Table of Contents

1. The Top Three:  Federal Budget 2023, New Immigration Measures, Check your Passport Status Online
2. Davenport MP Report: Work I am doing on your behalf
3. Links to other important Federal News & Announcements 
4. Davenport Federal Funding Available (including Small Business supports!)

Hello Davenport Friends and Neighbours,

There is so much to tell you. I will try to keep it short, but there is a lot of helpful information to share about matters that affect our lives and our community.

It’s just been announced that the federal government approved the Rogers-Shaw merger with numerous conditions that are legally enforceable on network investments, prices and jobs (click Rogers-Shaw deal to learn more).

Federal budget 2023 was released on Tuesday of this week. The budget is basically focused on three things: affordability, health care and the clean economy. I love the clean economy section that will incentivize investment in low carbon emitting alternatives to oil and gas, will create good paying jobs, will set us up for a competitive and prosperous economy moving forward and best of all move us more quickly to reach our 2030 and 2050 carbon reduction targets.

In terms of affordability, because we know how expensive the cost of living is, we are providing targeted financial support to those who need it the most: starting with the Grocery Rebate (aka GST credit) that will give almost $500 to the average family; a full dental care program that would allow all those under 18, seniors and disabled Canadians to qualify by the end of the year; and we are moving to automatic tax filing for low-income Canadians. Hurrah! The last one is great news for poverty activists – who know that so many of our most vulnerable do not even file income tax returns and so miss out on a lot of financial support that they can use.

For students, there are additional student grants and increased Registered Education Savings Plans withdrawal limits; and for small businesses,  lower credit card transaction fees (up to 27%- a game changer) and also the freezing of the excise tax on beer, wine and alcohol at 2% for one year, which all brewers in our riding will be so happy to hear!

Let’s talk about health care. We (the  federal government) saw how much our healthcare system was struggling so we made a MAJOR investment in healthcare this year.

We increased the Canada Health Transfer by 5% (as recommended by Alika Lafontaine, head of the Canadian Medical Association) which is the annual amount of money the federal government gives to the provinces for health care; we also set aside an additional $46 billion for mental health, access to family doctors or health teams, elimination of the surgery backlogs, and patient records and data.

So, let me be clear. The federal government has stepped up in a major way to invest in health care, so now the provinces and territories are responsible to deliver. The constitution of our nation places the responsibility for health care in the hands of the provinces. 

So, it is the Ford Ontario government, now flush with money from the federal pandemic funding support (lots left over from pandemic dollars provided by the federal government) and having taken in record personal and corporate taxes, that has the responsibility to deliver on health care.

To read more here is the healthcare section of the budget.

Money for the City of Toronto. So much to say. Since the federal liberal government was elected in late 2015, we have given a historic amount of funding to the City of Toronto for capital investments in TTC (including repairs and refurbishments), and in housing. We also gave $1 billion to the City during the pandemic to help it with whatever it needed to keep the city moving and safe. 

The Province of Ontario is responsible to make sure that the City of Toronto is properly funded. That is not happening now. The cuts to public transit are simply not acceptable. Taking development fees from the City which are much needed dollars is not acceptable unless there is another stream of funding from the province to replace it.

The federal government has never (to my knowledge) in the history of the TTC, funded the TTC operationally.

My personal belief is that the Ford government is literally starving the City of Toronto and shirking their responsibility to support the city and its needs.

But saying that, I do think that the federal government can do more – again my personal opinion:The City of Toronto needs more tools to raise revenues to fund services and run the city.  I think the federal government can help look at this with the Province of Ontario or on our own. The City of Toronto needs a long term sustainable funding plan for the TTC. There needs to be an international review done on how transit systems are funded – and I do believe there is a role for the national government to play here.  But I’d like to see what other international cities are doing.  Funding the TTC largely from farebox revenues is unusual (I believe) and not  sustainable. I love and support the idea of a City Charter or any other idea that would give the City of Toronto greater independence. Its economy is larger than most provinces and territories in Canada. It needs to move out from under  the repressive confines of the provincial government. See the Federal Budget 2023 section below to get more details of what is in this year’s budget!!

Thank you to all who joined me last night for the Davenport Federal Budget 2023 Debrief. I very much appreciated your questions, and the opportunity to discuss what this year’s budget means for the residents and businesses of Davenport.

This week, I organised an Innovation and IP Strategy Roundtable for Innovation Minister Champagne. With excellent input from business, academic and national organization leaders across the country, we talked about what more our government can do now to turbo-charge our support for domestic innovation, for domestic scale up and to ensure that the investments that the federal government makes stay in Canada, to the benefit of our economy and all  Canadians. If any Davenport residents want to talk to me about this, I’d love to hear from you!

My colleague, MP Han Dong has left the Liberal caucus and is sitting as an Independant, following accusations from unnamed and unconfirmed sources. I will be writing more about this but know that I am very troubled that unsubstantiated allegations from unnamed sources are accepted as the truth, that a person is guilty automatically and has to prove their innocence, and that perception is more important than facts and the truth. This highlights my concerns about the state of our media, the toxicity of the House of Commons, where lies are protected as parliamentary privilege, and the disinformation and misinformation that has become so prevalent, making it hard to distinguish what is the truth.

Again more to come.

This is an important time of year for celebration and spiritual renewal for many faiths..
March 22 marked the start of the holy month of Ramadan – a time of spiritual reflection and acts of charity for the Muslim community. I look forward to the upcoming Iftars!

April 1 marks the beginning of Sikh Heritage month. A month to celebrate the amazing contributions of the Sikh community to Canada. And this Sunday is the start of the Christian Holy Week leading to Easter Sunday on April 9, and Thursday April 6 is the Jewish celebration of Passover.

The next two weeks are constituency weeks for me, which means I am at my Toronto office, so feel free to stop by and say hello.

If you want to read the full report, click here.

It’s an honour and privilege to serve you Davenport. Have a wonderful weekend.

My best regards, 

Julie Dzerowicz
Member of Parliament, Davenport