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Crucial Fact

  • Her favourite word was fish.

Last in Parliament September 2021, as Liberal MP for South Shore—St. Margarets (Nova Scotia)

Lost her last election, in 2021, with 37% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Salaries Act June 8th, 2017

Madam Speaker, the member talked about how she felt as a woman and how well respected and well treated she was within her party. Then she referred to women on this side of the House as quotas, and I have heard other members refer to them as tokens. Does that respect not go right across the floor? Should all women and men in the House not be respected? I am not feeling we are getting that tonight.

Salaries Act June 8th, 2017

Madam Speaker, the member mentioned the most important positions, and I am wondering how she came to the conclusion that those were the most important positions. For me, health is one of the most important positions, and it is held by a woman. Labour is an important position, and it is held by a woman. International development is an important position, and it is held by a woman. How does she determine the most important positions?

Salaries Act June 8th, 2017

Madam Speaker, my colleague particularly mentioned defence, health, and justice. Two of those ministers are women, I might add. Then he said that there were portfolios that were not so serious. Would he explain why he does not think women are as serious, small business and tourism are not as serious, or francophonie is not as serious as those areas?

The Environment June 6th, 2017

Mr. Speaker, abandoned and derelict vessels have a tremendous impact on communities in my riding of South Shore—St. Margarets, and for many coastal communities all across Canada. Our government demonstrated that a clean environment and a strong economy can and have to go hand in hand, and we recognize the importance of supporting healthy coastal marine ecosystems.

Can the parliamentary secretary please inform my constituents, and all Canadians, on the recent positive developments on this important issue?

Seniors May 17th, 2017

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Motion No. 106, developing a national seniors strategy framework.

In my riding of South Shore—St. Margarets, seniors make up a large portion of the population. As a matter of fact, just over 20% of the residents of South Shore—St. Margarets are over the age of 65.

Seniors across this country face many challenges, but in particular, seniors in rural and remote areas can often be more isolated and alone than their urban peers. All across the country, countless organizations provide services to seniors allowing them to live with dignity and security, and ensuring they are free of exploitation and abuse. I would like to offer a heartfelt thanks to those organizations.

Unfortunately, these programs often cannot reach every person in need, and too many seniors fall through the cracks becoming vulnerable to crime and abuse due to reasons such as lack of affordable housing, poor health care, or low literacy to name a few. This is why it is so important for the government to recognize that seniors require an ongoing different level of attention than other parts of the population.

Some seniors are more vulnerable than others, and face extremely tight financial situations. That is why in budget 2016 our government increased the guaranteed income supplement top-up by up to $947 annually, helping to get more money to the most vulnerable seniors in our communities.

We also cancelled the increase in the eligibility age for old age security and guaranteed income supplement benefits from 65 to 67, a move that will put thousands of dollars in the pockets of Canadians as they become seniors.

These budgetary decisions clearly demonstrate that we understand the central role that Canadian seniors have played in building this country, and because of this, they deserve safe and prosperous communities to live in and experience the best quality of life possible.

One of the things I frequently heard during the election campaign, and continue to hear since becoming a member of Parliament, is the need for better access to home care. The lives of many seniors could be greatly improved if they were only able to remain in their own homes longer while still receiving the care, and help they need as opposed to moving to a long-term care facility or worse, staying in a hospital until a bed is available for them.

It meant a lot to many of my constituents that in budget 2017 we committed $6 billion to improve access to home care services. Greater access to home care will not only benefit our seniors, by allowing them to stay in their homes, but will also help our health care system by alleviating the issue of beds being tied up for patients on waiting lists.

Seniors also benefit from other sources of social investments in our communities, investments in things like affordable housing, cultural and recreational infrastructure, and public transportation. These all benefit society as a whole, but often disproportionately benefit our seniors.

Our government has committed $5 billion for a new national housing fund, $3.2 billion to support key priorities for affordable housing, $1.8 billion to cultural and recreational infrastructure, and $20.1 billion to support public transit needs in this country. All of these investments will have a direct positive impact on the lives of seniors and those who support them.

Another issue some of our seniors struggle with is mental health. We are seeing disorders such as hoarding becoming an increasing problem for our older population. In my riding, we have a resource called the Mosaic Network, which is a community health network designed to improve the partnerships among those who provide care for seniors and older adults with complex behavioural issues such as hoarding. The network brings together various stakeholders to help increase awareness, increase knowledge, share best practices, and identify and share resources within our communities to work with those who exhibit hoarding behaviour.

It is important that the government recognize grassroots organizations like Mosaic, and support them by making sure that health care stakeholders have the resources they need. Our government's commitment of $5 billion to support mental health initiatives has the potential to make a real difference in the work these organizations do, and in the lives of our seniors.

Quality of life for seniors is about more than just investments in health care, housing, and social programs. It is often simply making sure our seniors stay active, and engaged in their communities and social circles, to reduce the likelihood of isolation and accompanying mental health struggles. Community groups across my riding are finding interesting, and innovative ways for seniors to stay active in their communities. Activities like storytelling, producing documentaries detailing their experiences, live theatre productions, and simple crafting workshops are all ways to exercise their minds and engage our older Canadians.

This year I am particularly pleased that my riding of South Shore—St. Margarets will be hosting the provincial 55+ Games in September. Seniors from all across my riding will be coming to Lunenburg County to participate in activities from soccer to pickle ball, cribbage to shuffle board, and swimming to track and field. All with the objective of keeping seniors active, engaged, and giving them the ability to share experiences with other seniors from around the province.

I would like to recognize Events Lunenburg County for the hard work it has done in bringing this event to our area. Organizations and programs that work with and support seniors often rely on many hard-working volunteers, particularly in rural areas. Community members spend countless hours of their own time on things like preparing meals, providing transportation, or simply visiting and sharing stories with seniors.

Working toward a national seniors strategy would allow us to identify where the shortfalls are, and how we can fill the gap in helping our seniors and those who support them. They need to lead safer, happier, and more active lives.

Seniors organizations also work in collaboration with many other community groups, health care organizations, and law enforcement. I know that in my riding, police forces work to increase personal safety for seniors, through campaigns to raise awareness about fraud and scams, and by providing opportunities to learn first-hand about crime prevention. It is important the government recognize the diverse types of stakeholders at play when we are talking about the lives of seniors.

We are making great strides addressing the issues that affect seniors, not only in my riding but across the country. However, as we have often heard our Prime Minister say, “Better is always possible”, and I believe we can do better to address the needs of older Canadians. As more and more Canadians move into old age, we have to do better.

Before I finish, I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to all the community groups, police officers, health care professionals, home care workers, and friendly visitors in my riding who take time from their day to make the lives of our seniors just a little more enjoyable.

I am absolutely happy to be supporting Motion No. 106 as I believe it is important for this House to clearly demonstrate our commitment to seniors, to give them the comfort in knowing that their concerns are being heard, and that the government is taking action.

I would encourage all my colleagues to lend their support to this motion. I commend my colleague, the member for Nickel Belt, for bringing this motion forward, and I look forward to the rest of the debate.

Boston Marathon May 2nd, 2017

Mr. Speaker, summer is just around the corner, and with the nicer weather more and more Canadians will be lacing up their running shoes and hitting the sidewalks and trails for their runs, many of them training for and participating in marathons across the country.

This year, I was impressed to learn that at least nine of my constituents participated in the very prestigious Boston Marathon last month. One of these participants was 69-year-old Chris Anderson, who just ran his 113th marathon. Not only that, but this was Chris' 29th consecutive Boston Marathon. He even once ran the Boston Marathon with a broken foot and a modified cast, just to maintain his consecutive streak. I want to commend Chris for his dedication, hard work, and training as he continues to run those marathons.

To qualify and run Boston is quite an achievement, so I would like to congratulate Chris and all the other Boston marathoners from my riding and across the country on their athletic success.

Fisheries and Oceans April 11th, 2017

Mr. Speaker, last October, the House unanimously agreed to my Motion No. 40, which called on the government, in collaboration with provincial, territorial, municipal, and indigenous organizations, to take meaningful steps to address the issues of abandoned and derelict vessels within six months.

Could the Minister of Transport please provide an update to Canadians on this commitment?

Business Excellence April 6th, 2017

Mr. Speaker, happy Tartan Day to all.

To say that I am proud of the companies and residents of South Shore—St. Margarets who continue to raise the bar when it comes to business, innovation, and community involvement would be an understatement. I would like to highlight a few of those businesses which last month were recognized by the Lunenburg-Queens Business Excellence awards for their outstanding achievements: All Outdoors Landscaping; Buck's Home Building Centre; Tilia Builders; CO3 co-working space; Terra Beata Cranberry Farm; and Atlantica Oak Island Resort & Conference Centre.

That is not all. Just last week we learned that Ironworks Distillery in Lunenburg took home five medals from the international distillers' competition in Germany: two golds for its gin and apple brandy, and silvers for its Pear-eau-de-vie, amber rum, and its ever popular Bluenose rum.

I invite all of my colleagues to join me in congratulating these award winners, and all rural businesses across the country, for the outstanding contributions they make to our communities.

Purple Day March 23rd, 2017

Mr. Speaker, every year on March 26, people around the world recognize Purple Day to raise awareness about epilepsy, a condition affecting 300,000 Canadians and 50 million people worldwide.

I have watched people close to me struggle with epilepsy and recognize the immense importance that awareness and knowledge play in dispelling the myths and in supporting those with this condition.

This purple day, let us send a message to all those affected by epilepsy that they are not alone. I invite all my colleagues to wear purple on March 26 and to continue the conversation to increase awareness and to support those struggling with epilepsy.

For more information, I encourage everyone to go to www.epilepsy.ca to find out how they can help.

The Budget March 23rd, 2017

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to the speech from the hon. leader of the opposition, and she kept talking about not addressing the issues of working-class Canadians. In my riding, I heard a great deal about how important child care was. When the party opposite was in power, it chose not to invest in child care. We are looking at $7 billion in child care.

I would ask the leader of the opposition how she considers not investing in child care something that is going to help middle-class families.