Thank you to the member from Elgin–Middlesex–London for his important role in bringing Volkswagen to his riding of St. Thomas. Rob, you did spectacular work.

Last week, we landed an historic investment from Europe’s largest automaker: This is Volkswagen’s first overseas EV battery manufacturing plant, right here in Ontario. Speaker, they had sites all over the globe to choose from, but they selected Ontario because they saw that we are transforming Ontario’s automotive supply chain to build the cars of the future. They saw that we lowered the cost of doing business in Ontario by $7 billion annually, and that brought $17 billion in auto investment. They saw that we’re building an EV auto sector, and they wanted to be an important part of that. This Legislature says, “Welcome, Volkswagen.”

Interjections.

From our talented workforce, our clean energy, to Ontario’s comprehensive EV ecosystem, our abundance of critical minerals, our message has been clear: Ontario has everything companies need to succeed.

Speaker, this investment is a major vote of confidence in Ontario’s position as the global EV supplier to the world.

Securing this game-changing Volkswagen investment was an all-of-government effort. Thank you to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for getting the land under one jurisdiction; the Ministry of Infrastructure for the land assembly; the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury Board for providing the resources to make this deal happen; the Ministry of Energy, making sure we have the clean and adequate energy to run this plant; the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs for their valuable role in our duty to consult; the Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Natural Resources—both making certain that all permits are defined and progressing. Many more, Speaker, will come in the supplementary, but it’s obvious: This was a whole-of-government team working together to make this deal happen.

Thank you to every ministry here—red tape, ServiceOntario, agriculture, women’s economic opportunity, children’s services, health, mental health, long-term care, citizenship, seniors, tourism. Speaker, every single minister was consulted and contributed at the cabinet table and made this historic deal happen.