The Foothills MP knows all too well that rural crime can happen in one’s own backyard.
The highly publicized arrest of Edouard Maurice in February for dislodging a firearm while trying to protect his rural home from two intruders rifling through his vehicle happened about 10km from MP John Barlow’s Okotoks home.
“There are two or three or things that are kind of a common denominator as the top issues in Foothills,” Barlow said. “And rural crime has certainly been a top priority.”
Barlow and the opposition Conservative party presented A Safer Canada policy over the past few months.
“As we outlined over the past few weeks in our Safer Canada policies, more resources for the RCMP, takes steps to address the revolving door with the judicial systems, tougher sentences on crimes with illegal firearms,” Barlow said.
He said some of those policies were a result of input from Albertans during town hall meetings held across Canada.
Barlow was instrumental in having Jessica and Edouard Maurice speaking at the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in Ottawa on Oct. 18.
“They lived this (rural crime) first hand and they got a lot of publicity with the situation Eddie faced going through the court system,” Barlow said. “Unfortunately rural crime is something that has touched hundreds of my constituents. It’s not going away… To hear stories of people getting hit multiple times, of people not feeling safe in their rural communities.
“For those of us who grew up in rural communities, it’s definitely something we thought we would never have to face.”
The energy issue was also front and centre in the Foothills and for Albertans, Barlow added.
“They have a prime minister who has been quite adamant that he wants to phase out the oilsands,” he said. “We need a prime minister that will end the war on the energy sector.
“Right now at the federal level, we absolutely don’t have that.”
However, there were good things in 2018.
“Having the NAFTA agreement signed is certainly a positive,” Barlow said. “There are concerns around that, but we didn’t want that to continue to linger, especially for the agricultural sector.”
Barlow has been an MP for 4½ years after winning a byelection in 2013 to replace former Macleod MP Ted Menzies. The name of the riding isn’t the only thing that has changed since then – he said he’s becoming more comfortable as an MP.
“You’re always learning,” Barlow said. “But I am much more confortable, much more confident in the house, on committee and certainly as my role as shadow minister.”
Barlow was named
shadow minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Labour by Andrew Scheer, Conservative and Opposition leader on Sept. 7.
“To have the leader show that kind of confidence in you is certainly something I won’t forget,” Barlow said. “It’s been a very busy fall. We had two very late nights with the back-to-work legislation with Canada Post.”
As for the future, Barlow has an election circled on his calendar, likely in the fall of 2019. He is cautiously optimistic as the Conservatives, under leader Scheer were climbing up the polls as 2018 came to a close.
“You look back at 2015 and when the Trudeau Liberals won the election most pundits and mainstream media folks had the Conservatives in opposition for two maybe three terms,” he said. “It has turned very, very quickly.
“The polls are what they are, we still have some work to do, but I am energized.”
If he does regain his seat, Barlow will have a different view in Ottawa, as the Parliament building is under construction.
“With the closure of the House of Commons on Dec. 13, it was definitely a bittersweet moment,” Barlow said. “The fact that I had the opportunity to serve Foothills in that very hallowed room is something I will never forget.”
