Tagged with: Justin Trudeau


November 9, 2023 | No Comments

Help me beat the NDP in Edmonton Griesbach

Nobody wants to see the NDP defeated in the federal riding of Edmonton Griesbach more than me.

And nobody else has as much experience, know how, support and work ethic to make sure this riding turns Tory blue once again.

I first won the riding in 2015 beating popular NDP candidate Janis Irwin. I was re-elected in 2019 by more than 12,000 votes over the NDP. In 2021 our team lost to the NDP by a mere 1,500 votes.

Justin Trudeau’s Liberal minority government is being propped up by getting support from Jagmeet Singh and the NDP. But with more and more scandals circulating around this government, an early federal election is very possible.

If I’m to be the Conservative candidate in Edmonton Griesbach I must ensure I’ve got the most Conservative Party of Canada members supporting me. Even though I was an MP before, there will be a nomination election to choose the Conservative candidate for the next federal election.

Will you support me in my quest by purchasing a $15 federal Conservative membership?

Please go to the link I’ve provided to buy one securely online right now:

https://donate.conservative.ca/en/membership/

Then please e-mail me at [email protected] to tell me you’ve bought a membership.

Thanks for your support. With Pierre Poilievre as leader, I’m confident we can win back Griesbach and form a competent, ethical Conservative majority government.

 

Filed under: General

July 6, 2017 | No Comments

Canadians worry about crime, justice and public safety

By KERRY DIOTTE

 

As a federal politician, crime, justice and community safety are almost always at the top of the list of concerns I hear about from people.

These topics have especially dominated the news and the minds of many people I’ve talked to lately.

Just the other day I met with constituents in my local office, both of whom were crying out for changes to the way we seek to have safer communities.

One 77-year-old man complained he and his wife had suffered 54 break-ins or petty crimes in and around their Londonderry area home since 1990.

Few people were arrested for the offences, despite the fact that he’s got scores of surveillance video, he told me.

What’s more, he said their farm in Mayorthorpe was hit by thieves and vandals who made off with $40,000 in stolen goods and did $30,000 in vandalism.

The man is upset there aren’t more police resources to probe such crimes. He figures Canada needs to toughen laws to put repeat offenders away for longer stretches. “It’s become a justice industry,” he says. “It’s not justice.”

A retired veteran of the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) I met with the same day echoed similar frustration with the approach to public safety.

His concern centres around a lack of resources from the federal government to deal with people released from federal prisons, deemed to be high risk to re-offend “sexually or violently.”

The former EPS officer who’s still active in the criminal justice system says these high-risk ex-cons have typically been kept in prison until the last day of their sentences and don’t get the benefit of statutory release.

The former officer told me a trio of city police detectives in Edmonton do their best to supervise an average of 30 of these high-risk offenders who walk among us — a high percentage of those ex-cons being sex offenders.

The retired officer argues more resources are direly needed to stop these hardest of hardened ex-cons from re-offending. As proof the system isn’t working, he brought me a list of eight such, hard-core ex-cons who indeed did re-offend.

Those re-offences include the aggravated assault of a woman confined to a wheelchair, sex assaults against children under the age of 16 and several homicides, he said.

“If these cases are going to remain the responsibility of policing agencies across Canada, they need proper funding from the federal government for training and adequate personnel,” he said.

To me, that’s a no brainer.

The concerns of these two men are the tip of the iceberg. Recently Edmonton Journal columnist Paula Simons lamented that Canada has a “broken court system.”

Simons raised numerous concerns including that courts don’t have enough judges or other resources to deal with the workload. 

I believe that’s particularly true because of a Supreme Court ruling called the Jordan decision. That ruling means accused criminals must get a trial is a timely manner or they must be released.

Canadians have already been shocked that several people charged with violent crimes didn’t get a trial fast enough and were released scott free.

Simons rightly a point out it’s a federal government responsibility to appoint federal judges and there are a whack of vacancies.

This is hardly news to our Conservative caucus.

We’ve been hammering at the federal Liberal justice minister for months now as vacancies for judges remained unfilled for no good reason.

When repeatedly questioned in the House of Commons by Conservative deputy justice critic Michael Cooper, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has blathered a lot of non-sensical excuses for the delay including talking about the fact we need to aim for “diversity” when hiring judges.

In my view, public safety can’t take a back seat when there aren’t enough judges appointed and people charged with murder and other violent crimes are walking free without being tried.

Another controversy keeping crime high on people’s radar was the recent defeat of Wynn’s Law by the federal Liberal majority government.

Backed by Conservatives, it would have closed a loophole in the law so that those applying for bail would have to have their criminal records and pending charges shown to a judge.

Liberals made a bogus argument that, somehow, disclosing someone’s criminal record or pending charges would bog down the justice system. Just TRY to figure out that loopy Liberal logic.

Violent crime has also been much on the minds of many in Edmonton, in part because the city had experienced more than two dozen homicides and 2017 is only half over. By June 29 the city had recorded its 25th murder.

The spike in murders was enough for police to call a news conference to ally public fears and reassure citizens the city is still relatively safe.

Given all these recent headlines, it’s understandable Canadians are worried about community safety and concerned not enough is being done by governments to assure the public.

Public safety should be a top priority for any government. Our Conservative opposition will continue to urge the Liberal government to fill vacancies in the federal courts and stand up for victims of crime and law-abiding Canadians.

E-mail me at [email protected] to share your thoughts on these issues.

Filed under: General

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.

Filed under: General

December 8, 2016 | No Comments

STATEMENT FROM KERRY DIOTTE ON THE CRIMEAN TATAR GENOCIDE

Dec. 8, 2016

“Yesterday, the House of Commons debated my Bill, C-306, at second reading.

I was pleased to hear statements of support from all corners of the House.

However, during the debate, we learned that Justin Trudeau’s government has caved to pressure from Vladimir Putin’s regime, and embraced denial of the Crimean Tatar genocide.

Trudeau’s Liberal government opposes passing Bill C-306, and is against recognizing the deportations of 1944 as genocide.

Not only does the Liberal government believe that Canada should not recognize historical acts of genocide unless the United Nations permits them to, which is a break with Canada’s traditional position in support of the victims of genocide, but they have also denied that there is a historical consensus on the nature of the events of 1944.

The history of 1944 is clear. Josef Stalin signed an order that sent the Crimean Tatars into exile in Central Asia. The Soviet Union tore innocent people from their homes, packed them into cattle cars, and sent them to perish. They were erased from history, denied their language, culture and faith. That constitutes genocide.

Today, the Crimean Tatars face renewed peril at the hands of Vladimir Putin. Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government does not want to stand up for them.

I urge them to abandon this shameful position.

Below is a link to a short video detailing the Soviet atrocity to the Crimean Tatars.”

https://kerrydiotte.com/2016/12/watch-this-poignant-video-on-the-1944-deportation-of-crimean-tatars/

-30-

Kerry Diotte, MP

Edmonton Griesbach

613-992-3821

Filed under: General

November 21, 2016 | 1 Comment

Ten good reasons a carbon tax won’t work

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. 

  1. Day-to-day costs will increase for Canadians, adding up to more than $2,500 annually for the average family. 
  2. It will be especially painful for people in northern communities who already pay dearly for home heating, vehicle fuel and groceries including milk. 
  3. A carbon tax tilts the economic playing field in favour of our competitors that don’t pay carbon taxes.
  4. Canada is already in an economic downturn and this will cause a further weakening of our economy when we can least afford it. 
  5. Liberals say it’ll create jobs. Yeah right. Maybe for tax collectors and solar panel salespeople but not for other sectors. 
  6. 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.
  7. The tax will have a negligible effect on reducing greenhouse gases on the planet.
  8. 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. 
  9. 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.
  10. 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].

20161004_liberalcarbontax_8_en

Filed under: General

November 2, 2016 | No Comments

The Fall Economic Update is disappointing for Canadians

The Liberal government delivered their Fall Economic Update and it confirmed that Canadians are paying the price for their failed plans.

Filed under: General

June 6, 2016 | 2 Comments

10 good reasons to keep our voting system as is

By KERRY DIOTTE

The governing Liberals insist we must have a new system of voting for future federal elections. Here are 10 reasons why this is a very bad idea:

1 – There’s no groundswell in the Canadian public demanding a new voting system. While knocking on thousands of doors for the October 2015 election I cannot recall one person bringing up the issue.

2 – The Liberals have repeatedly ruled out sticking with our current system of first-past-the-post elections, a method that has served Canada well since Confederation.

3 – Despite pledges to do widespread consultations with the public before changing our system, there’s no plan to hold a national referendum on this historic change to our democracy.

4 – Critics rightfully point out that other systems of voting can favour the ruling Liberals. Under a so-called ranked ballot or proportional representation system, it’s predicted the Liberals would have increased their current seat count Oct. 19 from 184 to 224 in this current Parliament.

5 – The Liberals are already tipping their hand that they’re leaning to the ranked-ballot system. That comes amid news the Privy Council Office (that reports directly to the Prime Minister and minister in charge) recently hired Derek Alton, who founded a group that advocates the ranked ballot system.

6 – A ranked-ballot system would put Conservative voters at a disadvantage. Studies have shown NDP supporters would tend to pick Liberal candidates as their second pick while Liberal supporters would choose NDP reps for their second-string choice. Conservative voters frequently indicate they don’t wish to have a second choice of another candidate at all.

7 – Liberal Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef has actually claimed in the House of Commons that consultation on reform using Twitter and townhalls is more valid than holding a national referendum.

8 – Much has been made of the fact Liberals recently changed the makeup of a parliamentary committee tasked with coming up with a new voting system. Now opposition members from the Green Party, the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP will get a vote. But the truth is, the committee is little more than a paper tiger. The ruling Grits can still ignore its finding and choose any new voting system it desires. Such are the perks of winning a majority government.

9 – There are precedents for holding voting referendums in Canada. Through referenda, in British Columbia, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island voters rejected changes to their systems.

10 – Recent opinion polls show that nearly three quarters of Canadians believe a national referendum should be held if there is to be a change in our way of voting.

If you believe there’s no reason to change our voting system or you think we must hold a national referendum before doing so, take action. Write to the Prime Minister at House of Commons, Ottawa, ON. K1A 0A6. There is no postage required to send that letter.

Ballot

Filed under: General

February 11, 2016 | No Comments

Justin Trudeau: Like father, like son

By KERRY DIOTTE

Like father, like son.

Daddy dearest, Pierre Elliott Trudeau (P.E.T.), crippled Alberta’s energy industry in the early 1980s with his National Energy Program, now his “sunny ways” son Justin is following in his father’s infamous footsteps.

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

Albertans and Canadians have a right to be plenty peeved with the newly elected Liberals’ snub of the energy industry – a kick in the teeth to the people who feed their families from it.

Trudeau junior set the tone early in his term as prime minister. Where was his first major foreign trip after the October 19 election? None other than Paris, France, with more than 300 of his best friends — to attend a summit on global climate change.

That’s where he hobnobbed with Hollywood celebrities and posed for selfies as our unemployment rate soared in energy-producing provinces and thousands of Canadians were being laid off from their livelihoods.

In Paris, Trudeau lite even posed for pictures and had a chat with House of Cards actor Kevin Spacey (who plays the role of a U.S. president in a fictitious political drama). That encounter had a colleague of mine chuckling cynically. “It would be tempting to stand up in Question Period to ask Justin how his bilateral talks with President Underwood went,” quipped my colleague.

Each day, when I look across the House of Commons floor at the ruling party and hear their rhetoric about climate change and alternative energy I cringe.

Canadians could be forgiven for thinking they elected the Green Party. Heck these Grits are greener than Kermit the Frog.

The Liberal spin on why they’re not standing up for proposed pipelines and for the families fed by them? Well, they claim, Conservatives are to blame. Now how can that be?

In their distorted world view, Liberals claim Canada, under Conservatives, didn’t do enough to prove we can develop energy (including oil sands) in a sustainable way to get public support for pipelines.

Grits chirp that Canada must do more to prove we’re developing our resources and pipelines in sustainable sunny ways, saying it as if all our previous pipelines were built with no consultation or environmental safeguards. It’s downright disheartening. No, let me correct that. Actually, it’s sickening.

So they come up with concepts such as having to have “social licence” to proceed with new ones. They talk about the need to get buy-in from each and every stakeholder on such projects.

Yet they conveniently forget that Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline through British Columbia (B.C.) was duly approved in June 2014 subject to a whopping 209 conditions recommended by the National Energy Board, as well as an understanding that further talks with aboriginal communities would continue.

The approval came after copious amounts of hearings and input. But Pierre Trudeau junior scuttled all of that good work by arbitrarily declaring he and his fellow Grits won’t allow overseas shipping of Alberta’s diluted bitumen to occur off the coast of B.C.

So much for the value of studies and public hearings. What then does Justin and company expect to accomplish by having even longer public consultations on future pipelines like Energy East?

The bottom line is these greener-than-green Grits, just don’t like the oil and gas industry and they just don’t care about the good jobs and wealth it creates for Canadians.

Like Democratic President Barack Obama, they don’t want to be seen to be supporting anything that promotes fossil fuels, so their stated desire to add increased public consultations on future pipelines is nothing but a stalling-tactic ruse.

As an Edmontonian, an Albertan and a Canadian, I’m livid with this. It’s just not right. It’s a disservice to all of us and there will be a steep price to be paid. As Trudeau and his coherts deride oil-bearing tankers, it will be our economy that will continue to tank.

This unicorn-vision of the world has to stop. Kermit the muppet has famously croaked, “It’s not easy being green.” But the amiable amphibian obviously isn’t a Liberal, ̕cause being green seems to come naturally to them.

If you think the federal Liberals should stop pandering to the professional climate change activists and start standing up for sustainable and safe pipelines, fire off a note to me.

I’ll personally see that your message gets forwarded straight to the Prime Minister’s Office. Click here.

The only hope we have to restore some balance and sanity to this sad situation is to speak up loudly. As an elected Official Opposition Member, I’ll continue to do so, but I need your help.

Again, if you want to tell Justin and his cronies to stand up for new pipelines and the good jobs they provide to Canadian families, click here.

I’m counting on you to voice your views. It’s vital you do so. Stand up for our country. Canada’s very future is at stake.

 

Filed under: General