Christmas and the New Year are almost here, and the House of Commons is wrapping up its Fall session.
I know not everyone has time to keep up-to-speed on politics, so I thought I would write-up a quick recap of recent events before the holidays. There’s always a lot going on in Ottawa, so I won’t be able to cover everything. However, I’ll do my best to mention the issues that I’ve heard the most about from you lately. I greatly appreciated the many calls, letters, and social media communications I’ve received from you.
Our Conservative Leader, Andrew Scheer, has called on the Liberals’ Finance Minister, Bill Morneau, to resign. Morneau sure has been making a mess of things. He’s under investigation for breaking federal ethics law by introducing a bill that could directly benefit his family company. He won’t answer any questions about the timing of the sale of his stocks in Morneau Sheppell (his family company). So much for transparency. We hope to finally get some answers to these very serious questions in the New Year.
The government is still rushing its marijuana legislation through. The legislation is now being considered by the Senate. The Liberals have announced that they will share more of the tax revenue with the provinces than previously planned. They will now be allocating seventy-five percent of tax revenue to the provinces. However, we still need to know how much of that revenue the provinces will be sharing with the municipalities – they are the ones that will take on the burden of legalized pot. I continue to believe the government is being far too hasty in forcing this badly designed Bill through.
Rural crime remains a very serious issue in our riding of Bow River and across the country. Action simply must be taken to address this issue. My fellow Alberta Conservative MPs and I have launched the Rural Crime Task Force to address this growing problem and try to find solutions. I will be hosting a series of roundtables around the riding on this subject in early 2018, so stay tuned. If you have any input, please contact me directly. I will bring it to the attention of the Task Force.
Lastly, the Liberals are continuing to make changes to their tax hike on small businesses. They have backed off on some of their proposals, but will still be changing the rules on passive income and introducing a ‘reasonableness’ test – these measures are going to be a bureaucratic nightmare. Thanks again to everyone who has joined us in keeping the pressure on the government to cancel these changes.
I hope this helped get everyone up to speed before the holidays. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year with your friends and loved ones!
You can reach me in Brooks at 1-844-241-0020 or martin.shields.c1@parl.gc.ca, in Strathmore at 403-361-2980 or martin.shields.c2@parl.gc.ca, and in Ottawa at 613-992-0761 or martin.shields@parl.gc.ca.
