March 20, 2024: Updates

NDP Motion about Promoting Peace in the Middle East 

On Monday, the House voted on a motion brought forward by the NDP about the war in Israel and Gaza. I raised many issues with the original motion, and I am glad we pushed for critical changes which align the motion with our government’s policy. In particular, the motion no longer calls for the federal government to officially recognize Palestinian statehood ahead of the necessary diplomatic negotiations for two states. I voted for this amended motion. Here is the amended motion and I addressed the House with my thoughts, presented before the amendments. 

Online Harms Act 

Three weeks ago, Minister Virani tabled the Online Harms Act (Bill C-63). This legislation is the result of years of expert and stakeholder consultation, proposing to hold social media and user-generated content platforms (Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, Pornhub) accountable to follow safety standards. Under the Act, these platforms would be subject to three duties: 

1. A duty to act responsibly; 

2. A duty to protect children; and 

3. A duty to make certain content inaccessible, specifically (1) content that sexually victimizes a child or revictimizes a survivor and (2) intimate images posted without consent. 

This legislation is a massive step towards protecting kids from what they see on the internet. For more information, please see here. 

Welcoming Afghani Refugees

After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, Canada committed to welcoming 40,000 refugees. Last week, I had the honour of welcoming a charter plane to Canada, bringing the total number of Afghani refugees to almost 50,000. It was such a pleasure to see so many men, women and children arriving in their new home. Welcome to Canada! For more information, please see here. 

Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program becomes Permanent 

Last week, Minister Miller announced that the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program, originally launched in 2022, is becoming permanent. As Rural and Northern communities face unique challenges in addressing critical labour shortages, the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program has played a critical role in ensuring the economic development and growth of 11 local communities. These include North Bay, Sudbury, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay, all in Ontario. The program is designed to spread the benefits of economic immigration to smaller communities, by creating a path to permanent residence for skilled foreign workers. Given its successes, IRCC is working to establish RNIP as a permanent program. For more information about this exciting program, please see here.

Funding for Women in Skilled Trades 

Last Friday was International Women’s Day, where we celebrated the achievements of women and girls across the world, and reaffirmed our commitment to a more inclusive, fair and safe future. I had the honour to celebrate the first graduating cohort of the Introduction to Millwrighting: 5-Week Program for Women. This was an inspiring initiative run by the Millwright Regional Council, which provided 10 women the opportunity to undergo five weeks of training, followed by an aptitude test. 

Those who were successful in the program have been offered an opportunity with Aecon to assist in the refurbishment of the Darlington Nuclear Centre. It is great to see the diversification of the trades sector and the promotion of new talent!  

Also last week, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages announced $28.9 million in funding over four years. This money will go towards 15 projects, which will help approximately 6,400 women gain apprenticeship experience, and support them as they enter the skilled trades workforce, particularly in the construction and manufacturing sectors. Women are underrepresented in the skilled trades, and this funding will help to bring new skillsets and diversity into our workforce, while strengthening our economy. For more information, please see here. 

Introducing Legislation to bring Universal Pharmacare 

On February 29th, our government introduced legislation to start establishing universal pharmacare. This is a first step towards delivering better healthcare to Canadians, laying out a for a plan for a range of contraception and diabetes medications. Once this legislation passes, nine million Canadians across the country would be able to access to contraception and reproductive autonomy. As well, this will help more than three and a half million Canadians living with diabetes get the medication and resources they need. Through our bilateral health agreements with provinces and territories, the Canadian Dental Care Plan and now Pharmacare, we’re delivering on the promise that every Canadian deserves better healthcare. 

Yours,

Julie

Julie Dabrusin

Member of Parliament for Toronto--Danforth