November E-News Letter
Message From Your MPP
Dear Friends,
As we wave goodbye to the beautiful rays of the summer sun, I hope this message finds you all in good health and high spirits. It’s about time to witness the dawn of a new holiday season. The transition from setting up our wardrobes to looking at the birds beginning to fly south is a new experience every year. November is a month that invites us to reflect on our community, pay tribute to our heroes, and celebrate festivals.
As much as our government is engaged in bringing the community together, we also take pride in committing to the well-being and future success of our children and youth. In a significant stride towards this goal, Ontario has embarked on an initiative aimed at helping more children and youth access healthy food. With a generous $5 million investment, the province is determined to provide nutritious meals to students. I am proud to announce that our office has held many open houses in the local community where our community members brought non-perishable food items to donate to our local food banks. Thus, the commitment to providing nutritious meals represents a crucial step in empowering the next generation with the tools they need to flourish in school and beyond.
November is a significant month for health awareness that marks the observance of Diabetes Awareness Month, Epilepsy Awareness Month, and National Homeless Youth Awareness Month. It also celebrates and recognizes the sacrifices of our veteran heroes.
Please join me for the Remembrance Day wreath-laying ceremony at Wildwood Park Legion Memorial Gardens (3430 Derry Road East, Mississauga) on November 11 at 11 a.m. Let’s come together and pause a moment of silence to remember the men and women in uniform who have sacrificed their lives for the peace and freedom we are enjoying.
ALWAYS REMEMBER!
Once again, I would like to remind you that my office is always here to serve you. Please do not hesitate to reach out. Your input is invaluable, and together, we can continue to make Mississauga-Malton an even better place to live, work, and raise a family.
Wishing you all a safe, enjoyable, and memorable fall season.
Sincerely,
Deepak Anand
Join me on Saturday, November 11 for the Mississauga-Malton Remembrance Day Wreath Laying Ceremony. Let us come together as a community to pay our respects to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can be free.
Ceremonies start at 10:30 am concluding with a moment of silence at 11:00 am.
Wildwood Park, Legion Memorial Gardens
3430 Derry Road East, Mississauga
Investments in Ontario
A $2.76 Billion investment by Umicore Rechargeable Battery Materials Canada Inc. has been secured to build a new facility.
This historic investment will be supported by joint funding from the federal and provincial governments of up to $551.3 million and $424.6 million respectively. Once built, we will have North America’s first manufacturing plant capable of manufacturing CAM and pCam materials which are critical in the building electric cars. In the project’s first stage, the company will create 600 new direct jobs, plus an additional 700 co-op positions for students.
Updates from Queen’s Park
Wear Purple Day
Every October, Children’s Aid Societies across Ontario raise awareness about the important role that individuals and communities play in supporting vulnerable children, youth, and families through the provincial Dress Purple Day campaign.
The Dress Purple Day campaign is about supporting Ontarians facing challenges and ensuring children, youth, and families have access to the support, information, and resources they need.
Dress Purple Day is also a reminder to young people that they have rights to safety and well-being, and that goes beyond what we often think of when we use those words. It’s critical to understand that those rights extend beyond physical bodies—they have the right to be safe emotionally, spiritually, and culturally.
This year I was proud to speak in legislature to bring attention to such an important issue, and thank PEEL Children’s Aid Services located right here in Mississauga-Malton, for all the amazing work they do.
Click here to learn more about the resources available.
Health Care
We are working with 58 dedicated health teams across the province to coordinate people’s care better, simplify the process of navigating the healthcare system, and find new ways to improve people’s experience when receiving medical treatment.
We are investing over $128.2 million which will provide each health team $2.2 million to use for their local solutions to local problems. Starting in 2025, they will also be responsible for conducting in-home care.
Our government is connecting more people to the healthcare they need by lowering the eligibility age of self-referral for publicly funded mammograms through the Ontario Breast Screening Program from 50 to 40 beginning in fall 2024.
This will help make more than 300,000 people across the province connect to life-saving screening services that detect and treat breast cancer sooner. When found early, many people survive breast cancer, when diagnosed at stage 1. However, the survival rate drops to less than 30 percent for those diagnosed at stage 4. Early detection is critical.
We are making it more convenient than ever for Ontarians to connect to care close to home and access the medication they need, when they need it by expanding the roles of Ontario’s Pharmacies.
Caring for Ontario’s Mental Health
Our government recognizes that maintaining mental health is just as important to people’s happiness and well-being as physical health. Throughout October, we have taken steps to implement new and expand existing mental health programs and services across the province.
Our government is investing more than $4.5 million to help police forces across the province provide specialized support for people experiencing a mental health or addiction crisis.
Peel Regional Police will receive $120,000 in the 2023-24 round of funding to support a mobile response unit.
Now adults living with depression, anxiety, and other anxiety-related issues can access a variety of free services at over 100 locations across the province.
Programs are all supported by mental health professionals and include:
- Self-led resources
- Therapist-led services
- One-on-one sessions
- Group therapy gatherings
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Clinician-assisted bibliotherapy
Ontario’s young people are our province’s future. As they navigate their journey to adulthood they face social and developmental challenges fuelled by technology. The Youth Wellness Hub initiative is a network of “hubs” across the province ensuring youth and their families have the right support, in the right place at the right time.
Last month we opened a new location to serve London-Middlesex and surrounding areas, as one of the eight new hubs the government is adding to the 14 already created since 2020, bringing the total to 22 across the province.
The Malton Youth Hub, located at 3540 Morningstar Drive offers the following services to young residents of Mississauga and Peel Region:
- Mental health counselling
- Substance use support
- Employment & training supports
- Housing support
- Education support
- Recreation
The Ontario government is increasing this year’s funding for the Student Nutrition Program and the First Nations Student Nutrition Program, by $5 million for a total of $38 million.
These programs provide more than 600,000 students across Ontario with over 90 million nutritious meals and snacks throughout the year to ensure they are nourished and ready to learn.
To build on the government’s investment we are working with the Arrell Family Foundation, the Breakfast Club of Canada, the Schad Foundation, the Grocery Foundation, and Student Nutrition Ontario to launch the Healthy Students Brighter Ontario campaign. This province-wide fundraising partnership is the first of its kind, and has kicked off the campaign by raising $1.6 million already!
Representatives from our government have recently completed a successful trade mission to Singapore, Vietnam, and South Korea.
As part of this mission, we have announced plans to open a new Ontario Trade and Investment Office in Singapore next year.
This will be our province’s first office supporting two-way trade in a member country of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a union of 10 states in Southeast Asia with a population of over 600 million people.
(Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam)
This will help Ontario businesses access new markets while attracting made-in-Ontario investments from multiple sectors including automotive, technology, life sciences, and cleantech.
Our government is keeping more money in the pockets of families and small-business owners by increasing the on-bill Ontario Electricity Rebate Program from 11.7% to 19.3%.
We are also investing $50 million to expand the income eligibility thresholds for the Ontario Electricity Support Program by up to 35% making electricity more affordable for thousands of families across the province.
Updated thresholds will come into effect on March 1, 2024.
The Energy Affordability Program provides eligible participating households with personalized, free electricity-saving measures that can help them reduce their electricity bills. Customers can also access the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program and receive up to $600 in emergency assistance if they are behind on their electricity or natural gas bill and face having their service disconnected.
Applications have been extended for the Anti-Hate Security and Prevention Grant (AHSP Grant) announced in May.
Eligible organizations can apply for up to $10,000 to enhance or implement measures that protect and secure their facilities from hate-motivated incidents such as graffiti, vandalism, and other damages.
This will help ensure faith-based organizations (including, churches, mosques, temples, or synagogues) and cultural organizations (such as those that serve Black, Indigenous, Asian, or 2SLGBTQIA+ communities) have safe and secure community spaces to practice their faith or express their cultures and beliefs.
Recipients can use the funding to enhance or implement protection measures, such as:
- Making building upgrades
- Enhancing locks
- Installing cameras
- Training staff
- Completing security assessments
- Introducing safer cybersecurity measures
- Hiring professional security
- Making repairs
Dhamal Masti Group Celebrating Navratri Garba
Community Outreach
Muses Kerela All Heart Tour with Shreya Ghoshal
Diwali Show by Parvasi Media
Community Outreach
Indus Community Services Ribbon Cutting
Delegates from Snow & Ice Sector at Queen’s Park
PEEL CAS Wear Purple Day
Ontario Dairy Council at Queen’s Park
Sai Dham Canada
Walk for Hunger
Sewak Dal Vijaya Dashami