Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak about some of the investments that we have been able to make in northern Ontario.

We’re investing more in northern Ontario health than any other previous government.

Our plan is investing in infrastructure, in boosting health human resources and adding educational supports for the future. We have, of course, expanded the Northern Ontario School of Medicine—over a hundred additional seats available, and 60% of those, of course, are set aside for primary care, the family doctors we so desperately need across Ontario, and particularly, acutely, in northern Ontario.

We’ll continue to make those investments because we know that when people have access to primary care multi-disciplinary teams in their communities, it makes an impact, and it ensures that people have the care they need closer to home.

I hope the member opposite will continue to advocate, but I also hope that they will acknowledge the investments that we are making in northern Ontario and across Ontario.

I’d like to ask the minister: We had 15 years of a previous government that ignored northern Ontario; referred to it as a “no man’s land”; did not respect, I think, the opportunities that were available to all Ontarians by working with northern Ontario to really develop opportunities and grow our economy.

You’ve talked a lot about the mining sector today and how we can do that. I’d like you to elaborate on that: on how the investments of this government and what this government is doing in the budget are really going to assist northern Ontario and drive mining forward, and how they’re going to help integrate the northern economy into success for all Ontarians.