I would like to thank the member for the question and all the work that she does, and her friendship.

I’d also like to wish everyone a healthy and happy new year and holiday season—and Christmas, by the way.

This year’s 110th Grey Cup—and no, Mr. Speaker, I have not been around for all of them—

Interjection: That’s debatable.

Well, you know, the occasional quip from either side also helps.

Interjection: You’ve been around for lots of them.

I’d like to identify the Hamilton Sports Group, because they took the Grey Cup, which is a game and activities, and turned it into a regional festival. The Grey Cup isn’t just about a party and a pregame party; it started in Hamilton on Wednesday night, and that experience went all the way through to game time.

There were player awards, and that regional piece meant we went to Niagara and Niagara hosted a sport tourism summit that I’ll talk about in a minute. But player awards, a concert afterwards, free shuttle service for people back and forth from Hamilton: Mr. Speaker, it was a great experience, and I’ll tell you a bit more—

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, it can’t go without saying, thanking the mayor of Hamilton and the chambers of commerce for both Niagara and Hamilton for really stepping up and supporting sport tourism—because it was about a game, but it was about bringing people together.

I think most people know—certainly football fans know—that CFL fans travel really well to the Grey Cup, across the country: not just a couple hundred, but thousands and thousands from every market. Because of our support, CFL fans had a better experience this time—again, thanks to Hamilton Sports Group and the chambers and everyone who were part of staging the Grey Cup in Hamilton.

Mr. Speaker, I can’t tell you how important it was to make a massive impact in the city, not about the game, not about just the day before, but the full week. The people of Hamilton benefited. The people of the region benefited.

Sport tourism is a big driver of our economy, especially on a national level. But let’s not forget about the local hockey and football tournaments that travel around, that support all our ridings.