As 2024 comes to a close, the Member of Parliament for Provencher says he is encouraged by recent poll numbers. Ted Falk says the polls look very good for the Conservative Party of Canada and clearly Pierre Poilievre is doing an excellent job as leader to articulate the vision of what Canada could be.
"His message has been clear throughout the year, and he's been building on that and it's a four-pronged message; it's axing the tax, building the homes, fixing the budget and stopping the crime," adds Falk.
Falk says the cost of living has climbed the last few years, which he says can be attributed in large part to the carbon tax. He notes the Liberal Government plans to quadruple the carbon tax to 61 cents per litre.
"Pierre Poilievre has made it very clear that he's committed to axing that tax and to removing it and hopefully that would certainly bring the cost of things down," he adds. "So, we know people are pinching pennies, we know they've had, in some cases a very difficult time this past year in just dealing with the cost of living, food, fuel, heating, the cost of housing, everything's expensive."
Conservatives eager for election
Falk says it is his opinion that the Liberal Government has failed incredibly to meet the demand for housing in Canada, resulting in a shortage.
"We want to make sure that the gatekeepers that are preventing housing from happening here in Canada, and there is such a strong demand for it, that we remove the gatekeepers and that houses can get built and communities can provide shelter for their people that want to live in those communities," adds Falk.
Falk says results of some byelections in 2024 showed that Canadians are realizing that Justin Trudeau's policies and leadership have failed. He is referring to victories by Conservative Don Stewart in Toronto-St. Paul's and Conservative Tamara Jansen in Langley City, BC.
Falk says though the Conservatives are eager to head to the polls, their efforts are continuously being blocked by the NDP. He notes on three separate occasions in recent weeks the Conservatives have presented non-confidence motions, only to have them defeated by the Liberals with help from the NDP.
"(The NDP) are as responsible for these failures as Justin Trudeau is and I think Canadians see that as well," adds Falk.
2024 highlights
Falk says one of the highlights for him in 2024 was introducing his private member's bill. Bill C-400 calls for a national framework to ensure continued access to and use of cash in Canada.
"It would prevent the cabinet of the day, whichever cabinet that would be, from removing currency from circulation without Parliamentary approval and it would also prevent the Bank of Canada from introducing a central bank digital currency," explains Falk.
Falk says he has been getting a tremendous amount of support towards his bill. It was initially scheduled to be debated October 24th. However, that has now been pushed to no sooner than the end of February.
"For every day that we're debating the Green Slush Fund issue in Parliament, it gets pushed up one more day," he notes. "So hopefully I'll have a chance to present it for second reading and debate in the House of Commons early in the new year."
Meanwhile, Falk says other significant happenings in 2024 include the celebration of 100 years for the Royal Canadian Air Force and the ruling by a federal court that the Emergencies Act was applied unlawfully during the pandemic.