SoVote

Mrs. Laila Goodridge (Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, CPC)

Nov/29/21 6:22:04 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-2

Madam Speaker, while the member was giving his speech, I could relate as our ridings touch one another. There definitely are some concerns that are very similar, specifically when it comes to the questions around workforce and labour challenges. Perhaps he could go into a little more detail regarding some of what he is hearing in his riding. I have been hearing a lot of concerns from business owners in my riding. They say they simply cannot find workers for many of these jobs, and some of them are well-paying jobs. Could he further expand on those?

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Context: House Hansard - 6 - Nov/29/21

Mrs. Laila Goodridge (Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, CPC)

Nov/29/21 6:31:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as this is my first opportunity to rise in this 44th Parliament, I want to thank the residents of Fort McMurray—Cold Lake for their support in this election. This was not my first election, as I previously had the honour of serving in the provincial legislature, in both the ridings of Fort McMurray-Conklin and Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche. However, this was a very unique election for me and for our riding. It is such an immense honour to be able to serve the people of Fort McMurray—Cold Lake as their elected representative. Quite frankly, I would not be here today if it were not for the support of my campaign team, my amazing friends and family and, most importantly, my husband. My husband Niall stepped up in a way that very few husbands step up. He is taking care of our son Eoghan as we speak, because I had our baby in the middle of the election campaign. Unlike the member for Peace River—Westlock, who could take a day off after having a baby, it turned out that I needed to take a couple of days off from knocking on doors after having my child. My husband was there to make sure that the baby was well taken care of, and for that I am very grateful. I love northeastern Alberta. It is where I was born and raised. It is truly spectacular and I welcome everyone to come and visit. Between the lakes and forests, we have just about everything one could ask for. During the election, I had the opportunity to talk directly with a number of constituents in my riding, and one the big things they shared with me was their increasing fears around the rising costs of just about everything, whether it is gas, groceries or heating bills. The impacts of inflation were really starting to be noticeable during the election, and people were sharing stories with me about how they had cut the amount of meat they were feeding their families. They were not cutting meat because they wanted to, but because they simply could not afford it. They told me stories of how they were going to the food bank and requesting hampers because, quite frankly, they could not afford to feed their families. Unfortunately, because of the government's reckless spending, our inflation has been increasing steadily month over month and they could not make ends meet. The answer I got from the minister on this was that there was perhaps going to be a promise of child care sometime in the future. This is spectacular for the families that might be struggling sometime in the future, but it does not address the real concerns of the families that are struggling to make ends meeting today. There are so many families all across this country that are struggling because gas, groceries and even diapers are more expensive now because of the Liberals' reckless spending. I really hope the government realizes that these kinds of things are terrifying to families, especially brand new families. I look forward to an answer.

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Context: House Hansard - 6 - Nov/29/21

Mrs. Laila Goodridge

Nov/29/21 6:38:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, one of the things that I also heard at the doors of my constituents were concerns over the radical eco agenda of the Liberal government. They were quite concerned that in the previous Parliament there was a minister who, before being elected, spent his entire life trying to shut down the main economic driver of my riding: the oil sands. Now that person is the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. It is terrifying that we have a government that is so blatantly attacking the livelihoods of people in my riding and people all across this country by not allowing them to get to work. This is something that is of serious concern and that I hope to see the government fix.

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