Conservatives ready to attack Trudeau once Parliament resumes next week

Jan 23, 2018 | 10:41 AM

KAMLOOPS — Conservative MPs from across the country are plotting strategy in Victoria this week prior to the next sitting of Parliament.

One of those MPs is Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola Conservative MP Dan Albas who says one issue they plan to hone in on will be the recent ethics scandal surrounding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Last year Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson found Trudeau violated the federal ethics code in relation to his vacation on an island owned by the Aga Khan over the 2016 Christmas holidays.

“This is the first prime minister in our country’s history that’s been found guilty of breaking federal law when it comes to his ethical responsibilities,” Albas says. “(There were) four different occasions that the previous ethics commissioner found he had broken and so this is the first opportunity for my leader, Andrew Scheer, to hold the prime minister to account in Question Period.”

Albas says national caucus meetings are also a chance to identify if any concerns MPs hear are isolated to a particular region or widespread.

He says one example is of an issue that was raised in his own riding by a woman regarding the Canada Child Tax Benefit. 

“It was a case of a single mother who was having an issue being unfairly denied her Canada Child Tax Benefit because what she considered an unfair practice by the Canada Revenue Agency. I raised it in Ottawa and was able to see some resolve by working with the Minister of National Revenue. But after that outcry I received a lot of calls from right across the country of people who have had a similar state.”

Parliament resumes sitting Monday.