Brad Trost

Political career

In 2004, in what was the closest four-way race in the country, Trost received 417 more votes than second place candidate, the New Democratic Party's (NDP) Nettie Wiebe, 435 votes ahead of the third place candidate, Liberal Patrick Wolfe, and 2368 votes ahead of former Canadian Alliance Member of Parliament Jim Pankiw.

In the federal election on October 19, 2015, Brad Trost was elected in the new urban riding of Saskatoon-University with 41.5% of the vote. Trost was re-elected, in 2006, 2008, and 2011 earning between 50–53% of the vote defeating the second place NDP, and the third place Liberals in Saskatoon-Humboldt in each election.

Parliament activity

Trost is the Conservative Critic for Canada/U.S. Relations. He was named to the position by Interim Leader Rona Ambrose, Leader of the Opposition.

Trost has been an outspoken critic of moves toward a carbon tax, arguing that such a tax kills jobs and blocks job creation. In a series of House of Commons Order Paper Questions, Trost questioned the benefits of a carbon tax and raised concerns as to its effects on Canada's economy.

Brad served as a member on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources. He has also served as a member of the International Trade Committee and before that, the Industry Committee. He is the founder of the Conservative Party's Energy Caucus and is a member of the Pro-Life Caucus. He has also served as an elected vice-chair of the Canada-U.S. Parliamentary Association.

In the 40th Parliament Trost introduced private members legislation into the House of Commons that would open the Canadian uranium mining sector to increased foreign investment.

As a Member of the Standing Committee on International Trade Trost was an outspoken supporter of the Canada–Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

Conservative leadership run

Trost announced his entry into the Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, 2017 in the summer of 2016, saying that "I believe the Conservative Party needs what I'm calling a full spectrum conservative candidate." In January 2017 Trost was listed as being in fourth place in the race, according to a leaked internal poll from the Bernier campaign. Trost placed fourth in the race attracting support from social conservatives. After the election, Trost's leadership campaign was fined $50,000 by the Conservative Party for leaking the party's membership list to the National Firearms Association. Trost was subsequently not included in Scheer's shadow cabinet.

Positions

Trost has been noted for publicly taking fiscally and socially conservative stances. In July 2016, Trost took definitive positions on everything from taxes, deficit financing and a carbon tax to legalization of marijuana and transgender bathrooms.

In July 2009, Trost criticized his own government's funding of Toronto Pride Week under the $100 million Marquee Tourism Events stimulus program.

In November 2009, Trost launched a petition to stop the federal government's funding of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). According to Trost's petition, the IPPF "promotes the establishment of abortion as an international human right and lobbies aggressively to impose permissive abortion laws on developing nations." During the 2011 federal election campaign, Trost made news when he spoke at a Saskatchewan Pro-life Association convention and noted to the audience that the government had not renewed funding to Planned Parenthood over the previous year and urged continued support for their defunding.

In September 2011, Trost publicly voiced his anger at the federal government's decision to fund the International Planned Parenthood Federation. He said that Conservative MPs' requests that the Prime Minister's Office cease funding have been ignored.

In January 2012, Trost criticized the strict party discipline imposed upon Conservative MPs, saying it stifled debate and independent thought.

Trost argued unsuccessfully at the 2016 Conservative policy convention to retain the party's definition of marriage as "the Union of one man and one woman". At the same convention, Trost compared the "equality" arguments in favour of gay marriage to the redistribution equality arguments used to support socialism. On May 4, 2017 Trost sent a private member's bill to the floor to privatize the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster, and upon its second reading it was defeated 260 to 6, with only himself and five other Conservative members voting for the bill. Nays on the bill included his party's interim leader.