Rookie Portage-Lisgar MP had a busy first week in Parliament
Portage-Lisgar Member of Parliament Branden Leslie was sworn at the House of Commons last week.
“It’s been an incredible feeling, a very surreal feeling, an incredible honour,” the rookie MP said after a few days of getting settled in on the Hill. “You feel that sense of responsibility when you put pen to paper and swear the oath of allegiance to our King and to do the right things for our country.
“I am so excited to finally be here in Ottawa, joining my Conservative colleagues, and I’m ready to get to work and hold this Liberal government to account.”
As the winner of a by-election coming into Parliament mid-term, Leslie got the rare honour of walking into the Chamber for the first time with Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and Manitoba caucus chair Larry McGuire, the MP for Brandon-Souris, at his side.
“It’s only by-election victors that have that opportunity,” he noted. “It’s a very special moment.
“It is a completely overwhelming feeling to hear your name called for the first time in the House of Commons, being offered by the leader of your party to take your seat, meeting the speaker, and just having 338 MPs cheering with excitement that you’re able to join them as a colleague.”
Leslie didn’t waste any time getting to work—the same day he was sworn in he also delivered his first question to the government during Question Period.
“The topic I chose was the carbon tax, as it was one of the topics that came up at the doors the most throughout the campaign,” he said. “I wanted the opportunity to raise an important issue to our constituents to our region on my first day.”
In his address, Leslie noted the average farm family will spend an extra $150,000 a year because of the carbon tax.
“The people who make the food can’t afford that, and the people who buy the food can’t afford that,” he stressed. “After eight years, the Prime Minister has driven up the cost of everything, and Canadians have had enough. When will the Prime Minister listen to Canadians and finally axe the tax?”
Leslie said it was a privilege to get to speak so soon after being sworn in, especially with so many of his friends and family members present that day to support him. It was also a good chance to dive right in to his role as Portage-Lisgar representative.
“I was happy to grab that by the horns and ask what I thought was a pretty good question to the Liberal government,” he said, noting he also got to deliver a member’s statement on his second day “thanking the residents of Portage-Lisgar for placing their trust in me and again suggesting to the current government that the carbon tax is extremely problematic for rural communities like ours.
“I absolutely intend to get up as much as I can,” Leslie noted.
Leslie was also appointed a member of the Conservative’s Environment Committee last week and attended his first committee meeting.
With his background in agriculture, this is a topic Leslie is passionate about. He’s eager to bring a rural perspective to the discussion.
“I think that that’s something that’s often lost in the conversation when we focus on these rather large, big-picture issues of the environment, like emissions. I think it often results in policies that detrimentally impact our farmers and our rural landowners and our natural resource communities.
“So I’m certainly going to be bringing in an agricultural lens, a rural lens and a natural resources lens to this conversation.”
