Hello friends!
Christmas is just around the corner, and this will be my final bi-weekly newsletter of the Parliamentary session before we head into the January break. We’ll be back early February when session resumes, but this week I want to look at some of the key developments in these last few weeks of the House sitting.
A Year of Scandals in Review
With 2023 nearly in the books, my Conservative colleague MP Michael Barrett did a great “year in review” summary of some of the many scandals that Trudeau’s Liberal government has been behind this year. Take a look:
C-234 and the Voting Marathon to #AxetheTax
The Liberal-NDP government has made it clear that they have no intention of backing down on their Carbon Tax. Instead they have doubled down on their plan to make life less affordable for all Canadians.
In the spirit of the season, I took to poetry to try to win them over to axe the tax.
At the center of the action has been Conservative Bill C-234, An Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. The bill recently passed through the Senate, but not without a significant amendment which gutted it of critical carbon tax exemptions for farmers.
Conservatives forced overnight voting on supplementary estimates to pressure the NDP-Liberal coalition to axe the Carbon Tax.
Every Conservative “Nay” was a vote of “no confidence” in the government — meaning that if at any point in the 30-hour voting marathon they failed to rally enough MPs to vote their way, the Liberal government would have fallen, triggering an election.
Following the overnight votes, I continued to push for the House to keep working on Bill C-234 this week. At one point, this Liberal MP claimed he and his party were ready to work overtime, but they immediately shut down my motion that would have extended our sitting to deal with this important bill.
NDP-Liberal Contract Cover-ups
It recently came to light that more than $40 billion in taxpayer dollars will be given to EV battery plants who plan to hire foreign replacement workers. That subsidy amounts to more than $3,000 out of the pockets of every Canadian family.
Conservatives want these contracts to be made public. The NDP originally stood with Conservatives, but it didn’t take long for them to flip-flop over to siding with the Liberals. So much for standing with workers!
Uyghur Genocide Recognition Day
Earlier this month, on December 9th, we commemorated the formal recognition of the ongoing Uyghur genocide.
Canadian Parliament became the first in the world to acknowledge the genocide against the Uyghurs in East Turkestan. This sparked an international movement for others to follow suit. There is still work to be done though, and Canada needs to continue to take action to support Uyghurs and hold the CCP responsible.
Liberals Play Politics on Ukraine
The Liberals are all talk when it comes to supporting Ukraine. They claimed that they wanted to pass the Canada-Ukraine free trade implementation bill, but when I proposed having a final vote on it last week, they blocked that vote from happening.
Everything they’ve said about this deal was an act, intended to distract you from all the ways they’ve sold out Ukraine: Liberals waived sanctions on Russia, failed to stop detonators from getting to the Russian military, and blocked our amendments to speed up the delivery of weapons to Ukraine.
If you’d like to understand the Conservative position on the Canada-Ukraine free trade bill, click here to watch this video.
NDP-Liberals Ram Through C-50 in Late Night Committee Session
During a late night sitting of the Natural Resources Committee, NDP and Liberal MPs broke parliamentary rules and procedures in order to ram through their anti-energy agenda and move Bill C-50 through committee review.
I brought this concerning event up in Question Period the following day. With the Liberal committee chair absent, Conservative vice-chair Shannon Stubbs gave a fiery response.
Continuing to Hold the Taliban Accountable
Last week, MPs voted on a Conservative motion to uphold our commitments to protecting freedom and justice internationally by standing with the Afghan people. The Taliban is a terrorist organization, and we have to continue to recognize them as such and hold them accountable for their crimes. The motion passed with unanimous consent from the House.
Last Week: Christmas Open House!
On a lighter note, last weekend I welcomed constituents into my office to celebrate the Christmas season and listen to their concerns heading into the New Year. Opportunities like these allow for feedback and great conversation that help me understand the best ways to represent my constituents moving forward.
I look forward to more opportunities to connect with constituents in the new year. Stay tuned for updates on when our next roundtables and open houses will take place.
ICYMI: The Dow Project — Good News for the Industrial Heartland
Good news surfaced recently about a historic investment in the Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero project by Dow Chemical. This is the first initiative of its kind, not just in Canada but in the world. This $9 billion private sector investment will result in about 6,000 jobs being created during construction, and 400–500 jobs once the project is in full operation.
Take a look at my recent article on this important project and the benefits it will have on our community:
Resuming Debate: Two New Episodes!
Since my last newsletter, I have released two new episodes of my podcast, Resuming Debate.
In the first, I am joined by activist and former political staffer Amanda Achtman. Our main topics of discussion were death and dying and euthanasia. We also discussed the situation in the Middle East and the challenges confronting the Jewish community here in Canada.
This week, I was joined by Dr. Charles Burton, Senior Fellow at the MacDonald Laurier Institute and China policy expert. We discussed Canada's response to foreign interference and what needs to be done to protect our country from foreign meddling in our political system.
You can also listen to these podcasts on Spotify, Apple, or Google — or wherever else you listen to your podcasts!
Make sure to subscribe so you are notified of new episodes, and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. I also welcome suggestions for future topics.