Today I’m excited to share a heartwarming story from my riding of Cambridge. Jamie Colwell dedicated much of his spare time this past summer to assisting those with food insecurities. With the help of a team of volunteers, Jamie was able to collect 4,200 pounds of food and more than $6,000 for the Cambridge Food Bank. It’s amazing.

It’s not the first summer he’s done this. He spent weekends collecting donations outside of grocery stores. Last year he did the same thing, raising $5,400 for the food bank to buy healthy snacks for kids heading back to school.

The support Jamie has shown for the Cambridge Food Bank comes at a critical time. Dianne McLeod, executive director of the agency, said the need for food assistance is increasing every month and volunteers like Jamie help meet the ends of what these people are really requiring.

Recently, Jamie was presented with a volunteer award of merit at the food bank’s annual general meeting. I’d like to congratulate Jamie for his hard work and for being a citizen of Cambridge.

Ce jour-là, le 18^e monument de la francophonie a été inauguré dans un petit village de 1 200 habitants qui fait partie d’une municipalité d’environ 10 000 de population dans l’Est ontarien. Ça a été un honneur pour moi de prendre la parole en tant que représentant du gouvernement de l’Ontario à cette inauguration, qui a eu lieu dans le petit village d’Alfred, qui se trouve à être mon village natal, monsieur le Président. Près de 1 000 personnes ont pris part aux célébrations. Plusieurs résidents d’Alfred accompagnés de plusieurs élèves et de professeurs des écoles francophones environnantes étaient présents.

J’aimerais profiter de l’occasion pour féliciter le comité du Monument de la francophonie d’Alfred pour leur travail incroyable. Il y a 18 monuments de la francophonie, puis sept de ces monuments sont dans ma circonscription, monsieur le Président. C’est quelque chose dont je suis fier.

Chaque année, les 80 000 francophones et francophiles de ma circonscription ont l’opportunité de participer à plusieurs levers du drapeau franco-ontarien et de célébrer leur fierté d’être francophone. Félicitations à tous les Franco-Ontariens, Franco-Ontariennes et francophiles qui ont pris part aux célébrations de lever du drapeau franco-ontarien ici même à Queen’s Park et partout à travers la province de l’Ontario.

This is Ontario Agriculture Week, and I want to express my sincere gratitude to Ontario farmers. As we gather with our families on Thanksgiving, I know many of us will be enjoying the incredible local food we grow in Ontario.

Ontario has the best farmers and some of the best farmland in the entire world, but Ontario unfortunately is losing that farmland at an unsustainable rate of 319 acres per day. This threatens our food security and our $50-billion farming economy, yet this government is planning on losing even more farmland by imposing expense sprawl on Hamilton, Ottawa, Halton, Waterloo and so many other places. It’s greenbelt 2.0.

I want to say to the people of Ontario: Thank you for standing up to protect our greenbelt. From all of us who enjoy local food and support Ontario farmers, we say thank you.

I want you to know that I will be standing with you to protect farmland all across this province. I’m focused on solving the housing crisis by building homes that people can afford on land already approved for development, not paving over farmland to enrich wealthy insiders.

I encourage everyone to buy local for Thanksgiving and to renew your commitment to supporting Ontario farmers and protecting local farmland across Ontario.

To the Premier: According to a recent Food Banks Canada report, 43% of people in Ontario feel they are worse off than last year. The evidence? Food banks are struggling across the province. The director of Thunder Bay’s regional food distribution centre notes that over the next four years, their costs will increase by 80%. Incredibly, since 2021, the London Food Bank has seen a 91% increase in people coming to them for food. So, no, things are not 1,000% better than when the Premier took office five years ago.

The NDP has a plan to address this crisis by doubling OW and ODSP and implementing real rent control. When will the Premier stop the gravy train for his friends and take the obvious and necessary steps to address food insecurity in this province?