A little quick, aren’t I?

Interjection.

Our riding is composed of vibrant communities with rich character and unique identities, whether it’s residents who live in the neighbourhoods of Parkview, Riverdale, Red Hill, or former townships that still retain their identity, like Winona and Fruitland, we are united by strength of character and accomplishment.

Lincoln Alexander’s name was brought up a little bit earlier by the member across the aisle, and rightfully so. Lincoln Alexander, a McMaster grad, was a groundbreaking Hamiltonian and instrumental in Ontario’s history. I won’t go into the specifics that have already been covered off, and I won’t pretend that I knew Lincoln well, but I knew him well enough to spend time with him and learn to understand what he was about and who he represented. For decades he was a hero in Hamilton and thought of as one of the true champions, not only in Hamilton, but in Canada. Without question, he was revered—and a man who took the time to write personal notes to people and do things a little bit old school. Lincoln Alexander, along with my father, exemplified the statement that I’m going to read to you, and it’s really quick: “Civility is not a sign of weakness.”

In 2004, my son Jesse was awarded the Lincoln Alexander Community Award for service. We had lunch with him. My son understood before he even got to the lunch the impact that Lincoln would have on him, and after talking to him just the other day, he still remembers the lunch, remembers where we had it, and what we had in the conversation. Some people just make an impact and it lasts forever.

From waterfalls to industry leaders, Hamilton has it all. For decades, Hamilton has been known as a steel city. With our government investing $500 million, we are ensuring industry, as we always have been, with leaders like Dofasco, can continue to bring jobs and economic opportunity to our community while becoming world leaders in producing green steel. People in Hamilton work hard and play hard.

I have to talk about the Winona Peach Festival, which I attended this past weekend. The crowds were unbelievable; the organization was tremendous. If I served one sundae to the people, I must have served 2,000 peach sundaes. Not one complaint, they were happy to be back, and they were happy we were there to support such a huge part of our community. We will continue to after a two-year absence.

Of course, anyone who knows me knows a little bit of my background as it relates to football. What echoes in the halls of many buildings around Hamilton and area, as some will know, is the “Oskie wee wee” chant. Do you dare?

Interjection.

Interjection.

I put you on the spot; it’s okay.

I have to let everyone know on this coming Monday, the Labour Day Classic against the Argos will be played once again. I’ve been involved as a general manager and COO and as a player. It will be quite an event, and I will be there.

As I said, Hamilton has it all. From the agriculture sector, history, beautiful landscapes to an economic powerhouse, it’s a great place to live and it’s a great place to be on an ongoing basis.

I wouldn’t be standing here today without the support of—and I will reference them as “my team” when it came to the campaign. First, I would like to thank my campaign manager Blair Hains, who took me in, the rookie, and helped provide leadership and direction. I was surprised I got along with him so well, given that, on his off time, he’s an umpire in baseball. You know, umpires and officials—you’ve got to wonder.

From the time our campaign officially opened the doors, Blair kept things going, kept us going, and other than the ongoing reminding me what the polls might be saying and me reminding him, “I don’t care about polls. I care about June 2. Don’t talk to me about that. Let us run. We’re dogs. Let us go run”—he just stopped talking to me about polls, and it was great. He did a fantastic job. I owe him a real debt, because he was tremendous—and his family, by the way.

I’d also like to thank a long-time friend Jay Davison. I spent many hours with him on the phone. He’s a great confidant. He’s been involved in the party in many ways. He would actually drive down from Windsor three or four times and be part of my campaigning team going out with me. He was a little slow on the walking part of things, but he did a great job and really exemplified what a friend is all about.

I have got a few more thank yous. I’ll start with Scott Boumeester, chair of fundraising; Ken Audziss, the riding association president—he was tremendous; MP Dan Muys and his team; MPP Sam Oosterhoff and his team; Minister Monte McNaughton and the team he came down with; my core supporters, Gabe DeSantis, Jeff Paikin and Sergio Manchia.

And I have to mention a long-time friend, confidant, golfing partner. I know him as Eagle: Ron Foxcroft, and his sons, Steve, Dave and Ronnie. They were huge supporters. They were there whenever I needed them, no matter what, like all people who have been around this campaign have been to me. It’s been incredible.

Ministers Mulroney and Clark showed up at a fundraiser and helped us hit it out of the park. I mean, honestly, I couldn’t believe the support that we had and what we were able to accomplish as a result of that support.

My canvassers: Sarmad, some gal named Donna, Sara, Langdon, Gord, Brent, Peter, Beth, Barry, Scott, Patrick, Jenn—we were close to over—well, I think we were over 1,000 kilometres in total of what our team covered in walking and canvassing—incredible. The commitment that was made was incredible.

Thank you to my sign team. They were ready to go. They would show up and say, “Got more signs for us?” Jim, Todd, Dennis and William—hundreds and hundreds of signs went out thanks to them.

People on the phone: Marie, Mark and Dirk; and on election day, the drivers: Richard and Gary—simply put, we worked smarter, harder and longer than our competition, and as a result, we planted our flag firmly in the ground of Hamilton East–Stoney Creek.

This is when it gets hard for me, and maybe it will speed me up if I watch the clock. My wife, Donna, who has been a partner, has been through so much with me in our life experiences, professionally, personally. We have two fabulous kids I’ll touch on later. She looked at me when I made the decision and said, “Are you sure?” I said yes, and she said, “Let’s go.” I’m a real lucky guy and even luckier to have two wonderful kids: my son, Jesse, and daughter, Kristin. I’ll touch on them both a little bit later, in a couple of quick anecdotes.

When people think of the name Lumsden, often they think of—well, there’s a town of Lumsden in Scotland that some know of, but more, they automatically think of football, with a little bit of my career and my son’s career. But my family’s history in Hamilton goes back to 1875, when my great-grandfather and his two sons opened Lumsden Brothers wholesale food distributors in Hamilton. The company flourished over generations in Hamilton, relocating as the company grew. It started with deliveries by horse and buggy, believe or not, and then in the 1970s grew to expand to 42,000 square feet of warehouse. My dad was the president. At the same time he was president of the Gerling Global Life Insurance Co., and his brother Bill was the COO. They were involved with the company up until the late 1970s.

My mom, Trudy—Gertrude, but no one ever called her that—met my dad when he was down at Marquette University on a track scholarship back in the day, so I guess running comes naturally to us.

My sister, Martha Christine, was a pistol. She would push the limits. She was smart, and she probably had the same aggressive nature that I did. I wasn’t sure where it came from; my dad, not so much, but I think Mom had a lot to do with that for us, and it was all good—and her two sons, Jeff and Greg, and their families.

Lessons learned from the word “win,” or the letters W-I-N: The one thing that I learned early in my pro career, in about year 3 when I went to Edmonton, was to understand what sudden change or change was all about, and how to prepare for it. It may sound silly, but we would—and they still do, professional athletes, certainly in team sport—watch hundreds and hundreds of hours of video. But did we know how to watch them correctly? I didn’t, until I got to Edmonton.

Hugh Campbell was our leader and head coach. Joe Faragalli was our offensive coordinator. They taught us what to look for, how to predict. When things change in a split second in football, you have to be prepared, and it doesn’t just change one way. It has multiple opportunities in front of you, and if you haven’t studied, if you haven’t prepared, you don’t know how to deal with change.

Then I step back in my career in sport into a high school, Northern Secondary School in Toronto, in grade 10, playing football, playing hockey, running track and doing all the things. Our head coach was Clarke Pulford, and for anyone who has the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, his younger brother was Bob Pulford, who had a great career with the Leafs back in the day when the Leafs won Stanley Cups.

One day I decided—a buddy said, “Hey, let’s skip practice and go do something.” I can’t remember what we did, but we skipped practice. We showed up the next day, and Coach Pulford grabbed me as I was leaving the locker room to go to practice and said, “Can I talk with you?” I said, “Yes, sir.” He said, “I don’t know why you missed practice yesterday, but you let them down. You didn’t let me down; you let your players down.” It wasn’t about my role on the team. It was about the team environment, the team chemistry and what “team” really means, and how you have to be able to look to your left and to your right and know they have the best interests of your success in mind when you play the game and when you practise. I had tears in my eyes. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t touch me. He just said, “I hope you learned your lesson”—and a lesson did I ever learn.

Six years later, at the University of Ottawa, we’re playing the University of Toronto at Varsity Stadium. That was the year we won a national championship, in 1975. We were a pretty good team. We were handing it to the Blues, and the game was over, and a woman came over and said, “Clarke would like to see you—Clarke Pulford.” I said, “Absolutely.” So I went over to the stands, along with a very good friend of mine, Terry West, who went to Northern with me. He said, “Great game. Congratulations. I love coming to the game when my boys are playing.”

What I didn’t know at the time is that as a result of diabetes, he had lost most of his sight, and a year later was going to lose half of his lower leg. When I walked away, I was talking to his wife, and I said, “How does he do it?” She said, “Oh, it’s simple. He hears the crowd, and I tell him, play by play, what’s going on. You’re his boys. He wants to know what’s going on. He supports you. He’s with you no matter what.” Now, think about that: a coach who was that invested in myself and Terry—and other guys, maybe, at the University of Toronto—to show up at games when he can’t even see the plays. Later on in life, not that long ago, that kind of commitment resonated with me to a good friend of mine.

I’ve had some great experiences, and I won’t bore you with all of them.

One of them, most recently—within the last maybe eight or nine years—was when I got a phone call to say, “Would you like to be part of Team Canada?” I said, “What’s Team Canada? Hockey? I got recruited? Finally. I’m going to be in the big time.” They said, “No, no, you knucklehead.” Arlene Dickinson, myself, Brian Burke and some other retired hockey players had been asked to go over and spend Thanksgiving with our troops. I said, “I’m in. I’m absolutely in.”

So we met in Ottawa. They got us to Ottawa. We flew to Ireland first, where the navy was going through their manoeuvres. We had Thanksgiving dinner with them on the ship, and it was fantastic. If you’re over 5 foot 5, you’re in big trouble on one of those battleships, because you’re walking around bent all the time. The bunks aren’t much larger; I don’t know how they do it. But these young people are smart, tough, resilient and committed.

Off in a plane we go to Kuwait, into the USA camp, where Camp Canada was. There we found a very energetic group of servicepeople who just couldn’t wait to play ball hockey with us. They had a ball hockey rink made with a roof on it, and it was only 42 degrees out—Celsius. That’s hot, and the sand is blowing.

Interjection.

You’re nodding, but I don’t think you get it. It’s really hot.

We played an hour-and-a-half game. There was almost a fight, because Tiger Williams was there, and it was all sorts of fun. We had dinner with them. Then the next night we had another dinner with the air force. We flew back and then got briefed by our liaison, and found out what was really going on over there.

I was so impressed by the people, especially—a very quick anecdote—a young woman who had been in the service for a while. They had laid their kits down for us, what they wear when they go out on manoeuvres, and she was telling me what it was all about. I looked at her and I said, “How heavy is this?” She said, “Well, it can be between 85 and 110 pounds.” I said, “You wear that all at once?” She said, “Oh, yes. That’s just what we do.”

“That’s what we do.” Think about that. When you pay attention and try to put yourself in the position of somebody else who is basically respecting our flag and protecting us, even if it’s off our soil—“That’s what we do.” The commitment is staggering. I felt so proud and so thrilled to spend time with them, and I would do it every year if I had the opportunity. Their commitment and smarts—I’ll tell you, we don’t know how lucky we are.

Two other very quick stories, because I’m already over—I apologize, Speaker. One is about my son. Jesse went to McMaster. He’s a world-class athlete—and that’s not me saying it; he proved that, a football player and pro for seven years. He called me up one day and said, “Dad, Bobsleigh Canada called me and asked if I’d like to maybe work out and try out. What do you think?” I said, “Oh, you’re perfect for it. You are the perfect makeup and body for it. Do it.”

So he ended up, just a few months later, in the Olympics in Vancouver, pushing for Pierre Lueders, one of the most decorated pilots in two- and four-man bobsleigh in the world. When I asked him, the first time he went down, I said, “What was it like?” He said, “Dad, it’s like putting a helmet on, getting stuffed in an aluminum garbage can and thrown down a hill going 145 clicks an hour. That’s what it was like.” After, he said, “Let’s go do it again,” so we know what his DNA is like.

And then my daughter, Kristin: smart, an athlete in high school, loved to compete, didn’t follow sport but followed business. She’s very successful. I had a chance to be her teammate on The Amazing Race Canada. Do you really want to find out how you get along with someone? Spend 24 hours a day, every day of the week for the first four and a half weeks, when you’re sequestered at night and you’re competing with your daughter. There was nothing—or very few things—in life that I can tell you I enjoyed more than competing with my daughter, other than wanting to make sure I didn’t let her down. We had so much fun. It was hard, but it was fun. I really got a sense and an understanding of what I saw in my son for all those years. The same drive and character to compete was in my daughter. It was just different, and I had to find out about it. But you find out when you pay attention ...

I’m going to end with bringing you back to when I said “WIN”—the W-I-N. It’s not the word; it’s an acronym. W-I-N: What I Noticed. And if you go through life and pay attention to what other people are doing, and really pay attention and listen to them and respect their opinions and respect who they are, not only are you complimenting them, but you’re doing them a service by allowing them to speak and get what’s on their mind out. And you also learn about somebody.

We could all do a little bit more of W-I-N-ing in our life because everyone deserves that respect.

Applause.

Further debate?

It’s an honour to rise in this place. I believe I’m one of the few members left, and it’s great to save, in my opinion, the best member for last. But it’s an honour to rise here today.

I want to begin by congratulating Speaker Arnott on his recent election to the position—a historic position in our parliamentary tradition. I also want to thank the member for Mississauga–Streetsville for also standing for Speaker of the House. It takes courage to put one’s name forward, and even more courage to put one’s name forward in front of a bunch of politicians. I would like to thank my predecessor, Randy Pettapiece. He represented the riding of Perth–Wellington for a little over a decade. He was actually the last member to win three consecutive elections since the late Hugh Edighoffer—a big feat in our riding of Perth–Wellington.

Perth–Wellington is a relatively new riding. Many members have represented both Perth and Wellington county in this House. I also want to recognize the still-living former members John Wilkinson, Bert Johnson and Karen Haslam. All of these people have represented Perth county in this Legislature at some point during my lifetime. Of course, I have the distinct honour of representing the three northern municipalities of Wellington county in this place, as well. I grew up in Harriston, which is in the town of Minto in Wellington county. The member that represented the town of Minto, Wellington North and Mapleton for many years—and, in fact, became my MPP when I was four months old—is the current honourable member for Wellington–Halton Hills. Life has some full circle, it seems, for both of us.

I had the pleasure of working with Randy Pettapiece from 2018 to January 2020. I learned a lot about what it means to be a good representative. I now also know how truly time-consuming it can be. I want to congratulate him on his retirement, and I hope he and Jane are enjoying their time with their grandchildren.

It’s an honour and a pleasure to serve the people of Perth–Wellington in Queen’s Park. I want to thank you for your trust, and for those who did not vote for me, I will continue to work to earn your trust over the next four years. As I said on the evening of June 2, I accept this position not only with excitement, but also with solemn anticipation of the weight of elected office.

Perth–Wellington is home to many vibrant and growing communities, but the land was cared for by many Indigenous peoples before Wellington or Perth county even existed. The Saugeen Ojibway Nation, Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and Chippewa people all resided within what is currently Perth and northern Wellington county.

It’s home to the highest number of chicken farmers in all of Canada. We are also home to over 5,026 grain, oil-seed, dairy, pork, beef, poultry and egg farms. If you can grow it, most likely you can grow it in Perth–Wellington. We’re also home to the Butter Tart Trail, and I encourage all members to take part in that. It’s a very delicious trail. We’re also home to many manufacturing companies across the auto sector, and many different trades and logistics companies are important industries in our area. They employ just under one-quarter of the workforce.

It’s also a hub for the arts, boasting the Stratford Festival, Drayton Entertainment and also the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, among many other cultural organizations that generate and contribute millions of dollars to the local economy. It’s also home, obviously, of Justin Bieber, Corey Conners, Lloyd Robertson, and it’s also home to Letterkenny, which is based on Listowel, Ontario.

Perth–Wellington also has the distinct honour of being the home of Canada’s most patriotic village. The Toronto Star ran a front-page headline during World War II that read, “Arthur Village Gives Sons and Money to Aid the War.” One in seven Arthur residents fought in the Second World War. This village is still just over 1,000 people—one in seven. We owe a great debt of gratitude to this generation.

I would be not be standing in this historic place were it not for my volunteers and my campaign team. I want to thank some of them. Specifically, I want to thank Allyson Cardiff, George Geottler—who many on the government side know—Jacob Shuker, Avery Miller, Matthew Steward, Tate Driscoll, Ron Faulkner, Walter Traschel, Dave Turton, Mayor Bridge, Rose Van Sickle, Irene Blight, Tim Sparks, Bob Archer, Bill Andrus, Jim Hutton, Mike Pacheco, Amanda Brodhagen, David Southam, Ralph Robinson, MP John Nater, Justine Nater, and Ainsley, Bennett and Caroline Nater. I could go on, but I will dispense to keep my remarks brief.

Whether it’s putting up signs, knocking on doors and making phone calls or simply being there to provide advice and guidance, I owe a great deal to these people and many others. If it were not for these volunteers and many other people, I would not have the privilege to stand in this place.

I also want to thank my constituency staff—Patti, Jake and Avery—for helping me serve the people and communities of Perth–Wellington. I was in the office on June 3 taking phone calls, and we opened our doors to the public on Monday, June 13. I committed to being ready on day one during the election, and my staff helped me keep that promise.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention some of my longest supporters: my parents. My dad, Mervyn Rae, was, until recently, a dairy farmer for his entire life. He’s one of the hardest-working people I know. Even though he has now sold the dairy herd, he still gets up before the sun rises to feed his remaining cattle. My mother, Mary Winger Rae, in addition to helping with the farm, is the amateur artist in the family, whether it’s photography, painting or drawing.

My mother and father sacrificed a lot for my sister and I. They always encouraged me and my sister to pursue our passions and goals in life, and I am blessed to have grown up in such a supportive household. Without their love and support, I would not be standing here in this place today.

As I was writing this speech, my thoughts were drawn to those in my family who are no longer with us. Earlier this year, my last living grandparent, Trudy Winger, passed on. None of my grandparents lived to see me take my seat in this House, but I know they are looking down with pride.

Finally, I would like to recognize my partner, Meghan Thomson. She has willingly agreed to support me in this crazy—and it is crazy—lifestyle of elected office.

Applause.

We’re both community-minded individuals and have chosen to sacrifice some of our privacy and time to serve the good people of Perth–Wellington. I can never thank her enough for the love and support she shows me every day.

As some of my colleagues will know in this place, I was fortunate enough to go abroad for my graduate studies and had the privilege of attending the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna in Austria.

Similar to many post-secondary students, I also completed a couple of internships while completing my studies. One such internship was with the Maltese embassy in Vienna. One of my colleagues was an older gentleman who had worked with the embassy for over 20 years. He was a soft-spoken man. He worked with the ambassador on many different multinational files at the United Nations, International Atomic Energy Agency and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

One day, he shared a piece of advice with me from his many years of experience working in international diplomacy. He said: “As an individual you cannot change the world in one sweeping moment, but you can change a small aspect of it in your own way.” These words have stayed with me, and I hope all members take them to heart as I have.

Only 1,968 Ontarians have ever sat in this place. Fewer still have been a minister of the crown, and even fewer have been Premier. However, we can all effect a small amount of change in our ridings and our communities.

One of my favourite quotes is from a former politician, the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. He made this speech before women held elected office, so bear that in mind—but it’s great that obviously women and other genders can hold elected office, now that we’ve progressed. But the quote goes, “It’s not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph”—I really need to organize my sheets—“of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

I encourage all members to dare greatly.

The throne speech and our budget are calls to action for Ontarians to dare greatly and help build Ontario. It was an honour to be here to listen to the Lieutenant Governor enumerate our government’s policies in the coming Legislative session. The throne speech and budget addressed the importance of our health care system and our plan to stay open.

I want to take this chance to thank all my local hospitals, their staff and their boards and CEOs, the family health teams, long-term-care staff and the various other health care providers that work day and night to provide the best care possible. I commend them and their staff for working tirelessly throughout this entire pandemic.

The importance of a well-functioning, quality health care system is not lost on me. That is why I have been in constant contact with my local hospital CEOs, local family health teams, long-term-care homes and other health care providers.

It is clear the importance of a well-functioning, quality health care system is important to this government. That is why we have made important investments in our health care sector.

Starting in the 2021-22 fiscal year, our government started investing $342 million over five years to strengthen our health care workforce through upskilling, retention and recruitment initiatives. We have already added over 10,500 new health care professionals and will continue to work with health care providers to encourage more people to join this honourable profession.

We’ve also committed to investing $4.9 billion to hire more than 27,000 new personal support workers, registered nurses and registered practical nurses by 2025 for our long-term-care facilities. This is to ensure residents receive on average four hours of direct care per day.

In budget 2022, we did commit to expanding the Community Commitment Program for Nurses and the Learn and Stay grant, as we’re calling it, with a $142-million investment. This program allows nurses and graduates to receive a full tuition reimbursement in exchange for committing to a practice in a rural or northern community—a direct benefit to Perth–Wellington.

We are also investing $41 million annually to support the clinical education component in our nursing education program, something my hospital CEOs and boards and nurses have said is important.

Prior to the election, our government passed legislation that prohibits regulatory colleges from requiring Canadian work experience as a qualification for registration in the nursing or personal support programs. It also requires regulatory colleges to certify potential applicants in a timely manner so that internationally trained health care workers can start as soon as possible. So far, well over 760 internationally educated nurses have been deployed through this program. In addition to these changes, the Minister of Health has written to the College of Nurses and the College of Physicians and Surgeons to quickly approve credentials of internationally educated health care workers.

This is not an exhaustive list, and our government has undergone and will continue to be undertaking significant, concrete, important steps supporting our health care sector moving forward.

A healthy and thriving Ontario is one that can attract lucrative investments from businesses across the globe, bringing with them good-paying jobs and added tax revenue. In the automotive sector alone, Ontario has attracted investments of $16 billion, $5 billion of which is for Canada’s first large-scale electric battery plant. Many of these positions will require employees trained in the skilled trades. That’s why our government is making important investments in the skilled trades. In my riding alone, our government has invested over $1.8 million to create a new skilled trades training hub in the community of North Perth.

More recently, I had the pleasure of joining Premier Ford and Minister McNaughton at Dyna-Mig, an auto manufacturing plant in Stratford, to announce $5 million in funding to train 500 people from under-represented groups in our thriving automotive sector. The project will provide participants with the necessary skills for rewarding careers in machine operation, assembly, quality control and logistics.

Investments in training are important, but so are investments in infrastructure to get people to and from work. Our government is investing a historic $86 billion over 10 years to build and expand Ontario’s roads, highways and transit infrastructure across Ontario. This includes expansion of GO train services to London, which shares a line with the city of Stratford and the town of St. Marys in my riding. This will directly benefit my constituents in various ways, including by giving them more transit options. After years of talk by previous governments about expanding GO train service to Stratford, St. Marys and London, our government has got it done, and I was very pleased to see that in our budget we committed to continuing to make track improvements to increase the frequency of trips between my riding and Union Station in Toronto.

As some members will know, prior to being elected to this place, I worked for a non-profit education company, Shad Canada. Shad runs a month-long STEM and entrepreneurship program for grade 10 and 11 students at university campuses across Canada. Coming from an educational background, and as a co-parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Education, I cannot understate the importance of investing in our children and preparing them for the jobs of the 21st century.

We recognize that the past two years of hybrid and virtual learning have been difficult for our children, parents and teachers. That’s why our government launched a $175-million investment to provide tutoring supports to students across Ontario. This has benefited people in my riding of Perth–Wellington as well.

We also know that parents know what’s best for their children. That’s why our government, in its reintroduced budget of 2022, will include an additional $225 million over the next two years to provide direct payments to help their kids catch up. This will help students catch up on lost learning, while reducing the burden on parents and future educators, allowing them to focus on new material.

Our government has modernized the elementary science and technology curriculum, along with the de-streamed grade 9 science course and the new learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills; hands-on experiential learning; the skilled trades and coding. As was alluded to in the throne speech, with close to one in five jobs in the coming years being in the skilled trades, it’s imperative that our children not only appreciate the importance of these jobs, but are prepared to learn the skills they need for these rewarding careers.

As a first-time homeowner, I am keenly aware of the challenges our young people are facing when purchasing their first home. While previous governments have neglected building more homes, our government has made it a priority. In 2020, a year after our housing supply action plan was implemented, Ontario had over 81,000 housing starts, the highest level in a decade, and over 100,000 rental starts, the highest level since 1992. It is critical that our government continues to work with our municipal partners to build more affordable and attainable housing.

Earlier this summer, I had the pleasure of making a Rural Economic Development funding announcement on behalf of our great Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in the city of Stratford. InvestStratford, the economic development corporation of the city, will be using the $80,000 in funding to develop a community tool box to support the development of attainable housing.

Our government is committed to working with our municipal partners to deliver a housing supply action plan every year of the next four years. It’s great to be part of a government that works with our municipal partners, because what works in downtown Toronto will not work in downtown Listowel. I’ve already had some great discussions with my local mayors and councillors about how we can build more attainable and affordable housing. Our government is committed to working with our municipalities to leverage surplus provincial lands and add new incentives to building attainable housing, which will lower the cost for potential buyers and make home ownership a reality for more families.

In conclusion, Ontario requires an ambitious plan and a government that understands and is willing to tackle the province’s most pressing issues. Ontario deserves a caucus that is made up of representatives from every corner of Ontario and who come from many different walks of life. Ontario, now more than ever, needs experienced leadership. Madam Speaker, this government is ready to build Ontario.

I know my colleagues from the NDP and the independent members will not always agree with our policies, but I look forward to working with everyone in this place to build a brighter tomorrow for all Ontarians. Together, let’s build Ontario.

Further debate? The member for Mississauga–Malton.

Debate deemed adjourned.

The House adjourned at 1500.

Madam Speaker, today is the legislative Friday, and it is my pleasure to seek your permission now: I move the adjournment of the House.