Hello Eglinton-Lawrence!
I hope everyone had a great week. This week I am back in Ottawa as the 42nd Parliament resumes. In my new role as the Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities I look forward to sitting in on committee meetings to find out I can continue to serve the great community of Eglinton-Lawrence. I am also bringing all of the feedback I received from you over the summer directly to Ottawa so that we see real change now.
Applications are still open for our Youth Council! We have already received an overwhelming positive response and we encourage interested youth to apply and get involved! As previous members will tell you, the council is a great way for young people interested in politics to have their voice heard and engage with the community. The council will meet during the year to discuss issues that are important to youth in the riding and culminate with a project of their choice to make a meaningful impact in the riding. If you are interested in applying, or know someone who is, you can click here to apply! Applications close September 24th.
This past Sunday I was with Rabbi Gansburg at Chabad on Avenue for the groundbreaking of the new building for The Family Shul. It is always a pleasure to meet with members of the Jewish Community to celebrate their successes and I look forward to the continued expansion of the Family Shul. Also for those members of our community observing Yom Kippur, which begins tomorrow evening, I would like to extend to you a G’mar Hatima Tova.
Applications for the National Housing Co-Investment Fund (NHCF) are on-going! Applicants can apply through two streams of funding, the New Construction Stream or the Repair and Renewal Stream. The NHCF will create 60,000 new affordable homes, repair 240,000 affordable and community homes, create or repair 4,000 shelter spaces for victims, create at least 7,000 new affordable homes, and create at least 2,400 new affordable homes for people with developmental disabilities.
On August 21st, the Canadian Government launched the first ever National Poverty Reduction Strategy. This plan aims to achieve the ambitious but realistic goal of a 20% reduction of poverty in Canada by 2020, and a 50% reduction by 2030. Furthermore, we’re legislating the first ever national poverty line so that we can measure our success. We’ve already taken steps to achieve this goal by improving the CPP for the first time in 20 years, increasing the GIS, CCB, and OAS which will result in about 650,000 Canadians being lifted out of poverty by 2019.
As always, my constituency office is open and here to help! Feel free to drop by, Monday-Friday from 10am-4pm OR call 416-781-5583
