Thank you for the opportunity to rise in this House.

I’d like to thank the voters of Brampton North for putting their trust in me to be our community’s voice here at Queen’s Park.

Given it’s the first time I’m speaking, I’d seek the consent of the House to speak a little about my life, my family, my riding and what drove me to politics.

Brampton North is a riding made up of several incredible neighbourhoods in—as you would expect from the name—the north end of Brampton. We have my neighbourhood of Heart Lake, home to many families who moved into Brampton in the 1980s and 1990s. Heart Lake is blessed with a vibrant natural ecosystem and with beautiful trails and wetlands built into the neighbourhood, like Loafer’s Lake and Etobicoke Creek. Just to the north of us, we have Snelgrove, which is kind of an unofficial part of Heart Lake, depending on who you ask. Snelgrove lies at the very north end of our riding and is known for the iconic water tower at Mayfield and Hurontario.

If we look east of Highway 410, we have the neighbourhood of Springdale. Springdale is a bit of newer neighbourhood in our city, home to beautiful parks, our local hospital—Brampton Civic—the Trinity Common shopping centre, and is also home to many new Canadians who have come to our country in pursuit of a better life. Brampton could not be any luckier, Mr. Speaker.

The impact our new neighbours have in making Brampton a place we should all be proud to call home is significant. We truly have some of the strongest, brightest and most humble. Ontario is a place where it doesn’t matter where you come from, who you love or how you choose to worship God; everybody has a place here, and everybody deserves a chance to succeed.

Interjections.