Report on Parliamentary Activities

The House of Commons began its fall session on September 19th, I’m happy to be back representing you in Ottawa after a very eventful summer filled with activities across Bow River.
This session, the Conservative Party’s first goal as the official opposition is to be the taxpayers advocate. We will stand up for taxpayers in the face of any tax-and-spend behaviour we encounter.
That being said, I wanted to bring you up to speed on some of the issues facing Parliament right now.
Liberal Bill C-2, which cuts the amount that could be placed in Tax Free Savings Accounts, and rolls it back to 5500 dollars which can be placed in these accounts. This legislation passed third reading in the House of Commons.
Liberal Bill C-4, which repeals important legislation passed by the previous Conservative government, is now at third reading in the House. This will repeal laws that will take away the rights of unionized workers to secret ballets as well as the need for unions to demonstrate financial transparency.
Liberal Bill C-22, a piece of national security legislation, is currently before us. It aims to setup a committee of MPs to scrutinize national security organizations here in Canada. The makeup of the committee and the information that can be seen by the committee will be decided by the Prime Minister if this legislation passes.
The House also passed a Conservative motion unanimously calling for equality in the regional representation of the Supreme Court of Canada. We were proud that this was passed with all party support, including that of the government. It’s important that the Supreme Court, as a truly Canadian institution, have representation from coast to coast to coast. It’s important that every region in Canada is well represented in the highest court of the land.
Besides legislation, the Liberals approved the Pacific Northwest LNG project, a boon for BC and Canada’s economy and a common sense decision. This decision was reached by using the regime implemented by the previous Conservative government. This means the proponent needs to meet 190 stringent conditions before being able to proceed with construction. Let’s hope that we see other positive decisions on important resource projects, such as Energy East, Trans Mountain expansion, and others.
Should you have any questions or comments, my staff remain at your service. My Brooks office can be contacted at 403-793-6775 or 1-844-241-0020 or martin.shields.c1@parl.gc.ca. My Ottawa office can be reached at 613-992-0761 or martin.shields@parl.gc.ca.