My priorities as your Member of Parliament

I am thrilled to be submitting my first column as your new MP for Ottawa Centre. First and foremost, I’d like to thank you for putting your trust in me to represent you as Member of Parliament. I am more than ready to hit the ground running and start working on key issues that are important to our community.

Through countless conversations during the election campaign, you outlined clear priorities for me.

Affordable Housing

I want to tackle the housing and homelessness crisis in Ottawa. I am committed to working with local not-for-profit housing organizations and all levels of government to secure more funding for affordable housing and social housing and to see the social-housing waitlist reduced as much as possible. Delivering real affordable housing is critical but it is also key to improving the policy so that we are making a true impact in our communities.

Climate Action

I presented a Climate Action Plan for Ottawa Centre that I am committed to seeing through as your Member of Parliament. As part of this plan, I am prepared to advocate for stable funding for our winter trails along the Ottawa River and to consult the community on extending the project to close Colonel By Drive to vehicle traffic for a full year. I will engage with our community and the city to identify additional opportunities for active transportation, such as dedicated bike lanes. I will work to integrate the Ottawa LRT with the new world-class Civic Hospital to reduce emissions and build a better transit system for hospital workers and users. I am committed to working with community partners and advocates to identify bad air quality hotspots in Ottawa Centre and develop strategies to improve it. I am also committed to partnering with communities to develop an urban tree canopy strategy to protect and expand our community’s trees and native plants. Last but not least, I will introduce a law to protect the Central Experimental Farm forever.

End Systemic Racism

All of us have a role to play in telling the truth about our past and a responsibility for reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in a meaningful way. We must work together to eliminate systemic racism and fight back against the injustices that Black, Indigenous Peoples, the LGBTQ2 community and people of colour are experiencing every day. I will use my privilege and experience to put inclusion at the centre of our public policy with a diverse public service, and I will work towards ending racial profiling in federal law enforcement across Canada.

I want you to know that being an MP who is accessible to you is of upmost importance to me. I am building a committed and hard-working team to assist you through exceptional service. We are in the process of setting up the office. In the meantime, please reach out to me at yasir.naqvi@parl.gc.ca or call 613-946-8682 to let me know how we can help, invite me to your events or let me know what you think about important issues in our community. I can’t wait to hear from you!