Hello Davenport Friends and Neighbours,

Today, I joined Women and Gender Equality Minister, Marci Ien, to announce over $100 million for the Women’s Economic Leadership Opportunity Fund — 4 organizations in Davenport received significant funding for their vital work and to build capacity and resiliency: Sistering, Theatre Direct, South Asian Women’s Centre and The Re-Seasoning Coalition.

Last Friday, I announced $45.5 million of federal funding via CMHC to refurbish 330 spaces for vulnerable seniors at the amazing St. Hilda’s Community Centre. These are game-changing dollars that help ensure safe and accessible homes for our seniors!  

Encampments. We (the federal government) will only give money to the provinces if they match our contribution, which will effectively double the funding to clear encampments by finding safer housing for those who need it. Earlier this year, the federal housing minister wrote to all provincial and territorial counterparts to inform them that we have additional dollars available to move vulnerable residents from encampments in our parks into more supportive spaces. This is in addition to funding already provided directly to cities (including the City of Toronto, which gets the lion’s share of funding from the Interim Housing Assistance Program) to tackle homelessness. Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan did not respond, so we have indicated that we will give the additional dollars directly to key cities in each of these provinces if the provincial government does not step up. I want to reiterate that even if we give additional funding to the City of Toronto, they are the ones to decide how to use the funds and which encampments will be prioritized.  

Jobs, jobs, jobs! I am hosting a MASSIVE job fair on Saturday, November 16 between 1 pm and 5 pm at St. Mary Catholic Academy (66 Dufferin Park Ave, one block south of Dufferin Station and across the street from Dufferin Mall) — so save the date. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are (well, you do need a SIN) how educated you are, how much experience you have — there are jobs for you! Student jobs, trades, first job out of school, mid-career jobs, etc.  So save the date – please! Oh and … there will also be people there who will help you update or create your resumes!!! Hurrah!

Night of Dread and Halloween: for those who came to the Night of Dread hosted by the amazing Clay & Paper Theatre this year, I think you will agree it was a magical one. I think we were all in need of community and festivity. It was the largest parade in the 12 years that I have been attending. Also loved going to many of the pumpkin carving and Halloween celebrations across the riding. See below for more details in my MP update.

In Ottawa … 

Trudeau is staying on as our leader. All eyes were on Parliament Hill over the last couple of weeks, as the media spoke about Liberal MPs who were questioning whether our Prime Minister is the right person to lead us in the next election.  A few were also asking for a secret ballot on his leadership.   I was quoted in the Globe and Mail regarding my thoughts.

We announced a significant reduction in our immigration numbers to allow our social services to normalise and to restore integrity in our immigration system. As many Davenport residents know, I am a passionate supporter of more immigration to replace our rapidly retiring workforce and declining birth rate. Over the past few years, a variety of factors led to a massive influx of people coming in — but we need to be able to support everyone living in Canada. We now know that too many people came in via the temporary worker stream and our international students pathway, in addition to the already historic permanent resident numbers we were accepting this year. That is why Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Miller announced significant  amendments to our immigration levels plan for the next three years.

For those affected by the crisis in Lebanon who want to stay updated on the measures we have in place to support you, click here for more information. 

Why won’t Pierre Poilievre get security clearance? All federal party leaders have done so, other than Mr. Poilievre. So I asked this question in the House and here is the response.

The Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference continues, looking into foreign actors such as Russia, India, and China. For those who might have missed it,  the PM testified for over 7 hours, providing a lot of insight and answering some important questions. 

Removing bike lanes? What?! Davenport residents love having safe bike lanes and the ability to get across our community on two wheels. I was so disappointed to hear that the Doug Ford Government is starting to remove bike lanes on vital arteries, especially the one on Bloor St W. In support of active transportation, our federal government provided over $400 million, and indicated in an agreement with the City of Toronto that these dollars could be used for bike infrastructure. Thank you, Davenport residents, for supporting me to help make that happen. But that is why it is so upsetting that the Ford government is removing these bike lanes that we worked hard for.

So much happening tonight — and this weekend. I look forward to being out and about in Davenport!

Have a great weekend, Davenport! As always, it is a true honour and pleasure to serve you.

My very best regards,
Julie Dzerowicz
Member of Parliament – Davenport