Mr. Speaker, it is with great excitement and a profound sense of duty that I stand today to thank the people of Durham for their confidence in me as their member of Parliament.
In many ways, the small communities of Clarington, Scugog and Uxbridge perfectly represent the small towns, villages and people that built our country. In Newcastle, the visionary Massey family first built farm machinery to till our soil, and eventually Massey Ferguson tilled the fields of Canada. In Uxbridge, Lucy Maude Montgomery penned most of her Anne of Green Gables novels, telling one of the first quintessentially Canadian stories. Port Perry grew up alongside the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation. At the centre of this community is the idyllic and popular Lake Scugog, which some say took its name from the Mississaugas' word for “waves leap over a canoe”.
From the past to the present, Durham remains a proud and important part of Canada. I am indebted to the people of Durham, and particularly to my wife Rebecca and children Mollie and Jack, for providing me with the support and confidence to join this House of Commons.