SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Member of Parliament

Bonita Zarrillo

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of Parliament
  • NDP
  • Port Moody—Coquitlam
  • British Columbia
  • Voting Attendance: 67%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $129,260.13

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 268 - Dec/14/23
Ms. Bonita Zarrillo
  • Dec/14/23 7:04:13 p.m.
  • Watch
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for the comments. I certainly appreciate him for highlighting the work of SHARE in our community. SHARE is one of the largest organizations in our community and has so many services for people. I really appreciate the work SHARE does in the Tri-Cities. The member talked about the rapid housing initiative, and at this point in time, I am trying to reach Infrastructure Canada to talk about modular housing with regard to the rapid housing initiative. The member knows that the rapid housing initiative is well oversubscribed, with many denials because it is not enough. I want to go back to the fact that a one-bedroom apartment in Coquitlam is renting for $2,350 right now. We cannot ask people to wait for homes. They cannot afford homes right now. They need action. Again, will the government front-load its investments into co-ops and purpose-built rentals, immediately match the B.C. rental protection fund and help those who need to get into a home today?
175 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 216 - Jun/19/23
Ms. Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam, NDP)
  • Jun/19/23 1:08:47 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-22 
Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to share some things that happened in my riding this weekend and why it is so important that in this chamber, we understand how our decisions impact people on the ground. On Friday, a caller from outside of my riding, from Victoria, phoned in and said they considered taking their life on Wednesday of last week. It was only because the House passed Bill C-22 that they felt hope. That kept them going. On Sunday, I was at a community event and a similar situation happened. A woman approached me and said that if it was not for the support of her family and her parents around her as she managed the system of income supports for the disability she is dealing with right now, she would have taken her life by now. Today, the newspaper in British Columbia talked about 100,000 renting families being at risk of losing their home in our community. Some of that is due to corporate ownership of housing. I wonder if the member opposite would share some of the impacts of being able to get work done in this House. That matters to people on the ground. As we talk about our privilege, we are not at risk of losing our housing and we are not at risk of not having coverage when we get a disability. People in Canada are. It actually turns my stomach and makes me feel a little ill to think that we would sit here while people consider taking their life because we do not want to advance legislation.
270 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border