Our winter Olympians propelled themselves into the New Year. They shattered records and revelled in silver and gold. Even Queen Elizabeth noticed as she talked about sport in her year-end message.

Whether it was George St. Pierre individually conquering the fighting world or our men’s and women’s hockey teams owning the podium in team sports, Canadians were rocking the world.

Of course, for a nation to be strong there have to be winning performances in other fields also.

We scored well in other areas too.

In their year-end report, the International Monetary Fund reported Canada's economy is the strongest in the industrialized world. The World Economic Forum said that Canada's financial institutions are the most stable in the world and the O.E.C.D. said that Canada's economy 'shines'.

By December, the employment numbers showed an increase of 444,000 new jobs since July 2009.

Here in the constituency there were more projects announced and completed in 2010 than in any of the ten years I've been serving you as your Member of Parliament.

These positive indicators are by no means declaring that all is well at all times with all people. There are still those who are diligently pursuing job opportunities but nevertheless remain out of work.

That is why we will maintain the enhancements to our EI fund.

And even though Canada’s economy is strong, the global economic recovery is fragile. For that reason we will continue our spending restraint program at the federal level.

By keeping our spending in check we will also be able to keep your taxes down. This combination of policies has resulted in the winning conditions that will keep us in the forefront of economic stability and opportunity in the year ahead.

Let me close out this column by thanking each one of you for the privilege of serving you in 2010.

So many of you have communicated to me the things that matter most to you. My goal will always be to make your priorities the driving force of my agenda.

May 2011 be a year of blessing to you and your family.