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Dufferin–Caledon MP reflects on key moments and challenges in 2025

January 8, 2026   ·   0 Comments

Written By Sam Odrowski

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

2025 was a turbulent year for federal politics, marked by Justin Trudeau stepping down as prime minister, a late-April snap election, and ongoing trade disruptions with the U.S.

The Citizen recently interviewed Dufferin–Caledon’s Member of Parliament (MP), Kyle Seeback, to learn about his focus for 2025 and his plans for 2026.

He said the most impactful event in federal politics through 2025 was Prime Minister Mark Carney’s call for a snap election, as concerns mounted over a Canada-U.S. trade war and U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments that Canada could become the “51st state.”

“I think that Canadians made a choice in that election and I accept that choice. They decided that Mark Carney and the Liberals were the people that should navigate this country through the difficult period that we’re going through with our free trade agreement with the United States,” said Seeback, who represents the Conservative Party of Canada. 

“If you talked to anybody in January of 2025, everybody thought that this was going to be a very large Conservative majority government, and Canadians chose otherwise. That to me is the big news story of 2025 in Canada.”

Crime

Reflecting on the greatest challenges facing Dufferin–Caledon through 2025, Seeback said crime is near the top of the list, and it has remained an issue over the last several years.

“A resident of Caledon who has a small business was interviewed about how he was extorted, and his house was shot up. This was just in December, and he was extorted for $2 million,” he said.

“These kinds of things are going on all the time. We had a gentleman whose home was broken into in Orangeville – a gun was held to his daughter’s head as they robbed [him].”

Seeback attributes rising concerns around violent crime to Canada’s bail system.

“People who commit serious, violent crimes seem to be able to get out the next day on bail,” Seeback noted. “We have to have serious reform on the conditions under which someone can be released for bail.”

The Principal of Restraint, enacted under Trudeau through Bill C-75, mandates that police and judges release accused individuals on bail at the earliest opportunity, under the least onerous conditions.

“I think that’s fine for someone who’s jaywalking or stole some food from the grocery store to feed their family. I think that makes perfect sense. But for repeat violent offenders, it does not make sense,” said Seeback.

Federal legislation was put forward in September by Seeback’s Conservative colleagues to tighten up bail conditions for people who commit serious crimes, such as break and enter, armed robbery, assault, and extortion.

While this legislation failed to pass within the House of Commons, Carney’s Liberal government introduced its own bail reform in late October, aimed at addressing violent, repeat offenders and organized crime. Although Conservatives say this legislation does not go far enough.

Cost of Living

Another key challenge for the community through 2025, and the last several years, according to Seeback, is the rising cost of living. In particular, the rising costs of groceries and housing are a concern.

When it comes to food inflation, Seeback was critical of the Federal Government’s new labelling regulations, which went into effect on Jan. 1. The new regulations mandate that nutrition symbols must be placed on the front of packages of food that are high in saturated fat, sugar or sodium.

Seeback noted that food industry experts estimate the new regulations will cost food producers billions of dollars, due to the new packaging and plastics requirements.

“These are the kinds of policies that we need reversed to try and make a dent on the price of groceries,” he said. “We got to find ways to make things cheaper for our farmers as well, because they’re the ones producing the food.”

The rapid rise in housing costs was another area of concern for Seeback through 2025, and it has been a focus for the past several years.

While the Carney government has removed HST from the cost of new homes for new home buyers, Seeback said this doesn’t go far enough.

“We need to take HST off all houses to make housing more affordable and get the housing industry building more houses,” he said.

Plans for 2026

Seeback said his focus for 2026 is addressing the cost-of-living crisis, rising housing costs, and community safety issues related to crime.

“We have to push the government to actually make real reform on bail. We have to push the government to reverse decisions like the new packaging and plastics regulations for food. We have to push the government to move ahead quickly with large nation building projects that will create employment and wealth,” he said.

Seeback also noted the importance of remaining united amid disruptions to free trade between the U.S. and Canada.

“We have to get the trading relationship with the United States fixed, and we’re willing to help in any way to do that. They are our largest trading partner, and the tariffs on our auto industries, the tariffs on our steel, aluminum, softwood lumber – we’ve got to get these things resolved,” he said.

“If we don’t get these things resolved, the Canadian economy is really going to suffer.

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