Dan Mazier talks new responsibilities

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/12/2019 (2337 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dan Mazier ended 2019 on a high note, getting sworn in as a member of Parliament for the riding of Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa on Nov. 21.

A few days before officially taking his seat in the House of Commons for the first time, the Conservative MP talked to the Sun about what he has been up to since election night in October where he won the regional race by a comfortable margin of 19,538 votes.

As a new member of Parliament, Mazier said he has been spending a lot of time going through the orientation process, trying to get a handle on the day-to-day life of a federal politician.

Outside of hiring staff and getting his Ottawa office set up, the former Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president revealed this training also involves figuring out “what lever to pull” to make sure the democratic wheels keep turning.

“I used to say when I was with KAP, it’s understanding how the machinery works,” he said on Dec. 3.

“Then you can go in and start talking, building networks, building alliances, so that when you need something done it could be in your party, first and foremost, but it also might be across the (aisle).”

While Mazier remains open to bipartisan action, he also anticipates butting heads with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party on a number of issues that relate to making life more affordable for rural Manitobans.

One of the biggest points of contention between the two parties is the Liberals’ carbon tax, which came into effect for Manitobans on April 1 of this year and is currently charging $20 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions.

However, Mazier maintains that this policy disproportionately affects the pocketbooks of rural residents and businesses and only serves to drive a wedge between everyday Canadians and their government.

Instead, the rookie MP is hoping to bring everyone together by making good on repeated campaign promises, such as investing in the agricultural sector and improving cellular/internet connectivity in the region.

“I think we’re going to be focusing on trying to get this country united again and show them that the Conservative party is the option if you want to bring this country back together,” he said.

This sense of alienation has only grown since this year’s federal election, when the Liberals were almost completely shut out of rural parts of Western Canada.

The most extreme version of this discontent has manifested in the form of the Wexit separatist movement, whose members are aiming to establish their own sovereign state comprised of one or several western provinces.

Recently, Wexit organizers even registered with Elections Canada to run as an official party in future federal races.

However, Mazier believes these people are “moving in the wrong direction.”

“It doesn’t accomplish anything,” he said. “We want to unite the country. We don’t want to tear it apart. That’s the lens I’m looking at going through this process of sitting at Parliament.”

For the time being, Mazier is focused on setting up more political infrastructure in his riding, which includes his goal of establishing an office in Minnedosa before Christmas.

In terms of New Year’s resolutions, the 55-year-old told the Sun he wants to find a good work-life balance in his new role and serve as a responsible representative for his tens of thousands of constituents.

“The reality is the seat is not mine. The seat is theirs,” he said.

“I’m representing them in the House of Commons, and … if they do plan on coming to Ottawa, make sure you contact the office and let me know that you’re here.”

Mazier won the Conservative nomination for Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa in November 2018 after former MP Robert Sopuck announced that he would not seek re-election.

Outside of his new digs in the nation’s capital, Mazier and his wife Leigh have a farm near Justice.

 

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

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