It’s an honour to rise once again in the Ontario Legislature. I’d like to take this opportunity to share more good news with the Legislature on an important investment by this government in Sarnia–Lambton.

On February 9, I was honoured to join several members, including the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health, to announce an investment of $4.5 million to increase access to pediatric services for children and youth in southwestern Ontario. This important investment included $964,000 in new annual funding for Pathways Health Centre for Children in my riding of Sarnia–Lambton.

This government is ensuring children and youth in every corner of the province have quick and convenient access to high-quality and convenient care. In fact, this government has increased the annualized funding to Pathways Health Centre for Children in Sarnia by more than $2.6 million since 2022. This is further evidence that our government is committed to reducing wait-lists, improving access to care and improving the quality of life for children and their families in Sarnia–Lambton.

I want to thank the government and the Minister of Health for continuing to make these important investments in Sarnia–Lambton.

Thank you, Speaker. I look forward to sharing more great news with you in the future.

I’d like to introduce two visitors from my riding of Sarnia–Lambton, here for the tributes later this afternoon: Mr. Dave Brown and his son Taylor, from Sarnia–Lambton and Toronto, respectively. Thank you, and welcome to Queen’s Park.

It’s a great privilege to be able to stand here today. I only attended the visitation, the wake, in the last two or three weeks for Andrew S. Brandt. I never knew until his obituary what the S stood for: Steven. I asked many, many people, “What’s the S in Andrew S. Brant?” And no one could tell me. I always thought it was for “success,” but I found out it was Steven.

I’d like to welcome—he’s already been introduced, but I will be introducing a special guest from Sarnia–Lambton today in the Speaker’s gallery, Mr. Dave Brown, or “Brownie” as he’s known back in Sarnia; and his son, Taylor, from Toronto. Dave is a long-time friend of the former member that we’re honouring today. From time to time, each of us as members have the opportunity to stand in this place and speak about our former predecessors, colleagues and friends, and Andy was all three of those to me. It’s a chance to recognize our former members for carrying out the responsibility that we’re all sent here to do, and that is to best serve the people of our communities and the province based on our abilities and our talents and whatever else we can bring to this place in our own unique way.

Andy was known by many names back home: Action Andy, the Chairman—I think Brownie hung that on him—the Happy Warrior. Mayor Bradley referred to him as a Happy Warrior. I always think of Al Smith, mayor of New York, back in the 1930s. That was the way they referred to Al Smith, and Andy Brandt certainly was a happy warrior. He had many other endearing terms as well.

Andy was the perfect example of someone who did things his own way, in a unique way, and was deeply respected and liked by everyone who had the chance to work with him. I wanted to mention that the member from Ottawa South talked about playing the accordion. He certainly did. He came here from London. He always told me he was born on the other side of the tracks. I don’t know, but he came to Sarnia and was successful.

He started the Academy of Musical Arts. He sold all kinds of accordions, gave lessons to people. Later, when he was on council, he was up in the council chamber one day and he was going to do some accordion lessons later, and he remembered he hadn’t locked the car. He ran downstairs and he said, “I better go lock the car. I left an accordion in the backseat.” And much to his surprise, when he got down there, someone had placed two more accordions in the back seat of the car. So I don’t know whether that was a reflection on Andy’s musical ability or what people felt about accordions, but we’ll leave that to others to decide. I always laughed when he told me that joke—it might have been a story; you never knew with Andy.

He had a long, accomplished career, as others have talked about here, in politics and public service. I won’t go into all the detail, because you’ve all said it many times—the alderman, city of Sarnia mayor, MPP, cabinet minister, then the interim leader. It was a very tough time, as the member from Ottawa South knows, leading, I think, a moribund caucus at the time—16 members, if I remember right—in 1987.

He knew the challenges, serving both in government and opposition, of balancing local needs with provincial priorities, of dealing with personalities and personal agendas, of election victory and defeat.

As Andy always said, “I’ve won, and I’ve lost. Winning is far better.”

Yet, throughout it all—all the debates and the political rancour, the partisanship and posturing—Andy understood that relationships were the key to moving things forward to a better place.

Andy, as I said, had many nicknames over the years—the Happy Warrior, Action Andy, Mr. Chair—but to most of us back home, he was simply Andy.

I remember one campaign, probably the one that reduced the Conservatives to 16 seats, where he didn’t even put a PC logo on his election signs back home—all it was in big letters was “Andy,” and everybody knew who to vote for. They voted for Andy and re-elected him, when a lot of others went to be defeated around that time.

I also had the great pleasure of knowing Andy for many decades, working for him. He was there the night I got nominated. I remember it just like yesterday—sitting right in the front row, beside me. I ran kind of a—I didn’t think it was that great a campaign. I looked around at what the other people had—they had videos, they had this and they had that. Andy reached over and he said, “Don’t worry, Bob. You’ll work out”—and so it did; it worked out for me. And in every election since then, Andy has always been there to be the first person to call, give me advice, to let me know what we were doing wrong, what we were doing right.

He was very influential as the former mayor of Sarnia, helping build the petrochemical hub, and the redevelopment of Sarnia’s downtown.

As the MPP for Sarnia, he also used his persuasive nature to secure funding for the Sarnia Bay Marina, now known as the Andrew S. Brandt marina, and the long-overdue completion of the Highway 402 between London and the Blue Water Bridge.

As the Minister of the Environment, Andy creating the drinking water advisory board, a first-of-its-kind committee of environmentalists who were tasked with commenting, criticizing and advising Andy and the Ministry of the Environment on their policy decisions. This is a quote from Andy: “Voice any and all of your concerns and my ministry will listen,” Andy told the committee members.

He was a rare politician who didn’t take things personally and never shied away from criticism, but rather saw it as a function of political responsibility.

Following the historic end of the Big Blue Machine’s dominance in Ontario politics, Andy was selected to be the steady hand on the wheel to guide, refocus and rebuild the party.

In his final days in the Legislature as the leader of the PC Party, he was lauded by three Premiers and three future Premiers for his humour, his humanness, his determination and dignity, and his commitment to both his party and the democratic process.

It has already been touched on about his career in the LCBO—15 years. He turned the once bland and outdated agency, as many remember—well, some of us in this chamber remember those days; I know there are too many younger ones who don’t. Under Andy’s leadership, the LCBO increased its annual sales by 94% and achieved 10 straight record dividends for the Ontario government. I think that’s why he was so popular with all three parties and ended up being the government.

He also chaired the Lambton College Foundation from its inception until 2018. In 24 years, he was instrumental in raising over $48 million for the college’s multi-million dollar expansion project.

Andy will always be remembered for his gregariousness and being outgoing.

But I think the one thing I’d like to close with, on Andy’s—some of his final remarks in the Legislature. He said that day, “In closing ... the unique democracy that we practise in this place is something that means a great deal to me. When we look at those things that are happening in so many parts of the world”—that could be true today—“and so many problems that have developed as a result of people not having this mechanism”—this place—“for vetting the various differences of opinion, and when you see that words are used in here as opposed to guns and violence in other areas, I believe you have got to appreciate that this is a very important ... and very critical process that just has to continue and one that we have collectively to protect to the extent that we can.”

Madam Speaker, it’s been 34 years since Andy made those remarks, but his words ring just as true today. On behalf of Andy and his family that have been mentioned before, I’d like to say that the lasting impact that Andy Brandt had on this province will be here for a long, long time and he will be long-remembered in Sarnia–Lambton.

Applause.