by Adam Gault
Recently elected Essex MP Chris Lewis hosted an open house at his Talbot St. North constituency office this past Sunday afternoon. The event was held so he could meet with local residents and thank his team and supporters for their encouragement in the 2019 federal election.
“This is a thank you, this is about a new opportunity, about a new year. 2020 is going to be very exciting,” Lewis said. “We don’t know when the next election is going to be called, but we know we have a lot of work to do right now, and we’ve hit the ground running.”
Lewis, a conservative, is a former firefighter and Kingsville Municipal Councillor. He defeated incumbent NDP representative Tracey Ramsey in the fall election, which had the Trudeau Liberals lose federal majority status. In addition, the local New Democrats lost two of their Windsor-Essex area seats.
One of the key issues Lewis said he hears from area residents is the difficulty surrounding the ever-increasing cost of living, and the impact higher taxes, specifically the carbon tax, have on their wallets.
Lewis explained that while he was volunteering for the Salvation Army in Essex this past December, many residents expressed regret that they were unable to donate as much as they’d like, as an increasing number of people from across the region were finding it harder to make ends meet.
“I had a lot of people come up to me and say, ‘Chris, I’d love to put a few more dollars in the kettle, but with the price of groceries right now, I just simply can’t afford it,” Lewis said. “When people are spending [an exorbitant] amount for a cucumber, and we’re sitting right here in the greenhouse capital of Canada, we’ve got a major problem, and it’s all driven up from Carbon Tax, quite frankly. That’s some of the nonsense that needs to stop.”
An additional point of contention that Lewis has heard from the multitude of hunters and sport shooters across Essex County is increasing concern over the Liberal government’s proposed increase in additional firearms restrictions and outright bans of certain firearms as the part of the federal government’s plan to address the overall issue of gun crime.
“On the gun control side of things, our constituents are not happy. They are not happy with Trudeau and the Liberal government in suggesting for a moment that legal, law abiding gun owners, should be the victims,” Lewis explained. “They shouldn’t have their guns taken away. They’re not the criminals. Deal with the borders, deal with the gangs, deal with the people that are actually committing the crimes.”
Lewis said he’s excited to return to Ottawa next week, and that the Conservative Party’s upcoming leadership race will bring additional ideas to the party, which he said has a place for both progressive and social conservatives.
“That’s going to bring some fresh, new perspective to 2020,” Lewis said of the race. “We’re going to see what the future holds here shortly.”
Parliament resumes Monday, January 27.