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Julie Dzerowicz Member of Parliament
Davenport

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Hello Davenport friends and neighbours! / Bonjour chers amis et voisins de Davenport!

The House of Commons is back in session — and we hit the ground running!

By 9 a.m. on Monday morning, we announced a major measure to address the affordability pressures so many Canadians are facing. 

We’re introducing the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, which builds on the GST credit. Here’s what it does: First, it provides a one-time payment this spring equal to a 50% increase — meaning a single person could receive up to $950 this year, and a family of four could receive up to $1,890. Second, starting in July 2026, the benefit increases by 25% for five years. That means more support year over year for more than 12 million Canadians who need it most.

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I know there’s a lot of change happening in the world right now. Some days it feels more uncertain and more dangerous than we’d like. But I want you to know: we will never take our eye off our responsibility to be there for Canadians. You remain our focus.

Keeping Our Communities Safe

Ensuring our communities and Canadians are safe is a key priority for our government. We have Bail Reform and Sentencing Legislation ready to go, along with the Combatting Hate Act — both are waiting for our federal Conservative colleagues to support them so we can turn them into law.

This week, we also introduced Bill C-16: the Protecting Victims Act. This is one of the most consequential reforms to the Criminal Code in a generation. It’s about stronger protections for women who are victims of sexual violence and protecting our children from online sexual exploitation. 

I was truly honoured to speak in the House on this legislation. Finally — finally — we are classifying the killing of a woman, trapped in a pattern of abuse  by an intimate partner, as first-degree murder. And finally, we are modernizing our laws  to protect our children from horrific sexual images and exploitation online. This matters. This is how we build a safer Canada.

Honouring Our Afghanistan Veterans

Our constituency of Davenport is also home to Canadian Armed Forces veterans who served in Afghanistan. It was deeply important for me to honour their service and their sacrifice this week, and to remind Canadians — and all our NATO allies — of Canada’s unwavering commitment to peace and our collective security. We made a difference in Afghanistan. Our veterans made a difference.

Canada Is United

PM Carney invited all provincial and territorial leaders to Ottawa this week for a First Ministers’ Meeting. The focus: affordability, trade, and removing interprovincial trade barriers. 

As the PM said, “As we’re building new partnerships abroad, we’re focused on building our strength at home and transforming our economy.” 

The premiers left united, presenting a “Team Canada” front, with commitments to continue working together on internal trade and major infrastructure projects. In these uncertain times, that unity is powerful.

Protecting Canadian Sovereignty

You may have seen reports this week about meetings between U.S. officials and a small Alberta separatist group. Let me be clear: this represents a tiny minority — recent polling shows only about one in five Albertans would even consider separation. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith herself said she “supports a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.”

PM Carney has been direct with President Trump: he expects the U.S. administration to respect Canadian sovereignty. Both the PM and Premier Smith have made that crystal clear. 

Our government is aware of these developments and is monitoring the situation closely. The overwhelming majority of Albertans — and Canadians — love this country and want to stay in it. Full stop.

Understanding the Canada-China Agreement

I want to clear up some confusion about the recent Canada-China agreement. This is not a free trade agreement. It’s a targeted deal to eliminate painful Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola and seafood — tariffs that were devastating our Prairie farmers and Atlantic fish harvesters.

In exchange, we’re allowing a limited number of Chinese electric vehicles into Canada — up to 49,000 per year, which is less than 3% of our market. We want to learn best practices on EV production, and any Chinese manufacturers must use Canadian workers and materials if they want to build here.

This week, Minister Joly and PM Carney also met with Premier Doug Ford to discuss a new auto strategy. They announced a new Auto Task Force to coordinate between Ottawa and Ontario on protecting our manufacturing sector and unionized workforce. Premier Ford called it a “great auto strategy” — so we’re working together to protect Canadian jobs while also positioning ourselves for the clean economy of the future.

Disinformation & Protecting Our Youth

Two important developments on the digital front: 

Canadian news on social media: Our federal government remains in ongoing discussions with Meta about restoring Canadian news to Facebook and Instagram. Access to fact-based Canadian journalism matters — especially in a time of rampant disinformation.

Protecting our children: We are also exploring new legislation that could ban social media for children under 14, following Australia’s lead. Our kids deserve protection from the harms of these platforms. More details to come.

Have a wonderful weekend, Davenport! As always, it’s a true pleasure and honour to serve you.

Warmly,

Julie 

Julie Dzerowicz

Member of Parliament for Davenport

Chair, Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration

Chair, Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association

Chair, Toronto Caucus