MP’S REPORT: Celebrating Our Community and Engaging Canada in the World

July 20, 2018 · 0 Comments

By Leona Alleslev, MP
Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill

This past month has been busy with Canada Day Celebrations, community events, visiting local businesses and representing Canada in Brussels during the NATO Summit. Here is an update from the last few weeks, in case you missed something…

In Ottawa & Abroad

National Defence Committee – NATO Report
As a member of the Standing Committee on National Defence, I was pleased to have contributed to the unanimous report entitled “Canada and NATO: An Alliance Forged in Strength and Reliability”. Since October 2017, the Committee has held meetings and heard from witnesses from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), government and military officials, and various academics to obtain testimony on NATO’s importance to Canada, and Canada’s importance to NATO.
The report includes recommendations in such areas as NATO’s programs and operations, public outreach and educational awareness, research and development on new technologies, cyber defence, Arctic and maritime security, and the Women, Peace and Security agenda. I’m proud that a united Committee produced this comprehensive report defining the importance of the transatlantic partnership, making recommendations to strengthen Canada’s contribution, and reaffirming Canada’s commitment to this critical political, economic, and military Alliance.
If you would like to read the report, it is available online at: www.ourcommons.ca/content/Committee/421/NDDN/Reports/RP9972815/421_NDDN_Rpt10_PDF/421_NDDN_Rpt10-e.pdf.

NATO Parliamentary Association – Brussels Summit
From July 8-13, as Head of the Canadian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA), I attended NATO PA and NATO Engages summits, in Brussels, Belgium. I met with other Parliamentarians to discuss the Alliance’s unity and priorities in a time of unprecedented global instability and to engage with Heads of State and Defence Ministers from the 29 NATO member countries.
We discussed the challenges resulting from Russian aggression, wide spread migration, and the continuing conflicts in the middle east. Closer to home we also considered cyber threats to civilian infrastructure including election hacking and the disruption of hydro, banking, and other critical services.
Additionally, our Prime Minister announced Canada’s increased support for NATO, including that Canada will assume command of a NATO training mission in Iraq and that we will extend our leadership in Operation REASSURANCE in Latvia to 2024. My colleagues and I concluded that we must enhance our vigilance to preserve and protect the underlying foundations upon which our society is based. Canada remains committed to the Alliance and to the safeguarding of the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law.

In Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill

Canada Day Celebrations
It was great to see so many people at all of the Canada Day celebrations on July 1! Thank you to the Town of Aurora for organizing a fabulous parade and community zone, and to the Town of Richmond Hill and the Richmond Hill Board of Trade for all the great activities at Richmond Green!
I’d also like to thank my amazing team of Canada Day volunteers who braved the heat to help our community connect with the federal government and share their Canadian pride!

Celebrating Canada through Community
Thank you to everyone who joined me on Sunday, July 8th outside my office in Richmond Hill to celebrate everything that is our community and our country! There was music provided by Music Aurora, great food, face painting and fun for the kids, and informative booths from the government (Service Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces) and great local organizations including York Regional Police, Richmond Hill Fire Fighters, St. John’s Ambulance, See What She Can Do, L’Association des francophones de la région de York, and many more.
Thank you to my team of volunteers and everyone else who helped make the event such a great success!

Canada Summer Jobs Visits
Since 2016, our government has invested $1.9 million dollars in Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill through the Canada Summer Jobs Program (CSJ). This has helped create 448 jobs for students in our community. Over the last few weeks, I’ve met with CSJ students working in various positions at organizations including Mon Sheong Foundations, St. John’s Ambulance, the Consumers Council of Canada, and Makerwiz. It’s wonderful to see that the skills our youth are learning in these current positions will help position them for their careers in the future.

As always, please feel free to contact me by e-mail: Leona.Alleslev@parl.gc.ca, phone: (905) 773-8358, or drop by my office at 12820 Yonge St., suite 202 in Richmond Hill.
My team and I are always here to help!