Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm a big fan of brevity so I'll keep my comments brief. First and foremost, I want to thank the chair and deputy chair of AOC who have done an amazing job negotiating for this side of the House this time and every time, Mr. Speaker. I also want to thank the Minister of Finance for her hard work as well. I appreciate her making pragmatic choices in the spirit of consensus and collaboration. I also want to thank the staff of the Assembly and the public service who worked tirelessly to support this entire process.

Mr. Speaker, I will support this budget, and I will tell you why. It is a momentous task to balance fiscal responsibility and make strategic social investments into a core priority of this Assembly, which is housing. This budget is proof to me that our Cabinet is listening and doing what they can with the resources that they have. And even a bit beyond, Mr. Speaker, as they're willing to go into what I've been calling good debt for social investment which is something I explicitly requested in my reply to this budget.

We are remaining smart about our spending for the battles we cannot yet see, Mr. Speaker, but also tackling our priorities. We are spending on core social needs for the benefit of our residents which is something we talk about every single day in this House, and I am glad that we are making notable progress. While we have a lot further to go, the tortus may yet win. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.