North Island-Powell River Member of Parliament Aaron Gunn has made his first speech, known as the maiden speech, in the House of Commons.
Standing in parliament on June 2, Gunn said he was honoured to be speaking as a member of parliament.
“Let my first start off by thanking the incredible people of my riding, North Island-Powell River,” said Gunn. “I am here, first and foremost, because of the trust they have placed in me to be their voice, and to be their elected representative in this esteemed chamber.”
Gunn said it has been almost two years since he decided to seek the Conservative party nomination and run in the recent federal election. He said it was a decision he made because he believed then, as he does now, that this country is headed in the wrong direction, and that it is failing to live up to its true potential.
Gunn said when he worked for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, he used to tour a debt clock across Canada. He said it showed Canadians how much debt the federal government had borrowed and the individual share for each taxpayer.
“It was a great tool to help visualize how much debt we were leaving for the next generation to pay,” said Gunn. “That debt clock no longer exists. Under the Liberals and the NDP, we have managed to borrow more money in the last 10 years than every other government in the history of this country combined. We literally ran out of digits on the clock.”
Gunn said Canada has the highest inflation and homes have become less affordable.
“There used to be a promise here in Canada,” said Gunn. “If you worked hard, paid your taxes and followed the law, you could afford a place to live. When my grandfather, who is 94 years old, first came to Canada in 1957 as a refugee, he, like most new Canadians, started off with a minimum wage job working on the railway. Yet, on that minimum wage salary, he was able to afford a home and a nice piece of property and have it paid off in less than 10 years.
“Does anyone think you could afford to purchase a home and have it paid off in less than 10 years while earning minimum wage anywhere in Canada today? It’s time to remove the gatekeepers and get back to actually building things in this country again.”
Gunn said the country’s resource sector and its workers need support.
“On the North Island, forestry is down by more than a third,” said Gunn. “Aquaculture has been cut in half. Fishers have had their access barred to areas they have fished sustainably for 100 years. The last mine on Vancouver Island has closed as well.”
Gunn said the Liberals have axed the northern gateway pipeline and introduced legislation such as Bill C-69 that killed dozens of massive energy and resource projects and sent tens of billions of dollars in investment to the United States. He said Canadian workers have had their livelihoods sacrificed by the Liberals and the NDP on the altar of this green ideology.
“Here’s the truth: no one does safety and environmental stewardship better than Canada or better than Canadians,” said Gunn. “As long as the world needs lumber, minerals, oil or natural gas, as much of it as possible should come from right here in Canada.”
Further, he said there may be no issue where the Liberals and NDP have done more damage from a human perspective than in their mismanagement of the addictions crisis. Since 2015, more than 50,000 Canadians have died of drug overdoses, he said.
“That’s more Canadians than who died in all of the second world war,” said Gunn. “How about instead of handing out free drugs, we use that money to get people into treatment, into recovery, and return them to being productive, healthy members of our society once again.
Gunn also said that the government needs to be tougher on crime, and that small business owners need to be supported. He added that to help solve the nation’s problems, government needs to get out of the way and give it back to those who built it – the people.
To see the full speech, readers can go to: youtube.com/watch?v=ssZ9CxkA-Es.
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