I’d like to welcome to the House a guy who has been putting up with me since I was born and who has supported me every step of the way: my dad, Jim. Welcome to the House.

My question is to the Minister of Transportation. There’s nothing the people of Caledonia want more for Christmas than to hear that the reconstruction of the Argyle Street bridge will begin. I’ve promised this House I will rise on this matter until shovels are in the ground. This is my fourth question related to the bridge since August 2022.

A few weeks ago, I sat in traffic in the middle of the bridge when the sound of sirens was heard. An ambulance was attempting to get across. Cars had nowhere to go, the paramedics were clearly frazzled, and people were panicked. This should not be happening on any bridge in this province, and yet it has been happening on a daily basis in Caledonia for the past few years.

The people of Haldimand county are fed up and they are tired of this government’s inability to get the job done.

Speaker, through you to the minister: What is the date the reconstruction of the Argyle Street bridge will begin?

The progress—I’d like to know what that progress is.

The ministry kicked Lorrie Harcourt from her home, the toll house, in 2019. She could still be living in her home that she spent 35 years redoing.

The lack of an answer leads me to question, what is holding up the reconstruction? Why doesn’t the minister just tell us? The people of Caledonia are good people, and they deserve a good reason, and maybe they’d be sympathetic if they actually knew what that reason was. But as I warned the previous minister, many fear the bridge is at risk of collapse. No government, no minister wants that on their hands.

Speaker, through you to the minister: Could he clearly articulate why he’s taking this risk and what it is that is preventing the reconstruction of the bridge?