Letter to Minister Freeland about Kanata—Carleton’s Budget 2022 Priorities
Dear Minister Freeland,
I am writing to you today to put forward my riding’s priorities for the 2022 Budget, as shared with me by constituents of Kanata–Carleton. I am immensely proud of our government’s work in supporting Canadians throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. These last two years have been particularly difficult for many. As we look forward to Budget 2022, I believe we need to be prudent in our spending decisions while finishing the fight against COVID-19. We also need to be mindful that this pandemic has highlighted the struggles of many Canadians, and we need to ensure our decisions strive to address inequality.
Rural broadband internet & connectivity
Far too often, I have heard the stories of residents in my riding who struggle to connect to basic internet service. For those who can connect, they often do so at exorbitant costs with very poor service.
Residents in my riding are discouraged by the lack of initiative from telecom companies to upgrade services in our rural communities. With internet connectivity being a key to education and economic success, Budget 2022 should continue to support incentives for rural broadband projects, as well as the need for increased competition in our telecommunications sector. We need to do more, and do it faster.
I also want to amplify a few of the recommendations made by my Rural Caucus colleagues: better visibility and amplification for rural-focused government programs; proactive connection of rural businesses (in this case, rural internet service providers) to government funding opportunities; and improved tailoring of government policies to reflect the rural reality.
Stage 3 LRT to Kanata
From coast to coast to coast, Canadians are looking for faster, cheaper, cleaner ways of getting around. Better transit makes life better for everyone. As part of our platform commitment to accelerate major public transit projects, my constituents have emphasized the need to bring Stage 3 of the Ottawa Light Rail Transit (LRT) network to completion. As you know, federal funding was essential to bringing Stage 2 LRT to fruition, and the future of Stage 3 LRT is equally dependent on the leadership of the federal government.
Reduced commute times, reduced emissions, and reduced congestion on our streets are all direct benefits of this critical investment in Kanata–Carleton. The infrastructure that we build today will support resilient, green communities for years to come. As well, investing in public transit infrastructure has an important impact on diverse minority communities. Census data shows that women, people of colour, and low-wage workers are the predominant transit riders. Accelerating major public transit projects would be directly beneficial to these communities.
$10 million pilot program of autonomous shuttles
Kanata–Carleton is the proud home of Canada’s famous world-class technology hub, the Kanata North Technology Park. The Kanata North Technology Park is an epicentre of innovation, developing unique, made-in-Canada solutions to everyday challenges. New investments, talents, and businesses are welcomed to the Technology Park each day. However, as the Technology Park expands, its growth is threatened by an inadequate transportation connection – a concern that local business stakeholders have voiced frequently. As the federal government builds on its investments in Ottawa’s public transit and LRT systems, we must also seek out innovative ways to connect Kanata’s technology hub, one of Ottawa’s major employment nodes, to the spine of the LRT network. The opportunity to leverage Ottawa expertise and technologies in autonomous vehicles, by piloting an autonomous shuttle service in the Kanata North Technology Park has enormous economic potential. Coupled with economic potential, with the leadership of Invest Ottawa, and the need for better transportation solutions, this is the future. This commitment was announced during the 2021 election, and Budget 2022 is our opportunity to move this forward.
$10 a day childcare for Ontario
The pandemic has exposed what parents have long known. Women all over the world, including Canadians, carry out a higher proportion of unpaid care work than men. This disparity can be attributed to gender norms, which affirm women in caregiving roles, the gender-normative distribution of care duties in most families, and gender inequalities in the workforce. This is a universal issue that is resonating across sectors, regions, and income brackets. Ensuring families have access to early learning and child care is not just a social issue, it is an urgent economic issue.
The historic investments made to date by the federal government in every province and territory, with the notable exception of Ontario, have given parents across Canada hope that they’ll never need to choose between raising a family and beginning a successful career. Continuing the federal government’s progress on implementing a Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Plan is top of mind for Kanata—Carleton parents.
Continue to support our businesses and innovation, particularly those that help us in our climate goals
Creative solutions and innovative technologies are key to helping the world tackle climate change, plastic waste, biodiversity loss, and other environmental challenges we face. The hundreds of businesses through-out Kanata–Carleton, and particularly within the Kanata North Technology Park, are well poised to help Canada achieve our climate goals.
In our platform, our government set out ambitious plans to make Canada a centre of innovation for low-carbon and net-zero technology. Investing in these plans, such as our planned incentives to help emerging Canadian clean technology firms secure customers domestically, will directly support Kanata–Carleton’s technology sector. The federal government has already demonstrated its commitment as recently as last month with a $3.5M contribution to Kanata–Carleton’s own Equispheres, a company developing cleantech metal powders for Canada’s aerospace and automotive sector.
As well, through the Kanata North Technology Park’s existing connections with Ottawa’s post-secondary institutions and research centres, there is no shortage in my riding of young professionals, students, and field experts ready to benefit from the federal government’s investment in clean technology.
We know that Canada needs to be at the vanguard of the global transition to a low-carbon economy. It is essential for our prosperity today, and for the next generation of Canadians. Markets, investors, and governments are looking to take advantage of the trillion-dollar economic opportunity that comes with the low-carbon transition. We need to galvanize private sector resources to build a climate-resilient economy.
National standards for long-term care
COVID-19 swept through long-term care homes quickly during the start of the pandemic and resulted in many preventable deaths and deep grief. Compared to other OECD nations, Canada’s percentage of COVID-19-related deaths in long-term care homes was nearly double the OECD average. The findings of the CAF’s Operation Laser confirmed deeply disturbing reports of maltreatment, and severe deficiencies in these organizations’ abilities to keep patients safe.
Kanata–Carleton has many long-term care homes operating within our riding, and many of my constituents have a loved one residing within them. As a result of these personal connections, many of my constituents are concerned about the Province of Ontario’s insufficient standards of care for long-term care home residents. The federal government must fulfill its promises, and act on its moral obligation, to establish national standards for long-term care facilities and prevent a recurrence of the atrocities that Canadians witnessed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Establishing a Menstrual Equity Fund & eliminating Period Poverty
Here in Canada, people who menstruate lack access to safe, hygienic menstrual products, or the means to manage their periods with dignity. ‘Period poverty’ is a lived experience for many. According to research conducted in 2019 by Plan International Canada, 34% of women and girls in Canada had to often or occasionally make budgetary sacrifices in order to afford menstrual products.
Canada has made important strides towards addressing period poverty within the federal jurisdiction. Canadians should be proud to note that in 2016, our government added menstrual products to the list of GST/HST zero-rated products. However, we must do more.
In my role as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Women, Gender Equality, and Youth, I have been working closely with the Ministry to fulfill Minister Ien’s mandate letter commitment of introducing a Menstrual Equity Fund. In our election platform, $25 million was earmarked for the 2022-23 fiscal year for this important fund, and I look forward to seeing this platform commitment reflected in Budget 2022.
As we look for sustainable solutions to modern policy challenges, Budget 2022’s support for the Menstrual Equity Fund should also put an emphasis on the provision of sustainable menstrual products, given the negative impact that non-recyclable products like pads and tampons have on the environment.
Addressing housing affordability
I continue to hear from Kanata–Carleton residents their fear that the price of owning a home is out of reach for too many. Undoubtedly, we have seen the average home price increase dramatically over the last two years. I am proud that the Liberal Party has a strong plan to make housing fair and affordable and Budget 2022 is our opportunity to move forward with that plan.
Our 3 part housing plan includes:
1. Unlocking home ownership by helping renters become homeowners and save for a down payment faster, reducing the monthly costs of mortgages, and doubling the home buyers tax credit to help young Canadians buy their first home sooner.
2. Building, preserving, and repairing 1.4 million homes in 4 years to help increase the supply of homes, which will also create jobs and grow the middle class.
3. Protecting Canadians’ rights by creating a Home Buyers Bill of Rights to make the process of buying a home fairer, more open, and transparent. This also includes banning new foreign ownership for two years.
Our plan, A Home for Everyone, will make homeownership a reality for more Canadians, while building affordable housing. I encourage you to work to move this plan forward with Budget 2022.
In closing, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that despite the importance of all of the above issues in my community, they fail in comparison to the need to move forward with impactful mitigation measures to protect our fragile climate.
We’ve made a lot of progress since 2015. We put a price on pollution that puts money back into the pockets of Canadians. We’ve committed to planting 2 billion trees to cut pollution and create jobs, and banning harmful single-use plastics to protect our oceans by 2030. These are very positive steps forward; however, we know we have more work to do.
I would ask that Budget 2022 supports further action specifically to create cleaner communities with cleaner air, by providing grants toward zero emission vehicle purchases, and installing more charging infrastructure, in addition to building a net-zero electricity grid by 2035. We will also drive down emissions from oil and gas to meet our shared goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, and continue to phase out coal by 2030.
Minister Freeland, I know you have a daunting task ahead of you as you work on Budget 2022. Your diligence and fortitude is appreciated. I have full confidence that this Budget will strive to meet and exceed the needs of Canadians today, and into the future.
Sincerely,
Jenna Sudds
Member of Parliament for Kanata–Carleton
