Dear Friends,
Happy Filipino Independence Day
To begin, I want to wish all my Filipino constituents and Filipino-Canadians, across the country, a very happy Independence Day! June 12th marked the 126th anniversary of Philippine Independence from Spain, and while I wasn’t able to join you at FAMAS, my Director of Operations, Chelsea Craig was able to say a few words in my place. I look forward to joining many events in the weeks to come starting with the CCFAQ Independence Day event on Sunday. Mabuhay!
AJC Global Forum in Washington
On Sunday, I travelled to Washington DC, to speak at the American Jewish Congress’ Global Forum. One of the largest events in the year, the Global Forum had thousands of delegates from around the world (although the large majority were from the United States) and I had the opportunity to spend a good amount of time with AJC leadership, including its CEO former Congressman Ted Deutch.
At the opening plenary, I had the pleasure of joining a panel along with representatives from Chile, France, and South Africa to discuss global insights into antisemitism post October 7th.
Meeting the US Ambassador
As I have stated numerous times, I believe that there is no more important international relationship than the one Canada has with the United States. This week, I was fortunate enough to join other members of the executive of the Canada/US Interparliamentary Group to meet with US Ambassador David Cohen and his team. Ambassador Cohen is a huge asset for his country and for the Canada/US relationship.
NSICOP Report on Foreign Interference
I have received a number of questions about the NSICOP report on foreign interference. NSICOP is like our intelligence committee and was newly established by the Liberal Government following our election in 2015 to give Parliamentarians an oversite role over our security forces. The redacted report released last week left open a number of questions related to allegations made against Parliamentarians. The report said some Parliamentarians are, in the words of the intelligence services, “semi-witting or witting participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in our politics.”
This week two important things happened. The first is that the House voted to send the matter to Justice Hogue who is overseeing the inquiry into foreign interference and secondly Green leader Elizabeth May (who unlike NSICOP members is not bound by certain secrecy requirements), gave a more fulsome explanation clarifying no current MP had shown disloyalty to Canada. You can read more at:
Work on antisemitism
This week, I was very grateful to see the editorial in the Globe and Mail. This editorial supports my call for action from all levels of government and universities on antisemitism and is titled: Platitudes won’t roll back antisemitism.
Here is a clip of the article:
Shots are fired at a Jewish-Canadian school, and Canadians are told: this is not who we are. Synagogues are vandalized, another school is fired upon. The refrain: this is not who we are. A Vancouver synagogue is set on fire. Again – this is not who we are.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather spoke eloquently to the inadequacy of the political response at all levels – including his own government – in a speech last week in the House of Commons. He pointed to the spate of incidents in recent weeks, including the fire set at Schara Tzedeck synagogue in Vancouver (thankfully extinguished by congregants).
“All levels of government need to do more, immediately,” Mr. Housefather said. “Enough is enough, Canadian Jews have a right to be safe in our country.”
His call to action should be heeded, starting with the federal government. The unanimous motion that the House adopted in March condemning antisemitism was a good start.
Mr. Housefather also proposes designating Samidoun and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist entities. There is some merit to that proposal, particularly in the case of the IRGC. But that debate could easily become a distraction to the more pressing matter of increasing the security of Jewish-Canadians.
Provincial leaders, too, can do more. It should be made clear to Crown prosecutors, police and the public that hate crimes will be pursued as such. That alone would send a powerful message of deterrence, as will convictions for the attacks that have already taken place.
Universities and other postsecondary institutions can do their part by adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. Beyond the message of solidarity, such a step will give those institutions a valuable tool to focus on, and to root out, antisemitism.
To read the article, please click here: https://www.bnaibrith.ca/platitudes-wont-roll-back-antisemitism/
Capital Gains Tax
This week, the House adopted a Ways and Means motion. The capital gains tax proposal remains the same as I had described in detail in an earlier update in April and the inclusion rate rises (not the tax rate) from 50% to 66% on capital gains earned by an individual in a single year. That means that as opposed to 50% of the amount being non-taxable, only 33% of the amount will be non-taxable over the threshold. I had asked for several changes to the proposal. One was to have a similar de minimis threshold for corporations and one was to allow windfall gains (such as the disposition of a secondary property (as your primary residence is exempt) or inheritance of an estate) to be spread over several years for individuals who do not habitually exceed the $250,000 level. Unfortunately, they were not included in what was presented this week. I will keep pushing for them going forward.
Cavendish
Elected officials from all three levels of government representing the West End will be meeting on Thursday with Housing Minister Sean Fraser to push for the Cavendish extension and to seek assurances that monies will only be provided for housing investments in the Namur-Hippodrome area if the Cavendish extension is part of the plan and constructed at the same time.
What is the Cooperative Housing Development Program?
This week, our Government launched a new $1.5 billion program to build a new generation of co-op housing. The Co-operative Housing Development Program (CHDP) was co-designed with the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada and other leaders in the co-op sector and will provide loans and contributions to build and grow co-ops across Canada.
This is the largest investment to build new co-op housing in the last 30 years. The application process will open on July 15th 2024 and will stay open until September 15th.
What is co-op housing?
- Taking the shape of apartment buildings or townhouses, co-ops are managed by the residents living in them, and because they are non-profit, they stay affordable for the long term.
- Co-operative housing communities foster a sense of security and belonging to a community.
- For over 50 years, co-ops have provided good quality, affordable housing managed by the community members who live there.
How is our Government seeking to streamline and secure health data?
Every Canadian deserves access to their own health information. When patient health information is not accessible to providers, they have to make clinical and medical decisions with incomplete information. This makes it harder for them to do their jobs, increases stress levels and leads to higher employment turnover. And importantly, it leads to worse, sometimes dangerous outcomes for patients. In too many cases, health information in Canada is locked in isolated digital systems and can’t be shared securely with patients and their health providers.
Bill C-72, the Connected Care for Canadians Act, would require all health IT companies to adopt common standards and allow for secure information exchange across various systems. This will mean better healthcare for Canadians and a more secure and effective healthcare system.
Read more here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/health-care-data-bill-1.7227359
What funding programs are currently open?
Canadian Heritage Funding Programs: Current Open Application
Canada Arts Training Fund: Deadline June 30th
The Canada Arts Training Fund (CATF) supports arts training in Canada and contributes to the development of future artists and cultural leaders. The CATF provides financial support for the ongoing operations of Canadian arts organizations that specialize in training artists for professional national or international artistic careers, at the highest levels.
Best,
Anthony