Sorenson new Minister of State

 

Crowfoot Member of Parliament Kevin Sorenson was first elected to the House of Commons in 2000, and since then has filled many roles and duties. On July 15 Sorenson was sworn in as the new Minister of State for Finance.

“I’m honoured, first of all that the Prime Minister would ask me to come into cabinet, but also that I get the privilege of working with Jim Flaherty,” said Sorenson.

“So as we prepare for a budget, as we move towards balancing our budget, there will be consultations with stake holders and groups all across the country. I will be coordinating a lot of that and meeting people as we prepare for the budget coming next spring.”

Following his 2006 re-election, Sorenson was elected to the House of Commons standing committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. In 2008 he was elected as chair of the House of Commons special committee on the Canadian mission in Afghanistan, and chair of the standing committee on public safety and national security. 

Some of Sorenson’s new role will include responding to questions during Question Period, taking legislation to the House of Commons and helping to shepherd finance bills and different pieces of legislation through the House of Commons. Sorenson will be the Minister of Finance’s voice when Flaherty isn’t in the House. 

Even though he will have a bigger voice at the House now, Sorenson says dealing with the constituents is his favourite part.

“The MP part is what I like the best, you’re in the constituency, always the constituency is the most important, these are the folks that put their trust in you in an election so we certainly want to still be as visible in the communities as we can be, so that part I still have,” said Sorenson.

It’s been a few years since the economy crash and though things are looking better now, the economy is still the main focus for the federal government. 

“For our government the economy remains the top priority.  Many of the places around the world are still in very fragile recovery mode, whether it be Europe, or the United States or even parts of Asia, this was a global economic downturn. The economy is the big focus of our government and with that economy also is keeping taxes low, helping to build infrastructure and making sure that we create jobs,” said Sorenson.

“Not necessarily that the government creates jobs but that we build an economic environment where the private sector can create jobs, the last thing that we want to do is just start hiring people to work public service, we want Strathmore to continue to be progressive like they have been under this mayor and others.”