Standing up for Alberta’s interests in Ottawa
By Lethbridge Herald on September 6, 2025.
Rachael Harder
Lethbridge Member of Parliament
After a summer of pancake breakfasts, festivals, and kitchen-table conversations, one message stood out: Canadians are worried. Families are anxious about how Alberta is treated, the rising cost of living, and surging crime.
As Parliament resumes, my priorities are clear: be Alberta’s voice, fight for affordability, and tackle crime.
Albertans have long felt ignored by Ottawa. We supply the country with energy, food, and innovation, yet federal policies strangle development, undercut agriculture, and dismiss our strengths. This fall, Conservatives are advancing a bold solution: the Canadian Sovereignty Act.
The need is urgent. Canada is losing ground on multiple fronts. President Trump’s new tariffs are hammering workers and businesses on both sides of the border. Beijing has now imposed a 75 per cent tariff on Canadian canola seed, on top of 100% tariffs on canola meal, peas, pork, and seafood. That effectively locks Canadian producers out of a market worth $5 billion in 2024.
Canadian agriculture is a superpower — one of the few advantages that sets us apart in a hungry world. Alberta farmers don’t just feed Canadians; they help feed the globe. Yet instead of defending them, Prime Minister Mark Carney has failed to resolve disputes and left producers paying the price. He promised Canadians he was a master negotiator. Instead, he is losing trade wars across the world. The U.S. has doubled tariffs on softwood lumber. Mexico refuses to engage in bilateral deals. Europe has chosen to buy $750 billion worth of U.S. — not Canadian — energy.
Canada cannot afford weakness. Conservatives believe ambition means rejecting the status quo and holding Mr. Carney to his promise to “think big and act bigger.” That’s why we are calling on Parliament to pass the Canadian Sovereignty Act:
• Legalize rapid resource development by repealing Liberal laws like Bill C-69, Bill C-48, the carbon tax, the oil and gas cap, the EV mandate, the plastics ban, and censorship rules that gag Canadian energy producers.
• Reward builders with tax incentives that eliminate capital gains on reinvestments and bonuses for provinces that open markets to fellow Canadians.
• Protect Canadian innovation by preventing the sell-off of intellectual property to competitors.
• Stand up for Canadian agriculture by ensuring farmers are protected from punitive tariffs and that our food exports remain competitive on the global stage.
By March 14, the one-year anniversary of Carney’s tenure, Conservatives expect progress on two major pipelines, a road to the Ring of Fire, and a new LNG project—while respecting Indigenous rights under Section 35. Leadership is being tested, and Conservatives are ready to collaborate to get it done. The Liberals have the tools and the power; what they lack is the will.
Fall is traditionally a season of new beginnings, especially for students returning to school. Yet basic supplies are increasingly out of reach. From high unemployment to the Liberals’ cost-of-living crisis, Canadians are struggling. Sun Youth reports that school supplies alone have jumped 17% since last year, on top of rising grocery bills, rent, and other essentials.
The Liberal electric vehicle mandate raises costs by about $20,000 per vehicle and reduces choice—particularly for rural Canadians who face long distances, limited charging, and harsh winters. Meanwhile, the Liberals are quietly implementing another carbon tax through the Clean Fuel Regulations, increasing fuel prices 17 cents per litre by 2030, or $136 more per household annually. Single mothers, seniors on fixed incomes, rural households, and transit users will bear the brunt. Conservatives will fight to lower costs, strengthen take-home pay, and grow the economy.
Tackling Crime
Canada is less safe under the Liberals. Since 2015, gun crime has risen 130 per cent, violent crime nearly 55 per cent, homicides over 29 per cent, sexual assaults almost 76 per cent, fraud 94 per cent, and extortion 330 per cent. Yet soft-on-crime policies like Bills C-5 and C-75 have created a revolving door for repeat offenders. Soft sentences for serious crimes, including sexual exploitation and child pornography, endanger communities.
Female victims of domestic violence continue to rise, highlighted by tragic cases such as the murder of an ex-wife just hours after her abuser’s release. Cases like these prove that Liberal policies favour criminals over Canadians. Conservatives will repeal reckless laws, strengthen bail rules, deport temporary residents convicted of crimes, and give law enforcement the tools needed to restore safety. Canadians deserve to walk their streets without fear.
This fall, my Conservative colleagues and I are eager to hold the Liberal government to account and advocate for our great country and the people who call it home. Canadians deserve leadership that delivers results, restores common sense, and protects families and communities. It’s time for Ottawa to act.
19-18
Thank you MP Thomas, (I assume the Lethbridge Herald incorrectly named you by your maiden name “Harder”) you were certainly out in your constituency mixing and mingling with your constituents at so many functions and events, it was great for you to make yourself and your family so accessible to us. Your annual FREE pancake “Whoop-Up” breakfast was fantastic. THANK YOU!
With MP Pierre Poilievre now being fully elected despite various tricks and smear campaigns including the ridiculous 200 name ballot, it is time to get down to work, challenging the Liberals and their attempts at isolating and/or ignoring Alberta and Albertans.
I trust you will continue to support Christian morals and principles while representing us in Ottawa, that is largely why you were elected in your landslide victory here in Lethbridge.
i love how you combine ass-kissing and christian morals.
Oh boy, our MP must really love you!
Imagine all the time wallowing in pancake breakies, attending rodeos, not attending Pride events and of course the usual partisan name calling. Thomas needs to get updated and stop simply criticizing anything east of Saskatchewan . Blaming Carney , who in most Canadians opinion is doing as good a job as anyone under the threats from the bullying psychopath down south , whilst ignoring the perils of climate change which are a typical Poilivre/Thomas rant. Expect more of the same even though bipartisanship should be the norm.
Her tired and worn out “poor Alberta” is out of date and even Smith endorses his actions. And please explain your last paragraph “Christian morals and principals”.
Full disclosure, I know exactly what you mean , but a statement confirming my thoughts or otherwise would be nice.
I agree with one concern whatever her name is stated.that families are concerned how Alberta is being treated. Albertans have suffered under the UCP specifically Smith’s hap hazard application of policies and financial mismanagement. Ms Harder can go back to warming her seat and continue doing what she’s great at which is accomplishing nothing for Alberta.
You have been representing us since 2015. Could you please list how you specifically helped this community please.
Representing Alberta’s interests in Ottawa? The MAJORITY of Albertans wish to remain in Canada, stay with CPP, do not want a very expensive Alberta police force, do not want open pit coal mining in our Rocky Mountains, do not want the UCP’s drive for private-for-profit health care, want dental care coverage to stay, want $10/day child care, take note of the drought and diminishing water supply in southern Alberta, adopting successful housing and renewable energy being done in some European countries…..
We, also, wish to participate in a/the national Pharmacare program. As it is, we, already, lost out on the federal Pharmacare coverage for diabetic and birth control medications. The Smith UCP don’t seem to understand that the provincial coverage is inadequate. The refusal by the Smith UCP to participate in federal Pharmacare boils down to petty bloodymindedness.
“We”. We who? Your socialist Java clan?
if jesus were here, whom is it you believe he would be more like: smitty, the orange scourge, or that socialist commie tommy douglas?
it is nasty how those that profess jesus as their saviour support lifestyles and approaches that it would be hard to imagine jesus following. worse, such folk pretend that they are christians despite demonstrating their contempt for sharing, equality, compassion, grace and forgiveness. moreover, they are first in line to cast the first stone, being the most judgemental bores on the planet.
Where are you obtaining your faulty information from? (Socialist dogma at its best). When you falsely claim “majority” who or what are you trying to impress?
we have an amazing land, indeed. we can produce far more of everything we need, and yet, we are somehow disadvantaged because of tariffs. the truth of it is that we are disadvantaged by the greed and self service that gives capitalism its energy.
if we created our own economy – that is to say, we produce and manufacture and build to meet our needs that our land provides and sustains – whatever sleight of hand sleaze that happens from the top down will have no effect upon us. what we choose to produce, manufacture extra we can use as trade for whatever whims we choose. of course, we want so very much we seem to not care what the parasites siphon from us, so long as we can buy and hoard as much stuff as our pithy slave labour can afford us.
Biff, you are an obvious candidate to join a local Hutterite Colony, don’t delay!
and you are fooled. btw – have you noticed how ell their approach works? not to say i appreciate their hierarchical and religious perspective.