Will not call the cops

Re. Lawyer blasts ‘lazy’ police (Castanet, Feb. 6)

It was with great interest that I read lawyer Stanley Tessmer's comments about his client's stolen goods, the distinct knowledge (through GPS tracking) of where the goods currently are and the complete disinterest of the RCMP in acting on that knowledge.

This is not a new occurrence. In the mi-1980s, I was living in Vancouver and had my work tools stolen from a locked box in the back of my truck, two Sunday nights in a row.

After the second theft and following the second non-response from the Vancouver Police Department, I decided to do some sleuthing.

Unlike Tessmer and his client, I lacked the benefit of GPS but managed to follow a clear trail of dropped items ( belonging to me) directly to a house less than a block from mine. In the heat of the moment, I entered through the basement door, located a light switch and observed my tools among a huge cache of other people's missing goods.

When I phoned the VPD again and told them that I knew where my tools were, I was asked how I knew that and explained my early morning hunt. I was told that I could be charged with breaking and entering. When I said that the door was unlocked and I just walked right in, I was told that I could be charged with trespassing.

The lesson I learned was the cards are stacked and not to the benefit of the law-abiding (person). Did I learn the lesson of not taking the law into my own hands? No, I learned the lesson of keeping my mouth shut and not phoning the police.

By following that path, I have, several times, recovered items stolen from me, including cold hard cash.

Would I phone the police again about any thefts of goods from me or from my friends? Most emphatically no.

Mark Levey, Mexico

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

A challenging and uncertain start to 2025 says MP

Parliamentry work to do

Photo: Contributed

Kelowna-Lake Country MP Tracy Gray

Parliament remains prorogued (shut down), with all parliamentary activities in the House of Commons, parliamentary committees and the Senate suspended. Instead of focussing on issues that matter to residents in my community and Canadians across the country, the governing Liberals are now focused on choosing a new political party leader.

This is irresponsible given the many issues facing Canadians, including, as of the writing of this, tariff threats which pose an economic crisis.

The United States’ administration stated it wants to stop the illegal flow of drugs and other criminal activity at the border. Canada’s federal government even admitted the weak border is a problem.

Over the past nine years, due to the government’s fiscal and economic decisions, Canada grew its national debt to the highest it’s ever been, $176 billion worth of proposed resource projects or investments were cancelled, real GDP per capital declined, productivity declined and the Canadian economy is in an overall weakened position.

Many residents (in my riding) are already struggling financially. The input I receive from conversations, whether at my community office, at community events or on people’s doorsteps is similar—many personal stories of people struggling to pay their bills and who are concerned about planning for their future. Despite that, the Liberals are still focused on themselves.

The governments capital gains tax increase is set to continue according to the Canada Revenue Agency, even though Parliament is prorogued. Legislation on the tax hike was not debated or voted on in the House of Commons. I’ve heard overwhelmingly from industry leaders and experts how that is driving investment out of Canada, reducing our competitiveness and affecting retirement plans.

Canada’s independent and non-partisan Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed in a recent report that federal finance decisions have created higher deficits, downplayed risks, made assumptions lacking transparency and increased financial risks.

The PBO also released a report regarding core housing needs of Canadians. The report demonstrated the mortgage debt per person for homeowners rose from $45,488 in 2015 to $65,604 in 2023 and is forecasted to be a shocking $74,424 by 2027.

That is a direct result of “rising interest rates and rising average mortgage debt,” as per the report. The PBO also stated rents are 26% higher today than they would have been as a result of not enough homes being built and because of the federal government losing control of immigration.

In addition, housing inflation is rising faster in Canada than in any other G7 country.

The MNP Consumer Debt Index report gages how Canadians feel about their ability to pay down debt. Half of Canadians now believe they will not be able to cover all their living and family expenses in the next 12 months without going further into debt.

On top of that, many retirees are increasingly needing to dip into their savings. I talked to a single senior just a few days ago who told me he was having to subsidize his modest living expenses each month from his savings. He estimated having only about 13 months before running out and didn’t know what he is going to do after that.

All those reasons, and others, have led to Conservatives calling for the reopening of Parliament, if the (prime minister) won’t call an election, so Canadians can decide on a government that has a clear mandate.

Canada must pass new border controls, agree on trade retaliation and prepare a plan to rescue Canada’s ailing economy. We simply cannot afford weak leadership during this unprecedented time for Canada.

There are so many important issues on top of these that we should be focusing on in Ottawa, including increases in taxes, crime, drug overdoses, homelessness, addiction and our national debt. Parliament and its committees were seized at the end of last year dealing with corruption, conflict of interest issues and the misappropriation of funds within several federal government programs.

There is much work to do in 2025, and beyond, to restore the promise of Canada and fix what this Liberal government has broken. Conservatives do not have confidence in the Liberal team, regardless of which long-time insider may become their leader.

Canada’s Conservatives are ready to meet these challenges and will bring home the Canada we love can all be proud of.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have thoughts to share how to best represent Kelowna-Lake Country in 2025.

My office has Canada flags and pins and offer parliamentary certificates for special occasions or to recognize contributions of residents in the community.

Please call 250-470-5075 or email [email protected] if you need assistance with any federal programs.

Tracy Gray is the Conservative MP for Kelowna-Lake Country.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

Prorogation of Parliament shuts down political business in Ottawa

Bills died on the order paper

Photo: Parliament of Canada

Kelowna-Lake Country MP Tracy Gray

Most people are likely aware that Justin Trudeau prorogued Parliament for more than two months to allow him to resign as prime minister after a new Liberal leader is elected.

This decision appeased those Liberal MPs trying to save their jobs by removing Trudeau and delaying an election, which was likely to be triggered at the end of January due to all three major opposition parties signalling a loss of confidence in the Liberal government. However, for the Canadians, it represents Liberals prioritizing their party over the best interests of our country and democratic institutions, at a time when Canada is facing the threat of damaging American tariffs.

These are the same Liberal MPs who supported, for nine years, policies and legislation that increased taxes affecting families and small businesses, brought in inflationary deficit spending causing made-in-Canada higher inflation and interest rates, implemented radical drug policies leaving more people addicted and more loved ones lost, passed laws that lessened minimum sentences on serious crimes, changed the bail system into a revolving door, and allowed government corruption.

As a way of trying to divert attention away from those results, Liberals have said they simply have a communication problem.

Prorogation suspends all parliamentary activities in the House of Commons, at parliamentary committees and in the Senate. The prime minister's choice to prorogue Parliament to prioritize a Liberal leadership race effectively removes the ability of elected MPs to stand up for their communities and stops opposition party MPs from doing their jobs questioning the government and holding it to account.

Additionally, any bills not signed into law, or committee investigations and studies not concluded, before prorogation were halted.

For example, Conservative Bill C-321, which I co-sponsored, will not become law in the near term, having been effectively killed likely weeks ahead of passage by the Senate. The bill would have facilitated a widely supported change to the criminal code, to provide better protections for frontline healthcare and first responder workers facing increasing violence on the job.

Another example, at the Human Resources Committee where I serve as vice-chair, was completion of current and planned studies on important topics affecting homebuilding, disability accessibility and seniors.

While the work of my local community office for residents continues—such as case file work on federal government programs and services—residents are being denied having the issues that matter most to them studied, debated and brought forth in Ottawa.

The Canadian economy and people's pocketbooks continue to be undermined by Liberal policies of massive federal debt and tax increases. One example is, despite never being passed into law, it has been reported the capital gains tax increase is still in effect. It has been well documented and studied that this tax hike is undermining investment, homebuilding, family doctors, innovation and people's retirements. The Liberals will continue implementing a carbon tax that will raise the price of food and fuel across Canada. Families and small businesses will continue to be impacted by a broken bail system that sees violent repeat offenders back on our streets.

While the (leader) of the Liberal party may soon change, the effects of the policies (Liberal MPs) supported, passed and defended for nine years will not. A sudden change of leader won't erase the Liberal record on the economy, cost of living, crime, public services, the military, housing, border services or immigration.

Instead of only allowing Liberals to choose, Conservatives are calling for an immediate election to set a course for a new government that can act with a strong mandate from Canadians.

When Parliament returns on March 24, a new Throne Speech will be presented to restart the agenda of Parliament. If the NDP and Bloc Quebecois stick to their word of not having confidence in the Liberal government and that an election should be called, voting down the Throne Speech would immediately trigger an election.

Tracy Gray is the Conservative MP for Kelowna-Lake Country.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

MP recaps a year of holding the government to account

MP's year in review

Photo: Parliament of Canada

Kelowna-Lake Country MP Tracy Gray

I hope everyone had a safe, healthy and happy Christmas and holiday season.

As we start 2025, I would like to take some time to review some the work my team and I have done in Ottawa and through our community office over the last year.

2024 saw my Conservative colleagues and I holding the Liberal government to account on a number of important issues.

On the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities—of which I serve on as vice-chair— we heard from many expert witnesses, including residents from Kelowna-Lake Country.

I’ve always made it a goal to bring the voices of Kelowna-Lake Country to Ottawa on the committees I sit on. Notably, we heard how the government’s increasing of the capital gains tax will hurt tech innovators, home construction and prospective retirees. We also heard how many poverty metrics have gotten worse, how the government broke promises to persons living with disabilities and how federal policies and red tape are increasing homebuilding costs.

There will be more work to do on studies regarding employment, labour, income security, skills development, and disability issues in the new year.

One clear priority last year was opposing the federal costly carbon tax, which has raised the cost of everything. We know how impactful the carbon tax is—the Fraser Institute reported it will lead to 57,000 fewer jobs and will reduce Canada’s GDP by 6.2% by 2030, costing the Canadian economy $30.5 billion. Conservatives consistently called for the government to “axe the tax,” which also has GST added to it, adding even more costs to taxpayers—a tax on a tax.

Conservatives also held the government to account on the Sustainable Development Technology Canada green “slush” fund scandal, which saw the government paralyze the work of Parliament for months due to it not handing over all unredacted documents to the RCMP.

As a government agency, the SDTC inappropriately awarded nearly $400 million dollars to board members (who were appointed by government ministers) having been found to be in conflict of interest by the Auditor General of Canada.

My Conservative colleagues and I pressed the government on its disastrous drug decriminalization experiment in B.C. There was evidence of taxpayer-funded drugs even being diverted to children. It helped fuel the illegal drug trade further and did not reverse the deadly drug crisis. In fact, since the prime minister was first elected, more than 47,000 Canadians have died from drug overdoses.

I have questioned ministers on this crucial issue and will continue to push the government on its tragic failure to keep Canadians safe from deadly drugs.

Throughout the year, other issues I heard the most about from residents in Kelowna-Lake Country, and what I’ve advocated on, included concerns with rising crime, the new firearms confiscation scheme targeting law-abiding hunters and sports shooters and the potential loss of available natural health products due to new federal fees and rules.

I also greatly appreciate all the opportunities I had over the last year to connect with many businesses, farmers, not-for-profits and residents, and to be boots on the ground, meeting people on their doorsteps.

The spirit of Kelowna-Lake Country was strong with generosity of fundraisers and volunteers in our community helping each other. Attending many community activities such as Canada Day, Rutland Scare Crow Festival, Remembrance Day, car shows and numerous cultural, heritage and religious events that make our community vibrant is a meaningful way for me to connect with many residents.

My office’s annual project of offering Canada flag sets for residents’ homes is always extremely popular. My staff was proud to continue our Mothers Day and Fathers Day cookie drop-off to organizations that serve some of the most vulnerable in our community.

New activities by my community office team this year included proudly hosting a citizenship reaffirmation ceremony to congratulate and meet new local Canadian citizens. The office also launched a youth council as a way of connecting with, and getting feedback from, young adults.

This next session of parliament will run until June and will be the last session before the next election (which must be held no later than October). It will therefore be incredibly important for holding the government to account as the official Opposition.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have thoughts to share on my work over the last year, or if you have thoughts as to how to best represent Kelowna-Lake Country in the new year.

Please call 250-470-5075 or email [email protected] if you need assistance with any federal programs.

Tracy Gray is the Conservative MP for Kelowna-Lake Country.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.