On Parliament Hill

This week, after a busy summer spent with constituents from across Provencher, it was time to get back to Ottawa to continue the work of keeping the Liberal Government accountable.

However, this new session of Parliament came with a very unexpected twist.

Liberal Member of Parliament, Leona Alleslev, stood up to deliver a short speech just before Question Period was about to begin on Monday. As she spoke, the expressions of concern grew on the faces of her Liberal counterparts. As she communicated her increasing frustration with her own government it slowly became clear that she was about to drop a bombshell.

As she was wrapping up her speech, to the shock of her colleagues, Ms. Alleslev announced that after careful consideration she had decided that she could no longer serve her constituents as a Liberal Member of Parliament.

She then proceeded, amid thunderous applause, to walk across the floor and shake hands with Andrew Scheer and other Conservative Members on the opposition side of the House. She eventually took her seat as the new Conservative Member of Parliament for the riding of Aurora - Oak Ridges - Richmond Hill.

It was a brave and bold move for Ms. Alleslev to state that she had lost confidence in her own government and to explain why she felt that the Liberal Party no longer reflected her views or the views of the majority of her constituents.

Ms. Alleslev, a retired Captain with the Royal Canadian Air Force and former senior manager in the Department of National Defence, was elected as a Liberal in the 2015 federal election. Prior to her election, she held senior managerial roles with Bombardier Aerospace and IBM, and owned and operated two small businesses.

In her decision to join the Conservatives, she cited concerns with the economy, foreign policy, trade, and defence under the Trudeau government. She noted that her attempts to raise these concerns within the Liberal government were “met with silence.” Later she also stated “to have a strong economy and a strong country we need strong Federal leadership to rebuild our nation’s foundations…Today, we find ourselves at a tipping point in our country’s history. It’s my duty to stand and be counted. Our country is at risk.”

Many of these same concerns were brought up by residents here in Provencher this past summer as I visited communities around my riding. Many of you expressed your concerns about Liberal tax increases, illegal border crossings, and the Liberals’ mismanagement of NAFTA negotiations – among several other important issues.

There is no doubt that Justin Trudeau had a disastrous summer – and the first day back in Parliament was no reprieve. He was elected on a platform of strengthening the middle class, running a clean and ethical government, running small and temporary deficits and improving Canada’s presence on the world stage. He has failed on all counts.

Entering the fall session, along with our new colleague, Conservatives will continue to hold Justin Trudeau accountable for the illegal border crossings mess he has created in Emerson and other border communities. We will continue to advance initiatives to address rural crime and international trade. And we will continue to defend families who are seeing their taxes increase and jobs disappear under this government.

As the 2019 federal election approaches, Conservatives will put forward policy ideas that are focused on placing people before government and giving Canadians a principled, common sense, responsible alternative to Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.