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Dear {{FirstName or 'Friend'}},
Years ago, when we hosted World Pride, Canada Day and the Pride Parade collided. I am always happier when they have their separate days and weekends. But last year they collided in a different way: I caught COVID at PRIDE and then had to cancel our beloved Canada Day Picnic at Wells Hill Park. After two public health COVID cancellations in 2020 and 2021, I ended up with a personal COVID cancellation in 2022!
So it all looks good for 2023. We had PRIDE this weekend, then the Canada Day Picnic is all planned for Saturday July 1!
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National Indigenous History Month was the best ever. We loved our #IndigenousReads at Christie Gardens with elder, knowledge keeper and author Sylvia Maracle who, despite COVID, was able to join us virtually to talk about her book Finishing the Sweetgrass Braid. As always, her wise observations and counsel were inspiring. Sylvia also chaired the 2-Spirit subcommittee preparing the Action Plan responding to the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
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#IndigenousReads event with Sylvia Maracle (virtually) at Christie Gardens
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I believe their report should be compulsory reading for us all. It documents the history of 2-spirit people in Indigenous communities: how they were the most revered; how homophobia arrived on the boats with the settlers and the churches.
On June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day ("NIPD") began with the solemn ceremony as the Prime Minister and Governor General Mary Simon raised the Survivors Flag on Parliament Hill with Survivors and their families, elders, dignitaries and Parliamentarians. Later at Rideau Hall, the Governor General presented honours to 40 First Nations, Inuit, Metis & allies for their contributions to reconciliation, their communities and to Canada. It was wonderful to see my friends and mentors Ethel Blondin Andrew, Margo Greenwood and Harry LaForme inducted as Officers of the Order of Canada. They truly exemplify the OC motto ‘Desiderantes Meliorem Patriam’ - ‘They desire a better country.’ And the country is indeed better for their work and the work of all the other NIPD laureates. NIPD is a time for all of us to learn more and celebrate the culture, teachings and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Metis people in Canada, and reflect on our shared responsibility on the journey of reconciliation.
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Left & Centre: Survivors Flag Ceremony on Parliament Hill;
Right: Margo Greenwood, Newly Appointed Officer of the Order of Canada, with myself after the ceremony
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As we celebrate the 156th Birthday of Canada on July 1, I hope that you will bring your family and friends and join us at Wells Hill Park at noon for the music, food and a chance to meet your neighbours and make new friends.
There is something about singing O Canada together on Canada Day that makes us so proud and happy. Meeting neighbours for whom this is their first Canada Day as a Canadian citizen is truly wonderful. On Canada Day we also acknowledge those who are struggling with mental health challenges, or making ends meet; we want them to know they are not alone. We live in a great country – the country in the world where people would most like to live. When we ask the question to Canadians “Is there another country you’d rather live in?” the answer is a resounding NO! We love our country and as the Prime Minister says ‘Better is Always Possible.’
This Canada Day, let’s recommit to being kind, to being good neighbours, and to building inclusive communities and a green and prosperous country that leaves no one behind.
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On Saturday, July 1st join me at Wells Hill Park for our Annual Canada Day Picnic! This is a fun and free afternoon for the whole family: enjoy a hot dog on us (while supplies last), meet your neighbours and, as always, stay ‘til the end to win a prize during my Canada-themed trivia game.
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12:00PM - 2:30PM
Wells Hill Park
145 Hilton Ave, Toronto
(near St. Clair Ave W & Bathurst Ave)
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With live music, kid’s activities, community booths and good company, you don’t want to miss it!
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A Productive Spring on Parliament Hill
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As the House rises and my colleagues and I head back to our ridings for the summer, I am proud of the hard work our team has done. In just 15 weeks, the House passed 15 historic bills that will help make life more affordable, safeguard our environment, protect the public safety of Canadians, and advance our commitment to reconciliation. We have:
Delivered targeted relief by:
- Doubling the GST tax credit to put up to an additional $467 in the pockets of 11 million Canadians who need help the most. We also delivered a top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit of $500 to make life more affordable.
- Introducing the new Grocery Rebate of up to $467 for a family of four, which will be delivered on July 5.
- Continuing to make child care affordable – fees have at least been cut in half on average across the country, and six provinces and territories have already reached $10-a-day child care. We’ve helped create nearly 52,000 new child care spaces with the provinces and territories too.
Improved health care for Canadians by:
- Reaching agreements with provinces and territories on a path forward to improve access to family health care, reduce backlogs, increase the number of health professionals, and enhance mental health care services.
- Launching the Canada Dental Benefit for children under 12 that has already helped over 300,000 children go to the dentist, and made life more affordable for their parents.
Continued to grow a clean economy by:
- Advancing historic EV battery projects (e.g., VW in Ontario and GM-Posco in Quebec), critical minerals mining and processing (e.g., Lithium E3 in Alberta, Rio Tinto in Quebec), and major projects to cut pollution from our manufacturing sector, such as Michelin in Nova Scotia, ArcelorMittal Dofasco in Ontario, and BHP in Saskatchewan, that will secure middle-class jobs for generations to come.
- Launching the Action Plan to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, laying out a roadmap to build a better future for Indigenous Peoples across Canada.
- Making progress on Indigenous claims and self-government agreements, including reaching the first self-government agreement in Saskatchewan with the Whitecap Dakota First Nation.
Reaffirmed our commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples by:
A few days ago, the International Monetary Fund released a report that reaffirmed Canada’s strong fiscal performance and position as the G7 country with the lowest deficit-to-GDP ratio and also confirmed that Canada’s net debt-to-GDP ratio remains the lowest among the G7. The report nodded to our strong labour force participation, bolstered by our progress on child care. Today, there are nearly 900,000 more Canadians employed now compared to before the pandemic.
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To best care for our mental health and for the mental health of those around us, we must first have mental health literacy. This toolkit has been developed to help provide the best-available, evidence-based information and resources for mental health literacy.
These documents were created by a team of experts at mentalhealthliteracy.org and Professor Yifeng Wei (University of Alberta) and were reviewed by Dr. Brendan Hanley, MP, and Senator Stan Kutcher.
Each resource listed in the toolkits can be accessed by the QR codes or by the links under the QR codes.
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COVID-19 Free vaccines are available to everyone in Canada. To learn more about Canada's response to COVID19 visit:
canada.ca/covid-19
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WELLNESS TOGETHER Connects Canadians to peer support workers, social workers, psychologists and other professionals for confidential chat sessions or phone calls.
wellnesstogether.ca
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KIDS HELP PHONE Connects youth with professional counselling, information and referrals across Canada without any face-to-face contact.
kidshelpphone.ca
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The Toronto -St. Paul's constituency office is open Monday-Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm. Call us at 416-952-3990, or email [email protected] for assistance in any federal matter.
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