A Year in Review: January to June
Parliament has risen for the summer, after what ended up being a very eventful session.
January began with a bombshell interview by former Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau in which he confirmed what Conservatives and Canadians (and other former Trudeau MPs) have been saying for years: this Prime Minister is all style an no substance. A weak, insecure, and staff-dependent leader who is far more concerned with how things will play with the Ottawa press corps than the interests of Canadians.
In January, I also had the honour of presenting 50 extraordinary Provencher residents with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medallion for service to our community.
In February, Conservatives (and, by extension, Canadians) saw two big wins. Conservatives were able to get the Government to backtrack on their amendments to Bill C-21 which would have banned hunting rifles. The Government has since put some of those weapons back in and the bill remains in the Senate where our Conservative Colleagues continue to delay it. We were also successful in getting the Government to delay their expansion of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) to those with mental health issues and those with disabilities. While I am well aware the government will be back on both of these issues, we were pleased to delay their implementation. Conservatives will continue to oppose government overreach and stand up for the rights of Canadians.
Another positive in February was the passage of Bill C-22 (with support from all parties) to help provide additional assistance for Canadians with disabilities.
In March, another bombshell went off in Ottawa as intelligence sources began leaking information to the media that China had interfered in the 2019 and 2021 elections. The PM’s denials that he had ever been briefed became less and less believable as it became clear Beijing had conspired to help the Liberals win. Like their fake Emergencies Act inquiry, the Liberals put forward numerous individuals friendly to the government to lead the “inquiries” which (to no one’s surprise) exonerated the PM and his team. Conservatives continue to push for a real inquiry into what the PM knew and when he knew it to discover his level of complicity (if any) in this communist scheme.
In March Opposition parties, led by Conservatives passed private member’s Bill C-234, an act exempting farm fuels from the Liberal Carbon Tax. This Bill is currently in the Senate waiting for approval. NConservatives remain committed to axing the carbon tax altogether.
In April, as the interference scandal continued to rage, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland stopped by Parliament just long enough to table another disastrous budget, breaking her promise to address inflation by adding an additional $60 billion in new deficit spending.
It was also in April the Liberals attempted to name the sister-in-law of Cabinet Minister (and ethics rules violator) Dominic Leblanc as the new interim Ethics Commissioner (the sitting Ethics Commissioner having stepped down due to exhaustion from investigating too many Liberal ethical violations). After being exposed, the Government opted to simply leave the Ethics Commissioner post vacant for now.
As violent crime soared across Canada, Conservatives called out the Government’s weak on crime catch and release policies. Conservatives proposed tough new legislation to ensure violent repeat offenders were not granted bail and stayed in jail.
As we entered May the battle over Bill C-11, the Government’s internet censorship bill intensified. Sadly, other parties were taken in by the Government’s assurances they had no intention of controlling what folks watched and posted. Conservatives were not and neither was the Senate who sent the bill back with numerous amendments—amendments the Liberal Government refused to consider and passed the bill anyway. Conservatives have committed to repealing Bill C-11 when we next form government.
May also saw the China issue heat up again as it became clear Beijing continued to operate illegal Chinese police stations in Canada, despite the Public Safety Minister’s assurances to the contrary.
June saw long sittings with Conservatives filibustering (delaying) as much bad Liberal legislation as were able to. It also saw the release of the Johnston report on China’s interference (which to no one’s surprise “exonerated” Trudeau and his government). Conservatives are working with other opposition parties to hold a real public inquiry to get to the bottom of what actually happened.
As we head into the summer Conservatives continue to oppose the Liberals’ new second carbon tax (coming into effect this July) as well as their “sustainable jobs plan” (which will kill tens of thousands of Canadian jobs) and other disastrous Liberal policies (the list goes on and on).
I look forward to connecting with constituents over the summer, then heading back to Ottawa in the fall to continue to be your commonsense voice in Ottawa.