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Mrs. Arielle Kayabaga (London West, Lib.)

Dec/1/21 4:58:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to see you back in the chair. I would like to start by mentioning an unfortunate accident that happened last night in London West involving 11 people, eight of whom were taken to the hospital. This morning we learned that a young girl of only eight years old has lost her life in this tragic accident. I extend my deepest condolences to her family and friends in the London community. I also want to extend well wishes to the injured and their families and thank our first responders for being the first people there to support everyone. I want to take the time to recognize and appreciate the people of London West, who allowed me to take this seat. I will continue to work hard to serve them. I also want to thank my son Noah, who will likely be very embarrassed by what I have to say. He is my motivation and inspiration to be the woman I am today. I became a mom when I was 18 years old, and I have been dragging him along in my fight for equity and justice in London. Unknowingly, he has been and continues to be the reason I wake up every day to do this. Noah has remained my biggest supporter, a key volunteer who constantly kept the morale of the campaign office high. Even though he is a bandwagon Lakers fan, he keeps a smile on my face and kept a smile on my face throughout my entire campaign. I would like to thank my mother for her support while I am here. Mom, you have always supported me. If you had not chosen to come to Canada from Burundi, who knows where I would be now? I thank the rest of my family and friends for keeping me sane throughout these past several years of my political life. Their support has been immeasurable. I thank so much the volunteers who helped me knock on thousands of doors throughout the campaign. I know it was an interesting campaign full of challenges, but also full of friendships. I also thank my predecessor Kate Young for her tremendous support. Our weekly calls have really helped me and supported me to navigate this space. We have to recognize that in London this campaign was not perfect. I know that I do not need to remind the House that during his visit to London, the Prime Minister had gravel thrown at him. The fact that a G7 leader had gravel thrown at him is absolutely unacceptable and abhorrent behaviour. This behaviour continues to show the cracks in our system that have been even further amplified over the last two years. London has not had an easy year when it comes to these sorts of displays of hate. When a terrorist attack happened last summer in my riding, we were shocked and dismayed. The last two years have highlighted systemic racism and acts of discrimination and hate that have long faced Canada, and this is one of the many reasons I first ran for city council. We must remove these barriers, promote equity and access to services, and support one another. I continue to stand in solidarity with the Muslim community in London and say to them that they belong here. I look forward to working with them as we continue to stand against Islamophobia, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, anti-Black and indigenous racism and all forms of hate. Elections are about ensuring that everyone has a say and giving the people a voice, all people. It does not matter where they come from or what they look like; all Canadians have the right to vote for the future they want. I felt that personally when the Burundi community in London and across Canada came out in support of my campaign, a community that, frankly, has been disengaged in politics recently because they felt their voice was not being heard. To have my community stand with me meant the world to me and I thank them for that. I cannot wait to continue working hard to represent the people of London West, and I thank them again for putting their trust in me. On the throne speech that laid out the future that Canadians want our government to work toward, I will start by saying that we are still in the midst of a pandemic. In Ontario, 10,000 people have died from COVID-19. With a new variant that has been identified across the world and now in Canada, we know that work remains. Our government is prioritizing, above all else, the health and safety of Canadians while we work to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control and ensure that we have an inclusive and resilient recovery. That is why we are focusing on vaccination. We have mandated vaccination for federal and federally regulated workers, as well as for everyone travelling within Canada. On top of that, our government has secured more vaccines, boosters and doses for kids aged five to 11. I know that means a lot to parents. We cannot debate science. The only way we will get through this pandemic is by ensuring that all who can get vaccinated do get vaccinated. Throughout the pandemic, we have witnessed not just the widespread devastation caused by COVID-19, but also the deadly impacts of climate change and the climate crisis that we are currently facing. Last week, the people of British Columbia dealt with deadly flooding, which has cost lives, displaced families, and disrupted essential imports. The effects of climate change are real. They are having a greater impact on our society today, which is code red for humanity. We must all act immediately to ensure that future generations, like my son Noah, have a place to live. Our government is committed to tackling the climate crisis with even bolder climate action than we have been taking about over the past six years. We will move to cap and cut oil and gas sector emissions, while working to accelerate our path to a net-zero electricity future. We will invest more in greener ways of transportation, while increasing the price on pollution and strengthening disaster mitigation. These are much-needed steps and investments in cities, investments that will create more jobs, clean jobs and green jobs. As we move toward a greener, cleaner and more inclusive future, we can work to ensure that no more lives are lost over these catastrophic and horrifying effects of the climate crisis. As we work to rebuild our economy, we have to focus on a sustainable and inclusive recovery that continues to support everyone who has been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, including women, small businesses, racialized communities and seniors, just to name a few. Supporting Canadians with important access to accessible and affordable early learning and child care programs will ensure that women and parents are not left behind in our economic recovery. As a mom, I know first-hand the importance of giving a child the best possible start. Prioritizing a Canada-wide early learning and child care system will provide every child with access to affordable early learning and child care. It will help more women get back into the workforce and ease financial burdens that are often placed on families with younger children, especially in the most vulnerable communities. Last, I want to highlight an issue I spoke about in the House last Wednesday: housing. Tackling the rising costs of living includes ensuring that every Canadian, regardless of how much money they make, has access to a safe and affordable place to call home. Ensuring that Canadians have access to affordable housing is vital as we look toward our economic recovery. Committing to making life more affordable by helping families buy their first home sooner with the rent-to-own program and improving the first-time home buyer incentive will be crucial for young Canadians in London West, like myself, who dream of owning their first home. Building more housing across the country will increase the affordability of housing. What that means is that we have to work with everyone at all levels of government and with stakeholders. To put it in plain language, we need more Canadians in homes and end this chronic homelessness, which the national housing strategy is set up to do. I know that this is only a small section of what our government has committed to do. I wanted to talk about those things because those were the things I heard about at doors in London West. Those are the reasons why many of us are sitting here. We have been sent to the House to fight for a future for Canadians, not to fight among ourselves. Let us unite together to serve all Canadians in building a stronger, greener and more inclusive Canada. I look forward to expanding on this important work and working across the aisles to ensure this happens for Canadians.

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Context: House Hansard - 8 - Dec/1/21

Mrs. Arielle Kayabaga

Dec/1/21 5:08:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to emphasize the fact that we went into an election with a plan to make child care universally accessible and affordable to every family across Canada. In Ontario, we are still waiting. Women are still waiting to hear from their government on how they will be able to get back to work, how they will be able to save more money so they can continue to raise their families. We are talking about what we are doing for Canadians now. We just came out of an election. We are here now to serve Canadians. Let us work together to ensure child care is affordable to all families.

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Context: House Hansard - 8 - Dec/1/21

Mrs. Arielle Kayabaga

Dec/1/21 5:09:57 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will begin by saying that climate change is real: We experienced it during the election campaign, when it was really hot, and we saw how urgently we need to act. I have heard a lot of young Canadians say that they want to have a future and live in this country and on this planet. We need to do something today. Our climate change plan is clear, and that is why the government was re-elected: to continue taking action to address climate change in Canada. It is true that we have a lot of work to do. That is why we are all here. I hope that my colleague will get involved and help us move forward on what we need to do for Canadians.

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Context: House Hansard - 8 - Dec/1/21

Mrs. Arielle Kayabaga

Dec/1/21 5:12:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I did meet my colleague at COP16 in 2010. I was about 10 years younger than I am today. It is really exciting to see that she is still in the House, still doing the work and still fighting for climate change. I look forward to working with her, her team and everyone else to ensure we deliver on what we promised Canadians we would do. I want note that our children are watching from home, and they know. I have spoken to children who are Grade 5, Grade 4 and Grade 3, and the number one conversation they want to have with me is around climate change. We have to do more. We have to work together and not kill each other's plans to serve Canadians. Let us remember that Canadians sent us here to work together to serve them.

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