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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.

Thank you to all the fathers and father figures who invest their time, wisdom and love into their children.

The unconditional love of a parent helps give a child the inspiration and courage to succeed.  

And, our communities and personal lives are strengthened by these men.

This father’s day, I hope you’ll join me in showing your appreciation.

To every father, I wish you a…

Happy Father’s Day!

Everyone is welcome and I hope to see you there.

Please RSVP by June 19.

I had a truly amazing experience travelling to London and Manchester UK to be part of a Commonwealth UK election assessment observer team along with my MP colleague Matt Jeneroux and more than 30 other Commonwealth parliamentarians and officials.

Our preliminary report on the June 8 election is online now and a final report will be out in the coming weeks.

Thanks to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK for the training and for being great hosts.

To mark this week, I was pleased to highlight Edmonton – Festival City! 

Do you want an exciting summer job? An opportunity to exercise your creative muscles?

Position Title: Creative summer intern
Language Requirements: English, other languages considered an asset
Location: Edmonton, Alberta

Essential Qualifications
• Good skills at photography and videography
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, outgoing personality
• Willingness to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends to attend events with the Member of Parliament
• Effective interpersonal skills, good judgment, discretion, initiative, professionalism and team spirit

General Responsibility
The office of Kerry Diotte, Member of Parliament for Edmonton Griesbach, is looking for a summer intern to help develop and carry out creative projects and to also assist in the day-to-day tasks of a political office.  This paid internship is a unique opportunity to learn about politics and develop your creative skills.   

Interested candidates may apply before May 26, 2017 by sending their resume and creative work sample to Sally Harris at Kerry.Diotte@parl.gc.ca. Creative work could include writing samples, photos or videos etc.

Please feel free to forward this opportunity to interested individuals.

All applications will be held in confidence and only selected applicants will be contacted for an interview.

Today marks the 73rd anniversary of the Crimean Tatar Deportation.

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.

This Liberal government must do more to stop Liberal aggression.

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 73^rd 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.

We are all grateful to the mothers and mother figures who selflessly love, support and sacrifice.

Our communities and personal lives are all tremendously enriched by these great women. I hope you join me today in expressing your gratitude.

On this special day, I wish every mother a…

Happy Mother’s Day!