Sarnia-Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu says many residents she represents dealt with high stress in 2023 as they struggled to afford the rising cost of food and housing.
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“The interest rates and high inflation have really started to impact us, especially locally,” the Conservative MP said as the year closed.
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Gladu has been the area MP since first being elected in 2015 and before that had a long career as a professional engineer working in the Sarnia area.
“I would say, this year, we’ve seen such stress on people,” Gladu said. “We’re seeing food bank use up and more homeless needs.”
Government “has a role to play to fix those” problems in the community and that will be a “huge priority” in the coming year, she said.
Gladu said she met with Sean Fraser, the federal Liberal minister responsible for housing, to talk about efforts to create more local affordable housing projects and asked the government to contribute.
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“It has been a great year for the Conservative leader,” Gladu said of Pierre Poilievre, who was named newsmaker of the year by the Canadian Press.
“I’m disappointed in the government this year,” she said.
During testimony at a House of Commons committee this month, a whistleblower accused the federal government of an “egregious cover-up” over allegations of mismanagement and misconduct by the board of Canada’s main funding agency for green technology.
“A lot of people getting rich and not a lot of work getting done,” Gladu said. “So, that’s disappointing to see and there are many investigations that are ongoing.”
Also, concerns about foreign interference in Canada’s national election “didn’t really get addressed this year,” she said.
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“As we approach another election, we really need to understand what happened there, so I look forward to seeing some depth in the upcoming questions there.”
One of Gladu’s highlights for 2023 was seeing her second private member’s bill approved in Parliament and proclaimed into law. It amended legislation to protect defined benefit pensions during corporate bankruptcies and followed her successful private member’s bill establishing a national framework for palliative care in 2017.
Gladu said she’s one of fewer than 50 MPs to have passed two private member’s bills.
In December, she introduced a third calling for December to be designated at Christian Heritage Month in Canada.
An attempt to have that bill passed in Parliament by unanimous consent failed just before Christmas but Gladu said Poilievre has promised the designation will go ahead if he becomes prime minister, Gladu said.
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“I’ve had huge response from Canadians of all walks of life” in favor of the bill, she said.
“We’ve seen a lot of persecution of all faiths and I think at a time, especially like this, we want to make sure that people recognize Canada as a place where everyone can worship the way they want to,” Gladu said.
When the next federal vote is called, Gladu will be running in the new election district of Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong which has been expanded to include Walpole Island First Nation and all of the municipalities in Lambton County.
Under the previous election map, Lambton’s eastern communities were in a neighboring riding.
Gladu said she expects the transition to the new district boundaries will be a smooth one.
“I have always met with all of them when Lambton County comes together for any events,” she said about representatives of municipalities joining the new riding. “I’ve got good relationships there.”
With files from The National Post
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