Archive for May, 2010

One of the files that I`ve been working on as your MP is the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. This agreement is almost universally accepted as good for Canada. Saskatchewan pulse growers, hog producers and cattlemen, in particular, stand to gain from free trade with Colombia.

But the agreement has been characterized as “bad for Colombians” by some non-government organizations (NGOs) in Canada. The funny thing is that the Colombians themselves mostly support the free trade agreement.

Only one minor candidate of the six currently running for president in Colombia is opposed to the deal. If 90 per cent of voters in Colombia (who support these five presidential candidates) want free trade with Canada, that is quite the mandate to sign the deal.

Countries like Colombia want to trade with Canada and create their own wealth; they are not looking for handouts.

I have friends and yes, family from Colombia. I know Colombia has its problems. But if Colombians want to trade with Canada, Canadians should take advantage of the opportunity and bring prosperity to both nations.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt. You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133 or drop by our two offices to visit: Saskatoon Monday-Friday or Humboldt Tuesday and Wednesday. I always appreciate your feedback.

New legislation was introduced on May 14th to make some changes to the Wheat Board. The press has concentrated on the sections of the Canadian Wheat Board Payments and Election Reform Act which mandate that only actual grain farmers vote in Wheat Board elections.
 
However, this new legislation also changes how Wheat Board payments are issued to farmers.
 
Currently, Wheat Board payments have to wind their way through a bureaucratic maze of at least three federal departments (Agriculture, Finance and the Treasury Board) before the money is sent to farmers.  This means that it can take from one to three months for farmers to get their cheques.
 
The CWB Reform Act will streamline the process and should cut in half the time it takes farmers to receive their cheques.  Considering that there are always bills to pay, I`m sure these reforms will be good news.
 
I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt. You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133 or drop by our two offices to visit: Saskatoon Monday-Friday or Humboldt Tuesday and Wednesday. I always appreciate your feedback.

Liberal Public Safety critic Mark Holland suggested recently that a future Liberal or coalition government might drastically reduce prison sentences.

Now criminal justice is one area where Conservatives and Liberals have profound differences. 

Conservatives believe criminals are personally responsible for their actions.   Whereas Liberals believe that criminals are men and women who just went astray because they suffer some sort of disadvantage in our uncaring society.
 
In practice, this means conservatives believe in tougher prison sentences because criminals must be held responsible for their actions, especially when they commit violent crimes. Conversely, Liberals demand more government spending on this program or that because the faults of our own society sow the seeds of crime.

As a conservative, I clearly believe in individual responsibility and a justice system which holds the individual responsible to account. Some criminals may have had a poor start in life. But a crime committed is not the victim’s fault. 

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt. You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133 or drop by our two offices to visit: Saskatoon Monday-Friday or Humboldt Tuesday and Wednesday. I always appreciate your feedback.

I was interviewed on TV and radio Down Under last week, sending out a message that Canada wants Australian business, now that the Labor government is slapping a 40 per cent tax on mining profits there. I said:
 
“My job is stand up for Saskatchewan. My job is to stand up for Canada; if that means that I have to go point out Australia’s mistake on their tax policies to get the little bit more business, I’m going to do that. And with higher taxes in Australia, there will be lower returns.”

On May 4th, I released a five point plan to make Canada more attractive to foreign investment in resource sectors like mining.

The plan urges the Government of Canada to make regulatory reform a priority. The plan also calls for provincial governments to review royalty rates; for corporate tax rates to be reduced to at least 25 per cent on average and for Parliament to pass my private members’ bill (C-436) that would open up more foreign investment in the uranium mining sector. Letting the world know that a “culture of responsible development is imbedded in Canadian resource industries,” is also part of my plan.

Saskatchewan’s mining industry spends more than $3 billion a year on wages, goods, services, taxes and fees. If money fleeing the Australian mining tax comes to investment friendly Saskatchewan, that will mean more jobs for us.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt. You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133 or drop by our two offices to visit: Saskatoon Monday-Friday or Humboldt Tuesday and Wednesday. I always appreciate your feedback.

It is rare that Stephen Harper and Jack Layton find themselves on the same side of a contentious issue. But that happened on April 21st when MPs overwhelmingly voted after three days of debate to defeat a Bloc Quebecois bill that would legalize euthanasia in Canada. 

MPs from the three national parties all understood the dangers of this Private Members’ Bill, called C-384.  They all grasped that this legislation would inevitably endanger the lives of elderly or terminally ill Canadians who still had a will to live.  If euthanasia is legalized, people will be encouraged to die to save hospital budget money, to die to end loneliness and to die for the convenience of those around them.

Canada should not legalize euthanasia. What we should do is make palliative care a priority in our health care system. Those individuals who are in the most need of comfort at the end of their lives should receive all that we as a society can give.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt. You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133 or drop by our two offices to visit: Saskatoon Monday-Friday or Humboldt Tuesday and Wednesday. I always appreciate your feedback.