Conservative docus for Parliament’s return

The winter session of the House of Commons has returned. My Conservative colleagues and I are focused on holding Prime Minister Trudeau and his Liberal government to account, challenging them on issues where they are failing Canadians.

Our attention will be on our faltering economy and the never-ending increases to all costs of living, as the growing struggle to make ends meet seems to be lost on the Liberals. We will be continuing our calls for the Liberals to axe the carbon tax, which is scheduled to increase yet again on April 1.

We will also be pushing for Bill C-234 to be restored to its original terms, which were set to provide significant carbon tax relief to the agricultural sector who grow our food. Conservative’s fight to restore the Bill will certainly help stabilize the costs of putting food on your table.

The affordability and availability of housing is also top of mind. Mortgage rates, down payments, and rents are all on the rise, while new housing starts are dropping. Rather than follow the Liberal path of wasted money and programs filled with red tape, our Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has proposed a suite of measures that would begin tackling these problems immediately.

Debate will continue on the planned expansion of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) to include cases where a mental health disorder is the sole underlying medical condition to be considered for choosing to end one’s life. Rather than putting vulnerable Canadians at risk, Conservatives believe in ensuring that better palliative care, mental health treatment, and addiction recovery is available to those who need it. We will continue our push to see that this planned expansion of MAiD does not happen.

Trudeau’s Clean Energy Regulations will also be in the spotlight. The potential impacts of these regulations here in Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner, and indeed across Alberta and the rest of Canada, could be catastrophic. For example, the cold snap a few weeks ago pushed our province’s electrical grid to its limits. Thankfully, Alberta’s natural gas-fired plants allowed us to keep the heat and lights on. Conservatives will pursue a more common-sense approach to these regulations that won’t risk us freezing in the dark.

In my role as a member of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, we will soon be studying Bill C-26, which deals with cyber security.

This Bill has been criticized by experts as giving the government sweeping new powers and intruding on the private lives of Canadians. Given the Liberals history of abuse in these areas, we will push to ensure that keeping Canadian infrastructure and information safe does not come with a loss of privacy, or power without accountability.

And of course, we will be holding the Liberal’s feet to the fire as they table their next Budget, which is sure to include proposals for more deficit spending, more debt, and more interest left for future generations to pay back.

My colleagues and I know that the direction of the current government is not what Canadians want or need. We are focused on protecting the interests of you and your family, and to breathe hope into the prospects of a better Canada.

Motz is the Member of Parliament for Medicine Hat–Cardston–Warner