The everchanging tariff threats from President Trump and his administration are unjustified and represent a serious economic threat to every Canadian.

My Conservative colleagues and I strongly condemn President Trump’s latest threats targeting Canadian steel and aluminum workers and manufacturers. The imposition of U.S. tariffs are an unprovoked attack on our economy and people. They will weaken both our countries’ economies making Canadians and Americans worse off.

We need a plan and strong leadership to see that plan through. It has become apparent that now, more than ever, we need to meet this issue head on and respond with strength and decisiveness within parliament in Ottawa. 

The summary of the announced Canada First Conservative plan includes retaliating dollar-for-dollar to U.S. tariffs; helping affected workers and businesses with tariff revenue; bringing in a tax cut on work, investment, energy and homebuilding; canceling the anti-energy law C-69 and greenlight resource projects; removing interprovincial trade barriers; and rebuilding our military and taking back control of our borders. 

In addition, specifically on steel and aluminum, we must combat illegal dumping and unfair trade practices by China. We must also stop the imposition of a new “shadow” (Mark Carney’s own word) carbon tax on industries such as steel and aluminum that he stated he wants to impose. 

On top of this, Canada’s non-partisan Parliamentary Budget Officer just released a new report revealing that the Liberal polices of capping Canadian energy will cut GDP by $20.5 billion annually and eliminate 54,000 full-time jobs by 2032. This is at a time when Canada should be doing the opposite by expanding energy production and securing global markets.

These are policies and issues that should be brought forth in Ottawa for debate and votes now, however, as a reminder, the Liberal government prorogued (shut down) parliament, with all activities in the House of Commons, at parliamentary committees, and in the Senate suspended. Since December, parliamentarians from all parties have been stripped of their ability to respond to these tariff threats in parliament and bring the voices of our communities to Ottawa, and I can’t express enough how this is affecting work that should be done. Liberal supporters talk about a team Canada approach, but this claim is hard to accept from them with parliament shut down since December. 

As a parliamentarian, I am unable to question relevant ministers or government officials in committees about pressing topics I hear from residents in our community such as the upcoming Canada Disability Benefit, removing interprovincial trade barriers, the excessive processing times for our farmers to get their seasonal workers, the crime in our community due to the revolving door bail system, or the federal bureaucracy increasing homebuilding costs.

The fact is that Canada is entering this U.S. tariff situation already economically weakened. Over the past nine years of the current Liberal government, we’ve seen hundreds of billions of dollars of investment put on hold or leave Canada, hundreds of thousands of lost good paying resource sector jobs, tax increases, the national debt double, housing costs double, productivity decline (meaning the quality of life declines), and a consistently low Canadian dollar (already making items purchased from the U.S. more expensive).

Once we are back in Ottawa, I’ll be looking to fight for our residents and for a Canada that is stronger and more self-reliant. This means re-building our economy and becoming less dependent on the U.S., as well as rejecting the high-tax and anti-resource agenda that has pushed good jobs out of Canada and limited resource production, stopped the expansion of LNG infrastructure, and has prevented getting our resources to oversea markets. I’ll also be looking to support legislation to reduce crime and help those suffering from addiction.

It has been an honour to serve the residents of Kelowna-Lake Country since 2019. I will continue to reach out to people and organizations in our community in order to stand up in Ottawa for our community. I look forward to your feedback.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have thoughts to share regarding American tariffs and Canada’s response. Our office has Canada flags and pins and offer parliamentary certificates for special occasions or to recognize contributions of residents in our community.

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