​On May 1st, regardless of the current strike status of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), you must file and have your personal income tax returns received by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

This includes paying any taxes owed, or you will face penalties.

As Members of Parliament, we are responsible for keeping citizens informed about how the government spends their tax money. From my perspective, there is one area of spending that raises some concerns, and I will provide an example.

In January of this year, Prime Minister Trudeau visited a rare earth mine processing plant in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for a 'photo op' and announcement.

The Trudeau Liberal Government had recently announced $5 million in funding to help establish processing and production at the facility. "Rare earth elements," as the Government's press release pointed out, "are a critical mineral used in clean technology like electric vehicles and wind turbines."

This funding is part of the Liberal Government's "Critical Minerals Strategy," which calls for $3.8 billion in spending, or, as the Liberals would call it, "investing."

This week, the same rare earth mining company in Saskatoon announced that operations were being "paused" while the company seeks "alternative funding sources and partnerships for a sustainable business model."

The Financial Post also reported on this story and quoted the interim chair of the company's board as saying there is "no economic imperative" to complete the project at the current time, citing higher costs, lower prices, and no market for what the facility aimed to produce.

It is unclear at this point what will become of the $5 million "investment" of taxpayer dollars.

This also raises concerns about what type of due diligence the Trudeau Liberal government does before handing out taxpayer money for a photo op.

This year, the Trudeau Liberals also announced they will "give Volkswagen up to $13 billion in subsidies over the next decade as part of a deal to ensure the automaker builds its electric-vehicle battery plant in southern Ontario," as reported by the CBC.

The Leader of the Official Opposition, Pierre Poilievre, pointed out in response, "This money belongs to Canadians. Not to a foreign corporation. Not to Justin Trudeau. How much of Canadians' money is he giving to this foreign corporation?"

The Liberals defend this spending by claiming it will be a good deal for Canadians because of the long-term jobs and economic benefits.

However, in 2020, the Trudeau Liberals made similar promises when they provided $173 million to a Quebec-based drug manufacturer supposedly developing a COVID vaccine. The parent company of this facility, the Mitsubishi Chemical Group, announced in February of 2023 that the plant in Quebec would be closing. It is unclear what the status is of the $173 million in taxpayer-provided funding.

The same goes for a $125 million deal the Trudeau Liberal government announced in a partnership with the Maryland-based drug manufacturer Novavax, which, in March of this year, also stated it has "substantial doubt" about its ability to survive here in Canada.

My question this week is:

What are your views on government subsidies for private, for-profit corporations?

You can contact me at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca or call toll-free 1-800-665-8711.

​As I write this week's report from Ottawa, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the public sector union representing most of Canada's federal government workers, has announced that it is going on strike.

The key issues are reported to be wages and resistance from federal workers to return to the office instead of working from home.

The Trudeau Liberal government has publicly offered a 9% wage increase over three years. PSAC, however, has countered with a demand of 22.5% over three years.

With such a significant wage gap, it may take some time at the bargaining table to resolve this issue or find a path forward on returning to the office for work.

While this occurs, many government services, such as passport and immigration applications, will again be delayed.

Depending on the strike's duration, there may be delays in income tax refunds, and disruptions may occur at border crossings and other areas where federal workers are employed.

It should be noted that no worker enjoys going on strike.

For many, it disrupts household income as strike pay is often well below regular pay.

This situation is further challenging if a spouse is also on strike working in the public sector.

As some public sector workers have shared with me, wage gains can take several years to offset the income lost during a strike. For this reason and the public's impact,

I hope this strike is resolved quickly for all involved.

Another major topic making headlines in Ottawa this week is a bombshell report from CBC that the "Trudeau family vacationed with wealthy friends who donated to Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation" and that the "PM's New Year's trip to exclusive Jamaican locale cost taxpayers at least $160,000 for security and staff."

This comes after another recent bombshell news report that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stayed in a $6,000 per-night hotel suite while attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth.

What is unusual about the $6,000 per night hotel room stay is that PM Trudeau was asked about this multiple times in Question Period.

Despite knowing he was the one who stayed in this $6,000 per night hotel room, he refused to admit this fact under direct questioning.

On a different topic, and one that is not making many headlines in Ottawa, is news that the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities (TRAN) has recently released a report recommending many changes to the Trudeau Liberals' failed air passenger rights framework.

There are 21 recommendations, including larger financial penalties for airlines and a more efficient process for compensation claims consisting of automatic payouts for travellers who encountered significant flight delays.

Another significant change would be to place the burden of proof on airlines to document why compensation should not be provided.

My question this week is, have you encountered a situation where your air travel was significantly disrupted, and if so, was the existing air passenger bill of rights helpful in resolving the problem?

Reach me at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca or call toll-free at 1-800-665-8711.

For many decades, Canada has embraced and welcomed newcomers, and the country has long benefited from its immigration policies, regardless of which government is in power. 

However, there is growing evidence and concern that the immigration system may be failing to meet its objectives of serving national interests and providing new Canadians with the resources and opportunities they need to integrate into Canadian society fully.

A recent CBC story highlighted the significant backlog in processing federal work permits for asylum seekers, leaving them unable to work and facing severe financial hardship, compounded by high housing costs and a lack of affordable housing.

Meanwhile, there are employers throughout Canada who cannot obtain enough workers, and the federal government has proposed to add hundreds of thousands of new permanent residents in the coming years to address labour market needs.

However, welcoming near-record levels of new Canadians presents a challenge: these new citizens need affordable housing, schools, doctors, daycare, and other services.

While Ottawa sets the immigration levels, it is up to provinces and local governments to try and fill the housing demand this creates.

Moreover, many immigrants are underemployed, while many professions and trades require more labour, and foreign credentials are not easily recognized in many areas of the Canadian economy.

All of these problems are occurring in an environment where the overall size of the federal public service has increased, and the use of private consultants has surged.

Despite record spending and huge increases in the size of the federal public service, the Trudeau Liberal government is failing to deliver meaningful results that Canadians, and in particular newly arrived Canadians, depend on.

In summary, I believe it is crucial to ensure that immigration policies serve national interests and provide new Canadians with the supports and chances they need to join into Canadian society fully.

​My question this week is:

Do you agree?

I can be reached at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca or toll-free at 1-800-665-8711.

​In early January of this year, I reported on concerns regarding the significant increase in the use of private consultants by the Trudeau Liberal government.

When first elected to our country's highest office in 2015, Prime Minister Trudeau promised to reduce the use of external consultants to save billions (as reported by the National Post). However, as I pointed out in my January MP report, the Trudeau Liberal Government has increased the use of private consultants by close to 60% since 2015.

This week, the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) released a new report on the overall size of the Federal Government: "Full-Time Equivalents in the Federal Public Service – 2023-24 Departmental Plans".

Despite the significant increase in the use of private consultants, the PBO has revealed that the overall size of the federal public government has increased from roughly 340,000 full-time equivalents (FTE) in 2014/15 to 413,000 FTEs in 2021-2022.

The 2023-24 departmental plans indicate that the number of FTEs is projected to reach 428,000 in 2022-23, representing an increase of 23,000 full-time people compared to the departmental plans from the previous year.

Interestingly, the long-term departmental plan forecasts that the federal public service will be reduced to 400,000 FTEs in 2025-26; however, the PBO has pointed out that "current plans do not include additional FTEs that will likely result from new measures announced by the Government in Budget 2023".

In terms of costs, as CBC recently reported, "Ottawa is projected to spend about $151 billion more next year than it did in 2014-15, the year before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his party won government in November."

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's budget projects total expenses will be $496.9 billion in 2023-24 when there's no extraordinary pandemic-related spending. And under Freeland's current plan, spending will increase in the years to come. 

Her budget projects spending will reach $555.7 billion in 2027-28.

For context, this level of spending now exceeds sixteen percent of Canada's GDP, the highest it has been in over three decades, given that the Liberal Government no longer projects any return to a balanced budget and has abandoned all fiscal guardrails.

Since federal income tax returns are due on May 1st, 2023, many Canadians will know how much of their household income will go to Ottawa this year.

My question to you:

Is your household getting good value for the increased spending under Prime Minister Trudeau?

Please reach me at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca or call toll-free 1-800-665-8711.