The Member of Parliament for Provencher says it has been a great start to the year for the federal Conservatives. Ted Falk says while the Trudeau Liberals are under the microscope on a number of issues, the Tories are building momentum as they prepare for the election this fall.

Ted Falk"We started just over two weeks ago, as Conservatives, with our annual winter retreat and we had that here in Ottawa. We also brought in all of our nominated candidates to participate in that caucus retreat. And boy, what a tremendous, upbeat feeling we had of anticipation of this coming year and the coming election. We've got just a fantastic group of candidates that will be running for the Conservative Party of Canada in the October election and I'm very optimistic that we will get many of them elected and we'll see them here, serving us in Parliament."

As for the daily Question Period in the House of Commons, Falk says the Conservatives are focused on trying to steer the Liberals away from a carbon tax, suggesting instead that there needs to be a better plan to deal with climate change. He adds Canadians cannot afford another tax and says it is not the right way to tackle climate change.

Meanwhile, Falk says immigration continues to be a big issue in Provencher and elsewhere.

"That's something that I'm hearing at my office, I hear it as I go to different communities in Provencher, that the whole issue of illegal immigration, that nothing is being done to curb it or to stop it. It is something that is very, very concerning to people not only in Provencher, but our Members of Parliament are hearing it right across Canada. People recognize that the Liberals don't have a plan. That's an issue that we've been focusing on, why these illegal migrants are not being properly screened."

Falk says the main concern with illegal immigration is public safety because some of these immigrants have criminal records.