It’s my pleasure to rise in the House today to highlight very exciting news for Brampton. Just in time for the 2024-25 Ontario Hockey League season, I’m proud to announce that Brampton will be getting our own OHL team when the Steelheads come to town. That’s right; after more than a decade since the Battalion left, OHL hockey is coming back to Brampton. This is great news, not just for my constituents, but for hockey fans across Brampton.

And yes, Mr. Speaker, Brampton is a hockey town. Brampton is proud to have developed some of the best talent the game has seen, including Cassie Campbell, Sean Monahan, Rick Nash and Tyler Seguin, just to name a few. More recently, our city was proud to host Hockey Night in Brampton last August, where Brampton’s passionate hockey fan base came together to raise over $1 million for our second hospital.

This move represents why Brampton is the place to be. With our vibrant and diverse population and our passion for developing the next generation of sports talent, Brampton is quickly becoming the breeding ground for sports excellence nationwide. Not only will this move give Brampton youth a chance to play for their hometown, but it will give our city front-row seats to watch them grow into the next generation of hockey stars.

I can’t wait to don a Brampton Steelheads jersey and cheer on our boys this fall.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got to say, Mr. Speaker, you look great. You’re a really good-looking Speaker.

My question for our friend opposite: Like me, he represents a community that has seen rapid growth and, frankly, a large amount of newcomers, new Canadians, because he’s right by the airport. Brampton is the same; we’re right by the airport. We’ve doubled in size in the last 20 years. Our infrastructure hasn’t kept pace, and our housing hasn’t kept pace.

One of the things that’s important about this bill is our commitment around getting to that 1.5 million new homes by 2031. But in order to support those homes, we also need infrastructure. We got a great win with the federal government, our wonderful Minister of Transportation, where the federal government has finally backed off the federal impact assessment for the 413. It seems like even they have seen the light on this issue. I’m wondering if the member opposite has seen the light and is ready to support the 413 as well.