Message from Nicola Di Ioro Member of Parliament Saint-Léonard – Saint-Michel

Dear Fellow Citizens,

Soon it will be four years since I undertook to become your member of Parliament. I answered the call to serve my country and to represent you. I could not have guessed at the time that the circumstances of life would force me to make the most painful decision of my professional life: the decision to leave my position. After my family, my work as your MP is the thing that is closest to my heart. My commitment to my family is boundless and I must call on you to understand that it must supercede everything. However, please know that my commitment to all of you in Saint-Léonard – Saint-Michel will remain unshakeable, forever. Long before I was your MP, my work as a volunteer led me to become one of the founders of the most important ethnic cultural organizations in our riding: the Leonardo Da Vinci Center. I also did volunteer work for many community groups in our region and elsewhere in Quebec.

Over the past few years I have been able to dedicate myself to important achievements, not only for our riding but also for our country. Among these, for instance, is our government’s commitment to funding the extension of the Blue Line, work that is essential not only to everyone’s quality of life, but also to economic development. Other achievements that may be less apparent proved to be crucial to the country’s future. I am thinking among others of the integrity of the appointment process for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

The fiscal covenant is also dependent on these lesser known achievements that allow the entire country to respect the invaluable contribution our entrepreneurs make to its economic development. I also did a great deal of work to obtain recognition, but especially respect, for the Italian community to whom I owe my origins. This kind of work is of benefit to everyone because no country can have dignity if the dignity of any group in it is diminished by prejudice. The work I did can thus be a model for any ethnic group that wants to take inspiration from it, and I offer them my full co-operation.

In mentioning road safety last, I wish to draw your attention to this cause that led me to create National Impaired Driving Prevention Week through the adoption of Motion M-148. We all use the roads on a daily basis. Not only does driving while impaired cause accidents, it causes fatalities that are all avoidable. Prevention is the best way to avoid them, and this remains the most important cause I work for. May I encourage you to take daily action to influence those around you to continually develop sound driving practices.

Add to this work the efforts deployed to lead my government to shoulder its responsibilities in several areas where action is pending: safety concerns following the legalization of cannabis, the reform of our labour laws, the safety of women, the deficit, tax reform, environmental protection, and immigration. With respect to the labour shortage, a problem that hinders the development of our economy, I call on our Prime Minister to undertake an international tour modeled on trade missions, together with human resource specialists, in order to recruit the necessary resources to maintain the economic momentum of our country.

All of that work is important, but what stands out for me right now is a feeling. Being your representative has allowed me to experience unique emotions. I am very attached to you and I will always continue to serve you as a volunteer, just as I did before I was elected with the largest majority of all Members of Parliament.

I want to thank you not once but a thousand times, from the bottom of my heart.

Nicola Di Iorio

Member of Parliament Saint-Léonard – Saint-Michel