MP Report — Liberals Have Failed Canadians

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” – Abraham Lincoln

It is indeed a challenging time for Canadians. At no time in our recent history, possibly our entire history, has our nation been as divided as it is today. In the last 6 years we have been divided East to West and coast to coast to coast. In the last year we have been divided by province and territory and within our own province we have been divided by political party, by opinion and even by our faith. We have been divided by fear and we have been divided by anger. Make no mistake we ARE divided.

Unfortunately, not much has changed since the start of COVID-19 more than a year ago. Hospitalizations are on the rise and sadly, Albertans have died. We are still living under restrictions, businesses and livelihoods have been lost, increasingly families are in crisis and there is no end in sight. A year ago, we were “all in this together” and right now it appears that Canadians are trying to paddle the boat in two different directions, and we are getting nowhere.

I have no doubt that our current situation would be much less dire were it not for the failings of the Liberal government. Their series of missteps, misdirection, and mistakes have cost Canadians dearly.

In 2019, the Liberal government silenced the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN), the early warning system that would have detected the COVID-19 pandemic just months before it began. According to the Globe and Mail “With no pandemic scares in recent memory, the government felt GPHIN was too internationally focused, and therefore not a good use of funding” (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/…/article-without…/)

The Liberal government then failed to close borders to our country, a decision that may have increased the number of cases in our country. They even went so far as to tell Canadians that closing the borders would not work and even suggested that we might be considered racists for doing so (https://www.cbc.ca/…/covid-coronavirus-pandemic-trudeau…).

It took Canada a full month to follow the lead of our nearest neighbour before deciding to close the borders and in doing so finally closed Roxham Road (https://torontosun.com/…/editorial-finally-roxham-road…).

Canadians then learned that the Liberal government had let millions of pieces of PPE expire and did not replenish the national stockpile – leaving us short of the N-95 masks and gloves needed for our front-line workers (https://www.cbc.ca/…/heath-minister-emergency-stockpile…). If this weren’t enough, we then learned that the Trudeau Liberals sent 16 metric tonnes of PPE to China in February of 2020. (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/…/article-ottawa-faces…/).

Let us not ignore the fact that the Liberal government flip-flopped on mask use, causing further confusion for Canadians. (https://torontosun.com/…/editorial-the-great-canadian…)

The Liberals even managed to bungle the procurement of vaccines. Foolishly Trudeau inked a deal with China to provide Canada with vaccines; essentially putting all of our vaccine eggs in one basket – he then waited three months to tell Canadians that the deal had fallen through (https://ottawacitizen.com/…/glavin-trudeau-should-stop…). It then became a mad scramble to procure vaccines and in doing so the government has panic-purchased 350 million vaccines – enough to vaccinate all Canadians nearly ten times over. (https://www.cbc.ca/…/trudeau-moe-conservatives-vaccine…)

Even with all of these vaccines, the Liberals still had to beg the United States (https://www.ctvnews.ca/…/canada-finalizing-deal-with-u…) and take vaccines from COVAX, an organization designed to assist less wealthy nations to obtain vaccines (https://www.cbc.ca/…/covax-explainer-canada-backlash-1…) because of the delays associated with their late procurement of vaccines. Liberals were also slow at approving the use of rapid testing – a key to reopening businesses and schools (https://www.ctvnews.ca/…/rapid-testing-in-canada…).

What has remained consistent during the last year is the Liberal’s ability to hide and to deflect responsibilities. Amidst scandal, the Liberal’s prorogued Parliament, eliminating the ability of opposition parties to suggest meaningful changes to legislation, which in turn delayed assistance to those who needed help the most. They failed to procure vaccines and rapid tests, key essentials to helping the provinces reopen and then sits back when the provinces shoulder the responsibility of managing restrictions designed to keep Canadians safe.

It’s hard to imagine, but recently, the CDC advised that “travelers should avoid all travel to Canada” (https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/…/destinations/traveler/none/canada). This is our current reputation. As we watch the rest of the world open up, we will continue to lag behind and in turn our economic recover will suffer. This, as the rest of the COVID-19 response, lies squarely at the feet of Justin Trudeau.

I care about every person that I represent. I care about the future of our children; I care about the future of our businesses and our economy and I care about the health and well being of all Canadians. I would like to see our students in school, I would like to our graduates have ceremonies and be able to experience university on campus, not in their bedrooms. I would like to see businesses and churches with their doors wide open and I would like to visit communities and meet with the people I represent face to face. Whether you are a senior, a front-line worker, a teacher, a businessperson or someone who has been personally affected by COVID-19, I believe at the end of the day we all want the same thing. Unfortunately, these are not easy times; Canadians have lost on all fronts under the leadership of Justin Trudeau, and we are not out of the woods yet.

In just a few days, the Liberals will table a budget – this budget will be filled with promises that we simply cannot afford and will continue to divide us. He will bribe you with your own money and tell you how grateful you should be for the actions of his Liberal government. He will tell you proudly that “8 of every 10 dollars spent in Canada to fight #COVID19 and support Canadians has been spent by the federal government.” (https://twitter.com/cathmck…/status/1334236619688308736…) – conveniently ignoring the fact that it’s actually all taxpayer’s money – he is spending your money.

Let us not be divided against each other. Instead let us recognize, together, why we are so divided and understand that it is the complete and utter failings of the Liberal government and how their decisions continue to divide Canadians. If the Liberal government won’t change, then it’s time to change the Liberal government.

Together we can do that.