I rise today to say that it’s an honour to represent the people of Ajax. This past weekend, my colleagues MPP McCarthy, MPP Coe, MPP Quinn, Minister Bethlenfalvy and I had the privilege of celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Durham Abilities Centre and its first Accessibility Awards, entitled “unlocking potential,” hosted at the Deer Creek banquet facility in Ajax. The Accessibility Awards is an event to recognize people creating change that reimagines how people with accessibility live, work and play.

I want to congratulate all the nominees and winners, but a special congratulations to Shanjay Kailayanathan, who was honoured with the Jim Flaherty award. This award is presented to a person who has shown leadership in a significant contribution toward the promotion, development, and advancement of accessibility and inclusion.

Shanjay was involved in a car accident at the age of 15 that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Rather than seeing this as a barrier, he pushed on to receive a degree in software engineering and found a company called Axcessiom Technologies, through which he developed a driver assistance program that uses facial recognition and voice recognition to activate distinct functions of vehicles, making driving easier and more accessible.

This remarkable young man is a true community champion and nephew of MPP Kanapathi. I would like to personally congratulate Shanjay on this award and your tremendous contribution to breaking down barriers.