And the member opposite, the honourable member for Oshawa, supports me in that salute.

Speaker, I also want to talk and focus on our recovery plan for the future. This was outlined in the speech from the throne yesterday. I am so proud to have campaigned on the plan of Premier Ford and the Ontario PC Party to get it done and to build our province. Far too often, politicians have had the tendency to say no. But, Speaker, I am proud that our government, through the speech from the throne yesterday, is saying yes:

—yes to rebuilding Ontario’s economy by creating new jobs with bigger paycheques;

—yes to Working for Workers by raising the minimum wage and investing in skills training and skilled workers;

—yes to building highways and key infrastructure, including public transit, hospitals and schools;

—yes to keeping costs down and lowering the cost of living by reducing the price of gas, eliminating tolls on Highways 412/418 and eliminating licence plate sticker fees;

—yes to staying open; and

—yes to increasing our hospital capacities and investing in hiring more doctors, nurses and PSWs.

Durham residents have witnessed and congratulated our government for policies and plans that are already being implemented. During the campaign this year, individuals and families warmly welcomed us to their doors and greeted us in parks and on main streets, overjoyed with the reality of Ontario being open again, while congratulating Premier Ford and our government for successfully leading us through the many challenges of the pandemic.

Families and individuals welcomed measures to keep costs down with the measures already mentioned. These make a difference to household budgets. They allow families and individuals to decide for themselves how to spend the extra money available as a result. And, as inflation is now on the rise, they are very confident that our government understands and is sensitive to the need to be vigilant to keep costs down.

Furthermore, Speaker, I am also proud that our government has invested, and is investing, in the expansion of Bowmanville Hospital. This is a much-needed expansion as our community grows and the need for quality public health care increases. We said yes to improving our public health care system and we will continue to say yes to hiring more nurses, more PSWs and more doctors.

And, Speaker, the GO train is finally coming to Bowmanville. This project will give families the opportunity to hop on the GO train, for individuals to get to and from work faster, for families to attend a concert or sporting event in downtown Toronto without having to do an additional commute to and from Oshawa. This investment in the expansion of public transit within Durham is just one example in my riding of a province-wide expansion and investment in public transit. It was announced locally by Premier Ford, with me, on May 6 in my riding. As a result, we can now get shovels in the ground and move past the endless delays associated with just talking about it. We are saying yes to getting it done in Durham in every possible way.

These are the pledges, Speaker, that our government is committed to. Building Ontario is essential because Ontario must be the engine of Canada’s economy. When Ontario succeeds, all of Canada can succeed for, as former Premier William Davis once remarked, “I am a Canadian first,” even though in that context he recognized that he was representing Ontario on the national stage.

It was Premier Davis’s leadership that inspired me to become involved as a student volunteer in the 1981 campaign that saw the Ontario PC Party returned to majority status, and that was in large part because of the pledge, which I remember well, “Help Keep the Promise.”

So as we go forward together as equals in this House, let us listen respectfully to each other as democratically elected representatives of almost 15 million Ontarians, being ever mindful of the fragile and precious gift of parliamentary democracy that we have all been so fortunate to inherit. Now more than ever it is our solemn duty, collectively and individually, to uphold, protect and defend parliamentary democracy. Let us together live up to the high ideals of the late Honourable Lincoln Alexander, a federal parliamentarian, cabinet minister and the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991. Lincoln Alexander stated, “Let us not just be average, as it is our duty to set a higher example for others to follow, and to do this job and ... do it well.”

There can be no doubt that there will be vigorous debate in this chamber in the context of this 43rd Ontario Parliament. As a trial lawyer for over 30 years, I am well familiar with the fact that in any court—and this House is styled like a court—emotions can get the better of participants, even when they have the best intentions associated with their cause. But let us remember that while fighting the good fight for our respective causes, and being passionate and dedicated as we must be, we must also remember to be wise, to listen to each other in our different points of view and, in doing so, we can set the higher example aspired to by Lincoln Alexander. We can be firm but fair, we can be strong advocates for our side of the debate, but we can and must be civil with each other, to demonstrate kindness and respect to one another. For as Thomas More, the patron saint of politicians, once prayed, please, may I not simply to win a point lose my soul. With that in mind, let us recognize that each one of us comes to this place with the common belief in the nobility of public service and public office.

Finally, to the residents of Durham, I once again wish to thank you for placing your trust in me. I am here to be a fierce advocate for you and I will do my very best to meet and exceed your expectations and to carry out the mandate that can and will be carried out on the basis of promises made, promises kept.

Premier Ford and our PC team, and I as a member of that team, made solemn pledges during the spring 2022 campaign. Those pledges are now contained within the throne speech read yesterday. It is with great pride that I can state unequivocally that this government and its members, having listened to the citizenry and made pledges to the citizenry, and having received a strong, stable majority mandate from the citizenry, this government will now act based on what has been pledged, and the evidence of that commitment is in this speech from the throne.