Mr. Speaker, I welcome the hon. member for Avalon to our team and congratulate him on his victory.
I am very proud to be representing the riding of Mississauga—Streetsville.
There are many lessons to be learned from a mayor as beloved and respected as Mayor Hazel McCallion. She has been serving my great city for the past 30 years and is continually re-elected with 92% of the popular vote. In fact, she was voted number two in the entire world in terms of mayoral effectiveness. She has led through discipline and fiscal prudence. She has kept us debt free. As well, we are one of the safest and most diverse communities, as I have described, and home to many Fortune 500 companies.
She would not squander a budget surplus of $13 billion on ideological cuts and policies. She would not spend a $3 billion contingency fund, but would put that money away in reserve for a rainy day or an economic downturn. She would put it away in times of prosperity. She would show restraint by keeping government small, she would not increase the size of cabinet or council, and she would not ignore her economic advisors. She would have a strategy and a plan to implement it.