Peggy Nash

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Current Newsletter June 16, 2022

Dear Friends and Parkdale – High Park Neighbours,

As the Parliamentary session winds down, I want to take this opportunity to update you on my activities in Ottawa and here in Parkdale – High Park. Please consider joining me for my Canada Day celebration in High Park and scroll down to see more upcoming events in our riding.

In my last newsletter, I highlighted my opposition to the proposed closing of the Keele Pool. This week I wrote to the Federal Minister of Infrastructure and to the Provincial Minister of Education to urge them to intervene and provide the necessary capital funding to save the pool from closure (click here to read the letter to Minister Cannon). In Ottawa, I have introduced a motion calling for a federal Fitness Initiative that would invest in community recreation (click here to read the motion). If you would like to get involved with the community effort to save the pool, please contact my office 416-769-5072.

Please note that there will be a Save Our Pools demonstration at 8:30 am on Thursday June 21st. Make sure to bring colourful signs and your bathing suit! Let’s show how much support there is in our community for our recreation facilities.

For months now, my colleagues from all opposition parties have been pressing Senator Fortier, the Minister of Public Works to justify his plan to sell off several federal buildings. He has yet to present a cost benefit analysis of this sell off. This week I joined with federal and civil servants from PSAC to protest this sale of public property without justification. (See Ottawa Citizen article below)

In the House of Commons, I had the opportunity this week to speak out on the arts and copyright laws. I feel very fortunate to represent a riding with so much artistic talent such as filmmakers, writers, musicians, painters and dancers. I know that the issue of copyright is of great concern to many of you. Obviously we want to protect the rights of the creators of art and ensure that their rights, their work and their livelihoods are protected. However, we also want to adapt with the changing world of technology, and we do not want to be so restrictive that we are limiting educational institutions, universities and libraries in getting access to art. (Please go to www.peggynash.ca for a link to all my speeches in the House)

I want to thank all of you for your continued support and I hope to see you on Canada Day.

Sincerely,

Peggy Nash
MP Parkdale-High Park

Local City Councillor Gord Perks with local MPP Cheri Dinovo, MP Peggy Nash and Shannon Thompson (Greenest City Project Manager)at grand opening of Hope “Healthy Organic Parkdale Edables” Community Garden at Masaryk Cowen

PEGGY IN THE COMMUNITY

Here are some of the events Peggy has attended in the community:

• Parkdale CI Mosaic
• Lambton House Pub Night
• Junction Arts Festival
• ACTRA Rally for Made in Canada television – www.actra.ca

Peggy joins high-profile Canadian performers Colin Mochrie, Wendy Crewson, Shirley Douglas, Gordon Pinsent and Peter Keleghan as well as ACTRA Toronto President Karl Pruner to protest lax CRTC Canadian content rules

• Loyola Arupe Spring Fundraiser
• Swansea Mews BBQ
• Turning on the Peace Monument Fountain in Parkdale

Peggy and Councillor Gord Perks at the Turning on the Peace Monument Fountain in Parkdale.

• Swansea Historical Society walk on Riverside Drive
• Candle Light Vigil – China Rights Network
• Parkdale Garden Tour - Indian Grove and Indian Road
• League of Ukrainian Canadians workshop on the “Once in a Lifetime” Bill

Peggy receives an award from the League of Ukrainian Canadians at a Ukrainian workshop for her “Once in a Lifetime” Bill

• Spoke at the kick off of Help the Children Walk-a-thon for Ukrainian orphans
• Mike Duffy Live – Toronto Taping
• Tap shoes and tutus Co-op dance program at Parkdale CI
• Marie Curie Sklodowska Association reception at the Polish Consulate
• Filipino Independence Day
• Chelsea Park fun day

Chelsea Park area residents (volunteers at a fundraiser last Sunday) are a model of community engagement. They have painted the wading pool, benches and hut, secured new playground equipment, and they keep the park clean and beautiful.

UPCOMMING EVENTS

SAVE OUR POOLS! RALLY IN SUPPORT OF THE KEEL POOL

The Toronto District School Board has announced that it will be closing seven swimming pools in the city of Toronto, including Keele Community Pool located in Parkdale – High Park. Parkdale – High Park is a very high density urban area with huge ethnic and economic diversity.  Here is our chance to join Peggy Nash, MP to stand up and be heard!  Make sure to bring your bathing suit and a colourful sign!

8:30am on Thursday June 21
Keele Community Pool

DIGNITAS INTERNATIONAL – RACE FOR DIGNITY EVENT

The innovative community-based model that Dignitas created is saving the lives of thousands of people with HIV/AIDS who would not otherwise have access to treatment and healthcare. The model, which is continually being tested and refined for optimal effectiveness and sustainability, will be implemented next year in two more resource-poor countries to address the AIDS pandemic. The Fundraiser, Race for Dignity will help make this happen.

10AM to 10PM on Saturday June 23
Dundas Square,
Yonge & Dundas,
Downtown Toronto

For more information: www.racefordignity.com

REside: projection installations in three homes on Fuller Avenue

A Film & Video Showcase of artists who live and work in Parkdale

Friday 15 June 2022 – 8pm – 10pm
Saturday June 16 – 9pm – 11pm
Fuller Avenue Parkette
Admission is FREE

PEGGY NASH – NEWSWIRE

June 11, 2022
PEGGY TO HARPER: GET GUNS OUT OF OUR CITY

OTTAWA – In the wake of continued violence in Canada’s largest city, NDP MPs took community concerns to the floor of the House of Commons. During Question Period, Peggy Nash (Parkdale-High Park) took the Conservatives to task for ignoring the needs of the community, failing to stop guns at the border and spending all of their time on punishment and too little on policing and prevention.

“It can’t continue. Violence is a symptom of a community not having a voice. The grief and pain has to stop,” said Nash. “The guns have got to come off the streets. The Conservatives place all their energy on increasing jail sentences – while at the same time we don’t have enough police on the streets and illegal American guns flood our city.”

Go to www.ndp.ca for more

Peggy speaks out against the sale of federal building at a rally organized by the Public Service Alliance of Canada

June 13, 2022 – Ottawa Citizen
NDP WANTS SALE OF FEDERAL BUILDINGS STOPPED

OTTAWA – “Where is the accountability? Until you show us the facts, we as Canadians say ‘no deal’” Parkdale – High Park NDP MP Peggy Nash said to a cheering crowd.  Later in an interview, Ms. Nash said: “It’s a bad idea to go into this sale when we don’t have the information.  No one from the government has made a clear case why they think it’s in the best interest Canadians.”

Click here to read the Ottawa Citizen article

June 7, 2022
POLITICS: NO LONGER EXCLUESIVELY A MAN’S GAME

By Lisa Rainford – Bloor West Villager

We'll just have to get you elected premier and me prime minister," said MP Peggy Nash (Parkdale-High Park), to her colleague local MPP Cheri DiNovo, in mock seriousness.

The two, rarely in the same room together, but admirers of each other even before they were elected, took time out of their busy schedules to meet at a popular Parkdale café, Poor John's on Queen Street West last Friday morning.

Nash, having just wrapped up a press conference about tax fairness for artists, and DiNovo, fresh from a community meeting, compared notes.

"We're like ships passing in the night," DiNovo said.

"We never see each other," agreed Nash, typing on her PDA.

Once settled, the two relaxed into a discussion, addressing the issue of the lack of women in politics and what it's like for them, the minority - DiNovo at Queen's Park, Nash in the House of Commons.

"It's like a football locker room - you can't not be aware of gender," Nash said, matter-of-factly. "It does infuriate me. It never fails to infuriate me that we don't have more women voices."

Visit http://www.insidetoronto.ca/news/News/Villager/article/27974 to read the entire article

Peggy hosts press conference about tax fairness for artists

June 7, 2022
MP CALLS FOR TAX FAIRNESS FOR ARTISTS

By Lisa Rainford – Bloor West Villager

Artists are scraping by and taxation laws are not allowing them to save for a rainy day, claims Local MP Peggy Nash.

Nash appeared last Friday at Gallery 1313 in Parkdale to drum up support for a motion she introduced a couple of weeks ago, calling for tax fairness for artists. Describing the gallery as a "wonderful community arts facility, a community hub," Nash said the motion calls for tax-averaging for artists.
Until 1982, when tax averaging was abolished in Canada, self-employed workers could spread their taxes over more than one year so that they were not penalized by the system while others benefited from lower taxes on regular incomes and could rely on benefits for unemployment, noted Nash.
Joined by Executive Director of Gallery 1313 Phil Anderson, President of ACTRA Karl Pruner and jazz singer Beverley Taft, Nash explained the difficulty artists face. In the years they do well, artists pay income tax at a high bracket, which means they have little opportunity to save for the lean times, which are all too often just around the corner.

June 13, 2022 – Toronto Star
REVIVING A CINEMA TO PRESERVE A NEIGHBOURHOOD

By Jennifer Wells

Cheri DiNovo, the MPP for Parkdale-High Park, is standing under a black-and-white photo of the old Revue Cinema marquee, the actual marquee having suddenly collapsed right off the building some months ago.

An ominous sign, surely.

The photo showcases the cinema in its heyday, when Ronald Colman starred in My Life With Caroline (a dizzy boy-chases-girl affair, according to The New York Times, circa 1941) and Mickey Rooney headlined in Love is a Heartache.

It's much more than entertainment. Neighbourhoods build social capital. Social capital is good – trusting networks, common values, positive norms. The great Robert Putnam once wrote that a decline in neighbourhood social capital is one important feature of the inner-city crisis.

We have to keep our neighbourhoods whole.

Which is why Cheri DiNovo is standing before the group announcing that she is personally donating $1,000 to the cause, "and I'm challenging everyone here to match me."

Irene Atkinson hands over a cheque. Danny Mullin says he will put in a matching grand. MP Peggy Nash has sent a cheque by proxy.

Go to http://www.thestar.com/article/224632 to read the entire article

STATEMENT ON FILIPINO INDEPENDENCE DAY

It is with great pleasure that I wish all Filipino-Canadians a Happy Independence Day.

On June 12, 1898, the Philippines proclaimed sovereignty and independence from Spanish colonial rule. Over the past 109 years, the Philippines has emerged as a strong economic power in the world and will only continue to grow and prosper into an impressive nation.

Canada has welcomed the Filipino community and they contribute to Canada’s growth and prosperity. Their culture, history and traditions enrich Canada’s multicultural fabric.

On this Independence Day, may you reflect on your past accomplishments and look forward to achieving many more.

PEGGY ON THE HILL

Here is a list of some of the events Peggy attended in Ottawa:

• Meeting with the Council of Canadians on water policy – www.canadians.org- click here to read Peggy's water motion
• Government Operations and Estimates Committee
• Spoke the Ottawa Labour Council about her private member's bill on the federal minimum wage bill
• CPAC French political panel
• Meeting of the Parliamentary Friends of Tibet
• Tony Griffin – Ride for the Cure

Peggy with MP Alexa McDonough to her right, and Tony Griffin, an Irish Hurler who in honour of his father's memory, began a 7000 km 'Ride for the Cure' across Canada and Ireland on May 1st for the Ovarian Cancer Society, the Irish Cancer Society, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation in support of cancer research.

The following is the link for the Tony Griffin Foundation,
http://www.tonygriffinfoundation.com

 

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Parliamentary Office: Room 447 West Block, House of Commons, Ottawa ON, K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613)992-2936  Fax: (613)995-1629

Constituency Office: 2849 Dundas West, Toronto ON  M6P 1Y6
Telephone: (416)769-5072  Fax: (416)769-8343

Email: [email protected]               Website: www.peggynash.ca