Wellington Terrace Long Term Care Home

Ted Arnott, MPP
Wellington – Halton Hills

Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott delivered the following remarks at
Wellington Terrace Long Term Care Home on January 23rd, 2012, in
recognition of their Employer Champion Award:

Good afternoon:

What an honour and privilege it is to be able to join you today, as we acknowledge
yet another outstanding community achievement in the County of Wellington.

As the Member of Provincial Parliament for Wellington-Halton Hills, I’m pleased to
bring you greetings on behalf of the Province of Ontario.

My colleague Randy Pettapiece, the newly elected MPP for Perth-Wellington, and I
share the job of representing Wellington County residents in the Legislative
Assembly. I know he would want me to pass along his congratulations, to
accompany my own.

I want to thank the Provincial Partnership Council, for its Passport to Prosperity
program and for recognizing outstanding efforts through the Employer Champion
Award.

I was pleased to learn this morning that Sherryl Petracevic, who is a graduate of
Arthur District High School, is a member of the Provincial Partnership Council.

Sherryl and I were classmates, and we both have fond memories of the great high
school we had in Arthur.

As we work together to strengthen our communities, partnerships are the key: in fact
they are absolutely essential.

Partnerships between educators and employers can be amongst the most vital,
especially in today’s world.

And as we prepare for the economic challenges of today, and indeed the economic
opportunities of the next forty to fifty years, we know that practical, applied
knowledge goes hand-in-hand with the theoretical.

By helping high school students gain “hands on” experience, they will have a better
understanding of what it takes to succeed in careers like nursing, facility
maintenance, and speech therapy. They will know whether or not it is right for them,
and it will give them a leg-up if they pursue a career in that field.

I want to express my thanks to everyone involved, especially our County Council and
Staff, including Staff here at Wellington Terrace, and our local municipalities, who
share a commitment to excellence in local Government and community service that
is the equal or better of any comparable community in the Province. 3

I want to thank our Medical Officer of Health, and our local school boards and their
staff as well, for their leadership roles in this initiative. Again, community partnership
at its best.

And in the end, we give credit to our students themselves. They are bright,
enthusiastic, and idealistic.

In spite of the challenges we face today, they give us reason to believe in the
promise of the future.

Thank you very much.