Thank you, Madam Chair.
Welcome to our committee today.
I thought I would begin by enticing you, Deputy Minister and your department, and hopefully Minister Miller, to take a little tour of my riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam, including Anmore and Belcarra, on the beautiful west coast of B.C. I'll begin by painting a picture of some of the organizations that contribute greatly to my neck of the woods.
We have organizations such as the Port Moody Arts Centre, the Place des Arts and the station museum. We have active sports clubs, like the Coquitlam Express Junior A Hockey Club and the Port Moody Soccer Club. We have community media, like Tri-Cities Community TV and Freshet News. With a 46% immigration population, we have very active independent ethnic community TV producers, such as Parvaz media and KTV. I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the Festival du Bois, the much-loved festival put on by the Société francophone de Maillardville every year. These, and so many others, are bringing people together.
It's all happening on the unceded territory of eight nations. These are the Kwikwetlem, Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam, Squamish, Katzie, Kwantlen, Qayqayt and Stó꞉lō peoples.
All of this culminates in an incredible project that horseshoes around the Burrard Inlet called the presence of ancestors. It's a collaboration of five house posts created by a Coast Salish artist, Tasha Faye Evans, other indigenous artists and the Port Moody Ecological Society. It really showcases my riding. It's an incredible place to visit any time of the year.
With the new budget, how might these groups see themselves reflected?