January 2020
Celebrating Over 20 Years of Service to Our Communities!
Economic Democracy Missing in Action When we the working class think of our personal position in our national economic picture we know for a fact we are getting screwed. This insult is manifesting itself around the globe in country after country with each election of an illiberal government; an empty and partial democracy, one after the other. The outcome is always the same, division in the population keeps the elected in power and people at each other’s throat. The Economic Policy Institute, an economic institute based in Washington has been tracking low and middle-income Americans since 1978 and has found some disturbing information. In the last 42 years CEO’s remuneration have gone up by a lottery type number of 940.3 % while the average worker’s compensation increased by 11.9%. 11.9% over 42 years doesn’t cover inflation. This has a direct relation to the election of demagogues, and a direct relation to our politicians being replaced by the same ilk. They have obviously forgotten that democracy should include economics. One would think that there is enough homegrown brainpower to develop an economy which pays a living wage which we define as $15.00 an hour and a well deserved raise to the working class which would immediately morph itself into home ownership and a nuclear jolt to the service and retail sector of the economy. The emphasis has been for 50 years on pay down the debt. We all know the words “short term pain for long term gain”, which has antagonized me for years. In this same period how many gifts of millions or billions have found their way to corporate vaults. This has insulted voters for more years than I like to remember. This only works for politicians to get a good financial position on retirement from politics. Manitoba’s Judge Toews is a poster boy for pensions for life. Is this number 3 in pensions? Politicians should be made to realize that looking after the 1% is one vote per 250,000. This should not be a good political equation, or sustainable. We have always had that power to vote for or chastise. Maybe we should look in the mirror on why and how our economic democracy is missing in action.
Dawson Trail Dispatch
Holding the Government to Account As 2019 comes to a close, I am proud of how much Canada’s Conservatives have accomplished this year. We succeeded in reducing Justin Trudeau’s majority government to a minority, and welcomed new Conservative MPs from coast to coast. Our team is focused on the job we were elected to do – holding this government to account. In the first week of the House sitting we had our first success – handing the governing Liberals their first defeat of this Parliament by passing a motion to strike a special committee on Canada-China relations. This committee will ensure that the government is standing up for Canadian interests. Here at home, this Liberal Government has unfortunately set the stage for a made-in-Canada recession. The deficit is $7 billion higher than they promised only months ago, and there is absolutely no plan to balance the budget. Canada’s Conservatives understand that never-ending deficits and out-of-control spending is hurting Canadians. They threaten the livelihoods of future generations and weaken Canada’s ability to respond in times of economic crisis. On the bright side, we did recently receive some encouraging news that Canada signed a new NAFTA trade deal with the United States and Mexico. With Canada’s economy slowing down, a strong trading partnership with our southern neighbours is vital now more than ever. Unfortunately, the concessions made in order to get the deal signed will hurt Canada’s dairy sector and our aluminum industry. These issues will need to be addressed and I will be taking time to review this deal and its impact carefully. Parliament will reconvene in late January and our Conservatives team will continue to work tirelessly to help Canadians get ahead and restore ethics and accountability to government. For more information on this or any issue please feel free to contact my office toll free at 1-866-333-1933 or at 204-326-9889. Visit me on Facebook at: Facebook.com/TedFalkMP. You may also write my office at 76 PTH 12N, Steinbach MB, R5G 1T4 or visit my website at www.tedfalk.ca.
Countdown to an Exciting Year for All Manitobans I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a great start to the New Year. 2020 is an exciting year because not only is it the beginning of a new decade, it also marks the 150th anniversary of Manitoba joining Confederation. In honour of this momentous occasion, our government held an event on December 14th to kick-off the 150-day countdown to Manitoba Day 2020. This event featured fun activities, such as a snowshoe obstacle course and snowmobile show, as well as a dazzling light display. I had a great time at this event, and I’m looking forward to a year full of celebrating our province. I am looking forward to seeing what the coming year will have in store. The Legislative Assembly just wrapped up its most recent session in December and will return again in March. In the meantime, I look forward to spending the coming weeks here in the Dawson Trail constituency. I plan on attending a number of events and just being out-and-about in the different communities. One thing in particular that I will be taking part in is “I Love to Read Month”. Every year I look forward to February because it’s a time when I get to visit the different schools throughout Dawson Trail and read to the students and educate them a little bit about our government. I always enjoy answering their curious questions and seeing their smiling faces. This year we have a couple new schools in Anola and Hazelridge that I am eager to visit. Recently, the Bibliothèque Ste. Anne Library received funding from our government, in the amount of $24,469. I am pleased to announce this, because I think it is very important that organizations, such as these, receive support. In rural communities, libraries are quite important because they house resources and information that community members wouldn’t have easy access to otherwise. They also serve as a spot for community members to gather. I am glad that our government sees the value in supporting rural communities and their organizations, and that they continue to do so. Due to the boundary changes that took place after the most recent provincial election, our constituency office no longer lies within Dawson Trail. Come the new year, we will be moving our office from St. Adolphe to Ste. Anne. For more information about when exactly we will be moved into the new building, you can contact us at ca.lagasse@outlook.com or 204-807-4663.