Mr. Speaker, as we speak communities large and small right across the country are sprucing up, prettying up and greening up in hopes of being selected the most beautiful in the first annual Canadian communities in bloom competition.
The idea for a national beautification competition comes form Canadians in Quebec who want to share and celebrate the beauty of our towns and villages. Now with a board of directors and sponsors like the national capital commission, the competition is under way.
The city of Brantford in my riding has been selected to participate in the category of communities with a population under 100,000. The odds on favourite is Brantford because of the quality of our parks board, the involvement of local organizations and individual Brantfordtonians.
I know all hon. members will join with me in wishing all the participants well. We will see them in Ottawa in September when Canada's most beautiful bloom-in communities are selected under the first annual Canadian communities in bloom competition.