Under Conservative Pressure, Liberals Abandon Worst Parts of Hunting Rifle Ban

plus the start of public sector bargaining, petitions from residents and more

Under Conservative Pressure, Liberals Abandon Worst Parts of Hunting Rifle Ban

Today, the Liberals obtained unanimous support from the public safety committee considering the hunting rifle ban bill known as C-21. They abandoned amendments G4 and G46, the ones that explicitly targeted hunting rifles. This is people power at work. I want to recognize the many, many constituents who contacted me by phone, email, flyers and postcards objecting to C-21 and to these explicitly anti-hunter and anti-farmer amendments.

The Liberals have caved under intense public pressure and recognize they were wrong. We knew that months of excuses and misinformation claiming these were necessary amendments to ban imaginary "assault weapons" was entirely false.

Much work remains to be done by the parliamentary committee reviewing this proposed law and many amendments remain. C-21 is still bad legislation. Poorly written and targeting lawful firearms owners instead of organized crime and gangsters on our streets. I am very pleased to see the Liberals abandon their overreach and admit that months of conservative pushback reflecting the views of Canadians from across the country was correct.

Take a listen to an important press conference held this morning responding to this news on C-21 and abandoned anti-hunter Liberal amendments.

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Public Sector Bargaining Rights

The pay increase demands of two public sector unions, the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), are worrying and concerning for those who believe that budgets don’t balance themselves. PSAC’s demands have been conservatively estimated at $9.3B over three years. Taxpayers will be on the hook for this cost. The Public Interest Commissioner confirmed in a report that it would be compensation beyond what is reasonable.

The Union of Taxation Employees demands are 30% over 3 years. The total cost is unclear at this time. Certainly, it will be in the billions. This after a year when a record number of complaints were filed against the Canada Revenue Agency. I will be closely following the negotiations and the final price tag.

As a point of comparison, according to Statistics Canada, private sector workers received a 2.5% increase in 2022 and 2% in 2021 on average for negotiated private sector bargaining agreements. Unionized workers in federally regulated private sectors received on average a 3% increase.

Everyone is taking a hit from the cost-of-living crisis and higher taxes imposed by the Liberal government. These negotiations will be critical to see how current and future governments are able to tackle balancing the budget. The Liberal government must balance the cost of living crisis on workers, especially entry-level new hires, against the ability of taxpayers to pay for the final cost.

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New Year’s Levée

I want to thank the over 200 people who joined me for New Year’s Levée last month over sweets, cupcakes and moose milk. Great seeing familiar and new faces. Honoured to serve the good people of Calgary Shepard!

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Representing you in Parliament by Tabling Petitions from Residents - Excise Tax

This week, I tabled a petition from constituents calling on the finance minister to suspend the federal excise tax and carbon tax for Canadians until the cost-of-living crisis has been resolved. I often have residents ask me how they can get an issue on the national agenda or obtain an answer from the federal government on a particular public policy. Sometimes they have written to ministers without a response and other times the issue may not be grabbing national headlines. Parliamentary petitions are a great way to get involved in the civic process. They come in both paper and digital formats with different parliamentary rules governing the number of signatures and the style in which they must appear so they are acceptable.

If you would like me to sponsor a petition or have an idea please reach out and my staff will happily assist you in making it happen. There is also a lot of useful information on the parliamentary website about the petition process.