Back to Parliament Priorities
From connecting at community events to chats on your doorsteps – all throughout the summer, I’ve been grateful to hear from so many of you about your most pressing concerns. This has included everything from ensuring essentials – like housing – are affordable, to protecting our children’s future, to pushing the Liberal government to keep […]
Stopping the erosion of affordable housing
The housing crisis is impacting Canadians across the country, but it is hitting folks in our community particularly hard. As part of the solution, I’ve been advocating for sustained, direct investments to at minimum double the supply of affordable housing – which would still only move us into the middle of the pack when compared […]
Accountability on two-way all-day GO trains
It has now been over a decade since two-way all-day GO train service from Kitchener to Toronto was first promised to our community. In the time since, in addition to provincial funds for the project, the federal government has contributed three quarter of a billion dollars, 40% of costs, to help make it happen. Yet […]
What the 2024 budget means for Kitchener Centre
On the heels of last month’s federal budget, this month I’d love to share with you my take on what it means for our community. On the whole: while there are some positives to be found in it, the bulk of the budget includes half-measures that seem to be more about checking political boxes than […]
Advancing equity in federal arts funding
For years, artists, creatives and arts organizations have been telling us there are massive inequities in how federal arts funding is distributed. And they’re right. In fact, in 2023 alone, our region faced a $9.3 million federal funding shortfall when compared to regions like Montreal, Winnipeg, and Vancouver – because while those regions receive an […]
Advocating for our community’s priorities ahead of the 2024 budget
Parliament is sitting once again, and I’m glad to be back in Ottawa making the most of every opportunity to advocate for our community’s priorities. With the 2024 Federal Budget around the corner, my team and I have been calling on the government to include a variety of critical measures. Today, I’d like to share […]
Centering rehabilitation in corrections
In Canada, Indigenous people makeup only 5% of the population, yet over half of those incarcerated in our women’s prisons are Indigenous. As part of my response to our community’s calls to make progress on reconciliation, I’ve been engaging with the Grand Valley Institution for Women (GVI) in Kitchener to ensure they are fulfilling their […]