My question is to the Associate Minister of Transportation. Many people in Whitby, Ajax, Bowmanville and Pickering want to be more connected to the greater Toronto area. Under the previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, the people of Whitby and other parts of Durham region were promised year after year that new transit investments would be made, but nothing ever materialized. They’re tired of waiting. They expect our government to take action and deliver on extending much-needed transit infrastructure for the people of the region of Durham.

Can the associate minister please update the House on the progress of the Bowmanville GO expansion project?

With the population of the greater Toronto area expected to increase significantly over the coming years, investments in transit expansion are needed now to ensure frequent and convenient service for the years to come. We can’t afford to delay or hold back transit investments. Now is the time to build. Now is the time to get Ontario moving.

Can the associate minister please elaborate on our government’s actions to deliver transit for the hard-working people of the region of Durham?

I want to thank the member from Niagara West and our Minister of Red Tape Reduction for two excellent presentations.

One aspect of this legislation has to do with modernizing the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario—particularly the agri-food sector. My colleague the MPP for Oshawa would agree that the agri-food sector is a big part of our economic recovery in the region of Durham.

I’d like the member from Niagara West to talk a little bit more about the modernization of that act and what the effect will be not only for the region of Durham, where we have close to a million people, but other upper-tier areas, like Niagara.