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September 21, 2010

Dear Friends

Parliament has resumed and so the games begin anew.  While the PM says he wishes to be less confrontational and divisive, the appointment of John Baird, a fierce partisan, as his House Leader points to more conflict in the House. It doesn’t appear that peace is on the horizon.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff made some changes to his Shadow Cabinet in early September. The Shadow Cabinet is comprised of key Liberal Opposition Members holding Ministers to account. I am delighted to be re-appointed  the critic for Human Resources Skills Development, a portfolio that deals with issues ranging from childcare, persons with disabilities, literacy, post secondary education, and poverty, to name a few. The re-appointment allows me to focus on a number of issues critical to the future of Canada, including our ongoing Poverty Study and the subsequent recommendations soon to be made to government to eradicate poverty in Canada.  As has been the case, I will have the opportunity to be involved in Question Period and important debates in the House and at Committee.

The first few days up here are going to be closely watched. While Canadians will be watching the vote on the future of the gun registry, I am just as interested in how the tone of the House prior to the vote will affect Parliament in the months to come - assuming no election is triggered.

I also look forward to resuming work on a special all party committee struck by the Speaker last Spring – a Member from each party.  This Committee will discuss ways to improve the quality of parliamentary debate and decorum.  We started meetings prior to the summer break and I think we might find ways to make a difference in how Parliament operates.  It is certainly necessary.

It has been an interesting summer. I spent most of it close to home. Along with the many constituency activities and the time in the office, I spent a  lot of the summer on the sidelines at the soccer fields, golf course, tennis court and at the rink with Darlene and the kids, Emma and Conor.

I also had the opportunity to travel and work on issues such as poverty, education and disability issues. I also travelled with our Leader, Michael Ignatieff, on his summer tour including a fascinating visit to Iqaluit in August. I was very pleased at the success of Mr. Ignatieff’s summer tour, which culminated in a wonderful Liberal caucus meeting in Baddeck, Cape Breton.  As a Liberal, I am feeling some momentum as we begin proceedings in the House again. The government earned much deserved criticism for  its poor management of the G-8 – G-20 meeting in Ontario, the ridiculous decision to cancel the long form census and a host of others issues.

But politics in Canada is very volatile and polls will shift back and forth. I am less concerned about today’s standings in the polls than I am about our progress in presenting a viable alternative to the Stephen Harper government.

I believe Canadians want an alternative and that we are gradually presenting ourselves as such an alternative. It will be another interesting few months.

Thanks

Mike

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August 17, 2010

Elimination of long form census has created outrage among Canadians

The decision taken by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government to eliminate the long form census has created outrage among Canadians and has embarrassed Canada internationally.  Over 200 organizations as well as provincial governments, community planners, social development organizations, business groups, churches, minority language organizations and labour representatives, have all spoken out against this decision.

Let’s not forget the decision to scrap the long from census was made in the dead of summer when the Conservatives thought no one would be paying attention. They were wrong.

There is virtually unanimous agreement that to eliminate the long from census is a backward and unnecessary decision, and one that will have long term consequences to Canada. While a broad spectrum of policy makers, municipal governments, academics and many others, value the census and rely on its accurate data, it’s the depth of outrage from Canadians in general that highlights a growing frustration with the current Conservative government.

Canadians know what the Conservatives did, is wrong. Stats Canada, the once proud and respected collector of data is now an agency kneecapped by political interference. The respected public servant, Munir Sheikh, the Chief Statistician, unable to stomach the decision to cancel the mandatory census, resigned his job rather than consent to Conservative interference.

Why would this ever happen?  Here’s my take on the controversy.

The Census

There are two Census forms.  The “short form” is sent to all Canadians, the “long form” is sent to 20% of Canadians.  Both were mandatory.

The Harper Government Proposal

A “National Household Survey” to be sent to 1 out of 3 Canadians and its completion is voluntary.

Mandatory vs. Voluntary

Voluntary collection of data will not accurately reflect socio- economic trends in Canadian society.  Regional variances, for example, will not be accounted for. Stats Canada has data, ironically, that further indicates Canada’s poor, minorities , immigrants, and aboriginals, are less likely to fill out a voluntary census form.  Changing the Census from mandatory to voluntary will result in unreliable data and make comparisons to previous Census data meaningless. Since 2007, a myriad of agencies, other levels of governments, academics, non profits organizations, and the public, all participated in the consultations leading up to the 2011 Census. At no point did a voluntary census come under consideration.

Incidentally, along with less accurate information comes a higher price tag - an estimated $30 - $40 million more in costs for the new Conservative Census. 

Why the Change?

The Conservatives cite two primary reasons for changing the census – privacy and jail time for failure to complete the form. 

Lets debunk the notion of jail time. Not one Canadian has ever gone to jail over the Census. The Liberal Opposition has repeatedly said that if the threat of jail time is the problem, then we would support eliminating that penalty.

Between the years 1996-2006, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner received 3 complaints about the census. In the end, Canadians fill out the long form, while perhaps an inconvenience, because they accept and respect civic responsibility.

A pattern is emerging. Whether it’s economic policy – such as the elimination of 2 points of the GST (versus personal tax cuts), - or criminal justice (where Canada faces huge increased prison construction costs while crime rates are decline) the Conservatives often choose distortion, fear and mistruths while mocking evidence and data.

Canadians should be further alarmed about the systematic silencing of public voices – those groups who provide objective, evidence based, analysis on government decisions. Childcare organizations, poverty groups, women’s advocacy organizations, to name just a few, have had their government funding gutted or cancelled because they disagreed with Conservative government policy. This past March, a Canadian Council on Learning (CCL), a leading Canadian agency that monitors and reports on education and work force training in Canada, had its funding terminated.

Many of the areas in which I have responsibility as Liberal Opposition Critic - poverty, childcare, social justice issues and education - will be impacted by the change in the Census and people will suffer as a result.

At a Census roundtable last week in Winnipeg, a professor at the University of Manitoba characterized, accurately, what the government is doing when she said:  “We were moving from a culture of ‘evidence based policy making’ to one of ‘policy based evidence making’ “.  That is as true as it is frightening.

The census decision may seem like a small matter to some but it will dramatically impact how Canada is to be governed in years to come. 

We can do better than this!

We will continue to call upon the government to reverse their decision and restore the mandatory long form Census. And we will continue to advocate for government decision making based on proper data and evidence. Canadians deserve no less.

Mike

April 29, 2010

Speaker's Ruling

Dear Friends,

It’s been just two days since the historic ruling by Speaker Peter Milliken on releasing government documents related to the Afghan detainee matter.

Like most MPs, there are times when we are in the House that the proceedings seem quite removed from the realities of the nation – but Tuesday was definitely not one of those days.

While many Canadians may not feel personally affected by yesterday’s decision, it was an important decision for democracy in Canada.

The Speaker ruled that the House of Commons has the right to request and demand documents related to the Afghan detainees issue, an issue that has gripped the country for many months.

His ruling lasted 45 minutes and was extremely detailed.

Speaker Milliken considered every conceivable issue in his ruling, including whether the Parliament or government is supreme.

The speaker reaffirmed the centuries old practice that Parliament has an absolute right, indeed the responsibility, to demand information it deems necessary to provide effective oversight of government - while remaining sensitive to the need to protect national security and state secrets.

I consider this to be a very important decision and an important moment for Parliamentary democracy in Canada. The Speaker also provided a window of two weeks for elected leaders to find a reasonable compromise for the release of documents, while protecting national security and state secrets. In other words, politicians need to prove that they can provide answers as well as questions. And he gave the government and opposition parties two weeks to find a solution.

After a number of years of increasingly partisan behaviour in the House – which has further eroded the public’s view of their Parliament, it is important that all parties need to step up to this challenge. But the government in particular needs to accept that yesterday’s decision clearly refutes any idea that they are above the rule of law.

If the Speaker’s direction does not find a reasonable compromise to release documents and protect national security, we will be heading toward another showdown in Parliament, with any number of serious outcomes, even including an election. This, in my view, would be a terrible reason for an election. As divisive as recent elections have been, this would be worse.

I don’t fear an election. In many ways I believe we are close to the point where one may be necessary. The divisions in the House of Commons are becoming insurmountable, especially in a Parliament that is now in its 18th month – including two prorogations.

In my reasonably short time in the House of Commons I have witnessed a number of interesting speaker decisions, including the famous tie vote in 2005 that averted an election. But I believe that yesterday’s decision will go down as one of the most historic in Canada’s history. I hope Parliament seizes this opportunity.

As always, I welcome your comments and feedback.

Sincerely,

Mike

January 27, 2010

Work of the Liberal Caucus during prorogation

Parliament was scheduled to resume this week, but as you know it has been shut down by the Prime Minister until early March.  I won’t provide my view on this prorogation (I have previously), but I want to let you know about some of the work our Liberal caucus is doing in the absence of Parliament.

It was always my view that as a Member of Parliament, I would be in Ottawa on January 25, but I also felt that our party should do more than just stand in front of the closed doors of Parliament and complain.  Within a few days of the Prime Minister’s announcement, our leader Michael Ignatieff declared that Liberal MP’s would not only be in Ottawa on January 25, but that we would be working on key issues over several weeks beginning this week.

On Monday we had a number of panels on the issue of jobs.  We had a session on the dire straits of our manufacturing sector, a panel on natural resources, a panel on youth unemployment (which is double the overall rate) and one on high tech and green jobs.  On Tuesday we met with a number of very accomplished leaders (or former leaders) of “arm’s length” government agencies to speak of how government and these agencies should, and should not, interact.

Today  we have a number of sessions focused on the 40^th anniversary of the Royal Commission on the status of women, including an address by the Hon. Flora MacDonald; former PC Cabinet Minister.  Thursday’s session will be on the issue of Veterans - particularly the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and treatment of Afghanistan War Veterans amongst other topics.  Friday’s roundtable will be on health issues, in particular Alzheimer’s and dementia, which is a huge and growing concern.

The next two weeks will cover similarly important issues.  On Monday, Ken Dryden and I will be holding a session on Poverty and Homelessness, an issue that many of you know is very important to me.  The people who will be joining us will tackle key issues and try to identify specific strategies.  The following Monday I will be leading another session on life-long learning.  We will be speaking with leaders in early learning and child care, post-secondary education, literacy, skills upgrading and training and etc.

I find it interesting that my time in Ottawa for the next few weeks will be at least equally as busy and productive as it would have been had Parliament was sitting.  I am hoping to be able to keep all my commitments in Dartmouth-Cole Harbour, some of which I added after the prorogation was announced.  I am scheduled to visit a lot of schools to talk to students (which I love), as well as other constituency events and meetings.

The activities this week are wonderful because we are seriously addressing key issues that matter to Canadians.  Here in Ottawa, some doors have been shut, but others are open and I am very proud that we are using Parliament to discuss ideas, understand problems and consider solutions.  That’s what parliament is supposed to do.

Regards,

Mike

January 7, 2010

Welcome to 2010

Welcome to 2010, a year that promises to be interesting, challenging and hopefully positive for our country.  Let me share a few thoughts with you. 

It is unfortunate  that this year, one  which holds hope for Canada (the Vancouver Olympics, possible emergence from difficult economic times), begins with a pre New Years announcement that Parliament will be shut down by the Prime Minister until March.

I find this very offensive.  This is the third time in less than 2 1/2 years that Parliament has been suspended (prorogued) by our Prime Minister.  To the surprise of many, this dictatorial move has uncovered a well of anger among many Canadians.  I believe it is justified anger.  Even worse is the governments’ musing that it might become an annual event and contrary to what the Prime Minister has said, this is not a “routine constitutional matter.”

Constitutional experts have spoken out strongly against the excessive use of prorogation. David Mitchell of the Public Policy Forum said, “For those Canadians who care about parliamentary democracy and about the vitality of our democracy and who believe in the openness and transparency of government, they should be concerned about this.”

The reasons given by the PM to once again suspend Parliament are nonsensical.  He spoke of the need to “recalibrate”, “to prepare a budget and to host the Olympics”.  It is entirely common practice for governments to prepare budgets.  We have them every year.  These days, we even have a second “mini-budget” in the fall.  It is entirely false to suggest that somehow Parliament is a distraction in the creation of a budget. Indeed, it has a central role in the entire process, including hearing from organizations and citizens during the parliamentary pre budget consultations, and the expression of Canadians through their Members of Parliament.

As for the Olympics, I think most Canadians would concur that the less politics involved the better.  Other countries have held Olympics without shutting down democratic institutions and often have their Parliaments in session throughout the Games.  We are all proud of our athletes and will root for Canada. Like other Canadians, we can keep working at the same time.

Prime Minister Harper has also put an end to all government bills working their way through both Houses of Parliament – including crime legislation dealing with child pornography and auto theft, to name a couple. Some of the Bills have now been delayed for the second time as a result of yet another suspension of Parliament. 

And perhaps the real reason for the shutting down of Parliament is to stop Parliamentary Committees from working.   The Afghan detainee issue is well known to Canadians, but other committees have been working on very important issues as well.  My own Committee, Human Resources and Skills Development,  has been working on a study of poverty in Canada and was close to producing a report, including making recommendations on a anti-poverty plan for Canada. It is shameful that our federal government sees no need for a national anti-poverty reduction strategy.  Other committees were doing important work as well.

The suspension of Parliament is equivalent to losing in a board game like Monopoly and deciding to turn over the board and start over.  It is wrong.  I have run into many people over the past week or so who have a very bitter taste about Parliament being suspended.  Most realize that a MPs job is twofold – we work in our ridings trying to help people and we represent our constituents in the federal Parliament in Ottawa.

The work here at home is just as important as the work in Ottawa and I will continue to do my best to help people here at home, but the fact remains that Parliament should be sitting.

I realize this update is firm and frank in tone.   I am very careful not to be unduly partisan as many of you are not political or party identified.  However, the Prime Minister’s decision to prorogue, or to suspend, Parliament, is one that  bothers me deeply. We really can do better.

I am pleased that our Liberal Caucus will be in Ottawa on January 25^th, the same day in which Parliament was scheduled to return. Under the leadership of Michael Ignatieff, we will meet as we originally planned and will do more than just a photo-op in an empty Parliament.  There are many issues facing Canadians and it is incumbent upon elected representatives to focus on these issues.  We have troops in Afghanistan; we have the issue of Afghan detainees, Canada’s embarrassing performance in Copenhagen, many Canadians living in conditions that do not befit a country like Canada.  There is much to be done, and I am pleased to be part of a team that will work even if Parliament has been suspended.  

Best wishes for 2010,

Mike