Recently I have been overwhelmed by citizens asking what can be summarized by the following question:

“Is it true that Statistics Canada is demanding access to certain Canadians personal financial and banking information, including all transactions along with bank account balances without citizens’ consent or even notification that this is going on?”.

When news of this potential sharing of your personal financial information with Ottawa bureaucrats first broke (full credit to Global News) the Official Opposition immediately began hearing very serious concerns, even outrage, from many Canadians.

This was similar to what occurred when it was announced the Liberal Government was going to claw back employee discounts and treat them as taxable benefits. 

In that case when the Official Opposition raised these concerns, the Liberals announced it was a policy directive that was not signed off by the Minister and would not go forward.

Our hopeful expectation was this might be a similar situation. 

Unfortunately in question period this week Prime Minister Trudeau has confirmed that he fully supports your personal banking information being shared with Ottawa bureaucrats without either your consent, or your knowledge.

The Prime Minister has stated that he believes your data will remain secure. The fact that you have not consented to your financial data being shared and that you will not be  notified that your banking information has been taken is perfectly acceptable and is something he supports.

On Thursday my opposition colleague MP Candice Bergen presented over 800 pages of government documents showing hundreds of incidents of privacy breaches affecting thousands of citizens over the past 19 months.

Fortunately on October 31st,  the Privacy Commissioner announced he will launch an formal investigation into these proposed actions from Statistics Canada.

In my view, this is not 1984. No government should be using Orwellian techniques to harvest your personal private banking information.

Your personal financial information belongs to you and you have a right to know when it is being accessed and for what purpose. 

The Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and our Official Opposition caucus do not support this Liberal supported assault on your personal financial privacy. 

My question this week is a simple one: 

Do you? 

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

  

​This week you may have seen or heard media reports regarding a carbon tax rebate plan announced by the Trudeau Liberal Government.

What is this new carbon tax rebate plan?

The Federal Liberal Government has mandated a national carbon tax to be implemented across Canada allowing individual Provinces and Territories some flexibility to set the parameters of how this carbon tax program will be implemented.

As an example, here in British Columbia, a carbon tax has been in place since 2008. The Provincial NDP Government has announced it will continue to increase this carbon tax to meet the federal standard set by Prime Minister Trudeau.

Other provinces, most notably Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick have either openly refused a carbon tax or have enacted other environmental policies that Mr.Trudeau has decided do not meet his carbon tax threshold.

In these four provinces (and these four provinces only) residents will soon be getting annual carbon tax rebates from the federal government. 

In Manitoba the rebate is $336, Ontario is $300, NB is $248 and Saskatchewan the yearly rebate is $598. 

In British Columbia the rebate is zero.

One local citizen recently shared with me that this Liberal carbon tax policy essentially rewards provinces who have rejected the Liberals carbon tax. 

An interesting observation.

In my view, this Liberal rebate is an admission that their national carbon tax is not truly revenue neutral and that people will pay more in costs related to the carbon tax.  

The intent in these four provinces, according to the Liberals, is to return a larger carbon tax rebate than what the Liberals calculate citizens in these provinces will pay in increased carbon taxes. 

In other words, the Liberals are suggesting that if you live in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario or New Brunswick you will make money and come out ahead after paying a carbon tax. 

This same carbon tax credit, that will be implemented through income tax returns, will also apply to the territories. 

In August the Trudeau Liberals also lowered the amount of carbon tax that some of Canada’s largest polluters will pay as a result of “competiveness” concerns as many of Canada’s largest trading partners do not have a national carbon tax.

It should also be noted that the recently negotiated USMCA trade agreement between Canada, USA and Mexico is also silent on the subject of a North American carbon tax meaning that competiveness concerns will remain.

My question this week: 

Do you believe government claims that you will come out ahead financially after paying increased taxes?

I can be reached at dan.albas@parl.gc.ca or at 1-800-665-8711. 

​Back in June of this year the National Energy Board reported that crude oil-by-rail exports from Canada set a new record of 204,558 barrels per day. 

Industry analysts predict that by the end of this year, oil exports could increase to 300,000 barrels. 

The International Energy Agency has predicted that by the end of 2019 Canadian oil by rail exports could hit 390,000 barrels a day with the potential to possibly hit peak levels of as much as 590,000 barrels. 

For some added context, in 2012 the shipment of oil by rail was roughly 30,000 barrels of oil per day. 

I mention these things because the efforts to block the Trans Mountain pipeline have been successful to date and have only served to increased shipment by rail, a less environmentally efficient option.

At the same time the production of oil in Alberta continues to increase.

Currently oil production is on pace to hit 5.6 million barrels per day by 2035, an increase of over 30% to current production levels. In the absence of increased pipeline capacity it is clear why oil by rail exports will only continue to increase.

Aside from the logistical challenges, there is also the current inability to access new markets that are willing to pay more for Canadian oil then is currently the case with exporting to the United States. 

Industry experts predict that roughly $1 billion a month is being lost in potential increased revenue from accessing new markets.

As many will know the Federal Liberal Government has paid $4.5 Billion to purchase the existing Trans Mountain pipeline and has repeatedly stated it will spend an additional $7-9 billion to build the expanded project. 

Currently the project remains at an impasse with no clear deadline being set by the Government for completion let alone construction.

What if there was another way? 

Independent Senator Doug Black has tabled a private members bill in the Senate. 

Bill S-245 “An Act to declare the Trans Mountain Pipeline Project and related works to be for the general advantage of Canada”. 

As many know, the BC NDP Government has been making efforts to block the Trans-Mountain pipeline. 

Bill S-245 proposes that the authority of class 29 of section 91 and paragraph (c) of class 10 of section 92 of the Constitution Act, 1867 to be used to declare this project necessary for the general advantage of Canada.

This bill passed in the Senate and is before the House of Commons this week. 

Given that the Prime Minister has repeatedly stated that the Trans-Mountain project is in Canada’s national interests, it will be interesting to see if the Liberals support this Senate bill going forward.

My question this week:.

Do you support Senate Bill S-245 and the intent to declare this project necessary for the general advantage of Canada? 

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

With so much Canadian media reporting on the recent appointment of a US Supreme Court Justice, many Canadian stories tend to get lost in the shuffle. 

One of the stories that I suspect few have heard about is the progress of the Trudeau Liberals vaunted $35 Billion Infrastructure Bank.

I first raised my concerns about this bank when it was introduced by the Liberals in 2016.

I questioned the move to develop yet another expensive federally funded agency where none was needed. In a subsequent MP report in 2017, I raised the concern that the Infrastructure Bank doesn’t actually build any infrastructure. 

The Liberal Government has stated that the purpose of the Infrastructure Bank is to attract international investors who would invest privately and ultimately build infrastructure here in Canada.

This raises the question as to where the Infrastructure Bank is today, in late 2018. 

CBC recently reported the Infrastructure Bank has only been involved in one project since it was created.  

The project in question is committing a $1.28 billion loan to help build a $6.3 billion transit project in Montreal.

What is interesting about this particular project in Montreal is that it in no way was instigated by the Infrastructure Bank.

This Montreal light rail project was already in progress before the Infrastructure Bank was created.

Another interesting aspect to the Montreal light rail project is that it is being constructed by a French construction firm with the rail cars being built in India.

That single project aside, my earlier concerns about the Infrastructure Bank being an expensive and unnecessary waste remain.

Access to information requests have revealed some staggering costs to run this new Infrastructure Bank. 

Almost $11.4 Million has been spent on salaries, compensation and other administration expenses while close to another $ 1.4 million has been spent on capital expenses.

To recap, the Liberal Government has now spent close to $12.8 million on the Infrastructure Bank.

That is $12.8 million that could have been spent building actual infrastructure that is instead paying for expensive administration.

On a different note, earlier this week the Liberal Government announced it was providing $1.44 million towards a “near net zero” private grocery store in an Liberal Cabinet Minister’s riding in Ontario.

This project was not funded through the Infrastructure Bank but rather through Natural Resources Canada.

My question this week is do you believe the Infrastructure Bank is a good investment of $35 billion in tax dollars or is it an expensive, wasteful and unnecessary abuse of resources?

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

This week Canadians learned that a draft agreement has been reached between the United States, Mexico and Canada with ongoing renegotiation of the NAFTA deal. 

The new agreement, subject to ratification is called the United States, Mexico and Canada Agreement otherwise referred to as the USMCA.

This agreement involved a significant number of concessions from Canada from the previous NAFTA agreement.

Some of those concessions are listed down below.

Dairy: the United States received increased access to the Canadian dairy sector- roughly 3.6%. The Liberal Government has promised it will compensate Canadian dairy farmers for their losses.

Auto sector: Canada has agreed to a maximum number of vehicles that can be produced in Canada (2.6 Million) and be exported to the United States without duty. As well, to avoid duties, 75% of the parts used in the manufacture of the vehicles, must originate from USMCA partner countries. 

Drugs: Canada has agreed to extend patent protections for biological pharmaceutical drugs to 10 years. This change is widely expected to increase the cost of some prescription drugs.

Copyright Laws: Canada has agreed to extend the terms of a copyright from 50 years up to 70 years. A change that many experts have called a “capitation on Canada’s copyright policy”.

De Minimis: this is a term that represents the amount of goods a person can bring across the border without being hit by duties.The basic exemption when crossing the border in person will increase to $40 of US goods up from the current $20. For online shipment (e-commerce) the level is increased to $150 CAD.

Trade autonomy: one more alarming concession that has many concerned in Ottawa is language that may restrict Canada's ability to negotiate a trade deal with a "non-market" country, for example, China. This is an emerging topic requiring more clarification.

BC Wine: on a topic closer to home another concession is that BC Grocery stores current selling only BC wines will be required to also sell wines from the United States…a problem that many thought could occur and made their concerns known when this provincial program was first put into place.

What has not changed is that an independent arbitration panel will still be used in the event there is a trade dispute. Many view preserving this as one of the few key wins for Canada in this new agreement that shall have a 16 year expiry date with an option to renew for another 16 year term.

Things not addressed in the new USMCA:

United States tariffs on Canadian produced steel and aluminum remain in effect as do the punitive tariffs on Canadian

Softwood Lumber.

In addition the United States “Buy American” provisions also remain in effect.

Is this a good deal or a bad deal for Canada? 

That is the question for Canadians to decide upon and will also serve as my question for this week:

Do you think the many concessions that the Liberal government made, went too far or is this simply the price to be paid for a new North American trade agreement?

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