MP for Lethbridge Rachael Harder (The Canadian Press)

By Justin Goulet

Year-end review: Lethbridge MP Rachael Harder

Jan 4, 2021 | 6:15 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – “As a Member of Parliament, some of the highlights for me were certainly watching our community respond in an unprecedented time.”

That’s from Lethbridge’s MP Rachael Harder.

She shared her thoughts on the past 12 months with Lethbridge News Now, and what she hopes to see going into 2021. Harder said 2020 was “one heck of a year”, but her constituents showed resilience in very difficult times.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit small business owners hard, and Harder gave kudos to community members that helped lift local businesses when they were down. She said that community generosity is on-going.

“When difficult times hit, people up their donations, whether that was monetary donations or food donations to the food bank, and just even their generosity in time – whether it was going to the soup kitchen and serving lunches or dinners or other things within the community,” she told LNN.

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“Our community really came together and supported one another and that was really positive to see.”

Harder said she’s worked with different community stakeholders, individuals, organizations and businesses to understand what they have been going through and find out how she could help at the federal level.

“Whether that was wanting to apply for grant funding or secure a loan or apply for other assistance programs that were made available, my office was there to assist them and to walk them through those things. We helped in a myriad of ways throughout this pandemic and it’s been a pleasure to do so.”

CHALLENGES

Harder voiced displeasure with the federal Liberal government, and how they’ve tackled various issues this year.

“I think they’ve proven to be able to spend a ton of taxpayer money but actually have very little to show for it,” she said, adding one of the things she would have liked to see was greater investment in infrastructure.

“We know that big infrastructure pay off for a long, long time. They provide jobs in the short-term but then they provide something tangible like a road or a bridge or a recreation centre etcetera, something tangible for the population to benefit from in the long-term. That proves to be a really good stimulus mechanism and I didn’t see that from this government, instead they just shelled out dollar after dollar after dollar, but actually have very little to show for it.”

Harder remarked that out of the G7 nations, Canada spent the greatest amount of money per capita.

“Yet we have the highest unemployment rate and that’s very concerning. I think the [Liberal] government could have done much better on that front,” she told LNN.

ERIN O’TOOLE

Earlier this year, Erin O’Toole was named the new leader of the federal Conservative party. Harder said she, along with her fellow caucus members, is thrilled with what O’Toole has brought to the table so far.

“Some of the things he’s set for us as caucus members in terms of our goals and objectives going forward is that we would conduct ourselves with a standard of excellence, that we would be disciplined in our conduct, that we would show ourselves to be professional and that we would be advocating for Canadians,” she said.

“I think setting that tone, setting that expectation and setting that standard is very positive and going forward, we look forward to continuing to show Canadians that we are well-suited for government.”

READ MORE: Lethbridge MP excited for new federal Conservative leader O’Toole

LOOKING AHEAD

Harder believes we’re going into 2021 with many questions and some uncertainty, but also a lot of hope. She said she’s excited to move beyond the shutdowns, isolation that many have faced and the “economic devastation”.

However, it’s not all sunshine and daisies going into the new year.

“We also have to acknowledge that a ton of money has rolled out the door and that will have to be paid back so I think we’re also gonna see an increase in taxation,” Harder said.

“Trudeau’s already announced that he’s going to triple the cost of the carbon tax, which is going to cause home heating to go up. Groceries are supposed to go up by a significant amount next year. In addition to that, just filling up at the pump could potentially cost another 32-cents a litre, so I think unfortunately, Canadians are also going to be pressed with a bill in 2021 and beyond because at the end of the day, all of the money has to be paid back.”

READ MORE: Most Canadian households will get more than they pay from carbon tax: PBO

Harder told LNN that 2020 was marked by a “lack of transparency” and a “lack of vision” from the Liberal government.

“Whether it was failing to put forward a budget or hiding things around the WE [Charity] scandal or failing to be transparent in their fall economic update, failing to follow through in terms of commitments made in regard to Canada-China relations,” she said.

READ MORE: Political fallout continues despite shuttering of WE’s Canadian operations

“My hope again would be that in 2021 that the Canadian public needs to press this government for greater transparency, we need to hold them accountable, we need to make sure that answers are being given and that promises are being delivered on and that full transparency is granted.”