Of course, I’m here to help make the world a better place for all Ontarians, as we all are, and so it’s great to invest, for sure.

One thing we all heard at the door—at least, I heard it in my community. I was surprised when I was door-knocking; I thought people would be most worried about the climate emergency—but it was affordability. It doesn’t matter the demographic, the age, the background—everyone is worried about affordability. Seniors, kids—everyone is struggling. Just adding crumbs here and there is not enough. We need to really continue investing now rather than later.

We know that price tag for BC was $9 billion; for Alberta, it was $5 billion. We had $1.5 billion total insured catastrophic loss in Ontario in 2022.

For every dollar invested in the climate emergency, in climate action, it’s a $3-to-$8 cost-avoidance savings. It’s not rocket science.

My private member’s bill—it was a big surprise to me, because I had spoken to 122—and I’m the 123rd—almost every member in this chamber. I’ve heard from people who had basement flooding. They were very supportive, and they wanted to save their residents, Ontarians, $43,000 for a basement flood, that could be avoided by a simple infographic going out in the mail. If we can’t even send out a flyer, I’m pretty worried about what we can do for the climate emergency.

What I would say to one of my favourite members asking me the question, who was super keen on hearing my speech—that was lovely—is that my time started on June 2, 2022, and I’m forward-thinking. So I was here on June 2, and I’m optimistic, and I want to work together. I tried to work together on my private member’s bill, but that didn’t happen. I’m here, moving forward, looking to collaborate if I can—but I haven’t seen that yet, and I’m not looking backwards.