Salma Zahid on Healthcare updates and Budget 2022

MP Salma Zahid

By Michelle Chermaine Ramos
LJI Reporter
The Philippine Reporter

MP for Scarborough Centre, Salma Zahid, hosted a roundtable meeting with the Filipino media at her office at 2155 Lawrence Ave. East in Scarborough on April 30, 2022.

In attendance were MP Rechie Valdez of Mississauga-Streetsville and MP Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion.

To start off the meeting, MP Zahid gave a brief overview of Budget 2022’s plans for healthcare and housing. She reported the nearby construction of 220 units behind her constituency office which received $70 million through the core investment fund as well as the groundbreaking for 57 affordable supportive homes under the Rapid Housing Initiative the previous week in Scarborough. She acknowledged that many of her constituents in her riding are struggling to find affordable housing which is one of the issues Budget 2022 intends to tackle.

“We have seen the prices going very high in GTA. But with all these barriers, which the government is taking, I think we are seeing the reductions. And I think the market is already cooling off like I was talking to some real estate agents and they were mentioning that we don’t have like 20 bids on a house. So I think these measures which we are taking are really working and hopefully the housing market will be reachable,” Zahid said.

She also thanked the Filipino-Canadians who served on the frontlines over the last few years of the pandemic. “I have seven long-term cares in my riding. And all of them went through waves of COVID especially the first wave and the second wave, and majority of the PSWs and nurses working there were Filipinas. So, they put their life at risk. And it’s really very important that we have proper investments into our healthcare system to help make sure that Canadians are safe and as well as make sure that those who are serving, putting their life at risk, feel safe working in those environments,” she said.

Zahid reported that since the start of the pandemic, the government has invested more than $69 billion to fight COVID-19 and to protect the health and safety of Canadians and that they are taking steps to reduce backlogs and making it easier for Canadians to access the mental health care they need. In March 2022, they announced their intention to provide provinces and territories with an additional $2 billion to top off the Canada Health Transfer to address the pandemic related backlogs, surgeries and procedures.

This investment is on top of the $4 billion they invested in 2020 and 2021 to work with the provinces to eliminate the backlogs. Budget 2022 includes a plan to provide dental care for vulnerable Canadians and support to attract more doctors and nurses especially in the rural communities and aboriginal communities.

The proposed budget also intends to provide support for additional research on the long-term effects of COVID-19 infections on Canadians as well as support to improve Canada’s dementia and brain health research. They also plan to invest $140 million into the Wellness Together Canada Portal to provide Canadians with mental health services as well as an additional 100 million dollars to deal with substance abuse and addictions.

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Salma Zahid on Healthcare updates and Budget 2022

Salma Zahid on Healthcare updates and Budget 2022

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