First Week at Queens Park

  • Community Update

Update from your Member of Provincial Parliament regarding COVID-19

With the long weekend ahead of us, it is relieving to see that our province is getting ready to gradually start its reopening process. It is important that we keep following the guidelines and practice social distancing to ensure that the situation keeps improving. Now more than ever, we need to shop local and keep working together to win the fight against COVID-19. I will keep doing my part and represent your interests at Queens Park.

First week at Queens Park

My Swearing in!

This week I took my seat at Queen’s Park. On Monday, we made history when Stephen Blais and I were the first MPPs to have our swearing in ceremony live-streamed. I was reminded of all the hard work we accomplished back in February and how we have been working for the people of Ottawa-Vanier ever since. On Tuesday, I was able to take my seat and speak in the house on two occasions

Bill 190

I was able to speak on the measure and adjustment our provincial government is taking to help residents, small businesses and our essential workers during this global pandemic. This bill mainly allowed meetings and documents to be completed online by organizations in order to respect public health guidelines. During my first opportunity to rise in the Legislative Assembly, I shared the great work that our community is doing to help each other; from donating meals to support for seniors. If you would like to take a look at the bill that was passed, click hereFor my speech on the bill, click here.

Question Period

I believe that holding our government accountable is one of the most important roles I have in the legislature. I raised the importance of our long term care home residents and workers with the minister of health. I wanted to raise awareness that nurses and workers don’t have access to the necessary Personal Protective Equipment they need to stay safe. Watch the full interaction here.

Reopening – Stage 1

Starting on Tuesday, May 19th, the first stage of the Framework for Reopening our Province will start. The link contains all information about this step and what it means for you.

Also, the detailed list of everything that will be open during this first stage shows exactly what will be open and what will remain closed for the time being.

Prescriptions and seniors

People using the Ontario Drug Benefit Program will no longer be required to pay any co-payment until July 1, 2020 for any prescription of 30+ days that is now being dispensed in instalments. If a Trillium Drug Program household has experienced an income change in 2019 or 2020 of 10 percent or more compared to their 2018 income, they can apply to have their deductible recalculated by completing and submitting the Annual Deductible Re-Assessment Form.

Another important measure was put in place by the federal government this week to offset added costs for Seniors. A one-time payment of $300 for those who qualify for Old Age Security (OAS) and an extra $200 for those eligible for the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) is on it’s way.