I’m speaking to some of the politicians in the room, the stuff that we don’t always talk about and how it can be quite interesting to be a politician, a person with social anxiety. You have to walk into a variety of events, often by yourself, having no idea what you’re going to get. Because of that, when you find a group of people or an organization that you connect with as a politician, that makes you feel incredibly welcomed and supported, it is quite a remarkable thing.

I actually have some guests today who I will introduce later from the Grand River Malayalee Association. I first met these people during the Onam celebrations from last year. I feel like I mention this type of thing a lot, but we connected initially because I turned up in a sari that I hadn’t pleated properly, met the president, immediately asked to speak to his wife and ended up having their MC and another person essentially unwrap me and rewrap me in my sari before I went on stage, which is a really wonderful bonding experience that I recommend to everybody.

But since then, I’ve been to several of their events and I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever met a group of people who are more proud to participate in Canadian society. Every time I look, they’re canoeing in Algonquin park, they’re at Tim Hortons, they’re at Canada’s Wonderland, they’re doing something that shows just how much they love being part of this country. It’s such an honour to have them here today. I will introduce them later, but thank you, Speaker, and the Grand River Malayalee Association.

It’s absolutely my pleasure to welcome the subjects of my member’s statement this morning, the Grand River Malayalee Association. With us in the House today are Rajeev Pillai, Sudhip Joseph, Rayees Nishad, Selby Sebastian, Keerthik Premkumar, Alan Thomas, Shiny Mathews, Siju John, Merlin Sam and Anjali Sailaja. Welcome to your House and thank you so much for coming.

The member for Mississauga Centre, as a practising nurse and someone completing her masters in nursing and who I know has particular expertise in dementia and has in fact originated many of the motions in this House in relation to dementia—we’ve had a number of conversations about this issue, and I really want to congratulate you on your new placement as a PA. It couldn’t be more well-deserved.

So as somebody that I think probably has far more expertise than anybody else in this House in this area, both academically and professionally, I wonder if you can explain a little bit more from your experience not just as a politician but also as a nurse what you think is in this budget and the province’s record in this area.