If you ever get a chance to view the Senate Chamber on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, you should definitely take the opportunity. It looks a lot grander than the House of Commons, what with the expensive paintings, thrones, and statues and such. It almost reminds you of a medieval-style court.

And, in a sense, that’s exactly what it is. The senate is a relic from the past that is doing nothing these days but obstructing legislation and keeping Canadian governments from delivering on their mandates to govern.

And being stacked with Liberals (60 of the current 91 sitting senators are Liberal), that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.

The Senate of Canada, in its current state is unelected, unaccountable and obstructionist.

But this fact begs the question, “Why would a democratic country like Canada allow such an institution to be in existence?� The Canadian Parliamentary system is based almost entirely off of the British system, and their version of the Senate is referred to as the House of Lords.

In the early days of the Parliamentary system, the House of Commons was elected by the lowly serfs, and the House of Lords was appointed by the ruling monarch. The House of Lords could stop any legislation passed by the House of Commons, and even table their own legislation.

Typically, the House of Lords was always filled with – as the name implies – the nobility of the British Isles. These Lords were put above the House of Commons to accomplish one thing: to keep the lowly serfs from passing any laws that would harm the nobility, or compromise their agenda.

And lo and behold, that tradition still continues to this day.

Senators are appointed to the Senate by the Governor General, albeit on the advice of the current Prime Minister, to sit in the senate for…how long? Oh right – until they reach the age of 75. Senators are not democratically elected; nor do they have any constituents with which to be accountable to.

Not only that, they have to be nobles too! Well, not really. But it is in fact LAW that to become a senator one MUST own over $175,000 in both land and assets.

It’s no wonder that the senate is stacked with Liberals, what with the 13 years of Liberal Prime Ministers and all. But before people start calling the Conservatives hypocrites; please take note of how many senators that have been appointed by this Conservative Prime Minister over the course of these past two and a half years: All of two.

That’s an average of one senator a year!

One of which was appointed only after he was elected, and the other is the current Minister of Public Works and Government Services.

There are also currently 14 Senate positions that Mr. Harper could appoint, but has refused to do based on principle.

But it is truly astounding at how much arrogance that the Liberal Party has to not only boycott democratic votes in the House of Commons, but to then block the legislation that is passed in the unaccountable and unelected Senate which they control.

I am sick of the unelected and the unaccountable dictating to Canadians what laws that their representatives can and cannot pass.

It’s time to reform this relic of the past and make it truly accountable to Canadians – the way that it should be in the modern day.

See you next month!

Nick Switalski
Niagara West-Glanbrook Conservative EDA

A few days ago I got a piece of unsolicited mail in my mailbox. Now normally I’d just toss it into my recycling bin as per my normal routine with random mail fliers, but the picture on the front of this particular piece caught my eye.

On the front of this mailing was a milk carton with a picture of Liberal MP Mark Holland on its front. The caption below it read: “Have you seen this man?�

Being the political buff that I am I of course did, but on the back of the flier I got the feel of what exactly the point of the piece was. Typed out on the back of flier were several lines that read: “Vote on Bill C-2; MISSING� “Vote on Bill C-50; MISSING�. Amongst other things of course, and at the bottom it read: “Last Seen: Collecting six-figure MP salary�.

This jogged my memory of exactly how often half (or more) of the Liberal Party of Canada’s caucus has not shown up for a vote in the House of Commons. These members of the Liberal Party, who were elected by the people of Canada, are proving to us on an almost daily basis how far they are willing to go to serve their constituents (or not serve them, as the case may be).

As if the previous millions of dollars stolen from Canadians in the sponsorship scandal was not enough, Liberal MPs are now showing their true colors by not even showing up for work in the morning, and continuing to collect their taxpayer-funded salaries.

If I were not an already well-established Conservative, this clear disregard for the importance of the democratic and representation process in Canada by the Liberal Party would certainly make me one. In a general election, Canadians across the country elect their Member of Parliament to represent how they feel on important national issues.

Our representative for Niagara West-Glanbrook for example, Conservative Member of Parliament Dean Allison, is on the record for daily standing up in the House of Commons and voting on issues that matter to his constituents.

The Conservative Party of Canada has never had its caucus avoid coming to a vote in the House of Commons for any reason. If their votes trigger a national election over an issue – then clearly we need to have an election if there is that amount of disagreement over it.

That is where the voice of all Canadians comes in.

A federal election is where all Canadians get to choose whether or not they want their Member of Parliament to stand up to represent their beliefs, or to vote in a Member who will intentionally miss votes in Parliament to further his or her own agenda.

See you next month!

Nick Switalski
Niagara West-Glanbrook Conservative EDA

Way back when I wrote my first column, I spoke about the tax cuts that the Conservative Government had recently made.

Now I’m back writing about how the Liberal Opposition wants to raise the GST back to 7% and Stéphane Dion’s newly proposed HUGE carbon tax!

And by HUGE, I do indeed mean HUGE. Why the caps lock, you ask? Because this new tax will not only apply to gasoline, it will also apply to the cost of electricity, heating fuel and everything that we buy in the grocery store.

Transportation costs will increase because of surging prices at the pump – aren’t they high enough already? – and my grocery bill will skyrocket! Mind you, I’d best be careful about the volume of my opposition; less they try and tax me for exhaling too much.

This Dion Tax Trick will hurt everybody. Absolutely everybody – and if you think that it doesn’t apply to you, feel free to answer the following: Do you mow your lawn? Do you buy groceries? Do you buy clothing? Do you perhaps use electricity to power your home in any way?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then prepare to start paying much higher bills thanks to this Tax Trick if – God forbid – Stéphane Dion ever takes power.

This Tax Trick is a prime example of Stéphane Dion’s inability to make priorities. For example, let’s see what he has had to say about HIS OWN TAX in the past: “A carbon tax is less effective than a carbon market at reducing emissions…this is simply bad policy.� (Stéphane Dion’s Liberal Leadership Platform. Building a Sustainable Future for Canada).

Seriously, look it up. It’s in there.

Tax Tricks have been tried before. Income tax was supposed to be a “temporary� measure to pay for the First World War. Gas taxes were supposed to fund roads. And heath “premiums� were supposed to pay for health care. When politicians get away with Tax Tricks, you pay more. Permanently. It’s that simple.

At the next election, Canadians will face a clear, one-time choice that will decide the taxation policy of the next government: More tax, or less tax?

Ultimately, it’s up to the people.

See you next month!

Nick Switalski
Niagara West-Glanbrook Conservative EDA

Stéphane Dion has a serious spending problem. He has made tens of billions of dollars in non-budgeted spending promises to various special interest groups.

He has never provided Canadians with the faintest idea as to how he would pay for all of this irresponsible spending.

Until now.

As more details get leaked out about Stéphane Dion’s proposed new ‘carbon tax’ and the great lengths the Liberals are going to conceal the real nature of this tax from the public, it is clear that Mr. Dion is trying to trick Canadians into paying a permanent new tax in order to raise colossal sums of revenue.

The only question that remains is: will Canadians let themselves be tricked?

That is very doubtful. Canadians have seen this movie before.


They are used to politicians promising taxes that are temporary, dedicated or revenue-neutral only to be slapped with new, higher and permanent taxes that fuel even more out-of-control spending.

When politicians without priorities, like Stéphane Dion, use weasel words like “green shift� to describe their tax plans, Canadians can be certain that their taxes would ‘shift’ in one direction only: up.

Canadians are not naïve. They will not be fooled by Liberal word games and phony green packaging. The public has caught on to Mr. Dion’s real “tax shifting� plans. The Dion Carbon Tax is nothing less than a permanent new tax that will destroy jobs and drive up the cost of gas, electricity and everything else Canadians buy.

Stéphane Dion is definitely not a leader, and certainly not worth the risk.

Just recently, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the “Canada First� plan, the Conservative Government’s comprehensive 20 year vision to strengthen the Canadian Forces.

Specifically it is intended to strengthen our ability to protect Canadian sovereignty and defend our interests and priorities around the world. Included in the plan is an investment of $30 billion over the next 20 years.

FINALLY!

The Canadian Forces suffered, as retiring Chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier put it, “A decade of darkness� under the previous Liberal governments. Now the Conservatives have once again stepped up to the plate in their few short years in government to put the teeth back into our military.

This is not the first time that the Conservatives have made an effort to beef up the Canadian forces while in power, either. The Conservatives have launched initiatives to refit our aging fleet in the North, and ordered several new vessels to defend our sovereignty.

They have purchased several new C-17’s in order to build our capacity to quickly deploy aid anywhere in the world. For those who don’t know the C-17, it’s the massive plane that can ferry over 170,000 lb of ordinance, be it food, medical supplies, or even tanks around the globe.

And what would the use of these planes be without the tanks that they are able to carry? The Conservatives have also ensured that Canada has new state of the art Leopard class tanks through their lease of several dozen units from Germany.

And of course they are working side by side with the Canadian Forces staff in order to ensure that the Forces get what they need when they need it. This is something that the Liberals failed to do and even championed the gutting of the Canadian Forces in order to put the money into their own initiatives; see Gun Registry.

The recent “Canada First� defence plan has three clear priorities: Strengthening Canada’s ability to defend itself and securing our sovereignty, especially in the North; shouldering our fair burden of continental security as a part of NORAD and; contributing to global security in order to bring peace and prosperity to those less fortunate people around the world.

These recent investments by the Conservative government will go towards the purchasing of new, modern equipment so that the brave men and women of the Canadian Forces will have the equipment needed to get the job done.

Under the previous Liberal governments, Canada was left with a diminished ability to defend our sovereignty, and the voice of Canadians became a dim whisper on the World stage. Other countries simply did not take us seriously when we were too poorly equipped to take action while we pushed others to do so.

When it comes to protecting Canadians and others around the world, the choice is clear. Stephen Harper, Dean Allison, and the Conservative government are demonstrating real leadership for the benefit of all, and are delivering for us a stronger, safer, and better Canada.

See you next month!

Nick Switalski
Niagara West-Glanbrook Conservative EDA

A federal election this spring? I don’t think so.

Stéphane Dion’s weak leadership combined with the Liberals’ lack of performance in the House of Commons suggests that we’re not going to be having a federal election anytime soon.

A close examination of four recent by-elections across Canada helps illustrate this point.

The four by-election ridings were Liberal strongholds.

It was no surprise regarding decisive victories for the Liberals with star candidates Bob Rae in Toronto-Centre (Do Ontario voters not remember the Rae days?) and Martha Hall Findlay in Willowdale. It got far more interesting out West, with Dion’s hand-picked candidate, Ms. Joyce Murray in Vancouver Quadra, only narrowly defeating the Conservative candidate. The margin of victory was 151 votes.

The last of the four by-elections took place in Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, Saskatchewan, and saw a traditionally Liberal-held riding turn Conservative blue.

There are a few interesting points about these by-election results. First, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion resorts to appointing candidates (Martha Hall Findlay and Joyce Murray) in our Canadian democracy. Second, voter turnout for the by-elections averaged out to be 19% -- very disappointing. Lastly, when considering these by-election results, combined with the by-election results in Quebec -- the Liberals are not faring well.

The appointing of candidates to democratic constituencies to run in a federal election - does anyone else see the irony in that last line? The selection of candidates should be left to the people that they represent in a truly democratic form of representation.

That reminds me – the most qualified person should be given the job, in any respect, in government or otherwise. It should not matter what their gender is, or what their ethnicity is, or who their friends are – if someone of a different gender or ethnicity is more qualified for the job than another individual, then that person should get the job. End of story.

Voter turnout averaged at approximately 19% in these past by-elections – I’m glad to see that the other 81% of the people that didn’t vote don’t have opinions or issues that matter to them. An easier workload for their Representatives, you see.

If you don’t participate in the democratic process in this country - and there really is no excuse not to given that it is law that time be allocated to all during business hours in order to vote - then you lose your right to complain about the government that is elected into power.

Now for the good news: Liberal strongholds are starting to go blue across the country. I am very pleased that voters are beginning to realize that to vote for a party that is refusing to stand up for its own views in the House of Commons is hugely illogical. Abstaining on votes in the House of Commons and refusing to show up for others is not only irresponsible, but downright unforgivable in a democracy.

The Conservatives are people who are getting things done – even in a minority government situation. The Liberals are people who didn’t get it done in thirteen years, even with two consecutive majorities.

I think the choice is clear on which party deserves to govern in this country.

See you next month!

Nick Switalski
Niagara West-Glanbrook Conservative EDA

It’s not a fun time to be a Liberal Member of Parliament.

The escalating crisis in confidence the surrounds Stéphane Dion’s leadership has left the Liberal leader searching for friendly faces. Where can he turn for support in his caucus?

Can he turn to senior party members? On one side, he sees newly elected MPs Martha Hall Findlay and Bob Rae. These new additions, together with Michael Ignatieff, Scott Brison, Ken Dryden and Joe Volpe, mean that the benches of the Opposition are filled with former leadership rivals, salivating at the chance to fill his shoes.

What about support within the rank and file Liberal MPs?

Mr. Dion’s caucus is full of Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff supporters. His decision to demote Denis Coderre further undermined his relationship with the shrinking caucus from his own province.

His right-hand man, Ralph Goodale pressured him to hand-pick the candidate who lost a formerly Liberal Northern Saskatchewan riding in a by-election to the Conservatives. And the few remaining Liberal MPs in BC are more nervous than ever since the Conservatives nearly toppled the Liberals in Vancouver Quadra, formerly one of Canada’s safest Liberal seats.

While Liberal Members of Parliament still manufacture outrage for the spectacle of Question Period, more and more of them resent becoming a laughing stock after Mr. Dion has threatened to call an election time and again, only to back down and abstain each time.

The Liberal Party has no leadership, no policy, no plan for the country and nothing but imaginary scandals with which to smear the Government. They have long since abandoned any pretence of being a government in waiting. No wonder they are in no rush to go to the polls.

Stéphane Dion. Not a Leader. Not worth the risk.

I have often wondered if the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers as well as the Leader of the Opposition receive job descriptions along with their respective office.

I would expect the Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition’s job description could easily be simplified to read: Oppose anything and everything that the government says and does. Sounds simple enough, no? The only real difficulty that I foresee with this mandate is finding a well-worded excuse to disagree with every government initiative.

It has been my observation, however, that the Liberal Opposition continuously demonstrates that they are not effective and that Stéphane Dion is not a leader.

The vote on the 2008 Budget is a good example. What most Canadians may not know is that Opposition Liberals did not even bother to show up in the House of Commons for debate on the budget. On February 28th, NDP MP David Christopherson tried to highlight this absenteeism on a point of order:

(Mr. Christopherson)
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I seek your assistance, Mr. Speaker, as to whether or not it is in order for us to be debating a budget when there are no members of the official opposition present in the House. Is that still within the rules, or do we have to have at least one member of the official opposition to have a proper budget debate?

Although Mr. Dion continually berated the Conservative government’s Budget 2008 as “unsound, and irresponsible legislation,� when push came to shove, Mr. Dion has stated that he is going to vote in the House in support of the budget.

That’s not even the worst part of the Budget 2008 saga, either. The Opposition put forward a motion to amend certain parts of the budget a couple of weeks ago, and only seven members of the Liberal Opposition showed up to vote on their own amendment.

Just to make sure that they didn’t bring down the government.

The vote on the Afghanistan motion is another example. In the past, Mr. Dion has vehemently argued against extending this mission past 2009. Now he has flip-flopped his way past an election with the Liberals supporting the motion to extend the mission until 2011.

For nearly a year now, the Liberals have not voted on a significant issue in the House of Commons, including the Throne Speech, the Fall Economic and Fiscal Update, the Tackling Violent Crime Act or Budget 2008.

I don’t believe that Canadians want a Liberal Opposition who wait to do their job properly only at the time when their members think they can win an election. Personally I’d much rather see the Opposition and their leader doing their jobs and carrying out their Parliamentary duties properly, rather than being fixated with polls.

But, this is exactly what is happening with the Loyal Opposition in Ottawa these days.

Although I am, and will continue to remain a healthy young Conservative, I am developing much more respect for the NDP members than the Liberals, as they are willing to show up for debates and put their seats on the line when they disagree with the government.

See you next month!

Nick Switalski
Niagara West-Glanbrook Conservative EDA

With the recent release of the Manley Report there has been much talk of Canada’s role in Afghanistan. So, being the eager young conservative that I am, I thought that I’d add my two cents on the issue as well.

So, first off a little background - I support the Afghanistan mission. Vehemently.

Why? Canada has sent its soldiers to do what they are best known for – to bring peace, stability and security to those that need it most. In the past this has mostly invoked the term “peacekeeping�, and the majority of the opposition that I hear when referring to the Afghanistan mission is that we are currently not in a peacekeeping role.

Granted, Canada is not in a peacekeeping role in Afghanistan, as per previous Canadian tradition. It is difficult to have a peacekeeping role though, when there is no peace to keep.
This is especially true when you are fighting an enemy that is not only open to, but routinely participates in the killing of innocent people and other terrorism tactics in attempts to stonewall any infrastructure development.

The Taliban is a ruthless organization of Islamic fundamentalist terrorists that are attempting to strangle the infrastructure and democracy that our brave soldiers have fought and died to protect.

It is also important to know the difference between the Iraq war, and Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan mission (and read this next part twice for extra effect) is a United Nations sanctioned, NATO led operation conducted at the request of the Afghan people and their democratically elected government. The war in Iraq, on the other hand, does not fit this criteria.

As far as Afghan opinion about the war is concerned, according to the Manley Report, “Afghan public opinion, insofar as it can be measured by polls and other means, remains overwhelmingly hostile to any return of Taliban rule.� No surprise here.

What is also important to note is that our troops themselves are some of the strongest supporters of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan.

To quote Pamela Wallin, a member of the Panel on Canada’s Future in Afghanistan, on this point: “… what really changed my heart… if I can put it that way, [was] spending time with our troops on the ground, seeing their level of commitment. Not just to the military operations, and of course that's why soldiers join the military, because they want to do battle. But they are committed to this cause in a way that's quite extraordinary, and I mean that they get as much pleasure and joy from seeing the kids going to school, and the women with faces that you can see as they do from a victory against the Taliban.�

Speaking of our soldiers, I’ll just use this as a forum to say “Thank you!� for a minute to every single one of the people in our Armed Forces. You are truly the best our country has to offer.

But I’ll also use this point to form a question to Opposition Members who want us to withdraw completely from Afghanistan – If Canadian troops withdraw now, and the Afghanistan mission declines into ultimate failure because of our lack of commitment, what have our soldiers sacrificed their lives for thus far?

We need to stay until the job is done. We need to stay until the Afghan National Army is strong enough so that we can hand over responsibilities for security to the Afghans themselves, as it ultimately in the end, should be. If that means extending our commitment in Afghanistan past 2009, then so be it.

Let’s get the job done, Canada.

See you next month!

Nick Switalski
Niagara West-Glanbrook Conservative EDA

Costing report reveals Stéphane Dion would overspend by at least $62.5 billion

A Stéphane Dion Liberal government would immediately push Canada back into deficit and rack up at least $62.5 billion in new debt.

That is the conclusion of a Conservative Party report which documents the major spending commitments made by Stéphane Dion and the Liberal Party since the 2006 federal election. The costing report reveals that, over the next four years, Stéphane Dion’s lack of priorities will, at a bare minimum, plunge Canada $62.5 billion deeper into debt.

“Stéphane Dion is a weak leader whose lack of priorities will cost everyone in the form of more debt,� said Conservative MP Jim Prentice. “Canadians will need to decide if he is really worth the risk.�

The Conservative costing report tabulates only those promises where the Liberals have made a clear commitment that carries with it a concrete cost that can easily be identified. Where estimates have been used, they have cautiously been made at the low end of the spectrum. The report also documents 33 separate Liberal spending commitments that cannot be costed at all due to a lack of information from the Liberals.

“What is most troubling about all of this Dion Liberal spending is that these numbers are the bare minimums,� Mr. Prentice continued. “There were dozens of occasions where Stéphane Dion did not even bother to attach a price tag to one of his spending sprees. We’ve been prudent in what we include in this report, but the fact remains that the real damage from Mr. Dion’s lack of priorities will be even greater still.�

“Stéphane Dion owes it to Canadians to come clean with his own spending plans and how he will pay for them,� Mr. Prentice concluded. “His disregard for the consequences of his own overspending is more evidence that he is not a leader and not worth the risk.�