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Crucial Fact

  • Her favourite word was wondering.

Last in Parliament April 2025, as Liberal MP for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill (Ontario)

Lost her last election, in 2025, with 43% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 May 8th, 2024

Madam Speaker, as a member of the environment committee and someone who cares deeply about our environment, I believe we need to take every measure we can to reduce greenhouse gases right now. We are in a crisis. Unlike the Conservatives, who keep talking about technology as the only thing that is going to solve our problem, we have a very robust and multi-faceted approach to reducing emissions.

Given the urgency of the crisis, I feel that these tax credits that will help people do what they would not otherwise do are necessary to help us meet our goals.

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 May 8th, 2024

Madam Speaker, that is very important for us to put in place, and we have the opportunity to do that now.

This was already being worked on. It was part of the employment insurance revisions, and we knew it was coming forward. However, I would return the question and ask why you are not supporting it now.

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 May 8th, 2024

Madam Speaker, as always, it is an honour to rise in this place as the representative for the great riding of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill and discuss important issues of the day.

However, I must say that, this evening, I have a bit of a challenge in discussing this motion. It is a disgusting motion that we are discussing, actually, because it has been put forward to delete the short title of a very important bill, Bill C-59. Just to be clear, the long title of the bill is “An Act to implement certain provisions of the fall economic statement tabled in Parliament on November 21, 2023 and certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023”. The long title is a mouthful; therefore, as is the normal course of business, the bill has a shorter title. The short title is simply the “Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023”. The motion put forward by the Conservatives tonight, requiring debate for five and a half hours, is to delete that short title. Just so that everyone is clear, because I know this is a very important motion for the Conservative Party, we are talking about deleting the title “Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023”, not the long title.

Why would we be discussing this motion this evening? That is a question I have asked myself. There is no good answer; the answer really lies in the work that the official opposition party is doing, which we have seen them do over the past year, at least. That is to ensure that there is not productive conversation or debate and that we do not get things done in this place.

Earlier this evening, a member opposite made a comment implying that I do not speak to the constituents in my riding, but that is what I try to do most of. In fact, I think that all of us here should take the responsibility of being the representatives of our constituencies very seriously. Certainly, spending five hours here tonight to debate this motion to delete six words from a bill is not time well-spent. In fact, I could be using this time to speak to constituents. We could be saving money. As the member for Vancouver Kingsway has so aptly pointed out several times, this exercise is costing taxpayers, including my constituents, a lot of valuable money that need not be spent.

The Conservative Party purports to care about fiscal matters and represent common sense. It is quite astounding to me that Conservatives would put forward this motion to debate this evening, especially when we have a piece of legislation in front of us that actually has a lot of important content that we could be discussing or debating.

Knowing that there is a lot of leeway given on what we can discuss, even given a motion as silly and wasteful as the one in front of us, I will comment on a few of the measures in this very important bill that the Conservative Party has continually filibustered on and tried to block, as it has done with most things our government has been doing.

In fact, I would refer to something that happened just a couple of weeks ago. As the chair of the women's caucus, I was actually very discouraged to see the chair of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women removed.

I do not sit on that committee, but I spoke to every member. To a person, they felt that the work being done by the chairperson and by the committee involved collaborating very well to get important things done for the women of Canada. They felt that the chairperson was removed simply because she was allowing constructive work to be done in this place.

Members of that committee are all saddened by the fact that this member has been removed from her position. The reason I mention that in relation to this very important motion that was put forward to remove the short title of the bill is that this is another example of how the opposition party is trying to block, delay and stall any good work being done in this place.

Let us look a little at what the bill contains and what is being held up by this wasteful motion that the Conservative Party has put forward. We have heard a lot about how Canadians are struggling. In my riding, when I speak to my constituents, I hear how people want relief, particularly on the cost of food. I sit on the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. I was part of the study that looked at addressing stability in food prices, given their recent increase. A lot of the recommendations that came up from witnesses were regarding the need for increased and improved competition in Canada.

Bill C-59, which we can still refer to by its short-form title, the fall economic statement implementation act, 2023, has many measures that are being blocked now to do just that: to modernize our Competition Act, to give it more teeth and to ensure that it can fight against the practices that have been occurring and have increased food prices in Canada.

Another thing in this important bill is support for adoptive parents, including surrogates, with a 15-week shareable employment insurance adoption benefit. To many families, this is a very important measure. My husband and I are adoptive parents. I know that, when someone brings a child into their home, especially an older child, having that time to spend where one can just be with that child and not worry about other things is very important. While I am not a child psychologist, I read a lot about adoption before we adopted two of our children, and it makes quite a difference. This is a very important measure that many parents and families would benefit from.

For me, as someone who has experienced this, I feel it is reprehensible for the party opposite to be wasting our time tonight talking about removing the short title of a bill in order to obstruct and to delay it. There are parents like me out there who would very much like those 15 weeks to spend with their adoptive children.

There has also been a lot of talk about affordability and the effect of the pollution pricing regime on Canadians. I have heard, because I have some constituents who live in a semi-rural area, that there are not always the same options. Therefore, the rebate that is being given back to Canadians, which gives back more money to 80% of our families, is being adjusted to ensure that Canadians living in rural areas receive more. They would get a 20% top-up on the rebate that is given to other families.

Members of the party opposite often speak about rural ridings, people living in rural areas and the importance of agriculture, and I share their views. Therefore, how, in good conscience, can they talk about this?

I will conclude by saying that there are a lot of important things we could be—

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 May 8th, 2024

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would suggest that the member did attack me. It was just not veering in that direction. He made comments about my person and assumptions about what my motivation was. Therefore, I would ask the Speaker to ask him to retract those statements about me.

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 May 8th, 2024

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am questioning the relevance of the member's speech to the motion that was put forward to delete the short title of the act. I am having a hard time trying to connect it to—

The Environment April 29th, 2024

Mr. Speaker, it has been one week since Earth Day and in my riding of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, the momentum continues.

We have had several clean-ups and tree planting events led by community members like Oak Ridges Lions Club, the Aurora Arboretum, LEAF, the City of Richmond Hill, the town of Aurora and the entire York Region community. Last week, we welcomed to Richmond Hill the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health. This is a real testament to the dedication of Richmond Hill to our environment.

We are thrilled about the new partnership and leadership on a sustainable transition and innovation, not only in our region but worldwide, under Dr. Kaveh Madani. It is a testament, as I said, to the strong connection and dedication that our riding has to the environment, which makes Earth Day even more special in our riding.

A happy Earth Day to everyone, and I thank all the wonderful organizations and communities standing up for environmental protection.

The Budget April 29th, 2024

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, in particular, for pointing out the health care transfers in the budget. As the opposite member knows, mental health is health. The $200 billion that we have dedicated in transfers to the provinces will address this.

I wonder if the member could elaborate a bit on how that $200 billion, those very high and historic amounts of transfers going to the provinces, will help Canadians deal with the health care challenges they are facing.

Firefighters April 18th, 2024

Mr. Speaker, this week, I welcomed two of my firefighting friends to Ottawa: Tim Sparks and Jeff Voisin from the Richmond Hill Fire Services.

We discussed matters of concern for firefighters across Canada, such as the risk of PFAS exposure and contamination in their gear, and the need for frequent and routine cancer screenings. We explored solutions and innovations being deployed, such as the Vancouver-led, PFAS-free moisture barrier in firefighters' gear certified by the National Fire Protection Association.

We are determined to work with industry to respond to these health concerns, but we need co-operation between provincial and municipal governments, and our government, to ensure that we take care of the firefighters who take care of us.

I thank Tim and Jeff, deputy chief Rocco Volpe of Central York Fire Services, chief Bryan Burbridge of Richmond Hill Fire Services, and all the firefighters across Canada for their service.

Committees of the House April 15th, 2024

Madam Speaker, I thank the member opposite for her work on this file, as well as on many other issues that we both work on and agree on.

I had a volunteer who worked for me, named Arad Zarei. He was killed on that flight. At the remembrance for the victims of flight PS752, the Prime Minister was in our riding and reiterated our commitment to a responsible listing of the IRGC. We have also put very extensive measures in place under SEMA and IRPA.

I am just wondering if the member opposite would comment on how she feels the real issues facing the Iranian diaspora in Canada could be addressed while putting in place some of these measures.

Plant-Based Meal Business April 10th, 2024

Mr. Speaker, last week, I visited Green Bowl Foods, a healthy, sustainably focused, trail-blazing company in Barrie, Ontario, that prepares plant-based ready-to-eat meals. The company is led by Max Jamshidian and Behnoush Maherani, two brilliant food scientists from my riding of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill who share a passion for transforming our food landscape while caring for the planet.

Green Bowl Foods is paving the way for the future of sustainable diets while tackling major global problems, such as food waste. Their facility is equipped with a state-of-the-art, quality system, which was supported by a grant from our government, including revolutionizing thermal sterilization to enhance food preservation.

Tapping into the plant-based protein sector is a major economic growth opportunity for Canada, with an estimated contribution of $25 billion to our GDP by 2035. We have the plant-based protein supercluster, which has done a great job out west.

Congratulations to Green Bowl. I encourage everyone to look for their high-protein, high-fibre products online or in stores.