SoVote

Ms. Lena Metlege Diab (Halifax West, Lib.)

Dec/2/21 1:49:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Parkdale—High Park. I want to acknowledge that I am standing on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. Since this is the first real opportunity I have had to speak, I feel it is important to begin with some acknowledgements. From the bottom of my heart, I thank the voters of Halifax West for putting their trust in me. They know I will work every day to make their lives better and leave a better Canada for our next generation. I want to give a special thanks to my family, especially my mother Houda; my children, my son Antonios, who managed my election campaign; my daughters Stephanie, Monica and Marena; all my volunteers and friends who did so much to bring me here today; as well as my father Stephen, who is watching from above with a great smile and a tear in his eye. I am going to make him proud. It is hard to find the words to describe how very proud I am to rise today for the first time as the member for Halifax West. Today I am profoundly humbled to stand and address my colleagues in this chamber as the first female member of Parliament to represent my community in the House of Commons. Most members are familiar with my predecessor, the Hon. Geoff Regan, a former speaker of this House, and I hope to continue his strong record of collaboration and advocacy. All my colleagues know the feeling I am experiencing. It is one of pride, enthusiasm and passion for one’s community and country. We do not really know how to describe it, but we know this feeling is going to push us to do everything and anything we can to make a difference in the lives of the people who sent us here. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to my new colleagues and talk about my riding. My constituency of Halifax West is the most diverse and multicultural riding east of Montreal. I would also like to share a few thoughts on the Speech from the Throne. My name is Lena Metlege Diab. I am a proud Lebanese Nova Scotian, a mother of four children, a grandmother to four, a small business owner, a lawyer and a community volunteer. Though I am new to this chamber, I am not new to political life. Prior to the election, I served two terms as a member of the legislative assembly of Nova Scotia, with you, Mr. Speaker, when you were in that chamber. I also served as the provincial cabinet minister responsible for justice, public safety, immigration and population growth, labour and advanced education, and Acadian affairs and francophonie. In 2013, I was appointed as the first female attorney general in Nova Scotia. In my previous roles, I worked hard to push forward the cause of equity, address Nova Scotia’s economic and demographic challenges, and support businesses and workers. That is why I was so encouraged by the themes and priorities laid out in this year’s Speech from the Throne. What was clear to me was that the government gets the type of action this moment calls for. If ever there were a time when Canadians needed an active government, a government that takes the reins and charts the course, that time is now. That is the vision I see in this year’s Speech from the Throne, one that is bold, forward-looking and intentional. It is an acknowledgement that our biggest problems will not simply right themselves, including the climate emergency, the housing shortage, the inequities experienced by many of our community members, and the challenges of building back our workforce and our industries from a once-in-a-lifetime economic shock. We have to act intentionally, collaboratively and urgently on them all, and we have to back that up with real investment and meaningful policy change. I will now come back to the incredible diversity in my riding. As I knocked on doors in Halifax West, I met people from around the globe. Many are not yet Canadian citizens, but their stories are touching and inspiring to me. I myself experienced life as an immigrant when I came to Canada at the age of 11. What struck me the most about these people was their great hope and immense pride in being here and soon joining our Canadian family and community. I remember my days as a young girl at St. Agnes Junior High in Halifax, feeling brand new to my city. At the time, I was still working to learn English, and I did not truly understand what the other children were saying about me. I knew they looked at the way I looked, the way I wore my hair, and I could sense they saw me as different from them. However, after eight years serving as Nova Scotia's immigration minister, I know that today the hearts of Nova Scotians are more open than ever before. This is why I am so encouraged by the Speech from the Throne’s mentions of increasing immigration, reducing wait times for reunification and a continuing the commitment to resettle those displaced from their homes. My community is a daily reminder and living proof that our diversity is our strength. I do not mean to imply that we have no challenges ahead, because that is far from the case. There are many forms of hatred and discrimination in our communities, and truly addressing them requires continuous, vigilant action from all levels of government and collaboration from all members in the House. This is something I am committed to working on in my time here, and I see that too in the Speech from the Throne. We need active, renewed initiative when it comes to eliminating racism and bigotry from our communities. An essential part of my mission here is to do what I can to ensure my community and my country feel like home for every individual and family, no matter where they come from. In Nova Scotia, we are now just counting the days before the mark of one million residents is passed. Having been on the front lines of that work, I could not be more proud. It is clear from the Speech from the Throne that this government understands how essential immigration is to strengthening our economy, our workforce, our communities and our public services in Nova Scotia and across the country. At the same time, we must act purposefully to ensure that the economy we rebuild after this pandemic includes everyone. It is inconceivable to me that we would let the pandemic roll back the gains made by women and under-represented communities in the workforce. I see the government's commitment in that in its establishing of an affordable national early child care system and its investing in the empowerment of Black, racialized and indigenous people. I am encouraged by the priorities and the focus. I am encouraged because I came here to make a difference in the lives of Canadians, and I welcome the attention given to this pressing issues, which I heard about on the door steps. I am ready for the work ahead, and I will do that work in my three languages. I feel it is important to bring my enduring love of the French language to the House every day I have the privilege of sitting here. I also proudly address this House in the beautiful Arabic language, and I will do my very best to represent the many residents of Halifax West who speak it themselves. [Member spoke in Arabic] [English] To conclude, let us all now get to work with renewed commitment to address the needs of Canadians and to make good on the promise of building back better.

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

Ms. Lena Metlege Diab (Halifax West, Lib.)

Dec/2/21 3:59:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, welcome to the chair. It is my first opportunity to speak and see you sitting there, so it is lovely to see you sitting there. I thank my colleague. When I was a minister and a member of the provincial Nova Scotia legislature, I was so proud when the Prime Minister and the current Minister of Immigration and some members of the legislature of Nova Scotia attended my riding to make the very important announcement on child care. It was at Mount Saint Vincent University. It was precedent-setting for the province, and indeed it will be for the country. It is going to benefit my daughters who have children. As we all know, child care and the cost of living are very difficult, but I am very much looking forward to all the provinces in this country signing on.

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

Ms. Lena Metlege Diab

Dec/2/21 4:01:28 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for welcoming me to the House. I am very pleased to be here and to be able to work collaboratively with the member and all her colleagues. That is a very good question, and it is one I heard a lot at the doors when I campaigned in my riding. I have spoken to our colleagues on this side of the House about it, and it is a matter that the minister is very much aware of. It is a matter that I very much look forward to her department working on, and I have been assured that it is working on it. I know that seniors received the rebate in the summer, and that was very welcome by most of them. As I said, I look forward to the minister and the department working on that as well.

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

Ms. Lena Metlege Diab

Dec/2/21 4:03:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to answer that question because our country and our families depend on these investments and this is one way to get more families, men and women back into the workforce. We all know we have labour shortages. We need to get people back to work and we all know child care is very expensive. It is an investment in our children, in my case in my grandchildren, and I very much look forward to that. This is an investment. That is one thing my father taught me as a small child. These are investments as opposed to expenses. This is how I view it.

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