Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the town of Richmond Hill in my riding of Oak Ridges for being awarded a four bloom rating out of a possible five for its 2001 Communities in Bloom program. The results were announced on September 22 at a national awards ceremony hosted by the greater Saint John, New Brunswick area which honoured competing municipalities from each province and territory across Canada.
Richmond Hill achieved high scores in community involvement, environmental efforts and a special mention for its efforts in the area of heritage restoration. With its four bloom rating, the town is eligible to compete on the national stage next year.
The judges noted that they were impressed with the strong support from many groups of Richmond Hill volunteers and commented “a beautiful city is being created with highly landscaped commercial areas, treed boulevards, an abundance of trees, play fields and open spaces, naturalized water drainage and urban forest areas”.
Mr. Speaker, I could not be happier to agree.