SPRING 2021 NEWSLETTER

CONTACT BOB OTTAWA OFFICE 811 Justice Building Ottawa ON K1A 0A6 Dear Constituents, me on how government can best work on your Tel. 613-992-0250 behalf in these current circumstances. It has been a difficult year, one in which the Fax. 613-992-0251 fallout from the pandemic has posed a crisis for To that end, I am asking every household to many and people have turned to their federal complete the survey included with this publica- CONSTITUENCY OFFICE representatives to help navigate the hardships tion and return it to me with your views and presented by the new reality. I am proud of my suggestions for the way forward as we contem- AB T2W 4X9 staff who have been working alongside me eve- plate next steps towards reopening the econo- Tel. 403-253-7990 ry day to connect constituents with the supports my. Fax. 403-253-8203 and services they need in these trying times. SOCIAL MEDIA I value your input and thank you for taking As your Member of Parliament, it helps me time to correspond. If my office can assist you /Bob Benzen greatly to hear directly from constituents about with a federal matter, we are here to help as @BobBenzen the challenges they face and the expectations best we can during these BobBenzen they have for their federal government. That is difficult times. E-MAIL / ONLINE why I am writing to you today, to invite you to Best regards, [email protected] identify needs and to share your thoughts with BobBenzenMP.ca

Revelations on this issue seem to arise near daily, from the recent resignation of a senior female military commander in protest of, he always important work of the federal Standing Committee on and in response to, the allegations T National Defence has taken on added urgency in past weeks as of sexual misconduct among senior members complete a study on sexual misconduct and harassment in the leadership, to the news that the Canadian Armed Forces, in light of recent allegations of the same made Prime Minister was aware of against Chiefs of Defence Staff. serious allegations against the Witnesses testifying before our committee have focused on the need for former Chief of the Defence Staff a culture change in the Forces that begins with its leadership. Members for three years after the fact. have heard troubling accounts of the Liberal Minister of National Defence’s We must deal head on with the own lack of action when confronted with evidence of misconduct within problems being uncovered within the chain of command — from the former military ombudsman in our Armed Forces. It will take a lot particular. of work to fix. We must strive for The study continues as of this writing, and I would not presuppose its an Armed Forces where men and outcome, but it is my hope the contributions by members of all parties on women may serve their country this committee result in meaningful recommendations that lead to equally and without fear of harass- systemic changes in policy and accountability as it relates to the leadership ment or retribution in their work- of the Armed Forces, including the Minister of Defence. place as they protect Canadians. Tools at hand to reopen our economy ith businesses at risk in and elsewhere. in Continued lockdowns causing and across the coun- W ongoing societal and eco- try, the federal Liberals must nomic destruction can not present a budget – their first always be the government’s in two years – that includes answer to an ongoing public measures directed to safely health crisis. It is time we re- reopening our economy and place these models with tools restoring the massive amount we already have at our dis- of jobs that have been lost M.P. Bob Benzen posal to protect Canadians, since the start of the pandem- speaking in Parliament among them better vaccine ic. rollout programs; pre- and The federal Liberals have left post-arrival rapid testing; and Canada with the lowest vac- at-home quarantine mea- cination rate, the biggest defi- sures, to name a few. cit, and one of the highest Conservatives continue to call unemployment rates in the on the government to do so, G7. This is not how it should and to enact an evidence- be. based plan that protects Ca- Our recovery from the biggest nadians in the pandemic economic crisis since the while restoring their ability to Great Depression will require pursue a livelihood. measures that allow Canadi- ans to get back to work in Conservatives in Parliament every sector. This is no time will continue to work for to “reimagine” the national time to support all the tradi- Canadians back to work, and those left behind by Justin economy, as the Liberals have tional pillars of our economy especially the stricken energy, Trudeau and focus on getting proposed to do. Rather, it is that have the potential to get aviation and tourism sectors Canadians working again. Albertans’ rapid test a Covid game-changer accines and rapid testing. times for diagnoses by mak- V The reopening of our ing them available within economy and an end to the hours rather than days, and societal lockdowns that have contribute to returning us to devastated entire sectors de- a semblance of normalcy. pend on easy, nation-wide One of the lessons learned access to both. from this pandemic is that A Calgary-based biotech- Canada must develop our nology company, CardiAI, own domestic capability to holds one of the two keys, produce personal protection having developed the world’s equipment, vaccines, rapid most advanced PCR diagnos- testing, and other necessities tic test that can provide re- rather than continuing to be sults in a matter of minutes at the mercy of international rather than days. companies and other coun- tries that will serve their own It is a homegrown scientific national needs ahead of ours. success story, with potential to be a Covid game-changer And here we have a Calgary MP Bob Benzen recently toured CardiAI’s Calgary facility. From left to as well as to provide econom- company that has done world right are: Dr. Raman Koul, Research and Development Head; MP Ben- ic opportunity for manufac- -class research, has an inno- zen; MP ; Brian Milloy, Co-Founder, President and CEO of Levvel Inc.; Patrick Kirkwood, Vice-President of Sales, Marketing and turing and jobs in the bio- vative product to supply for Investor Relations; Dr. Anmol Kapoor, Founder and CEO of CardiAI; MP tech industry in Alberta. worldwide consumption, and Jasraj Singh Hallan. wants to keep its manufactur- I have been working with the ing in Alberta. Success stories company to push Health Can- research, meanwhile, contin- show promise with symptoms like this help diversify our ada for an expedited review, ues apace. related to Covid, to determine economy while improving our whether they prevent the clin- and I am happy to report pro- The company has received domestic public health securi- ical progression of COVID-19. gress on getting this im- regulatory approval to begin ty. portant product over the bu- recruiting symptomatic Covid Contact CardiAI Inc. directly if reaucratic hurdles. Getting This is the kind of innovation patients for clinical trials. The you are interested in partici- this product into mass devel- that we need to promote objective of this study is to pating in the company’s clini- opment will reduce waiting more of in Canada. CardiAI’s evaluate medications that cal trials. Liberals striking out on crime prevention

iolent crime is a serious them in any way, volved in repeat firearms of- problem. It requires seri- seriously infringing fences? We need tough penal- ous solutions. Unfortu- on their property OPINION ties, imposed with certainty, to V nately, Canadians will not get rights. BOB BENZEN, MP dissuade criminals from using weapons. Finally, the drug them from our current govern- The second pillar Calgary Heritage ment. In less than a year, the of Bill C-21 was a trade that fuels so much gang Trudeau government has taken provision to allow violence must be made unprof- three swings at violent crime cities to ban handguns, which spent processing useless pa- itable through stricter border and missed every time. Their are already subject to very perwork is a dollar that cannot controls to reduce supply and “solutions” will cost billions and strict controls. Since municipal- be spent reducing violent easier access to rehabilitation may increase Canadians’ expo- ities are under provincial juris- crime. programs to reduce demand. sure to violent crime. diction, this measure is sure to Second, we need better data The real tragedy is that contin- On May 1, 2020, Prime Minis- face years of constitutional and analysis. It is shocking that uing with the government’s ter acted by or- challenges by provinces that neither the government nor failed approaches wastes time der-in-council to ban some oppose this intrusion into their the RCMP can provide even and money that could be spent 1,500 types of firearms. He re- jurisdiction. If it does survive basic data required to develop making Canadians safer. ferred to them as “assault- these challenges, it will set up sensible policies. The only good news is that style” firearms, a made-up term an administrative nightmare of Third, we need closer scrutiny bills C-21 and C-22 will proba- designed for maximum emo- thousands of different sets of of those with a proven track bly not make it through Parlia- tional impact. Most were, in rules. Quebec alone has over record of violating firearms ment before Canadians go to fact, modern sporting firearms 1,100 towns, villages and other laws. Amazingly, every legal the polls to choose whether with styling that makes them municipalities, each of which gun owner in Canada is re- they want a data-driven anti- look unfamiliar to the average would be entitled to enact its quired to report changes of crime policy that directly ad- Canadian but does not make own firearms bylaws. This address, but those with Fire- dresses violence or more emp- them more dangerous. A sig- measure has rightly been arms Prohibition Orders are ty words and virtue-signaling. nificant number were pre- panned by both pro and anti- not. Since no one tracks these Second World War collectors’ gun groups as well as police dangerous individuals, is it any (Note: This commentary first items, custom-made big game associations. surprise that they account for a appeared in the Calgary rifles and other innocuous spe- Then on Feb. 18, the govern- high percentage of those in- Herald, March 4, 2021) cialized gear. ment introduced

The prime minister also false- Bill C-22. This bill ly claimed that these firearms was pitched as the had no purpose other than solution to the DO YOU BELIEVE BILL C-21, THE mass killings. Is he seriously overrepresentation alleging that the tens of thou- of marginalized LIBERALS’ PLAN TO PROHIBIT sands of RCMP-vetted Canadi- groups in Canada’s ans who currently own such prisons. In fact, FIREARMS IN CANADA, WILL PREVENT firearms are mass murderers in however, it is likely waiting? to increase the vio- VIOLENT CRIME AS THEY CLAIM? Bill C-21, introduced on Feb. lent offences that 16, was a grab-bag of sundry these same groups firearms-related measures. suffer from the Most notably, it purported to most. It eliminates provide a framework to com- mandatory mini- pensate owners for their now- mum sentences for banned firearms and to allow a host of violent cities to prohibit handguns. crimes, including The proposed compensation using a firearm in scheme promises to be anoth- the commission of er multibillion-dollar boondog- an offence and rob- gle just like the ill-fated long- bery and extortion gun registry. with a firearm. As Public Safety Minister Bill Surely these are Blair himself acknowledged, crimes for which wherever such schemes have serious penalties been tried, they have simply should remain driven unregistered firearms mandatory. underground. Twice the gov- The Trudeau gov- ernment tried to interest con- ernment has now sultants in designing such a struck out in its scheme, and twice they failed three swings at vio- to attract bidders as consulting lent crime. But what firms wisely saw the perils of should be done to venturing into a bureaucratic keep Canadians quagmire that promises years safe? of court challenges and wran- First, we need to gling over the amounts of stop scapegoating compensation due. Current the firearms com- owners of these firearms who munity and reduce reject the government’s offer their bureaucratic will be prohibited from using burden. Every dollar REPORT FROM PARLIAMENT Protecting free speech paramount he spring session of Parlia- anada today is divided ous debate that resulted all do our part. Govern- ment has seen the Liberal C like never before. in their overwhelming re- ments must stop subsidiz- T government irresponsibly We face a crisis of confi- jection. ing media they find con- rush passage of bills that required dence regarding not just In a diverse society har- genial and freezing out far more detailed study by mem- specific policies, but the mony must be built on the those they dislike. very foundations of our solid foundation that only Courts must limit libel bers of the House of Commons, all democracy. Increasingly, open debate can provide. chill. Educators must pre- in an effort to clear their legislative we hear calls to suppress Vigorous discussion of pare students to debate agenda ahead of a possible elec- views regarded as wrong- both goals and methods and to differentiate be- tion rumoured for later this year. headed or harmful. must be encouraged. tween reality and rhetoric. This is exactly the oppo- Journalists must spread Perhaps the most troubling bill to The reason Parliament site of what is needed. understanding, not sensa- be fast-tracked by the Liberals was has an Official Opposition The best cure for divi- tionalism. the Medical Assistance in Death sion is more free speech, to critique government And ordinary Canadians (MAID) Bill C-7, which included not less. policy is that it makes poli- must accept being offend- amendments by the Senate that Some argue that we cy better, and the freedom ed at times as the price of should just trust science. living in a society where authorize assisted suicide for men- to criticize increases the But labelling something we are not afraid to seek, tally ill individuals. science cannot put it be- legitimacy of the outcome. and to stand up for, the yond questioning. But free speech must not truth as we see it. The original legislation proposed The credibility of science end at the doors of Parlia- Visit my website at: by the Liberals did not include this rests on open debate. Not ment. www.BobBenzenMP.ca provision, and its inclusion in the long ago, repugnant theo- and let me know your It must infuse our whole final bill represents a betrayal of ries about race and other thoughts. Canadians on all sides of this de- now discredited ideas re- society. flected the scientific con- Free speech is messy, bate who worked to advocate for  sensus of the day. It was but it is what makes our Bob Benzen, M.P. responsible safeguards on this vi- only open, often acrimoni- society strong. We must Calgary Heritage tal issue. The Liberals have also routinely TAPE used the pandemic as cover to No postage rush economic measures without required detailed costings and without leav- ing sufficient time for Parliamen- tarians to study and debate. And this after they prorogued Parlia- ment last summer in a bid to avoid BOB BENZEN accountability to federal commit- Member of Parliament tees probing various government 1010, 10201 Southport Rd SW scandals. Calgary AB T2W 4X9 We can all agree on the need to quickly provide support to Canadi- ans in a time of crisis. But that does not void the role of Parlia- FOLD ment to responsibly evaluate value for money. Taxpayers are funding unprecedented spending that is currently running nearly $400 Bil- lion more than what Canada will generate in revenues this year. That kind of spending is unsustain- able and a burden to future tax- payers. It highlights the need for Parliamentary oversight to best direct investments to areas of greatest need. Conservatives are fighting for a balanced approach that restores accountability - a principle the Lib- erals have tried to sidestep at eve- ry opportunity.