Brad Trost, MP for Saskatoon Humboldt

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Anniversary of Korean War Armistice

Posted Fri Aug 22nd, 2008 2:55 pm CDT

On July 27th I had the privilege of representing the government of Canada at a ceremony commemorating the 55th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice.

The ceremony was quite touching. Three veterans described their roles in the Korean War. They spoke of their experiences, the dangers, and the battles of the Korean War. A choir from the Korean Church in Saskatoon sang hymns of remembrance and thanksgiving. A young Korean-Canadian girl gave a short overview of Korea.

The Korean War and Canada’s contribution to it is something that I feel that we as Canadians too often overlook. We as Canadians have a strong tradition of standing up for freedom around the world. In Korea, Canada did not hesitate to fight against communism and tyranny; we were at the forefront of the battle.

The veterans who went to Korea did not only protect the freedom of the Korean people. In a very real sense they fought to protect our freedom also. This is something we need to remember and I believe we need to honour and remember the Korean War veterans for their sacrifices more than we currently do. They should not remain the forgotten war. They should not remain the forgotten heroes.

This will be my last column until Parliament resumes in the fall and when it does I will have plenty of new information to share with you.
Have a great August.

Government Policy Announcements

Posted Fri Aug 22nd, 2008 2:51 pm CDT

With the summer speeding along, you may have missed some of the policy announcements that the federal government has made this summer. So here is a quick recap of some of the announcements:

The Canada-Saskatchewan Building Canada Fund criteria have been released. While this may not be the most glamorous announcement, over $185 million in long term funding will be available to help your local municipality to upgrade infrastructure (local roads, water systems, local recreation facilities etc.), producing tangible benefits for your community.

Minister of Health Tony Clement announced stronger labeling rules regarding allergens in food products. The goal is to give consumers more information to protect themselves from a particular allergen, gluten sources or added sulphites that may cause harm.

Stockwell Day, Minister for Public Safety announced stricter security classifications to keep dangerous offenders from being released into minimum security prisons.

A new $242 million bridge for Saskatoon was announced, with the federal government putting in nearly $90 million. While this bridge directly affects Saskatoon, the improved infrastructure for the city will help improve transportation in the entire area.

Brad Trost MP Report

Posted Wed Jul 23rd, 2008 11:42 am CDT

One of the most egregious things about the carbon tax is the way that it is targeted disproportionately at certain provinces like Saskatchewan. Consider the following:

The carbon tax has a stated goal of raising 40 Billion dollars. Since Saskatchewan is the source of 9% of the carbon to be taxed, we will pay 9% of the tax or $3.6 billion. This works out to roughly $3,600/person or $14,400 for a family of four in Saskatchewan. However, Saskatchewan will only get back about 3% of the new spending and possible tax cuts—or about $1,200/person or $4,800 for a family of four (assuming that Dion’s promises to balance the carbon tax with tax cuts elsewhere actually happens).

Now if you pay a tax of $14,400 and receive back $4,800 you are still out $9,600 if you live in Saskatchewan. (If you live in Alberta, you will have a similar problem.) The carbon tax is set up this way for one and one reason only: it takes money from western Canada and gives it to central Canada.

The carbon tax is nothing more than a big grab for western cash. Any politician in Saskatchewan who supports a carbon tax is a quisling; a traitor to Saskatchewan. A carbon tax is nothing but a grab for Saskatchewan money. The math is clear. The Liberal’s green shift is nothing but green theft.

Latest MP Report

Posted Wed Jul 16th, 2008 10:15 am CDT

Stephane Dion wants you to pay $266 more a year to heat your home with natural gas. He also thinks that truckers should pay at least $1,700 per year more to fuel up their trucks. These two examples are not my own. The Liberals themselves give out these examples when explaining the cost of their carbon tax. Considering that the Liberals will inevitably downplay the size of their tax grab, these numbers should be taken as minimums.

But it is not only truckers and homeowners who will be hit directly by the imposition of a carbon tax. The cost of groceries and practically everything else will go up even more as the added cost of the Liberals' new tax is passed along to consumers.

Since natural gas is a key ingredient in making nitrogen-based fertilizers, the high price of fertilizer will continue to climb because of the carbon tax. Electricity rates in Saskatchewan will also rise, since we use coal to run our power plants. As a result, small business, manufacturers and other employers in our province will be faced with rising costs. If you run a bakery or a machine shop, you will have the option of raising your prices or digging into your own pocket to pay for the new carbon tax.

A carbon tax is a tax on transportation, heating, and practically everything that uses electricity. These items may be viewed as luxuries by Stephane Dion and his friends in Montreal and Toronto. But in Saskatchewan, most people view getting to work, heating their homes and buying groceries as necessities. A carbon tax is a really bad idea.

MP Report by Brad Trost

Posted Fri Jul 4th, 2008 1:43 pm CDT

Well, I had planned to continue my series on the carbon tax, but events this week have caused me to change the topic of my column.

The abortionist Henry Morgentaler was awarded the Order of Canada on July 1st, Canada Day. This appointment was made on the recommendation of the Advisory Council on the Order of Canada. A majority vote by the Advisory Council gave Morgentaler the award, so it was not a unanimous decision. Now, I know that Canadians have different feelings on the issue of abortion. I am strongly pro-life for cultural, scientific, and theological reasons. I have been clear about my pro-life position before my first election.

Not everyone will agree with me on the issue of abortion, but I think we, as Canadians, can all agree that national awards and honours should only be given to Canadians who serve our country in an exemplary way. The Order of Canada should bring us together in a celebration of excellence that all Canadians can endorse.

Considering that Henry Morgentaler’s career has been centered around a medical procedure that many Canadians find repugnant, it is hard to see how awarding him the Order of Canada is proper. His award only stirs up divisions; it only serves to demonstrate that the people who award the Order of Canada do not represent their fellow Canadians. They only represent a narrow, elitist section of our society.

Brad Trost MP Report Week of July 1st, 2008

Posted Fri Jun 27th, 2008 11:29 pm CDT

Brian Mulroney promised that the GST would be revenue neutral when he brought it in to replace the manufacturers sales tax. Jean Chrétien promised he would abolish the GST when he became Prime Minister. Lorne Calvert raised the PST right after he won re-election as premier.

I bring up these unpleasant tax swindles because of the new carbon tax that Stephane Dion is proposing. Dion is promising a revenue neutral tax like Mulroney, he is promising tax cuts just like Chrétien, and is being coy on the sales tax just like Calvert. I know that the chattering classes in Toronto and Montreal are all enthralled with the idea of a carbon tax, but I really can't remember the last time that a tax hike was good for my personal finances or the finances of anyone that I know.

So let me state this directly. A carbon tax is a really, really bad idea. It is a massive revenue grab that directly targets rural and natural resource producing regions. It is a tax grab that will hit Saskatchewan harder than any other province in the country. It is a tax that specifically targets: heating, transportation and agriculture. It is a tax that hits the poor and people on fixed incomes harder than other segments of society.

In my next couple of columns, I will lay out specifically what a carbon tax would mean to you. I will lay out what it would mean for truckers, farmers and others who will be hard hit by this revenue grab. People should be very suspicious of politicians who tell them that a tax hike will be good for them. I can't think of a good tax hike in history, and I'm sceptical if there will ever be one.

Brad Trost Extended Column on Free Speech

Posted Wed Jun 25th, 2008 9:52 pm CDT

Over the past few months, I have been following reports about Canada’s federal and provincial human rights commissions and the suppression of free speech. The most troubling stories concern the manner in which human rights commission staff conduct investigations and run their “hearings.”

The fact that the RCMP and the Privacy Commissioner have each launched investigations into the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) should be a real eye-opener for Canadians.

If the increasing number of questionable rulings is any indication, the federal CHRC and its provincial counterparts seem to decide what proper speech is and then punish the transgressor by ordering the defendant to pay thousands of dollars in damages. These damages, which are essentially a tax free gift to the person who filed the complaint, are often accompanied by some sort of “order” that curbs the defendant’s Charter rights to “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression.”

I am a believer in inalienable human rights. I believe that inalienable rights like freedom of speech and freedom of religion, along with the rule of law, are fundamental to western democracies.

These basic rights, combined with the principles of representative and responsible government, have allowed Canada and the entire western world to have the best system of governance known in the history of man. This is a system of governance that provides maximum freedom for the individual in a society without chaos or anarchy.

You may be wondering why if I am such a strong and emphatic believer in human rights, why I am also such a harsh critic of human rights commissions. It is because I believe that Canada’s Human Rights Commissions (originally established to protect those seeking housing or employment from discrimination) have morphed into kangaroo courts that selectively oppress Canadians who hold small “c” conservative political or religious views.

Let me site some specific examples.

First by allowing the trivial to be viewed as rights, they have encouraged the use of human rights commissions as personal and political weapons. The recent situation concerning a marriage commissioner in Saskatchewan serves as a clear example of this point.

A homosexual couple wanted to be declared married by a marriage commissioner. They requested that their ceremony be performed by a marriage commissioner who had publicly stated his opposition to homosexual marriage.

When he inevitably refused their request, the gay couple took the marriage commissioner to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal. The Tribunal promptly fined him $2,500.

It didn’t matter that the commissioner offered the homosexual couple the name of another marriage commissioner who could perform the ceremony. No, because of a small, contrived inconvenience, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal used the coercive power of the state to punish a Canadian for refusing to abandon his religious beliefs.

My second and most prominent example is the Mark Steyn/McLean’s case, where arguments recently wrapped up before the B.C Human Rights Tribunal. The case has received international attention, and not only in newspaper editorials concerned about freedom of the press. Legal experts have also been critical of the administration of justice (or lack thereof) by these human rights tribunals.

For instance, University of Queensland Garrick Professor of Law James Allan went as far to say that the protection of fundamental freedoms in Canada is a joke:
“Here is a little known fact about Canada. It is today a country where you can say or write things that are true and yet still be brought before a tribunal. That tribunal can fine you; it can order you to pay money to the people who complained about your words; it can force you to issue an apology; it can do all three. That's not all, though. The people who complained will not need to hire a lawyer. Their costs will be picked up by the state, by the taxpayers. You, on the other hand, will have to hire a lawyer to defend yourself. And there will be no award of costs at the end, so that even if you win, you will still be out of pocket to your lawyers tens of thousands of dollars.
“I don't much like having to state the obvious, which is that Canada has become a joke as far as the issue of protecting free speech is concerned.” (Excerpts from “Canada’s Deadly Tongue Trap,” The Australian, June 6, 2008.)
As a Member of Parliament and a citizen of this great country, I am deeply concerned about the erosion of our fundamental rights by these quasi-judicial human rights commissions.

I am not sure if all of Canada’s human rights commissions should be scrapped, or if a major overhaul of the system, including legislative review would suffice. I am certain, however, that our collection of human rights commissions have very little to do with human rights.