Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour and privilege for me to be here in this august House to make my comments on the Speech from the Throne.
It is also the first time for me to thank my constituents of Calgary Centre who put their trust in me, along with my colleague from Calgary Skyview, to become one of the first Liberals to be elected to the House of Commons from Calgary in 48 years. It is truly a privilege to have earned their trust and to be here to serve the people from that community going forward.
Calgary Centre is a unique place. We have a whole host of different people, different communities, and different situations that exist on the ground. We have kids in school and seniors in the later stages of their lives. We have school teachers and businessmen, and we have a great many people who are doing very well and a great many who struggle in my community. It is almost a microcosm of what would be found in almost any urban centre. Many of the policies that we ran on as a party and that were identified in the throne speech really captured their imagination and the issues they were facing. In my view, the issues that Alberta and Calgary are facing at this time are well addressed in both the throne speech and in what we put forward as a party during the election.
I would like to thank numerous people in my life who helped me along the way. I would like to start with two people who have been there from the beginning, my mom and dad, Richard Hehr and Judy Hehr, two pragmatic, hard-nosed school teachers from Alberta, who taught me the value of being a public servant, of being a reasonable human being most days, and who carried me along from my recalcitrant and lackadaisical youth to a more productive future. I thank them for being there each and every step of the way. They worked very hard on my election campaign and taught me the value of understanding the concept of equality of opportunity. Whether one is born to a wealthy family or one that struggles, one is going to get a fair shake in this country and we need government to ensure that there are strong public schools, access to health care and to universities, and that there is a social safety net if they stumble or fall, allowing the government to help them get up and get on their way.
I have been fortunate enough to represent a constituency that I was born in. I live 17 blocks from the hospital that I was born in. My parents were there from day one and door knocked harder than anyone else, and without their love and support, I definitely would not be here today.
Another person I need to recognize is my sister, Kristie Smith. Although she is two years younger than I am, she has always been my older sister. She was more organized, a little brighter than I was, a little more competent than I was, and helped me along the way through a great many trials and tribulations. It was not always easy for her. I recognize that, and she is doing very well. Some of the joys in my life are my family, as well as her three kids, Marshall, Jackson, and Parker. They really mean a great deal to me and have helped me get here.
I can also say that it was not without a tremendous number of volunteers and people who followed me on this journey and who we worked very hard on a long campaign. They were there for the stretch, banging on doors, handing out pamphlets, telling people that I am a reasonable guy most days. I thank them for being out there and assisting me along this journey.
If we look at our campaign pledges and how these fit with Alberta and Calgary at this time, we need to look at the factors that are going on in Alberta. Some of the measures that we implement in our platform will assist in what is no doubt a difficult time.
We are cutting taxes for the middle class. This will allow people to have more money in their pockets that they can spend in the economy right now to help prime the pump. I am also very proud of the fact that we are going to lift more than 300,000 kids out of poverty with the introduction of our child benefit plan. These are some truly great things that will assist a family's pursuit of equality of opportunity. Some of that money will be spent in the economy as well.
On our infrastructure investments that we are going to make, one does not have to look too far. Just read The Globe and Mail. Virtually every economist in the land says now is the time to do it. Government has to make these investments anyway, and long-term projects will make the economy and the people more successful. There are many of those projects out there that will allow us to be more productive and allow people to work right away. Many people are out of jobs in Alberta; this will help. I think that resonated with many in the campaign.
I look forward to addressing these issues and more going forward.
I would be remiss not to mention that a large part of our economy is in oil and gas. I was born in Calgary in 1969, and I have benefited greatly from the success of that industry. It has contributed and allowed people opportunities to build their lives. It allowed us to accomplish a great many things.
I sense that we are looking at this correctly as a government, as we are seeing energy and the economy as two sides of the same coin. We are seeing that we cannot have access to markets without building a consensus. I will point out, and I think even members opposite will recognize, that they have not been overly successful in this. Since 2006, despite claiming that we were going to be an energy superpower, we have not seen our products reach tidewater. We have not seen our energy products go south in the way the former government thought was going to occur. I sense that we have a Prime Minister who is willing to engage in the Canadian energy strategy.
Mr. Speaker, I will need to split my time.
We see a Prime Minister who is willing to be involved in the Canadian energy strategy, which is something former premier Redford started and in which Premier Notley has been fully engaged. It is something that will allow us to interact with the premiers on this nation-building project.
We see that we have a Prime Minister who is committed to working with first nations and aboriginal groups, to work with our environmental community, and to see that we are getting serious on climate change.
However, I will point out that even if we get our product to tidewater, we need to have people willing to buy it. I will also point out that three years ago the European Union was within one vote of saying no to our oil. This is how serious an issue it is.
I will close by saying, look, a kid from Calgary got elected. One, that is a pretty amazing thing. Two, he wound up in national government. Three, he was named a minister of the Crown. My goodness, that is a trifecta at the horse races. As Minister of Veterans Affairs, I have been given an aggressive mandate to do things better on that file, to work closely with the Minister of National Defence, and to close the seam to see our men and women who have served this great nation find greater success, be that through employment, education, or dealing with issues of injury either physical or emotional. I am very proud to be given this responsibility.
The last thing I will close with is to thank the citizens of Calgary Centre for giving me this opportunity to, hopefully, not only work for good public policy in the long run, but to share my life with each and every one of them. It is a true joy.