'Back In Calgary' Week
Plus the return of virtual town halls, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy addresses Parliament, and my e-petition calling for the end to vaccine mandates for domestic air travel
Virtual Town Halls are Back
In the past few months, I have engaged with thousands of constituents in emails, phone calls, and in-person meetings expressing their concerns with the direction Canada is headed. Many were concerned about the rising cost of living as inflation hits levels not seen in thirty years, home prices that have doubled in a decade, the trucker protests in Ottawa, provincial and federal vaccine mandates, and more recently, the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine. I heard from many who liked the periodic virtual town halls I did online and am finally able to do so after staff turnover post-election made it impossible. The first virtual town hall will be held next Wednesday at 3 pm MST and will be streamed live on my Facebook, I hope you get a chance to tune in. I will be prioritizing answering recent e-mails, addressing misinformation out there about a Senate public bill referred to in shorthand as S-233, and taking questions that come up live on Facebook.
E-Petition calling for the end of the vaccine mandate on domestic air travel
I recently met with one of my constituents, who had told me a story of her experience with the domestic vaccine passport requirement instituted by the federal government. Her family had suffered the loss of a family member, and as most families do during periods of grief, they gathered together. However, due to the vaccine passport requirement, the family was unable to take a flight to Ontario. The obstacle had meant the family had to spend several days driving from Calgary to northern Ontario, in the midst of a difficult winter. The issues with the domestic vaccine passport were something I had become all too familiar with, as many constituents have raised the issue for months. Families were kept apart at Christmas and New Year’s or unable to take vacations together because a family or more was unvaccinated, usually a child. As those of you who attended my New Year’s Levee know, I had a paper petition then to collect signatures to table this petition. I later decided to sponsor a similar online e-petition calling upon the government to end the domestic vaccine passport requirement for Canadian citizens and permanent residents taking domestic flights. All provincial governments have either announced the end of the vaccine passport system in their jurisdictions or a date when it will end very soon. Nearly all have lifted some or all of their health restrictions. The federal government is the last holdout. Since it launched on March 11, there have been over 13,000 signatures. If you would like to add your name to the e-petition, please click the link below.
What happened in Ottawa this week
Bank of Canada governor admits carbon tax has contributed to higher inflation
In testimony before the Standing Committee on Finance, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem admitted that the Liberal government’s carbon tax has contributed significantly to the skyrocketing inflation Canada has seen over the past few months. Per the Bank’s own calculations, the removal of the carbon tax would have reduced the inflation rate by 0.4%, meaning an inflation rate of 4.7% instead of January’s 5.1%. To make matters worse, the inflation rate in February hit 5.7%, the highest rate since 1991. Conservatives had repeatedly urged the government to scrap its collection of carbon tax revenues from the beginning of the pandemic as Canada dealt with the economic fallout from the lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, and small business closures, but we were ignored.
Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy addresses Parliament
Early this week, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Parliament and requested more decisive action from Canada and its allies as Ukraine continues to hold back the Russian invasion. In an address via video link, Zelenskyy spoke about the suffering experienced by his people and asked parliamentarians to envision their reactions if Russia had laid siege to Vancouver or targeted the CN Tower. "Imagine that Canadian facilities have been bombed similarly as our buildings and memorial places are being bombed," he said. "A number of families have died. Every night is a horrible night." To read his full address, click the link below.
Hi Tom, I always enjoy your newsletter. My heart goes out to the fellow Calgarian and her ordeal in what was simply an awful time in her life. Before I sign your petition, can you point me to the science that backs it up? Like most, I am anxious to see restrictions lifted but I also want to ensure that lifting the travel restrictions and/or other restrictions does not place our citizens and businesses in a worse position down the road. We have been fortunate that the impact of COVID on our business has been manageable but I have many, many business friends who are hanging on by a thread. In true Alberta fashion, they are optimistic about the future despite the hardships but at the end of the day, the economic reality of another series restrictions and shut downs will finish them and the good-paying jobs they provide. So. I'd like to see the case where removing these restrictions is the best path to re-establishing the sustainability in our economy.