Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Timmins—James Bay.
I stand here today to talk about the Speech from the Throne and COVID-19, but with a focus on my riding, which is very much connected to the United States and exemplifies some of the challenges our families face with respect to reunification across the globe. Obviously, in Windsor West, before COVID we had an extensive relationship with the United States. That still goes on today, but it is now a little awkward, different and more difficult than ever before. Prior to COVID-19, the area I represent, which is three-fifths of the city of Windsor, had over 40,000 vehicles per day that crossed into the United States, 10,000 trucks and about 30,000 vehicles with family members and friends.
There are all kinds of different relationships, from the professional level to the relationship level that families experience on a regular basis. In fact, we are proud of that. In Windsor, Ontario, when we have our Remembrance Day ceremony, we include the Star-Spangled Banner as part of what we sing because we are not only very proud Canadians but also not afraid to express our relationship with our cousins in the United States, and other places in the world, as part of our culture. In fact, we are the fourth most-diverse community in all of Canada. We have over 100 ethnocultural-related organizations that are registered and have been working in Windsor for a number of decades.
With COVID-19, we have seen families torn apart. We have seen people unable to be united. We have had a lot of challenges. I want to thank the Minister of Public Safety for talking with me about this as we entered into COVID before the House shut down. I raised the difficulties we face because there are up to 2,000 people who commute across our border as front-line workers, supporting the efforts to fight COVID in the United States. There are doctors, nurses, PSWs—I am a PSW myself—who go over to the United States daily and we have to keep them safe and secure.
The problem we are faced with is this. As COVID has continued to hamper our economy, it has also created challenges for individuals who have loved ones across this globe. Whether it be as simple as in Detroit, Michigan, across from Windsor, or in England or some other commonwealth nation, or even farther than that. The government's response has been nothing short of irresponsible on this. There has been nothing but delay, and it continues to push the issue down the road without any type of support for individuals. That hurts not only the families but I would argue our economy. More importantly it hurts our entire community, our neighbours, all the people in our communities, because we have people who are in limbo.
I guess I take this a little personally in the sense that my aunt married an American. I have representatives of entire populations across Windsor and Essex County who are connected to people from everywhere, from Lebanon to Pakistan to India to China and other places, and there has been no recourse or any supports provided to individuals to work through the COVID issue and provide safety and security in family reunification.
What we are talking about is this. The government's narrow definition of what constitutes a family has prevented that and is flying in the face of the Prime Minister. It has identified direct relatives using an amazingly old and outdated system that does not even take into account the real relationships taking place right now. This affects people from a mental health aspect. It also affects people with respect to connecting, family planning and so forth.
My appeal to the government is for the issue be taken responsibly and moved forward. We have presented several plans to the government. I come from a community that is on the front lines. I started this speech by talking about how many vehicles and people traverse back and forth on a regular basis. We are just as concerned as anyone out there with respect to the spreading of COVID and having the system in the United States impact our community, but it does not take away from our determination to reunite families that need to have a process in place and the necessary supports from the government.
Nobody wants to bring somebody into this country who will get their family members sick, but that does not mean grandparents, parents, cousins, family members, brothers and sisters should be isolated and thrown basically into an abyss month by month, not even knowing when they can reconnect. We can do better than that. We can do better through a full process. We have presented proposals to the government and it has not even responded.
There is a movement out there, Love is Not Tourism, and there are others who are pushing this issue but they are doing so not just for themselves but also for this country.