Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since it is Friday and all, I would like to start off by sending greetings back to my wife and children. I would also like to take this opportunity to try and look at this forum we are in, in a different light.
Mr. Speaker, being a hockey player, and it is said that due to my age, I have gone from speeding around the rink to coasting around the rink, I would like to draw some parallels to this forum. Mr. Speaker, what I felt like yesterday when we found out information about the interim budget, I felt like a player that was sent a blind pass. I was in the tracks and looked behind to receive the puck and was hit by a wall.
Mr. Speaker, that was the feeling I had yesterday as we found out information regarding Municipal and Community Affairs. I do not think this was a purposeful thing. Most of the time, your own team-mates do not set you up to be hit hard. They try to get you the puck so you can score a goal. Hopefully, this was an event that was unintentional. In fact, as they say in the game of hockey, when you get hit hard, you get up and you skate again, but you remember the number of the player who hit you. Mr. Speaker, I remember the number.
I remember my days in contact hockey. One of the best feelings I had as a defenseman was when I knew I had my opponent lined up in my sights, and he was in his tracks. Mr. Speaker, the game is not over. We are early in the first period, and I have my head up. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause