Lethbridge Herald: Reflecting on the Parliamentary Session

As the clock struck 12:12 am ET on Thursday, June 22nd, Parliament adjourned till September, concluding a year filled with fervent debates and passionate advocacy on behalf of the Canadian people.

As His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, my Conservative colleagues and I fought hard on Parliament Hill for the interest of everyday Canadians, and there was much to fight for! You see, the House of Commons was never meant to be about an elite few making decisions for their benefit or the benefit of their friends. Rather, the House of Commons was and is meant to be composed of common people making decisions on behalf of other common people.

It is Canadians who are the problem solvers, the solution makers, and the wealth creators, not the government. It is the Canadian people who are the visionaries, the inventors, and the moral ballast of society, not a governing few in Ottawa.

“We the People” is a powerful phrase because it appropriately depicts where the strength of a nation lies: with the people. When the people have the freedom to live up to their potential, the whole of society benefits. Conversely, when a government sees itself has holding all the power and imposes its will onto the people, picking winners and losers based on ideology, society regresses.

By listening to Canadians first, my colleagues and I did our best to be the voice of common sense and good government.

Conservatives advocated for affordability in a cost-of-living crisis.

More and more Canadians are struggling to feed themselves, pay their rent, and put fuel in their cars. Many are struggling to make ends meet and unfortunately, the Liberal-NDP coalition has failed to offer practical solutions. The 2023 Budget was incredibly out of touch with the needs of Canadians.

Taking these concerns to heart, Conservatives advocated for lower taxes and less spending. We fought for an economic plan that would make life affordable and create jobs and generate wealth.

We stood for solutions to fix Canada’s housing crisis by firing the gatekeepers, removing red tape, and ensuring municipalities allow more affordable homes to be built.

We called for the Prime Minister to answer for his second carbon tax that will hike the cost of groceries and gas for all Canadians starting on July 1st.

We supported our world-class farmers by removing the Trudeau carbon tax from farm fuels.

Conservatives fought for the freedom of what you can see and say online.

In this digital age, we have been vocal defenders of freedom of speech and the right to access and express ideas on the internet. Bills C-11 and C-18 posed a threat to these fundamental liberties, and we stood firmly against their passage, championing the concerns raised by everyday Canadians who rely on the internet for school, shopping, work, entertainment, dating, and so much more. We pledge to repeal C-11 and fix Bill C-18 when we form government.

Conservatives proposed a common-sense approach to crime and addiction.

In support of responsible gun owners, we pressured Mr. Trudeau to reverse course on Bill C-21, which cynically targeted hunters and Indigenous Canadians, rather than criminals.

Taking a victim-centred approach, Conservatives brought forward legislation to ensure all court-ordered dangerous offenders and mass murderers, like Paul Bernardo, would permanently be assigned a maximum-security classification.

With compassion for those who suffer from addiction, my colleagues and I sought to reverse the Liberal-NDP deadly policies of “safe supply” and redirect all funds from failed taxpayer-funded hard drug programs to treatment and recovery programs.

Conservatives worked to shine a light on foreign interference in our Democracy.

When the free media and several brave whistleblowers drew attention to the threats facing our democracy at the hands of the communist dictatorship in Beijing, my colleagues and I worked to investigate what was going on and hold the Prime Minister accountable for failing to be honest with Canadians.

When the Liberals resorted to forming a special committee with secret hearings, secret evidence, and secret conclusions– all controlled by Prime Minister Trudeau—my Conservative colleagues and I led the charge to demand a transparent and public inquiry into foreign interference.

We must understand Beijing’s interference as a direct attack on our sovereignty as a nation. As such, we fought to shine a light on what transpired and who is responsible. We have tirelessly advocated to have a fully independent and public inquiry. Canadians deserve this much at least.

The year was marked by the tireless work of holding the government to account on behalf of the people of Lethbridge and common-sense Canadians from coast to coast.

While I enjoy the work you entrust me to do in Ottawa, I am extremely happy to be home and I look forward to connecting with many of you at events, festivals, parades, BBQs, pancake breakfasts, and so much more!

Lethbridge Herald: Celebrating Everyday Heroes

“Genuine celebrations are the punctuation marks that make sense of the passage of time; without them, there are no beginning and endings. Life becomes an endless series of Wednesdays.” – David Campbell

It is time to celebrate our amazing community! Lethbridge is not what it is simply by accident. The greatness of our home is the result of the many investments, sacrifices, and compassionate actions taken by normal people who go the extra mile to give back in meaningful ways.

A community is not simply housing and amenities. It is defined by the people who call this place home. In our midst are everyday heroes— individuals who go above and beyond to serve those around them and make a lasting difference.

Among our heroes could be the coach of our child’s soccer team, the farmer who invests passionately in philanthropic endeavours, the woman who sews handcrafted quilts for veterans, the foster parent who loves and cares for those who come from tumultuous environments and have never enjoyed stability, or the young person who takes initiative beyond what is expected of them to lead their peers to accomplish something great.

A community hero could be the non-for-profit organization that applies innovative ideas to solve big problems, or a business that supports its staff to volunteer one day a month to give back to our community.

Creating the time, space, and opportunity to genuinely celebrate these exceptional individuals and organizations helps to unify our community in highlighting the ordinary heroes in our midst. We need to recognize those role models who live among us, and make our community vibrant, prosperous, and enjoyable.

I invite residents of the City and County of Lethbridge to nominate anyone who goes above and beyond to make a positive difference in our community.

The Community Builder Awards will be presented in four categories: youth leader, community leader, not-for-profit leader, and business leader.

Recipients of the 2023 Community Builders Awards will be chosen by a panel of community members and will be honoured at a special ceremony this fall.

If your life has been positively impacted by the investment of someone in our community, please nominate them today! It will only take a moment of your time and could make a world of difference for the person you choose.

The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, June 16th.

To nominate, you will need to know the following information about the person you are nominating:

- First and last name

- Email address

- Mailing address

- Description of how the nominee has invested in the community and the impact they’ve made.

Together, let’s celebrate those that embody a spirit of generosity and compassion in our community. For more information, and to nominate, please visit RachaelThomas.ca/communitybuilders or contact my office at 403.320.0070.

Let us punctuate the history we are making together by celebrating those people who work towards our common good in their leadership, generosity, gifts, talents, hard work, and unique genius.

Lethbridge Herald: Mr. Trudeau Turned a Blind Eye to Beijing’s Interference

Mark Twain once offered “if you tell the truth, you do not have to remember anything.”

To tell the truth means the facts will align and one can live confident and carefree. Mr. Trudeau would benefit from taking this wisdom to heart.

Since February, Mr. Trudeau has tried to defend his inaction considering the damning facts regarding Beijing’s interference in our democracy.

Most recently, we learned that a Beijing diplomat targeted and intimidated my colleague, Michael Chong and his family. Canada’s intelligence agency reported this to the Prime Minister and advised him to inform Mr. Chong, but Mr. Trudeau chose to remain silent and do nothing—for two years! It was not until the media exposed Beijing’s operation that my colleague learned the truth.

To date, the government has refused to expel the Chinese diplomat responsible. This corrupt actor is still at play.

And it gets worse…

At the direction of the Communist Party of China, Beijing billionaires paid hundreds-of-thousands of dollars to the Trudeau Foundation to gain access to the Prime Minister and advance Beijing’s interests.

Over the past few months, with the help of a courageous whistleblower, the main­stream media has brought to light nu­merous intelligence reports that highlight Beijing’s interference in Canada’s elections. These reports were drafted by Canada’s national spy agency (CSIS) and sent to the Prime Minister’s Office leading up to and during the 2019 and 2021 elections.

The Prime Minister claims he has had “many” conversations “over long periods of times, over many years” but refuses to provide a straight answer about when he was briefed concerning Beijing’s interfer­ence and why he chose to do nothing in response.

Canadians deserve to know the truth.

For months, my colleagues and I have tried to get to the bottom of this by asking thoughtful and direct questions in committee and during debate in the House of Commons. On April 14th we had the op­portunity to question the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Katie Telford. She was asked simple questions but refused to give simple answers and opted instead to maintain the cover-up. She did, however, offer something she likely regrets when she stated the Prime Minister “reads everything” and “there is nothing that is ever kept from the Prime Minister.”

This is helpful to know because it points to the fact that the Prime Minister wasn’t ignorant; he wasn’t kept in the dark. Instead, he actively ignored and avoid­ed information, briefings, and warnings from security and intelligence agencies about Beijing’s interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections because it benefitted his political party. According to one intelli­gence document Beijing “employed a sophisticated strategy to seek the return of a minority Liberal government” in 2021.

The concerns regarding Beijing’s interfer­ence range from distorting public opinion through disinformation campaigns, dis­rupting the voting process through hacking attempts, funneling ille­gal money to Liberal candidates, and plac­ing interns chosen and paid for by Beijing businesses in political offices.

Further, reports show that many Chinese Canadian citizens were pressured by an apparent Beijing representative to vote for a particular candidate or conform to certain political views.

During this period of uncertain­ty and insecurity, the government’s response is alarming. The Liberals have attempted numerous times to obstruct witnesses from testifying at committee. Rather than choosing “sunny ways”, they have provided convoluted and purposely veiled responses to direct questions. Further, the Liberals filibustered committee for more than 30 hours and continuously resisted calls for a public and fully independent inquiry into Beijing’s interference in our democracy.

My Conser­vative colleagues and I are fighting for a fully independent and public inquiry into Beijing’s interference in our democracy so we can uncover what and when the Liberals knew about this foreign interference.

Instead of a public and transparent process, the Liberals have opted to form a special committee with secret hearings, secret evidence, and secret conclusions – all controlled by Prime Minister Trudeau.

If the government has nothing to hide, why won’t the Prime Minister launch a public inquiry?

Our de­mocracy demands transparency and accountability. We must understand Beijing’s interference as a direct attack on our sovereignty as a nation. We need to shine a light on what transpired and who is responsible.

If only Mr. Trudeau would tell the truth.