Supporting our community

This year, the holy month of Ramadan began on March 22. Ramadan marks a sacred time of year for the Muslim community here in Ottawa Centre and around the world. This month-long journey of fasting and prayer encourages spiritual growth, reflection and compassion for those less fortunate.

I was pleased to host Harmony Iftar this year on their 15th anniversary, at Parliament Hill. This was a multicultural and interfaith event where members of our community came together and embraced our differences in a diverse, cohesive and inviting atmosphere. Throughout this month, I look forward to joining our community in celebrating Ramadan.

In addition to hosting important community events as your MP, it is also part of my role to offer important services to Ottawa Centre residents. I was pleased to partner with the Catholic Centre for Immigrants to run a free tax clinic this year. With their help, we were able to help close to 100 individuals and families file their taxes. With this service, those who may be struggling to make ends meet can have peace of mind in having their taxes filed. I am also pleased to announce that through our federal government’s Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, four organizations in Ottawa Centre were able to access funding to run their own free tax clinic. This includes Centre 507, Somerset West Community Health Centre, Ottawa Chinese Alliance Church and Sprott Tax Students’ Association. A huge thank you to the all the volunteer accountants and tax preparers, and staff of the local organizations running this service, for your help in serving our community and making tax season less stressful, and more accessible.

Our federal government continues to offer funding streams that provide direct help to members of our community and to our local organizations. As part of the 2SLGBTQI+ Federal Action Plan, the call for proposals for the Community Capacity Fund is now open. This fund aims to address the main priority of sustainable capacity funding for 2SLGBTQI+ organizations who work to end discrimination, violence and barriers faced by the community. This is another step towards further promoting inclusion, advancing equity and increasing safety in our community. For more information visit: https://bit.ly/3mWykjH or google the fund.

Lastly, as a reminder, the Canada Dental Benefit continues to be open for applications. Quality dental care and good oral hygiene are essential to our health. As of mid-January, more than 153,509 children and their families have benefited from this program, including 42,000 families in Ontario and 680 children in Ottawa Centre. Eligible families can apply for the Canada Dental Benefit at Canada. ca/dental.

As always, my team and I are here to help. Let us know what issues are important to you, and how we can better support you and our community.