Mr. Speaker, let me begin by congratulating you on your election to that seat. I know you will serve us well.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I rise to highlight a few recent events in the amazing riding of Hastings–Lennox and Addington.

I must begin with the devastation created on July 24, when an EF2-class tornado, with speeds of up to 190 kilometres per hour, touched down across the middle of the riding; specifically, with a path about 1.4 kilometres wide across the north end of the township of Tweed. I had the opportunity to tour the affected areas, and I noted many acres of flattened forest, homes destroyed and businesses devastated. As bad as it was, I was so impressed that during the tour, we came out with the mayor and municipal staff, but also representatives from MMAH and other professionals, and a group of volunteers from Team Rubicon to support the residents. We heard a great number of stories where people of the community came together to support each other. Between good fortune and the helping care of neighbours, there were no fatalities and only a very few minor injuries. I’m grateful to live and work amongst such wonderful people.

I’d also like to report to this House that at its meeting of August 8, the council of the township of Loyalist unanimously chose to appoint the deputy mayor, Jim Hegadorn, to his seat as the mayor of Loyalist, as it was recently vacated. I know he will serve that municipality very well.

I’d like to bring forward a petition.

“Whereas we know that building critical infrastructure is crucial to delivering better services, moving people faster and generating long-term sustainable economic growth; and

“Whereas under the leadership of Premier Ford our government is making historic investments to build and repair infrastructure in every region of Ontario; and

“Whereas at the heart of the plan is a capital investment of $158.8 billion over the next 10 years, with $20 billion in 2022 and 2023 alone, and includes plans to invest in trains, roads and subways; and

“Whereas our plan includes $25.1 billion in capital over 10 years to support planning, building and improving highways, including Highway 413, the Bradford Bypass, the 401 and Highway 7; and

“Whereas part of this capital investment includes $61.6 billion in capital over 10 years for public transit, including expanding GO rail services to London and Bowmanville; and

“Whereas our government plans to invest in hospital infrastructure with a $40-billion, 10-year program; and

“Whereas these investments will increase the capacity in our hospitals, build new health care facilities and renew existing hospitals and community health centres; and

“Whereas in education, our government is investing $21 billion, including about $14 billion in capital grants over the next 10 years to support the renewal and the expansion of school infrastructure and child care projects;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support Ontario’s historic program to build highways and key infrastructure.”

To the member from Niagara Centre, thank you for your presentation. This legislation, at its core, is quite simple. We need to support efficient local decision-making to help cut through the red tape so that we can build more homes. Why doesn’t the opposition trust Ontarians, our local citizens, to elect their own efficient local leaders?