In my six years as an MP, I’ve had the distinct privilege of meeting many veterans old and young. And I can tell you without a doubt, you’ll never meet more courageous, selfless, determined people than our veterans.

This is the time that, as a country, we pause to reflect on the sacrifices made by those who served in Canadian uniform in World Wars, the Korean War, Afghanistan and peace-keeping missions.

We honour those willing to place themselves in harm’s way to stand up for what’s right, and to protect the values that we as Canadians hold dear.

While our focus is often Remembrance Day on November 11^th, all of the coming week (November 5^th to 11^th) has been designated Veterans Week in Canada. I encourage you to consider ways to actively remember and honour our Veterans this year:

• Wear a poppy above your heart.
• Participate in Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ancaster, Dundas and Westdale. Or join me at the Waterdown Remembrance Day ceremony (each year I rotate between one of the five local ceremonies)
• Vow to never forget.
• Listen to Veterans talk about their experiences.
• Change your profile picture on Facebook to a poppy and/or tweet about the importance of remembrance.

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On October 21^st, I was pleased to represent the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Science Minister and Minister for Federal Economic Development in Southern Ontario, in announcing federal funds under the Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative at Mohawk College.

What is this all about? Through these funds, 15 local businesses will have the opportunity to bring innovative products to market and increase their productivity and competitiveness. Mohawk College has struck agreements with these small businesses for projects that will bring new products to the marketplace through activities such as applied research, engineering design, technology development, product testing, and certification. 

Small- to medium-sized businesses are key drivers of our economy. They create jobs locally and are the first to embrace and make economic value of the technology that is changing our world. 

It’s a win-win-win – for Mohawk student and faculty know-how, for the businesses, and for our economy. The small businesses supported are developing the new and innovative technologies of the future. These are the kind of technologies that didn’t exist a few years ago in the health care and mobile technology arenas, but today are reshaping our lives.