Recently I appeared before Edmonton city council as they deliberated their 2021 budget. I felt it was important to share some of the feedback I’ve heard this year from my Edmonton Griesbach constituents. Let me know if you have other thoughts you’d like to share with me about civic issues. Here’s my speech to city council:
Good evening everyone. I’m Kerry Diotte the Member of Parliament for Edmonton Griesbach.
As many of you know, I’m a former city councillor and ex-journalist.
In fact, Councillor McKeen and I wrote popular city hall columns for competing newspapers.
(Send feedback to [email protected])
By: JOHN IVISON
Postmedia
But taxpayers befuddled by millions, billions and trillions should understand that what is taking place is a massive rip-off of future generations, who will be handed the bill for today’s consumption.
The cost of servicing that debt is as low as it has ever been and the government touts a management strategy that locks into low rates by issuing more long-term debt.
But that doesn’t mean taxpayers aren’t obliged to pay it off; it just means they will never stop paying it off.
As Paul Boothe, a former senior public servant at Finance Canada, put it, we need to have a discussion about taxes.
Even before its $100 billion stimulus package, daycare, pharmacare or new health transfers, Ottawa plans to spend an average of 17.6 per cent of GDP on programs over the next six years, up from 12.9 per cent in 2014/15. Budgetary revenues, as a percentage of the economy, are predicted to average 14.3 per cent over the same period, while real growth is expected to be an anaemic 1.4 per cent, thanks in part to an aging population.
The sharper minds out there might see the problem here.
“Giving away money is the easiest thing to do in government. Collecting it is less easy. And the hardest thing is to deliver services efficiently,” said Boothe.
“With permanent programs, you need to talk about how you are going to fund them. We need to know the costs as well as the benefits.”
(Read the full article by John Ivison, Edmonton Journal at the link below)
I think it’s important to send a card to a member of the Canadian Forces this Christmas who might be a long way from home. You can send one to this address:
Any Canadian Armed Forces Member
P.O. Box 5004 Stn. Forces
Belleville, Ont. K8N 5W6
Last week I asked folks if they supported defunding the police here in Edmonton.
There was a large turnout and people overwhelmingly said they didn’t support defunding the police.
A big thanks to everyone who took part.
The Liberal government has announced that COVID-19 vaccines should be available for all Canadians sometime in 2021. They will only be available after a thorough examination by Health Canada to ensure that they’re safe.
When the vaccine is available I’ll be getting it, will you?
Have your say in my new unofficial poll. I’ll publish the results in next week’s e-newsletter.
You can find up-to-date information from Alberta Public Health or the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Alberta Public Health can also be reached by phone at 811.
There are programs available to help you and your family.
You can share it here.
If you’re not subscribed to this regular e-newsletter, sign up below.
Members of Parliament get the most current, accurate and comprehensive updates regarding the COVID-19 crisis. Want regular highlights of these? Sign up for my e-newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up here.
I’m always eager to hear from you. Do you have beefs? Bouquets? Suggestions?
Drop me a note at my e-mail address.
Please note our local Edmonton constituency office is currently still open to serve you but it’s by appointment only. We simply ask that you call ahead to book an appointment.
Call or e-mail us and we’ll be happy to serve you.
Thanks so much. Stay healthy!
E-mail:
[email protected]
Phone:
(780) 495-3261
Mail (postage free):
Kerry Diotte, MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
The Liberal government has announced that COVID-19 vaccines should be available for all Canadians sometime in 2021. They will only be available after a thorough examination by Health Canada to ensure that they’re safe.
Recently I appeared before Edmonton city council as they deliberated their 2021 budget. I felt it was important to share some of the feedback I’ve heard this year from my Edmonton Griesbach constituents. Let me know if you have other thoughts you’d like to share with me about civic issues. Here’s my speech to city council:
Good evening everyone. I’m Kerry Diotte the Member of Parliament for Edmonton Griesbach.
As many of you know, I’m a former city councillor and ex-journalist.
In fact, Councillor McKeen and I wrote popular city hall columns for competing newspapers.
He was my competition. He was pretty good some days.
It’s safe to say I’ve long had a keen interest in city hall issues.
But I’m not here just because of my interest in civic politics. The main reason is I’m here to represent my federal constituents.
In my opinion, it’s vital that politicians reach out to people they serve and ask what’s important to them.
After all they pay our salaries. They’re our bosses. And they can fire us in the next election. And we politicians never wanna see that happen.
I reach out a lot to constituents. I mail material to all households in my riding just about every month. And every one of those mailouts contains a survey asking for feedback.
I also get feedback from people who read my weekly newsletter. And from people I engage on social media.
Before I mention the feedback on civic issues I’ve heard, I just wanted to say I think we all realize these are special times. They’re trying times.
Because of COVID, our lives are very different. I appreciate how hard it is for you city council members to make budget decisions this year.
You’ve got hard jobs. I know that. And I appreciate the work you all do in serving our city.
The over-arching feedback I’m hearing from folks isn’t surprising. They say with COVID and a bad economy, spending needs to be reined in.
People are telling me a few key things. These stand out: The city needs to stick to core services. Hold the line on taxes. No more vanity projects. Hold off on the huge vision projects.
A lot of this is common sense. We know the city is strapped for cash, as is the province, as are the feds.
We haven’t even had a federal budget in 20 months. So you know the city can’t count on much of anything when it comes to other governments.
Most of my constituents tell me they want to see cuts in several areas. So I’m glad to see council will be considering action on that front.
I believe it’s necessary to really ask these types of questions: Is this item a want? Or is this a need? Is this an absolute necessity or is it something that would be nice to have?
Given the financial dire straits we’re in, those nice-to-haves have to go by the wayside.
People in my Edmonton Griesbach riding and elsewhere are hurting in this COVID world.
We’ve got the highest unemployment rate of any major city in Canada. Twelve per cent. It doesn’t help that our oil and gas sector is suffering — and having to constantly battle against people who’d prefer to shut it down permanently.
People have lost their jobs. Many are living on government programs like employment insurance. And those programs are running out. Folks are in tough times.
Some can no longer afford their mortgage or their rent.
So for their sake, I really hope you’ll dissect this budget. And look at every way to rein in spending while still maintaining the core services people deserve.
Core services like well-maintained streets summer and winter. Good transit. Clean streets and well-kept parks.
I also hope also people will resist pushes by administration to do anything drastic in these COVID times by cutting access to recreation or closing pools such as the Eastglen leisure centre. People need recreation now more than ever, especially in their communities.
As well, the one core service I’ve had a lot of feedback on is policing.
Community safety is vitally important to my constituents. Almost every survey I’ve done tells me folks don’t agree with reducing police budgets.
They want more police on our streets not fewer.
Folks tell me they want city council to reverse the decision that will move millions of dollars out of the police budget only to spend it elsewhere. For the sake of community safety I hope council will reverse that.
I believe we politicians have a lot of work to do when it comes to stretching dollars in these tough times.
So now, more than ever, might be time to look at new ways to operate cities.
It could be time to explore alternate ways to deliver services. To question what services the city should be providing in the first place. To partner with other entities to provide services or facilities.
It’s a different world. So we need different solutions.
I recognize you’ve all got a big job ahead of you with this budget.
I hope you’ll take these views into consideration.
Thank you all.
(Send feedback to [email protected])
Since the COVID pandemic struck, one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s most-repeated mantra’s was “we’re all in this together.”
That infers everyone has to pitch in equally and make sacrifices.
But it appears some people have been more isolated from the hard-times inflicted by COVID than others.
The daily House of Commons Question Period is famous for the fact that government MPs almost never give a straight answer to a direct question. (Maybe that’s why it’s called Question Period, not Answer Period).
So one tool available is called an Order Paper Question, whereby any Member of Parliament can ask a pointed and tough question in writing to government departments and individuals and they’re mandated to respond.
I filed an Order Paper Question months ago to find out just how many federal civil servants have been at home and are being paid despite not actually doing any work.
The answer I received might shock you.
In the civil service they have a special type of leave called “other leave with pay” or 699 leave.
Looking at the numbers provided to my Order Paper Question reveals a whopping 38% or 111,577 employees were approved for so-called 699 leave since March.
That represents about 18.19 million hours of paid leave for federal government workers.
This all came at a time when hundreds of thousands of other Canadians lost their jobs entirely.
It also came amid reports that 200,000 Canadian businesses are at risk of permanent closure.
In Canada, we need good, hard-working civil servants and many of them are just that — because I know many of them.
But Canadians would be right to be upset that so many of those civil servants were getting full salaries while actually having no work to do at all.
Those same Canadians are also right to be cynical when they hear the prime minister say “we’re all in this together.” Obviously some Canadians have fared far better than others.
Here’s a Toronto Sun article based on these work statistics I demanded and received through my Order Paper Question:
What do you think of this situation? As usual, your comments are always welcome.
E-mail: [email protected]
We Conservatives have worked on improving Canada’s new rent relief program. To find out more or see if you’re eligible click the link below.
Glad to have a Zoom meeting with this group fighting against the Communist crackdown against democracy in Hong Kong. (Many in this group don’t want to be photographed for fear of repercussions being carried out against them from the Communist regime).
By: LORRIE GOLDSTEIN
Toronto Sun
Proving yet again that what goes around comes around, the Trudeau Liberals, having accused the Conservatives all last week of spreading fake news about COVID-19, finished off the week on Friday by spreading fake news about the Conservatives and COVID-19.
That occurred when the Prime Minister’s Office issued a release just after 4:30 pm.
It said in a just-completed phone call with Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had “raised concerns around COVID-19 misinformation being promoted by Conservative Members of Parliament, given Conservative MPs recently downplayed the deaths of Canadians in Alberta due to COVID-19 and compared COVID-19 to the flu.”
The problem was the phone call wasn’t scheduled until 45 minutes later at 5:15 pm.
(You can read the full column by Lorrie Goldstein, Toronto Sun at the link below.)
Last week I asked folks if they supported Trudeau’s ‘reset’ plan.
People overwhelmingly said they didn’t support Trudeau’s plan to “reset” the economy.
I hear you. We’re in the middle of a crisis. This isn’t the time for “reimagining” the economy and toy with our future. We need the government to focus on prioritizing Canadians lives and livelihoods not creating even more uncertainty.
A big thanks to everyone who took part.
Do you support defunding the police here in Edmonton?
Have your say in my new unofficial poll. I’ll publish the results in next week’s e-newsletter.
You can find up-to-date information from Alberta Public Health or the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Alberta Public Health can also be reached by phone at 811.
There are programs available to help you and your family.
You can share it here.
If you’re not subscribed to this regular e-newsletter, sign up below.
Members of Parliament get the most current, accurate and comprehensive updates regarding the COVID-19 crisis. Want regular highlights of these? Sign up for my e-newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up here.
I’m always eager to hear from you. Do you have beefs? Bouquets? Suggestions?
Drop me a note at my e-mail address.
Please note our local Edmonton constituency office is currently still open to serve you but it’s by appointment only. We simply ask that you call ahead to book an appointment.
Call or e-mail us and we’ll be happy to serve you.
Thanks so much. Stay healthy!
E-mail:
[email protected]
Phone:
(780) 495-3261
Mail (postage free):
Kerry Diotte, MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
I filed on Order Paper Question months ago to find out just how many federal civil servants have been at home and being paid despite not actually having any work to do.
Here is the response I’ve received. You can find the information of the 699 use here.
Mr. Speaker, this summer I was honoured to meet a fascinating person in Edmonton with an amazing story.
Leo Korownyk told me about what it was like to live through the Holodomor.
That was the forced starvation of millions of people in Ukraine in the 1930s.
Joseph Stalin was the communist leader responsible for it.
Even though crops in Ukraine were plentiful, people starved to death.
This is the time of year we commemorate that horrible famine.
I want to thank Leo for telling me his first-person story.
And I’m glad to spread the word about this atrocity.
We must continue to guard against hard-core socialism and communism.
It was communism that enslaved Ukraine and caused the genocide.
Let’s remember the words of Winston Churchill. He said: those who fail to learn from history — are doomed to repeat it.
Glad to support National Child Day and the good work done by Kid’s Kottage in my riding of Edmonton Griesbach.
The men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces are always serving our country.
Because they do, many of them don’t have the luxury of going home for the holidays.
I bet you it would mean a great deal to them to receive Christmas greetings from any Canadian.
You can mail members of the Canadian Armed Forces serving around the world at this address:
Any Canadian Armed Forces Member
PO Box 5004 Stn Forces
Belleville, ON K8N 5W6
Last week I asked folks what they thought about a Liberal appointed Senator’s proposal for lowering the voting age to 16.
There was a huge turnout. People overwhelmingly said they didn’t want to lower the voting age.
A big thanks to everyone who took part.
Justin Trudeau has said he wants to ‘reset’ the national economy.
Do you support Trudeau’s ‘reset’ plan?
Have your say in my new unofficial poll. I’ll publish the results in next week’s e-newsletter.
You can find up-to-date information from Alberta Public Health or the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Alberta Public Health can also be reached by phone at 811.
There are programs available to help you and your family.
You can share it here.
If you’re not subscribed to this regular e-newsletter, sign up below.
Members of Parliament get the most current, accurate and comprehensive updates regarding the COVID-19 crisis. Want regular highlights of these? Sign up for my e-newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up here.
I’m always eager to hear from you. Do you have beefs? Bouquets? Suggestions?
Drop me a note at my e-mail address.
Please note our local Edmonton constituency office is currently still open to serve you but it’s by appointment only. We simply ask that you call ahead to book an appointment.
Call or e-mail us and we’ll be happy to serve you.
Thanks so much. Stay healthy!
E-mail:
[email protected]
Phone:
(780) 495-3261
Mail (postage free):
Kerry Diotte, MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6