Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share my thoughts and the thoughts of my constituents in support of the Speech from the Throne. I welcome you in that chair, and I look forward to working with all members of the House on the really important work we have to do.
When I first ran back in 2014-15 to become a candidate for the Liberal Party, and then went on to become a member of Parliament for the best riding in Canada, Mississauga—Erin Mills, the main objective I had as a 28-year-old first-generation immigrant, young racialized woman and lawyer was to make sure that every single Canadian had equality of opportunity and the ability to utilize what we build here in Parliament and as government as a foundation to make sure they succeed and that all Canadians succeed, because when one Canadian is successful, all of us are successful. I was really happy to hear the Speech from the Throne and am happy to talk about what it means to be Canadian, to talk about not only Canadian sovereignty and identity, but also the uniqueness of how we support one another and build community together.
When I first moved to Canada as a young, impressionable 12-year-old girl coming from England, I was really surprised at how respectful our Canadian communities were. My front neighbours did not look like my side neighbours or my back neighbours, yet we continue to be one of the most peaceful and respectful communities in the world, as noted by leading organizations and the United Nations as well. I always wondered why that was, and I spent a lot of time working with volunteer organizations as a kid, whether it was my local library, food banks or art galleries, trying to understand what makes Canadians who we are. How are we so peaceful? How are we able to bring our differences together and utilize them for the betterment of each and every one of us? The reality of this over the past 25-year journey has been that it is not a flip of a switch, but a consistent, constant, determinative effort among all levels of government, civil society, grassroots organizations and indeed individual Canadians to make sure that we continue to build bridges among one another.
Right now, Canada stands at a precipice. We are standing in a very insecure time. That is not because of who we are. A lot of it has to do with external factors. What the King's speech really highlighted for me is what the action plan is going to look like going forward to make sure that we maintain our sovereignty and decrease instability and make sure not only that each and every Canadian has equality of opportunity to do everything and succeed in everything they want to succeed in, but also that those who are less fortunate and need that extra foundation also have that support.
In my 10 years in Parliament, I have served as a member of the justice committee and the chair of the justice committee. I have served on the access to information, privacy and ethics committee and the public accounts committee. I have served on the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, as a former chair of the all-party women's caucus, as the vice-chair for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and most recently as the parliamentary secretary for national revenue. I have a solid understanding of what it takes for Parliament to come together and find the concrete solutions that each and every single member here in our chamber has heard about from our constituents.
I can talk about the dire need for housing and affordability to make sure that equality of opportunity exists for a single mom who is having a difficult time putting food on the table because she is a single earner. As to precarious housing, there are those who really need housing and cannot afford it. There are young people who need jobs in order to get a leg up within our communities and grow our economy.
We must make sure that Canada represents itself in a strong way on the international front as well, not only in how we deal with our neighbours to the south, but also in how we deal with significant challenges across the world, whether they are about Gaza, Ukraine, China, Russia, Sudan or Yemen. Ultimately, Canada needs to stand by the rule of law internationally and make sure that we are doing right by our partners and allies. That comes from having a consistent, solid and significant approach to how we do business here in this House.
My colleague from Winnipeg North mentioned that we have a strong minority, but I disagree with that, because I do not think we have a strong minority. If each and every one of us in this Parliament puts aside partisan differences, comes together to build a strong, united Canada and talks about the interests of each and every one of our constituents first and foremost, then we are not a minority. We are the representatives of who we are as Canadians, what our identity is and where we need to go to protect Canada's sovereignty, to protect Canada strong and free.
It is going to be a very interesting Parliament, I am sure. It is going to be a challenge to bring everyone together. I think this Speech from the Throne sets out key priorities to help us find common ground so we can put aside our partisan differences and actually talk about and find concrete solutions for the people who elected us and put us here in this chamber. I am willing to do that work, and I hope that all of my colleagues across all aisles here are willing to do that work also.
In conclusion, the priorities that have been outlined in the Speech from the Throne represent the voices I heard in my constituency when I knocked on doors. They represent the conversations I had with my local mayor in Mississauga. They represent the conversations I had with our provincial parliamentarians in Ontario. They represent each and every person whose ideologies and fears were validated and heard through the Speech from the Throne.
Going forward over this term, this is an excellent plan for making sure that each and every Canadian has the equality of opportunity to thrive and has the foundation needed to succeed, grow a family and be able to live a happy, united and strong Canadian life.
I look forward to the questions that my colleagues have for me.
