On Parliament Hill

As the Member of Parliament for Provencher, I was pleased to host a barbeque with Kelvin Goertzen, MLA for Steinbach, on June 23rd. With a turnout over 800 people at AD Penner Park, I took the opportunity to meet with many constituents and discuss the issues that are important to them.

I heard from many constituents and I was encouraged by the positive feedback that I received. Many people told me that they were happy with our Government’s performance and offered their best wishes and to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. As I have always stated, I appreciate hearing feedback from the constituents of Provencher.

While many people passed along comments and good wishes, others had specific questions about issues such as prostitution, victim’s rights, and abortion. I am proud to say that through our Government’s new prostitution bill we have taken steps in combatting this crime. We have cracked down on those who purchase sexual services, increased existing penalties relating to child prostitution and introduced a number of other measures that protect our communities.

In addition to protecting communities from the harms of prostitution, we have introduced the Victims’ Bill of Rights. This legislation created, for the first time in Canadian history, statutory rights for victims of crime.

While I believe that we have made significant progress in protecting and defending vulnerable people, I am concerned about an issue that has been receiving attention lately. This spring, Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, announced that any Liberal Member of Parliament under his leadership must vote pro-choice when the opportunity arises. In fact, being pro-choice is a pre-requisite for anyone who seeks the nomination for the Liberal Party. Constituents told me that they find this completely offensive and I agree. As your Member of Parliament, I have been clear that I am pro-life and I personally believe that life begins at conception.

Among the many other comments that I heard at the barbeque, people were happy overall with our Government’s performance on the economy. Our Conservative Government has remained focused on job creation and economic growth through Canada’s Economic Action Plan. Due to this commitment to maintaining and growing a strong economy, Canadians can be proud that we are considered the best country in the world to do business and that our middle class is now wealthier than America’s middle class.

We have also ensured that Canadian families are able to keep more of their hard-earned money.  In fact we’ve cut taxes over 140 times since 2006 and have helped the average family put over $3,000 back in their pockets – where it belongs. Since 2005, Canadians have saved $30 billion due to lower taxes.

I enjoyed meeting many constituents who attended the barbeque. I thank everyone who made it out on June 23rd and I look forward to meeting more constituents throughout the summer at other events.