Usapang Pederal Message of the Month: Building off the work we’re already doing to help make life more affordable for Albertans

April is Filipino Restaurant Month. This is an initiative celebrated by the Filipino community and will be held across Canada for the second year in a row. Filipino Restaurant Month in Canada (FRMC) was officially launched in April 2022 in efforts to promote and mainstream Filipino cuisine in Canada, support Filipino restaurants, highlight the skills of Filipino chefs, and encourage the use of Philippine-made ingredients. In Budget 2023, the federal government is helping small businesses like Filipino restaurants by taking action to crack down on junk fees, to continue to ensure businesses are transparent with prices and to make life more affordable for Canadians. Small businesses will also benefit from free access to online fraud and cyber security resources from Visa and Mastercard to help them grow their online sales while preventing fraud and chargebacks. Throughout the entire month of April, we encourage everyone to explore the diverse culinary scene of the Philippines across Canada while helping Filipino restaurants thrive.

On March 28, 2023, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, released Budget 2023— A Made-in-Canada Plan: Strong Middle Class, Affordable Economy, Healthy Future. This budget makes life more affordable for Canadians, when they need it most, including by delivering a Grocery Rebate – up to an additional $467 for an eligible family of four so they can keep putting good food on the table and pay their bills. We’re also providing a tax-free payment of $500 to help low-income renters who are struggling with the cost of rent, and increasing assistance for students. Together with the provinces and territories, we’re making historic investments in health care and we’re attaching conditions to deliver results like more family doctors and better wages for personal support workers and related professions, so you get the care you deserve. We’re expanding dental coverage to millions of Canadians to help people get the dental care they need while making their lives more affordable.

The federal government will also improve foreign credential recognition for internationally educated health professionals and advance multijurisdictional credential recognition so that health care professionals can work wherever there is a need.

We are also investing $49.5 million over five years for the Security Infrastructure Program to address the evolving security needs of diverse communities. This enhanced program will be launched later this year as part of Canada’s new Action Plan to Combat Hate

Our government will provide $1.6 billion over six years and $315 million ongoing to welcome 500,000 new permanent residents each year by 2025. We will also address application backlogs and increase the federal contribution to legal aid services. Additionally, we are continuously investing in digitizing the immigration system, hiring more agents and adding new processing offices around the world. Recently, MP Rechie Valdez visited the Philippines and announced on behalf of Minister Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the opening of a new application processing centre in Manila, Philippines.

This initiative supports Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and helps boost immigration application processing within Canada’s centralized network abroad. The new centre is located within Canada’s Embassy in Manila and will be supported by 37 new employees. The added capacity is part of Canada’s ongoing efforts to accommodate the high volume of visa applications from around the world and will support ongoing efforts to also improve client service and help achieve Canada’s planned increases to immigration levels in the years to come.

Our budget announcement responds to top concerns shared by members of the community in Alberta. Our Liberal team knows we have more work to do and more results to deliver for Albertans. And we want to hear from you directly on how we can work together to help Albertans succeed while building a stronger, fairer, more competitive, affordable, inclusive, and more sustainable economy. You may contact our offices directly to share your feedback and we look forward to hearing from you.

Sulong Alberta!

Gumagalang,

George, Randy, at Rechie Hon. Randy Boissonnault is the Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre. He has been Canada’s Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance since October 2021.

George Chahal is the Member of Parliament for Calgary Skyview and was formerly the Calgary City Councilor for Ward 5. Rechie Valdez is the Member of Parliament for Mississauga–Streetsville. She is Canada’s first Filipina Member of Parliament.

Contacts:

The Hon. Randy Boissonnault

MP for Edmonton Centre

Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance

Main office – Edmonton #202, 10235 124 St

Edmonton, Alberta

T5N 1P9

Telephone:780-442-1888

George Chahal

MP for Calgary Skyview

Main office – Calgary

101-7 Westwinds Crescent NE

Calgary, AB

T3J 5H2

Telephone: 403-291-0018

Email: George.Chahal@parl.gc.ca

Website: GeorgeChahalMP.ca

Rechie Valdez

Tel: (905) 812-1811

Email: rechie.valdez@parl.gc.ca