Tagged with: Liberals


June 22, 2017 | No Comments

Diotte’s Dirty Dozen of Liberal Lowlights

It’s been less than two years since October 2015’s election of a Liberal majority government. But as the latest House of Commons session drew to a close it was clear Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his party had broken many key campaign promises and disappointed Canadians as a government. Here is a Dirty Dozen of Liberal Lowlights:

 

  1. HEARTLESS: During his election campaign Trudeau was all about “sunny ways” and heartfelt hugs. But the Liberals were heartless in voting down Wynn’s Law, a bill that would have made it mandatory for judges to view an accused’s criminal record and any pending charges during bail hearings. Every Liberal in the House but one voted against the bill as widow Shelly Wynn sat in the gallery, tears streaming down her face. Her police officer husband was killed by a career criminal who’d been granted bail. Neither his criminal record nor his pending charges were revealed at that bail hearing.
  2. FLIGHTS OF FANCY: During the election campaign, the Liberals promised to hold an “open and transparent competition” to replace Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets excluding the Lockheed Martin F-35 Stealth. The Liberals later said it had to address a “capability gap” in our forces by making an interim purchase of 18 Super Hornets from Boeing. But now it’s backing away from that pledge after Boeing complained that Bombardier Inc. is getting an edge in the aviation industry due to unfair government subsidies. 
  3. OFF BASE: Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan lost all credibility with those in the Canadian Armed Forces when he falsely claimed to be the “architect” of Operation Medusa – a major anti-Taliban offensive in Afghanistan. Despite repeated calls for him to step down, Trudeau kept the disgraced minister on the job.
  4. PARTISAN POLITICS: After huge Opposition backlash, Liberals had to back down from appointing Madeleine Meilleur as the non-partisan official languages commissioner. Meilleur, a life-long Liberal, is extremely partisan.
  5. CLEARLY FALSE: During the election campaign Liberals promised to be more open and transparent than the previous government. But a scathing June report by Parliament’s information commissioner Suzanne Legault lashed the Liberal government for its lack of transparency. Indeed Legault said the Access to Information Act “is being used as a shield against transparency.”
  6. DON’T COUNT ON IT: Despite promising to run a deficit of “only” $10 billion for two years and to balance the budget by 2019, Liberals proposed a $28.5-billion deficit in its latest budget and the prime minister now refuses to say when, if ever, we’ll have a balanced budget. Canada’s youth will be stuck paying off the tab.
  7. POSTHASTE: Justin Trudeau repeatedly promised 2015 would be the last election where people are elected in a first-past-the-post system. But the Liberals ditched that controversial promise after the Conservative Opposition argued such a radical change shouldn’t take place without a national referendum.
  8. CASH FOR ACCESS: Liberals were rightly slammed for months when it was revealed they’d been holding scores of fundraisers that gave private access to cabinet ministers and the prime minister. Those raised questions from Canada’s ethics commissioner and were a violation of the Liberals’ own “Open and Accountable Government” rules.
  9. ETHICAL LAPSES: The prime minister has breached House of Commons ethics rules by taking a trip on a private helicopter to visit a billionaire family friend. Canada’s ethics commissioner launched a formal probe into the affair but Trudeau has repeatedly refused to say how often, if at all, he has met with the commissioner.
  10. HEAVY HANDED: Liberals tried ramming through unilateral changes to the way Canada’s Parliament operates, including ending Friday Question Period and proposing a single day when the prime minister would answer all questions in Question Period. After much opposition and public outcry they backed down on many of those changes.
  11. CRIPPLING CARBON TAX: The Liberals are imposing a national carbon tax despite critics saying it will kill jobs and hurt the economy especially since the U.S.A. has no plans to have such a levy.
  12. TAX THIS: The Liberals have raised a slew of taxes on just about everything, most recently on beer, wine and Uber rides.

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May 18, 2017 | No Comments

Today marks the 73rd anniversary of the Crimean Tatar deportation

On May 18, 1944, the Soviet secret police forces dragged thousands of Crimean Tatars from their homes, packed them into cattle cars, and deported this entire nation to a remote corner of Central Asia.

Today is the 73rd anniversary of this brutal crime, an attempt to wipe a small nation from the face of the Earth. Last year, the House debated my bill which would have recognized this atrocity as genocide, but the Liberal government shamefully ordered Liberal MPs to vote against it in an attempt to appease Russia. The Liberals’ efforts to please Vladimir Putin were repaid with a smear campaign against their foreign minister, showing the futility of this approach.

Today, the Crimean Tatars face renewed peril at the hands of Vladimir Putin’s illegal occupation of Crimea. They are denied freedom of speech, the freedom to practice their faith, and are subject to harassment, assault and kidnappings simply because of their nationality.

The same evil ideology is at play in both the Soviet regime’s brutal deportation of an entire nation, and in Vladimir Putin’s unending war against Ukraine.

Canada has always been a friend to Ukraine, and today’s anniversary is a reminder of why we stand with Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars to defend our values against the brutality of regimes like that of Vladimir Putin.

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April 3, 2017 | No Comments

My constituents are owed thorough consultations on supervised injection sites

Thanks again to all those who attended and contributed to my town hall meeting on supervised injection sites. And a special thank you to the expert panelists.

While opinions differed, it’s clear that there was a need for more community consultation.

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March 31, 2017 | No Comments

Robust discussions on supervised injections sites at town hall meeting

An overflowing crowd jammed a Boyle Street Plaza room for my town hall on supervised injection sites. There was great, diverse opinions and respectful listening.

Thanks again to our expert panel and to all attendees.

As the Member of Parliament for Edmonton Griesbach, I’m glad to support you in your need to have your opinions heard.

I welcome more comments on this important issue.



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March 28, 2017 | No Comments

Update on motion M-103

Canadians value the rights and freedoms guaranteed to them in our free and democratic society – rights like freedom of religion and freedom of expression.

Our country’s continued strength and stability is dependent on our shared commitment to safeguard these rights.

On March 23, 2017, the House of Commons voted on M-103, a controversial private member’s motion introduced by Iqra Khalid, Liberal Member of Parliament for Mississauga – Erin Mills.

This motion passed.

I voted against M-103, you can see the recorded vote here.

I came to this decision after careful examination of the text of the motion and after considering the concerns raised by the vast majority of my constituents who reached out to me on the topic.

I had supported an earlier Conservative motion that was more inclusive. It condemned racism and discrimination towards Muslims and all religious groups. It’s curious that the Liberals played politics by not supporting that earlier motion.

The Liberal motion M-103 reads:

That, in the opinion of the House, the government should: (a) recognize the need to quell the increasing public climate of hate and fear; (b) condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination and take note of House of Commons’ petition e-411 and the issues raised by it; and (c) request that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage undertake a study on how the government could (i) develop a whole-of-government approach to reducing or eliminating systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia, in Canada, while ensuring a community-centered focus with a holistic response through evidence-based policy-making, (ii) collect data to contextualize hate crime reports and to conduct needs assessments for impacted communities, and that the Committee should present its findings and recommendations to the House no later than 240 calendar days from the adoption of this motion, provided that in its report, the Committee should make recommendations that the government may use to better reflect the enshrined rights and freedoms in the Constitution Acts, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

This motion singles out Islam without reaffirming religious freedom for all faith groups.

It also focuses on a controversial term – Islamophobia – without defining it.

This raises a genuine concern that this motion could be a first step towards restricting legitimate freedom of speech and shut down reasonable debate rather than encourage it.

I strongly condemn all forms of systemic racism, religious intolerance, and discrimination against any religious community.

Unfortunately, any attempts to amend the wording of this motion were rejected.

That’s why David Anderson, Member of Parliament for Cypress Hills – Grasslands, introduced a similar motion on our Conservative Opposition day, which I supported and the Liberals rejected.

That motion reads:

That the House: (a) recognize that Canadian society is not immune to the climate of hate and fear exemplified by the recent and senseless violent acts at a Quebec City mosque; (b) condemn all forms of systemic racism, religious intolerance, and discrimination of Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, and other religious communities; and (c) instruct the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage to undertake a study on how the government could (i) develop a whole-of-government approach to reducing or eliminating all types of discrimination in Canada, while ensuring a community-centered focus with a holistic response through evidence-based policy-making, (ii) collect data to contextualize hate crime reports and to conduct needs assessments for impacted communities; and that the Committee report its findings and recommendations to the House no later than 240 calendar days from the adoption of this motion, provided that in its report, the Committee should make recommendations that the government may use to better reflect the enshrined rights and freedoms in the Constitution Acts, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

It’s unfortunate that despite the support of all other parties, the Liberals voted against this motion and defeated it.

Every Canadian has the right to religious freedom – to be able practice their faith without fear of intimidation, coercion or violence.

Freedom of expression – so long as it isn’t violent or threatening – is also a sacred right.

As the Member of Parliament for Edmonton Griesbach, I’m committed to protecting these rights.  

It’s my sincere hope that any dialogue and studies in response to M-103 will be inclusive and protect all the rights that we value as Canadians.

© Library of Parliament

© Library of Parliament

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March 22, 2017 | No Comments

The new Liberal budget is out and it’s going to cost you

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February 27, 2017 | No Comments

Conservatives release ‘made-in-Alberta’ solutions to tackle the jobs crisis

My Conservative colleagues and I have met with thousands of everyday Albertans to discuss the jobs crisis in the province.

We’ve heard your stories of how this crisis has impacted you. And, we’ve heard your ideas on how the federal government can help get Albertan back to work.

Today, our Alberta Conservative caucus released the Alberta Jobs Taskforce report that includes practical solutions to help create jobs and grow the economy in Alberta.

Read the full report here.




 

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February 23, 2017 | No Comments

Passing Wynn’s law should be a no-brainer

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak in the House during the debate on Wynn’s law.

This legislation will require that prosecutors disclose a bail applicant’s criminal history at a bail hearing.

By closing this loophole in the Criminal Code, this legislation could save lives and increase public safety.

But the Liberals have vowed to vote against this common-sense piece of legislation.

Sign this petition today to tell the Liberal government to support Wynn’s law: https://petitions.parl.gc.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-712

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February 17, 2017 | No Comments

Sign this e-petition today urging the Liberals to pass Wynn’s Law

Constable David Wynn was murdered by a career criminal out on bail, whose criminal history wasn’t disclosed at the bail hearing.

Currently, Canada’s Criminal Code doesn’t require the disclosure of a bail applicant’s criminal history.

Wynn’s law would close this loophole.

I’ve already received feedback from hundreds of you that think Wynn’s law is common-sense legislation.

Shamefully, the Liberal government has vowed to defeat this legislation.

If you want to see Wynn’s law passed, send the Liberals a message and sign this e-petition today: https://petitions.parl.gc.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-712

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February 9, 2017 | No Comments

Why hasn’t the construction started?

Edmonton’s Liberal Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi talks a good game but he’s failing to deliver the goods on his promised projects.

Only one of 127 infrastructure projects announced by the Liberals has started construction.

Nothing has started in Edmonton.

In the House of Commons, I demanded to know why. Sohi evaded the question.

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