Mr. Speaker, it is with humility, pride and a profound sense of responsibility that I rise in the House as the member of Parliament for Nanaimo—Ladysmith. Let me begin by offering my heartfelt thanks to the people of my community. I thank them for placing their trust in me. From the shores of Saltair to Ladysmith harbour; from the vibrant arts communities on Gabe to the farms of Yellow Point, Cedar and Cassidy; and from the businesses of downtown Nanaimo to the heights of Mount Benson, I am deeply honoured to represent them. I will work every day to earn their trust, to re-earn it and to serve the people of Nanaimo—Ladysmith.

I thank my family: my husband, Martin; our daughter, Sam; son, Joel; bonus daughter, Amara; my mother, Fran; my sisters; my in-laws and their families; my dad, Jules, whom I miss greatly; and everyone who stood by me through this journey. Public life is demanding, and I would not be standing here without their support, dedication and sacrifice.

I thank our incredible volunteers, and especially Kyle, who built more than a campaign; he built a community, one where everyone is welcome, where ideas are exchanged respectfully and where people are free to be their authentic self. I look forward to expanding our community to include everyone in Nanaimo—Ladysmith who wants to be part of this incredible journey.

The people of Nanaimo—Ladysmith voted for change and hope. They sent a Conservative to the House because they are tired of promises without performance, announcements without action and spending without results. They are counting on those of us who have been sent to the House, all of us, to work together to make real progress on the issues that matter to our communities.

Like many members of the House, I had a career before running for office. As a lawyer, I helped clients navigate complex legal systems that are too slow and too bogged down in red tape, paperwork and jargon. As a goldsmith, I learned that patience, precision and attention to detail are essential. As a business owner, I learned that budgets never balance themselves. Those experiences taught me that quality matters, that what one builds must stand the test of time, that it is a privilege and an honour to be part of people's lives and that even the smallest mistakes can have real consequences. I bring those lessons with me to the House.

Nanaimo—Ladysmith is one of the most breathtaking and diverse ridings in this country: coastal and forested, urban and rural, stretching from mountains to sea. It is home to indigenous communities like the Snuneymuxw and Stz'uminus first nations people, who live and work alongside the descendants of coal miners, fishers, trades workers, foresters, small business owners and new Canadians.

However, beneath that natural beauty, there is despair. It is a despair that is as real and as deep as the coal mines that used to dot our landscape. The addiction crisis continues to devastate communities like mine. In 2024, Nanaimo lost 94 people to overdoses, more than three times the number lost in 2016, when B.C. first declared the opioid crisis a public emergency. Already I have sat with grieving parents who have had to bury children, spoken with first responders who are stretched to the limit and door-knocked in neighbourhoods in my community where despair has become the daily norm.

The people of Nanaimo—Ladysmith are compassionate. We care deeply about our neighbours, but our patience is running thin. We want real treatment, real recovery and real results.

As a lawyer, I have seen what happens when the system prioritizes bureaucracy over justice. As a legislator, I intend to help fix it. As a Conservative, I believe that the government should do fewer things but do them well. That starts with getting our fiscal house in order so we can have the resources to help those who need it.

The cost of living is truly out of control. Seniors are cutting back on essentials, splitting pills and skipping meals. Families are working harder than ever but falling further behind. For many young people and a lot of people who are not so young, the dream of home ownership feels like a wall they can never scale. After a decade of overspending, Canadians are sick of paying more and getting less. Inflation is eating into paycheques in a way that just cannot be fixed with a modest tax cut spaced over a couple of years.

Mortgage payments are crushing young families now. Groceries are unaffordable now. Tariffs are threatening our jobs and businesses now. Canadians cannot wait for relief until next fall or next spring. Canadians need relief now.

We also need bold action on housing. In Nanaimo, I have met single parents forced into unsafe living conditions just to keep a roof over their head. In Ladysmith, families are being priced out of the very communities they helped build. We do not have enough homes, and the answer is not buzzwords; it is builders. It is not another department, agency or czar; it is more shovels in the ground, in the hands of workers earning good wages to support their families. We must slash red tape, eliminate delays and confront any ideology that stands in the way of building. We must invest in skilled trades, in the very people whose hands will build the future.

Recently I had the pleasure of watching culinary arts students at Vancouver Island University reclaim the record for the world's largest Nanaimo bar. Yes, I did get to sample it, and yes, it was delicious, but even that sweet moment was overshadowed by the bitter reality of financial distress, in part due to the federal government's disastrous and abrupt changes in immigration policies. VIU was already staring down a deficit that caused it to cancel all its music programs and end its relationship with Elder College.

Now VIU has no choice, as a result of the government's immigration about-face, but to propose suspending six additional programs and cancelling 13 others entirely, including the dental assistant programs that I would have thought necessary to deliver dental care, the master of community planning program that is needed to build the houses the government claims it wants, and the graduate diploma in hospitality management that is vital to our tourism industry.

VIU is an economic anchor of Nanaimo—Ladysmith as well as a cherished community institution. What VIU needs, what we all need, is clear, predictable immigration policy and better coordination across governments, universities and industries.

Canada must also reclaim its economic independence. Conservatives will stand proudly for Canadian energy and the jobs and prosperity those industries create, particularly in communities like Nanaimo—Ladysmith, where over 20% of the workforce is dependent on the natural resource sector and trades.

We call on the government to repeal job-killing laws like Bill C-69 and Bill C-48. We need to build pipelines and other transportation infrastructure to unleash our resources and create good-paying jobs, not for special interest lobbyists in Ottawa, but for workers in communities across this great country.

Parliament has much work to do, but we face some pretty simple choices: more bureaucracy or more building, more taxes or more paycheques, more excuses or more action. The people of Nanaimo—Ladysmith have made their choice. They want change. They want lower costs, more homes, safer streets and real economic growth.

To my colleagues, including my colleagues across the aisle, let us—

Tamara Kronis