Mr. Speaker, this year, in Wellington County, the Township of Puslinch celebrates its 175th anniversary.
Older than Confederation, Puslinch was established in the Province of Canada in 1850 under the municipal corporations act of 1849, which had been introduced by the great ministry of Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine. Named after a place in England, the township is filled with history from early pioneers: the English, Highland Scots, Germans and Irish Catholics.
The township played a key role in early Canadian agriculture, with Dr. Frederick Stone bringing to Puslinch the first Hereford cattle breed and other cattle breeds. His farm eventually became the Ontario Agricultural College at the University of Guelph.
I congratulate Mayor Seeley and the township council for continuing the 175-year tradition of local democratic governance.