The last election has been called “the Seinfeld election” – the election about nothing. There was no valid reason to call a vote, especially in the midst of a pandemic, except for a failed bid by Justin Trudeau to win a majority government. The aftermath of the election is that, effectively, nothing changed in the makeup of Parliament. However, Canadian taxpayers ended up $600 million poorer to foot the bill for the campaign.
That’s a difficult number to wrap one’s head around, so I would like to try to put it in perspective. The entire Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways strategic capital investments budget for 2021/22 – the bread and butter of many Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association members – is $530 million. Justin Trudeau wasted more than that, producing no jobs and no lasting public benefit, in one month.
One thing the election did achieve was to define the stark differences among political parties when it comes to the economy. During the campaign, Conservatives were ahead of the curve in flagging inflation and supply chain issues as two impending threats to Canadians’ quality of life post-pandemic. In the meantime, Justin Trudeau stated – practically bragged – that he doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking about monetary policy, even though targeted monetary policy is essential to tackling inflation.
Much of the attention on inflation has focused on consumers. It is also a concern for major businesses such as construction companies who struggle with growing supply chain issues and rising costs of supplies.
Just as we did in the campaign, the Conservative caucus in the new Parliament has resolved to make the economy our top priority and to hold the government accountable for its management of these issues.
The new Parliament has also brought some changes within our caucus, particularly for me. At the start of each new Parliament (and, from time to time, in between), party leaders assign their MPs to the various parliamentary standing committees. You may recall that in the last Parliament, I was a member of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. This was a rewarding post in which I had the privilege of advocating for airports and air transportation, so badly hit by the pandemic.
In the current Parliament, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole has assigned me to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. I am very excited about this new post as it will allow me to expand my advocacy on behalf of Saskatchewan’s large businesses as well as research work done at the universities and other research institutes. However, I have continued to keep in touch with my peers on the infrastructure committee and will always use my position as MP to promote federal infrastructure investment in our province.
Inflation is also a concern for major businesses such as construction companies who struggle with growing supply chain issues and rising costs of supplies.