Dear Neighbour,

Ending gun violence has been a priority for our community and as your Member of Parliament, I have pushed for greater gun control. In the last parliament we put in place stricter measures around the sale of guns, including lifetime background check-as opposed to only 5 years prior. This summer, our government prohibited assault-style firearms, such as the ones used at the mosque attack in Quebec and Polytechnique.

This week, we made further progress with legislation to put in place a buyback program for the recently prohibited weapons, and additional measures to flag firearms owners who may provide a risk to themselves or their intimate partners. The bill also provides to cities the power to put in place a ban on storage and transportation of handguns in their city limits. While I know that our community and many advocates would like to see more steps taken, this is still important progress to end gun violence.

Please find updates on: 

• Expanded Travel Restrictions
• COVID-19 Vaccines 
• Permanent Public Transit Funding 
• Support for Women's Organizations 
• Consultations on National Strategy for Rare Diseases 
• Grant for Hosting Free Tax Clinics 

Since March 2020, we've advised Canadians against non-essential travel and this has been accompanied by the enforcement of the Quarantine Act. Starting this week, we have imposed new travel restrictions to account for the new more transmissible variants of COVID-19.

• From February 15th: Travellers arriving by land (with some exceptions) will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 molecular test result taken in the United States within 72 hours of pre-arrival, or a positive test taken 14 to 90 days prior to arrival.
• From February 22nd: Travellers arriving by land will be required to take a COVID-19 molecular test on arrival and at the end of their 14-day quarantine. 
• From February 22nd: Travellers arriving by air (with some exceptions) will be required to take a COVID-19 molecular test when they arrive in Canada before exiting the airport, and another towards the end of their 14-day quarantine period. With limited exceptions, air travellers, will also be required to reserve, prior to departure to Canada, a 3-night stay in a government-authorized hotel. Travellers will be able to book their government-authorized stay starting February 18th. 
• The exceptions include essential medical travel. 

More details on the restrictions are available here.

This week our vaccine deliveries from Pfizer have been restored as previously scheduled. We will receive 400,000 this week and Pfizer will now ship 3.1 million doses to Canada between this week and March 31. 

An accelerated delivery schedule for the Pfizer vaccine has also been negotiated. We expect to receive 40 million of its secured doses by the end of September. Minister Anand also announced the purchase of an additional 4 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, bringing the total number of secured doses to 44 million.

In total, we will receive 84-million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines?by the end of September 2021.

Finally, in response to the emergence of new virus variants, we announced $53M to create a Variants of Concern Strategy, which will increase our monitoring and surveillance of new COVID-19 variants. Partnering with experts in research and public health, this will increase our ability to detect, track, and address outbreaks of COVID-19 variants across the country.

As the federal representative of this community, one of my main priorities has been to strengthen our cities by securing investments in public transit. Municipalities and transit authorities have long emphasized that a source of permanent and stable public transit funding is essential to allow for careful and long-term project planning and delivery. This is a subject which I've discussed on numerous occasions with Mayor Tory, my fellow Toronto MPs and leaders in our community. 

Recognizing that demand for reliable public transit is only expected to surge, we announced a historic permanent public transit fund that will also support economic recovery by investing nearly $15B in transit over the next eight years. $5.9B of new funding will be provided over five years, starting in 2021, to accelerate major public transit projects like subways and light rail transit. There will also be investments in zero-emission buses, walkways and bike paths, and rural transit options to help reduce mobility challenges for Canadians.

Click here for more information.

The increased rates and severity of gender-based violence due to the pandemic has created an overwhelming demand for the vital services provided by women's organizations. Over the past month, I've connected with the staff and administrators of women's shelters in our riding to ensure they have the resources they need to continue their essential work. 

Last week, the Riverdale Immigrant Women's Centre in our riding was one of several organizations to receive funding for projects to address gender-based violence in Ontario. The funds will support projects to increase women's economic security within the food service and restaurant industry through the development of an action plan to implement institutional change within Ontario's food sector.

Women and Gender Equality Canada also launched the Feminist Response and Recovery Fund. A call for proposals is now open to provide $100 million for projects aimed at ending violence against women and girls, improving their economic security and prosperity, and encouraging their participation in leadership and decision-making roles.

Over the years, I've heard from many in our community about the prohibitive costs of treatment for rare diseases. As we consider a national strategy for high-cost drugs for rare diseases, it is paramount that patients, their families and their caregivers have a voice in helping to shape it. Consultations have now launched and you can find out how to participate here. The feedback will help inform the design of the strategy and ensure it helps patients get better access to the effective drugs they need. 

Volunteers from community organizations across Canada help countless eligible people do their taxes for free. The CRA recognizes that there could be an associated cost to running these free tax clinics.?This grant program will help organizations offset some of these costs and provide funding for tax returns filed so organizations can focus on what they do best - helping people in need.

The CRA will be investing more than 10 million dollars over three years toward the new grant program. The grant will open this month for organizations and the CRA will begin accepting grant applications for funding in May 2021. For further information please visit: Grant for hosting free tax clinics.