Michelle Ferreri Tells A Story Of A Peterborough Woman In Her Maiden Speech

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Member of Parliament Michelle Ferreri gave her maiden speech at the House of Commons on Dec. 16.

In Ferreri’s first ever speech she brought to light the mental health crisis in Peterborough-Kawartha.

She told the story of Cassie, a Peterborough local who struggled with her mental health.

On Sept. 20, Cassie passed away. Ferreri made a promise to Cassies’s mother that her story wouldn’t end in vain, and that she would work to help the other ‘Cassies’ in Peterborough.

“Cassie is the real example of what needs to be solved and the crisis we’re living in,” said Ferreri. “Her mom wanted her story shared. She wants people to know what happened.”

When Ferreri posted a video of her clip on Facebook, members of the community and Cassie’s family members expressed their praise in the comments.

“I wrote the speech myself, I didn’t have any help or input on what I chose to write. I think I’ll be able to look back on my maiden speech in the future and it will remind me of why I started this. There’s days when it gets hard and overwhelming but I can go back to my maiden speech and be reminded of why I’m doing this and what I’m trying to achieve.”

Ferreri also noted how COVID-19 has magnified the opioid and mental health crisis, and that Canada needs to learn to live with COVID.

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Maryam Monsef Becomes First Female MP In History Of Peterborough

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For the first time ever, Peterborough has elected a woman to serve in Ottawa, as Liberal Maryam Monsef defeated Conservative candidate Michael Skinner and NDP candidate Dave Nickle.

"Today isn't the end, it's actually the beginning. The beginning of a lot of hard work to meet the commitments I made," she said in her victory speech to constituents at Showplace Peteborough.

Monsef had 29,091 (43.1%) of the vote in the decisive win, on a night when the Liberals formed a majority government under new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The 30-year-old PCVS and Trent University grad is also the youngest person ever elected from this riding.

Monsef tweeted out her thanks shortly after her win....

Learn more about Monsef's backstory in this feature article—"From Afghanistan To Iran To Peterborough: One Woman's Amazing Story Of How A City (& A School) Saved Her Life"—we posted in 2012.

Read her biography here.
 

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Dean Del Mastro Has Resigned As MP

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Developing story...

UPDATED: Here's the video of his resignation in the House...

The Young and the Restless

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Peterborough is without an MP as Dean Del Mastro has resigned his seat, CBC reports, less than a week after being found guilty of spending too much on his 2008 campaign. "I will not be a distraction in Peterborough," he said during his emotional resignation in the House of Commons.

Del Mastro was found guilty last week on three counts of violating the Canada Elections Act—exceeding spending limits during the 2008 election, failing to report a personal contribution of $21,000 to his own campaign and knowingly submitting a falsified document.

No word on when the by-election will be.

Photo Laura Payton CBC

Photo Laura Payton CBC

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