- Member of Parliament
- Liberal
- Humber River—Black Creek
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $134,163.57
- Government Page
- Jan/30/24 2:02:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to share today that Taiwan successfully completed presidential and legislative elections on January 13, 2024. This marks the eighth milestone in Taiwan's history, and I would like to congratulate the new President of Taiwan, Mr. William Lai. With a proven track record of dedication to public service and a deep commitment to the values that define Taiwan, President Lai embodies the spirit of progress and inclusivity.
As Taiwan embarks on this new chapter, let us rally together in support, embracing the shared vision of a Taiwan that thrives on innovation, justice and the unwavering spirit of its people. These elections are another testament to Taiwan's strong commitment to democracy and freedom. The democratic process is the heartbeat of the people of Taiwan.
Once again, congratulations to President Lai and the people of Taiwan.
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- Mar/28/23 10:19:35 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to acknowledge my colleague for the commitment he has to ensuring that democracy is promoted and fought for. He has worked on many files over the years, and I have always respected him immensely.
On a personal level, I very much support the IRGC being labelled a terrorist organization. I supported that when it came forward, and I would certainly like to see more activity happen, given the incidents that we have seen of the schoolgirls being poisoned and other things happening.
What other action would you like the government to be taking today?
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad to be back, glad to see you back in the chair here in the House and glad that we are getting on with the work that is important for all our constituents and for our country.
I want to speak to Bill C-31. Just in case viewers have lost track given previous speakers, what we are actually focusing on in Bill C-31 is part 1, the dental benefit act, which would provide interim dental benefits for many low-income families. Part 2 of Bill C-31 would enact the rental housing benefit act, which proposes a $500 one-time payment to eligible families with net incomes of under $35,000. Part 2 would empower the CRA to process the applications and payments for a one-time top-up payment of $500.
Bill C-31 is the beginning of a program for those most vulnerable, and it is our children under 12 who are going to benefit from that particular program. I would ask members to take a moment to think about when we were all in school. There were children who had significant dental problems. They were often bullied, abused and picked on. If this followed them through much of their lives and they continued to not be able to afford dental care, getting to high school and then the workplace and still not having the money required for the dental care they needed, what was that doing to their self-esteem and self-confidence as they tried to move along?
I would suggest that dental care is far more important than a lot of us might pay attention to. It is why I am so happy today to stand in support of Bill C-31. It is going to start us down a pathway of providing dental care to children under 12 of low-income families. This is the beginning of a new program that I think will clearly benefit all of Canada.
When we look at having to compete in the overall world, we need to be presentable. When we look at some of the homeless folks we see living on the streets, we notice one thing: They are all very badly in need of dental care. How long has that been? Have they been in that situation for many years? Is that part of what destroyed their self-confidence and self-esteem so that at one point or another in their life they are living on the streets?
Trying to tie it back, I think dental care is extremely important, and I am glad to stand today to support it along with the top-up on rental housing. As I said, when we think of dental care, we think about health and we think about finances, but dental care issues reach far beyond those two basic essentials. It is therefore of the utmost importance.
Let us think about it for a second. As I mentioned earlier, a person's healthy smile means healthy digestion, a healthy heart, healthy lungs and other respiratory organs and good overall health, because all of this is affected by bacteria in our mouths. Some of us may not realize that dental inflammation is a high risk for the brain for one simple physical reason: It is all located in the head.
Even more so, one's healthy smile is a social indicator that may affect the perception of our personality by other people. It is an indicator of one's well-being, which affects one's confidence and thus performance. If we talk to some of the folks who are struggling in our shelters and ask them what their life was like, clearly many of them do not have the confidence to go looking for a job, partially because of their appearance. Again, this goes back to their dental health.
However, given all of dental health's importance, it is not widely accessible. People are hesitant to address their dental health issues because it is expensive. For some it can be frightening as well. For many of the single-parent families that I represent and some of the low-income families, talking about going to the dentist is out of the question. They do not have any coverage whatsoever. To have to go to the dentist and put out $500 or $400 is just not possible for them. That is the kind of thing that gets put off, and eventually they have to deal with it but it could be much later on. It is about not having the resources.
As we move forward in our talks on dental care, I would hope we look at what the costs are in dental care. It is extremely expensive to go to dental school and become a dentist. We need to look at all avenues if we are going to try to improve the self-confidence of Canadians, avenues such as being able to become a dentist without having to mortgage one's house and whole future. It is very reflective in the prices that are paid and that is what prevents a lot of people from being able to access the help they need.
When we talk specifically about children's dental health, those limitations apply even more. For parents, especially in a tough financial situations, it is very difficult to convince themselves and their kids to go without groceries for a week because they have to go to the dentist.
A third of Canadians do not have dental insurance. In 2018, more than one in five Canadians reported avoiding dental care because of the cost. I do not think that is an unusual thing. An awful lot of people avoid going to the dentist until they are in severe pain. They certainly are not going for the average six-month check up and the kinds of regular things they should be doing. They go when they have no other choice than to get some assistance.
Our job, as representatives of all these families in Parliament, is to help the parents who struggle financially by investing in their children's health care to ensure we have done everything possible to help these kids grow up into healthy, socially active, confident and productive adults, future parents themselves.
With Bill C-31, our government makes a first step, or maybe I should say a leap, in ensuring an essential aspect of Canada's health care, namely dental care, is more accessible for those who need it. This support program would start with children under 12 in the period starting in October 2022 and ending in June 2024. The support would be allocated to uninsured families with an annual income of less than $90,000.
The list of reasons why dental health is important can be very long, but it always comes down to one thing: one's well-being. Well-being or happiness is a fuel for everything good we wish for our country: healthy families, active communities, a blooming economy and all other important things about which we care.
When we are talking about health care and child care, we have things that are necessary for a healthy Canadian society. I introduced a bill for first reading, which is coming up for second reading, Bill C-284. It calls for a national eye strategy. Apparently 75% of the blindness happening in Canada could be eliminated by more investments and more research. That bill will be coming up for second reading in November. It is about the health of Canadians overall. We can save money in a lot of different ways by ensuring were are making investments early on.
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- Mar/22/22 2:03:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart, a feeling I am sure all of my fellow parliamentarians share. Twenty-seven days ago the people of Ukraine found themselves under siege from a foreign government, an escalation to a conflict they had already been facing for years due to a ruthless dictator who wishes to own them by any means necessary.
This attack on democracy cannot and will not stand, and the people of Ukraine have shown just that. Citizens who have never been part of the military have fought back with a voracity that has shocked their attackers. Their leaders have shown what it truly means to lead a country, to protect and sacrifice for the good of their people, and to be champions.
To the neighbouring countries of Ukraine that have opened their arms to all those fleeing, we give thanks. To the people of Ukraine who are defending true democracy, I thank them for their courage, their sacrifice and their inspiration. We are all with them, and we send them our love. They will prevail, because darkness is overcome by light, and they, our friends, are the light.
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