Madam Speaker, as this is my maiden speech in these hallowed chambers, I would like to begin by congratulating you on your appointment to your position, and to also extend sincere congratulations to all members present here this morning for winning their election.
Canadians wanted real change, and they got it by sending over 200 new faces to these chambers. I am privileged to be one of them. I am humbled and honoured to have earned the vote of the residents of Davenport, a riding I am proud to represent as its first female member of Parliament. I would like to say a heartfelt thanks to them for their confidence in me.
What is particularly amazing is that Davenport, a riding with the highest percentage of ethnic Portuguese, at almost 30%, voted for a woman with the last name of Dzerowicz. Indeed, my grandparents were immigrants. They were living in a displaced persons camp, which today would probably be called a refugee camp, after World War II in Germany, and were desperate to find a new country they could call home where they could rebuild their lives.
They came to Canada in the early 1950s with nothing. They were broken people in every way, financially, physically, and spiritually. They were sponsored by a Ukrainian family and started off life in Canada like most immigrants, taking any job that was available and beginning the long path to Canadian citizenship while learning a new language and a new culture and establishing a home for their family.
My mother came almost two decades later, born in Mexico. Her family was originally from northern Spain, from the Basque region. Her name is Maria Amparo Lizarraga Zatarain but one would never know that seeing my last name, which is Dzerowicz.
Canada represented, to my grandparents and parents, a country that stood for freedom, progress, opportunity, fairness, and compassion. I grew up in a working-class family that struggled to make ends meet in less than ideal living conditions. In spite of the daily struggle, my parents never missed an opportunity to remind me of the importance of education and hard work, and to never take for granted that I was lucky to live in Canada.
Indeed, one of the key reasons I became a member of Parliament is that I believe everyone should have the same opportunities I have had growing up, access to excellent affordable education, a healthy environment, great jobs and opportunities, and a social safety net to help just a little when times get tough. All these things are essential if each one of us is to achieve our full potential. I became an MP to protect and fight for them on behalf of all Canadians.
That is why I am honoured to speak to the measures in the Speech from the Throne today. They embody the values that are the foundation of this great country. They help create a Canada that will allow a person, a family to prosper, even if they come with nothing but a willingness to work hard and a desire to take advantage of the opportunities that are available. The Speech from the Throne sets the stage for a country that will be a strong global citizen, a leader in combatting climate change, a leader in promoting peace and fighting poverty, both nationally and internationally.
It should be no surprise that the measures in the Speech from the Throne positively benefit the residents of the Davenport riding, and I believe will do much to improve their lives, individually and for generations to come.
Davenport is a riding located in downtown west Toronto. It was largely a working-class riding until housing prices appreciated considerably over the last 10 to 15 years. The riding has now moved squarely into the middle-class category with an average household income of $67,000 and a median household income of $56,000.
Jobs and economy are the number one priority for the residents of Davenport. The costs of living keep increasing, wages have been largely flat for many years, and the growth of the economy has been slow for a large part of the last decade. The government's commitment to reducing taxes for the middle class means more money directly in the pockets of most of the residents of Davenport. Additional dollars will go a long way to help residents who are struggling to make ends meet on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
Davenport is a wonderfully ethnic riding that very much reflects the beautiful diversity of cultures, religions, and languages in Toronto. Over 50% of residents were born outside of Canada, and they have been part of the amazing immigrant community that has built this great country. However, for too many years immigration issues and how difficult it is to become a Canadian citizen have been top issues for so many residents, families, and organizations in my riding.
Like my grandparents and parents and all other immigrants who came before, potential Canadians are looking for a clear path to citizenship. Indeed, if we are to have a strong 21st century economy, we have to get our immigration policy right. That is why this government's commitment to changing key aspects of Canada's immigration policy is so important, including doubling the new applications for parents and grandparents, accelerating current processing times, and providing immediate permanent residency to new spouses entering Canada.
Taken together, these changes signal to current and future Canadians that being an immigrant is not an imposition on existing Canadians. Indeed, it is we who are lucky to have people who want to apply, want to become Canadians, want to establish their family and start a new life here in Canada, and want to help build Canada into an even better country than it is today.
For almost 40 years, Davenport's very popular member of Parliament was Charles Caccia, or Carletto Caccia, as the Italians of my riding would say, who ahead of his time, was a passionate environmentalist and a great advocate for sustainability. This dedication to a green and sustainable environment is an ethos that continues to strongly permeate the Davenport riding and to influence me.
The residents of my riding have for many years been looking to Canada to step up to its responsibility to be a leader at both the national and international levels on the environment and to take meaningful action on climate change.
In Davenport and in communities across Canada, people are pleased to see that the Liberal government is acting on our commitment to protect our environment while growing our economy. It is doing this by joining in the Paris climate change talks, in which Canada has been asked to facilitate the final negotiations which are currently under way; announcing an additional $2.65 billion for a total of $4 billion, to help developing countries combat climate change; and by committing to develop a clear plan to combat climate change with the provinces and territories within 90 days of the end of the climate change talks.
In just a few short weeks since being elected we have taken meaningful steps toward a real plan that will make a difference at both the national and international stages.
Words matter, actions matter, and leadership matters.
Over the last few weeks, this government has taken some very concrete actions to illustrate our shared values and our commitment to freedom, equality, opportunity, fairness, and compassion, the very values that brought my grandparents and parents to this country.
We have assembled a diverse cabinet, one that reflects the Canada that we want to live in and one that inspires Canadians of all cultures in Davenport and across this country that they can reach for the stars and become anyone they want to be.
For the first time in Canadian history, the Prime Minister leads a cabinet that is gender balanced, an equal number of men and women, proving that sometimes we do not need quotas or legislation, but true leadership to create real change.
Similarly, this Liberal government is acting daily and aggressively on our extraordinary commitment to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February 2016. This action reflects Canadian values at their best.
I know I speak on behalf of many in Davenport when I say these measures have brought Canadians together and have made us proud to be Canadian.
I will end with a statement that the Prime Minister made a couple of years ago that has always stayed with me because it is the heart of why I am an MP and why I will always fight to create an even better Canada. “If we do not give every Canadian a chance to succeed we do not live up to the potential of Canada.” This is what I think is at the very core of what the Speech from the Throne is about, creating the Canada that we want to live in, that we are proud to call our home, and that will allow each one of us to achieve our greatest potential.