Shannon Stubbs Unimpressed with Liberal Throne Speech
Ottawa, ON - There is nothing in the Liberal Throne Speech that indicates this Liberal government will change their direction on natural resources – in fact, the Liberals are doubling down on the approach that enflamed regional tensions and caused the current economic and national unity crisis. What the Liberal Throne Speech reveals is that the Liberals are willing to barter away Western Canadian oil and gas jobs to appease the Bloc Quebecois in order to hold onto power. The jobs of struggling families in Canada’s energy sector should not be a bargaining chip to this Prime Minister.
Despite Prime Minister Trudeau saying on election night that, to “Canadians in Alberta and Saskatchewan, know that you are an essential part of our great country. I’ve heard your frustration and I want to be there to support you. Let us all work hard to bring our country together.” The Prime Minister then made a great show out of sitting down with other party leaders, Premiers and mayors. Yesterday’s Throne Speech proves that he didn’t listen to a thing anyone said.
While the Liberal Throne Speech confirmed they will impose their carbon tax on all Albertans starting January 1st 2020, the speech did not mention the words ‘oil,’ ‘pipelines,’ or any change to the Liberals’ ‘oil shipping ban’ Bill C-48 or their ‘anti-energy, anti-resource, anti-business’ Bill C-69 – even though these Liberal bills will further devastate the economies of Western Canada.
If that wasn’t enough, the Liberals further insulted Canadian energy workers by pretending the crisis the Liberals caused in the energy sector is a ‘recent’ matter. Prime Minister Trudeau’s speech says the Liberal government will “offer unwavering support to the hardworking women and men in Canada’s natural resources sectors, many of whom have faced tough times recently.” Since the Liberals formed government, 200,000+ Canadians in the oil and gas sector lost their jobs – and most of these job losses happened in 2015 and 2016. This is not a ‘recent’ crisis – this is a prolonged multi-year crisis caused by this Liberal government.
This is no surprise as Prime Minister Trudeau has been open about his plan to ‘phase-out’ the oil and gas sector, and constantly apologizes to his international billionaire friends for Canada’s environmentally and socially responsible natural resources.
Canada’s Conservatives will always stand with struggling families who rely on Canada’s natural resource jobs. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer put the Liberals on notice – Conservatives will not tolerate further attacks on Canada’s hard-working natural resource workers.