SoVote

Mr. Yasir Naqvi (Ottawa Centre, Lib.)

Dec/2/21 12:48:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Milton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to speak on the throne speech. I will start by thanking the residents of Ottawa Centre for giving me this incredible honour and opportunity to serve them in this House. I welcome all the members to my riding of Ottawa Centre as well. We feel quite privileged, as we are often referred to as “riding number one” in Canada. This is where all our national institutions are located and where decisions are made for the well-being of our country. I am excited to see so many members make Ottawa Centre their second home while they are here serving their constituents. Ottawa Centre has been my home for decades. It is where both of my children were born and where they go to school. My son, Rafi Naqvi, who is nine years old, and my daughter, Elliana Naqvi, who is five, will be excited to know that they were mentioned today in the House, as we talked about this a little yesterday. My children, Rafi and Elliana, attend a local French public school. They often now tell me that I have to work on my French and my French accent, and I continue to commit to that. I pledge to continue learning French. This is important to me as well. I have had the great honour of serving the riding of Ottawa Centre as a member of the provincial Parliament for almost 11 years. As a result, I have built deep connections within the community. I know our neighbourhoods and I have community connections where we have worked together on issues that are important to our community, from protecting our waterways like the Ottawa River, the Rideau River or the Rideau Canal to making sure that our post-secondary institutions, like Carleton University, which is located in my riding, continue to thrive. We have helped countless individuals, whether they are new to Canada and new to the city of Ottawa or residents who have lived here for a very long period of time. Again, I want to say a big “thank you” to them, from Carleton Heights to downtown and from Old Ottawa East to Westboro, for putting their faith and trust in me to be their strong voice in this great House. I would be remiss if I did not take some time to thank my parents, Anwar and Qaisar Naqvi. My family and I came to Canada almost 33 years ago. We moved to Niagara Falls, where we made our home and, like any newcomer family, we worked hard so my parents could ensure that all of us could have a better life. The circumstances under which my parents left were not ideal. Both my parents were involved in a pro-democracy movement in the country of my birth. In fact, my father led a pro-democracy march. For that he was arrested and tried in a military court and served nine months as a political prisoner. I was 10 years old. Members can imagine the profound impact of that experience on me to this day. I saw my father pursuing and standing up for democratic rights, and I saw my mother fight for his rights while he was imprisoned, while at the same time raising a family and running a law practice so that we were all taken care of. Members can imagine where my drive for public service comes from, and how indebted I feel to this great country of Canada, which has given us the opportunity to live in a free country and enabled me to devote my professional life to serving my community and my country. I was often asked in the last federal election why I had decided to come back to public service and put my name forward to be the member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre. I thought quite deeply about this, and the answer was simple. We find ourselves living in a very pivotal moment. This pandemic has impacted all of us. It has really shone a light on the inequities that exist in our society, and this is our opportunity to rebuild Canada in the most inclusive way and make sure no one is left behind. We often talk about building back better. Well, here is my take: We cannot build back better by building back the same. There are issues I have identified that are important to me, such as making sure that we end chronic homelessness in our communities. I want to do that in my city of Ottawa. We must fight climate change so that our children have a better future. We must put an end to systemic racism and systemic barriers against indigenous people, Black people and people of colour. These are the kinds of things that I want to work with all members on and champion in this House. I was so excited and heartened to hear very precise language used in the Speech from the Throne on these three issues. I look forward to working with the government and each member of this House on these important issues, because that is how we are going to build a Canada for everyone. As my time is winding down, I have a commitment that I want to make today in my inaugural speech. Please hold me to account if I do not live up to my commitment. I am 100% committed to serving my community and my country. I want to do that by working with every member of this House. We all have come here because we want to challenge the status quo. That is why we knocked on doors and asked for this mandate. We may have different ways of getting to that, but at the end of the day we all want to build a better country. I want to work with everyone, regardless of their political affiliation. There is a Latin phrase that I am often reminded of, that is audi alteram partem, or “listen to the other side”. My commitment is that I will listen and I will pay attention. We may disagree, we may debate, as the case should be in a democratic society, but we shall work together. I look forward to working hard on behalf of my community of Ottawa Centre. I thank them and my family for getting me here today. It is an honour to serve the people of my riding.

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Context: House Hansard - 9 - Dec/2/21

Mr. Yasir Naqvi

Dec/2/21 12:57:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I share the member's passion to fight homelessness. I am sure all of us in our respective communities have very important projects that could be supported, so that we can help those who are marginalized. I am very excited that finally we have a federal government that has put forward a national housing strategy. I was a member of the provincial government at a time when the federal government was not there to address housing. There is a real opportunity for us to end chronic homelessness. It is right there, stated clearly in the Speech from the Throne. I look forward to working with the member opposite on that important issue.

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Context: House Hansard - 9 - Dec/2/21

Mr. Yasir Naqvi

Dec/2/21 12:59:26 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, yes, as an immigrant living in Ontario I had to first work on my English, but I am absolutely committed to learning French. It is very important for me to learn and speak this language. I also work in French with my colleagues across the way. Seniors were really impacted by this pandemic. We saw the unfortunate loss of life in long-term care homes, and that is unacceptable. We have to do some important work to make sure seniors continue to enjoy a great life in their golden years.

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Context: House Hansard - 9 - Dec/2/21

Mr. Yasir Naqvi

Dec/2/21 1:00:32 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I wish it had ended yesterday, but we have a lot of work to do because we are trying to address a huge backlog that was left from some time ago when all three levels of governments did not work together to address this really important issue. As I mentioned, I worked at the provincial level, and we were just working alone in Ontario with the municipality. The federal government was unfortunately, under his party, absent from that conversation. Finally we have a federal government with a national housing strategy, with a commitment to end chronic homelessness in this country, so there is great opportunity. Just in my riding, in the last six years 1,700 new units are being built. I want to double that in my riding and put an end to chronic homelessness.

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