View From the Legislature

This November, as has been the case ever since 1921, Canadians are wearing poppies as an act of Remembrance.

A very brief and strange session of the Manitoba Legislature wrapped up on Tuesday of this week and it left many people wondering what the whole exercise was about.

This past Tuesday the federal Conservative government introduced legislation that will eliminate the long-gun registry in Canada.

Manitoba’s NDP government has made the decision to quickly recall the Manitoba Legislature beginning Thursday October 20th. The NDP have determined that it will be a very short sitting, only lasting for nine days.

Tuesday October 4th was an evening of mixed emotions. Most of all, it was an evening of gratitude for the overwhelming support that was given to me by the residents of the Steinbach Constituency.

While the official start of the 2011 provincial election campaign will likely be after the Labour Day long weekend when the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba is asked to dissolve the legislature, the unofficial start to the campaign was this past week.

The sad and shocking news that NDP Leader Jack Layton had passed away only a short time after he announced he was battling a new cancer resulted in thousands of Canadians paying tribute to the populist politician.

Sometime in the next few weeks a provincial election will be called to be held on October 4th.

The roller-coaster economic news coming from the United States these past few weeks points out clearly that it matters how government spends money.

Local residents have been sending a clear message for a number of years now that it is foolish of Premier Greg Selinger and the NDP to force Manitoba Hydro to build a new transmission line (Bi-Pole III) from northeastern Manitoba to Winnipeg down the west side of the province when an eastern route would be shorter, safer and save hundreds of millions of tax dollars.