Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise in this chamber to provide my reply to the Speech from the Throne.
I would like to start off by thanking the good people of Mississauga—Malton who elected me their representative. I would like to sincerely thank my constituents, my supporters and volunteers who worked from sunrise to sunset and beyond to have me elected. I would like to especially thank my family without whom I could not take this seat in the chamber today. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to recognize the good work of the member prior, the Hon. Navdeep Bains, and thank him for his years of service.
A faith in simple dreams, a quiet confidence, a profound optimism in better days to come, that we can work toward that better future without sacrificing our morals today, that is Canada.
If we step away from this hallowed chamber, walk the streets others will not visit, see the faces others will ignore and speak to the individuals often left out, we can learn what our country needs and how it can move forward.
If we listen, we will hear the voice of Abdul, who seeks only to bring honour to his house. He tells me that his father was persecuted for being a religious minority in their old country, that he escaped with his life to this beacon of hope we call home. Abdul’s father works on a factory line and after a long day’s work comes home, wanting to see hope and promise in his son’s eyes. His father only wishes to see his son get a good education and live a good life.
Abdul is a good son, is good-mannered and all we can really ask for in a young man. It is with an apparent but heartbreaking shame that Abdul told me some of his darkest thoughts, as he pulled me aside on the campaign trail. He told me that he struggled with those thoughts for years, that no one knew this and that if he shared this burden with his family and word got out, he would bring dishonour to his father's name.
A silent mental health crisis exists among South Asian and ethnic communities. Mental health is deeply stigmatized in these communities. The children of immigrants face the challenges associated with straddling two different worlds. While trying to fit into a society that values individual expression, they navigate a culture at home where self-worth is determined by the validation of family and community. When seeking psychological services, they often are not understood and cultural nuances are ignored.
It gives me hope that our Prime Minister understands this looming crisis. This is the first Prime Minister in our country's history who has established the role of Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. We will establish a new federal transfer to provinces and territories, the Canada mental health transfer, to help jurisdictions expand the delivery of equitable, accessible and free mental health services. We will invest an initial $4.5 billion over five years for this initiative. This funding will mean more access to psychologists, therapists, social workers, counsellors and other community supports. It will mean better care for young people like Abdul so he can go on to achieve everything he hopes for himself.
If we listen, we will also hear the voice of Ghias, a recent immigrant to Canada. When I started on the campaign trail, a large part of me was worried immigrants would not connect with the plight of indigenous peoples, that they would be too focused on establishing their own lives here, buying a home, learning the language and securing themselves for future generations to come. When my family arrived in this country, that was certainly our focus. My father had left behind poverty and so much suffering. Would we be up to the task of taking on another burden? What could I expect from others when my family itself was having these questions?
Ghias told me that from where he came, his language and customs were suppressed by the majority, that he was punished for speaking a different dialect and that he could not dance their traditional dance nor dress in their traditional garb.
What Ghias said next was remarkable to me. Perhaps I had underestimated the immigrant spirit to take on more. Ghias told me that he sympathized with indigenous peoples and that he understood the pain. He told me that if he could enjoy the bounty this land had to offer, he was also willing to accept its darker history and work toward a better future.
In the Speech from the Throne our Governor General stated:
Reconciliation is not a single act, nor does it have an end date. It is a lifelong journey of healing, respect and understanding.
As Canadians, we have a shared history and a common destiny. It does not matter if one came to Canada one month ago or one's ancestors came here a few hundred years ago, we must all carry the weight of this country's past. We should all desire to chart a path forward toward reconciliation, and we should make no mistake, because individuals like Ghias have a yearning to play a role in reconciliation and wish to walk the path toward reconciliation, to turn the country's guilt into action.
If we listen to Canadian voices, we will hear one more voice, the voice of Sukhraj. Sukhraj was born in Canada, but his parents were immigrants. They both work in a plastics factory and are nearing the age of retirement. After a life of hard work and renting, they want to buy a home they can grow old in, a home they can watch their grandkids grow up in. As is common in many extended South Asian families, Sukhraj wants to pool his savings with his parents to afford the home and live with them. The combined income of his parents and his savings is barely enough to afford a modest home in the suburbs of Toronto. Sukhraj tells me that as time goes on, his desperation increases, and he becomes willing to place offers far surpassing the list price of the home. Time after time, he is outbid. When he finally does manage to place an offer that lands him a house he comes to see me. Teary-eyed and barely able to get out the words, he asks me to come to a corner of the campaign office and cries on my shoulder.
The right to work toward a home is a right every Canadian should have. A place to call one's own should never be outside the reach of ordinary middle-class Canadians or those working hard to join the middle class. That is why this government has a plan around housing. Whether it is building more housing units per year, increasing housing or ending chronic homelessness, this government is committed to working for Canadians. Our plan is to ban foreign home ownership in our housing sector, to implement the proposed tax on non-residential, non-Canadian vacant homes, and to get together with our partners to ensure they can leverage our upcoming investments to build more housing supply as well as repair the existing stock. The housing accelerator fund will help municipalities build more and better, faster.
The government will also help families buy their first home sooner with a first-time homebuyer incentive, a rent-to-own program, and by reducing the closing costs for first-time homebuyers. These policies will help people like Sukhraj buy that first home, so that when they do it is a moment of happiness and not just a moment of relief.
The stories I have told, and the faces we have looked at, are not the stories of three individuals, but issues that affect all Canadians. Progress needs to be made. Progress must be made. In this chamber, we may disagree as to how to get there. As it has for more than 150 years, progress will come in bits and pieces, but if we put partisan rancour aside we can move forward.
This is Canada.