Mr. Speaker, I take this opportunity to congratulate John Craig, a student from Haliburton Highlands High School.
At the age of 16, John has started his own business. John's business is a fitness facility in the village of Haliburton, Ontario. Along with the business, John gets great grades, plays on the football and cross-country teams, participates in drama and works weekends at an electronics store.
The idea for the business came when the old fitness facility in Haliburton closed. John leased the facility, brought in weights from his house and purchased additional ones. All this cost him $5,500 and if he gets an aerobics class it will cost him another $700.
His brother, Dan, has helped him considerably, along with his friends. His rent is considerably less than that of the last tenant but the most important factor will be his client base. John is working on that by placing flyers around the community and placing ads in the local paper.
I wish John all the best with his small business endeavour.