Stubbs to Vote against Throne Speech
Office of Lakeland MP
Submitted
September 25th, 2020 – Ottawa, ON: Shannon Stubbs, the Member of Parliament for Lakeland, and Conservative Official Opposition Shadow Minister for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, today delivered her response to the Liberal Throne Speech in the House of Commons, detailing why she will vote non-confidence in Prime Minister Trudeau’s government.
“In their first call, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole urged the Prime Minister to address growing western alienation. Nothing in the Throne Speech acknowledged the realities of the risks to national unity. Frankly, that failure completely ignored the people I represent, making it impossible for me to support it.”
“After five months of knee capping Parliament, and six weeks of shutting down everything to avoid the Liberals’ own corruption scandals, what’s missing from the Throne Speech is a clear, concrete post-pandemic road map for Canadians, and a real plan for the private sector to lead Canada’s economic recovery.”
Ms. Stubbs warned the financial approach in Throne Speech will add to the Liberals’ already unsustainable deficit and said: “…kids the same age as my nieces and nephews, and younger generations, will struggle with affordability, starting a business, buying a home, planning for retirement, and may never experience the same health care, pensions or services their grandparents did.”
The Throne Speech offers no hope for struggling families in Lakeland. “For one of the longest Throne Speeches on record – some 7,000 words long, the fact the agriculture section didn’t mention ‘beef’ or ‘grain’ farmers, and the energy section didn’t mention ‘oil’ or ‘pipelines’ shows the Liberals have failed the people of Lakeland.”
The public safety section also failed to mention ‘rural crime’. Ms. Stubbs led advocacy on rural crime in the previous Parliament, securing unanimous support for Motion 167 through the House of Commons. “I live on a farm in a rural riding in an escalating crime epidemic. I know so many under-resourced officers, administrators, and victim services advocates who are at their wits’ end, just like the rest of my rural constituents, who feel like sitting ducks. Crime is costing their families and businesses enormously – financially and in peace of mind.”
Stubbs also raised the lack of Liberal action to make new home and rapid COVID-19 testing available to Canadians. The infection rate of frontline medical workers in Canada is twice the global average. “The Liberals’ failed to close the borders early, attacking Conservatives who urged them to do so, risking Canadians’ health and lives. Conservatives want Canada to become more self-reliant by producing more PPE and medical equipment domestically. But half a year into a global pandemic, the Liberals are letting Canada lag behind.”
Stubbs said it’s not just Canada’s domestic security that is vulnerable on the Liberals watch. “The Prime Minister’s naive admiration of the ‘basic dictatorship of China’ is also a threat. China’s state agencies are stealing Canada’s cutting-edge research and innovation and interfering with critical infrastructure like telecoms. While the Liberals are dithering, our new Conservative leader Erin O’Toole is clear: He will not allow the Communist Party of China to spy on Canadians through Huawei,” she said.
Ms. Stubbs said “the bottom line is Prime Minister Trudeau could have outlined a concrete plan to keep Canadians safe, to create jobs, and to restart the economy. He didn’t. On behalf of the people of Lakeland, I will vote non-confidence in his Government.”
