On February 27, Calgary welcomed athletes from across the country to the Special Olympics winter games.

I’m honoured to rise today to recognize Ella Robinson, Alex Cappuccitti and Rebecca Osmond, three competitors from my constituency of Ajax. The Special Olympics provides athletes with intellectual disabilities an incredible opportunity to showcase their talents and shine in a world that can often be challenging. Through these games, barriers are dismantled and new heights are reached. The accomplishments of these three champions are a testament to this, as they collectively brought home a total of nine medals. Ella secured first, second and third place in three race categories. Alex impressed with bronze medals in all four of his speed skating competitions. And Rebecca added to the team’s success by placing second in five-pin bowling.

As we watch Ella, Alex, Rebecca and all these athletes experience the joy and camaraderie of victory, we are reminded that this event transcends the boundaries of the playing field. It is an event that forms a community and fosters friendships that last a lifetime.

My heartfelt congratulations to Ella, Alex and Rebecca for representing Ajax with strength, unity and determination.

A special thank you to Donna Edwards, who has been an amazing coach and leader in Special Olympics for many years.

In Ontario, yesterday’s acknowledgement that intimate partner violence is an epidemic, spurred by the Ontario NDP’s Bill 173, is a step forward. It is encouraging to see the government finally support this recommendation. However, the result must be genuine action, not more delay tactics.

Speaker, 18 months ago, I urged the government to review and to act on the Renfrew triple femicide inquest’s 86 recommendations to eradicate this violence. Leadership is about facing these truths, and the truth is, the government is acting too slowly. This Conservative government has a plan by experts that has been on their desk for over two years. It is concerning that the government committed to an in-depth study. The time for studies is over. The time for action is now.

In Niagara, we endured a tragic femicide only a few months ago, and while we have the best service providers anywhere in the world, they need our help right now. We need immediate, robust solutions: education and training within our criminal justice system; comprehensive and permanent funding; bringing forward an Ontario Clare’s Law; and secure funding for survivor services.

Let us honour those who have suffered and those fighting for change by committing to immediate, decisive action on gender-based violence—not another study and not another delay.

Once again, this year, I had the pleasure of attending the Halton Industry Education Council’s 20th annual Women as Career Coaches mentorship event. Congratulations to the team at HIEC for reaching this milestone and for your continued efforts bringing together women and mentors.

For 20 years now, this annual event has brought together young people and adult mentors for an impactful, inspiring and uplifting evening. During the evening, guest speakers share their career journeys and advice with youth who are just starting to think about potential careers. Career coaches sit at tables with young women, engaging in lively conversations, answering questions and offering encouragement. Throughout the evening, a lineup of inspiring speakers talk about their journeys and career paths, and youth have an opportunity to participate in a panel discussion. The evening is designed to provide the next generation with the opportunity to discover a wide range of potential career paths and perhaps think about new career opportunities.

Working together, we can inspire youth to feel confident and optimistic about their futures and their place in the world of work.

It’s wonderful to rise to talk about some important investments that our government is making, through our recent provincial budget, across Ontario, whether it’s the $1.8 billion for housing-enabling infrastructure, critical infrastructure to get more homes built across our province, whether it’s the $1.2 billion in the Building Faster Fund; $200 million for recreational facilities over the next 10 years; $15 billion to build new schools, doubling the amount of funding for capital this year in our provincial budget for our schools; and, of course, $50 billion over the next 10 years for hospitals across this province, from Toronto to Windsor, to the north and to Ottawa. We’re investing in Ontario, investing in the people in Ontario.

I know it was important to see the $50 million for stabilization of health care capacity in our northern and rural communities. It was also great to hear that we’re going to make the clinical extern program permanent. I know this is very important to our rural hospitals.

It was also great to see our government continue to build on our historic investments in primary care. Over $500 million will be invested to expand primary care across Ontario to ensure more people can get care closer to home.

Unfortunately, all the members of the opposition voted against the provincial government. They voted against primary care expansion. They voted against victim quick response programs. It is shameful.

We will continue to stand with the people of Ontario.

In the early 1990s, I was a high school teacher, and I can tell you, at that time, our schools were well funded; our buildings were well maintained. There was money for sports teams, extracurriculars and special education. And every child had a textbook for every subject that they took.

In the early 2000s, when my kids were in school, the government of the day started making cuts to schools, and I joined the Toronto Parent Network to fight those cuts.

In 1995, the government took control of our education taxes in Toronto, and since then, in almost every year, they’ve handed the Toronto District School Board a funding shortfall.

This year, the funding shortfall is $28 million, and the TDSB trustees are being asked to make drastic cuts to staff programs and services in order to balance the books. More important than that, there’s a $239-million ongoing funding shortfall for programs that this government is simply not funding—and this includes special education; it includes money for textbooks, and it includes money for sports and extracurriculars. And now the TDSB is considering cutting seniors’ daytime programs. They’re considering cutting grade 6 outdoor education trips and more. This is absolutely reprehensible—to be making cuts to our schools, particularly for this generation of students, who have survived through the pandemic and need more supports, not less.

I’m calling upon the government today to reinstate the funding for the Toronto District School Board and for every school board across this province, so that our students do not face another round of cuts.

Today I rise to highlight a crucial initiative that we organized to support our community in understanding the three levels of government in Canada. Richmond Hill is home to a growing number of immigrants who may not fully comprehend the intricacies of our political landscape, as well as the system. We usually do not meet in person, but this time, instead of a virtual meeting, we have an in-person meeting so that we can facilitate the communications between the speakers and the attendants.

Recognizing the challenge, I’m proud to have April Monday Matters on April 22. This is a non-partisan and educational initiative designed to empower our residents with the knowledge they need to engage effectively in our democracy. This initiative will provide a platform for the constituents to learn about the three levels of government and understand their roles and responsibilities.

We’re honoured to have former politicians, including former parliamentary secretary and MP for Willowdale Mr. C.S. Leung; former minister and MPP Mr. Steve Gilchrist; and former mayor of Whitchurch-Stouffville and chairman and CEO of York region, Mr. Wayne Emmerson, to share their insights. We trust that residents in Richmond Hill will benefit, to effectively participate in this democratic process.

Guelph’s efforts to address homelessness show what a caring community we are.

Shortly after I was elected in 2018, I met with Dominica McPherson, director of the Guelph and Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination, to strategize how we could implement their vision to end homelessness in Guelph. We started working to bring people together. I’m proud of the way that all three levels of government, city and county staff, social service agencies, private developers, health care leaders, community funders, and citizens have worked tirelessly to successfully build three permanent supportive housing projects in five years.

The community’s efforts culminated with the announcement of operational funding for supportive housing in last month’s provincial budget.

Securing first capital and then health care funding for supportive housing have been top priorities during my time here at Queen’s Park.

We have a long way to go to end homelessness, but I want to celebrate the progress we’ve made by celebrating those people who have got us here: Sheila Markle, Daria Allan-Ebron and Leisha Burley from Kindle Communities; Melissa Kwiatkowski and Raechelle Devereaux of Guelph CHC; Kristin Kerr, Stonehenge; Gail Hoekstra, Stepping Stone; Kristen Cairney, Wyndham House; Helen Fishburn, CMHA; Emmi Perkins, Guelph OHT; Mark Walton, Guelph General Hospital; Jason Ashdown, Skyline; Glenna Banda, United Way; Chris Willard, Guelph Community Foundation; Luisa Artuso, Wellington county; Shakiba Shayani and Michael Keegan, Guelph chamber; Mayor Cam Guthrie; MP Lloyd Longfield; Dominica McPherson, and many others in our community.

I’d like to applaud the Scarborough Walk of Fame, which has been around for over 20 years. This organization promotes community togetherness and regional distinctiveness by commemorating Scarborough’s many well-accomplished icons.

The walk of fame celebrates Scarborough’s rich cultural mosaic and inspires future generations by revelling Scarborough’s natives in the diverse domains of arts and culture, community, education, environment, entertainment, fitness, health and science, and sports. Additionally, it stimulates economic activity and visitor influx in Scarborough and the surrounding area. Contributing to Ontario’s reputation as a vibrant and inclusive province, the Scarborough Walk of Fame enhances the province’s cultural diversity as a cultural landmark.

l would like to thank the chair of the committee, Mr. Glenn De Baeremaeker, his colleagues, sponsors and a strong team of volunteers on an exhilarating exhibition of the Scarborough Walk of Fame, 2024. It was wonderful to be there amongst my colleague MPPs and other dignitaries who have seen the showcase of the inductees yesterday.

I want to thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to bring this message.

I just want to give a quick shout-out to page Ryder Harris, who is page captain today. For those people watching at home, he’s doing an incredible job. It’s very incredible to have him here.

Everybody in this House knows Kathy Parker, the hard-working, friendly protective service officer from Levack in my riding. Well, today, I have the pleasure to introduce you to her mom and dad: Joan Parker and Ray Parker, from Levack in my riding.

Welcome to Queen’s Park. Thank you for all you do.

Well, of course, the answer is no. We look forward to the opportunity to move forward on a number of key infrastructure projects, especially with respect to those isolated, remote First Nations communities.

This member knows that we have met in the past couple of weeks alone with key leadership in communities and on behalf of Indigenous organizations in NAN territory about road access—road access that would allow and provide for the province to develop other legacy infrastructure into the north: electrification, getting communities off diesel, building bridges so that we can have communities access places like Red Lake and come down to the southern part of northern Ontario for other programs and services and create better access into the north.

Those are the things that we’re interested in working on, and I’ve heard from Indigenous leadership in northern Ontario that this is the right way to go.

The question is, will the member support those initiatives?

I’d like to wish my husband a happy 19th anniversary—since we met on that airplane 19 years ago.

She has already been introduced—but it has never stopped me before. It’s really great to see Joyce Savoline in here, the former member from Burlington. As you’ll recall, Speaker, when we would sit over there, I used to call her my mother. And now I’m the mother of some here.

So meet your grandchildren: Sam Oosterhoff, Stephen Lecce and Vijay Thanigasalam. I adopted them, so you now have even more grandchildren than Olivia.

I would like to welcome two important members of the Tamil ethnic media to Queen’s Park: Mr. Logan Logendralingam, editor-in-chief of Uthayan newspaper of Canada, and Mr. Shankar Sivanathan of Uthayan newspaper of Canada. Welcome to the Legislature of Ontario.

I’d like to introduce two guests we have here today: Thomas Vaughan and Kathleen Sharpe from the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund.

I’d like to welcome to the House, from the Toronto Schools Caregiver Coalition, Katrina Matheson, Elena Basile, Caroline Harvey, Alexandra Merrick and Sandra Huh; and from the Save the Minden ER group, Patrick Porzuczek and Cathy Mauro. Welcome to your House.

I’d like to welcome Jeff Dobbs, a guidance counsellor from Michael Power-St. Joseph High School in Etobicoke. He brought his grade 12 politics class here. They’re visiting Queen’s Park.

I seek unanimous consent that, notwithstanding standing order 100(a)(iv), five minutes be allotted to the independent members as a group to speak during private members’ public business today.

I’d like to introduce my daughter, Ayla, who will be joining me at Queen’s Park today.

We have with us today, in the Speaker’s gallery, a delegation visiting here from Australia. Joining us are the Honourable Greg Piper, Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly; Helen Minnican, Clerk of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly; and Speaker Piper’s wife. Please join me in warmly welcoming our guests to the Legislature.

Also with us in the other Speaker’s gallery today are members from the Standing Committee on Justice from the Parliament of Norway. Please join me in warmly welcoming these guests to the assembly today.

I’m also very pleased to say that, in the Speaker’s gallery, we have a former member of provincial Parliament for Burlington during the 38th and 39th Parliaments, Joyce Savoline. Welcome. It’s great to have you back.