If I may, when I was back in my riding I spent a great deal of time.... I represent a riding that has four communities, from small towns to Richmond Hill and Markham. I spent a lot of time with the mayors, members of council, and town staff looking at potential infrastructure projects, projects they would have had no ability to do on their own. I've been extraordinarily excited by their response, which includes sending back to me potential projects they are very excited to bring forward.
For me, part of this was not only to see what they're interested in doing but also to assess the impact it would have on the community, the types of jobs, the person hours this would create.
I can tell you that in King--the small town of King has 17,000 people--the number of jobs this stimulus will create is extraordinary. They're very excited. But the same goes for Richmond Hill. The same goes for Markham. The same goes for Stouffville. The working relationship between me and my Liberal provincial counterpart, in order to assess what the communities need and to bring that forward, and their willingness to cooperate have been extraordinary.
If I may say, they have been extraordinarily happy about how quickly the government and the public service have been working. They have nothing but praise for how quickly we are getting things done. I want to pass on, on behalf of the mayors of Markham, Stouffville, King, and Richmond Hill, a thank you to you and to all the people who are helping support small-town Ontario to get the economic stimulus out the door and to help create as many jobs as possible. I thank you very much. I know you've been in front of the committee many times. So on behalf of my riding, thank you. This is going to mean a very big difference for the people of Oak Ridges—Markham. We're ready to go. We have the money. You've been right there with us to get this done.