Table of Contents 

• Click here for the highlights.
  • Discussing encampments at Dufferin Grove
  • Visiting the Nova Music Festival Exhibition
  • Taking action to prevent misconduct in government contracts
  • Question in the House to Secretary of State for Defense Procurement Stephen Fuhr
  • Meeting with Turkish Ambassador Can Dizdar
  • Celebrating Portugal Day on the Hill
  • Fun in the sun at the Portugal Day Parade!
  • DoWest Fest – the biggest party of the year!
  • A great afternoon at the St. Mary of the Angels School Fun Fair
  • An afternoon of fun at the Carleton Village School Fun Fair
• NEWS AND UPDATES
  • Minister Michel welcomes External Expert Review report on the modernization of preventive health care guideline development in Canada
  • Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand’s statement on escalation of conflict between Israel and Iran
  • Launching the ‘Canada Strong’ pass this summer – free pass to all parks in Canada
  • Canadians can apply for the Canada Disability Benefit on June 20
  • Major investments to improve resilience against wildfires
  • Canada commits to strengthening disability rights at the United Nations
  • Competition Bureau monitors Loblaw’s commitment to end property controls – huge fine because of price-fixing
  • Canada expands and diversifies its creative industries market reach in East Asia
  • Minister Champagne meets with provincial and territorial Finance Ministers
  • Building the strongest workforce in the G7 with the One Canadian Economy Act – protecting our workers and strengthening labour rights
  • Michael Sabia announced as Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet
  • Joint statement by the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom on sanctions targeting Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich
  • Statement from Minister Olszewski regarding wildfires in Ontario

Davenport friends & neighbours,

It was a real pleasure to have a chance to speak to so many of you at DoWest Fest on Dundas St last weekend. Thank you for making the time, and thank you for all your positive comments, kind words, and great ideas. It was a joy to spend so much time in the community.

The Portugal Day Parade on St. Clair last Saturday was also amazing. I am grateful to all Portuguese clubs and volunteers for their participation and to all who made the event not only tons of fun but a huge success!

Lots happened and is happening this week. I started the week with PM Carney and Minister of Defence McGuinty at the Munk School where we announced an additional $9 billion in spending this year for security and defence and that Canada would meet its 2% of GDP funding for defence NATO target this year! We were elected to protect and secure our country; and with the US pulling back in its role in being the world’s policeman and threats to Canada’s sovereignty, investments in security and defence have become a top priority.

On Monday we celebrated the 8th Annual Portugal Day on the Hill – a time when we invite all parliamentarians, ambassadors, media and guests to celebrate the achievements of Portuguese Canadians and to celebrate the Portuguese language, traditions and culture. June is Portugal Heritage Month – and there is lots to celebrate especially in Davenport, the riding with the largest Portuguese community in the country. I spoke about this in a statement in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

With my colleagues – we spent time talking about the ambitious plan we have to pass key legislation prior to rising for the summer. A key piece will be the One Canadian Economy Bill C-5. It is a contentious bill; rightly so as it is giving a lot of power to our cabinet and Prime Minister on eliminating trade barriers and approving large national building projects quickly. Passing legislation quickly should be done rarely and only in crisis situations. We are in a crisis situation; President Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on our steel and aluminum (up from 25%) and he wants to continue to find ways to weaken and/or undermine our economy so that Canada can eventually become the 51 state. As our PM told President Trump, this will never happen. We have to invest in national projects to create jobs and to use Canadian materials such as steel and aluminum. Many jobs will be lost due to the Trump tariffs; national projects will help not only with jobs but also to keep our country united.

Our Prime Minister is currently in Kananaskis hosting the G7 meetings. There is an official page with the purpose of the meetings – but my take is that the following will be on the table:

An end to tariffs and business uncertainty by agreeing to some kind of new economic framework that will be beneficial to the US and not beneficial to China. Businesses cannot grow or will not invest if they do not have a stable, predictable economic environment.

Support for Ukraine and a plan to help them win

How to reduce tensions and escalating actions in the Middle East, get aid into Gaza and move urgently to a ceasefire and peace and security in the region

Plan to turbocharge energy development (conventional and renewable) and digital transformation

During our Toronto caucus meeting (which all Toronto MPs attend), we had an excellent conversation with Toronto Chief of Police Myron Demkiw. We discussed with him our federal government’s plan to ensure we continue to strengthen the border to stop guns from coming in; we received feedback on how to strengthen our bail reform laws to ensure violent offenders do not get bail; and we talked about how to tackle the growing hate and corresponding crime we are seeing in Toronto. It was an excellent discussion; and as we make progress on these files, I will update you. It was also a pleasure to be selected as Chair of Toronto Caucus.

On the international front, our Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has put out a statement with other countries to impose sanctions on two far-right Israeli cabinet ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. The sanctions have been implemented because they are promoting hatred and violence toward innocent Palestinians and encouraging violence and human rights abuses. As the Foreign Ministers said in their joint statement, inciting extremist violence and forced displacement is unacceptable.

Minister Anand also has put out a statement on the escalation actions and tensions in the Middle East. I was at the airport when the first Israeli strikes hit Iran – this is a very worrisome development and it is with great hope that global leaders can find a united way to urgently end the escalation and find a path to peace.

I will end with a few funding notes / and things to note prior to making your summer plans:

• Our federal government announced $1.5 million to Fierté Canada Pride to ensure safety measures are in place for this year’s parade.
• All Canadian parks are free this summer – so get your Canada Stong Pass!
• The Disability Benefit will start flowing July 2025 – for those who qualify you can register here as of June 20. Disability benefit recipients will get $200 monthly.

That’s it for me this week! I look forward to seeing many of you at the community events this weekend – lots of fun fairs and BBQs planned!

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

Warm regards,

Julie Dzerowicz
Member of Parliament – Davenport