Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I have been a member and the chair of the citizenship and immigration committee. We have done important work in that committee to ensure that the settlement agencies that do the important work to settle refugees here, as well as new immigrants, have all the supports they need to help.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the hon. member for all the work we did together on the immigration committee in the last Parliament. I agree with the member that it has been slow. We need to do better, and better is always possible, but I want to remind him that the department and the officials continue to process applications for Afghan refugees day in and day out.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, yes, we need to thank the people who helped the Canadian mission in Afghanistan. Canada and Afghanistan have had a long-lasting relationship, with the long deployment, and many Afghan people have been there for our Canadian troops. It is very important that we continue our work and ensure that we bring the vulnerable people here, the people who have helped, as well as those people, especially Afghan women and girls, whose situation is really terrible.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate you on your role; it is good to see you sitting in the chair. As this is my first speech in the 44th Parliament, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people of Scarborough Centre for placing their trust in me once again to be their strong voice in Ottawa.

International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People  Mr. Speaker, today, November 29, is recognized by the United Nations as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. I am proud to recognize this day as the chair of the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group, a group of nearly 50 members of Parliament and senators representing all parties, working together in a shared, non-partisan commitment to peace in the Middle East and advancing the recognition and protection of human rights for the Palestinian people.

Order Respecting the Business of the House and its Committees  Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague on her election and on her speech. Today, in Ontario, 748 new COVID cases have been reported. As of yesterday, 15 of Ontario's public schools were closed due to COVID spread. In the 43rd Parliament, a person like me who has a compromised immune system was able to fulfill their duties as a member of Parliament.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration entitled, “Immigration Programs to Meet Labour Market Needs”. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to the eighth report.

Petitions  Madam Speaker, I would like to present e-petition 3312, which has been signed by nearly 5,000 people across Canada. The petitioners note that the protection of the rights of children around the world is a priority of the government and they note that all signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child have the obligation to ensure basic due process rights for children in accordance with international juvenile justice standards.

Saleh Hafejee  Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to a community leader and mentor we lost too early. Brother Saleh Hafejee, with whom I worked closely in recent years, was a very special person who made a great impact in our community. He did this through helping the generation of youth as a sports coach and mentor; through his 25 years of service to the Scarborough Muslim Association, Jame Abu Bakr Mosque, recently as president; or through his decades of volunteering helping people of all backgrounds.

Government Policies  Mr. Speaker, last Sunday, the community of London, Ontario was the site of an atrocious act of terrorism. Four lives were lost, taken, and a child was left in the hospital, all this loss because a visible Muslim family went for a walk and someone filled with hate killed them. Many Canadian Muslims are once again living with fear that they too could be targeted simply for being a Muslim.

Committees of the House  Madam Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the following two reports of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration: the sixth report, entitled “Supplementary Estimates (A), 2021-22”; and the seventh report, entitled “ Safe Haven in Canada: Special Immigration and Refugee Measures are Urgently Needed for the People of Hong Kong”.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, entitled “Immigration in the Time of COVID-19: Issues and Challenges”. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, public transit is at the heart of a clean, inclusive recovery that starts our economy and creates good jobs. From construction workers to transit drivers, workers on assembly lines and the small business owners supporting these projects, tens of thousands of jobs are created when we invest in public transit.

Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, we have seen that this pandemic has not affected all Canadians in the same way. Minority communities, racialized communities and indigenous communities have been hit hard. I have seen, in my own riding of Scarborough Centre, that communities with workers in low-paying jobs have been affected, and we have continued to invest in those Canadians.

Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, budget 2021 aims to finish the fight against COVID-19 and provide much-needed support to businesses and families finding it difficult to make ends meet. We are investing in them, but at the same time we are also laying the foundation for the post-pandemic recovery. We are investing in our seniors, child care and our youth, so we can lay the foundation for the economic recovery post-pandemic.