Thank you, Speaker, and congratulations on your re-election as Speaker.

For 42 years, under a Progressive Conservative government, Ontario became a manufacturing powerhouse, able to compete with any jurisdiction. Yet, under the previous Liberal government, jobs began to leave when high taxes, red tape and out-of-control electricity prices made Ontario one of the least competitive jurisdictions in North America. The result: 300,000 people lost their jobs when Liberal policies forced manufacturers right out of Ontario.

Now, Mr. Speaker, my question is a simple one: Can the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade assure my constituents, workers, their families and the communities that rely on manufacturing jobs that they will not be abandoned? And, specifically, will he highlight the measures he is taking to protect and grow the sector in Ontario?

Speaker, this past June, Statistics Canada provided an advance estimate of manufacturing sector sales reports. These reports indicate that manufacturing sales actually fell 1% in June, with the largest decreases in the aerospace product and parts industry.

The throne speech highlighted the need to grow the economy. It talked about risks to the economy. For my constituents, that means lost jobs. It means missed mortgage payments. What is the minister doing to protect families who rely on good jobs, local jobs, with manufacturers who are so important to communities right across Ontario?

Thank you for that question. Yes, for over 25 years, I was in an industry which we referred to as secure payments. That afforded me the opportunity to work with our large financial institutions, here in Canada, Quebec and internationally. I would say the skills—and this is a great question because when I think about those years, I always wanted to be in politics and help others.

What I was doing over the past 25 years was, I was helping others, making sure they could get their credit cards and we could have new payments on our mobile phones and things like that. It was more technology, but I have to say that I was really pleased that with the relationship skills and contract negotiations, everything you could think of which has led me here today, because it’s our government that we are focused on now, looking at how we can recover our economy, and my background has rendered me the ability to help with that process.