Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time.
It is with the deepest humility and honour that I rise in this chamber as the member of Parliament for Yellowhead for my maiden speech. It was a privilege to witness His Majesty King Charles III deliver the throne speech in the Senate chamber.
However, a throne speech is more than who delivers the words. It is a promise made by the Liberal government to Canadians. The promise to make life more affordable for Canadians needs to be our immediate focus. This was the number one concern I heard from voters during the last election.
The removal of the consumer carbon tax was the first step in addressing the economic disaster the Liberal government created over the last lost decade. The industrial carbon tax must also go. Millennials and gen Z cannot afford the costs of home ownership.
There is a meagre attempt made in Bill C-4 to gaslight Canadians by saying the Liberals are eliminating the GST for first-time homebuyers on new homes, but it would impact such a small segment of the market, that proposed changes would not create any real change at all. The proposal included in the bill would help fewer Canadians than what our party campaigned on during the last election, and the Liberals actually want to cap this in six years' time, whereas we would have made it permanent.
The Liberal government copied our Conservative policies, but only in half measures: the reduction in personal income taxes was less; the proposed GST rebate on new homes is less; and the impacts of this bill do not go far enough when addressing the affordability needs of Canadians today.
It is an honour to represent the thousands of people who call Yellowhead home, and I am committed to doing everything I can to help make life affordable for my constituents. As a father, I want to ensure the future generations can continue to call Yellowhead the best place to live, work and raise a family.
I can confidently say that we live in the most beautiful riding in the entire country. At more than 83,600 square kilometres, Yellowhead is bigger than the province of New Brunswick and the entire country of Ireland. It stretches from the Rocky Mountains following the Cowboy Trail, from the Willmore Wilderness area and Grande Cache in the north to Kananaskis country in the south, and everything in between, including Canada's crown jewels, Banff National Park and Jasper National Park.
My riding consists of many communities made up of hard-working Albertans, including Springbank, Rocky View County, Banff, Canmore, Exshaw, Dead Man's Flats and the Bow Valley. Going north on the Cowboy Trail, there is Waiparous, Cremona and Sundre. We have the hidden gem of David Thompson country, which includes Clearwater County, the Municipal District of Bighorn, Caroline, Rocky Mountain House and Nordegg. Even further north, there is the Yellowhead County, the namesake for my riding. There is also Edson, Hinton, Jasper, Grand Cache and the parts of the Municipal District of Greenview. Last but not least, we have Mountain View County, Rocky View County, Carstairs and Crossfield, where I, along with my loving wife Bev, have raised my two incredible daughters on our farm near the hamlet of Madden.
Madden is home to my local Lions Club, where I have been a member for more than 20 years, and I want to congratulate its members on the great work they do. I have a long history in this area, since my family homesteaded near Crossfield in the 1880s.
Yellowhead is also located on Treaty 6, 7 and 8 lands and includes the indigenous peoples of the first nations of Bearspaw, Chiniki, Goodstoney, O'Chiese, Sunchild First Nation, as well as the people of the Métis nation of Alberta.
These communities in Yellowhead make Alberta and Canada such an incredible place to live, work and play. Every year, millions of people travel from around the world to come see the breathtaking nature Yellowhead has to offer. Our riding is an economic powerhouse, with businesses both big and small employing thousands in the agriculture, forestry, mining, energy and tourism sectors.
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to each person who helped me get elected, from those working behind the scenes on the campaign, to the volunteers who were at the doors putting up signs.
I want to thank Kalee, Linda, Sadiq, Leigh, Paul, Colleen, Roland, Ralph, Bruce, Jeff, Gordon, Glen, Dino, Judy, Barry, Angela, Patti, Barb, Peggy, Carole, Bob, Jim, Nancy, Rob, Curtis, Tony, Dale, Doug, Wally, Sue and so many more. Their hard work and dedication did not go unnoticed, and I deeply appreciate everything they did and continue to do.
Of course, I especially want to thank my family, my daughters Ashley and Emily, my parents Mary, Mike, Ross and Margaret, and my nephews. I thank them for their unwavering support. They are what truly fuels my dedication to this role. I could not have done it without them, and I am incredibly grateful for their patience and support.
I especially want to thank my wife Bev. We first met at a political event for my MLA Carol Haley in Crossfield, where Stockwell Day, then the provincial treasurer of Alberta, was our guest speaker. Since then, Bev has been by my side through everything for the past 26 years. I would not have made it here without her love and support. I thank her.
I also want to acknowledge my predecessors who represented the people of Yellowhead and the communities within Yellowhead's new boundaries. The Right Hon. Joe Clark was the first member of Parliament to serve for Yellowhead in 1979. He also served as prime minister. There have been many members since him who have served my riding with dedication and integrity, including Jim Eglinski, the Hon. Rob Merrifield, Gerald Soroka and Cliff Breitkreuz. I am also proud to be serving many of the communities that were previously represented by Louise Feltham, Earl Dreeschen and the late Myron Thompson.
I would be remiss not to mention my current colleagues who represented parts of the new Yellowhead riding in previous parliaments, including the member for Foothills and the member for Airdrie—Cochrane. I look forward to working closely with them.
As a chartered professional accountant, I look forward to using my 26 years of public practice experience with personal and small business tax to help shape reforms to the tax system. We need to ensure that our nation's tax system works for everyday Canadians and not against them. As a proud Conservative, I stand for the principles that have long guided our party: free enterprise, individual liberty and the rule of law. I believe in a small government that serves the people, not one that grows at their expense. Canadians deserve low taxes, fiscal responsibility and the unwavering protection of their rights and freedoms, including property rights.
In Yellowhead, we understand the value of hard work. Our communities are built by farmers, ranchers, energy workers, outdoorsmen, forestry workers, small business owners and tourism operators. We understand what true stewardship of our natural resources means for responsible resources and conserving our beautiful lands and wildlife, yet too often rural voices are overlooked and policies are crafted without consideration for the impact on their way of life. This must change.
It is my priority to advocate for the rights of Alberta and provinces, develop the resources, oppose any regulations and taxes that would harm rural Canadians and support the agriculture sector, which is facing rising costs and federal overreach. I will advocate for our veterans to give them the respect and support they deserve after they have dedicated their lives to our country, and I will protect the rights of responsible firearms owners, hunters and sports shooters, by opposing the unrealistic overreach restrictions that have been imposed on them over the last decade.
As a responsible firearms owner, a sports shooter and a hunter, I would like to highlight the six shooting ranges in Yellowhead and how proud I am of their ongoing efforts to ensure that responsible firearms owners have a place to call their own. Firearms are part of our heritage. They help people like myself put food on the table, and they are the backbone of numerous international renowned sporting events.
I want to reassure the constituents of Yellowhead, as well as all Albertans and Canadians, that I will continue to defend the rights of firearms owners. I will work with groups such as the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights and the Canadian Shooting Sports Association to ensure these rights continue to be respected. Responsible firearms owners have faced unbelievable pressure and uncertainty under the Liberal government, which has continued, over the last lost decade, to impose outrageous restrictions that do nothing to improve public safety.
As I take my seat in the chamber, I do so with a clear purpose to put Canadians first, defend their values, build this country and ensure Yellowhead has a robust voice in shaping Canada's future to make our country the best place to live, work and raise a family.
God bless Yellowhead. God bless Alberta. God bless Canada.