Before I begin, I want to say thank you to the government for the news that we’ve received from the project P3 pipeline that construction of our Windsor-Essex regional acute-care hospital would be accelerated by a year. Under this government, the previous excuses and inaction holding up the project have stopped and commitments made to us have been exceeded. I’m very proud to be part of a government that supports Windsor–Tecumseh.

I rise today to roll out the virtual red carpet for the Windsor International Film Festival. It was another banner year for WIFF, held from October 27 until November 6 at Windsor’s Capitol Theatre, with over 45,000 tickets sold and new second screenings already scheduled. Vincent Georgie and his team have done an amazing job, creating the biggest festival in WIFF history, with over 300 screenings of 177 films.

By coincidence, my wife, Mary, and I ran into the member for Essex and his wife, Jackie, at the back of the line for the film Walkerville’s Willistead Manor: The Home that Shaped a Community, directed by Nick Shields, which detailed Willistead’s rich and fascinating history.

Other local favourites included Artifice, by writer-director Gavin Michael Booth, and North of Normal, featuring the youngest headliner of the festival, River Price-Maenpaa.

The member for Essex and I were also delighted to announce, on behalf of Minister Lumsden, new Reconnect Ontario funding for WIFF in the amount of $185,000.

The WIFF board and their volunteers have made “lights, camera, action” a beloved part of our community fabric.

To all the volunteers, we send to you our sincere thanks for all of your hard work.