August 8, 2014

General Sir Arthur Currie Statue Unveiled

As the world marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War, Strathroy-Caradoc honoured a home town hero. The statue of WWI General Sir Arthur Currie was unveiled this week as hundreds of people gathered in downtown Strathroy. I would like to personally thank everyone who worked so hard over the past four years to make this a reality, especially the Currie Memorial Project Committee and local cadets for their incredible fundraising efforts. The Strathroy Middlesex Museum was also approved for $50,000 of funding toward the memorial through the Veterans Affairs Canada Community War Memorial Program. Thank you to the WWI re-enactors, the many cadets, the municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc, attending dignitaries, the Legion and the many individual donors. An incredible achievement!

At the Currie statue unveiling with Mayor Joanne Vanderheyden, and the Hon. David Onley, Ltnt Gov of Ontario.

Tornado in Lambton Shores

I would like to take this opportunity to commend emergency services personnel, municipal leadership, hydro workers and “neighbours helping neighbours” following the tornado in Lambton Shores. I recently had the chance to tour the area affected by the storm and was impressed with all the progress being made. I am ready to assist the municipality if required, as we move forward.

Fairness at the Pumps Act

New measures are now in place to protect Canadian consumers against unfair retail practices, ensuring they get what they pay for when purchasing everyday consumer goods such as gasoline and groceries. Our Fairness at the Pumps Act, which went into effect last week, will mean greater fairness for consumers by placing more responsibility on retailers to ensure the accuracy of their measuring devices. Retailers will need to have devices inspected regularly, and they will be subject to hefty fines if they do not comply. http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=872019

Common Sense Firearms Act

Our government is bringing common sense to firearms licensing. The first part of this important legislation is the coming-into-force of an expanded Order Declaring an Amnesty Period to ensure that law-abiding owners of a family of rifles are now able to fully use their property. This may not meet the expectations of everyone, but we feel it’s an important step in the right direction as we continue to support legal gun owners, sports shooters and hunters. Other parts of the Act include strengthening firearms prohibitions for those convicted of domestic violence offences, requiring mandatory firearms safety courses for first-time gun owners and the merging of the Possession Only License (POL) and the Possession and Acquisition License (PAL).

Did You Know?

-Industry and businesses have created 1 million net new jobs, 86% full-time, 80% in the private sector and 66% high-paying. That’s 20% higher than our closest competitor on a per capita basis. Thank you to our great businesses and our communities that helped make this possible.

-Our government’s immigration reforms to the refugee determination system are working: Asylum claims from countries that historically produced high numbers of unfounded claims have dropped by a dramatic 87%!

-The Wallaceburg Antique Motor and Boat Outing is one of Canada’s largest transportation shows. WAMBO is on this weekend and I’ll be hosting a free BBQ following the Interdenominational Church Service on Sunday, around 11:30. Hope to see you there!

Until next time,

Bev Shipley, M.P., Lambton-Kent-Middlesex