.

I recognize the member for Ottawa Centre.

I am from Brampton: These are the words that I say when I meet somebody new and they ask me where I’m from. I say, “I’m from Brampton.” Anybody who has said those words and meant them is used to a certain reaction: a slight narrowing of the eyes, a subtle smirk or a brief chuckle. We’re used to smug reactions. I’m used to it.

But Brampton is a global city. We have the most talented people in the world, and we make no apologies for the fact that if you put Brampton minds, Brampton talent against any other city, Brampton will come out on top. We’re proud of the greatness that our city produces, and I would like to share with the House an example of that greatness, which is Brampton North’s own Kirk Diamond.

When Kirk first came to Canada from Spanish Town, Jamaica, in 1994, there weren’t a lot of options for people hoping to hear reggae music. In fact, tuning in to DJ Ron Nelson every Friday night was Kirk’s only medium of listening to reggae music.

Fast forward 30 years to last Sunday, where Brampton’s own Kirk Diamond won his third Juno award for reggae recording of the year with his album Dread, a collaboration with Finn.

I am proud of my friend Kirk as he is once again recognized for his impact on Canadian music. Kirk describes his music as a platform to spread a message of unity, inclusion and love, and this focus is what led him to being at the forefront of reggae music in Canada.

Kirk is proud to call Brampton home, and we are proud to claim him. Way to go, Kirk. Big up.

Speaker, despite snowy conditions, less than ideal weather, I want to thank everyone who came out to my first annual Handshakes and Pancakes community breakfast at South Grenville District High School.

The handshakes? Well, obviously, Speaker, that’s from the politicians, and I want to thank the seven mayors who joined me in a receiving line. I want to thank Mayors Shankar, Burrow, Deschamps, Shaver, Hoogenboom, Smith-Gatcke and Cameron.

The pancakes? Well, I have to tell you, I have a giant sense of pride—an extra special thank you to the South Grenville District High School’s hospitality teacher, chef Brandi Donovan, and her students, who came out early in that snowy, snowy storm to both cook and serve stacks of pancakes and sausages. Really, they did it with a smile. I want to thank them.

The local maple syrup was sourced from Sherwood Springs farm in Mallorytown.

I want to talk a little bit about those students, Speaker, in my remaining time. They put on over 10 dinners in our community for various community organizations. They include Special Olympics Brockville, the Spencerville Optimist Club and local school fundraisers, including a $70,000 fundraiser as part of the Relay for Life, which we all know supports the Canadian Cancer Society.

I was honoured to have them there. They were tremendous ambassadors, and the day was so successful, I’m already looking forward to the second annual Handshakes and Pancakes next year.