Moose Jaw – Lake Centre – Lanigan Conservative MP Fraser Tolmie says the recent cabinet shuffle by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a bit of a cover-up and distraction from the reality of what Canadians are facing right now.
“The prime minister has to do something,” said Tolmie. “Right now, Canadians lack confidence in what he’s doing and what he’s achieving, which is pretty much nothing.”
On July 26, Trudeau changed nearly three-quarters of his cabinet, dropping seven ministers.
“The Conservative Party is very happy that Minister Mendicino (public safety) has finally been removed from his post. Every post that he was in, he seemed to have created a disaster and I think the Liberal Party has finally woken up to that.”
Marco Mendicino was replaced by Dominic LeBlanc, who will be the new minister of public safety, democratic institutions and intergovernmental affairs.
Tolmie was also glad to see Lawrence MacAulay moved out of veterans affairs. MacAualy was named minister of agriculture and agri-food, a position which he previously held from 2015 to 2019.
“Minister MacAulay oversaw horrific service standards, unacceptable wait times, veterans being offered medically assistance in dying when they were coming forward with post-traumatic stress disorder and then leaving a billion dollars of funds that should have been dispersed to the veterans,” commented Tolmie. “Obviously, we were looking forward to having him removed but now he’s going on to the agriculture file and that’s a very important file to this riding. Very, very scared that he’s going to do the same thing. We’re going to be paying close attention to that and making sure that we’re holding him accountable as we were when he was in the veterans affairs file.”
Looking ahead to the fall session, Tolmie says the carbon tax will be a key topic on his radar.
“Obviously, this is a key factor in inflation and the national debt and the challenges that are not only facing Canadians today but what are going to face Canadians of the future with the way that this government’s been spending. We are going to be fighting continually to remove this carbon tax and the fact that people are getting GST on top of the carbon tax on their power and heating bills.”
Tolmie serves as the deputy shadow minister for veterans affairs and sits on the House of Commons Veterans Affairs committee.