By David F. Rooney
The one-man murder of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and subsequent attack on Parliament Hill by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was nothing anyone could foresee, says MP David Wilks.
“It was nothing anyone could expect and was dealt with in the only way possible,” the former Mountie said during a December 27 year-end interview.
He made a point of saying it is imperative that while security must be tightened at the House of Commons it cannot interfere with its paramount role.
“We’re seeing integrated House of Commons and Senate security and I’ll be glad to see there are now armed guards but we always have to remember that this is the people’s house,” Wilks said.
He also said that dropping oil prices are beyond the federal government’s control.
“We are handcuffed,” he said. “OPEC controls the show. We are essentially collateral damage.
Saudi Arabia’s decision to allow oil prices to fall is really aimed at the United States’ efforts to use shale oil development to free itself from dependence on foreign oil. Still, Canadian oil production, which is one of the keys to our national prosperity, suffers from it, too. That underlines the importance of our “need to get our oil to market.”
With regard to politics, Wilks said he believes the Conservatives have done a pretty good job and the party is ready to good head-to-head with the NDP and the Liberals in the next election, expected in October 2015. But it won’t be a cake walk. While the East Kootenays are probably safe Conservative territory, the West Kootenays, which become part of the Kootenay-Columbia riding’s landscape with this election, is a different story.
“We’ll see what happens,” Wilks said. “It’s up to the people to decide who represents them.”
