As we begin the new year, I want to take a moment to reflect on the work we have done together both on Parliament Hill and here at home in Bow River. This past year was especially meaningful for me personally, as it marked my first year serving as your Member of Parliament. Being sworn in and rising for the first time in the House of Commons was a humbling reminder of the responsibility entrusted to me and of the people and communities I represent.
One of my earliest speeches in Parliament focused on the people of Bow River and their grit and tenacity, drawing on the Bow River as a reflection of a community that moves forward without waiting for Ottawa’s permission. Like the river itself, Bow River families, farmers, energy workers, veterans, and seniors continue to sustain our economy and communities with resilience and purpose, even when government policies fall short or leadership stalls.
That speech, set the tone for how I have approached this role: grounded in respect for democracy, rooted in place, and focused on practical outcomes rather than empty promises.
It has been a busy year, guided by a clear purpose: standing up for common sense, defending fundamental freedoms, and fighting for policies that actually work for Canadians.
Holding the Government to Account on the Environment and Fighting for Canadian Energy
One of my key responsibilities this year was serving on the Standing Committee on Environment. Alongside my Conservative colleagues, I closely examined the government’s Emissions Reduction Plan, the proposed emissions cap on oil and gas, the electric vehicle mandate, and the industrial carbon tax. The committee’s role is simple but essential: to ask tough questions, scrutinize evidence, and ensure Canadians hear the full truth before major policies are imposed.
That scrutiny proved necessary. Expert testimony revealed that the data used by Environment and Climate Change Canada to justify the emissions cap was severely flawed and significantly understated the economic impact on Alberta and Canada as a whole. Independent analyses from Deloitte and the Conference Board of Canada warned the policy could reduce oil and gas production by 11 per cent or more.
Witnesses repeatedly described the emissions cap as an “investment killer.” The Fraser Institute estimated the regulations could cost Canada 164,000 jobs by 2030 compared to the baseline. The Parliamentary Budget Officer found the policy would reduce nominal GDP by $20.5 billion by 2032 and lead to the loss of more than 40,000 jobs, with over 54,000 fewer full-time equivalent positions.
The Macdonald-Laurier Institute found that if Canadian energy is replaced by foreign supply, global emissions could actually increase because other countries have weaker environmental standards. Cutting emissions from the oil sands can cost between $96,000 and $289,000 for every tonne reduced, and for conventional oil and gas the cost is effectively limitless because production would simply move elsewhere. As analyst Heather Exner-Pirot has noted, this means Canada would lose jobs and investment while the environment sees no real benefit.
Speaking Up in the House of Commons
In the House, I rose often to speak on issues that matter deeply to our community and to Canada’s future. I spoke on the federal budget, calling out reckless spending and its role in driving inflation and affordability pressures. I along with my Conservative colleagues raised concerns about Alberta’s Memorandum of Understanding with the federal government, highlighting the difference between symbolic agreements and real economic action. Conservatives brought forward a clear, common-sense motion to support a Pacific pipeline using the federal government’s own Canada–Alberta MOU language, yet Liberals still voted against it, exposing just how hollow their promises have become. The MOU commits to no construction, no jobs, and no certainty, offering only more studies and delays while the Liberal caucus remains openly divided on whether a pipeline should ever be built. At a moment of growing global instability, the United States gaining substantially greater access to Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world, should serve as a massive wake-up call for Canada. Venezuelan oil is heavy oil, much like Canadian oil, and it is processed in many of the same refineries, particularly along the U.S. Gulf Coast. If large volumes of Venezuelan oil come onto the market in the coming years, the consequences for Canada could be severe, including lower prices for our number one export or the displacement of Canadian oil altogether.
This risk is entirely of this government’s own making. Over the past decade, the Liberal government deliberately cancelled major nation-building projects such as Northern Gateway and Energy East, landlocking more than 90 percent of Canadian oil. In doing so, they left our country dangerously dependent on the United States and exposed to the whims of the U.S. market, often to America’s benefit and Canada’s clear disadvantage.
At the same time, the Liberals have repeatedly turned away our closest allies when they pleaded for Canadian energy. Japan, Germany, and Taiwan all sought reliable supplies of Canadian oil and liquefied natural gas, only to be told no. In Taipei, Taiwan’s foreign minister explicitly called on Canada to export petroleum and LNG, describing it as a matter of national security. Canada had the resources, the opportunity, and the moral obligation to help democratic allies reduce their dependence on hostile regimes, yet this government chose inaction.
Failure to build export infrastructure is no longer just an economic mistake; it is a strategic one. A pipeline to Canadian tidewater would create jobs in every region of the country, allow responsibly produced Canadian energy to reach world markets at fair prices, and strengthen our national security and economic sovereignty. Parliament has the constitutional authority to act, public support, particularly in British Columbia, is already there, and the urgency has never been clearer. It is time to stop stalling, stop pretending endless studies are solutions, and start building the infrastructure Canada urgently needs.
I also spoke extensively on Bill C-13, standing up for ranchers and farmers in southern Alberta whose livelihoods depend on fair, science-based trade. While Conservatives support the CPTPP, the Liberal government is moving to add the United Kingdom without addressing serious non-tariff barriers that block Canadian beef and pork exports. In 2025 alone, Canada exported not a single dollar’s worth of beef to the U.K., while British exports to Canada continued to grow. Discredited hormone bans and the refusal to recognize Canada’s world-class inspection system remain in place. That is not free trade, it is a one-way street that puts rural jobs and family ranches at risk.
The Gun Buyback Program: A Case Study in Failure
I also spoke repeatedly, both in the House and with stakeholders about the federal government’s $742 million firearm buyback program and its failed pilot project in Cape Breton. That pilot, intended to demonstrate the program’s feasibility, reportedly collected as few as 25 firearms far below government expectations of over 200.
Despite these results, Ottawa is pressing ahead with a national rollout, including into rural regions like Southern Alberta. Of the $742 million allocated, only about $250 million is earmarked for compensating firearm owners, with the rest consumed by bureaucracy and administration. Law enforcement agencies have been clear that licensed firearm owners are not the primary drivers of gun crime. Toronto Police Service data shows that 88 per cent of crime guns seized in 2024 were traced to the United States.
The Cape Breton pilot raised serious governance concerns. As scrutiny of the program intensified, the police chief overseeing the pilot, who is the brother in law of the Liberal MP for Sydney Glace Bay, abruptly announced his retirement. At the same time, leaked audio involving the Public Safety Minister further reinforced doubts about the program’s effectiveness and about whether police services had the capacity to implement it properly. Rather than addressing these concerns, the Liberal MP for Cape Breton Canso Antigonish dismissed them outright, stating that he had not heard anything negative and that people were not really talking about it, a response that raises further questions about accountability and attention to the concerns of local residents.
With gun crime rising nationally, the failure of this pilot has become a focal point for Canadians who believe public funds would be better spent on border enforcement, policing, and cracking down on illegal gun trafficking not targeting law-abiding citizens.
Defending Fundamental Freedoms at the Justice Committee
Some of the most consequential work this year took place at the Justice Committee during the study of Bill C-9. Alongside my Conservative colleagues, I worked late into the night to defend freedom of religion and freedom of expression as the government moved to remove long-standing safeguards from the Criminal Code. The Liberals struck a deal with the Bloc Québécois to secure passage of the bill by agreeing to eliminate sections 319(3)(b) and 319(3.1)(b), provisions that protect Canadians from prosecution for expressing, in good faith, an argument or opinion on a religious subject or one based on belief in a religious text.
Faith leaders, constitutional experts, and civil liberties organizations from across Canada warned that these changes would chill lawful expression and undermine Charter protections. Those concerns were shared by Christians, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, and secular civil liberties groups, many of whom have supported the Liberals in the past. This was not partisan resistance; it was a broad-based and deeply serious warning. The debates surrounding Bill C-9 were not about politics. They were about protecting the freedoms that define Canada and ensuring Parliament does not criminalize belief or conscience.
Bill C-9 represents a dangerous turning point for freedom of religion and expression in this country. Through a quiet political bargain, the government is dismantling safeguards the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized as essential to keeping Canada’s hate speech laws constitutional. Rather than respecting that balance, the Liberals have chosen to upset it, all while claiming to protect vulnerable communities. In reality, this bill actively harms the very communities it purports to help by exposing people of faith to criminal prosecution for peacefully expressing deeply held beliefs. This hostility has been reinforced by the conduct of senior ministers. Justice Committee Chair Marc Miller recently suggested that parts of the Bible and the Torah contain “clear hatred,” comments made during the Advent season and followed days later by his promotion to oversee Canadian Identity and Culture.
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The consequences of Bill C-9 are serious and far-reaching. People of faith could now face criminal charges and up to two years in prison simply for quoting or explaining their own sacred texts if the government deems those words offensive. This has nothing to do with stopping violence or calls to genocide, which are already illegal and have never been protected by these defences. Religious and secular civil liberties organizations agree. Christians, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and more than twenty civil liberties groups have all warned that removing the good-faith religious defence will create a chilling effect on religious expression.
Committee members should sit with that reality for a moment, because this government’s hostility toward Canadians of faith is not new. We saw it in attempts to strip charitable status from religious charities and pro-life organizations. We saw it in the Canada Summer Jobs values test, which required organizations to renounce core religious beliefs as a condition of hiring students. We saw it again in 2022, when an advisory panel to the Department of National Defence recommended excluding entire faith traditions from serving as chaplains because their teachings did not align with the government’s ideological vision of “inclusion.”
Conservatives will not stand by while this government claims to defend the Charter but ignores its foundations. We will fight Bill C-9, defend freedom of religion, and defend freedom of expression. We also call on Parliament to withdraw this legislation and refocus on the real crisis facing Canadians: violent crime. That is work this government has repeatedly refused to prioritize, voting down Conservative efforts at committee seventeen times in favour of studying its own bail reform under Bill C-14.
Working with the People Who Build Canada
Beyond Parliament, I spent significant time meeting with agriculture groups, energy experts, and industry leaders. They shared a consistent message: Canada has the resources, expertise, and workforce to lead, but Liberal red tape and ideological barriers are holding us back. What was also a consistent theme was trade barriers, and the government’s refusal to recognize verified products already approved in trusted international jurisdictions across multiple sectors.
I brought those concerns directly to Ottawa, and I will continue to do so.
Looking Ahead
In the year ahead, I remain committed to fighting for residents of Bow River, holding the government to account, and advancing policies that strengthen our economy, respect workers, and protect the rights Canadians cherish. I also look forward to introducing my Private Members’ Bill, with its first reading expected during the Spring Session. At the Environment Committee, I will continue advocating for Albertans and rural Canadians, who too often feel neglected when environmental policies are driven by out-of-touch metropolitan elites. These policymakers fail to recognize that the best conservation comes not from urban activists, but from hardworking farmers, fishers, hunters, and others who work the land day in and day out.
Thank you for the trust you’ve placed in me. It is an honour to serve you.
— David Bexte, MP
For constituent inquiries, the Office of David Bexte, MP can be reached at:
david.bexte@parl.gc.ca | 1-800-241-0020
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