Brentan Lam

Brentan Lam MP was a member of Parliament, representing the suburban Ottawa riding of Carleton. A member of the Conservative Party, Lam was elected to his seat on October 12th, 2020 from a by-election, after winning by a thin majority of 420 votes. The by-election was created after his predecessor Pierre Poilievre resigned citing health and family issues. A sponsor of 5 bills, and 7 motions, he is the second most prolific legislator in MHoC. He stood down as an MP on June 22nd, 2021, as he graduated from Lisgar, making him one of the shortest-serving members in history.

## Political Career

During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Lam advocated for a moratorium on student debt in those trying times. The first bill Lam introduced to the House was the Animal Welfare Act which aimed to increase punishment for torturing animals. He subsequently introduced a bill to increase the punishment for attacking healthcare workers and one to mandate the government to improve airports later that year. In 2020, he was also the chair of the special committee that was tasked with determining whether the Government had violated Motion #006. Beginning in the year 2021, Lam has focused more on international affairs apart from domestic ones, especially human rights abuses. Besides having brought up the issue of lack of access to clean water on Canadian indigenous reserves, he has raised red flags on the humanitarian crises in the Tigrayan war in Ethiopia, and the Israeli-Palestine flare-up. Lam also was the sponsor of one subsequent bill which addressed the threat of cyberattacks on important national infrastructure in light of the oil pipeline hack in the United States. In June 2021, he raised questions and concerns about the decreasing fish stock and decreasing whale size in Canadian Atlantic waters to the Deputy Prime Minister. His last major contributions were promoting free expression of religion in schools; better bus services for Canada; advocating for a ban on trophy hunting imports; condemning the Belarusian interception of Ryanair Flight 4978; marking the 10th year of the Syrian War; and calling on the Government to review arms exports to Israel in light of its violent attacks on the local Muslim community.

## Political Stances

Lam is generally considered as a staunch supporter of free-market, laissez faire economy, seen in his criticism of the government for imposing lockdowns erratically, arguing that they have had a devastating impact on small businesses. He has expressed his view that the state should not meddle with day-to-day businesses of its people. During his well-known grilling of the Prime Minister in March 2021, he raised many issues around humanitarian crises in the world and attacked the government for being inept and inactive. During an interview with the Capital Region Radio, he stated that he did not "want to toe the Conservative Party's line when it does not serve the purpose of good governance". In May 2021, the *Ottawa Hubbub* noted that "Lam's work has often been in contrary to his Conservative predecessors". In particular, an example was Lam's support for continued emergency financial support for students during the pandemic, and advocacy for better public transportation infrastructure. Later that month, the *Laurentian Quibble* described him as an "unlikely but popular Conservative that no one foresaw".

## Hobbies

When not focusing on parliamentary matters and advocacy work, he often tunes in for the UK Parliament's weekly Prime Minister's Questions. He is also a great lover of classics, of which his favorite ones are *Tales of Two Cities*, *The Grapes of Wrath,* and *The Call of the Wild. The Carpenters* is his favorite singers of all time.