News & Updates

Save Port Renfrew Sport Fishing

I want to bring to your attention an important e-petition I sponsored in support of recreational fishing in Port Renfrew. It was initiated by Chris Tucker, President of the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, and it was published on April 10^th. It is open for signatures until May 10^th.

Closures by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), without notices, threaten over 100 small businesses and the livelihoods of the owners and employees who run them. DFO has failed to provide credible data to justify the closures, leaving the local economies of many communities severely impacted.

E-petition e-4919 advocates for a shift away from arbitrary and punitive regulations imposed by DFO, moving instead to evidence-based policies that protect the economic stability of small coastal communities like Port Renfrew.

I have been a supporting the recreational fishing community and bringing their concerns to Ottawa for many years. In 2021, a cross-party representation of BC MPs and I wrote a letter to previous Minister Jordan in support of marked selective Chinook fishery opportunities that DFO is considering for the Pacific region. In 2023 and 2024  NDP MP Lisa Marie Barron and I wrote to Ministers Murray and Lebouthillier regarding the closing of Tidal Area 20 in efforts to protect the Southern Resident Killer Whale and wild pacific salmon.

Together, with your support and advocacy, we have a chance, through e-petition 4919, to tell the Government of Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans that protecting our recreational fishing in Port Renfrew should be a key goal. I hope you’ll join me in signing and sharing this petition.

Letter to Department of Fisheries and Oceans Minister The Honourable Diane Lebouthillier

My colleague MP Lisa-Marie Barron and I wrote to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Minister on behalf of several Vancouver Island coastal communities, including Port Renfrew, regarding protection efforts for vital species such as the Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) and wild pacific salmon and the closure of Tidal Area 20 by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). Those out on the water have firsthand knowledge of the marine ecosystems that surround Vancouver Island, yet they are largely being left out in DFO`s decision-making process.  

This potential closure will have detrimental impacts to many who rely on sport fishing for their livelihoods, yet the Sport Fishing Advisory Committee has not been meaningfully consulted causing unnecessary strain on Sport Fishers and costal communities. Again, the protection of the Southern Residential Killer Whale and wild pacific salmon is of upmost importance to everyone involved. And those on the water have local knowledge necessary in developing effective solutions. 

You can read the full letter here

Brain injury community groups launch campaign for a National Brain Injury Strategy

Victoria – Abbotsford resident Shirley Wilson is starting the new year on a journey without her son, Jacob. Jacob suffered a traumatic brain injury that eventually led to his death by toxic drug poisoning in 2021.

Shirley Wilson is now part of a growing grassroots movement committed to enhancing care and supports for brain injury patients and their families.

“Coordinated brain injury care and supports are desperately needed, and a national strategy is necessary," says Shirley.

Canadian Dental Care Plan

Qualification Requirements:

Eligibility for the CDCP is determined based on several criteria. Currently the program is expanding to seniors, children under 18 and people with disabilities. Eventually all Canadians who meet the following criteria will qualify:

• Lack of access to private dental insurance.
• Adjusted family net income below $90,000.
• Canadian residency for tax purposes.
• Having filed a tax return in the previous year.

Note: Canadian residents who have access to dental coverage through a social program offered by a province or territory and/or the federal government can still qualify for the CDCP if they meet all the eligibility criteria.

 

New Democrats are delivering dental care that saves millions of Canadian families around $1,300

TORONTO – On Monday, Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh joined by NDP MP Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre) and NDP candidate Clare Hacksel (Toronto-Danforth) is speaking about the implementation of the NDP national dental care program.

A few days after Pierre Poilievre’s cut-and-gut Conservatives voted to cut funding for services Canadians rely on – including dental care – the NDP is delivering results that will make life easier and more affordable for Canadians.

As the holidays approach, the NDP is fighting to crack down on corporate greed driving up costs for Canadians

OTTAWA—On Monday, after months of delay from the Liberals to ‘stabilize’ grocery prices, New Democrats are forcing the CEO of Sobeys back before a parliamentary committee later this afternoon. The Sobeys’ CEO appearance comes after Canadians have been struggling with the huge cost of food for almost two years and coincides with a strike at Pete’s Frootique – a Sobeys owned grocery store in Halifax. While these striking workers are fighting for a fair wage, they have been offered a five cent raise per hour while the CEO of Sobeys took a $8 million salary last year and saw an increase in profits this year.

NDP MP Alistair MacGregor tables bill in parliament brought forward by local students

NDP MP Alistair MacGregor tables bill in parliament brought forward by local students

OTTAWA – On Tuesday, NDP MP Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan – Malahat – Langford) tabled a bill in the House of Commons that was brought forward by local students, Isha Courty-Stephens and Hana Reid, through the Create Your Canada competition.

Toronto Star Editorial Board Endorses Alistair's Bill C-277

This week, the Toronto Star Editorial Board endorsed MP Alistair MacGregor's (Cowichan-Malahat-Langford) Private Member's Bill C-277 the National Strategy on Brain Injuries Act. 

Brain injuries are, in fact, implicated in many of our most pressing social problems, yet they frequently go unnoticed. They have come to be known as "invisible disabilities" and a "silent epidemic," unseen and unheard threats to lives and livelihoods.

Most acquired brain injuries are preventable or treatable, however, and British Columbia NDP MP Alistair MacGregor is aiming to provide us with the tools to do just that.

Last year, MacGregor introduced a private member's bill calling for a national strategy on brain injuries, and last week, members of the Canadian Traumatic Brain Injury Research Consortium joined MacGregor in urging the federal government to support the plan.

Among other things, the strategy would promote preventive measures, improve research, data collection and training of health care professionals, create national guidelines on prevention, diagnosis and management, and raise public awareness.

Consequently, Brain Injury Canada and the Canadian Traumatic Brian Injury Research Consortium are encouraging the federal government to declare moderate to severe traumatic brain injury a chronic condition.

That could complement a national strategy devoted to raising awareness and improving research, training and treatment. And a national strategy could in turn help to inform and improve our efforts to address some of our most intractable social problems.

To be sure, it won't magically cure all of our social maladies. But given the profound role brain injuries play, it could go a long way toward alleviating them.

-Star Editorial Board

FULL ARTICLE

The NDP and C-275: Why we voted against

Dear Constituent,

 

Thank you for your message regarding Bill C-275, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act (biosecurity on farms), brought forward by the Conservative Critic for Agriculture and Agri-Food, John Barlow (MP for Foothills). At the Second Reading stage, when this bill was first debated in the House of Commons, I lent my support at that time to send it to the Agriculture Committee, but with a caveat: my support was conditional on seeing some important improvements made to the language in the bill, which I laid out in detail during my speech on May 1, 2023.

 

The rationale for this bill was purported to be about biosecurity risks posed to farm animals, including African Swine Fever, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), Foot and Mouth Disease, and Avian Influenza (AI). These types of infectious outbreaks are serious threats that can necessitate the culling of entire livestock herds or flocks, and I was prepared to examine the bill, in good faith, with the understanding that seeking to improve biosecurity on farms was the objective of this Conservative bill.

 

However, as the study of the bill at committee stage unfolded, especially during clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, it became clear that committee members were uninterested in accepting reasonable amendments I proposed to improve the bill and clarify its federal scope. This was a departure from the committee’s more well-reasoned approach to examining Bill C-205 in the previous Parliament. A majority of committee members, including most of the Liberals, sided with the Conservatives to block my very reasonable amendments, including my proposed measure to ensure the provisions of the bill would apply equally to everyone – including farmers and their employees. If this bill was truthfully about enhancing biosecurity and preventing risk of infectious diseases being transferred to farm animals, it should have been a no-brainer that these responsibilities apply equally to everyone.

 

Unfortunately, I believe that this bill strays into provincial jurisdiction, making it primarily trespass legislation – not, fundamentally at its heart, about biosecurity, as was originally purported. It is for this reason that I arrived at the difficult conclusion that I could no longer offer my support to this bill. I’d like to offer more reasoning for my decision below:

 

Since Bill C-275 was first introduced as Bill C-205 in December 2019, during the 43rd Parliament, I have met several times with Humane Societies International-Canada, and Animal Justice, to hear about the concerns animal rights groups have about the legislation. HSI-Canada and Animal Justice identified the very real threat that the bill attempts to prevent whistleblowing in cases of animal abuse, by circumventing existing trespass laws in the Criminal Code of Canada.

NDP reiterates demand that Prime Minister Trudeau call for a ceasefire in Israel-Palestine

November 1, 2023
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

 

Dear Prime Minister,

Since the horrifying terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians on October 7th and the beginning of this latest siege of Gaza, we, members of the New Democrat caucus, are united in grief and despair. Our constituents are in pain. Many have lost family members and friends in Gaza and in Israel. Many fear for their loved ones.

We mourn with the Jewish community who are traumatized by the horrendous terrorist attacks by Hamas. We urge you to work harder to secure the release of all hostages, including the Canadians believed to be among them. Canadian Palestinian and Muslim communities are telling us they are feeling unheard by this government. They, too, are in deep pain. We grieve with them.