Vegreville-Wainwright MP Leon Benoit held two separate Town Hall Meetings in Lloydminster this week to make himself and government accountable to constituents. - Andrea Nicholl Photo
By Andrea Nicholl
MP Leon Benoit gave constituents the opportunity to voice concerns, ask questions and offer suggestions at two separate town hall meetings held in the Border City this week.
Benoit has held the ‘accountability sessions’ since elected in 1993, as an opportunity for the public to hold him accountable as an MP and to hold government accountable for what has been done and what has not.
Items on the agenda during this week’s meetings included the Justice Agenda, the economy, business prosperity, the federal deficit and the 2010 budget.
“In Lloydminster (concerns) were a little bit here and there, there wasn’t particularly a burning issue and I’m not surprised by that. There just isn’t that burning issue,” said Benoit.
The Vegreville-Wainwright MP said people are watching the economy and understand that while recovery has started, we’re not through the tough times and must proceed with caution.
“I’ve heard quite a bit of concern about running deficits and that’s the real issue,” he said. “We will have a plan to work our way back to balanced budgets, it may take several years, but there will be a plan there.”
Mayor Jeff Mulligan was present at the meeting held at Lakeland College on Tuesday evening, and suggested that government move toward balancing the budget with certainty and moderation.
“On the back end of a very fragile economy, that’s in moderate recovery, it would be a bad idea to balance the budget in an aggressive way. My advice is to stay that course on the revectoring of the budget and the revectoring of the economy with moderation rather than a harsh turn.”
Benoit agreed, saying slow progress is better than no progress, and the plan must not be too fast, changed too often or without notice.
The MP said when parliament resumes, after a two-month hiatus, a plan will be put in place and groundwork will be laid for the next year and years to come.
Though frustrations have been aired nationwide regarding the Prime Minister’s decision to prorogue parliament until March 3, Benoit said constituents in his riding have been understanding and few have voiced concerns.
“They’re really laughing about it, ‘what’s the big deal here?”’ he said. “There’s no concern about it. I think people around here are a little more savvy on politics than they are elsewhere in the country and they know, in fact, that parliament has prorogued 105 times in 40 parliaments, this is only our second time in this parliament so what’s the big deal?”
Benoit said it’s completely normal to prorogue parliament and it was ‘very much’ the right time.
The Speech from the Throne, marking the new session of Parliament, will be read on March 3 and the 2010 budget will be presented on March 4.