For Peace River-Westlock MP Arnold Viersen, the highlight of 2017 was making new allies in Ottawa and finding ways to work together with other parties to pass a law freezing the assets of corrupt foreign officials.
“I’m getting to know many of the MPs, particularly from my party but I’m developing relationships with members of other parties as well, which is helpful to be able to move forward on issues together,” said Viersen, who is deputy shadow cabinet minister for innovation, science and economic development.
A high point was the unanimous passing of the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, which targets the assets and holdings of foreign officials “who have committed gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”
“That was something that had been worked hard on by a lot of my colleagues,” he said. “It was something they were working on in the last Parliament, but it died on the order table because of the election.”
While he was proud of the teamwork he was able to tap into to pass legislation, 2017 was not all sunny for Viersen. He lambasted prime minister Justin Trudeau for his trip to visit the Aga Khan last Christmas and finance minister Bill Morneau for his undisclosed conflicts of interest.
“The ethical scandal of the prime minister and the finance minister that can’t answer simple questions, that was new,” he said. “It is completely frustrating. They don’t even seem to understand what they’ve done wrong.”
He added that the cancellation of Energy East was another low-point, noting that the Conservatives had been pushing for that project since before losing power. He also highlighted the Liberal’s ill-fated tax reform plan as another setback.
Looking forward, Viersen said he wanted to see a greater focus on trade with the United States.
“We would like to get NAFTA sorted out. On the trade file in general, it seems everything Justin Trudeau touches turns to dust. The TPP seems to be going the way of the dodo bird.
“He left talking about this great trade deal with China, which we were very cautious about, I don’t know if its necessarily a great thing to pursue trade with China. Then he went there and they weren’t very impressed with him either.”
He did not have a suggestion on how the government could kick start negotiations with the Trump administration, which has repeatedly said they wanted to drop the trade deal altogether, but said that pursuing free trade with China did not improve Canada’s chances of inking a deal.
“They have to lay out the benefits of NAFTA to the United States,” he said. “Nearly $2 billion a day crosses the border and nine million American jobs rely on Canadian trade. We have to go out and make those arguments.”
One big challenge he saw facing the Peace River-Westlock region was the upcoming caribou range restoration plan. Viersen said government needs to balance the needs of the endangered caribou with business.
“Our forestry, oil and gas industries rely heavily on access to the region,” he said. “So any plans we put in place to protect caribou herds needs to take into account that industry has a vested interest in working with the caribou. They should be a big player for any plans we have.”
