It’s been a difficult year, but the MP for Sturgeon River-Parkland, Dane Lloyd, is optimistic. Looking back at the past year, Lloyd has had a number of both personal and political highlights.
On the personal side, Lloyd saw the birth of his daughter in May, right in the middle of the pandemic.
“There was minor inconveniences, like we weren't allowed to leave the hospital. I couldn't go out and get a coffee or pizza. But you know what, I'm just so thankful that they're both healthy and happy,” said Lloyd.
Politically, Lloyd was appointed as Shadow Minister of Digital Government by federal Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole on Sept. 8.
Lloyd is excited about his new role as he sees a lot of what the government is currently doing as archaic.
“We've seen so many innovations in the private sector, just like your smartphone and the apps that you have on there, and the question that everyone asks is why isn't government catching up to this,” said Lloyd.
Lloyd is trying to drive through a portfolio that will make services better and more cost-effective for Canadians. He is looking toward a future where services that a person would normally wait in line for become accessible over the phone.
“Security is necessary, so there's a lot of pillars that need to hold up this sort of digital governance model, but there's progress being made – not as fast as I'd like, but definitely pushing for progress on that,” he said.
Lloyd said the biggest political highlight of his year was when Erin O’Toole was elected as Leader of the federal Conservative Party. Results were initially delayed for that vote after a glitch occurred in the vote-counting process, but O’Toole was named leader on Aug. 23.
He wasn’t a favourite candidate, said Lloyd, but his election night was an exciting one.
“I put all my weight behind him, and he pulled it off. I really felt vindicated in my instincts,” said Lloyd.
COVID-19 has played a major part in everyone’s year and Lloyd said it has brought to light some of the things we’ve taken for granted, like spending time with family. It has also brought to light some political issues we’ve taken for granted.
“I think we took it for granted that we can always depend upon the globalized supply chain to supply all of our needs at a cost-effective price,” he said.
There were issues at the beginning of the pandemic with sourcing masks and ventilators from China, which was having its own major issues at the time with the coronavirus.
“The necessity to have some made-in-Canada capacity, or to have an alliance of nations that agree to work together for each other's benefit to produce critical PPE,” he said. “I think that is something politically that we’ve learned.”
He also believes this is an opportunity for us to invest better in our health care, particularly when it comes to seniors and vulnerable people and ensuring they have a good quality of life.
“Because I think that was uncovered throughout the pandemic – that they might not have been treated as well as we would expect them to be treated,” he said.
This year, Lloyd has been passionate about bringing the nation together, despite being a partisan guy. He’s been big on supporting key industries and making sure they can compete.
He has been trying to support local charities, like Jessie’s House in Morinville, by advocating on their behalf to government and also advocating to people who are personally able to give support to charities to do just that.
In the coming year, Lloyd is planning on continuing with his digital advocacy and advocating for his riding, specifically in the petrochemical field.
Lloyd is also preparing for an election.
“There could be a spring election. I would prefer to have an election after we're clear from this pandemic because I think that's only fair to Canadians, that they have an opportunity to look back and truly judge government's actions, whether good or bad ... I would hope that we would not have an election while the pandemic is still going on.”
