- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Liberal
- Mississauga East—Cooksville
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $103,294.29
- Government Page
- Jan/31/22 6:39:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the members for allowing me to finish my speech.
I will move to a part of the Speech from the Throne that speaks to our resilient economy. Our government has supported Canadians through the COVID-19 pandemic and introduced further investments in budget 2021 and the recovery plan to ensure an economic recovery that includes everyone.
Together we have helped Canada maintain a strong fiscal position compared to international counterparts, preventing long-term increase in the federal debt-to-GDP ratio. This encouraged global markets to maintain confidence in Canadian bonds, bringing the cost of borrowing to record low levels and protecting millions of Canadian jobs.
Major credit rating agencies have also reaffirmed Canada's AAA credit rating and Moody's praised the budget for its focus on supporting growth, which will reinforce Canada's economic recovery and limit potential long-term scarring from the pandemic.
Inflation is still a challenge that countries around the world are facing. While we all know that Canada's economic performance is better than that of many of our partners, we have a challenge to keep tackling the rising cost of living. Housing and child care are top priorities for Canadians, and hence for our government.
The Canada child benefit has already helped lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and will continue to increase to keep up with the cost of living. As I mentioned before, our government's $10-a-day child care is available for families who so badly need it. Our government is still keen on working with Ontario to finalize agreements. Investing in affordable child care, just like housing, is not only good for families but also helps grow the entire economy for Ontario and Canada.
Though we have had a difficult start to this decade, the decade itself is still young. There is so much more that our government has to offer for all Canadians. My focus will always be on helping the amazing residents of Mississauga East—Cooksville succeed and representing their aspirations in this 44th Parliament of Canada.
I like the way the Speaker always talks about respect and listening, and now we, as parliamentarians, should be setting an example for our younger generations who are listening to us and learning from us. Let us keep this session more respectful—
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- Jan/31/22 5:57:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is a tremendous honour and privilege to be a voice for the residents and businesses of Mississauga East—Cooksville and to be able to speak in this 44th Parliament representing my great community.
My heartfelt thanks go to the constituents of Mississauga East—Cooksville for placing their trust in me from the year 2003, both in my provincial and federally elected roles. I am so thankful to my dedicated staff of Radhika Sriram, Natniel Solomon and Maheen Nazim, and to an amazing team of volunteers for their wonderful support throughout these years, and I send a big hug to my loving, lovely family of my wife Christina and my twin boys, Alexander and Sebastian. I thank them for their dedication, love and support, and, of course, for putting up with me. To my parents, who fled a fascist dictatorship in Portugal, as you would know, Madam Speaker, the country that you come from, and left there to make their life here in Canada, and who were received with open arms and so much opportunity for them to be able to build their lives, I thank Maria Fonseca and Joaquim Fonseca.
I would like to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered on the unceded territory of the Algonquin and Anishinabe in Ottawa and the Mississaugas of the New Credit in Mississauga. I did not get a chance last December to congratulate every member here, newly elected and re-elected, and you, Madam Speaker, on your re-election and role as Assistant Deputy Speaker. I have so much respect for all members and all those who work on our behalf. They are all truly amazing, talented, dedicated and passionate individuals who are all here to help make Canada an even better place than it is today.
As members of Parliament, we are all here for one reason: to represent our respective constituents and make our communities and country even better tomorrow than today, creating a healthier, stronger, more inclusive country that is a beacon for all. I know from the thousands of conversations that I have had with residents and businesses in my riding that there are top priorities that continue to be my North Star. They include protecting their health and providing for a better future for their families, including taking care of their aging parents and grandparents.
That is why we have taken bold action through the pandemic and since forming government in 2015. These bold actions include the Canada child benefit, increases to the GIS and OAS for seniors, investments in infrastructure and housing, and putting a price on pollution. These initiatives and so much more led to a stronger, resilient and resourceful Canada, a Canada that created well over a million jobs, a Canada that raised over a million people out of poverty, a Canada that showed it cared for everyone, including our indigenous people, ethnic groups, the LGBTQ2 community, seniors, families and small businesses. It is a Canada that does not and will not leave anyone behind.
In the last election, Canadians sent a clear message to parliamentarians. They want us to work together to put this pandemic behind us. They expect us to deliver results and solutions to the other challenges we face. Our government will continue to remain focused on moving Canada forward for everyone.
The Speech from the Throne comes nearly two years after the world was plunged into a once-in-a-century pandemic. Our plan will finish the fight against COVID-19, take strong climate action, make life more affordable, walk the shared path of reconciliation, put home ownership back in reach, create jobs and grow the middle class.
Our government completely understands that the rising cost of living is making it harder for Canadians to put food on the table and buy necessities. That is why we have a plan to make life more affordable for all Canadians. From $10-a-day child care to supports for low-income seniors, our government will be there for as long as it takes to ensure that no Canadian gets left behind. Our government's top priority has been to have Canadians' backs, supporting Canadians in fighting COVID and addressing the hardships it has placed on Canadians' health and finances. Now, as we work together to finish this fight against COVID-19 and get the job done on vaccines, our government will continue to be there for Canadians.
Thanks to the hard work of Canadians, we reached our target of one million jobs and more, restoring employment back to prepandemic levels. Now it is time to go well beyond a million jobs. We will continue to focus on ensuring that Canadians have access to good jobs and that our economy continues to grow.
We will also tackle housing affordability and supply in Canada. All Canadians deserve an affordable and safe place to call home. We cannot leave young families and middle-class Canadians behind. Our government will continue our work to make life more affordable for all Canadians, including through $10-a-day child care to help families access quality, accessible and affordable child care.
It saddens me that in Mississauga, Ontario, the province I am from, every day that the province delays signing up for this historic program, we are denying the right for those families to be provided with better access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care programs. Ontario is missing out on the community-based early learning and child care system that would make life more affordable for families, create new jobs, get parents and especially women back into the workforce, and grow the middle class, while giving every child a real and fair chance at success.
There are a few key takeaways from the Speech from the Throne. One of the top priorities for my constituents is to build a healthier today and tomorrow. When we started the year 2020, little did any of us think we would be facing COVID-19. Against this once-in-a-century pandemic, Canadians stepped up. We armed ourselves with our best weapon to defeat this invisible enemy: We went out and got vaccinated. I recall at the vaccination sites in my riding how proud people were to do their part to protect themselves, their family, our community, our country, and the world for that matter. There were tears of joy and national pride. How Canadians responded was no surprise. I want to give a big thanks to all of the residents of Mississauga East who got vaccinated, and to all our frontline workers, particularly those in health care, who provided the most selfless support to those who needed it the most.
Our government wasted no time in prioritizing the utmost important things our country needed, whether it was procuring the vaccines effectively or providing key benefits immediately to our residents who lost jobs because of the pandemic. The Conservatives questioned—
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