Archive for May, 2005

So where do we go from here? The big vote in the House of Commons on May 19 was 152-152. The budget passed on a tie-breaking vote. What does it mean to the average person in Canada? What does it mean to you and me in Saskatoon-Humboldt? Well, really not that much.

The budget that was passed in the House of Commons is a budget that doesn’t make that many real changes. The changes that it does make tend to have strings attached.

Agriculture policy is the same as before. No new money and nothing to make the aid more efficient and timelier. The tax cut of $16 per year will probably go through, but there won’t be any new relief for taxpayers. The infrastructure spending will go ahead, but there will be severe strings attached. Roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects are not eligible for large portions of the money, because they do not fit the environmental criteria the government has set out.

So was I disappointed that the budget was not defeated? Yes I was. The budget was not good for Saskatchewan. It was particularly bad for rural Saskatchewan. I ran for public office because I wanted to push forward some changes. I wanted to scrap the gun registry, change agriculture policy, and make sure tax dollars were spent wisely. Those were my goals, and none of them were met. Hopefully, these changes will come some day. I promise to keep working to achieve them.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament, and I welcome your feedback. Write or call my offices.

Back when the first federal budget was introduced in February, I wrote a column commenting on what I thought of the budget at that time. Since then (as I’m sure everyone knows) the budget has been re-written to accommodate Jack Layton and insure that he supports the budget when it comes up for a second vote. So, what has changed and what has stayed the same?

Well, as I said back in my original column, rural Canada gets almost nothing. Agriculture was ignored the first time, and agriculture appears to not even have been mentioned in the negotiations between Jack Layton and the Liberals. I understand how Layton, as a former Toronto city councilor, would not even think of farmers, but for both parties to ignore agriculture twice really upsets me.

The second thing that was missing in both budgets was an Equalization Energy Accord for Saskatchewan. (While I write this column, Premier Calvert is still working on getting it included in the budget. Hopefully, Saskatchewan will get a deal.) This Accord, if it is agreed to, would lead to lower taxes and more support for health care, highways and other government services. All that the Accord would do is let Saskatchewan keep the wealth created by our oil and gas reserves, something that Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador have been allowed.

The one area that did receive more money in the new budget was the environment. While money for the environment may sound good in a press clip, I for one am wary. Generally environmental spending tends to be concentrated on more studies and more bureaucracy. Environmental spending could also lead to more harassment of farmers and rural residents in general and not to a cleaner environment.

I wasn’t impressed with the original budget and I’m not thrilled with this one. My job is to do my best to serve your interests in Saskatoon-Humboldt. This budget doesn’t help Saskatchewan and I will not support it.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament. I welcome your feedback. (Suggestions are always welcome.) Write or call my offices.

Some of you may have received a call from my office a few weeks ago. Someone on the other end was calling to ask your opinion (your vote in this case) on a variety of issues. Same-sex marriage, violent crime and legalization of marijuana were some of the topics that were covered in this survey. (Ten thousand of you responded: I basically treated it like a mini-referendum.)

Why did we conduct such an extensive telephone survey? Well, in my case, finding out what your opinion is on a particular issue is a big part of my job. As an MP, I do my best to represent your priorities in Ottawa. To measure your support on a certain issue, we use a variety of different means.

First of all, I almost always have a reply form on my mailings to get people’s views. Generally, I ask questions. But I always appreciate the extra comments and suggestions that I receive. This gives me a good idea of which issues my constituents are passionate about, because people in the riding who are particularly interested in a specific issue are usually the first to respond.

Another technique my office has used to measure support for specific policies (for example, longer sentences for violent criminals) is the randomized telephone survey. The phone survey we conducted earlier this year was so large (10,000 residents of Saskatoon-Humboldt participated) that we probably won’t undertake a survey of that size again for some time. We telephoned over 10,000 residents in order to get an even distribution of views. The return of mail-in response cards varies. Large surveys represent the widest cross-section of views in the constituency, in contrast.

Personally, I think the best way to find out what people are thinking is to just get out and talk to people. For example, I have coffee house tours (which are rather formal). Sometimes, I door knock. More often than not, I just walk down main street to get people’s views. Between the barbershop and coffee row I find that there is quite a bit of wisdom out there. I’m always looking for better ideas, so give me a call or drop me a line.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament, and I welcome your feedback. Write or call my offices

One of the great things about being a Member of Parliament is meeting different people. As an MP I meet people from one end of the country to the other. Some of them have really fascinating stories. Let me tell you about one of those people.

Steven Fletcher is a really sharp guy. He has an undergraduate degree in engineering and later on he went and got a MBA. He has a clever wit, and is always the first guy with a quick remark. That however, is not the first thing that you notice about him. The first thing that most people notice about Steve is his chair. You see, Steve is a quadriplegic and drives himself everywhere in his wheelchair.

In 1996, an automobile collision with a moose in northern Manitoba left Fletcher paralyzed from the neck down. Steve was determined not to let this get him down, though.

After a year in the hospital, Steven returned to university and attained his Masters of Business Administration–becoming the first quadriplegic in Canada to have achieved such a distinction. He also ran for and was elected president of the student council at the University of Manitoba. Steve was not done, however.

Over the years Steve had, had a lot of problems with both the insurance system and the health care system. Both the health care and insurance system didn’t want to deal with him. They didn’t want to deal with someone that wanted to live an active life. They just assumed he would stay in a group home.

So Steve decided to do something: he decided to get involved and change the system. He decided to run for Parliament. On June 28, 2004, Steven Fletcher became the Member of Parliament for Charleswood-St. James. In doing so he made history. He became the first quadriplegic elected to the House of Commons in Canadian history.

Steve is currently the Health Critic for the Conservative Party and could be the Minister of Health in the next government. He is just a great guy and one of those people who gets involved to change his world.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament, and I welcome your feedback. Write or call my offices.