On behalf of the official opposition, I would like to take a moment to recognize Agriculture Week in Ontario.

The agri-food industry makes a $47-billion contribution to this province. There are over 800,000 people employed in the agri-food industry, but the foundation of that industry is the farm families who actually grow the food that we eat. That’s what this whole province is built on. Whether you grow cucumbers in a greenhouse or corn or soybeans in a field, there’s a special feeling when you see those seeds come up from the ground, when you see the risk that you are taking, you feel it—you feel each time you watch them grow.

Now it’s harvest time, and the farmers are harvesting their crops. And that’s a special feeling—when you harvest a crop, when you pull into a field and you see what’s coming off.

But there are also times when your crop fails, when you’re calving a cow and your best cow dies or her calf dies. The fact that they keep going with those challenges—that’s what makes a farmer.

That’s why we’re so proud to be farmers, and that’s why we recognize farmers and their families today, in Agriculture Week. Our whole province is built on their backs.