Ritz talks politics, pipelines and pot
As the federal Liberals approach the end of their first year in office, Conservative MP for Battlefords–Lloydminster and former agriculture minister Gerry Ritz spoke with Postmedia’s Alex MacPherson about his party’s priorities and concerns.
Q Almost a year into this government’s mandate, what are your party’s priorities as official Opposition?
A The economy. The Liberals campaigned hard on change, on talking about the middle class, but, at the end of the day, everything they’ve done to this point, the only change we’ve seen is Canada going backwards when it comes to taxation, when it comes to work on the environment, when it comes to just driving the economy overall. We’re also seeing the federalprovincial niceties being cast aside.
Q Your party is in the midst of a leadership race. Who would you like to see take the Conservative Party of Canada into the next federal election?
A I’ve actually come out in support of Andrew Scheer. I think he’s got the right balance of offerings for the Canadian people to rally around him: Strong family man, great views when it comes to the economy, very pragmatic when it comes to knowing what (needs) to be done at the political level. I think he’s the right guy at the right time.
Q On the political level, what does your party need to do between now and the next federal election?
A Well, I think continue to point out the anomalies that we’re seeing from the Liberal governing party at this point: Saying one thing and doing something else, making a lot of promises and then not moving forward on them. All of my municipalities and towns and communities are saying, ‘Where’s the infrastructure money? We need this done and that done.’ And they can’t seem to get any kind of movement at all.
Q This weekend, the government pledged to impose carbon pricing on provinces without their own systems in place. How do you balance the need to protect
the environment against the need to preserve a struggling industry?
A We all know that the price (on) carbon is not necessarily, in and of itself, a bad thing, but it’s how you do it. If you don’t do it on a continental basis, with our major trading partner, then you’re putting all of our industries at risk. At the same time, we’re watching our oilpatch in Western Canada taking hit after hit after hit. If we don’t have pipelines to move that product to markets other than the U.S. — as well as the U.S. with Keystone XL — then we’re going backwards, and there’s really no light at the end of the tunnel at all, economically.
Q The provincial opposition has renewed its call for an arm’slength pipeline regulator following the July 20 Husky spill. What’s your position on how pipelines are regulated in the province?
A As sad as it was to see that happen, we weren’t inundated with calls. People up in my part of the world understand that these things will happen — it’s how you react to them, and I think Husky has done the right thing. But, at the end of the day, there’s always more to be done. Anybody who says there isn’t, is not looking towards the future.
Q The Liberals have pledged to introduce legislation to legalize marijuana next year. What’s your take on legal pot in this country?
A It’s a Pandora’s box: Once you open it you can’t go back. The problem is there’s no roadside test, there’s no test (for) when someone comes to work and they’re still under the influence and different things like that. Until those things are adjudicated and different safety valves put in place, it’s really inappropriate to move forward.