Doug Eyolfson

Mr. Speaker, Procedure · 18 wordsI would like to start by saying I will be sharing my time with the member for University—Rosedale.Procedure Claims · 43 wordsWe are living through a period of real global uncertainty. Trade tensions are rising. Conflicts around the world are disrupting supply chains and prices are being pushed up by forces that no single country controls. That is the reality Canadians are living with, Positioning · 27 wordsbut Canadians are not asking for analysis. They are asking for relief. They are asking for it in a way they can feel in their daily lives.Positioning Claims · 108 wordsIn Winnipeg West, people are not focused on global markets. I recently spoke with seniors in Winnipeg West who told me that grocery trips have become like a budget exercise, because they have to make sure that the basics last until the end of the month. This is what people are dealing with. They are focused on whether their paycheque will last the month. They are focused on what gets bought, what gets delayed and what simply cannot wait. I hear it in grocery stores. I hear it from families and from young people trying to get started. The message is consistent. Things are getting harder, not easier. Positioning · 5 wordsThat is where responsibility matters.Positioning Reasoning · 72 wordsWe cannot control global instability. We are responsible for how it is felt here at home. We are responsible for whether support arrives when it is needed. We are responsible for whether opportunity is within reach or out of reach. We are responsible for whether life becomes more manageable or less so. If it does not show up in people’s lives, it does not count. Nowhere is that clearer than in affordability. Claims · 56 wordsFamilies in Winnipeg West are making difficult choices every time they go to the grocery store. They are stretching budgets that are already stretched thin. The Canada groceries and essentials benefit will support approximately 475,000 Manitobans, including over 36,000 people in Winnipeg West.¹ For a family of four, up to $1,890 this year is not symbolic; ²Positioning · 19 wordsit is groceries on the table, it is bills paid and it is breathing room where there was none.Positioning Claims · 22 wordsWith a top-up arriving as early as June 5, that support arrives when pressure is being felt, not after it has passed.³ Reasoning · 8 wordsAffordability support only works if it is timely. Claims · 62 wordsWe are also making it easier for Canadians with disabilities to access the support they are entitled to. By streamlining the disability tax credit application process, expanding who can certify eligibility and reducing barriers for those with long-lasting medical conditions, more Canadians will be able to access the disability tax credit and the supports connected to it, including the Canada disability benefit.⁴ Reasoning · 15 wordsAffordability is not one-size-fits-all and support has to reach the people who need it most. Claims · 20 wordsGasoline is another point of concern. In Winnipeg West, people depend on their vehicles for work, school and daily life. Reasoning · 12 wordsWhen gasoline prices rise, there is no buffer. The impact is immediate. Claims · 14 wordsThat is why reducing prices by about 10¢ per litre until Labour Day matters.⁵ Reasoning · 9 wordsIt is not the full answer, by any means, Positioning · 15 wordsbut it is real relief every time someone fills their tank. Right now, stability matters.Positioning Claims · 39 wordsHousing pressure is building, rents are rising, vacancy is tightening and ownership is becoming harder to reach. This update responds with scale: more than $7 billion to accelerate rental housing and another $1.7 billion to remove barriers slowing construction.⁶ Reasoning · 42 wordsThis means stalled projects move forward, more housing gets built in Winnipeg and more people get options instead of uncertainty. Without new supply, affordability does not stabilize; it erodes. However, housing does not get built on policy. It gets built by people. Claims · 36 wordsWe are also building for the long term. In Manitoba, the talent is there. The barrier is access. That is why a $400 weekly apprenticeship benefit matters, along with supports for employers to take on apprentices.⁷ Reasoning · 46 wordsIt removes the financial gap that keeps people out of the trades. That means more apprentices on job sites across Winnipeg, more projects completed and more stable, well-paying careers that stay in our communities. That is because opportunity only matters if people can actually take it. Claims · 10 wordsThe Canada Strong fund is about keeping investment in Canada: Positioning · 7 wordsbuilding here, hiring here and growing here.Positioning Reasoning · 7 wordsGrowth only matters if Canadians feel it. Claims · 21 wordsIn Winnipeg, we can already see how that works. At 17 Wing, and across our aerospace sector, defence is not abstract. Positioning · 6 wordsIt is work, skills and opportunity.Positioning Claims · 36 wordsCanada has now reached the 2% NATO target, strengthening both our alliances and our economy.⁸ Through the defence industrial strategy, more than 125,000 jobs will be supported across the country, ⁹and Winnipeg is part of that. Reasoning · 16 wordsThat means aerospace work today, and opportunity for the next generation. Strong communities also require safety. Claims · 32 wordsIn Winnipeg West, people are concerned about fraud, scams and financial crime targeting vulnerable residents. This update includes $75 million for the Canada community security program, along with stronger action against fraud.¹⁰ Reasoning · 43 wordsThat means better protection, and it means consequences for those who target people’s savings and security. When people do not feel safe, nothing else works the way it should. Strong communities are built through connection, through recreation, through sport and through shared spaces. Claims · 23 wordsWith $755 million in sport funding, more young people in Winnipeg West will have access to programs that build confidence, discipline and belonging.¹¹ Reasoning · 10 wordsFor many families, that is not secondary; it is foundational. Positioning · 19 wordsCommunities are not built on announcements. They are built one person, one family and one neighbourhood at a time.Positioning Claims · 24 wordsAll of this is being done while maintaining fiscal discipline. We are reducing spending by $60 billion over five years and lowering the deficit.¹² Positioning · 88 wordsCanadians expect support in difficult times, but they also expect responsibility. We are expected to deliver both. The people in Winnipeg West understand that the world is uncertain. They are not asking us to control it. They are asking us to respond to it, to make life more affordable, to make opportunity more accessible, to make communities safer and stronger, and to ensure that what is decided in this place is felt in their daily lives. In Winnipeg West, if it is not felt, it does not count.Positioning