With the 44th Parliament officially underway, I am excited about the opportunities that I and my Conservative colleagues have before us. Much of my optimism stems from the hard-working people of the Prairies and the developments that are being made across the West.
As the Conservative Shadow Minister for Prairie Economic Development and Inter-provincial Trade, I am thrilled to build on work from my previous Shadow Minister file of Canada-wide economic development. I will now be focusing more closely on regional issues and the conditions of industry and business in the place where I grew up – our Canadian Prairies.
Our federal Conservative opposition is well positioned to hold the Trudeau Liberals to account. From the skyrocketing costs of consumer goods, labour shortages and threatened internet freedoms, this current federal government has not been shy about giving our caucus materials to critique. Continued dismissive rhetoric from the Liberals towards the interests of the West appears to be the expectation in the 44th Parliament. The government’s recent Speech from the Throne did not contain a single mention of the Prairies or a western stakeholder group.
It is my belief that our western provinces have the food, fuel and fertilizer that will lead the way when it comes to righting Canada’s post-pandemic economic ship. The world needs the raw materials that the Prairies have in abundance. It is our continued goal to not only show the Trudeau Liberals the untapped potential that exists, but to hold them accountable for ignoring it for so long. The value-added initiatives in our agri-food and energy industries are continuing to evolve to meet the needs of a shifting global landscape and changing environmental expectations, despite little recognition or assistance from Ottawa.
Going hand-in-hand with getting our resources to market is the construction of the infrastructure that extracts, prepares and delivers them. The Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association and other stakeholder groups like it are the backbone of the backbone, so to speak, of our economic strengths in the West. Without a strong construction industry to build the infrastructure we need to take advantage of the economic strengths found in our mountains, hills and prairies, we cannot utilize some of our greatest assets. As we close in on two long years of economic and social uncertainties thanks to COVID-19, our Conservative opposition is determined to get Canadian industries moving again. We need to start utilizing the greatest strengths of our region – the people and the resources – to their fullest potential.
In my role as Shadow Minister for Prairie Economic Development and Inter-provincial Trade, along with our Conservative caucus, I am committed to ensuring that the Liberal government answers for every dollar that is budgeted, allocated, transferred and spent towards furthering the economic development of other regions – while leaving Western Canada with its hands out. It is far past time this government started working as hard for the West as the West works to power and feed the rest of Canada.
In the fields, the mines and the cities of our western provinces, I have seen firsthand the grit and the innovative spirit of those from Alberta, Manitoba and my home province of Saskatchewan – all taken for granted by the Trudeau Liberals.
Our western provinces have the food, fuel and fertilizer that will lead the way when it comes to righting Canada’s post-pandemic economic ship.