IN TOUCH WITH MP EARL DREESHEN
March 27, 2017
It was a wild couple of weeks in Ottawa. The Liberals tabled another disappointing budget while trying to use the media cover to enact changes to Parliament to make the government less accountable. We saw on the weekend that the Liberals are trying to change the channel by floating the idea of legalizing marihuana on Canada Day 2018.
Big Spending, No Growth Budget
This Liberal budget drives us further into debt, blowing past their $10 billion ‘modest deficit’ promise. To make matters worse, they’re paying for their reckless spending by nickel & diming Canadians.
On March 22nd, Liberal Finance Minister tabled his 2017 budget. The budget committed deficits into the foreseeable future and raised taxes on everything from public transit, to Uber, to beer and wine. The deficit for 2017-18 will be $28.5 billion.
The Liberals just don’t understand how to grow an economy and create jobs. Here in Red Deer – Mountain View we recognize that the key to job creation is lower taxes, responsible government spending, and support for small businesses.
Budget 2017 once again fails to live up to the Liberal commitment to lower the small business tax rate. When in office, the Conservatives cut the small business tax rate from 11 to 10 per cent and also introduced the Small Business Job Credit. All in all, the Conservative Party cut taxes over 180 times during their time in Government, lowering the overall federal tax burden to its lowest level in over 50 years.
The Conservative Party will continue to hold the Liberal Government to account. We will continue to fight for Canadian taxpayers.
Changing Rules of Parliament to Make Trudeau’s Life Easier
On Friday, March 10th, 2017, Government House Leader, Bardish Chagger, quietly released a discussion paper on possible changes to the Standing Orders which would give the government even more power to act in a unilateral manner while taking rights away from the opposition parties.
Justin Trudeau wants to change the rules of Parliament to make his life easier. Not only does he want to show up for work once a week, but now the Prime Minister wants to shut down Parliament on Fridays so he and his colleagues can take yet another day off.
Canadians work 5 days a week; why does Justin Trudeau think he is more entitled than average Canadians? The Prime Minister is ramming these changes through a Liberal-dominated committee when he thinks Canadians aren’t looking. These changes will diminish Parliament and largely strip opposition of its power to hold the Prime Minister and his government to account.
In the interest of democracy, the Liberal Government should not proceed with any of these changes without the consent of all parties. Colleagues from the Conservative and NDP parties have been filibustering the committee to bring attention to the heavy handed change in our democracy.
Mobile Office Update
Thank you to the Town of Bowden and the Penhold Library for their hospitality for our last Mobile Office. I had some tremendous discussions with local community leaders in both locations and look forward to future opportunities of this type.
Sincerely your Member of Parliament,
Earl Dreeshen