When asked earlier this week about his political intentions in the coming year, Laval-Les Îles Liberal MP Fayçal El-Khoury told the Laval News that, among other things, he will be focusing on providing additional affordable housing to constituents, while also working towards improving the living conditions of the senior citizens in Laval-Les Îles.
Focus on seniors
In an interview, El-Khoury said he is currently working on several legislative issues involving senior citizens.
“In most caucus meetings, I raise the issue of our senior citizens,” he said, noting that Laval-Les Îles is home to an elevated number of seniors.
El-Khoury said he was among the first MPs to call upon the Trudeau government to create a new ministry to focus closely on senior citizens’ issues.
He said his efforts continue to persuade the government to implement the Canada-wide dental coverage plan, announced last year, which begins with an initial phase for senior citizens this year.
“And I will continue to play a major role in order to finalize once and for all the dental plan for our seniors,” added El-Khoury.
Students needed: El-Khoury
Another area the Laval-Les Îles MP said he will be concentrating on over the coming year involves immigration generally, as well as the issue of visas granted to students coming from overseas into Canada to undertake academic studies.
“Because students when they come to Canada, they pay rent, they pay tuition fees and other expenses, and this helps to push our economy forward,” he said.
At the same time, he noted that students whose skills and talents are developed at Canadian universities can often end up taking up permanent residency or citizenship here, thus contributing even further to the strengthening of the country’s economy.
Visiting students issue
Last week, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller said he was looking at ways to rein in an international student system that has “gotten out of control.”
Miller said that because of housing shortages and soaring rents, he would be looking at ways to reduce the number of international students, which has hit 800,000 students a year.
El-Khoury said the government’s plans haven’t been finalized and will be subject to fine-tuning in the coming year to ensure the issue is dealt with equitably.
While acknowledging that some incoming students may have abused the system and that better screening could be needed, he suggested it would be better to keep the door open to most foreign students, rather than enact policies that would place onerous restrictions on them.
