I too would like to welcome all the firefighters to Queen’s Park today, as well as a good friend, Jim Corcoran, who’s here from Northumberland–Peterborough South.

It gives me great honour to acknowledge our page captain today, Alex Vanden Bosch, who is from my riding of Northumberland–Peterborough South, who hails from Grafton. She’s joined in the gallery by her parents, Irina and Justin; and Sue and Tim, her grandparents.

You have an outstanding granddaughter and daughter. Welcome to Queen’s Park. It’s an honour to have you here.

Rising for the first time, I would just like to thank the hard-working men and women, the incredible people of Northumberland–Peterborough South who have elected me.

Speaker, under the leadership of Premier Ford and our government, we’ve become a leader in clean, green steel. With our government’s significant investments, Ontario’s manufacturing sector is breathing new life. Why does this matter? Because in Ontario, it’s not through punishing taxes on hard-working families that we’ll ensure a prosperous clean, green future, but it’s through working with and leaning on the ingenuity and work ethic of the men and women of our Ontario steel sector—men and women like my grandfather, who got off the boat and worked in the steel sector to provide opportunity for my family.

Thanks to the electrification of the arc furnace, thanks to working collaboratively with all levels of government, this Premier has ensured, through the electrification of the arc furnace, that we are going to see a six-megaton reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, ensuring jobs for our future, jobs for men and women who choose to choose Ontario for a more prosperous, cleaner future.