Table of Contents 

• Click here for the highlights.
  • No Federal Funding for Youth Shelter at Dufferin and St. Clair
  • Canada-U.S. Relations Town Hall
  • Housing Town Hall with Housing Minister Erskine-Smith
  • Arsenal do Minho in Toronto Concertina Festival
  • Casa do Alentejo’s 42nd Anniversary
  • Asas do Atlantico Social and Sports Club’s 52nd Anniversary
  • WE HAVE SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT!
  • … and so much more!
• NEWS AND UPDATES
  • President Trump Announces Tariffs To Begin Taking Effect March 4
  • Federal Work-Sharing Program
  • Launch Of Retirement Planning Resource
  • Extending Temporary Measures For Ukrainians Fleeing War
  • Canada Renews Commitment To Welcome People Affected By Conflict In Sudan

Davenport Friends and Neighbours / Amis et Voisins de Davenport,

After a week away for NATO Parliamentary Assembly meetings in Brussels and OECD meetings in Paris, it’s really wonderful to be back home.

I’m excited to share with you that I’ve been appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, with a particular focus on consular services and Latin America. 

I had a chance to meet with the Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly in Brussels last week to discuss priorities, and I also gave her an update of what NATO Parliamentarians were talking about and shared with her what I said to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

As Chair of the Canada NATO Parliamentary team, my key message to the Secretary General was that now is not the time to be silent. I reiterated that:

(1) If a hostile or an allied country is interfering in the elections of another country, we must call it out; (2) If our international rules-based order is being violated, we must call it out; and (3) That if the sovereignty of an allied nation is being called into question, we must call it out. I further went on to say that there should be no question that Canada is a sovereign, independent country, and one of the founding nations of NATO; and that Canada continues to stand with Ukraine and believes that they need to be at the table in any peace talks, and that their territorial integrity needs to be honored.

At the OECD, I spoke with Canada’s Ambassador about the AI summit that Prime Minister Trudeau attended, as well as how to build stronger Canada-EU relations and the need to pivot away from the US toward more reliable partners. There was a lot of concern over the fact that the US no longer seems to be a reliable partner because of the constant tariff threats and violation of international rules-based order by President Trump and his team. It is important for Canada to continue to strengthen ties with our European partners. 

Back at home, I was pleased to host two town halls this week: a Housing Town Hall with special guest, federal Housing Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith; and a Canada-U.S. Relations Town Hall, where I brought in special guest Professor Greenaway from the University of Toronto. 

Regarding housing, the Minister reinforced two key things: (1) The additional dollars that the federal government has given the City of Toronto to clear encampments; and (2) He is redirecting more federal funding to nonprofits to build affordable homes for families. 

Regarding Canada-U.S. Relations, Professor Greenaway and I answered a variety of questions on the anticipated impact of tariffs, what we’re doing to secure our border, Arctic security, defence, and tackling disinformation, among many other topics. 

One of the many things I mentioned is that Canada has a 3-pronged approach to President Trump’s tariff and economic threats. (1) We have a big focus on strengthening our internal economy and promoting Canadian products and businesses; (2) We are deepening our work with international friends and partners to see how we can support each other moving forward (i.e., redirecting some of our trade with the US to places like Europe); (3) We are prepared with targeted tariffs that are meant to maximize the impact on the US, minimize the impact on Canadians, and spread out the impact equally across our country and across all sectors. 

We had a full house for both town halls, and in the coming days and weeks I hope to do more on these issues and others important to the community! Click here to register for my upcoming events.

Our federal government has announced that 50% of federal exceptions to the Canadian Free Trade Agreement are being dropped. Most of these exceptions are related to government procurement, which means that there will be more opportunities for Canadian businesses across the country to compete. Provinces and territories have agreed to come back with how they are going to be reducing trade barriers and regulations at the next meeting with Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand. 

Every day it’s a different story, but at time of press, President Trump has announced that the 25% tariffs on Canadian goods will come into effect on March 4. 

Let’s remind ourselves of the facts: (1) There is no $200 billion trade deficit with the U.S. The U.S. actually had a services trade surplus of $31.7 billion with Canada in 2024 – if we take out the cheap energy we send down to the United States. (2) Less than 1% of fentanyl and undocumented migrants cross from Canada into the U.S. 

I would like to also say a few words about the anniversaries of the Portuguese social clubs in Davenport. I was privileged to attend 3 celebrations on Saturday night: Arsenal do Minho in Toronto Concertina Festival; Casa do Alentejo’s 42nd Anniversary, and Asas do Atlantico Social and Sports Club’s 52nd Anniversary. It is important for all of us to remember that our Davenport constituency is home to the largest Portuguese community in Canada and that for over 50 years, the Portuguese have built a number of Portuguese community centres, where they promote their food, their music, their language, their dance, and all of the other aspects of their amazing culture. Not only do they keep the Portuguese culture and traditions alive in their own communities, but they also strengthen Canada overall with their contributions. All of these community centres/clubs are run by volunteers, who are heroic in their efforts to support the Portuguese community, and their language, culture and traditions. 

This month marks the end of Black History Month and the beginning of Ramadan. I would like to wish everyone celebrating a Ramadan Mubarak. 

This week, the 2 televised debates for the new Liberal party leader also took place. I loved a lot of the ideas that I heard articulated: moving towards a basic income; portable patient records and using AI to help transition Canada’s healthcare system into the best in the world, the vision for one Canadian economy; and prioritizing the free movement of skilled workers across all provinces. Disinformation and foreign interference also continue to be elevated as key priorities for our government to be focused on and to address. See below for links to watch the debates. 

Click here to watch the English-Language Leadership Debate

Click here to watch the French-Language Leadership Debate

As always, it is a true honour and pleasure to serve you.

My very best regards,

Julie Dzerowicz
Member of Parliament – Davenport