Provencher Member of Parliament Ted Falk says the summer months provide an excellent opportunity to find out what is on the minds of constituents. Falk says he will be busy over the next couple of months meeting with people and attending community events before Parliament resumes sitting in September.
Parliamentarians just came through a quick four-week sitting prior to the summer break. Falk says the Conservatives are now working with a larger caucus, having secured an additional 24 seats in the April 28th federal election. Falk says his party has been working hard to support tax cuts and initiatives that will move our economy forward.
Falk says one of the disappointments is that the Liberal government pushed to spend nearly half a trillion dollars without even presenting a budget.
"They should have presented one before they presented the half a trillion dollar spending," says Falk. "They didn't and together with the other parties they got approval to do that, even though it's being done without a budget in place and with not the proper accountability or scrutiny of that spending."
Falk says the Conservatives also introduced a motion to end the government's impractical and unrealistic zero-emissions vehicle mandate, which would ultimately eliminate the option of buying new gas-powered cars by 2035. Falk says Conservatives believe Canadians need to be in the driver's seat on this one and are fighting for Canadians to have a choice. He adds that travelling long distances or living in colder climates, without the infrastructure for EVs to be repowered, makes the EV option impractical.
Falk says prior to the summer break, they also saw Bill C-5 come to Parliament. Knowing that thousands of projects need to be accelerated, Falk says Bill C-5 allows for major projects of national interest to proceed with the ability to bypass some of the environmental regulations and scrutiny that the previous Liberal government put in place.
"While it is unfortunate that bad policies blocking projects, capping oil and gas, and imposing an industrial carbon tax, as found in C-69 and C-48, were not repealed, Conservatives found a way forward," says Falk. "With support from opposition colleagues, Conservatives passed an amendment to safeguard important protections - keeping our promise to fight for Canadian taxpayers."
Falk says they put safeguards into Bill C-5, while at the same time supported the legislation because they believe it will help big projects actually come to fruition, which will also be good for the economy.
"We supported the C-5 legislation because we really believe that that's in Canada's best interest and we were successful and happy that we were able to amend it to put in safeguards," adds Falk.
Meanwhile, prior to the four-week sitting, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced his new Cabinet. Falk refers to the Cabinet as "a lot of the old, tired faces from the previous Trudeau Government." He adds that many of these individuals are the same ministers "that were responsible for some of the incompetent things that happened in the previous government."
Falk says the Conservatives were hoping to see a significant change in the new Prime Minister's Cabinet.
"Instead, he retained a lot of the failed ministers from the previous administration," adds Falk. "And the use of consultants by the Liberal government is astronomical. I think this year it's going to be $26 billion that they expect to spend on consultants and these ministers have control and jurisdiction over awarding these contracts."
Meanwhile, as mentioned, Falk says summer is a great opportunity for spending time in the constituency and learning what is on the minds of residents.
"The conflict in the Middle East is something that is top of mind for a lot of people," suggests Falk. "But even more so is our relationship with the United States under Donald Trump."
Falk says it remains to be seen whether Prime Minister Carney can work out a trade deal that is beneficial to Canada. He notes that with more than $2 billion in trade business with the United States every single day, there are people counting on a fair trade deal to be reached with our major trading partner, closest friend, and closest ally.
And, as Canada celebrates 158 years this week, Falk encourages Canadians to fly the flag proudly, support communities, remember our military and veterans, and teach children the true story of Canada: one of perseverance, strength, and hope, not shame.