Looking Forward to the Fall Session

It has been awhirl wind of activities over the last 4 months and I’m just so proud to be representing the great constituency of Dauphin in this exciting time of change.

Spending the better part of spring in Winnipeg during the 1^st Session of the 41^st Legislature was very interesting to say the least…but fun. Setting up an office at the legislature, finding an apartment, finding a parking spot and no longer working out of my truck were significant milestones. Back at home, I was very pleased that Lora Beyette has signed on as my Constituency Assistant, and she has been invaluable in getting our constituency office up and running at the Dauphin Market Place Mall.

In July, I attended the MidWest Legislative Conference in Milwaukee as agriculture delegate for the Province of Manitoba, and have also been appointed to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, commonly known as the PAC committee, which studies public audits, questions ministerial officials, and reports findings/recommendations to government.

This summer, I was very happy to see so many constituents out at all the great events going on throughout our constituency. Its just so much fun and rewarding to get involved with the great people doing great things for their communities.  I encourage everyone to get involved in any one of the organizations and help out. This is what we are known for, and this is what makes our communities great.

With the summer’s end upon us, Manitobans have finished up their vacations and are getting back to work. And at the legislature, our new Manitoba government is doing the same thing.

Our 40 MLAs in the Progressive Conservative Caucus are preparing to get back to business in the House on Oct. 3, to continue working for Manitobans through the fall by carrying forward several important pieces of legislation. Introduced by our government this past spring before the Legislative Assembly began its summer break, these bills are designed to better protect vulnerable Manitobans and to improve the democratic process for elections as well as for workplace union certifications.

Led by Premier Brian Pallister, we are continuing to return integrity, accountability and transparency to the Manitoba legislature. Hand in hand with our Open Government Initiative, we will move forward with changes to the Elections Act to set fixed dates for the beginning of general election campaigns and for six-month time limits for the calling of byelections. Our new government is also proceeding to abolish the ‘vote tax’ subsidy for political parties and to restore Manitobans’ right to vote on major tax increases.

For workers across the province, our government is taking our Labour Relations Act amendments into second reading. When passed into law, they will make workplace union certification by secret-ballot votes mandatory. This change will allow workers the freedom to participate and to make decisions on union certification without fear of intimidation by their colleagues or union groups.

We are, as well, pushing forward this fall with a law to better protect children at risk. Our proposed Protecting Children (Information Sharing) Act would allow Child and Family Services, police agencies and schools to improve their sharing of critical information when it’s in kids’ best interests.

These are just some of the measures our new government is moving ahead with over the next several weeks to continue toward our goal of making Manitoba the most improved province in Canada. The summer is over – it’s time to roll up our sleeves and go to work.