I rise today to recognize and celebrate some recent investments our government has made in my riding of Perth–Wellington.

Recently, I was able to announce on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs that five worthy initiatives in my riding would be receiving a combined $270,000 in rural economic development funding. The municipality of North Perth will be receiving $137,000 for its agriculture excellence action plan, which will support our flourishing agriculture and agricultural technology sector. Perth county will be receiving $50,000 for its workforce attraction and retention kit for employers. Drayton Entertainment is receiving more than $49,000 to modernize operations and support the adoption of more environmentally friendly practices. The town of Minto is receiving $20,000 for their Move to Minto business attraction campaign—and I encourage all businesses to move to Minto. Lynes Blacksmith Shop in Kenilworth is receiving $17,000 to help maintain a historic and culturally significant landmark.

Our government has provided over $4.3 million to support 80 projects across rural Ontario in this recent round of RED funding. Speaker, as you know, rural Ontario is the backbone of our provincial economy. Annually, businesses in rural Ontario contribute $99 billion to our provincial economy.

I am proud to be part of a government that continues to support our small businesses and rural economic development.