Last week was the final sitting of the House of Commons before the winter break.

As is often the case, the government is typically in a hurry to pass certain bills before the House adjourns.
 
This year was no different as Bill C-3 “An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code” was deemed a priority as it contained a provision to provide 10 days of paid sick leave in federally regulated workplaces.
 
In a majority situation, a sitting government  always has parliamentary tools available such as “closure” and “time allocation” to essentially force a bill through Parliament.
 
However, in a minority Parliament where a sitting government can be outvoted by the opposition parties, it becomes trickier for the government to pass a bill.
 
This is often where backroom deals and agreements are made between the government and one or more opposition parties.
 
In the case of Bill C-3, in the effort to reach an agreement between the government and the official opposition, a different approach was used.

In this case my Conservative colleague, MP Scott Aitchison from Parry Sound-Muskoka, proposed amending Bill C-3 to include a proposed Conservative MPs private members bill that would provide bereavements benefits to parents who have lost a child.

This Private Members Bill was authored by MP Tom Kmiec from Calgary- Shepard who, in 2018 sadly experienced the loss of a child and proposed this bill to help other parents in this tragic situation.

For this proposal from MP Scott Aitchison to work, it required support from the Liberal Government. On that note Liberal Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan from St. John’s South-Mount Pearl, was the champion on moving this important proposal forward within the Liberal Government. 

Ultimately this agreement reached between the government and the official opposition helped pave the way for Bill C-3 to have an expediated passage through Parliament.

Subsequently the Senate has also now passed Bill C-3 and this bill has received royal assent.

The reason I have shared this experience is because it is an important example of our Canadian Parliament working together to benefit Canadians.

As MP Aitchison pointed out “no parent should have to choose between going to work and mourning the loss of a child”.

Thanks to the efforts of these Parliamentarians, this private member’s bill is now part of a Government Bill that has become law.

These are some of the important things that can and do occur when Parliament is sitting (virtually or in person) when MPs are doing the work in the House that Canadians elected us to do.

Unfortunately, in the past few years because of prorogation and this early fall election and significant delay in recalling the House after our Parliament has not sat nearly as often as per the usual Parliamentary calendar.

Regular demonstrations of accountability such as debate on bills, Ministers presenting themselves and their policies open to scrutiny at committee and ultimately confidence votes are all fundamental to our system of responsible government- where a government must show maintains the confidence of the House.

I believe we need our Canadian Parliament to sit more frequently as has been the case in previous years but has deteriorated considerably under the current government

My question this week:

Are you concerned about our Parliament sitting less frequently? 

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

This week will be the last week the House of Commons sits before the winter break.

It is frustrating as the House of Commons only began sitting less than a month ago, on November 22.
The House will resume on Monday, January 31st.

Much of the work that has been done over the past few weeks involved electing a new Speaker and establishing parliamentary committees, while only a limited number of government bills have come before the House.

However, one important event that did occur this week was a “fiscal update” from the government. 

What is a “fiscal update”?

In the absence of a properly tabled budget, a fiscal update provides an opportunity for the government to reveal our fiscal status, as well as announce and introduce budgetary measures that were not in the previous budget.

By the numbers in the 2021/22 fiscal update, this year’s deficit is forecast to hit $144.5 billion.

While that is an incredibly large number, it is actually down from the $154.7 Billion forecast that was in the previous budget.

On the surface there is other positive news.

The fiscal update shows the deficit declining for the next five years being reduced to $13.1 billion in 2026/27.

However, I mention “on the surface” because this fiscal update contained very few of the many Liberal election promises that are expected to be released in the upcoming budget in the spring of 2022.

There was also new spending measures announced in this fiscal update.

In total there is COVID related spending of roughly $13 billion. 

The includes $3.3 billion that was just announced in this update to expand rapid tests and enact other measures such as border testing and tracking.

For British Columbia there has been $5 billion set aside in this budget update to assist with clean up and rebuilding form the flooding.

There has also been $4.5 billion allocated towards costs related toward the Omicron variant and a total of $4 billion to provide support to indigenous communities. 

From my perspective there are a few areas for concern.

Much of this forecast will be significantly changed once the Liberal budget is introduced where there will be newly announced spending measures.

There may also be newly announced taxation measurers.

The challenge with any new taxation measures is that, with rising inflation (currently at 4.7% here in Canada), your net after tax income has less buying power.

If taxes are increased that further lowers your net income that combined with taxation means many households have less money to buy basic necessities. 

For those on a fixed income, inflation is very challenging. 

Another challenge this fiscal update illustrates is the cost of debt servicing.

The interest that we pay on our public debt for 2020/21 is $20.4 billion. 

By 2026/27 these interest costs are forecast to rise to $40.9 Billion.

For context the Canada Health Transfer today is $45.9 Billion and is forecast to rise to $55.2 billion in 2026/27.

In other words, over the next five years the cost to service our debt is doubling and increasing at a rate faster than our health transfers are increasing.

​My question this week:

Are you concerned about the rising costs of inflation?

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

​Earlier this week many saw the media headline “Trudeau announces Boycott of Beijing Olympics” 

This early headline led to some confusion before subsequent media headlines clarified: “Canada announces diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics, athletes will still compete”.

There was only a brief period of time where some confusion existed, however what was interesting, is that when athletes were thought to be part of this boycott, many citizens had strong views and were keen to share them.

When it was later clarified the boycott was only diplomatic in nature and did not include athletes the comments quieted down significantly.

The few comments I have now heard back locally range from “what is a diplomatic boycott” to “why does anyone care if diplomats attend or not?".

While this remains a significant topic of discussion in Ottawa it is not one I am hearing locally.

If anything, this serves as a reminder just how quickly the focus of Ottawa can change from day to day. 

My focus remains back on communities like Princeton and Merritt as well as the surrounding rural and Indigenous communities.

With winter conditions now in effect, the clean up and rebuilding is much more challenging.

The impacts of flood damage to our highway system has resulted in significant commercial truck traffic on Highway 3, which in turn has led to more accidents on this highway which leads to additional emergency road closures. 

At this time it is still unknown if regular traffic will be allowed on this route that is currently restricted to essential travelling only.

That is also having an impact on families as connected communities are no longer connected.

This is also not an ideal situation for truckers.

For many who could make a trip from the coast to the interior and return in a single shift, that is no longer possible. 

Overnight trips are now normal in many cases and that can be increased if an accident results in further delays. 

Those travelling via air, for a variety of different reasons, are finding higher fees as well as new and significant restrictions that are changing frequently and with little notice because of the new omicron covid variant.

To make this situation more challenging, the border staff are sometimes not up to speed on government policy changes resulting in many unfortunate and unfair incidents.

I appreciate the efforts of Ministers and their staff who have been assisting my office on behalf of local citizens who have found themselves in demanding circumstances. 

I also know that there is anger out there.

As an elected official I hear frequently from citizens who are unhappy with how government services at different levels have responded to these various situations. 

It is in my view it is appropriate that elected officials hear your concerns when government services are not meeting your expectations. 

I mention this because it is critically important that frustration and anger should not be taken out on front line staff who are doing the best that they can in very challenging situations. 

Let us not forget that many front-line service providers and emergency responders are also facing some of the very same challenges in their personal lives.

My question this week:

What is your greatest local concern at this time? 

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

​At the time of writing this week’s report Merritt, Princeton and the surrounding areas, including Indigenous communities in these regions, are once again threatened by heavy rainfalls that has resulted in more evacuation orders being issued.

I am certain all Canadians join me in expressing our strong support to those have been severely impacted by these devastating floods.

Already, with some clean up underway, local governments in both Merritt and Princeton, as well as nearby Indigenous communities, have reported damage that is easily in the tens of millions.

Here in Canada, we have a federal program called the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA).

It lays out the terms of federal assistance that is available to provincial and territorial governments in the event of a disaster. 

As a rough guideline for a per capita expenditure up to $3.27 per person there is no federal financial assistance available.

For per capital expenditures that exceed that amount, the first $6.56 per capita will result in the federal cost share being raised to 50% while the next $6.56 increases the federal share up to 75% and any amount over that is a 90% federal cost share.

The federal cost share will only apply to eligible expenditures.

The first challenge is that these federal funds can only be directly paid to provincial or territorial governments and cannot be paid directly to local governments.

Due to the federal program being limited to provincial or territorial governments, this results in a secondary provincial disaster program for local governments being required.

Here in B.C. the provincial program is called the “Disaster Financial Assistance for local communities”.

This program works differently from the federal program in that once a disaster is declared that in turn makes it eligible for the program funding, each accepted claim has a maximum cost sharing limit of 80 percent of the total eligible damage, less the first $1,000.

The issue for small communities like Merritt and Princeton is that, with damages in the tens of millions of dollars and a very small tax base, there is absolutely no ability to fund the required 20% of the critically required repairs and rebuilding of civic infrastructure. 

This creates a situation where local Mayors and Council are facing extremely difficult decisions with bills piling up that are not in the budget and well beyond communities’ abilities to pay for them.

This is one of the serious concerns that the Mayors of these communities have shared with me and in turn I directly asked the Prime Minister about in the House of Commons earlier this week. 

When I asked the Prime Minister about this, the answer I received was basically “the Federal Government will be there”. 

What does this mean?

Statutorily, through legislation, the Federal Government is already obligated to “be there” to provide disaster assistance.

However, when it comes to municipalities, the unaffordable 20% funding requirement remains in effect.

Unless there is a new definition from the federal government to what “being there” of “having the backs” of these communities means the current disaster funding formula remains in effect and is insufficient. 

Which brings me to my question for you this week:

Do you believe the Federal Government should address the 20% disaster funding requirement for local communities such as Merritt and Princeton, who have been devastated by these floods? 

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