This morning I want to share with you a story about my riding, the city of Cambridge, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The city of Cambridge was established on January 1, 1973, when the former communities of Galt, Preston, Hespeler and Blair were amalgamated. Together, we have grown to become one big, caring city and community, along with some lifelong residents like myself clinging to our municipal roots. Yes, I am from Cambridge, but if you ask me, I will tell you I’m from Galt. It’s the same with people from Hespeler and Blair and Preston. It’s a constant and often comical theme of conversations that are still held to this day. Yes, 50 years later we still take pride in the geographical part of our city that we grew up in, but we have come together to become a prosperous city, with rich architectural heritage, walking trails that are the envy of visitors, and countless arts and cultural celebrations.

Cambridge is one of the fastest-growing and strongest-growing economies in Canada. I am proud to say it is a popular destination for film productions such as Bitten, Murdoch Mysteries and The Handmaid’s Tale. It’s not uncommon to see film crews and well-known actors milling around one of the three downtown cores while fans line the streets for a glimpse of excitement.

The 50th birthday celebration for Cambridge kicked off a winter levee at the city hall last month that will continue throughout the year, with art exhibitions, public events, photography contests and restaurant promotions. If you haven’t been to Cambridge, it’s time you did. You will be glad you did. Happy birthday, Cambridge.

Thank you. Once again, I will remind members that statements are to be 90 seconds in length.

I also wish to welcome one of my constituents, Melanie Frazer from Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce, who is with us here today. Welcome, Melanie. It’s great to have you here.

On January 29, Mississauga residents and Ontarians throughout the province were devastated to learn of the passing of our beloved former mayor Hazel McCallion. She was a selfless and humble public servant, a fearless leader, a wise mentor and a good friend to me. When Hazel McCallion was elected mayor in 1978, the vast majority of my riding of Erin Mills was farmland. Over the subsequent 36 years, the great Hurricane Hazel oversaw a mass transformation of the city of Mississauga. She built homes and hospitals. She supported businesses and local communities, and as a member of the Coptic and Egyptian community, I would like to thank her for her tremendous support to all communities in Mississauga.

She never gave up on her vision for a bigger and better city. Even during her last weeks, Hazel McCallion was a fierce advocate for Ontarians, publicly supporting this government’s housing plan. On Thursday, I attended an announcement at Credit Valley Hospital in my riding, the same hospital that Hazel opened in 1985. We were there to celebrate a $75-million donation. Thank you to Blair Wolk and the Orlando Corp. for supporting our vision of an accessible health care system.

Mr. Speaker, we owe it to Mayor McCallion’s legacy to continue following in her footsteps: investing in transit infrastructure, such as the Hazel McCallion Line; supporting the construction of more homes; attracting investment and businesses; and taking meaningful action to make life easier and more affordable for all Ontarians.

On behalf of my constituents in Mississauga–Erin Mills, I would like to thank the late Hazel McCallion for her enduring service to our community and her family for sharing her with us.

I’m very happy to be able to welcome members of the Ontario Autism Coalition—families, even some young people here today, but especially Kate Dudley-Logue and Tony Stravato, who are both vice-presidents of the Ontario Autism Coalition, and Bruce McIntosh, who is also vice-president and founding president.

I’m also happy to welcome so many members of chambers from across this province and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce for their advocacy day today and especially CEO and president, Rocco Rossi.

Finally, last but not least, I’m very happy to welcome all of those representatives from the OPSEU corrections division who are here today, including OPSEU president, JP Hornick.

In addition to welcoming my MP, Anthony Rota, to the House, I also want to welcome our friends from local chambers all across Ontario and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

On February 28, we celebrated Rare Disease Day in Ontario and internationally, and I want to recognize two hard-working constituents from my riding of Simcoe–Grey: Beth and Madi Vanstone from Beeton, Ontario. For over 10 years, the Vanstones have been coming to Queen’s Park advocating for people living with cystic fibrosis.

Through their dedication, perseverance and advocacy, our government was the first province in Canada to expand coverage for Trikafta to include all Ontarians aged six and over through our publicly funded medical drug program. This transformational medication has built on the effectiveness of predecessor medications Orkambi and Kalydeco to improve the quality, health, and length of the lives of people afflicted with cystic fibrosis right here in Ontario.

One in every 3,600 children born in Canada has cystic fibrosis, and there is still no cure. More than 4,300 Canadian children, youth and adults with cystic fibrosis attend specialized CF clinics today.

I was happy to meet the Vanstones last week for Rare Disease Day to discuss the need for a rare disease strategy in Ontario. I recognize there is more work to do, and I look forward to continuing working with Beth and Madi and other stakeholders and the members of this House to ensure that life-saving medications for rare diseases are available to all Ontarians.

I’d like to welcome the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce Brantford-Brant, David Prang, to the people’s House. It’s good to see you today, my friend.

I’d like to welcome Laura-Jane Benoit and her colleagues from Ontario Autism Coalition to Queen’s Park. As well, I would like to thank and welcome two students from Brock University, St. Catharines—my hometown—Sydney Sloane and Xavier Alexy. Welcome to your House and thank you. Go, Badgers, go!

C’est le Mois de la Francophonie et cette semaine nous soulignons aussi la Journée internationale des femmes.

La semaine dernière, j’ai eu l’opportunité de travailler dans un cadre qui combinait ces deux thèmes, soit la francophonie et les femmes. Ainsi, j’ai participé à la réunion du réseau des femmes de l’assemblée des parlementaires francophones. Ce fut une expérience des plus enrichissantes de représenter l’Ontario à cette conférence qui rassemblait des représentants de plusieurs pays, dont la Côte d’Ivoire, le Niger, la Roumanie, la France, la Belgique, la Nouvelle-Calédonie, le Cambodge, le Cameroun et le Maroc, qui était l’hôte de ce rassemblement.

Les discussions approfondies que nous avons eues ont certes révélé que le Canada et l’Ontario ont fait des progrès sur les questions importantes telles que le harcèlement, la discrimination basée sur le sexe et la place des femmes au Parlement. En tant que chef de file, l’Ontario doit continuer d’avancer dans les domaines importants comme la traite de personnes, qui est malheureusement une réalité partout dans le monde.

Il y a deux semaines, cette Assemblée a voté en faveur du projet de loi 41, qui, si adopté, pourrait mieux soutenir les survivantes de la traite de personnes ici en Ontario. J’espère que tous les membres de cette Assemblée feront le nécessaire pour assurer que ce projet de loi important reçoive rapidement la sanction royale.

À toutes les femmes et tous les Franco-Ontariens, je souhaite une semaine et un mois de réflexion sur comment nous pouvons ensemble trouver des solutions à nos défis.

On Saturday, February 25, I was pleased to host a farmer appreciation breakfast at the Richmond Memorial Community Centre in my riding of Carleton to recognize the hard work that farmers do in my riding to contribute to Ontario’s success. Farmers feed families, farmers feed Ontario, and Carleton is home to some of our province’s best.

I was also pleased to host the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to the riding and discuss what our government is doing to get it done for farmers in Carleton and across Ontario. With the release of the Grow Ontario Strategy, our government is strengthening the agri-food sector and ensuring an efficient, reliable and responsible food supply network through new innovation. Our plan will also increase both the consumption and production of food grown and prepared in Ontario by 30%, increase Ontario’s food and beverage manufacturing GDP by 10%, and boost Ontario’s agri-food exports 8% annually by 2032.

Moreover, just last week, our government negotiated a sustainable Canadian agricultural partnership for Ontario that will see upwards of $1.77 billion in support for the agri-food sector over the life of the agreement. Over $569 million will be invested in strategic initiatives, which is a 25% increase over the previous funding agreement.

Mr. Speaker, our farmers play an invaluable role in this province. They are the reliable providers of so many different safe, high-quality and delicious foods we all enjoy. Let’s give our thanks to the hard-working farmers of Carleton and across this province.

I’d like to recognize a great friend and supporter of Windsor–Essex, the CEO of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, Rakesh Naidu, who is with us today. Thank you, Rakesh, for being here.

I would like to welcome Sara Kitlar-Pothier, who is from Nickel Belt. She is the vice-president of the northern region of the Ontario Autism Coalition. Welcome, Sara.

I’d like to welcome today—I know it’s been mentioned before—on behalf of the Solicitor General and myself, J.P. Hornick, the president of OPSEU; Chad Oldfield, chair of the OPSEU bargaining unit; and also Joel Bissonette, from Sarnia corrections from my hometown. Thank you, and welcome to all of you.

I’m glad to also welcome the folks from corrections, specifically those that I will be meeting with today: Leanne White, Jenny Diplacido, Richard Jeronimo and Stryder McCormack. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Also, as we’ve had Tony Stravato already welcomed, I won’t do it again. Hi, Tony. And welcome to Peter Garrett from Durham College, who I see sitting in the gallery.

It’s great to see the Queen’s mining engineering students here today for PDAC. I would like to introduce Jonah Odlozinski from my riding of Simcoe North. Great to see you here, Jonah.

I’d like to welcome Peter Harding and his colleagues from Sudbury from OPSEU youth corrections.

I would like to welcome Sara Kitlar-Pothier and Alina Cameron, both northern representatives from the Ontario Autism Coalition. Alina lives in Slate River Valley, which is just outside of Thunder Bay, and she’s watching this online this morning. Welcome, both of you.

I would like to welcome Mortgage Professionals Canada, and Susan Thomas in particular, back to Queen’s Park, and Paul Markle and Salim Bardai with the Barrie Chamber of Commerce.

I also would like to acknowledge Peter Garrett from Durham College in Durham, Rocco Rossi from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, and all the members from various chambers of commerce around the province and the boards of trades, and a little bit of shout-out to Nicole Gibson, the former head of the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade, and her colleagues, including Glen McFarland. Thank you to all the businesses across Ontario who make this province terrific.