​This week Prime Minister Trudeau finally announced his new cabinet, after waiting over one month since the September election.

Not unlike what occurred under former Prime Minister Harper, the new cabinet announced yesterday by PM Trudeau is significantly larger with 39 members, one under 40 members, the largest that appointed  by Prime Minister Harper in 2015.

For contrast, the first cabinet announced by Prime Minister Harper in 2006 was just 26 members, likewise Prime Minister Trudeau’s first cabinet announced in 2015 was 31 members.

In total there are eight “rookies” in this new cabinet, and one former Minister returning, while two current Liberal MPs were dropped from the cabinet.

Unfortunately, we still must wait until November 22nd, 2021 before Prime Minister Trudeau recalls Parliament.

On a personal note, I am frustrated by the long wait for Parliament to return.

One reason for this relates to the expiry of Canada’s pandemic response benefit programs that occurred on October 23rd, 2021.

By now you have likely heard that the Liberal Government will not be renewing these programs as they previously existed, but instead have announced new assistance programs that will be more targeted.

The Liberal Government has further announced that these new programs will be more focused on incentivizing a return to work.

For the record I fully support the stated goal of the Liberal Government in this regard, however I believe this same principle should apply to Parliament and getting MPs back to work in Ottawa as well.

As is often the case with Government programs reading the fine print is always the key to ensuring the programs are working as intended and are accessible to those in need.

In this case the details of many of these programs require clarification and proper Parliamentary scrutiny and oversight is an important part of this process.

Another challenge with Parliament not sitting is that it limits the ability to raise issues of concern within the House of Commons.

One example of this is the continued closure of direct to the Kelowna Airport (YLW) international flights, in particular from the United States.

Recently I have heard from several in the accommodation and tourism sector who are literally losing tens of thousands of dollars of revenue as frequent customers from US destinations who are instead booking direct trips to other Canadian airports that have had their international flight status restored. 

As one small business owner recently vented in frustration – they do not want “government handouts” they simply want the opportunity to host their guests again.

They have also correctly pointed out this can save the government from providing expensive support programs.

My question this week:

Do you support the Kelowna Airport being re-opened to International flights as have been many other airports in Canada?

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

​It was in an October of 2018 MP Report that I referenced serious concerns raised by residents on news that Statistics Canada was demanding access to certain Canadians’ personal financial and banking information, including all transactions along with bank account balances, without their consent.

At that time, Prime Minister Trudeau made it clear that he supported Ottawa bureaucrats having access to this personal financial information.

The Prime Minister also stated that Statistics Canada was actively engaged with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in that data gathering effort.

We later discovered that the Privacy Commissioner had no idea Statistics Canada wanted this data from 500,000 Canadian households.

The Privacy Commissioner further stated that Statistics Canada was falling “way short” of its stated objective of being transparent.

It was also revealed that the Minister at the time was not notified of this Stats Canada data gathering effort, as is required under legislation.

Fortunately, this plan was halted.

I bring this up because an Ottawa based journalism outlet “Blacklock’s Reporter” has just revealed, through an access to information request, that the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has recently been involved in a data gathering effort again involving your personal financial records.

According to Blacklock’s “nearly nine million mortgage holders” had their “Data obtained without borrowers’ informed consent” including  “personal income, municipal addresses, credit scores and household debts even for homeowners who were not CMHC customers.”

The report further states that, once again, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner was never consulted on this data gathering effort.

When this similar situation occurred in 2018 with Stats Canada, Parliament was in session and we, as the Official Opposition, were able to ask questions of both the Minister and Prime Minister to hold the government accountable.

Unfortunately, we learned recently that the Prime Minister does not intend to recall Parliament until Monday, November 22nd.

Well over a month away from today and over two months since the September election.

This leads to my question for this week:

Do you believe two months to recall Parliament after an election is a reasonable period of time or should this occur within a shorter time frame?

I can be reached at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca or call toll free 1-800-663-8711.

Normally the House of Commons is back in session during the third week in September, meaning we would be well into the fall session by now.

Obviously with Prime Minister Trudeau having called an election on September 20th, the normal Parliamentary cycle was delayed.

Recently I have been increasingly asked the question when will the new Parliament be up and running in Ottawa? 

For some context, the 2015 general election that was held on Monday, Oct. 19th and just over two weeks later on November 4th, Prime Minister Trudeau announced his cabinet and the new Parliament resumed roughly one month after that on December 3rd with a Throne Speech being heard on December 4th.

We are now three weeks past the September 20th election and I would expect the PM to announce his cabinet within the next week, with Parliament likely returning with a Throne Speech sometime potentially as late as December.

It also should be noted that the first action of Parliament, once it returns, is to elect a new Speaker. 

Opposition parties will also be announcing who their critics will be as well as their House administration officers such as the House Leader and Whip.

The reason why I am often asked when will the new Parliament begin sitting relates to another question I am also receiving frequently that relates to the Canadian Recovery Benefit (CRB) program that replaced the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program.

Currently the CRB, much like Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and Canada’s other pandemic relief benefit programs are set to expire on October 23, 2021.

Many Canadians are awaiting news as to what will become of these programs.

While there have been hints that discussions around extending these benefits are being held, no conclusive statement has emerged from the Trudeau Government.

From my perspective, I would expect the Prime Minister would have a new cabinet in place ASAP and the fate on the future of these programs would be a priority topic of discussion.

With Statistics Canada announcing that Canada’s unemployment rate has now reached pre-pandemic levels, some are suggesting these programs should be wound down.

As the National Post recently reported on October 9th:

“A chorus of business, academic and political voices wants an end to the CRB once and for all, claiming it's hindering productivity and worsening labour shortages…”

My question this week:

What do you think should happen with Canada’s pandemic recovery programs on October 23?

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

​Before I begin this week’s report, I would like to confirm that my long-standing policy of not commenting on the personal decisions of other Members of Parliament remains. 

Thus I will not be commenting on Prime Minister Trudeau’s vacation trip to Tofino on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation last week.

Instead, I will pass on the Prime Minister’s comments:

“Travelling on September 30th was a mistake and I regret it” as the PM apologized for his actions in this matter.

Another announcement from Ottawa this week are further details and clarification on the Federal Government’s mandatory vaccination plan for domestic air, sea and train travel. 

Starting on October 30th, 2021, all travelers will be required to be fully vaccinated before boarding planes, trains or marine vessels that are federally regulated.

At this point in time, I am told this will not apply to BC Ferries.

Also all members of the federal public service, including organizations such as the RCMP, CBSA, Canada Post and others, will be expected to have similar mandatory vaccination policies in place. 

The Prime Minister has indicated that criteria will be announced regarding exemptions for medical or religious reasons by the end of October.

At the time of my writing this report, both the House of Commons and Senate will be required to implement their own mandatory vaccination policies, although MPs and Senators will not be exempt from the travel restrictions without a valid exemption.

In the interests of full disclosure, I am fully vaccinated and encourage others to be fully vaccinated if they are not already.

My question this week:

Do you support these mandatory vaccination policies? 

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