Julie Dabrusin
Julie Dabrusin
Member of Parliament for Toronto—Danforth
October 28, 2020 Community Email Update
October 28, 2020

Dear Neighbor,

This past week, I was back in Parliament for the first time since March! It's been a trying time for all of us, but I'm grateful to have this opportunity to advocate on behalf of our community and continue to shape the government's recovery plans from Ottawa. I took my first opportunity to speak in the House of Commons to talk about our local businesses. You can watch it here.

This week, I will continue with briefings about the situation in Nagorno-Karabagh at Foreign Affairs Committee and to review recovery measures for the arts and culture industry at Heritage Committee.

Please continue to provide your input on issues of concern, which informs my advocacy.

Heading into Halloween, I wanted to ensure that our community had clear and consistent messaging the types of celebrations and activities have been deemed permissible by Toronto Public Health and Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health. The City of Toronto has outlined a few creative and safe alternatives to trick or treating this Halloween.

To all in our community celebrating, Happy Oxi Day! We cannot celebrate with a parade, but it is important to recognize that today in 1940, Greeks said "Oxi" (no) to fascism and "Nai" (yes) to democracy. 

With that, here is our weekly federal update on:

Facebook Live MP Jaime Battiste on Treaty Rights in Nova Scotia

Last week, we had a lively Ask Me Anything session, in which I was asked about the confidence vote, gun control, small business supports and other topics. You can catch it here in case you missed it.

Unfortunately, we were unable to reschedule MP Greg Fergus this week. I will notify you as soon as we can reschedule him to talk about his work as part of the Parliamentary Black Caucus and our government's actions to end systemic anti-Black racism.

Please join me tonight at 7:30 pm for a chance to talk about Treaty Rights in Nova Scotia with MP Jaime Battiste, Mi'kmaq leader and Chair of the Liberal Indigenous Caucus. Like my Facebook page to get a notification when I go live.

Please direct any questions to here in advance of the Facebook Live events. If we are not able to get to your question during the discussion, I'll provide a response directly to your email. 

2021 Community Calendar Contest

Thank you for the many submissions for our 2021 calendar contest! It is not too late for community members to submit their work. We are looking for personal photographs of your favorite spots in Toronto-Danforth ranging from shops, streetscapes, parks, and ravines

Each individual can submit up to 5 photos for consideration. Photos must be high-resolution, in landscape orientation, and must be submitted by 5:00pm on Monday, November 2. We will be sure to credit the photos selected. 

Please click here to submit your photos to enter the contest!

Staying Cyber Healthy

While you are taking steps to protect yourself and your community from COVID-19, make sure you also take care of your cyber health.

Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the health crisis and our increased reliance on cyber technology to continue to work, learn, shop and connect with friends and loved ones.

The RCMP has received several reports on cyber threats and fraud related to COVID-19.

You can find simple tips to avoid cyber fraud and ways to report cyber crimes here

Funding to advance the development of Canadian COVID-19 vaccine technologies

Our government is actively pursuing the purchase and development of vaccines, treatments, and related supplies to protect against COVID-19 and support our recovery from the pandemic. This includes investing in Canadian projects and strengthening our country's biomanufacturing sector and capabilities to fight future pandemics through leading-edge vaccine technology.

Last week, we announced we've signed an agreement with Quebec City-based Medicago to secure up to 76 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine candidate, enough to vaccinate 38 million people. This is the first domestically developed vaccine candidate the Government of Canada has secured.

We will also provide up to $23.2 million in funding through the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program to advance six COVID-19 vaccine candidates in various stages of clinical trials.

Our government has now signed agreements with Medicago, AstraZeneca, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax, Pfizer, and Moderna. Agreements signed to date will secure access to up to 358 million doses of their different COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Currently, there are three vaccine candidates currently under review and many others in clinical trials and in development.

Extending Disability Tax Credit Applications

The deadline to apply for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) to receive the one-time payment has been extended to December 31, 2020. This will help more Canadians with disabilities access the benefit, as the COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges for some to collect the information needed to complete the DTC application process.

More information can be found here

Housing Supply Challenge

Far too many Canadians struggle to find, maintain, and afford a good place to call home. A lack of adequate housing supply combined with significant demand for housing has pushed prices up in Canada, contributing to a lack of housing affordability. To incentivize much needed innovation in creating new housing supply, the Housing Supply Challenge invites applications from across Canada to propose new ideas and solutions that break down the barriers that limit new housing supply.  Proposals that address barriers to supply, and ultimately help more people find an affordable place to call home, will receive funding to develop and implement their solutions.

Click here to find out more about the Challenge.

Rapid Housing Initiative

Another way our government is addressing the housing shortage in large cities is the Rapid Housing Initiative, which provides a total of $1 billion to rapidly create up to 3,000 permanent units of affordable housing across Canada. Toronto will receive much needed funding through the Major Cities Stream.

For more info, visit cmhc.ca/RapidHousing.

Tech Collect Drive

There is a digital divide in our city and as we move towards more online learning, families in our area need support. When you donate your used, broken and unwanted devices (computers, laptops and other equipment) to Tech Collect Drive, they are safely recycled or refurbished, and circulated back to the community to support individuals and families desperately looking for access to technology. 

More information on upcoming Tech Collect Drives can be found here.

Stay safe and please reach out by email or phone (416.405.8914, leave a message) for any questions, suggestions or feedback.

Yours,

Julie

Main Office - Toronto
1028 Queen Street East
Toronto, Ontario
M4M 1K4

Telephone:
416-405-8914

Fax:
416-405-8918
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Hill Office - Ottawa
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
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Telephone:
613-992-9381

Fax:
613-992-9389
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