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Dear friends,
As of today, over 78% of Halton residents age 12+ have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and 33% are now fully immunized. All eligible residents can now book their second dose at www.halton.ca. We’ve reached important milestones in our community, let’s keep it up!
As things are beginning to open up, I was delighted to stop by the Farmer’s Market on Saturday and be in the community again. My team and I will be back today from 8am – 2pm, a great chance to grab some local produce and say hello!
While there is a sigh of relief that life is “getting back to normal”, we, as a country, are also in mourning. It’s been a difficult month as we reckon with the legacy of the Residential School System in Canada and confront some of the disquieting truths of our current reality. The horrific attack against a Muslim family in London, ON left us all heartbroken and shocked. It was a cruel reminder that racism and hatred are present in Canada.
It was a solemn and deeply moving event on June 11th as the City invited the Halton Mosque to hold their Friday prayers at Spencer Smith Park. I was honoured to be in attendance and share in the grieving with our Muslim neighbours here in Burlington, while also calling for an end to Islamophobia and hatred in Canada. You can read my thoughts and reflections in my Burlington Post article, linked here.
With Canada Day tomorrow, many in our community have been wondering what exactly to do this year, as we learn of the heartbreaking discoveries of the unmarked graves of Indigenous children who died while attending Residential Schools across the country. It is important that we acknowledge that these are not so much revelations but confirmations of what Indigenous peoples and communities have known all along: that thousands of Indigenous children went to Residential School and never returned home.
This is a very dark part of who we are as a country and we must be determined to reckon with both this horrific past but also the continued inequalities Indigenous people continue to face today. It is why our government is committed to reconciliation. It’s why in this year’s Budget we committed over $18 billion to close the financing gap in service provision to Indigenous peoples. It is why since forming government we have made land claim settlements, ending boil water advisories and co-developing legislation on child protection and Indigenous languages a priority. There is a lot more to do. We are committed to doing it.
Over the weekend, I issued a statement to say that this Canada Day I will be reflecting on our country. I will be celebrating the good but also challenging our perceptions of the past and confronting the uncomfortable truths of the present. For me, I will be reflecting on our past, our present and how to build a better future. One that strives to uphold the Canada I want all of us to have: one that is inclusive, and that is determined to achieve reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. I hope you will do the same. You can read my full statement here.
Finally, as June wraps up, so too does the parliamentary session. This past year has been a year like no other. We managed to pass a number of key pieces of legislation through the House of Commons before we rose for the summer: the Budget (including important pandemic support programs as well as the $30 Billion National Child Care Program), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Net-Zero Accountability Act and An Act to Ban Conversion Therapy, to name a few. Legislation that will make a meaningful difference to improve the lives of Canadians and protect the planet.
June has been a difficult month for our country. But it has also opened up important conversations about who we are as Canadians and what kind of future we want to build. I am there for those conversations and for rebuilding a country that emerges from the pandemic stronger, more prosperous, more inclusive and more equitable.
This Canada Day, I invite you to join me in the reflection of how we can all work to build the Canada we believe in: A Canada that acknowledges the wrongs past and present, and works for a better future.
Wishing you a safe, thoughtful and happy summer,
Sincerely,
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