Endorsement: Peter Braid, Conservative Party of Canada

Peter Braid, the Conservative candidate for Kitchener-Waterloo in the May 2nd federal election, has been an effective and hard-working representative for the people of this constituency since he was first elected to the House of Commons in 2008.

Throughout his career, Peter Braid has displayed a commitment to public service. In particular, he has served in the office of the Honourable Walter McLean, who was the Member of Parliament for Waterloo from 1979 to 1993, and he has worked for the Immigration and Refugee Board. In addition, Mr. Braid has acquired experience in business, having worked at Sun Life Financial and Quarry Integrated Communications, as well as being a former member of the Waterloo Economic Development Committee.

Since being elected the Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo in 2008, Peter Braid has supported the low-tax economic plan of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a set of policies that have successfully created hundreds of thousands of jobs and put Canada in one of the strongest economic positions in the G8. He has also worked to contribute his knowledge and experience to the policy-making process in Parliament, serving on the Standing Committee on National Defence and the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, as well as the Committee studying the Government’s copyright reform bill. In these forums, Mr. Braid has expressed Kitchener-Waterloo’s perspective and advocated for policies that are important for this region’s economic development.

Read Bill Brown’s endorsement

Read Julian Ichim’s endorsement

Read Cathy MacLellan’s endorsement

Read Steven Bradley Scott’s endorsement

Read Andrew Telegdi’s endorsement

Read Richard Walsh-Bowers’ endorsement

For example, in order to ensure that Waterloo remains a centre of excellence in science and technology, the Mar. 22 Federal Budget included $50 million in new funding over the next five years for the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Unfortunately, this and other necessary measures were put on hold when the opposition parties defeated the government and caused this election.

Peter Braid’s efforts to improve public policy and obtain concrete results are not limited by the boundaries of Kitchener-Waterloo, nor does partisanship limit his ability to work together with all Members of Parliament. On Mar. 1, the House of Commons passed, by a vote of 281 to 0, a motion introduced by Braid, instructing the Standing Committee on Finance to study potential changes to tax incentives for charitable donations. In particular, the motion calls for the committee to study a possible extension of the capital gains tax exemption to private company shares and real estate that are donated to a charity.

That improvement to the tax incentives for charitable giving would further encourage Canadians who wish to contribute to charities of their choice to do so and would enhance the resources available to charitable organizations that perform an important role in every Canadian community.

The unanimous passage of Peter Braid’s motion is an example of both his determination to bring forward practical improvements to public policy and his ability to work with MPs from all parties in order to achieve progress on important issues. Over the past two and a half years, Peter Braid has been an excellent Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo, working hard to represent the views of his constituents, to advance consensus proposals for improving public policy and to ensure that Canada’s economic prospects remain strong though the implementation of the Government’s low-tax plan. On May 2nd, vote for Peter Braid, Conservative candidate in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Sean Hayward is a member of the Laurier Campus Conservatives (LCC) and current student at Wilfrid Laurier University