Mr. Speaker, I am rising to recognize the achievement of a great young Calgarian, Matthew Dirk, who has been honoured with the integrated entrepreneur of the year award by the e-commerce giant eBay. How did he do it? With his trademark hard work and typical can-do Alberta attitude, and an extraordinary ability to find an opportunity in every problem. He took a traditional business-to-business industry and tapped into a growing consumer e-commerce market. He took a regular traditional business selling gold and silver and upped its sales by 400%. Today, SilverGoldBull is on track to make $8 million by the end of the year. Did I mention he is only 23 years old?
Entrepreneurs like Matt are Canada's pride and joy. We need more of them. We need the Matthews of Canada to succeed, because they are the lifeblood of our communities.
I invite all members to join me in congratulating Matthew on his impressive business award and for being an inspiration to other young entrepreneurs who are making a mark in our communities across Canada.