After having spent some time in her home riding of Portage-Lisgar, MP Candice Bergen just attended the conservative strategy session in Quebec City. She's heading into parliament as it resumes Monday in Ottawa.

"It's been great to be home. It went too quickly as it always does," Bergen says. "It's been great to be back in the riding and spend time with my family. My mom is in Morden and my children are all in southern Manitoba. So, the family time there is so precious and so important. And then just to be able to have time to get out and to the riding."

She notes the Conservatives are entering the house with concerns about the Liberals' apparent lack of realizing Trump's been elected in the U.S., as they continue to spend and raise taxes while seemingly ignoring the need for a change in policies.

"This is quickly making Canada extremely competitive," says Bergen. "We were losing our competitive edge in the last year with excessive taxes and making instability in the regulatory process when it comes to pipelines, for example. But now that Mr. Trump has won, he is cutting taxes. He's not going to be implementing the carbon tax. He's really putting America first, which is quite protectionist. It could be alarming at first in some ways," she continues. "Instead of having a government that is able to respond to it, we seem to have a Prime Minister who is kind of plugging his ears and pretending it's not happening. The reality is it is happening, and Canadians are going to feel the brunt of it, whether it's in our agricultural sector, manufacturing, or oil and gas... we have to be able to compete with the U.S. That will be one of the main issues we will be bringing forward time and time again when we get back to Ottawa."

Some of our local issues she feels they'll deal with include NAFTA.

"That agreement affects the folks in Portage-Lisgar directly as far as agriculture for sure, as well as manufacturing," Bergen explains. "There's a lot of business done between the borders there in Southern Manitoba and the U.S. That's something that has a direct effect. I've been hearing from people just around the whole ethics issue. We saw the old Liberal way of doing things around scandals and their entitlements. And I think people in Portage-Lisgar, even though it's not right on their doorstep, are concerned with the way the Prime Minister has problems following the rules."

Bergen adds she's looking forward to being back in Ottawa and is excited about the leadership race they're entering. "We have some great candidates, and it's definitely an interesting race," she notes. "Things are going well."