Brison Report - Friday, May 22, 2009

Friday, May 22, 2009

This week...

 

Scott spent the week in Nova Scotia as the House of Commons was not in session.

 

Monday, May 18

 

- Campaigned in Cape Breton.

 

Tuesday, May 19

 

- Campaigned with Lloyd Hines in the riding of Guysborough - Sheet Harbour.

- Campaigned with Bob Hagell in Truro - Bible Hill.

 

Wednesday, May 20

 

- Meetings during the day with constituents in the Wolfville office.

- Attended a meeting at Kings Edgehill School.

- Attended the opening of "Secret Garden: A Floral Art Show" at the Utata Gallery in Windsor.

- Campaigned with Paula Lunn in the evening.

 

Thursday, May 21

 

- Meetings during the day with constituents in the Wolfville office.

- Met with Grade 7 and 8 leadership students at Riverside Educational Centre in Milford.

- Attended a presentation of the Lieutenant Governor Medals at Horton District High School.

 

Friday, May 22

 

- Spoke at the Halifax Club.

- Campaigned with Diana Whalen, Lisa Mullin and Willie Versteeg.

 

The week ahead...

 

Scott will return to Ottawa where the House of Commons will be in session all week. On Monday afternoon he will meet with representatives of the Canadian Labour Congress. He will also lead the debate for the Liberals in the House of Commons on the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

 

Tuesday includes a reception for the new president of Acadia University, Ray Ivany.

 

On Wednesday Scott will deliver the keynote address to the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa.

 

Recently...

 

Scott comments on the Nova Scotia election in the Truro Daily News:

 

Nova Scotians are looking for change in the upcoming provincial election, says Liberal MP Scott Brison.

 

That is the clear message he is hearing as he campaigns with candidates from Halifax and Guyborough to the Annapolis Valley and Cape Breton.

 

"Everywhere I go I am sensing the winds of change," the Kings-Hants MP said Tuesday during a stop in Truro to campaign with local candidate Bob Hagell. "After 10 years people want a change in government and there's a lingering doubt around the NDP as well. There is an opportunity for Stephen McNeil to emerge strongly in what is a three-way race."

 

Read the full article HERE.

 

An editorial in the Toronto Star on Sunday May 17^th entitled "Harper spins EI fiction" discussed the Liberal plan to improve Employment Insurance.

 

The article said:

 

[Stephen Harper] accused the Liberals, who have proposed a temporary relaxation of the eligibility rules for jobless benefits, of peddling a plan "to raise payroll taxes to the roof in perpetuity for all workers and small businesses."

 

That is simply false. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has made it clear that his proposal is a short-term recession-relief measure. It would not require an increase in payroll taxes. They would remain frozen under the Liberal plan...

 

Harper told Parliament the Liberal plan "would do nothing for the economy or the recession."

 

Actually, it would do quite a lot. It would make roughly 150,000 jobless Canadians eligible for EI benefits. They would use the money on food, rent, transportation and household necessities, providing direct stimulus to the economy.

 

This would work much faster than the government's $12 billion infrastructure program, which is mired in red tape. Four months after the budget, only a handful of projects have been approved. Most of the cash is still sitting in Ottawa.

 

Read the full article HERE.