December 7, 2015
OTTAWA: On December 4, 2015, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, delivered the Speech from the Throne to open the 42nd session of Parliament and outline the Government’s agenda.
“After taking my seat in the House of Commons Chamber for the first time this week, I would first like to take an opportunity to thank the voters of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes- Brock for allowing me the honour and privilege to represent you in Ottawa,” said Schmale.
The first order of business was to elect a new speaker for the 42nd session. Congratulations to Geoff Regan, Member of Parliament for Halifax West who also on the same day, celebrated his 22nd wedding anniversary. “As expected with most Speeches from the Throne, it was short on detail but long on spending commitments. The liberals have gone on a 30 day spending spree on the taxpayer’s dime,” said Schmale. “Despite the Parliamentary Budget Officer saying that the Conservative Government left the Liberals with a surplus, they have managed to put us back into debt by ratcheting up spending for the rest of this year.”
“As a member of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, I will be pressing the Government and keeping them accountable to taxpayers,” said Schmale. “To that end, I am concerned about how the government is going to pay for all of the commitments they have made. I think it is also fair to ask how high they will be raising taxes or how big they truly expect their budget deficit will be at the end of the fiscal year.”
“It is worrisome that the Speech from the Throne failed to mention farmers or agriculture – what are the liberals going to do to help farmers pursue new markets through trade agreements like the TPP, when the International Trade minister says ‘it’s not my job to promote trade’,” said Schmale.
“Many Canadians are interested about how we will stand with our allies in the fight against ISIS,” said Schmale. “When our allies are trying to figure out how to push back against terrorism, Canada is taking a step back. As such, we continue to call on the Liberals to reverse their position and keep our CF-18’s in Syria and Iraq.
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For more information contact:
Jamie Schmale, MP
(705) 324-2400 or (866) 688-9881
