The decisive victory of Pierre Poilievre to become the new leader of the federal Conservative Party in 2022 has lifted the spirits in caucus, including Foothills MP John Barlow.
"This is the most united, energized and focused I've seen our Conservative caucus in a very long time," he said. "I love the fact that he's focusing on the issues that Canadians care about, and they're talking about at the dinner table every night."
The past year was a busy one for the PCs, aside from the leadership race.
Barlow said points of pride for him were Health Canada's decision to walk back the warning label requirement for ground beef and pork and reaching the third reading of Bill C-234, which exempts natural gas and propane used by farmers to heat barns and dry grain from being subject to the carbon tax.
The MP has also been a vocal opponent of Bill C-21, which bans the buying and selling of several firearms. Barlow said the bill initially began as a handgun ban, which he thought most Canadians would support.
"But at the 11th hour, a Liberal member puts down 400 pages of of new firearms that were going to be added to the ban list and the vast majority of those firearms were legitimate rifles and shotguns used for hunting – certainly not what criminals and gangs would be using in downtown Toronto or Montreal or Calgary for that matter," he said.
"It was a massive overreach for the Liberals."
Recently, Barlow said he is happy his party was able to put a pause on changes to the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program, which would see the expansion of eligibility to those whose sole underlying conditions are mental health disorders.
In the new year, the MP is looking forward to being a part of several agricultural initiatives in his role as shadow minister. He noted he was particularly excited for the partnership between the Province and federal government to twin Highway 3 in the southern part of Foothills.
The hope is there will be continued productivity in 2023 under Poilievre and Barlow said he wishes the same for his constituents.
"Certainly this has been a trying last couple of years with COVID," he said. "But, we had a good harvest this year, energy prices are good.
"I'm hoping for the families of Foothills 2023 is a prosperous and successful year for the business owners and the families in the riding and we will continue to be here at our office helping our constituents in any way we can."
