Thank you to the member. This Premier and this government understand that it’s not protecting the environment from people and species but protecting it for. That’s why I was proud to stand alongside Anishinabek Indigenous leaders like Mel Hardy, Unifor leaders, United Steelworkers leaders and the northern Ontario municipal association, all of whom lauded this Premier and this government for getting it right when it comes to caribou.

We all have a role to play when it comes to caribou. That means working with the forestry sector on the fecal DNA project. That means working with the mining sector so that we can decarbonize in the south with electric vehicles while protecting caribou in the north. This is a team Ontario effort. We’re leaving nobody behind and that includes the great caribou in northern Ontario.

Thank you to the member for Thunder Bay–Atikokan for that question.

Speaker, it was actually just after that announcement, having thin pancakes, that I really realized what a strong voice we have in Thunder Bay in that member. I could barely get a mouthful in while the people came and engaged our member on the great work that he’s doing there.

One of those key elements is about how we protect the north, both for people and the species that call the north home. As minister I understand the importance of doing everything that we can do to protect the north. That’s why I was proud to announce with that member an investment of almost $30 million to protect boreal caribou habitat in the place that they call home. This builds on the existing work that we’ve done to protect 11.2-million acres of caribou habitat that Ontario already protects with our parks and conservation reserves—