Tagged with: Conservative Party of Canada
By KERRY DIOTTE
We’ve heard a lot about carbon taxes lately.
In Ottawa, the Liberal government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have enthusiastically touted imposing a carbon tax nationwide as a way to actually create scores of new jobs (believe it or not).
In reality, a carbon tax will cripple our economy and lead to job losses.
My Conservative colleagues and I are fighting tooth and nail to stop this ill-conceived tax grab.
Here are my Top 10 good reasons Canada’s federal government shouldn’t impose a carbon tax.
- Day-to-day costs will increase for Canadians, adding up to more than $2,500 annually for the average family.
- It will be especially painful for people in northern communities who already pay dearly for home heating, vehicle fuel and groceries including milk.
- A carbon tax tilts the economic playing field in favour of our competitors that don’t pay carbon taxes.
- Canada is already in an economic downturn and this will cause a further weakening of our economy when we can least afford it.
- Liberals say it’ll create jobs. Yeah right. Maybe for tax collectors and solar panel salespeople but not for other sectors.
- Canadians weren’t crying out for a carbon tax. In oil and gas producing provinces, such as Alberta and Saskatchewan, the majority of people are opposed to a carbon tax.
- The tax will have a negligible effect on reducing greenhouse gases on the planet.
- While Canadian prosperity would suffer under a tax on carbon, countries like China would see an economic boom spurred by continued construction of greenhouse gas producing coal-fired power plants.
- Canada produces just .001 of greenhouse gases. Even if we were to meet our carbon reduction targets as hoped by 2030, all of our efforts and sacrifices would be nullified if the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters continue to increase their emissions.
- Taxing Canadians won’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There are efficient solutions to battling climate change including investing in carbon capture and storage projects, offering Canadians incentives to reduce their carbon footprint and encouraging industries to come up with cleaner technologies.
What are your thoughts on this issue? I want to hear them. E-mail [email protected].
In the short time since I introduced Bill C-306, I’m honoured to have received messages of support from Canadian groups, Tatar leaders and individuals from across the country and abroad.
Here’s a copy of the support letters that I have received from:
- Rustem Irsay – President of the Canadian Association of Crimean Tatars;
- Orest Steciw – National President of the League of Ukrainian Canadians;
- Mustafa Jemilev – Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for the Affairs of Crimean Tatars;
- and Refat Chubarov – People’s Deputy of Ukraine Chair of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People.
Visit here to read the full text of Bill C-306: http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=8446568
My colleague, Rachel Harder and I hosted a Youth Jobs Roundtable at NAIT in Edmonton.
We got important feedback from students and young professionals on today’s job climate. We heard some horror stories about how the economy is hurting youth employment opportunities. But there were also some solid solutions suggested by our roundtable participants including: urging governments to support more paid internships, controlling federal spending and pushing to see carbon taxes stopped.
Thanks to all the participants. Rachel and I really value your opinions and solutions.
Alberta is facing some of the highest job losses in Canada but the Liberal government has not put forward a jobs plan.
Our Conservative caucus launched the Alberta Jobs Taskforce to address the growing jobs crisis in Alberta. We want to hear from everyday Albertans like you. Share your story here.
Today, I had the honour to begin the debate in the House of Commons on my Private Member’s Bill, Bill C-306 – the Crimean Tatar Deportation (“Sürgünlik”) Memorial Day Act.
This Act would recognize the mass deportations of Crimean Tatars in 1944 by the Soviet regime as genocide and establish May 18 as a day of commemoration.
In 2015, the Parliament of Ukraine officially recognized the deportations of 1944 as genocide. Subsequently, they called on other countries to join them in recognizing this atrocity as genocide.
Canada has long-been a defender of human rights and the rule of law. As a loyal friend to Ukraine, now is the time to respond to that call.
This Bill is important today because we cannot separate the deportations of 1944 and Russia’s theft of Crimea from Ukraine 70 years later.
One of my favourite things to do is visit people door-to-door and hear what’s important to folks in our riding of Edmonton Griesbach.
It was a chilly day Saturday, Oct. 15 in Edmonton but our team got a great reception and heard some of the issues that are important to you.
By far, the biggest worry on their minds is the Liberals’ promised carbon tax that will make life costlier for all of us in Canada and have a negligible effect combating greenhouse gases.
One senior citizen I talked to said she feared it could increase costs on her to the point she wouldn’t be able to stay in her home.
I assured her our Conservative Official Opposition would continue to fight that on her behalf and she was very pleased.
Thanks to the volunteers who joined me door knocking and to all the nice residents of Edmonton Griesbach.
As your Member of Parliament, I always want to hear what’s important to you.
I was delighted to stand in the House and take the Liberals to task for their latest folly regarding infrastructure. They want to put all federal-funded projects though a green screen. If a project isn’t deemed green enough it might be gased.
Canadians need jobs not more unnecessary red tape.
This is an opportunity to celebrate and recognize Canada’s seniors who have helped build our country and continue to contribute to our communities.
Don’t forget to take the time today to celebrate the seniors who have impacted your life.
Happy National Seniors Day!
For Immediate Release
September 29, 2016
(OTTAWA, ONTARIO) — Kerry Diotte has introduced his first Private Members’ Bill (PMB) in the House of Commons. The bill is titled An Act to establish a Crimean Tatar Deportation (“Sürgünlik”) Memorial Day and to recognize the mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944 as an act of genocide.
“My Bill condemns a dark chapter in history and takes a principled stand in support of freedom, democracy and the rule of law,” said Diotte, who was elected on Oct. 19, 2015.
If passed, this Act will recognize the mass deportations of Crimean Tatars in 1944 by the Soviet regime as genocide and establish May 18 as a day of commemoration.
“In 1944, the Soviet regime under Josef Stalin ripped hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children from their homes in Crimea and sent them into permanent exile simply on the basis of their nationality,” he said.
“They were denied their freedom of movement, freedom of expression and freedom of worship until the Soviet Union ceased to exist. It constitutes a great crime against humanity.”
In 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine, and illegally annexed Crimea after staging a sham referendum in the region.
“We cannot separate the deportations of 1944 from Russia’s theft of Crimea from Ukraine seventy years later.”
“The same evil ideology and disregard for the fundamental rights and freedoms of every man and woman is at work in both a regime that would tear 200,000 people from their homes and drop them in a remote part of Central Asia; and in starting a war with a peaceful neighboring country in order to steal territory.”
This Bill is especially important because Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea has placed the Crimean Tatars under threat once again. Today, they face renewed attacks on their representative bodies, places of worship, and independent media outlets.
In 2015, the Parliament of Ukraine officially recognized the deportations of 1944 as genocide, the first country in the world to do so. Subsequently, the Ukrainian Parliament called on other countries to join them in recognizing this atrocity as genocide.
“Canada has always been a steadfast and loyal friend to Ukraine, and we need to show our leadership once again,” said Diotte.
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For media enquiries, please contact:
Kerry Diotte
Member of Parliament
Edmonton Griesbach
(613) 992-3821
Here’s an important opportunity to have your voice heard and demand a referendum.
The House of Commons’ Special Committee on Electoral Reform is holding public open microphone sessions in the Edmonton area tomorrow.
When: Thursday September 29, 2016.
4:15pm to 5:00 p.m.
7:30pm to 9:30 p.m.
Where: Renaissance Edmonton Airport Hotel (attached to the airport)
4236 – 36 St. East
Leduc, AB
To speak, you must be registered at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the session.
If you can’t make it to this meeting, you can also complete the Committee’s online e-consultation form here.
By KERRY DIOTTE
This development has to be done and be done right.
Edmonton’s city council owes it to the residents of our north-side federal riding of Edmonton Griesbach to approve Northlands’ Vision 2020 plan.
A good portion of my 100,000-plus federal constituents are counting on the City of Edmonton stepping up to support this vision.
Our riding includes many of the neighbourhoods in the vicinity of Northlands, including Alberta Avenue, Beacon Heights, Bellevue, Beverly Heights, Boyle Street, Cromdale, Eastwood, Highlands, Lauderdale, McCauley, Montrose, Newton, Parkdale, Rundle Heights and Virginia Park.
We know Edmonton has a shiny new downtown arena, built with taxpayers dollars, replacing the legendary Rexall Place that was operated successfully by Northlands.
We as a city owe it to residents in those communities to buy into the vision Northlands has come up with for its 160-acre campus that includes Rexall Place, Northlands Race Track and Casino and the Edmonton Expo Centre conference facility.
That vision includes turning Rexall Place into a multiple ice-surface facility, expanding the Expo Centre, building a new, small concert facility and putting in housing.
Not doing so means: There goes the neighbourhood(s)! Reports show dire consequences if we don’t get this right.
Failure to develop the Northlands site would reduce property values by up to 10% — homes that hard-working north-side Edmontonians invested their life savings in. This scenario would see the City’s residential assessment base shrink by up to $125 million.
The City of Edmonton has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in other sectors of the city including the downtown, Blatchford (the old City Centre Airport) and The Quarters. The Northlands area communities deserve the same benefit.
Indeed, when Edmonton city council agreed to construct the downtown arena it bought into the theory that the project would revitalize the downtown. Shouldn’t our communities surrounding the Northlands campus receive a similar benefit?
Those communities include Edmonton’s largest population of indigenous people and scores of new Canadians including a sizeable Somali community who live there and are trying to build new lives in this great city of ours.
This area also includes a thriving arts community centred on 118 Avenue that has breathed new life into old buildings. They have succeeded remarkably. I have to note that when we were looking to rent a constituency office for our federal riding of Edmonton Griesbach, the redevelopment of 118 Avenue has been so successful we could not find a single suitable space there. That’s actually good news.
This area is not a home to big-box stores or fancy corporate offices. It’s filled with small mom-and-pop businesses eking out an income in the shadow of Rexall Place. These folks deserve our support.
Some pundits are saying Northlands plan is too ambitious, there’s not a suitable business plan. It costs too much money. As a fiscal conservative, former city councillor and the Official Opposition’s deputy Urban Affairs critic, I sympathize with concerns about finances.
That said, where was the business plan when city council decided to close down City Centre Airport to build what was pitched as the ultra-green, eco-friendly Blatchford development? Latest plans there have deeply scaled back the so-called green initiatives. Where was the business case for that development?
The City of Edmonton went gung-ho on that plan regardless. Northlands Vision 2020, however makes good sense and is well thought out.
The not-for-profit, 137-year-old organization was forced out of the business of running major sporting events and large concerts with the approval of the new Rogers Centre arena downtown. That’s despite the fact the organization did an admirable, world-class job of those duties. Indeed Rexall, under Northlands management, was listed as the 27th busiest arena (indoors or outdoors) in the world!
Northlands and the tens of thousands of residents surrounding the 160-acre site deserve to have the City of Edmonton buy into a plan that would see Rexall turned into a six-sheet hockey tournament facility, an expansion of Hall D at the Expo Centre to allow 5,000-seats for hockey as well as rodeo, concerts and other events. It also calls for an outdoor festival site where the racetrack and casino is today as well as residential and retail development.
There’s been talk that the Edmonton Expo Centre doesn’t break even. Well, conference centres throughout North America tend to not break even. It’s the economic spinoffs that bring millions to cities by hosting events at them.
This is an ideal campus for urban renewal. It’s a stone’s throw from our downtown. It’s served by an existing station on a high-speed LRT line. It’s adjacent to Yellowhead Trail and has tons of parking.
A special city council public hearing takes place Wednesday Aug. 31 and I intend to be there in person speaking up for the vital north-side project.
If you’re a resident in the area or you own a business there, you too have a right to speak about this. If you care about thriving, sustainable neighbourhoods, please have your say. Tell city council what you think. Get on the speakers list to have your five minutes. Call the City Clerk’s office at (780) 496-8178 or email: [email protected]
To see more details about the thoughtful development, Vision 2020, go here:
http://www.northlands.com/vision2020/
Let’s make sure our north-side residents get the development they deserve. As your Conservative Member of Parliament I will fight to see we get this development done and done right.
(Comments? Questions? E-mail me at: [email protected])
